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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1978-07-03-BOS-min 985 SELECTMEN'S MEETING July 3, 1978 A regular meeting of the Board of Selectmen was held in the Select- men's Meeting Room, Town Office Building, on Monday, July 3, 1978 at 7 30 P M Chairman Battin, Mr Buse, Mrs. Miley, Mr Crain; Mrs Banks, Assistant to the Town Manager; Mr Cohen, Town Counsel; Miss Casey, Prin- cipal Clerk were present. At the request of the Town Clerk, the following jurors were drawn Jurors Marilyn Jones 4 Leroy Road Robert J Ploof 70 Blossomcrest Road Norman R. Maclnnis 37 Normandy Road Chairman Battin read requests for Estabrook and Cary Halls Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to grant permis-, Cary Hall sion to the Recreation Department for the use of Cary Hall Mondays and Thursdays from 9 - 12 noon, July 10 - August 17 Area kitchen hallway for Arts & Crafts classes Friday, July 21 and August 11 from 1 30 - 4 30, p m. Area front foyer for Senior Citizen activity Monday, July 31 from 1 - 4 00 p.m Area Cary Hall for Senior Citizen "Night at the Races." Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to grant permission to the institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers, Boston Section, for the use of Cary Hall on Thursday, September 7, 1978 from 7 00 p.m to 11 00 p.m to conduct an organizational "Presidential Candidates Night" Permission is granted subject to payment of $35 00 hall rental fee and the custodian's fee. Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to grant permis- Estabrook sion to the Lexington Field and Garden Club for the use of Estabrook Hall Hall on October 18, November 15, 1978 and February 14, March 21, April 18, 1979 to donduct a meeting and/or lecture on horticulture education and flower arranging from 9 30 a.m to 12 30 p.m. No fee is to be charged Chairman Battin read in part the warrant to the Animal Control Unlicensed Officer regarding 1,040 unlicensed dogs in the town and recommended that Dogs it be signed. Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to sign the Warrant to the Animal Control Officer to investigate the list of 1,040 unlicensed dogs in Lexington The Board discussed a letter received from Mr Sam Nablo, regarding 1977 Town the Town Report He anticipated calling a meeting of the committee mem- Report bers within a few weeks to elect officers and get organized for next Mr Nablo year's report He requested constructive comments the Board might have received about the more austere format of the 1977 report Mr Crain and Mrs Miley stated that they had heard very complimentary reports about the enthusiasm of the committee and the report ‘)86 Selectmen's Meeting - 2 - July 3, 1978 Common Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to sign the Victualler Common Victuraller License for Louis J Carbonaro d/b/as Brigham's new License franchise owner, 38 Bedford Street Sewer Upon motion duly made and seconded, it as voted to sign the Fern St Order of Taking for sewer easement on Fern Street. Nancy Banks, Assistant to the Town Manager requested that the Board sign Common Carrier license for six months for the Metropolitan Coach to provide express bus service between Lexington and Boston She reported to the Board that the previous license expired at the end of June and Mr Goodman, of Metropolitan Coach, desired to continue the service through the summer months Ridership is approximately 70-75 passengers daily with the hope of increasing the number to 120 She informed the Board that the bus stop has been moved from the recreation area to the parking area of Grace Chapel, who have donated the space She reported that it is the intent to insert flyers advertising the service into the tax bills to alert the citizens of the service The printing costs are to be paid for by Metropolitan Coach. Mr Busa felt that this was being discriminatory as the privilege was not extended to all businesses in town and he felt that the town mail should not be used for this purpose After discussion, it was agreed by the Board to defer action on approval of advertising the bus service in the tax bills, but the Board did vote to extend the license for six months Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to issue a six- months' license to Metropolitan Coach to provide express bus service between Lexington and Boston Water bill The Chairman read a request from the Department of Public Works/ Abatements Engineering to sign abatement sheets Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to abate the following water charges Occupant Acct. #A-14-40 40 Albermarle Ave $13 50 incorrect billing Occupant Acct #A-31B-45 45 Sanderson Rd $22 50 billed against incorrect add. Guide The Chairman read the application of Robert Pitha to become an official guide Rev Handley, Director of Guides recommended the appoint- ment and the new candidate had successfully passed the examination given by Rev Handley Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to sign the license for Robert Pitha, 23 Longfellow Road to be an Official Lexington Guide J 287 Selectmen's Meeting - 3 - July 3, 1978 The Chairman informed the Board of an application from the Vine- Vinebrook brook Corporation for a hearing for a change of location to a tempor- Corp ary location at 1666 Massachusetts Avenue and a permanent location at New Location 55 Bedford Street to a one floor building containing 1,650 square feet to be constructed During discussion of the request it was brought out that the Massachusetts Avenue address was part of the Colonial Garage, now owned by Rowe Chevrolet Written permission from the owners will be obtained and presented to the Board together with a complete set of plans for the new location on Bedford Street Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted 3-0 to set a hearing date of July 31, 1978 for a transfer of location for Vinebrook Corporation to a temporary location at 1666 Massachusetts Avenue and to a permanent location to be constructed at 55 Bedford Street Mr Busa abstained Mrs Banks, Assistant to the Town Manager, informed the Board EDCO lease that a letter had been received from Dr. Lawson, Superindendent of Parker Schools, enclosing a copy of a letter from John H Green, Executive School Director of Education Collaborative for Greater Boston, expressing interest in the possibility of leasing Parker school for EdCo pro- grams for the handicapped. An agreement was worked out to lease about 5500 square feet of space at $3 00 per square foot to EDCO to occupy the building until December 31, 1978 During discussion it was brought out that because of the vandal- ism potential it was felt that it would be a good thing to have it occupied Mrs Banks said that the Town would continue to maintain the outside and EDCO would take care of everything else Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to approve the leasing of part of the Parker School to Education Collaborative for Greater Boston until December 31, 1978 Mr Hutchinson and Mrs Banks had met with representatives of Council on the Church of Our Redeemer to discuss moving the Council on Aging into Aging these quarters There would be satisfactory office and conference move to space on the top floor and access to larger rooms for expanded pro- Church of gramming Mrs. Banks stated that the rent would be $300 00 per month Our and they would like to request from the Trustees of Public Trusts Redeemer $3300 00 from the Bridge Charitable Fund for the purpose of renting the space from August 1, 1978 to June 30, 1979 Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted that the Chair- man on behalf of the Board would request the Trustees of Public Trusts for $3300.00 from the Bridge Charitable Fund for the purpose of renting space in the Church of Our Redeemer for the Council on Aging from August 1, 1978 to June 30, 1979 I1 988 Selectmen's Meeting - 4 - July 3, 1978 Recreation Mrs Banks informed the Board that Cliff Prentiss would explain Department the proposal of the Recreation Department for the upgrading of the Upgrading fields in the Center Playground complex Park Drive Mr Prentiss informed the Board that it had been decided to spend most of the time and money on the Center Field complex which, he stated, was in dire need He brought out that the original request of $36,000 was cut back to $10,000 by Town Meeting. He informed the Board that it is planned to take out all asphalt, poles and old guard rails from Park Drive which would enable them to extend the right field of Field #1 about 300 feet He stated that Capt Lima of the Police Department has been interested in closing this area off as it is a hide- out at night and that Ralph Lord had expressed interest in it because it can be used for field events The major project is to redo the soccer field which is inside the track and was planned to take place as soon as the Lions Club carnival was gone and the work force became -available. He stated that the Lions Club had expressed concern that they would not be able to use the area next year as they have done in the past Mr. Prentiss stated that if a good growth of grass is not accomplished by fall that it would be detrimental fot the Lions Club to use it next year At the present time $9200 has been spent for materials and that they hope that the Lions Club would donate some money for sodding for the project Mr Crain stated that he felt that if the project were done in two stages, the reseeding done on the soccer field and Park Drive not disturbed at this time, it might allow for the heavy equipment the Lions Club brings in to be used on Park Drive and not be on the re- seeded field. He felt that the possibility of doing Park Drive and lengthening the baseball field simultaneously and reseeding the soccer field increased the jeopardy for the carnival next year Mr Prentiss stated that the reason for doing it in this manner was that Park Drive would not be a prime playing area but just for low key activity He said that the prime activity takes place on the track and soccer fields Mr Crain stated that several Lions Club members had spoken to him about the project when they had heard about it and they were apprehensive ' about the capability of using it next year. He stated that he felt that this is a service organization that works very hard in the town and has extended a number of gratutious advantages He requested that a good deal of communication between the Recreation Department and the Lions Club go on so that the Club isn't surprised by the time schedule of the work Mr Busa expressed concern that no one had earmarked specific areas where the money was going to be spent at any budget meeting He felt that it meant that Lincoln Street, Estabrook School and Harrington School, playgrounds that may have problems will not get any attention this year and that it would mean any expectations for upgrading in those area would not be met 289 Selectmen's Meeting - 5 - July 3, 1978 Mrs Miley felt that the Town Meeting, as it was composed last year, would have let them know if they felt it was a problem not to leave it up to the discretion of the Recreation Committee as to where the money was to be spent Mr Busa questioned who has the jurisdiction of spending the money the Recreation Committee, the Town Manager or the Board of Selectmen He stated he felt that the Recreation Committee did not have the juris- diction to allocate where the money would be spent Mrs Battin stated that technically, the Recreation Committee is under the jurisdiction of the Town Manager and that it should be left up to his recommendations where the money would be spent She felt that the matter should be deferred until the Town Manager returned, with the understanding that the problems of the Lions Coub carnival be considered The Board met with Mr William Sawyer, former selectmen from Acton Mr William and Chairman of the Area Wide Planning Advisory Committee of the Metro- Sawyer politan Area Planning Council in connection with the 208 study He ex- 208 Water plained that it was a three-year water quality project costing $30,000/,000 Quality which is now coming to a close The MAPC is doing the study as a con- Study tracting agent for the Federal Government producing a report that will be essentially used by the Federal Government in its disposition of Federal funds in connection with towns within the area This study is being done Nationwide The staff is collecting data of all the towns within the 102 cities and towns that are involved in the study The particular ef- fect at this time is that they do have a controlling effect on the degree to which the Federal Government will respond to the requests of the towns for funding Mr Sawyer cautioned the Seiettmen to be alert for erroneous information which could affect decisions He informed the Board that the MAPC is concerned about what they think should happen in Lexington, and if they don't hear from them, and are not involved in formulating the program reports, decisions will be formulated anyway and they will govern how the Federal Government reacts to town government overtures The report is a 1200 page draft report which should be arriving about July 19 and the town will have• 45 days to respond to it He pre- sented a seven part summary for Lexington which will be distributed to the various town boards and committees directly involved The Chairman requested Mrs Banks to distribute copies of the sum- mary to the staff to read it first and correct any misinformation The staff is to take relevant sections to their own boards to attend to and make decisions after which there should be a joint meeting of boards con- cerned for final recommendations The Chairman thanked Mr Sawyer for coming before the Board and for the valuable summary that was drawn up for Lexington Mr Sawyer retired from the meeting I 2 90 Selectmen's Meeting - 6 - July 3, 1978 Appointments Mrs Banks informed the Board that she and Chief Bergeron had Firefighters reviewed the pool of candidates for the firefighter positions open and had interviewed the top ten candidates It was recommended that Arthur Raithel, Jr. and Peter W Torode be appointed She stated that appointment is provisional on their successful completion of their course at the firefighters academy it is hoped that they can begin in October and should be completed by December Both will be working on the ambulance during the summer There were no Lexington residents in the final pool of candidates. Northeastern A letter from Mr Wayne E Wright, Marketing Engineer of Univer- Mass Resource sal Oil Products, was received relative to the Northeastern Massachu- Recovery setts Resource Recovery Project inviting representatives of the Town of Project Lexington to meet with the other community officials to discuss the project and answer any questions that may arise Mrs Banks stated that the Town Manager will be meeting with the Solid Waste Committee on July 11 at which time the matter will be discussed and that he will be meeting with Mr Wright Street In response to Angela and Frederick Frick's letter of June 16 Acceptance regarding the condition of Tavern Lane, the Engineering Department has Petitions prepared a cost estimated of upgrading the street and will forward a Tavern Lane street acceptance petition to the Fricks shortly A street acceptance Garfield petition is also being forwarded to the residents of Garfield Street MBTA Mrs Banks informed the Board that Peter Chalpin of the Engin- Standardized eering Department will be working with the MBTA relative to its Bus Signs standardized bus stops sign program as explained in Mr Robert T Kiley's letter of June 22 to Mrs Battin Scattered Site As a result of a petition from the residents of the Valley- Informational field/Grassland Street section concerning the scattered site program, Meeting the Town Manager will schedule an informational meeting to discuss what the scattered site program is and talk generally regarding it Residents from other areas being considered for scattered sites will be invited to attend the meeting. Grapevine Ave The Grapevine Avenue sewage problem is still being investigated Sewage will be reported on at a later date Marguerite Mrs Battin reported that she had received in the mail today a Barnard report from Mr Martin of the Engineering Department relative to the Sewer Connection anticipated sewer connection to the home of Marguerite Barnard, #3 Allen Street which she had written about to the Chairman Mrs Battin said that she will discuss Mr Martin's report with the Manager and it will be taken up at the next Selectmen's meeting 291 Selectmen's Meeting - 7 - July 3, 1978 Mrs Banks reported to the Board in the realm of human services, Human Services other towns in the area have established an Area Strategy where six of Area Strategy the human services departments have been reorganized and their areas Committee have been made contiguous Lexington is part of the Mystic Valley Area which consists of six other communities and each area has a board which does policy making and planning and sends recommendations to the State so that they can determine where the money should go and what should be spent The Mass League has felt strongly that it is necessary to get some municipal input on those boards as presently there is only a rep- resentative from each of the State agencies At the request of Arthur Johnson of Arlington, a group met about a month ago to discuss what role the various towns could have She stated that they felt at that meeting that the State has the money for human services and if delivery consis- tant with local goals is achieved more impact on the State will be needed. Mrs. Banks stated that they feel that they are not a stage where they can become a formal committee and they would like to continue to meet informally to get a better understanding of what the Area Strategy is and what type of role they should have They also felt that they would like to sit in on several of the Area Strategy meetings to get a feel as to what kinds of activities they are engaged in and possibly in the fall they will have a better understanding of the various strategies and come hack to the various Boards of Selectmen and request that a designee be named to the committee They will be looking as to what types of in- formation they should be requesting from agencies we subsidize, such as Mystic Valley Mental Health and possibly youth organizations and how re- sources can be shared. She stated that this group is on a fact finding mission and if they decide that there is something to be gained by a more formalized structure they will be back Mrs Battin informed the Board that the Local Government Advisory Committee is very concerned about human service planning having taken place at the top and State money being spent with State goals in mind and no relationship to necessary local goals She stated they have urged having some input at the local level and the Governor and Jerry Stevens, realizing that there ought to be planning on the area level have set up this Area Strategy and they have included everybody except municipal officials, who know perhaps a little better than the State area repre- sentatives what the people want and need at the local level and where the money can be spent most appropriately She thought that probably there would be one representative from the six towns She asked Mr Crain, and he agreed, to be a back-up for Mrs Banks on the committee in order to insure input from elected officials Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted 4-0 by roll call Executive vote to go into Executive Session, with no intention of resuming the Session open session, to discuss two items that involve reputations, and both people know they are being discussed After discussion, it was voted to go out of Executive Session Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to adjourn at 9 05 P M A true record, Attest k (at- AA °CUT Principal Clerk, Selectmen