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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1978-01-23-BOS-min 127 SELECTMEN'S MEETING January 23, 1978 A regular meeting of the Board of Selectmen was held in the Select- men's Meeting Room, Town Office Building, on Monday, January 23, 1978, at 7 30 p.m Chairman Battin, Mr Bailey, Mr Busa, Mrs Miley and Mr Kent; Mr Hutchinson, Town Manager; Mr Cohen, Town Counsel; Mrs Nancy Banks, Assistant to the Town Manager; Mrs McCurdy, Executive Clerk, were present Chairman Battin opened the hearing on the proposed use of Gen- Selectmen's eral Revenue Sharing Funds in relation to the entire budget, and to General receive citizen input on the proposals Revenue The proposed budget totals $28,859,014, made up of $12,560,464 Sharing for Town personal services, expenses and capital improvements and Hearing $16,298,550 for education In this budget, General Revenue Sharing funds totaling $525,000 proposed to be appropriated in the following areas 1 Council on Aging Expenses $24,220 2 Mystic Valley Mental Health expenses 30,853 3 Community Services 36,297 4 Police Personal Services 278,630 5 Police Motor Vehicles 25,000 6 D P W equipment 130,000 The proposed budget is available for public inspection in the Town Manager' s Office and Cary Memorial Library Mr Hutchinson said that the process is to hold two hearings and the first has been held by the Town Manager; a detailed report has been filed with the Board of Selectmen on comments which were made at the meeting, as well as published in the newspaper Before the Board is an administrative proposal, subject to review of the Board and, also, changes based upon estimates of general revenue sharing to be received by the Town During the budget review pro- cess so far, the Board has amended the Council on Aging Budget to reflect additional consideration for concerns raised by the Senior Citizens Club He did not propose at this time utilizing general revenue sharing monies for a Senior Center, which certainly is a necessary and worthwhile request, based upon the fact that he felt that this needed additional study This is something that the Board and the Town Manager must sit down and talk about further, expecial- ly where we are in the process of school closings and things of that nature, which are still being considered Mr William Sen, Chairman of the Council on Aging, said that Senior Center 128 Selectmen's Meeting January 23, 1978 they had originally asked for $15,500 to do some preliminary site selection and preliminary design on a Senior Center, but that has been deferred now from what we are hearing, and only our Council on Aging budget has been put in We have put in two warrant arti- cles to ask the Town Meeting to consider a Senior Center The possibility of starting a study, but not funding, was dis- • cussed and Mr Sen recommended the committee consist of a member of the Town Meeting Association, Historical Society, Senior Citizens Club, a retired architect, a retired realtor, and a Town official The Board agreed to establish the committee to study existing public and private facilities for accommodating senior citizen pro- gramming, and submit a report to the Selectmen by May 15, with the understanding that the formal charge to the committee will be writ- ten as soon as possible Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to establish a Senior Center Site Committee Mr Jacob Gardner, stressed the need for the Center, and also requested that $3,000 be provided in the Recreation budget for an annual Christmas party for senior citizens No action was taken by the Board on this request Chairman Battin declared the hearing closed at 8 00 p m Jurors At the request of the Town Clerk, the following jurors were drawn. Arthur D Ritchie, Jr 21 Balfour Street William H Wildes 3 Russell Square Webster E Coombs 175 Shade Street Barbara J Mosca 566 Lowell Street Mildred A. Stevens 5 Loring Road Florence R. Spellman 19 Cooke Road Louise Costanza 26 Rindge Avenue Allen C Eccleston 345 Waltham Street Housing Members of the Lexington Housing Authority and Mr Scanlon, Authority Director, met with the Board to request approval of an application to the Department of Urban Development for additional subsidies for 17 units Chairman Battin read a letter from Mr Scanlon stating that the original application of the Lexington Housig Authority on June 1, 1975 was for 100 units, and they were awarded 50 On February 19, 1976, at HUD's request for applications, they applied for 50 additional units, bringing up the allocation to 100 units; this application was rejected In June of 1977, they had 33 units re- ceiving subsidies and HUD recaptured the 17 unassigned allocations Since June, we have had an increase in the maximum rental costs under which we can sign contracts, and that puts the Lexington rental market in a more realistic position We feel confident this will 129 Selectmen's Meeting January 23, 1978 enable us to assist 17 additional Lexington families of low and mod- erate income who are now paying more than 25% of their income for rental units Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to approve the application of the Lexington Housing Authority to the Department of Urban Development for additional subsidies for 17 housing units Mr Scanlon and the Lexington Housing Authority retired from the meeting Mrs Mary Louise Touart, Chairman, Mr Grossimon, Mr Scouler, Permanent Permanent Building Committee; Mr Levi Burnell, Bicentennial Band, Building and Mr Gillespie, Band Director, met with the Board to discuss a Committee- proposal for a bandstand Bandstand The Committee informed the Board that they had been unsuccessful in their efforts to obtain the free services of both Harvard and M.I T design schools in preparing plans and specifications for the bandstand They then approached the Trustees of Public Trust and were told informally that there may be $1,500 available, provided the Board of Selectmen wrote to the Trustees requesting that amount This would enable the committee to hire a Lexington architect to proceed with the plans to be taken to Town Meeting After discussion, it was agreed that the committee would submit a report, under Article 2 of this Town Meeting, outlining the efforts of the committee to date, and a subsequent project to raise, by private donations because it is to be a civic project, the necessary funds to hire an architect to draw up plans and specifications An article is to be submitted for next year's warrant requesting Town Meeting's approval of the plan and a specific site for the bandstand Members of the bandstand subcommittee retired from the meeting Members of the Bicycle Subcommittee and the Traffic Safety Com- Bicycle mittee met with the Board to discuss the proposed article for a By-Law bicycle by-law change Chairman Battin said that, according to the State law, you can ride on the sidewalks, and our By-Law states that you cannot; there- fore, the Police are going by the State law Mrs Hinkle felt that adults should be allowed to ride bicycles on some sidewalks, such as Lincoln Street She pointed out that the Police are urging children to ride on sidewalks but they do not say anything about adults Mr Blackwell spoke for the Traffic Safety Committee, stating that it could see no need for a change in the Town By-Law Mr McSweeney commented that there are certain portions which can be used for a bicycle route, if so designated From an engineer- ing point of view, he had walked the sidewalks in order to estimate the cost of making a sidewalk functional, as sidewalks are dangerous if used by bicyclists There are many liabilities that the Town would have to assume once it is designated as a bike path and out 130 Selectmen's Meeting January 23, 1978 on a public way Also, he would point out that the pedestrian has the right-of-way on the sidewalk, and there is a serious question regarding people on sidewalks outside the Central District Chief Corr is unable to meet with us tonight but he has stated that he is not in favor of granting blanket approval to adults to use bicycles on all sidewalks in Town but would encourage children to use them. Mr Kent recommended that because Chief Corr is not present to state his views, no formal position could be taken by the Board Personally, he would like to resolve the question of conforming our By-Laws to the Police practices because Police permission varies with prohibitions contained in the Town By-Laws The Board agreed to schedule a joint meeting on January 30 with Chief Corr, The Bicycle Subcommittee, and the Traffic Safety Committee All involved visitors retired from the meeting Executive The Conservation Commission met with the Board and it was agreed Session to go into Executive Session to discuss land negotiations Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted 5-0 to go into Executive Session for the purpose of discussing strategy with respect to land negotiations, after which the open meeting would be resumed Traffic Chairman Battin read a report from the Traffic Safety Committee Safety in response to a letter received from Ms Posie Cowan, 6 Forest Court, Committee- recommending that the Town install pumps on Park Drive, clean up Park Drive debris on Park Drive resulting from teenagers being allowed to park there, and also recommending a rotating recycling program to allow collection of paper, green glass, clear glass, and cans on alter- nate weeks Mr Hutchinson agreed to reply to Ms Cowan that the Town's re- cycling program is under review as an experimental program and is subject to possible change Also, according to the report, daily inspections are made in the Park Drive area by the Park Division and any trash is collected and removed; Chief Corr is to continue to monitor this location, which is one of the most popular gathering places for young people The committee recommended that the Town maintain its policy against the installation of speed bumps because National Studies have shown them to be a hazard to all types of vehicles, in addition to placing the Town under the burden of great liability Abatements - Chairman Battin read a request from Mr McSweeney to abate water Water bills Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to abate the following water bills Lexington House of Pizza 399 Lowell Street Owner's incorrect Reading Jerome J Joeger 18 Fiske Road " Paul Stratford 97 Blossomcrest Road " 131 Selectmen's Meeting January 23, 1978 Water bills to be abated (Continued) Leo L Tutun 109 Kendall Road Owner's incorrect reading Robert Kent 12 Hudson Road " Robert J Spencer 33 Highland Ave Meter Man incorrect Reading James Kirm 26 Webb Street John Panjian 153 Spring St " A.M. Gilpatrick 19 Sutherland Rd Wrong Reading Recorded in meter book Ralph Burnham 25 Parker St Occupant 66 Wood St " Ralph D MacLean 9 Spring Street Meter Change/Wrong Reading Leonard Friedman 6A Winchester Drive Biller's Error Wilbert Sanford 60 Winter Street John Woodfin 95 Lincoln St " Chairman Battin read a request from the Tax Collector to approve Bonds bonds for Deputy Collectors Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to approve bonds for Paul E Kelley and Patrick J Moynihan, Deputy Collectors, in the amount of $5,000, each Chairman Battin requested the Board to sign the Warrant to the Streets Town Constable regarding streets Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to sign the Warrant to the Town Constable to notify all abutters of the vote of the Board on the intent to lay out the following streets, and the notice of street hearings to be held on Wednesday, February 8, 1978, at 7 30 p m. in Cary Hall Banks Avenue 800'+ from Chase Avenue to Carville Avenue Cushing Street 425'+ from Sullivan Street to end Tucker Avenue 175'+ from Chase Avenue to Tarbell Avenue Chairman Battin informed the Board that bids have been received Contract on printing 10,000 copies of 72 pages of the 1978 Annual Town Meeting Town Meeting Warrant Lexington Press, Inc , $3,672; Maran Printing, $4,509 Warrant Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to award the contract for printing the 1978 Annual Town Meeting Warrant to the lowest bidder, Lexington Press, Inc , in the amount of $3,672 00 Mrs Miley informed the Board that it was her understanding that Idenification the Registrar of Motor Vehicles has sponsored a new system of issuing Cards identification cards The selectmen now issue Liquor Identification Cards to Lexington youths but it has been brought to her attention that the stores in town do not honor them as they prefer drivers' licenses Mr Cohen agreed to explore the matter and come back to the Board 132 Selectmen's Meeting January 23, 1978 1-Day Liquor Chairman Battin read an application for a Special liquor license License Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to sign the 1-Day liquor license for W R Grace Co for January 27, 1978 1977 Town Mr Hutchinson advised the Board that bids have been received on Report printing the 1977 Annual Town Report Semline, Inc , $4,158; Municipal Contract Reports Company, Fitchburg, $4,200; Watertown Printers, $8,375 These bids are within the $10,000 appropriation and the usual format has been modified He recommended that the Board approve the aware of the contract to the lowest bidder Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to approve the award by the Town Manager of the contract for printing the 1977 Annual Town Report to the lowest bidder, Semline, Inc , Braintree, in the amount of $4,158 Executive Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted 5-0 by roll Session call vote to go into Executive Session, with the intention of not resuming the open session, for the purpose of discussing strategy with respect to collective bargaining and litigation After discussion, it was voted to go out of Executive Session Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to adjourn at 10 10 p m A true record, Attest �Y- Executive Clerk, Selectmen