Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout1979-11-19-BOS-min SELECTMEN'S MEETING NOVEMBER 19, 1979 A regular meeting of the Board of Selectmen was held in the Select- men's Meeting Room, Town Office Building, on Monday, November 19, 1979, at 7 30 p m. Chairman Miley, Mr Busa, Mrs Battin, Mr Kent, Mr Crain; Mr Hutchinson, Town Manager; Mr Cohen, Town Counsel; Mrs Banks, Assistant to the Town Manager; Mrs McCurdy, Executive Clerk, were present Mrs Martha Wood, Chairman, and Mr Robert Bowyer, TMMA Executive TMMA - Committee, met with the Board regarding changes in the warrant format Warrant Among the recommendations were (1) The operating budget to be placed Format in logical sequence and henceforth not to be know specifically as Article 4 (2) Development of guidelines for proponents to follow on submission of citizens articles (3) Print the complete reworded relevant sections of amended by-laws (4) Additional comments by boards, committees other than the Appropriation and Capital Expendi- tures Committees (5) Include an explanation if a 2/3 vote is re- quired (5) Prior to December 1, the Board of Selectmen should send a letter to all town boards, etc informing them of the closing date of the warrant and soliciting further suggestions for improving the warrant After discussion, the Board agreed to take the recommendations under advisement and to schedule a later meeting with TMMA members Chairman Miley said it will be an agenda item for the breakfast meet- ing on December 7 with the Chairmen of Town Boards and Committees The Board approved the following agenda items Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to approve Certificate 113 Hartwell Avenue as the mailing address for IL Charitable Founda- of Incorp tion, Inc Also, 55 Middleby Road as the mailing address for the Bridge School Extended Day Program, Inc It was voted to table the Wayside Square Condominium Associa- tion, Inc pending further information on the location Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to approve 1-Day 1-Day liquor licenses for W R Grace Company Employees Association Liquor Lic retirement parties on November 29 and November 30, 1979 Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to sign the Proclama- Proclamation declaring that the time, from this date to December 28, tion 1979 shall be a time for enlisting financial support from the citi- zens to keep the portraits of Martha and George Washington in New England Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to approve the Minutes minutes of the Selectmen's meetings of August 27 and September 24, 1979 Selectmen's Meeting - 2 - November 19, 1979 Resigna- Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to accept with tion regret the resignation of Mrs Joyce Hals as a member of the Trans- ' portation Advisory Committee 1980 Liq Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to renew the Licenses Package Goods liquor licenses for Berman's Market, Inc ; 1775 Wine & Package Spirits Shop, Inc Stores Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to renew the Club liquor license for the Lexington Council #94 Knights of Columbus Build- Club ing Association, Inc Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to renew the Com- Common mon Victualler liquor license for Yangtze River Restaurant Vict The Board deliberated on the application from Peking Gardens for renewal of its liquor license A health problem on the premises had recently been reported by the Health Director Mr Hutchinson informed the Board that the owner had taken steps to correct the problem and he will contact the owner again to express the Board's concern that the conditions be rectified and completely under control Mr Crain stated that they should do their own policing and it should be made very clear that he would be completely intolerant of recurring conditions Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to renew the Com- mon Victualler liquor license for Peking Gardens Restaurant Sewer Mr Cohen recommended that the Board approve the request of the Bettermnt Lexington Golf Club for further deferment of sewer betterment assess- Deferment ments; they have withdrawn litigation against the town Lex Golf Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to again defer Club payment of sewer betterment assessments against property owned by the Lexington Golf Club located on Lot 27, Map 58, Hill Street, in the amounts of $3,061 68 and $1,331 41, without interest, until said land or any part thereof is built upon, sold or until the expiration of three years from this date, whichever event occurs first; provided, however, that this extension of time shall terminate immediately if said land or any portion thereof is built upon or sold Dog Mr Busa discussed the dog hearing he conducted on October 31 on the Hearing written complaint of Patricia C Maddox, 64 Paul Revere Road, that a dog owned by Scott Douglas, 60 Paul Revere Road, is a nuisance by reason of Douglas/ excessive barking Mr Busa said it appears to be a situation between Maddox two neighbors who live on small lots He recommended that the dog be equipped with an anti bark training collar while it is out during the day, and the dog is to be brought into the house by 8 00 p.m. Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to accept Mr Busa's recommendations and to issue an order to Ms Hilda Douglas, 60 Paul Revere Road, that the Board of Selectmen has determined that the German Shepherd dog licensed to and kept by her at 60 Paul Revere Road is a nuisance by reason of excessive barking and within fourteen days shall be kept under the following restraints 1 Equip the dog with an anti-bark training collar while it is out during the day 2 Bring the dog into the house by 8 00 p m. each evening. -�o Selectmen's Meeting - 3 - November 19, 1979 Representative Lincoln P Cole, Jr and Senator Samuel Rotondi met Meeting eting with the Board Chairman Miley welcomed them and said we would like to With discuss a list of policy questions Legislators "Can we remove the legislature and defer to the Advisory Board in the county budget process?" Mrs Miley said the county budget is some- thing she was concerned about and she was very distressed after the Ad- visory Board having voted against the $18,000 position on tourism, it was voted anyway Now, we have one more job in the county and there will be other people to staff that Senator Rotondi said the informa- tion given the Senate was by statute that position had to be in place prior to about $100,000 coming to Middlesex County The state was the one really behind the statute to begin with and the commerce group in- fluenced the passing in order to have the position in place to be able to dispense the money when it was sent down Mrs Miley said the argu- ment of the Advisory Board was that this was a duplication of the state "What is the status of state absorption of all court related costs, particularly rent?" Mr Kent said that Senator Rotondi sent us a letter suggesting that the problem went back to the limitations that were in- cluded in the 1980 budget and then a provision that it was up to the County Commissioners to negotiate that rent with the appropriate state agency but for not more than an amount which was set in the '79 or '80 budget Letters from County Commissioners suggested we needed to talk with our representatives in the legislature about this Senator Rotondi's letter indicated that it was up to the commissioners to negotiate Mr Kent felt the letter indicated that the state people with whom the com- missioners were to negotiate rent had such a low limit placed upon their authority that without additional authority by law from the legislature, as a practical matter, these costs of operating those courthouses are going to continue toj$ehabsorbed by the counties, and thus by the com- munities Mr Ken 1iiad (rouble with this in the light of the enthusiastic support that both we and you gave to the court reorganization bill Senator Rotondi said it doesn't necessarily have to follow that we are going to absorb it all at the county level Back when the court was recommending an adequate amount of money per sq ft for court facilities, the Governor wouldn't hear of it and his Administration & Finance group cut it down substantially to the point now where $5 7 million put into that budget last year represents about $1 40 per sq ft , which is totally inadequate The cutting by A & F was so severe that they began to cut the square footage of the hallways in the courts, and that is not included in our fiscal budget this year We have set in place in the statute a committee that will look into the very issue of court facilities, their space, appropriate rental fees, and even the look down the road of taking them over A study will be done by June and we should wait and see what the report says Also, it makes sense for the County Commissioners to exercise the power they have under Chapter 29 to get the processes going so we can finally take a look at what we've got and fund it accordingly I Selectmen's Meeting - 4 - November 19, 1979 "MBTA - The Advisory Board should be supported as an organization so that municipal concerns are addressed " Chairman Miley said we included this as there is some talk around the state house to do away with the MBTA Advisory Board or at least diminish its role. Representative Cole said he had no objection to doing away with the Advisory Board if the state assumes all costs of the MBTA. Mr Crain expressed his concern about the monitoring and control functions The current advisory function is providing very penetratingly, critical monitoring of the MBTA. META assessments were discussed and Mr Hutchinson said we have problems explaining to people what they are getting for that money In his opinion, the receivership argument has real merit "Massport Authority - What are the facts on a permanent Hanscom Advisory Committee?" Chairman Miley said that over the years the com- mittee seems to be losing its strength, and she asked about the legis- lation that is being filed again? Representative Cole said he had talked to Mr Kent about filing a bill Senator Rotondi said he would join them. He added that Mr Davis of Massport has shown a great deal of respect for the Advisory Committee and the hope for its future "What is the status of a pension reform bill?" Mrs Battin said the Massachusetts Municipal Associations will file legislation to set up a blue ribbon study commission similar to the civil service reform com- mission, to study pension reform and include representatives of the municipal side also We wondered what your feeling is about the chances of the legislation passing? Senator Rotondi said this will come before his committee, the Pension Subcommittee, and they are looking into areas not only on pension liability but investment of pension capital As far as what is going on in the meantime, the state has done a pretty good job of reaching the goal of 100% funding at least on a 40-year amortized basis Mr Crain said we are keenly aware in this town that our 5-year projection of $1 1 million dollars currently being absorbed out of operating expense is going to become $1 9 million We have to face up to unfunded liability Representative Cole said that some towns do not want to appropriate money and put it on the tax rate Mr Crain said they are going to have to pay double downstream "Tax reform - Would you support legislation that continues to providde sharing of state revenues with the cities and towns?" Mr Hutchinson asked what they see happening with the property tax taking so much? There is a real concern and petitions will be coming out Representative Cole said that any petition going around to cut taxes is going to appear on a ballot, and chances are very good that it will pass The real problem is that the programs you will want to have, the public is not going to concern themselves with when they make their vote. If a tax limitation proposal is approved, state and local governments are going to face dilemmas as cutbacks will be mandated If anything ever needed to be addressed, it is tax reform He had filed a bill for the state to take over the cost of public education up to a level, so there is a uniform level across the state; if the city or town wants to go above that level, they do so at their own risk At least you would have a minimum education which would be equal across the state. Selectmen's Meeting - 5 - November 19, 1980 Mrs Battin said the Massachusetts Municipal Associations Board of Directors voted unanimously that we constitute a tax reform coma mittee to seriously look at tax reform that we could support decreas- ing reliance on the property tax; the committee will be formed this year We will file legislation a couple of years from now Senator Rotondi said the position is going to be difficult The 2 5 is one that responsible people are going to have to beat back by any way they can; it should be opposed and he will do that An alterna- tive to the property tax vis-a-vis educational costs is simply not in the future with the type of objections we have with the revenues going down this year He didn't see the federal and state governments par- ticipating in any greater amount in local educational costs On binding arbitration, several years ago, Senator Rotondi was opposed to it and was on the side of the Massachusetts Municipal Associations Now, he finds himself in a strange position of opposing them because of their support of police and fire attempts to do away with written opinions regarding binding arbitration awards Mr Hutchinson asked if there is any chance of the expansion of the sales tax, which is a legitimate source of revenue? Rep Cole did not see this happening, at least in the coming year Sen. Rotondi said with the revenues projected the way they are now, we could be forced into a situation where we would have no choice The idea of the sales tax was that it was go ing to local aid Representative Cole discussed the state audit and said that over the years it has been a combination of MBTA management and the advisory board not facing the problems that existed at the time, and they did not put in enough money for maintenance Mr Crain said the problems are very com- plicated, very diverse, covering the way revenue_is To ntrolled - covering the way new equipment is ordered and front-ended, paid for and not received; labor policies to allow overtime in the case of one individual of $22,000 a year As he read the audit, it is going to require some extraordinary measures and a lot of very professional management Municipal Financial Disclosure was discussed and the legislators were informed that Mr Kent had put together a position to be submitted to the State Ethics Commission Fiscal Notes - Rep Cole and Sen Rotondi would support legislation Mrs Battin said the Municipal Associations will file a bill Administrative Procedures - The Board is to receive a bulletin giving the dates of hearings Chairman Miley added if something important comes up, we would appreciate a call Tenure for the position of Building Inspector Senator Rotondi said the original bill gave unlimited tenure to all Building Inspectors and we said no to that, but recognizing in some communities there was a difficult g g practice going on where he had difficult decisions to make, we thought a 2-year period and every two years would be a sufficient one Mr Kent said the surprising aspect of that bill is the municipal associations didn't pick up its existence until it was on the Governor's desk on the first go- around The point is, for the legislature to mandate for all of us - taking tenure for Building Inspectors away from the decision-making process of Boards and Town Meeting - I have trouble with it r3 Selectmen's Meeting - 6 - November 19, 1979 Senator Rotondi said the bill only impacted certain communities who were non-civil service communities; Building Inspectors in com- munities with civil service have tenure anyway Mr Kent said that is the point Who should say whether a comp- munity is going to be civil service on a matter of this character? That is a matter for the community itself to determine Senator Rotondi said he wished that opposing view was brought before the committee The facts they got were that ever since the imposition of our new building code, the numbers of firings throughout the state were staggering. The_State Building Inspectors ' group came in with evidence and no one contested it Support for Middlesex Community College's capital improvements program. Chairman Miley asked if there were any recommendations Representative Cole said the part he could become involved in is the operational budget, and each year he works on that As far as build- ings are concerned, the Advisory Board must write letters and make telephone calls If you want some action of a particular problem, quote how well the other community colleges seem to be making out Senator Rotondi said no one had approached him Chairman ,Miley asked for their support Chairman Miley thanked Representative Cole and Senator Rotondi for meeting with the Board and hoped they would come in on a more regular basis Historical Mrs Anne Grady, Chairman of the Historical Commission, met with Commission the Board to discuss listing Lexington properties for the National Register of Historic Places Mrs Grady said they would finish a survey of the town and then prepare a preservation plan The in- formation would be sent to the state and used by them Mr Busa asked if they were going to get into personal property, and it was agreed that research should be done on the ramifications of in- cluding more buildings and properties Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to table the matter pending a meeting of Mr Busa and Mr Cohen to discuss the legal ramifications of adding to the Historical Commission's list Chairman Miley said the Board would find it useful if we could get some experience of other communities, and the Historical Com- mission should get that information to us Mr Kent did not participate in the discussion or the vote. Hanscom Chairman Miley read a recommendation from Mrs Jacqueline Smith Field that Lexington support the Town of Concord's request that we join with them in endorsing their proposal that Massport designate a 101-acre parcel of land at the end of one of the runways at Hanscom for con- servation-recreation use In reviewing the map, no pieces of Massport property within Lexington boundaries are affected by this Mr Busa raised questions and said that if used for other than conservation purposes, people could be in an area that would be hazardous if it is near a runway Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to table the matter pending further information submitted by Mrs Smith at the next meeting Selectmen's Meeting - 7 - November 19, 1979 Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to call the Town Town Elect Election Day on Monday, March 3, 1980 with polling hours of 7 00 a.m Presidential to 8 00 p m. It was voted to set the polling hours of 7 00 a m to primary 8 00 p m. for the Presidential Primary on Tuesday, March 4, 1980 It was voted to call the Annual Town Meeting on Monday, March 17, 1980, Town Meeting at 8 00 p m. in Cary Memorial Hall Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to close the war- Close rant on Friday, December 28, 1979, at 4 30 p m. for the submission oaf Warrant Articles for the 1980 Annual Town Meeting Mr Nyles Barnert, Chairman of the Capital Expenditures Committee, Cap Expend met with the Board, and said that his committee is concerned that the Committee - policies used as a basis for determining the level of expenditures for Policies on capital items for the Department of Public Works are no longer applicable DPW Capital or adequate In particular, we feel, (1) A policy is needed for sewer Items construction beyond the sewer master plan approved by Town Meeting; (2) Policy updates are needed with regard to street acceptance procedures; (3) A policy must be formulated to utilize the result of the Comprehensive Drainage Study for capital expenditures for drains; (4) Policy clarifica- tions are required regarding use of non-town manpower for sidewalk, curb, and water main construction Mr Barnert said the committee needs direction and ybur decision to come up with a capital plan Chairman Miley thanked Mr Barnert for bringing these changes to the Board's attention, and consideration will be given to coming up with a plan The Board voted to approve the following items on the Manager's Contract agenda. The request of the senior class of the High School for a 80-1-E road race on December 9, 1979, subject to the regulations of the Sewers Police Department. To approve an increase in the amount of the bond for Constable Roy Murphy from $3,000 to $5,000 To sign Contract Constable's 80-1-E, awarded on October 4, 1979 to Great Northern Construction, Inc Bond in the amount of $297,570 64 for sanitary sewer construction in Carville Avenue, Winship Road, Round Hill Road, Middleby Road, King Street, Moon Hill, Wellington Lane Avenue, Robinson Road, Rockville Avenue, David Road, and Bird Hill Road Authorization under Article 19 of 1979 Mr Cohen discussed the recommendation of the Town Assessor to Monahan revise the vote of October 29, 1979 to defer $2,685 39 in sewer better- Sewer Bet ment assessments levied on the property on Summer Street owned by Deferment Robert P Monahan and Agnes B Allen, and to vote a deferment of $2,168 31 Betterments of $517 08 must be paid as they have been committed by the Tax Collector Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to table the matter pending additional information from Mr Cohen I C ') Selectmen's Meeting - 8 - November 19, 1979 Sewer Bet Mr Hutchinson recommended approval of Mr Robert Cataldo's request Deferment for deferment of sewer betterment assessment levied on his property Cataldo Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted under the pro- visions of Chapter 159 of the Acts of 1950 to defer payment of the sewer betterment assessment on Lot 31/60A, owned by Mr Robert Cataldo and located on Marrett Road, in the amount of $4,112 69, without interest, until said land or any part thereof is built upon, sold or until the expiration of three years from the date hereof, whichever event occurs first; provided however that this extension of time shall terminate immediately if said land or any portion thereof is built upon or sold Land Mr Hutchinson recommended that the property requested by Mrs Purchase Laura L Persily be conveyed to her, subject to an appraisal being Persily made Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to sell and convey Lot 18, Map 59, Heyward Avenue to Mrs Laura L Persily, 19 Heywood Avenue, subject to fair market value being established by an appraisal made by the Board of Assessors LEXPRESS Mr Hutchinson recommended approval of the reduction in price of PASS the unlimited pass for LEXPRESS Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to approve the recommendation of the Transportation Advisory Committee and the Town Manager for a reduction in the price of the unlimited pass for LEXPRESS from $30 00 to $25 00 per year, effective December 1, 1979 and expiring I in August, 1980 Tax The Board agreed with Mr Hutchinson's recommendation to establish Policy a Tax Policy Committee to assess the impact of the initiative petition Com proposals that are scheduled to be on the ballot in November, 1980 With the talent and expertise in our community, a local committee could prepare a report for the Board and Town Meeting on the impact of pro- posed taxing legislation and even generate some suggested alternatives Mrs Battin applauded the Manager's recommendation as it is very im- portant - both the impact and the initiative petitions and how they will affect us We are looking for documentation for the municipal associations to fight these as to how it will affect the sample number of communities She had brought it up at the meeting of the full Board of Directors of the Massachusetts Municipal Association, and it was voted unanimously to reconstitute the Tax Reform Committee, and perhaps in 1982 to file a tax reform proposal Executive Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted 5*+0 by roll call vote - Session Mrs Miley, Mr Busa, Mrs Battin, Mr Kent, Mr Crain - to go into executive session for the purpose of discussing strategy with respect to litigation and the purchase of land, with no intention of resuming the open meeting After discussion, it was voted to go out of executive session. Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to adjourn at 10 35 p m. A true record, Attest Executive Clerk, Selectmen