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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1979-01-17-BOS-min 14 SELECTMEN'S MEETING January 17, 1979 A meeting of the Board of Selectmen was held in the Selectmen's Meeting Room, Town Office Building, on Wednesday, January 17, 1979, at 7 30 p m. Chairman Battin, Mr Busa, Mrs Miley, Mr Kent and Mr Crain; Mr Hutchinson, Town Manager; Mrs Banks, Assistant to the Town Manager, were preset Mr Hutchinson submitted a list of 25 streets for FY 80 sewer FY 80 construction, consisting of three categories Group X-generally Sewers agreed upon during previous discussion; Group Y-areas where design changes have taken place or areas of limited controversy; Group Z- the most controversial streets GROUP X GROUP Y 1 *Wellington Lane Ave $36,025 13 *Lowell Street $126,500 *Meadow Brook Ave 10,000 *North Street 82,500 2 *Rockville Ave 46,750 14 *Grant Street 44,000 3 *Bird Hill Road 45,925 ' Davis Road 18,700 15 *Stratham Road 59,000 4 *Maple Street 51,000 To Woodberry Rd 6,000 5 *Allen Street 196,350 16 *Oakland Street 4 950 6 *Pitcairn Place 22,000 ' 7 *Middleby Road 14,500 17 *Meriam Street 11,242 8 *Somerset Road 27,560 18 *Abbott Road 18,150 9 *Edgewood Road 5,500 19 *Glen Road South 35,750 $474,310 $388,092 10 *Warren Street 25,000 11 *Chandler Street 9,350 20 *Round Hill Road 6,500 12 *Follen Road 16,500 $ 50,850 $ 6,500 GROUP Z 21 Fair Oaks Terrace $ 30,000 22 Wachusett Drive 31,900 23 *King Street 17,500 24 * Carville Ave 19,875 25 *Robinson Road 77,000 $176,275 *Sewer Advisory Committee concurs with D P W recommendations Messrs Chalpin and Leahy, Engineers; Mrs Fricker, Chairman, and Mr Code, member, of the Sewer Advisory Committee were present After discussion, it was agreed - III GROUP X (a) To delete Warren Street, Chandler Street, and Follen Road, as previously recommended by D P W (b) To approve the construction of sewers in the re- maining 9 streets However, Mr Hutchinson is to confer with the Planning Board for further review of the Allen Street project and submit additional information to the Board 1712 7 Selectmen's Meeting - 2 - January 17, 1979 GROUP Y 1 (a) To delete Woodberry Street (off Stratham Road) The owner of the one house involved had previously expressed his opposition to the betterment charge and a long service connection (b) Mr Hutchinson is to confer with the Planning Board regarding their concern about Glen Road South being an adequate road to provide frontage under the subdivision control law Also, to allay their concern about the Grant Street sewer effectuating a back-up in the Saddle Club Road area (c) According to Engineering, the Meriam Street sewer proposal would in no way affect the water table of Granny's Pond; Conservation is to be so advised (d) Mr Hutchinson is to investigate the possibility of providing service to #25 Oakland Street, owned by Janet Page GROUP Z (a) Mr Hutchinson is to make arrangements for a meeting with the residents of Wachusett Drive, who are opposed to the proposal, and the residents of Fair Oaks Drive, who requested that there be more dialogue with the neighbors (b) Although a majority of the residents on King Street are opposed to the project, Engineering recommended sewering the entire area (c) A decision on Carville Avenue was deferred until one of the three proposals is submitted for final consideration by the Board (d) Mr Hutchinson is to make arrangements for a hearing to be held on the Robinson Road sewer proposal A final decision on the FY 80 sewer program is to be made by the Board of Selectmen on Tuesday, February 20, 1979 Powder A brief discussion was held on the request from the developer of Horn the Powder Horn Golf Course, located on Walnut Street, for the Board's Develop- consideration of sewer service being provided by the Concord Avenue ment sewer It was agreed that Mr Hutchinson is to come back with more information Art 13 In response to Chairman Battin's request, Mrs Fricker agreed to talk with members of the Sewer Advisory Committee relative to working with the Board and the Manager if Article 13 is approved by the 1979 Town Meeting This article requests a report from the Board of Select- men on Sewer Policy and Plans I 9.L8 Selectmen's Meeting - 3 - January 17, 1979 The Board discussed snowplowing costs and Mr Busa recommended that Snow they stay with the policy we have always had on snow removal, to pick it Removal up when it is necessary to be picked up, day or night Mr Hutchinson Policy said there is a contractural problem that provides for a 6-hour break before bringing them back in, but we have had times when we brought them right back in because of the work in front of us and we continued to pay time and a half We have also spoken about bringing them in a little later and putting them on straight time He takes the position that we can do that The Board agreed to continue with the current policy on removing snow as necessary, even if it involves overtime The sidewalk snow removal By-Law was discussed and Mr Hutchinson Sidewalk said that the Chamber of Commerce has agreed to go along with the By-Law Snow Ninety-five percent of the people shovel their walks but some have not Removal been as active as they should Mr Crain suggested the way to handle By-Law it is to strike dialogue with the Chamber of Commerce and the Rotary Club to talk about the exceptional incidents and develop a way to com- municate through their system. If there are exaggerated instances, a letter from the Board of Selectmen would get their attention If it doesn't, we could decide the next step Mr Kent said the next step is by-law enforcement Mr Busa pointed out that the by-law does not cover all the business areas in town; so noted by Mr Hutchinson Mr Hutchinson is to continue to monitor the sidewalk situation in the Center Mrs Uhrig, Chairman of the Recreation Committee, and Mr Rogers, Center Architect, met with the Board to discuss the Center Pool Mrs Touart, Pool Chairman, and members of the Permanent Building Committee were also present. Mr Rogers said that, as of December 6, 1978, the estimated cost is $669,050 The changes from last year are the refinement and better judgment of what things would cost in 1979 On individual items, the gross change is estimated to be a $25,000 increase in the project The bathhouse is more than it was a year ago because of escalated costs; a year ago, we had not done the final design, construction to occupancy, of the bathhouse Mr Crain said that a 35 percent increase from last year is extraordinary, and Mr Rogers replied that it is not if you take the bottom figure Mr Kent felt that $16,000 for a tennis back- board was high and suggested they consider something for a fraction of that cost Mrs Touart said that the Permanent Building Committee wants to bid it both ways as building costs go up at the rate of 10 percent a month We are going to ask our contractors to bid for May and for September to see if there is an appreciable difference in costs; in which case, Town Meeting will have the opportunity to decide whether it wants to close the pool for the summer There are many contractors who aren't as busy throughout the summer and we might get a better price So, to close the pool for the summer, build it over the summer, and we may get an appreciable saving Mr Hutchinson said we can bid on the dates but he would have to review some of the implications of debts incurred prior to July 1, 1979 as being part of any tax cap program. The Governor said if any debt is not in place before July, 1979, you won't be able to incur 'that debt 412'7 Selectmen's Meeting - 4 - January 17, 1979 In response to Mrs Miley's question of what the Board of Health is going to do about whether the pool stays open or to close it, Mrs Uhrig said they are essentially saying they have been keeping this pool open because they realize we were coming up with another one Should the plan be turned down by Town Meeting, the Board of Health will require a plan to be submitted that will provide for the closing of the existing facility or will provide for complete rehabilitation of the existing complex The Board of Health indicated to us they will close it as of the summer without a complete plan. Mr Busa asked if they had an alternative plan and Mrs Uhrig said they did not as Town Meeting gave them the go-ahead for a plan. Mr Busa said if it is approved and bid in May to construct July 1, you have an impact on the Reservoir Ms Halverson, Recreation Coordinator, said she had looked into other facilities in terms of relocating swimming lessons and we might be able to rent the Minuteman School facilities a couple of days a week and have the remainder of the lessons at the Res; we could keep all lessons at the Res if we had floats In terms of not having facili- ties this summer, it would not wipe out the total cost of the pool operation The cost for lessons is approximately $5,000 and, anticipating some increase in attendance there, we also might have to increase the staff; so you wouldn't wipe out the total pool budget She saw problems with conducting swim team program at the Res this summer The question is if the Res can handle the increase Mr Busa asked if they had looked into the pollution problem and Mr Prentiss, Recreation Director, said that both the pool and the Res fail seasonally in the summer and every year we are at the verge of closing when we get a break in the weather The Res would not take the additional impact over a long period of warm temperatures, and we would have to augment the water supply, which we have monies for, and possibly treat the water, and reduce the bather load Bandstant Mrs Touart discussed the proposed location of the bandstand The Location Historic Districts Commission has voted 4-1 against the Buckman Tavern grounds and the Bandstand Committee has requested another hearing and it looks as if we probably will go to Hastings Park The Committee will meet tomorrow and would like to come back to the Selectmen next Monday Mr Kent was in favor of the Buckman Tavern grounds and questioned whether it is within the statutory function of HDC to judge merely on arthitectural plans and not on the use of the land The Board will ask Town Counsel's opinion It was agreed that Mrs Touart will request an appointment with the Board for next Monday's meeting to present the Committee's recommenda- tion Recreation Mrs. Uhrig said that the Manager had deleted Tot Lots-$30,000; Bike- Tot Lots & ways-$15,000; Athletic Lighting-$7,000 There was a development going in Playgrounds the area we were considering for bikeways and we will go along the existing roadways to connect Bowman to Franklin and Clarke, so there was no need for the money Athletic lighting was not a priority item for us We requested tot lots and playgrounds as this was supposed to be an ongoing program. The play area we would like to do this year is in the Southerland Road area lfio Selectmen's Meeting - 5 - January 17, 1979 We have had numerous complaints as to why nothing had been done in this area. We plan to open it up by cleaning out the undergrowth, upgrade the basketball court and the baseball diamond and put in play apparatus, and clear a small pond for skating If we do this and police it, we hope to decrease vandalism. Mr Hutchinson said he was still not in favor of the project as he felt they should not jeopardize their chances with the pool Chairman Battin said that the Board will not decide this evening and will take it under advisement Mrs Uhrig asked if the Board had discussed the Conservation Revolving Fund Article and Mr Hutchinson said that it will be a self-supporting program for adoption of enabling legislation to allow them to set up a revolving fund so they can have a number of programs, i e , ballroom danc- ing or some specialized program This is going to save the town money in the long run There is no money involved Mrs Uhrig said there is a problem as the state law reads there is a $5,000 upper limit The Recreation Committee retired from the meeting The Board discussed expense budgets and capital items Mr Hutchinson Budgets is to submit information on answers to the Appropriation Committee's questions He had met with them last evening and the Appropriation Com- mittee had voted to set a goal of keeping expense budgets at last year's level. He had reminded them that at a joint meeting with them, this Board of Selectmen had said that the Appropriation Committee is not saying to freeze all spending at last year's levels and we will look carefully and explore expenses Mr Hutchinson said their posture now is to get back to last year's level He reminded them of $100,000 for people actively re- tired, $100,000 to start to meet our obligation to meet an unfunded liabil- ity and $80,000 for the overlay program He is recommending $280,000 for Article 5 , which includes $10,000 for active pensioners if there is a cost of living adjustment Now, we have about $60,000 in Article 5 to return to E & D It was agreed to continue budget discussions at future meetings t was also agreed that Chairman Battin and Mr Hutchinson are to meet with the Chairmen of the Personnel Advisory Board and the Appropriation Committee for an understanding of the Personnel Advisory Board's role and relationship in the areas of personal services/Article 5 and the affirmative action program Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to adjourn at 10 45 p m Respectfully submitted from a tape recording, jOri Executive Clerk, Selectme