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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1979-04-09-BOS-min ap -Y99' SELECTMEN'S MEETING APRIL 9, 1979 A regular meeting of the Board of Selectmen was held in the Selectmen's Meeting Room, Town Office Building, on Monday, April 9, 1979, at 7 00 p m. Chairman Battin, Mr Busa, Mrs Miley, Mr Kent and Mr Crain; Mr Hutchinson, Town Manager; Mr Cohen, Town Counsel; Mrs Banks, Assistant to the Town Manager; Mrs McCurdy, Executive Clerk, were present Chairman Battin opened the hearing on the petition of the New England Jt Pole Telephone Company and the Boston Edison Company for a joint pole location Hillcrest on Hillcrest Avenue north of Circle Road Notices of the hearing were Avenue sent to the abutters and filed with the Public Works Department Mr Roland Pinault, representing the Telephone Company, and Ms Carol Clinton, representing the Boston Edison Company, were present Mr Pinault said that they are in the process of doing new work in the entire area and this pole is necessary to eliminate excessive cable span Chairman Battin read a report from Mr Warren Empey, Acting Director of Public Works, recommending approval of the petition. No one appearing in favor or in opposition, Chairman Battin declared the hearing closed Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted 4-0 to _grant permission to the New England Telephone Company and the Boston Edison Company for the following joint pole location - Mr Crain abstained because of conflict of interest Hillcrest Avenue on the easterly side, approximately 125+ feet north of Circle Road, one (1) Pole 112/8A Chairman Battin opened the hearing on the petition of the New England Pedestal Telephone Company for the installation of conduit on Bow Street and Cliffe Conduit Avenue, and pedestal terminal and manhole on Bow Street Notices of the Bow St hearing were sent to the abutters and filed with the Public Works Depart- Cliffe ment Mr Roland Pinault, representing the Telephone Company, was present Avenue and informed the Board that they will be running a conduit from the first pole in off Massachusetts Avenue, will go underground from that location, under the railroad tracks to the pedestal location at the intersection From this intersection, we will be running two sections up on Cliffe Ave and across the street and, across the street, two sections on Bow Street When all of the new cables are in and the work is completed, the aerial portion from the Mass Ave. pole to both of those poles on Cliffe and Bow Street will come down The distribution will be through the underground system in through the pedestal and the terminal facility, which we will be placing on town property at the intersection We have reviewed this with the Public Works Department Chairman Battin read a report from Mr Warren Empey, Acting Director of Public Works, stating this is a serving area concept necessary to establish a feeder route and eventually eliminate overhead wires within the area The pedestal terminal box shall be approximately 4'8" in height and landscaped to the satisfaction of the Lexington Tree Warden Since the petition appears to be in order, we recommend it be approved Mrs Miley asked about the width and Mr Pinault showed a picture of a 40" wide x 54" high pedestal .5a0 Selectmen's Meeting - 2 - April 9, 1979 Mr Busa said this would eliminate some Telephone Company overhead P P Y wiring and he wondered if Boston Edison had plans to go underground 331 the.#utzirEt? Ms Carol Clinton, Boston Edison representative, was present and said she would check it out No one appeared in favor of the petition.. Mr Anthony Marques, 22 Bow Street, said the pedestal is not going to be on his property but he would like to see a plan. Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to recess the hearing until later in the evening after Mr Pinault had discussed the plan with Mr Marques The Board voted to approve the following agenda items Elks Club Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to approve an Hours earlier opening at 11 30 a m under the Elks Club liquor license on Wednesday, May 9, for a function to be held from 11 30 a m to 2 00 p m (approved opening is 5 00 p m.) Permits- Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to grant permission Bike-a- to the Arlington High School and the Lexington Educational Association Thons to conduct Bike-a-Thons on Sunday, April 29, 1979 at 1 00 p.m Permit- Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to grant permission Parade for the Youth Baseball parade on Saturday, April 28, 1979 Minutes Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to approve the minutes of Selectmen's meetings of April 2, 1979 and March 28, 1979 Board members were unable to attend a meeting of the Newton Ad Hoc Committee on Middlesex County on April 10, 1979 to be held in Newton Cary Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to grant permission Hall to the Senior Scout Troop 844 to sell cookies in the lobby of Cary Hall Lobby before and during the Town Meeting on April 9, 1979 Art 56- The Board briefly discussed Article 56-Burglar Alarm By-Law amendment Burglar and it was agreed that more information is necessary If notice for recon- Alarms sideration is made at Town Meeting, the recommendation will be to refer back to the Board of Selectmen. Art 57- The Board agreed to invite the Building Commissioner to the:rme&t±ng Drainage on April 17 for a report on Article 57-Drainage By-Law By-Law Chairman Battin said that she would be out of town for the Patriots ' Acting Day weekend and recommended that the Board vote an Acting Chairman for Chairman that period Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to appoint Selectman Alfred S Busa as the Acting Chairman of the Board from 9 00 a.m on Friday, April 13, to 4 00 p.m on Tuesday, April 17, 1979 Solid The Board agreed to schedule a meeting on Wednesday, April 18, at Waste 7 30 p m to discuss the Solid Waste Committee Report with the Appropria- Report tion Committee, the Capital Expenditures Committee, and the Solid Waste Committee. It was also agreed to recommend to the Moderator that a recess be declared at the Town Meeting session of April 23 in order to conduct an informational meeting on solid waste .501 Selectmen's Meeting - 3 - April 9, 1979 Attorney Frederick Conroy and Mr Paul Sullivan, Vice President of Transporta- Transportation Management Corporation, met with the Board Mr Hutchinson tion said that the fitm had notified the Board of Selectmen on March 23 of a Management change in the rate structure, effective April 1, from $9 00 to $11 00 Limousines for the first person transported from €ach .atop by limousine between Lexington and Logan Airport The Board would like information in order to give approval or disapproval of the structure Mr Cohen said that the regulations say that a reasonable rate may be charged, and the Board felt when that approval was originally given ($9.00) they were reshanahie .rates:, Mr Busa said it would be nice if we could all have an increase of 221 percent every threemonths; it is a little extraordinary for the Board to approve The Board agreed Mr Busa asked Mr Conroy if he could substantiate the increase? Mr Conroy said that since Transportation Management started the linousine service, Massport is charging them 5 percent of their taxicab fare; 5 percent is levied by Massport against Transportation Management, which Taas not an expense they had when they initiated the business nor had they anticipating having Five percent alons is now going to Massport under the contractural agreement that they have had to sign with them Gasoline costs have increased 12 cents a gallon since Transportation Management started the service, which is a 20 percent increase. The average taxicab fare from Logan to Lexington right now is about $17 00, depending on what part of Lexington you come from So the increase they notified the Board about was based upon their increased costs, and it is not an attempt to increase income just to line the pockets of the operator; it is reflecting an actual increase in costs Town Counsel refers to the rules and regulations with respect to rates of fares on limousines, and what it does say is "the rates shall be fair " It doesn't say who is going to set the rates or how you determine whether they are fair or not The notice from Transportation Management to you of their proposed increase was done so you would be informed He did not know who decides what is fair and what is not fair but he thought if we can agree it is fair, fine, that ends the problem right there Mr Crain asked if the 5 percent from Massport was a new tax levy that was just instituted that no one else had ever had? Mr Conroy said in order to have any kind of parking facilities at the airport for the vehicles, you have to sign a contract with the Massport Authority and they are levying 5 percent of the fare Mr Crain said his question is how long have they had that procedure? Mr Conroy didn't know; they didn't have it with Transportation Management when the limousine service was approved or when they started the operation it must have occurred subsequent to that Chairman Battin said that Mr Crain is asking if other companies have it so you knew it was likely to be imposed? Mr Conroy asked Mr Sullivan, who said they didn't have any vehicles at the airport._, Mr Crain said that his point is in the research of this concept, it would seem that one should have uncovered that this levy would occur It doesn't seem to be information that would be hard to ferret out as a known business expense Sot Selectmen's Meeting - 4 - April 9, 1979 Mr Conroy said they didn't know about it. You could say they should have known about it; in that event, they would have had a higher rate when they were starting up and it wouldn't have been reflected as an increase as it does now Mr Busa said he was led -to believe that Transportation Management is now parking at Logan Airport as a standby situation or is it a phone call service from the Town of Lexington into Logan and vice versa Mr Sullivan said if we have to go in and pick up somebody at Logan, if we park there without a parking permit - say your flight was delayed for a half hour, we actually have a choice of whether we receive a $7 00 ticket from the state police or to park in the signed parking place at the terminal; the $7 00 tickets are outweighing the 5 percent to be quite honest with you Mr Busa asked if it is still by reservation service, and Mr Sullivan said it was Mrs Miley said that as a business person, it seems unbelieveable to her You are not new at this business as Transportation Managerment has been doing a big business for quite a while now It seems incredible, to continue what Mr Crain and Mr Busa said, that it never occurred to you that a cost you might have Mr Sullivan said this was our first dealing with Massport Chairman Battin said that in business you anticipate what the costs are going to be and you find out what is involved and this is what is bothering the Board In terms of who determines what is fair, it is apparently that this is a decision of the Board of Selectmen If so, fil what is the Board's pleasure? Mr Busa said the only solution to what is fair - if they feel what is fair and they impose such an increase, then the licenses are renewed on May 1 and, at that time, we can make the determination of what is fair Chairman Battin asked if the Board wants to take it under advisement now, not do anything about it now and wait until the licenses come up for renewal on May 1? Mr Busa said we do not have any jurisdiction to determine what is fair at this point in time Chairman Battin said that there are rules and regula- tions Mr Cohen said he had misunderstood; he thought the Board was suggesting that the fare increase go in and when the renewal came up, a determination could be made from the reaction of people to it You are the licensing authority and at that point when they come back, pins could determine then It is not a taxi service, it is a reservation, which seems to be different than a taxi When the rules and regulations were written, nobody had this particular type of service Mr Kent asked about the 5 percent item. In the light of a sometime necessity of parking in terms of meeting reservations, that Massport im- poses an across-the-board 5 percent requirement so that coming either say the company is required to report regularly to Massport as to the dollar volume, and is charged a 5 percent figure based upon that report, i e a tax report? Mr Sullivan said that it was; it is a tax to be able to go in there 503 Selectmen's Meeting - 5 - April 9, 1979 Mrs Miley said she preferred to make a decision within a month; to look at it uhtil then Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to request the Town Manager to look into the matter more fully and by May 1 to make a decision to grant the increase or amend the regulations Mr Kent added that there is nothing of an authoratative character from the Board tonight Mr. Conroy and Mr Sullivan retired from the meeting Mr Pinault and Mr Marques came into the meeting to ddntdnndtthe N E T &T Co discussion of the Bow Street pedestal terminal Mr Marques said he Bow Street was in opposition, based on the photographs of the pedestal They Pedestal have moved it into a more residential area and if it ware moved to (cont'd from the other side of the street, it would be more in keeping with the Page 2) area It is going to be 4 feet back from the road; there are 10 feet of grass that is mowed by the town, and no trees Chairman Battin said that it was her understanding it would be landscaped to the satisfaction of the tree warden Mr Kent said in the light of the opposition to it, he would be more comfortable with the opportunity to look at it The Board agreed and will inspect the area before another hearing is set up Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to table the petition of the New England Telephone Company to install a pedestal terminal at the intersection of Bow Street and Cliffe Avenue Mr. Hutchinson recommended that the Board execute the agreement Auditors- with Arthur Andersen & Co for an audit of the Town of Lexington's Arthur accounts Andersen Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to sign the agreement with Arthur Andersen & Co , 100 Federal Street, Boston, Mass , to :have the Town of Lexington's accounts audited for the period of July 1, 1978 through June 30, 1979 Mr Crain said that Arthur Andersen made a commitment on the date the audit would be finished and that the Management letter would be available He was very interested that this happens Mr Hutchinson said that he will notify them of the commitment and would state we would expect those dates to be met Mr Hutchinson recommended that the Board execute the lease Hinchey Rd for the Hinchey Road property, which the Board had approved Lease Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to execute a ten year lease between MBZ-Lexington Trust and the Town for the Hinchey Road property Mr Cohen said the Board had already voted to convey to the Hous- Scattered ing Authority the lots on the scattered sites program, and he requested Sites Deeds Board members to come in during the week to sign the deeds The Board agreed faq Selectmen's Meeting - 6 - April 9„ 1979 Executive Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted 5+-0 by roll call Session vote - Mrs Battin, Mr Buse, Mrs Miley, Mr Kent and Mr Crain - to go into Executive Session for the purpose of discussing strategy with respect to litigation After discussion, it was voted to go out of Executive Session Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to adjourn at 758pm. 1111) A true record, Attest ExgEutive Clerk, Selectmen 1 , Ill