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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1980-03-10-BOS-min 1 � SELECTMEN'S MEETING MARCH 10, 1980 A regular meeting of the Board of Selectmen was held in the Selectmen's Meeting Room, Town Office Building, on Monday, March 10, 1980 at 7 30 P M. Chairman Miley, Mrs Battin, Mr Kent, Mr Crain; Mr Hutchinson, Town Mana- ger; Mr Cohen, Town Counsel; Mrs Banks, Assistant to the Town Manager; Miss Casey, Principal Clerk, Selectmen, were present Chairman Miley opened the meeting with a hearing on the application of N E Tel the N E Tel & Tel and Boston Edison Company for permission to install a Boston joint stub pole on the corner of School Street and Mass Avenue Mr Pinault Edison representative of the Telephone Company explained that the proposed work is Pole loc necessary to support Pole 57/187 which is currently supported by a diseased Mass Ave tree that is being removed by the Town Chairman Miley read a recommenda- School St tion from Warren A Empey, Acting Director, Dept of Public Works, recommend- ing approval of the request Notices of the hearing had been sent to the abutters and filed with the Public Works Department Mr Thomas F Anthony, one of the abutters, addressed the Board and explained that he had previously opposed this work, but had since talked with Telephone Company, Boston Edison and Public Works representatives and has withdrawn his objections Upon motion duly made and seconded, Mr Crain abstaining, it was voted to grant permission to the New England Telephone Company and Boston Edison Company for the following installation Massachusetts Avenue on the northeast side, approximately 105'± (feet) west of School Street, one (1) Pole 57/1875 Chairman Miley read a petition from the N E Tel & Tel for permission N E Tel to install approximately sixty-five feet of conduit in East Street necessary & Tel to service a new condominium. Notices of the hearing had been sent to the Conduit abutters and filed with the Public Works Department Mrs Miley read a reco- East St mmendation from Mr Empey recommending approval Mr Stewart Taylor, one of the abutters addressed the Board and stated that he had talked to the Tele- phone representative and had been assured that there would be no physical im- pairment to his property and on that basis he had no objections Upon motion duly made and seconded, Mr Crain abstaining, it was voted to grant permission to the New England Telephone Company for the following conduit location East Street on the southwesterly side, from Doran Farm Lane, a Private Way, northeasterly to existing Pole 27/23, approximately 65+ (feet) of conduit Mr Roland Pinault, Telephone Company representative, addressed the N E Tel Board and requested that a petition for manhole locations on Massachusetts & Tel Avenue, tabled by the Board at its meeting on September 10, 1979 be removed Manhole from the table He explained that Mr Thomas F Anthony, had at that time Mass Ave objected and hee has talked with Mr Anthony and explained the process to him and Mr Anthony has now withdrawn his objections Upon motion duly made and seconded, Mr Crain abstaining, it was voted to remove from the table the petition of the N E Tel & Tel Co tabled on September 10, 1979 \ - 2 - Selectmen's Meeting March 10, 1980 The Chairman read the petition and the report from the Acting Director of Public Works recommending approval f Upon motion duly made and seconded, Mr Crain abstaining, it was voted to grant permission to the New England Telephone Company for the following location Massachusetts Avenue on the northerly side, approximately 80'+ (feet) west of School Street, one (1) Manhole 54/87A; also, on the northerly side, approximately 20+ (feet) west of Paul Revere Road, one (1) Manhole 54/88C N E Tel The Chairman read a petition from the N E Tel & Tel and Boston Edison Boston for permission to remove two joint owned poles on Lowell Street No hearing Edison required and approval had been given by the Public Works Department Lowell Upon motion duly made and seconded, Mr Crain abstaining, it was voted Street to grant permission to the N E Tel & Tel and Boston Edison for the following Poles location Lowell Street on the southerly side, approximately 23+ (feet) east of Peartree Road, one (1) pole; also, on the southerly side approximately 54+ (feet) west of Peartree Road, one (1) pole Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to approve issuance of the following licenses Licenses AUCTIONEER LICENSES William G Marley, William Sennott, Robert N Cann ONE DAY LIQUOR LICENSES St Brigid's Parish, RAEDACC Assoc of W R. Grace & Co Dog Hearing Chairman Miley recommended a decision be made by the Board on the Verdone Neville/ dog hearing conducted by Mr Busa on February 27, 1980 The hearing was held Verdone on the written complaint of Mr William Neville that the dog was a nuisance running loose in violation of the leash law and destroying his property Mrs Miley read Mr Busa's recommendation that the dog be kept within strict compliance with the Lexington Leash Law or court action be taken by the Board of Selectmen and a copy of the Leash Law be forwarded to Mrs Verdone Upon motion duly made and seconded it was voted to notify Mrs Verdone of the following decision by the Board of Selectmen regarding her dog "That this dog must be kept within strict compliance with the Lexington Leash Law or court action will be taken by the Board of Selectmen A copy of the Leash Law enclosed " Outer 65 The Board discussed the invitation from Paul E Means, Member, Board of MBTA Directors of the MBTA to attend the third meeting of the Outer 65 (suburban) invitation Communities Consumer Panel on Thursday evening, March 20 at the Scudder, Stevens & Clark Co , 175 Federat St , Boston Mr Crain stated that he felt that a representative should be one who frequents the MBTA and he was unaware that people locally were having problems He suggested to "leave it where it is" Mrs Battin stated that there was a broad based cooalition being formed to improve the MBTA and that she would keep the Board informed regarding it The Board agreed Amendment The Chairman referred the Board to its copies of a report from the State Ch 268A Ethics Commission relative to the Amendment to Chapter 268A, the Commonwealth's Conflict Conflict of Interest Statute of In- Mrs Battin informed the Board that the bill had been passed and signed terest by the Governor, therefore, there was nothing that the Board could do now I �� - 3 - Selectmen's Meeting March 10, 1980 The Manager referred the Board to its copies of the Town Engineer's re- Sewer port on the Rockville Avenue sewer easement Mr Hanlon reported that he Easement had met with Mr Anthony Busa regarding a piece of property between Rockville Busa Avenue and Philip Road, owned by Anthony C & Beatrice E Busa to discuss the Rockville Avenue sewer, currently under contract, as well as the proposed acceptance of Rockville Avenue, in an effort to determine how to proceed relative to this piece of land Town Counsel prepared a draft agreement for Mr Busa's review giving the Town rights to construct and maintain the sewer until the land was taken by eminent domain as part of the street acceptance process After reviewing the draft agreement, Mr Busa stated he wished to negotiate both the sewer and street matters as one It As Mr Hanlon's feeling this could not be done at this_time He, therefore, in order to insure smooth progress on the existing contract, requested a sewer easement be taken and requested the Board vote the intent to take the easement Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted the intent to take the sewer easement across a piece of property between Rockville Avenue and Philip Road owned by Anthony C & Beatrice E Busa The Manager referred the Board to the recommendation of the Building Red Commissioner to tear down the Red Cross Building because of the unsound con- Cross dition of the building Ms Sara Chase of the Historical Commission ex- Building pressed the feelings of the members of the Historical Society, the Historic Districts Commission and the Historical Commission that the building must not be torn down The building dates from the early 19th century and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is an important component of the setting of the Battle Green She requested the Selectmen to allow ample time for a creative solution to the problem The Chairman stated that it was her hope that perhaps some interested groups might be able to get together and raise same funds and save the building and restore it The Board assured Ms Chase that the building would not be taken down until the situation had been thoroughly investigated and requested an estimate of the cost to re- store it The Manager requested Board approval of bond in the amount of $50,000 Town for his position as Manager, cost of $140 00 provided in the Town Manager's Manager budget Bond Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to approve the bond for the Town Manager in the amount of $50,000 The Manager requested the Board's authorization for the Historical Com- Historica] mission to proceed on a program in cooperation with the Massachusetts His- Comm. torical Commission for completing the inventory and preservation plan of the B U structures over 50 years of age in Lexington Ms Chase informed the Board that Boston University's graduate program in Historic Preservation Studies will offer a preservation planning field study course next year and the His- torical Commission feels that the program would stbstantially meet its needs Boston University has indicated that Lexington could be considered as a po- tential site The cost of the program is under $2,000 and would be supported Via the Historical Commission II/ Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to authorize the His- torical Commission to proceed on a program in cooperation with Boston Uni- versity's graduate program in Historic Preservation Studies hyo - 4 - Selectmen's Meeting March 10, 1980 Budget The Manager requested approval of an increase of $100,000, due to in- Increases creased energy costs, in Road Machinery, Street Lights, Building Mainten- ance, Fire and Police budgets Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to increase the follow- ing budgets subject to Appropriation Committee approval #5450 - Road Machinery increase $40,000 to $278,700 #5600 - Street Lights increase $30,000 to $280,000 #5250 - Building Maintenance increase $20,000 to $222,945 #4150 - Fire increase $5,000 to $98,900 #3800 - Police increase $5,000 to $160,425 Wilson Rd The Board discussed the possibility of putting sidewalks on Wilson Road sidewalk and Roosevelt Road and the installation of a barrier at the Hastings School entrance from Roosevelt Road and Wilson Road Mr Kent said thjs was iresented as a very serious problem for children traveling to school Mrs Battin agreed and suggested that the matter be tabled for a future meeting when the School Committee and other interested parties could attend Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to table the matter of the construction of a sidewalk on Wilson Road for a future meeting Contract The Manager requested Board authorization of an additional $1,195 55 on #80-3-E Contract #80-3-E Cold Planing and Resurfacing awarded to Sarao Bros Inc Sarao Bros He informed the Board that favorable prices made it possible to add the following streets to those originally included in the contract Winter Street - 800 linear feet leveling and top Concord Avenue - 1100 linear feet top to Belmont line Bedford Street - 300 linear feet top at jug handle to Hartwell Avenue Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to approve an additional $1,195 55 on Contract #80-3-E Cold Planing and Resurfacing awarded to Sarao Bros Inc CATV The Chairman read a request from William R. Page, Chairman of the CATV Appt Committee to appoint Dr Alan Frohman to the Committee to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of Dr Peter Shapiro Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to appoint Dr Alan Frohman, 12 Todd Road, Lexington to the Cable Television Committee 1Munroe The Board met with the Council on Aging and the Senior Center Site Com- School mittee to discuss the possibility of the Selectmen recommending to Town Meet- Senior ing the use of Munroe School as a senior center Center Mr William Sen, Chairman of the Council on Aging presented each Board Member with a detailed report of the seniors' activities, and the need for enlarged quarters in order to consolidate the multiple activities of the senior citizens and also to enable expansion of some of the programs The Board agreed that there was a real need for a senior center Mr Smith, of the School Sites Conversion Committee felt that some money could be spent on Munroe School now and renovate it for use as a senior cen- ter and start the Council on Aging on the road they want to go and the Town would have a viable building instead of an old school He felt that the de- cision should be made now as the possibility of use of Muzzey Junior High would cause a delay of five or six years !9 ! - 5 - Selectmen's Meeting March 10, 1980 Mr Zabin, former Planning Board Member, pointed out to the Board that Munroe School is the only school that is being closed that is not suitable for use for housing He felt that Muzzey and Adams are likely candidates for conversion to housing His feeling was that if the Board deferred a decision on Munroe for the purpose of seeing what could be done with Muzzey the Board would have to consider competing uses for Muzzey and Adams that they don't have for Munroe He felt that of the three, Munroe is the best suided and if a decision is delayed the cost would obviously increase Mrs Battin pointed out that expansion of the senior center use of Mun- roe would be possible, if necessary, by taking over more of the rooms and tenants would have to leave This would make it possible to have congregate meals in several rooms, which was one of the question brought up at a pre- vious meeting The Manager felt that kitchen facilities and serving of meals should be on one floor Mrs Battin said that she was trying to figure out if Munroe would be suitable for the next ten or twenty years by shifting different facilities around within the building Mr Crain felt that there was insufficient information to make such a determination He also stated that if the Board, working with the School Committee, could have the last year before closing as a time for planning in anticipation of its final closing, it would give the Board more time to formulate a decision as to its use The subject of congregate living was discussed and Mr Crain felt that Muzzey would provide enough space for housing and senior citizen facilities in one building and he felt that they are not mutually exclusive One member of the audience addressed the Board and said that this was tried in Brighton and proven to be unsuccessful due to numerious thefts and other inconveniences to those living there As a result, the congregate living site was closed down Mr Crain stated that he was not convinced that Munroe was the place for the Senior Center He felt that more explanations and information rela- tive to what the programs are and their growth potential is needed before a decision is made Mr Hutchinson informed the Board that he had inquired of the architect what the architectural cost would be and said he did not have the exact figures with him but it would be approximately $35,000 He pointed out that the use of Muzzey must be addressed by the Board as it seems it will be closed soon He suggested that he work with the architects and perhaps it might be done as a component of the study He suggested that he should go back and talk with some of the firms and find out what it would be to look at the plans that were mentioned for Munroe, following the traditional Town Meeting process, and what can be done looking at a facility like Muzzey, in particular, to get a study similar to what was done on Munroe He felt that those two schools are the only two that would be viable for such a purpose Mr Kent pointed out that he felt that what was important about the appropriation of enough money to do a very substantial study represents a Town Meeting commitment to the process He felt that if the Board simply set up a committee to do further study without this kind of financial support it would be ineffective He said he would like to see the community, as soon as possible, commit itself to something, the need for which, is no longer in doubt - 6 - Selectmen's Meeting March 10, 1980 During discussion, it was brought out that the study should include expansion possibilities, clearly defined activities and functions that are to occur and the inclusion of the Council on Aging and other interested advocacy groups for input into the report as well as those that would be using the facility Mr Hutchinson is to report to the Board next Monday with a defini- tive proposal from architectural firms Kendall Rd The Board met with Mr & Mrs Camac regarding the construction of the Sidewalk sidewalk on Kendall Road The Chairman briefed the Board relative to the sequence of events regarding the sidewalk When Kendall Road was brought up originally, it was for street construction and possible sidewalk con- struction The Camac's, through oversight, were not notified regarding the administrative hearing on the street construction They were disturbed be- cause their house was the only one that would have a sidewalk in front of it and they would prefer not to have this It was explained to them that there was a partial sidewalk on Kendall Road on this side and it was decided to extend it The Camac's were informed that they could take the issue before Town Meeting, which they decided to do Solid Waste Mr Reilly, Chairman of the Solid Waste Committee met with the Board to discuss the Committee's comprehensive report of the summary of alternatives of collection and disposal of solid waste and recyclable materials Mr Reilly explained the different alternatives and pointed out that on a three year contract there would be a 12% escalation allowances if the proposal of BFI was accepted, This would cost the town $510,000 for the first year, $530,000 for the second and $550,000 for the third The Board agreed to accept the Manager's recommendation to accept the recommendation of the Solid Waste Advisory Committee to accept the bid of Browning-Ferris Industries, Inc Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was vited to accept the three year bid of Browning-Ferris Industries, Inc for townwide collection of trash with out-of-town disposal at $510,000 for the first year, $530,000 for the second and $550,000 for the third Mystic Valley The Board met with the Human Services Committee to discuss the report Mental Healthre quested by the Selectmen regarding monies requested from the Town for 1981 from the Central Middlesex Association for Retarded Citizens, Inc (CMARC) , The Mystic Valley Mental Health Association and RePlace The Chairman of the Committee, Mrs Perez, and Mrs Pressman felt that the answers to questions that had been submitted to Mystic Valley were inadequate and the Committee felt that there was insufficient data for it to make an informed judgment They stated that there were internal control weaknesses that should be corrected Mrs Battin questioned if the Board decided to fund at all, could the funds be withheld until this area was corrected The Manager stated that this could be done only if there is a question about the level of care and the quality of services He also pointed out that the Board must make a recommendation to Town Meeting He stated that all the reports he has received indicated a high level of service and that they have received a substantial amount of data, but they do have problems He felt that there is a certain high level of service coming to the community but no overall composite tied to any goals of the town Mrs Battin asked the Manager if the item could be deleted from Town 193 - 7 - IIISelectmen's Meeting March 10, 1980 Meeting until other towns involved in Mystic Valley could be consulted to see if a common problem existed The Manager felt it more appropriate, rather than to delay the ap- propriation, to sustain a certain level of support and if Town Meeting wished to, it could set it back Mr Crain asked if it would be practical for the Human Services Com- mittee to define the kind of data that would be required in order that level funding for Mystic Valley is appropriate He felt that Town Meet- ing could be asked to provide level funding this year with requirements of a certain level of data if the Town is to continue to provide funds in subsequent fiscal years Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to provide level funding for the Mystic Valley Mental Health Associaton for the Fiscal Year 1981 The Manager informed the Board that he had recommended a 10% in- RePlace crease for RePlace as against their request for 20% He informed the Board that his office was not geared to give clerical help as requested by Re- Place Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to provide an increase of 10% for RePlace a total of $30,488 made up of $27,717 for RePlace, $6,600 for Mr McManus' salary and $300 00 for the Hot Line The Committee recommended level funding for CEMARC The Manager had CMARC not carried CEMARC in the budget and recommended no funding Mrs Bat tin felt that any funding should be tied into a salaried position that would help to alleviate some of the problems that CEMARC is experiencing Mr Crain stated that he would approve funding with the specific in- dication that the funds would be used for this purpose Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted that the sum of $5,000 be appropriated to be expended by the Board of Health under G L c40x5 (40C) and a contract be entered into with Central Middlesex Associa- tion for Retarded Citizens, Inc (CMARC) , which contract shall provide that the funds from the Town shall be earmarked toward a contract pro- curement salaried position for CMARC The Chairman informed the Board that there was nothing set aside in Mosquitos the budget for mosquito control She asked if the Board would be willing to set aside some money for this at this time to be used at the discretion of the Selectmen The Board agreed Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to appropriate $9,000 for mosquito control to be .used at the discretion of the Board of Selectmen Mr Cohen asked what date the Selectmen would be assuming responsi- Adams bility for Adams School He was advised that the motion for Town Meeting School should read September 1, 1980 WI - 8 - BAPERN The Board discussed the purchase of a new police two-way system. (Boston Area Police Emergency Radio Network) It was decided to appropriate $125,000 for this purchase III Upon motion duly made and seconded it was voted 3-1, Mrs. Miley, Mr. Kent, Mr Crain in the affirmative and Mrs Battin in the negative, to appropriate $125,000 for the purchase of a new two-way radio system NESWC The Manager asked the opinion of the Board regarding Article 29 of the Warrant, to contract with the Northeast Solid Waste Council for the disposal of solid waste. After a brief discussion, the Board agreed to sup- port the article. Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to support Article 29 of the Warrant, authorizing the Selectmen to contract with the Northeast Solid Waste Council for the disposal of solid waste. ( Executive Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted 4-0 by roll call vote ' Session to go into Executive Session for the puspose of discussing strategy with respect to a matter of litigation a►d a matter of real estate transfer with no intention of resuming open session A true record, attest 3 Beatrice M. Casey Principal Clerk, Selectmen