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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1980-03-31-BOS-min 2o9 SELECTMEN'S MEETING MARCH 31, 1980 A regular meeting of the Board of Selectmen was held in the Selectmen's Meeting Room, Town Office Building, on Monday, March 31, 1980, at 7 30 p m Chairman Miley, Mr Busa, Mrs Battin, Mr Kent, Mr Crain; Mr Hutchinson, Town Manager; Mrs Banks, Assistant to the Town Manager; Mrs McCurdy, Executive Clerk, were present The Appropriation Committee and the Transportation Advisory Committee LEXPRESS met with the Board to discuss Article 32-Lexpress Mini-bus Transportation Service Mr Hutchinson said that we received bids regarding the extension of Lexpress and the base bid was $16 74 per vehicle My recommendation is that we go for $180,000, which is an additional $80,000 beyond the $100,000 that the Board had anticipated This would be for a full ser- vice program for a nine month period of September through June We had only one bidder and he has tried to protect himself with a fuel escala- tion clause; the bid is less than we had anticipated but allows for an escalation factor which was originally programmed to be for every 2 cents a gallon there would be a 1 percent increase in the base bid We were able to negotiate that to 3 cents a gallon€ora 1 percent increase in the base bid We don't feel that we can do any better with the low bidder at this time, and we don't feel that we are doing any better by going out for re-bid, based upon discussions we have had with people, most of whom do not have vehicles of the type that we (require Mr Zimmerman has agreed to 3 cents a gallon and a nine months' program. Mr Hutchinson recommended going to a nine months' program at $146,770 and dealing with an MBTA sub- sidy of $33,000, we wind up with a net impact of $180,000 or $80,000 more than is currently proposed within the operating budget He did not think that the town should accept that the MBTA is not going to fund this system, especially if we can demonstrate to the MBTA that this is the most effective suburban transportation system in the region If we get the $33,000, we will apply it to the operation and hopefully stay within the budget It is not our intent to put it in E & D to raise the surplus The additional $80,000 provides for effectively the current system for September through June, the continuation of a chair car for handicapped, and the opportunity to assess this program for another year, especially in the light of the cur- rent energy costs that we are experiencing This is still less than a dollar on the tax rate We had talked about reduced service but the Transportation Committee didn't think that was a good idea The fare structure assumes a 40 percent increase Mr Fred Rosenberg, Chairman of the Transportation Advisory Committee, said that they are suggesting raising the basic fare up to 40 cents and to sell reduced rate coupon books for $5 00 for 15 trips, which would nominally be 35 cents a ride, a 40 percent increase from the 25 cents fare The passes are raised accordingly and we feel there might be reduced ridership because of that, possibly not as prices go up, and that would bring in a 25 percent increase in total revenues It is 'proposed to charge 40 cents for 6 to 64; 20 cents for 65 and over; 20 cents for 5 and under; 65 cents to the Burlington Mall The Board would have to act upon this by September Mr Busa said II Selectmen's Meeting - 2 - March 31, 1980 that we have to justify better than 100 percent increase in the appropria- tion of last year He was not in favor of subsidizing a system that doesn't show a gain in revenue Inflation ought to be built into the fare structure and he didn't believe that if we raise the fare to 40 or 50 cents that we would lose that much ridership if gasoline goes to $2 00 a gallon To go to Town Meeting on Wednesday, we must show a better return, and he hadn't received a figure on how many people are riding the buses Mr White said that there is the possibility that those who benefit the most be asked to help subsidize this, and those are the people in the Mall; somebody ought to be willing to help subsidize Mr Rosenberg said that a member of his committee had approached the Mall and the Mall has a firm stance that it wouldn't; it doesn't even advertise Alternatives were discussed, including a cut in service during the hours of 9 00 a.m to 12 00 Noon after September, and Mr Hutchinson said that it is a matter of getting more experience in the summer as we haven't even gone through a summer yet The mini-bus systems in Winchester and Needham were briefly discussed and Mr Hutchinson offered to get the figures for the Board's information Mr Hutchinson said that if the program continues, if it is funded at this Town Meeting, we have had some private suppliers say to us that we should probably go to multi-year bids and see what happens, and you will certainly get more competition that we have right now Mr White asked when will we know actually what the MBTA will do? Mr Hutchinson said that it could probably be in August It is a grant program that you file and you are not going to know until they are ready on their own budget So you are not going to get a commitment if you are looking for planning purposes for this budget You can make a decision on whether you are going to get the funding or not Grants are supposed to be predicated on the types of service that you are providing and he hoped when they looked to Lexington that they remember the criterion of the grants they they are applying Tax Cap Chairman Miley asked Mr Hutchinson to comment on the letter received today from the Department of Revenue regarding the appropriations limit, the levy limit and/or the budget limit applicable to the Town of Lexington Mr Hutchinson said that with all of the numbers given to us now, there is no way we can correlate them to anything that we have within our records; we are working on that now and will have one or two written recommendations for you on Wednesday Mr Perry, Comptroller, strongly recommended that this be taken up at the last part of Town Meeting Lexpress Mr Hutchinson requested the Board's approval of changes in the route Route schedule for Lexpress Change Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to approve the recom- mended changes in Routes 5 and 7 of Lexpress in order to allow Route 5 to go to the Mall on Saturdays and School Holidays, effective Saturday, April 5, 1980. U 1 ) Selectmen's Meeting - 3 - March 31, 1980 The Board discussed the gypsy moth problem with Mr Paul Mazerall, Gypsy DPW Tree Department Mrs Battin said that the question of gypsy moths Moths had been referred to the Pest Control Advisory Committee, and she recom- mended that the committee, working with Mr Mazerall, could work out something that would be satisfactory Information submitted by the State Department of Environmental Management and working closely with what the Town of Weston developed, especially to use the biological agent rather than a more toxic chemical, would be helpful; plus in- formation as to how individuals can take care of infestation on their own land Mr Hutchinson said that we continued to operate while the committees are gearing up Mr Mazerall said that we had an aerial and ground survey taken by the state this summer and their information is that 90 percent defolia- tion will occur as far as trees are concerned If we get this heavy an infestation, they are going to move into the evergreens and if they are defoliated they ,are not going to come back The very bad areas in town are Spring Street, Prospect Hill, Cedar Street, Winter Street, and people on Marrett Road have been calling up, there are sections all over town We really don't have the money to do an accurate job as far as spraying is concerned; we intend to do it with our own machines and to use two applications of dipel It is very erratic and we will be lucky if we get 50 percent control from it; if it rains within 48 hours after we put it on, we will lose all the effect of the spraying We have no choice and we have to do some spraying We have about $3,000 in materials on hand and $3,000 left in the budget Wayland is talking $40,000 to do their program by spraying the whole town aerially, and we don't want to do it aerially During the week of April 22, we are going to all the different neighborhoods and tell the people what to do and what to take care of The infestation period is around May 15, and he informed the Board •that private contractors are going to be using chemicals Mr Hutchinson said that he will bring back a recommendation at the next meeting, including alternatives based upon the use of chemicals Mr Busa recommended that the Pest Control Advisory Committee be ex- Pest panded He moved to expand the committee by three more persons in order Control to have a better balance on the committee Questions were raised by the Adv Com Board, and it was pointed out that a report from the committee is being submitted at the end of this week Mr Busa withdrew his motion Chairman Miley asked for the Board's opinion on a draft of a letter Human to the School Department from the Human Service Committee regarding Servs Com / Summer Workshop on Counseling She said that a vote was taken by the School committee to send this letter, if endorsed by the Board of Selectmen, Dept to communicate with the School Department that they would like rather than fragmentation of human services to have some method of cooperating through the summer workshop After discussion, the Board agreed that an informal approach by the Human Services Committee would be more appropriate than a formal III letter Selectmen's Meeting - 4 - March 31, 1980 Resigna Chairman Miley read a letter of resignation from Dr Martin White Community Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to accept with Health regret the resignation of Dr Martin K. White as a member of the Com- Committee munity Health Committee Licenses- Applications for licenses were approved 1-Day Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to issue a 1-Day Liquor Special Liquor license to W R Grace Associates for a retirement party on April 3, 1980 Auctioneer Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to renew the Auctioneer's license to Allen C Lannom, 35 Webster Road Minutes Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to approve the minutes of the Selectmen's meetings of December 10, December 17, 1979 ; January 7, 1980, March 10, 1980 (Open) Director The Board discussed the position of the Director of Guides, and Mr of Guides Buse recommended the appointment of Mr Neil Cronin, with Mr Richard John as his assistant Mr Hutchinson said that we have $1,000/year ap- propriated for this position if you want to pay $500 to each Chairman Miley did not feel that the assistant should be on a permanent basis but perhaps as temporary She asked if the Board would want to continue this as a paying operation or would want to use some of the money for the guides, or should the whole operation be on a volunteer basis with the Director and the guides The Board agreed to the appointment of Mr Cronin as the Director of Guides and voted the following Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to request the Manager to discuss with Mr Neil Cronin the possibility of his becoming the Director of Guides and attempt to work out an arrangement under which this might be accomplished, and an arrangement for working out guidelines for the conduct of the program. Traffic Chairman Miley read two recommendations from the Traffic Safety Committee Signs Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to amend the Traffic Rules and Regulations to include Stop signs at the intersections of Wilson Road and Roodevelt Road; Ellison Road and Rossevelt Road Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to amend the Traffic Rules and Regulations to include No Parking signs at Park Drive and Waltham Street Approval of the State DPW is to be requested Resigna. Chairman Miley read a letter of resignation from Mr Bowyer Assoc Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to accept the resigna- Board of tion of Mr Robert A. Bowyer as an Associate Member of the Board of Appeals Appeals Mr Crain said that in the line of questioning to him at Town Meeting MVMH regarding Mystic Valley Mental Health, it is very important that the Manager get back to us within a month Having worked with the Human Services Com- mittee and established specifically the kinds of dat that they want, so, in turn, Mystic Valley can be asked if they are going to be able to be responsive Mr Crain said that was the commitment he had made on the floor of Town Meeting 13 Selectmen's Meeting - 5 - March 31, 1980 Chairman Miley read a letter from Mr Clifford Porter, President of Appt. the Republican Town Committee, recommending the re-appointment of Mr Registrar Simmons Voters Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to re-appoint Mr William B Simmons, 82 North Street, a Registrar of Voters for a three year term expiring March 31, 1983 Mr Hutchinson requested approval of a transfer of $7,000 to the Transfer Fire and Police Medical Account in order to pay current bills Acct Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to request the #1125 Appropriation Committee's approval of a transfer of $7,000 from the Reserve Fund to Account #1125-Fire and Police Medical Mr Hutchinson recommended approval of bonds Bonds Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to approve the following bonds Town Clerk in the amount of $6,500; Town Treasurer in the amount of $170,000; Tax Collector in the amount of $160,000 Mr Hutchinson requested approval of a road race and a parade High School permit Road Race Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to approve the request of the Lexington High School Senior Class to conduct a road race on Sunday, May 4, 1980 at 1 00 p m , subject to coordination with the Police Department Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to approve the Youth request of the Recreation Department for a parade permit for the open- League ing day of the youth league programs on Saturday, April 26, at 10 00 a m. Parade Mr Hutchinson recommended that two members of the Engineering Town Division be designated to walk the town boundaries Boundaries Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to approve the recommendation of the Town Manager that Paul Veers and William DeRose of the Engineering Division be designated as the representatives of the Town of Lexington to walk the town boundaries with the representatives of Belmont, Arlington, Winchester, Woburn, Burlington, Bedford, Lincoln, and Waltham during the period of May 12 through May 16, 1980 Mrs Battin said that there is a report which was distributed to the Board this evening, and Bob Kent served on the committee at the Mass Municipal Associations, about reforming county government, and the Board of Directors of the MMA voted to go along with the recom- mendations of that report EUISETISe Mrs Battin said that according to our policies and procedures, E we have to have a vote of the Board ahead of time for any member of tion Fee - the Board to attend conferences On April 18, she and Mr Crain had been asked to attend the Mass Municipal Association conference on Pensions The registration fee is $15 each Mr Crain said that he was not sure he would be able to attend and rather than have the town expend the money, if he is able to make it he will take care of the fee The Board voted to approve Selectmen's Meeting - 6 - March 31, 1980 111 Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to adjourn at 10 05 p m. A true record, Attest (71)C ecutive Clerk, Selectmen r 1> I