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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1979-01-16-BOS-min 5Z SELECTMEN'S MEETING JANUARY 16, 1979 A regular meeting of the Board of Selectmen was held in the Select- men's Meeting Room, Town Office Building, on Tuesday, January 16, 1979, at 7 30 p m. Chairman Battin, Mr Busa, Mrs Miley, 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 Legislators- Chairman Battin welcomed Senator Rotondi and Representative Cole Tax Caps for a joint discussion on the Governor's tax capping proposal Mr Brown, Chairman, and members of the School Committee, Dr Lawson, Superintendent of Schools, Mr Silverman, Chairman of the A.p- ' prPpFiation Committee, and representatives of theCkp Expenditures Committee were also present Chairman Battin said that, as of now, the Mass Municipal Associations do not have a posture regarding tax limitations and are waiting to see what the Governor proposes We now have a coalition of not only the Managers, Mayors and Selectmen but also with School Superintendents and School Committees This group will work to preserve the rights of the taxpayers to make the decisions concerning governments at the local level Mrs Battin turned the meeting over to Mr Kent, our Legislative Liaison Mr Kent said that the School Committee has asked that we devote the first segment to matters of interest and concern to them, and the School Aid picture is of concern to us Senator Rotondi said that Governor King was talking about a position on School Aid which would guarantee that communities would get at least 10 percent of what they received the prior fiscal year Many of the people who supported the legislation decided they wanted 15 percent; in the Senate, it was reduced to 7 percent He was co-sponsor of a bill for reimbursement to the level of FY 79, and then we hope to add the cost of inflation. It is important that municipal associa- tions get together with us to put a guaranteed percentage factor into that He will be dealing with that issue directly and has also been made Chairman of the Public Service Committee, which deals with the issues of collective bargaining, binding arbitration, and the impact of these types of programs on municipalities Mr Brown said that you don't know exactly what the percentage would be; if you follow Boston's cost of living index, it would not be fair to the rest of the state Representative Cole stated his position on the subject of caps He did not see how the state can mandate programs on municipalities and then say we are going to put a cap on what you spend There is no possibility of balancing the budget the way you would like to do it He had difficulty accepting caps unless the mandatee programs are state funded If caps are imposed on municipalities, he expected that both school and general govern- ment would be lumped together 2.3 Selectmen's Meeting - 2 - January 16, 1979 1I III Senator Rotondi hoped the state would turn to itself and talk about the way in which it operates its shop and runs its budget; about agencies and their growth, welfare fraud; that's part of the whole deal The municipal association is going to have a special obligation this year to make sure they are monitoring the situation and getting input from every- body Chairman Battin said that she is a member of the Governor's Local Advisory Committee and, at a recent meeting, he said that all monies cities and towns receive from new development was going to be mandated to be applied to reduce the tax rate We could not use it to pay for services, and this narrows the amounts we can work with Mr Hoffman, School Committee, stated that when you talk about cap- ping school expenditures, you are flying in the face of the concept of fiscal autonomy Mrs Battin added that there are two bills filed both by the Special Commission on State Mandated programs and the Local Government Caucus about full funding of mandates Board members expressed concern about the impact on Lexington and Mr Crain said that the concept assumes everything has been done as it should in the past and the future is controllable. When we confront the horrendous situation on unfunded pensions, liabilities on the state level and the local level, solid waste, energy costs that are completely out of control, we are beginning to understand the implications of it The III philosophy and basic concept of capping just doesn't make sense Mr Hutchinson agreed and hope that some freedom is given to those at the local level to decide how much they want to spend, and capping is not the answer Depending upon the way legislation is written, there could be an effect'of approximately $1 million on the FY 80 budget The sanitary landfill was discussed and Mr Hutchinson said there will be a broad article in the warrant enabling the Selectmen to commit the tonnage, and Northeast seems to be the one. This seems to be the only longterm viable solution and we are planning to be out of the landfill fusiness in the next couple of years or a little longer Eventually, it would seem that resource recovery is the way to go and the private sector is geared to handle this Mr Busa felt that some of the landfills could be extended and this could mean a substantial savings for some of the municipalities Maybe some of the leachate could be filtered or cleaned up Chairman Battin said that there other bills were important to the Municipal Associations, (1) Review and comment on human services projects if a project is going to come into a local community, the chief executive would be notified and there would be the opportunity, if desired, to re- view and comment on it (2) The sick pay buy-back has been filed, and that is something they feel strongly about Mr Hutchinson said there has been a legal ruling that sick pay - and I believe it relates to the school system - can now be computed as part of your retirement level It does have an effect on retirement benefits, so there is a long-term cost as well Mrs Battin said the bill would correct that (3) Binding III and compulsory arbitration This bill would be coming before Senator Rotondi. Selectmen's Meeting - 3 - January 16, 1979 Senator Rotondi said he had filed a bill which would have the MBTA deed back to the respective communities the road rights of the right-of- way that runs through Arlington and Lexington, subject to reconveyance at a time when the MBTA decided what they wanted to do with it He had also filed a bill to authorize the Department of Public Works to install a direction light at Bedford and Eldred Streets This will allow people coming from Eldred Street to take a left turn He had in- vestigated it with John Carroll and would let the Selectmen know the hearing dates Mr Busa said the Commonwealth was going to enlarge Bedford Street in 1975 and that would probably have been the solution. Senator Rotondi said they didn't do it years ago because they didn't want to interrupt the flow of traffic; now, there is no flow and it is stopped up to 128 anyway There could be a 25 second triplight to allow them to intercede during those stalled periods He said that another issue going on now is dealing with the Burlington tract of land and MAPC is considering being involved in that question There is no legislation involved Chairman Battin said there was one bill filed by the Middlesex County Association that changed the way of filling vacancies on the County Com- missioners They must now choose from three nominees recommended by the County Advisory Board, and that gives us more control Mr Kent thanked Senator Rotondi and Representative Cole not only for meeting with the Board this evening but for the help always given when asked for Both agreed to work in the interests of Lexington and to keep the Selectmen informed They retired from the meeting Mr George Silverman informed the Board that the Appropriation Committee would not meet with them until next week because of the need for additional information on unresolved questions Bldg Mr Hutchinson recommended the Board's approval of building fees Fees Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to approve a fee of $10 00 for a Certificate of Zoning Compliance, in accordance with Section 11 5 of the Building Code Also, to approve a fee under Mechanical Permits for $5.00 for the first fixture and $1 50 for each additional fixture Trustees Mr Hutchinson recommended approval of a request to the Trustees of Public Public Trusts for the expenditure of $384 00 for temporary financial Trusts assistance to enable a Lexington man and wife to continue with meals on wheels at $32 00/week until May 4, 1979 Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to request the ap- proval of the Trustees of Public Trusts for the expenditure of $384 00 from an appropriate trust fund for a deserving Lexington couple Selectmen's Meeting - 4 - January 16, 1979 Mr Hutchinson recommended that the Board sign the agreement between g Bedford the Town of Bedford and the Town of Lexington concerning the construction Water of a water line from Bedford's meter pit to Lexington's water line in Agreement Bedford Street, Lexington The Town of Bedford has received all re- quired approvals for the connection and the supply of system water to Bedford from the Metropolitan District Commission and all required state agencies, including the Department of Environmental Quality Engineering, and has deliveredlevidence of su&h'approvals to the Town of Lexington The Bedford Board of Selectmen has signed the agreement Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to sign the agree- ment between the Town of Bedford and the Town of Lexington as follows 1 The Town of Lexington authorizes the Town of Bedford to lay and maintain a water line from the Town of Bedford's meter pit located in the Great Road, Bedford, to the Town of Lexington's water line located in Bedford Street, Lexington. 2 The Town of Bedford grants to the Town of Lexington th a right of in- dependent access to the meter pit and agrees to provide suitable means for such independent access at all times for the purpose of inspecting the equipment and reading the meter 3 The Town of Bedford agrees to release and hold harmless the Town of Lexington from any and all claims for injury, death or property damage arising out of said activity including, but not limited to, the construc- tion, installation or operation of said water line or meter pit The Town of Bedford specifically agrees to indemnify the Town of Lexington against any and all losses due to or related to any loss of water caused by leaks or other caus4s in said water line or meter pit or in any part of the Bedford water distribution system, at the least by paying for all water used or lost on the Bedford side of the said connection regardless of whether the cause or source of the water loss has been determined 4 The Town of Lexington may terminate water service to the Town of Bedford at any time when, in the sole judgment of said Town of Lexington, it de- termines that it is in its best interests so to terminate Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to adjourn at 9:45 ppm A true record, Attest g/Idetft,* 7h • Executive Clerk, Selectmen