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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1979-01-08-BOS-min 31/7 SELECTMEN'S MEETING January 8, 1979 A regular meeting of the Board of Selectmen was held in the Select- men's Meeting Room, Town Office Building, on Monday, January 8, 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; Mr Cohen, Town Counsel; Chief Corr, Police Department; Miss Casey, Principal Clerk, Selectmen The Board met with Temple Scanlan and Mary Shunney of the Lexington HUD Housing Authority to discuss the notification from the Department of Section Housing and Urban Development that the Massachusetts Department of Com- 8 munity Affairs had applied to administer 1500 units of the 1900 units Applica- to be allocated by HUD under Section 8 Existing Housing Program in tion Middlesex, Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex Counties Both Mrs Shunney and By DCA Mr Scanlan informed the Board that the Housing Authority was opposed to this because they felt that the Housing Authority knows the needs of the community and have been doing a good job Mr Scanlan explained the process of certification of eligibility to the Board and he felt that the DCA farmed out the administration to sub-contractors who administer the program poorly and inflates the present rental structure The Board assured Mrs Shunney and Mr Scanlan that they felt that the Housing Authority has done an excellent job and would write to the Area Manager of HUD, Mr Marvin Siflinger, opposing the application of the DCA for reasons cited by the Lexington Housing Authority Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to have the Chair- man write to the Department of Housing and Urban Development opposing the application of the DCA for the authority to administer 1500 units under HUD's Section 8 Existing Housing Program The Chairman thanked Mrs Shunney and Mr Scanlan for their presentation The Manager and the Board discussed the listing of articles to be 1979 inserted in the 1979 Warrant The Manager reminded the Board that Town they can delete some at a later date if they so desire prior to send- Meeting ing to the printer Articles Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to insert the articles in the Warrant for the 1979 Annual Town Meeting The Chairman read a request from Mr Warren Empey, Acting Director Abatement of Public Works/Engineering for an abatement in the amount of $318 64 Hancock of a sidewalk betterment against the Hancock School site School Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to abate the Sidewalk sidewalk betterment against the Hancock School site in the amount of Bettermeni $318 64 Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to approve the Pole following pole locations Loca- 111 Tucker Avenue on the northerly side, approximately 78'+ (feet) tions west of Tarbell Avenue, one (1) Pole 140/1 Cushing Street on the easterly side, approximately 94'+ (feet) north of Sullivan Street, four (4) Poles 338/1-2-3-4 Lf/8 Selectmen's Meeting January 8, 1979 Banks Avenue on the southerly side, approximately 86'+ (feet) west of Baker Avenue, four (4) Poles 144/2-3-5-6 111 Snow Plowing The Board met with Mr Empey and Chief Corr relative to the en- and forcement of the By-laws relating to the clearing of sidewalks in the Removal center of Town. Policy During a lengthy discussion of the Town's policy regarding the re- moval of snow from the sidewalks in the center of Town, it was brought out that the By-law seems to be rather ambiguous Due to the fact that the sidewalk on one side of the center is much wider than the other, there was a question as to how far the merchants are required to clear Chief Corr feels that the By-law is very restrictive at this time The Manager explained that there has been no change in the plowing and snow removal policy except that the removing of the snow is not done on overtime, and, therefore, takes longer to clear the area The Mana- ger is to find out how many man hours it takes to remove the snow and whether it would be most cost effective to have this work done on over- time or during the day at regular_hours. After further discussion, it was agreed to defer a decision on the snow removal and plowing policy until further information from the Manager and Mr Cohen is received so that it may be decided what policy to adhere to Mr Empey and Chief Corr retired from the meeting Lay Out Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted the, intent to lay Powers Court out and sign the warrant to the Town Constable to notify all abutters of the intention of the Board of Selectmen to accept Powers Court as a town way and notice of street hearing to be held on Monday, January 29, 1979 as follows Powers Court - from Paul Revere Road 300'+ southerly to end Tax Title The Chairman read a request from Town Counsel to sign the deed to transferring three small tax title lots to the Conservation Commission Cons Comm Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to sign the deed transferring the following tax title lots to the Conservation Commission Avon Street Map 79 Lot 11 Moreland Avenue Map 15 Lot 54A Bowker Street Map 13 Lot 316 Recycling The Manager referred the Board to the recycling report that was Program prepared by one of the intersn Although the tonnage has increased, revenue has not and a major portion of households in the Town do not participate in the recycling program He pointed out that unless there is a mandatory program instituted, which can be discussed in the coming months, the program has not been cost effective The program has cost about $50,000 and we are getting back approximately $9,000 Bleachers Mr Hutchinson informed the Board that the Appropriation Committee High School had rejected a transfer for completing the bleachers at the High Sohool He said that he had spoken to Otis Brown, Chairman of the School Com- mittee, who will speak to Dr Lawson and work with him to see if there111 are any monies that might be available from the school budget that could be integrated with the $4,000 that is now available /9 Selectmen's Meeting January 8, 1979 Mr Busa suggested that it might be feasible to transfer some money from the Recreation funds for the bleachers and delay some of the improvements in the playgrounds It was suggested that chairs could be rented for graduation be- cause even if Town Meeting did appropriate the money, it would not be available as quickly as needed Mr Hutchinson feels that delay will cost the Town more money as the cost of materials is rising steadily Mr Hutchinson is to get figures on the cost of materials and the cost of renting chairs for graduation and the matter will be dis- cussed again on Wednesday The Manager informed the Board that the Town of Bedford has re- Town of ceived additional authorization to continue to draw water from the MDC Bedford as their water system is still in unsatisfactory condition They can Water now draw up to 1,000,000 gallons per day subject to their executing an agreement with the Town of Lexington They are now drawing water through the temporary connection that was authorized on a temporary basis via Hanscom Field and have put in a permanent connection on Great Road Mr Hutchinson informed the Board that the Millbrook Valley re- Millbrook lief sewer project is continuing (that is the alternate line for the Valley Town of Bedford) He stated that the MDC is going to put the line in Relief and that interations is beginning with their engineers who are working Sewer with the MDC He feels that it will take some time, but will monitor it very closely for long range implications with problems in our sanitary sewer system and will try to get an idea as to where the line is going to be established The School Committee feels that Bowman School would be a better Precinct location than Clarke Junior High for a polling place for Precinct 3 3 The Manager is to talk with Town Meeting Members and the Precinct 3 Polling Chairman regarding this change Location The Chairman read an application for a certificate of incorpora- Certifi- tion from "Cooperative Elder Services, Inc " for a location at 365 cate of Waltham Street, Lexington Inc Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to approve the "Coopera- application of "Cooperative Elder Services, Inc " for a location tive Elder c/o Minuteman Home Care Coproration, 365 Waltham St , Lexington for Services" a mail drop only The Board and the Manager discussed personal services The Manager informed the Board that there are 304 full time employees and 165 part time of which 176 positions are covered by collective bargaining At the present time, he is still negotiating with the firemen and policemen He stated that the collective bargaining talks are going better than was expected He is proposing a per- sonal services budget of $5,304,579 which reflects a $300,000 in- crease over the actual appropriation of last year He is recom- )Yza mending in Article 5 $280,000 of which in excess of $10,000 is pention costs There is a continuing decline in the number of employees and he expects to turn back to E & D $45-50,000 It is his suggestion that the landfill be hun 40 hours per week rather than six days and close it on Sundays This would eliminate two positions in the pub- lic works department There was some discussion regarding the feasibility of closing the landfill ,on Sundays as it had been tried before and met with citizen protest Mr Hutchinson is going to have a survey made of surrounding towns to determine how many hours per week they are open and on what days Mr Hutchinson informed the Board that Workmen's compensation con- tinues to be a problem for the Town The Public Works Department and the School Department continue to be the biggest problem It is his suggestion that the Town look into self-insuring The three-year sick leave figures were reviewed The Board felt that the over-all figures were good and was getting better Executive Upon motion duly made and- seconded, it was voted by Mrs Battin, Session Mr. Buss, Mrs Miley, Mr Kent and Mr Crain, in a 5-0 roll call vote to go into Executive Session, with no intention of resuming the open meeting, for the purpose of discussing the purchase, exchange, lease or value of real property After discussion, it was voted to adjourn Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to adjourn at 930PM. A true record, Attest d)?6,_ tt,c: 22? 07 Principal Clerk Selectmen I