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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1979-11-05-BOS-min SELECTMEN'S MEETING NOVEMBER 5, 1979 A regular meeting of the Board of Selectmen was held in the Selectmen's Meeting Room, Town Office Building, on Monday, November 5, 1979 at 7:30 p.m. Chairman Miley, Mr Buse, 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 Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to table the re- Cert. of quest for approval of 83 Reed Street as the address for the Bridge Incorp School Extended Day Program, Inc pending recommendation of the School Committee The Transportation Advisory Committee report regarding the diff i- Wheelchair culty in obtaining MBTA approval of the proposed chair van was dis- Van cussed In October, 1978, the MBTA agreed to donate a wheelchair lift- equipped vehicle to the Town of Lexington as part of the suburban ex- periment This vehicle was to be shared with neighboring towns and funds were appropriated by Lexington, Bedford, Winchester, and the Minuteman Home Care Corporation. The wheelchair contract has been de- layed as there is some debate at the MBTA as to whether or not the Lexington vehicle is involved in the decision in favor or the MBTA union against the META operating the Boston elderly and handicapped vans The vehicle is ready to be painted with the Share-a-Van logo and an expenditure of $200 00 is to be divided among the four par- ticipants The Committee asked for the Board's assistance in ex- pediting the matter of MBTA approval. After discussion, Mr Hutchinson agreed to write to Mr Foster of the MBTA expressing our concern about the status of the implementa- tion of our proposed chaircar, and our understanding that the MBTA has brought legal action to assist in getting the system going The town would work with him on any problems which are delaying the proposal Also, Senator Rotondi, Chairman of the Legislative Transportation Com- mittee, and Representative Cole are to be made aware of the situation and asked for their assistance Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to approve the Minutes minutes of August 20 Executive Session, September 17, October 12, 1979 Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to accept the Water recommendation of the DPW Acting Director to abate the water bill of Abatement Keith Kline, 29 Winchester Drive, $262 80; meter reader error Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to sign the Sewer orders of taking for sewer easements off Moon Hill Road to Bird Hill Easements- Road, and Carville Avenue to Trotting Horse Drive, with awards of no Moon Hill damages, with the following exceptions $2,000 to Harriet Simpson, Carville Ave. 8 Trotting Horse Drive, $2,000 to George F & Anne A Grady, 10 Trotting Horse Drive Selectmen's Meeting - 2 - November 5, 1979 Bedford Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to approve the Common request of the Town of Bedford to amend the current Common Carrier Carrier license to the Bedford Local Transit to allow the pick-up and dis- charge of passengers on Lexington town ways in the Hanscom Field area Breakfast The Board agreed to meet on December 7 at 7 30 a m with the Meeting Chairmen of Boards and Committees Human The Board discussed appointments to the Human Service Committee Service Mr Crain said that the Board interviewed nineteen people who demon- Committee strated an interest in being appointed to the committee As always Appointments in this town, they were a highly diversified and qualified group of people. One question asked of each of them was whether they could dedicate at least one might a week between now and January, and those who remain on the list all indicated they could Having had these in-depth interviews and the benefit of resumes which were avail- able to us before the interviews, we then thought to relay our reactions to the individuals we have listed before us with an alphabetic symbol beside the name, and then we ranked them 1 through 10 It had already been determined by the Board that the committee would be comprised of seven people Based on the compilation of results, the Board agreed to appoint seven members Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to appoint the following members of the Human Service Committee Stephen Baran, 19 Mason Street; Ruth Burler, 8 Captain Parker Arms; Howard Levingston, , 358 N Emerson Road; Barry Marshall, Four Taft Avenue; Ruth Nablo, 6 Brigham Road; Adelaide N Osborne, 17 Shade Street; Carol Perez, 3 Westwood Road Mrs Perez is to convene the first committee meeting Parade Mr Hutchinson recommended approval of a parade permit Permit Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to approve a parade permit for the high school homecoming on November 10, 1979, subject to coordination with the police and fire departments Hartwell Mr Hutchinson recommended approval of a proposal from the Depositors Avenue Trust Company for the construction of a sidewalk at the bank site on Sidewalk - Hartwell Avenue The proposal is for the town to lay out, grade and gravel Depotitors to grade the sidewalk; also make the necessary curb cuts for the handicapped Trust ramps, loam and seed the strip between the sidewalk and curb line Deposi- tors Trust would pave the sidewalk per town specifications, and would also construct a dry, fieldstone wall at the end of old Westview Street if the town desires The area between the proposed wall and Bedford Street will be graded and landscaped Mr Hutchinson informed the Board that, if approved, the only thing the town would provide is the labor Therefore, in order to take advantage of the good weather, he requested authorization to proceed with the side- walk It would not impinge upon any part of the study of a bicycle route Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to approve the con- struction of a sidewalk on Hartwell Avenue at the proposed site of the Depositors Trust Company, as outlined by the Town Manager, subject to Town Counsel's review and satisfaction that the Town either owns or has an easement over the land upon which the sidewalk is to be located Selectmen's Meeting - 3 - November 5, 1979 The School Sites Conversion Committee, School Committee, Dr Lawson, Munroe Superintendent of Schools, Mrs Shunney, Chairman of Housing Authority, School Mr Sen, Chairman of Council on Aging, met with the Board Chairman Miley said that they had been invited to meet with the board to ask for their assistance and input regarding the Munroe School The Manager's office has been receiving requests from different groups in town to use the Munroe School. We would think of it in terms of its future, with a component being thoughts of a human services center including the Council on Aging and a senior center We don't know what the future will be as far as schools as they come up and we need input from the School Committee or administration to help us Mr Busa said he had raised the question as to whether we should go forward with any great speed on the Munroe School because we would have to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars even knowing who will be in Munroe We should see if the School Committee or Housing Authority have any long- range program of what will be necessary and what will become available in the immediate future Thinking on the long-range, if the Munroe School is the one we should be targeting to do some of these projects or housing some of these services that we have been talking about If some other schools are going to come in the immediate future, maybe it will be a lot less costwise to move some of these services into these buildings If they are not going to come immediately to the town, the information we should have is when they are going to be ome available, and then we won't have this type of expenditure We migtt find some other long-term tenant from 3 to 5 years who would want to use Munroe School and let them make their own improvements until we make some of these decisions Chairman Miley said we have never had a request from one who wanted to use the entire building, just a small segment The improvements might not have anything to do with what the town might want to do with it later; we would limit it in that respect Mr Brown, Chairman of the School Committee, said the school closing schedule would next include consideration of Adams School this fall The question has come up on Muzzey Junior High and, at the present time, we are not really feelingthe decliningnumbers at the secondarylevel but it is on its way up His best comment on Muzzey would be, not this year and marginal whether it would close next year; the following year, it would be very seriously considered to close it. Beyond that, until we see the numbers and take each school with the numbers as projected by the Superintendent, there isn' t much we can offer Personally speaking, per- haps consideration could begiven to the use ofpublic buildings for human p g services and perhaps this might be more appropriate in the long run that Munroe because of the size of the structure, or mix the use for the housing for the elderly At the moment, the declining numbers are continuing and the possibility of both of them closing probably would be good For many years, the School Committee has been considering using Munroe for adminis- tration offices As of the moment, we can survive in our building Look- ing further down the road, the decline may hit the Senior High School, and the thought is at this point in time that it might be the place to locate the school administration -- perhaps in the order of five years from now Selectmen's Meeting - 4 - November 5, 1979 Dr Lawson said the School Committee policy requires the administration on the first of December of each to update projections and bring them for- ward for five more years We have been doing it for three years so we are now going to a projection for an 8-year period If the figures for the 1980-81 school year show that we could within the policy close Adams and it met all the requirements, the committee would then have open hearings and ask for other information, and the committee would make a recommenda- tion. The same process would occur for Muzzey Mr Kent asked to what extent are we going to have more definite in- formation, and specifically about Muzzey, as a result of this report that is going to be made to the School Committee in the very near future Dr Lawson said that no one would be able to answer that until the specifics are available to the School Committee on November 20 The recom- mendation may be that we did not meet the criteria to recommend a closing at that time and we will have to go over to the next year to make another review and another projection. Mrs Battin spoke to the question of deferring the use of Munroe School for human services to another school, and said she gathered there is some sense of urgency for those people who want it and if they don't get it now, presumably they would go and find space elsewhere if they have to wait for two years; we might not have takerstwo years from now Chairman Miley said that urgent requests have been received from anyone interested in a human service building Usually, people want immediate consideration Mr Crain said that other influences are the regular inflation and con- struction costs. If we have a real need that's expressed in square footage by people who would like to utilize such space, he saw no indication that current escalation and construction costs are going to decrease Mr Kent asked to what extent has the School Sites Conversion Committee analyzed the available square footage at Munroe in light of such information you have been able to gather concerning possible projected human service uses of the building? Mr Hutchinson said we have had groups approach the town - Minuteman Home Care, which now leases the Grey Nuns property, the Council on Aging, which has looked at the idea of getting into a more permanent structure, the Housing Authority is looking for office space, and a number of others such as the senior citizens who are looking for 5-6,000 sq ft (that would have to be refined) The Minuteman Home Care was of a similar magnitude, and would be on another floor, and we had the idea of the Housing Authority and other groups being put into another floor Mgr 's Mr Hutchinson said that whatever direction you give us, we looked at Recom.- our costs and made a recommendation that we be able to retain somebody to Munroe give us a better isea on costs, making certain assumptions such as a senior citizens' facility and certain offices that could probably be broken down and moved around. So, there are about 18,000 sq ft of net usable space in the building, and we have requests that exceed that Mr Arthur Smith, SSCC, had a personal comment From what we have seen of the town's needs, it is unrealistic to anticipate filling Muzzey with those needs at this time We would not in any case want to retain a property of the size and value of Muzzey if we were only thinking of human services Munroe is of a much better scale to be used for that purpose; in terms of town agencies, Munroe is the right size and we will not be unduly crowded Selectmen's Meeting - 5 - November 5, 1979 Mr Busa said that Munroe is an ancient building and would require thousands of dollars to accommodate the senior citizens It would be a lot more convenient for the senior citizens to get in and out of Muzzey, and the availability of the recreation area and the size of the lunchroom on the first floor would make it ideal; then, the rest of the building could be used for something else Mr Sen said the Town Meeting asked that Munroe School be looked at for human services and other applicable uses such as the senior center The next thing he had looked at was what the neighbors said; the sense he got was they would like to see it as a human services building. If the School Sites Committee also thought it should be, he did not know whey they were thinking about a delay Even using Munroe as a staging area, it would be at least five years before we can have any kind of a senior center The way things are going now, there will be in town in 1982 about 5,000 seniors; in other words, we will have 1 for 1 with all the school kids and he would like to push towards a decision actually applying to the building He mentioned vandalism and suggested it ought to be boarded up Mr Crain asked about the reference to 5,000 seniors in 1985 and if those were 65 and older; our projection shows 4,011 in 1985 Mr Sen said they have been using age 60 and they are moving up about 30Q ayear; there are- over 4,000 -now: We-are above-the-.national average of about 11 percent Mr Crain said he was particularly concerned about the 45 to 60 surge in town and what inflation is doing to our seniors and what it is doing to their nutrition As he recalled, the Church of Our Redeemer was a stop gap Mr Michaelson, School Committee, said the School Committee has on several past occasions explored the ramifications of an elementary school closing and what's involved, what conditions to be met, but we never have had to explore the closing of a senior high school He would find it difficult to consider for the first time the possibility of a junior high closing if the circum- stances were such that another town agency had made it clear that it had some rather Specific designs on that school Mr Weinstein said that by the time the senior center is in place, we will be glad to have a nutritional center; there is a need for one Mrs Shunney asked about the percentage of senior citizens who would be using the facilities; from Housing experience, some want privacy and independence and are too proud to ask for anything, and some want everything Mr Sen said it would be about 400 people, about 10 to 15, percent Mr Crain added that in addition to the needy in the sense of money, there is a high correlation between nutrition and sociability He was in- terested in a nutrition center in the hopes that people who are alone and are not eating properly, because they just don't do it; if they had a place to go and had some sociability, they would do better Mr Smith said the intention of being here tonight was to ask you to authorize us or the Manager to get some professional help, someone to make a design based on the possible uses and the costs involved It's a longer process to approve the use of Munroe School if it involves the kinds of expenditures you have been talking about Selectmen's Meeting - 6 - November 5, 1980 111 Mr Hutchinson said it would be about $1,500 for an architectural firm to make preliminary plans We would receive proposals and would expect to retain services very promptly and have something back to the Board within 30 days Mr Kent said that Mr Sen suggested that the short term and long term needs may not be identical The message is getting the most pre- liminary of designs, the working in of the potential for flexibility for initially perhaps renting facilities which nevertheless will be readily and inexpensively converted to more senior citizens' use at a later date is an important of this planning process so that initial construction doesn't lock us in to uses; the means with respect to uses will change as time goes by The Board agreed Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to authorize the School Sites Conversion Committee to acquire professional services for preliminary estimates on a plan for the Munroe School Chairman Miley thanked all involved for meeting with the Board and they retired from the meeting Goals/ The Board discussed goals and objectives Mrs Battin said that the Objectives goals are for long-range planning and the objectives are the steps to achieve the goals Mr Crain recommended that the board focus on the Metcalf & Eddy Center Re- report on an analysis of the center, which was done in the 1960s Some vitalize- of the recommendations have been implemented and have contributed to the tion viability of the center but those relative to parking have not been followed He would like the board to reconsider the possibility of specifically relieving the parking problem by increasing parking avail- ability in the center Mr Busa said that he is working with the Central Business District Committee, a subcommittee of the Planning Board, and they have been dis- cussing the problems, and consideration is being given to investigate the possibility of the location of a one-story parking garage in the Meriam Street municipal lot and the best possible way to implement the con- struction for sound investment Communications have been established with the federal government in an attempt to resolve some of the problems by requesting cooperation of the -employees of the Post Office in alleviating the all-day parking problems on Massachusetts Avenue In appearance, the town could not be any more revitalized that it is but the reason we do not have a variety is that it has been so attractive to large corporations that they simply move the small business and owner-occupied businesses out of town. But the revitalization of the parking areas and increased parking would generate a new enthusiasm of people wanting to come back into the center and operate a service store One important facet would be to invite the absentee landlords as they have the most at stake and would give other ideas of what their costs would be and what they could swing Also, to involve the Chamber of Commerce for their input Mrs Battin said that recognizing the need for a vital center as the community's civic, commercial, social and cultural focus, a plan for re- vitalizating the center shall be prepared by the Town, the Chamber of Commerce, Lexington banking and lending institutions, Lexington indus- tries, with the advice and assistance of the Executive Office Communities and Development Such a plan shall be completed by November 1, 1981 and submitted to the appropriate Town Boards, Town Meeting Members, Selectmen's Meeting - 7 - November 5, 1979 commercial interests and citizen groups for action It shall include but not be limited to methods of achieving commercial diversity, increased social and cultural activity, improved traffic flow and increased parking Mr Kent said that he had some suggestions in terms of maximizing parking available for shoppers in Lexington center which involves a correlative downgrading of all-day parking This, in part, involves the situation along Masts Avenue but it also involves the way in which we treat a substantial segment of the lot in back of Depot Square He would hope with our institution of the bus service, we would have more justification rather than less for devotion of more parking spaces to transients and less to permanent all-day parking in that particular area of town Chairman Miley said she sees people still feeding meters and still parking for half of the days by meters that have expired Chairman Miley said the goal that has always been important to her is bring forward better communication; we are working toward it but we need communication between towns and cities as well as communication among ourselves. We have had meetings in the quadrants of the town, our meetings with the different boards and committees, and with Mrs Battin as president of the Mass Selectmen's Association perhaps we will be able to keep in even closer touch; we are keeping in closer touch than ever with our legislators Regarding center revitalization, Chairman Miley said there was another study done by the Planning Board in connection with the League of Women Voters and perhaps we could refer to that She suggested that a program be put together, with input from DCA as Mrs Battin suggested The Board agreed The Board discussed the goal to increase sources of revenue - de- Tax crease reliance on property tax Mrs Battin recommended that Lexington Reform should take the lead in initiating and maintaining a sustained effort through the Mass Municipal Associations and related municipal organiza- Revenue tions or, if necessary alone, a tax reform study with a view to filing Source comprehensive legislation no later than December, 1982 The Manager's office shall study and report to the Selectmen no later than December, 1980 all ways of increasing non tax revenues This study and recom- mendations for action should include but not be limited to the develop- ment of an administrative process for seeking out and aggressively pur- suing available federal and state funds for all town services and sug- gestions for institutinguIees and increasing town fees for licenses, permits, etc The Lt Governor's office is trying to make sure that people learn, especially small towns, what state and federal funds are available The big thing is tax reform and we may be doing it slightly alone as she had brought it up at the Mass Selectmen's Association and they seemed to think that tax reform was a dead issue; that this legislature was never going to shift the burden of taxes to some other than. There was no re- sponse from them about doing anything but we might think about writing a letter to them and formally ask them to reconstitute the tax reform study 111 If not, we could think about another way of doing it 5; Selectmen's Meeting - 8 - November 5, 1980 Mr Kent said Mrs Battin's timing is good and a comprehensive study can't be produced any more quickly than that and it is a case of finding somebody who is willing to do it; it has to be a professional effort The timing of 1982 isn' t bad, and it then becomes a political issue in the context of a political campaign of that year Mr Busa said that if we are going to look at the tax base increase and tax reform in the sense of taxing industry and businesses to relieve the tax burden on homeowners, you can't have your cake and eat it too. We are trying to revitalize Lexington Center and to increase a tax base in Lexington, you have to have a tax base of equal benefit to everyone We have to look at the overall picture If we end up taxing industry, we might end up like Lowell The tax burden would be so high that the only ones to survive in Lexington would be the large corporations We want to encourage people to come to Lexington center or rezone other areas Chairman Miley said that when revaluations come through, maybe there are some businesses we don' t even know are here Mr Crain said that this is a difficult area, and asked if there would be value in seeking volunteers from people who have the interest and qualification to take a look at our situation and suggest some alternatives as to action that might be taken to increase the tax base rather than having it grow as it is Chairman Miley said there are people who are interested in tax re- form who would come forward Mrs Battin said to increase the tax base, the town should make a thorough analysis of the consequences of a limited expansion of commer- cial and industrial land and study the suitability of establishing an economic development commission to encourage and control the use of such property These would be just routine things but as Mr Crain says, to really look at the whole thing whether it is commercial or more intensive uses Again, these are areas in which the study - in one place, we do our own internal one and the other one we urge others to join us in doing tax reform Chairman Miley said the call is out Financial The Board discussed the goal of financial management Mr Crain said Management the ultimate goal is to achieve tax stabilization but when one considers the solid waste, unquestionably in the 5-year period we are focusing on it is going to be more costly The rate of inflation is the highest we've ever seen Unfunded pension liability pension costs just on a cost needs basis are going to increase about 77 percent in the five years we are talking about, $1 million to $1 9 million We should face up to that The Manager, Comptroller and Treasurer have done an excellent job in providing projections of what we are confronted with, and he did not know that a study or a citizens' committee is going to do much for us Mr Hutchinson goals were to continue cost containment and consolidate where possible Specifically, investigating items such as making civilian dispatchers in the fire department, closing the schools; also, to expand on what the School Committee raised to the Board the idea of centralized maintenance division for the schools and the town, and this should be addressed And to look at a centralized management system; we do have duplicate systems by law with the school and the town but there is a possibility over a period of time that we do something there It is a "7a Selectmen's Meeting - 9 - November 5, 1979 111 difficult area but a task force might be worthwhile for the Selectmen and the School Committee to appoint jointly, and require that the Superintendent and the Manager be on that committee; to try to come up with something com- prehensive this year or within a couple of years We have done some modest work with the School Committee on the data processing system The inflation rate is important; to recognize inflation as it relates to the employees' incomes The idea of a continued political dialogue with our federal and state legislators is important to any financial stabilization of the com- munities within the Commonwealth This board has addressed them about general revenue sharing and it was Mr Hutchinson's understanding that it may be in trouble at the state level and if it is cut back on revenues, you can be sure it is going to take a look at other areas that distribute monies including cities and towns So there is a whole cyclical effect here and it is important that the style ought to be sustained at all levels The point Mr Busa raised on revenue, he had covered by recommending to re- view zoning and other compatible land in order that a compatible development can take place On center revitalization, Mr Hutchinson's goals agreed with the Board's; however, there may be zoning or Historic Districts Com- mission constrictions that may compromise them. The Board discussed the goal for employee development capacity Mrs Battin offered. expanded commitment to employee development at all levels to allow for career growth, more competitive opportunities and greater identification of responsibilities Also, by December, 1980, expanded educa- tional and in-service training programs shall be instituted to upgrade em- ployees ' techincal, managerial and interpersonal skills Mr Crain said he feels very strongly about this area, and offered the following (1) By January 1 to create a procedure to identify town employees who demonstrate the capacity for growth and promotion; (2) By March 1, 1980, to determine in conjunction with those individuals a desirable career path and a target job; (3) To establish a plan to develop the skills required through a combination of job and educational experiences - that to be done by June 1; (4) Continue to update this The individuals may change but the objective is to develop a conscious program to identify employees with potentials and to provide them with maximum opportunity to develop, with an objective of creating a pool of internal available resources to be considered as significant job openings occur Eventually, we would always have a viable internal candidate to consider in addition to anyone from outside Mr Kent said that Mrs Battin used the term "interpersonal skills" and Mr Crain does not focus on that one aspect, namely, the subject of employee relationship with citizens in the community Mr Crain would like to include that The Board agreed The Manager's office is to draft a set of objectives for further discussion at a later meeting Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to appoint Mrs Acting Nancy Banks as the Acting Town Manager for the period of November 11 Manager - through November 14, 1979 Acting Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to appoint Mr Chairman Robert B Kent as the Acting Chairman of the Board for the period of November 10 through November 12, 1979 I1•1 Selectmen's Meeting - 10 - November 5, 1979 Sewer Con- Mr Hutchinson recommended approval of a sewer connection to nection - 26 Saddle Club Road 26 Saddle Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to authorize Club Rd the Manager to proceed with the implementation of the connection of the property at 26 Saddle Club Road to the sanitary sewer system, with a betterment assessment in the amount of $1,352 88 Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to approve the recommendation of the Manager to sign the proclamation declaring the week of November 12 - 18, 1979 as Emergency Medical Services Week in recognition of our EMTs New Town Mr Hutchinson informed the Board that Mr Michael Hanlon, a project Engineer engineer with Metcalf & Eddy since 1971, has accepted the position of Town Engineer and will assume his responsibilities on November 19 He has a B S in Civil Engineering from Northeastern University and is a registered professional engineer in Massachusetts, Maine and Connecticut Mr Hanlon has had extensive experience in the designing of trunk and lateral sewers and pumping stations; experience with all phases of highway design; considerable experience dealing with citizen groups and public employees in his private sector capacity Betterment In response to Mr Crain's request, Mr Hutchinson agreed to contact Deferment surrounding towns and submit information on their policy of deferring Policy payment of betterments with or without interest Lexington defers without interest Executive Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted 5-0 by roll call Session vote - Mrs Miley, Mr Busa, Mrs Battin, Mr Kent, Mr Crain - to go into executive session for the purpose of discussing concerning land and litigation, with no intention of resuming the open session. After discussion, it was voted to go out of executive session. • Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to adjourn at 10 10 p m A true record, Attest 272 Executive Clerk, Selectmen