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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1977-12-19-BOS-min 9C0 SELECTMEN'S MEETING December 19, 1977 A regular meeting of the Board of Selectmen was held in the Select- men's Meeting Room, Town Office Building, on Monday, December 19, 1977 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 McCurdy, Executive Clerk, were present Jurors At the request of the Town Clerk, the following jurors were drawn Barbara Wachman 10 Diamond Road Carl N Easton 130 Pleasant Street George A Zwicker 94 Concord Avenue Samuel Altschuler 27 Hathaway Road Donna M Raimondi 60 Reed Street Robert M Bowers 65 Follen Road William G Ravanis 23 Webster Road Nishan Haroian 353 Concord Avenue Maria L Agraz 40 Cliffe Avenue Douglas Martin Bille 21 Douglas Road Liquor - Chairman Battin opened the hearing on the application submitted by Lee Ann's Attorney Stephen Russian in behalf of Lee Ann McGrath, Manager of Lee Restaurant Ann's Restaurant at 1720 Massachusetts Avenue for a Common Victualler Hearing All Alcholic Beverages license A legal notice of the hearing had been advertised in the Lexington Minute-man issue of December 8, 1977, and copies of the notice had been sent by registered mail by the petitioner to all abutters Atty Russian submitted a list of abutters to whom notices had been sent by registered mail He informed the Board that the corpora- tion, which was recently formed, is comprised of members of the McGrath family; Lee Ann is President and, in her individual capacity, is a stockholder, and the other stockholders are her children; Lee Ann is the children's guardian Lee Ann has been a resident of Lexington for 20 years and lives on Lincoln Terrace; she has some knowledge and understanding about the food business, having studied it for the past year and a half Her intention is to make the restaurant one of significant repute and she has engaged the services of a well-known chef in Cambridge; the quality of the food is to be of a high calibre, continental cuisine Contractors have been engaged for rather significant renovations on the walls, floors, kitchen, new furniture and furnishings It is going to be a very clean restaurant, with the highest order of hygiene Lee Ann cannot run a successful restaurant without a liquor license She has a lease for the premises and the evidence is apparant that she is com- mitted financially and emotionally to providing a good restaurant and give good service to the citizens of the Town Chairman Battin read a report from Mr Donald Irwin, Building Com- 91 Selectmen's Meeting December 19, 1977 missioner, stating that the proposed changes and alterations are of a minor nature and would receive approval of his department upon appli- cation of a building permit Also, a report from Police Chief Corr gave a good character and financial report on Mrs Lee Ann McGrath Attorney Russian requested the same hours of operation as approved under the Battle Green license, 11 00 a.m to 12 00 Midnight, Monday through Saturday and 1 00 p.m to 12 00 Midnight on Sundays; the kitchen would be open during those hours For the information of the Board, Mr Bailey pointed out that the license under this application would be changed from an Innholder liquor license to a Common Victualler liquor license Atty Russian added that renovations would not be completed until February but he hoped that the Board would approve the license as of January 1, 1978 No one appearing in favor or in opposition, Chairman Battin de- clared the hearing closed Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to approve the application for an All Alcoholic Beverages Common Victualler license for Lee Ann's Restaurant, Inc , Lee Ann McGrath, Manager, 1720 Massachu- setts Avenue, with hours of operation on Monday through Saturday, 11 00 a.m to 12 00 Midnight and Sundays 1 00 p.m to 12 00 Midnight, as long as the dining room is open but not later than 12 00 Midnight, subject to final approval of the Building Inspector and the Health Director Approval of the Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission is to be requested Atty Russian retired from the meeting Mr Temple Scanlon, Director of the Housing Authority, met with Scattered Board to discuss scattered sites lots throughout the Town Sites - Chairman Battin read a letter from Mr and Mrs John Yasaitis Housing expressing concern about three lots proposed for development for Authority low and moderate income scattered sites housing in the Earl Street/ Garfield Street area Mr Scanlon said that he had met with Mr. and Mrs Yasaitis and had explained the proposed program to them From the list of Town- owned lots, 25 lots had been selectelfor the proposed scattered sites program, and these lots were now being investigated as buildable lots When investigations are completed, a list of acceptable lots will then be submitted to the Selectmen for approval The Board agreed to arrange a meeting with the Housing Authority as soon as all information has been compiled and the report completed on scattered sites lots All citizens who have expressed their concern to the Board will be invited to this meeting Mr Scanlon retired from the meeting Chairman Battin read a letter of resignation from Mr Albert P Zabin MAPC as Lexington's representative on the Metropolitan Area Planning Council Represent In his letter, Mr Zabin suggested the creation of a system of better 92 Selectmen's Meeting December 19, 1977 111 communication between the MAPC representative and interrelated Town agencies Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to accept with regret the resignation of Mr Albert P Zabin as Lexington's representa- tive on the Metropolitan Area Planning Council The Board agreed to forward future MAPC correspondence to the Con- servation Commission, Planning Board, Housing Authority, Transportation Advisory Committee, Regional Refuse Advisory Committee and the Sewer Advisory Committee for their attention and possible participation in planned MAPC projects Also, these committees are to be requested to submit a nominee for consideration by the Board for appointment as Lexington's representative on MAPC Certificate Chairman Battin read a request for approval of mailing address for of Incorpora a Certificate of Incorporation Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to approve the location at the Lexington Lodge of Elks, 959 Waltham Street, as a mail drop for the United Fly Tyers, Inc Traffic- Chairman Battin read a report from the Traffic Safety Committee Mass Ave concerning traffic conditions at the interesection of Mass Avenue and Maple St Maple Street Mr Grace Thomson of Bedford had written to the Board asking for consideration of the installation of a traffic signal at this intersection and, if this was not feasible, perhaps a pedestrian button could be installed on the signals at the fire station at Mass Avenue and Locust Avenue On November 28, the Board discussed a report from the committee, recommending that the request be denied as warrants were not met at the Maple Street intersection The Board agreed to refer the matter back to the committee for a complete evaluation of the area, including the fire station signal and crosswalks The latest report stated that a study of the number of pedestrians crossing at the fire station was very small and it would not be possible to receive approval of the State D P W for a pedestrian push-button on the traffic signal It was pointed out that there is a painted crosswalk at the Maple Street intersection The Traffic Safety Committee again recommended that the request be denied The Board agreed to accept the recommendation subject to conditions Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to accept the recom- mendation of the Traffic Safety Committee to deny the request of Mrs Grace Thomson for the installation of a traffic signal at Mass Avenue and Maple Street and the possibility of a pedestrian button being in- stalled on the traffic signals at the fire station, with the understand- ing that the Town Manager is to work with the Police Department, the Public Works/Engineering Department and the Traffic Safety Committee to ensure the safety of pedestrians by conducting a campaign to educate motorists that, by State statute, a pedestrian within a crosswalk has the right of way, and to request enforcement by the Police Department Also, to re- quest the Public Works Department to keep all crosswalks freshly painted, weather permitting 93 Selectmen's Meeting December 19, 1977 Mr James Wood, Lexington Coordinator of the Initiative Petition Mr Wood- Drive on Compulsory and Binding Arbitration, met with the Board to sub- Initiative mit a final report "On September 26, 1977, the Lexington Selectmen Petition authorized an Initiative Petition Drive which would have amended the Drive - compulsory arbitration law by providing for local voter approval of any arbitration award made to municipal firefighters and police officers This drive was part of a statewide program involving all cities and towns in the Commonwealth Support for this drive in Lexington was broad based and included all Selectmen, the Appropriation Committee, Town Manager and Town Meeting members as individuals In all, 1326 sig- natures were collected over a six week period which officially ended on November 3, 1977 Seventy persons participated actively in this drive circulating a total of 41 petitions The strength of this drive, I believe, emphasizes the desire of the majority of Lexington residents to have local control over their own fiscal affairs and against un- funded state mandated programs Results from this statewide initiative program were fast and rewarding Negotiators for the municipal fire- fighters and police along with Massachusetts Legislators recognized the need for more balance and fairness than existing legislation provided for This resulted in legislation which was signed into law on November 15, 1977 This new law which is effective January 1, 1978 will en- courage good faith bargaining and preclude going directly into a bind- ' ing arbitration situation In concluding, I would like to thank the Lexington Selectmen for their unswerving support and all others who gave of their time to make this effort a success " Chairman Battin thanked Mr Wood for doing such an impressive job The Board agreed that Mrs Battin is to submit all signed petitions to the Mass League of Cities and Towns Mr Wood retired from the meeting Chairman Battin read applications for renewal of licenses for 1978 1978 Common Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to sign the Carrier Common Carrier licenses, expiring December 31, 1978, for the follow- Licenses ing Bedford Local Transit, 16 South Road, Bedford; Hudson Bus Lines, 70 Union Street, Medford; Pierce Transit Co , Inc , 441 Textile Avenue, Dracut Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to sign the Com- Common mon Victualler license, expiring January 1, 1979, for the following Victualler Lexingtop Toyota Motor Sales, U S A , Inc , 409 Mass Avenue Rowe Chevrolet, Inc , 33 Bedford Street Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to sign the Class I Motor Vehicle license, expiring January 1, 1978, and a renewal li- cense expiring January 1, 1979, for Rowe Chevrolet, Inc , formerly Hurlburt Buick-Opel, 1668 Massachusetts Avenue Chairman Battin read requests for approval of new Managers 94 Selectmen's Meeting December 19, 1977 Liquor-Mgr Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to approve Mr Sheraton Stephen G J Henry as the new Manager of the Sheraton-Lexington Lex Inn Motor Inn, under the Innholder All Alcoholic Beverages license ex- piring December 31, 1978 Elks Club Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to approve Mr Manager Robert Powderly as the new Manager of the Lexington Lodge #2204 under the Club All Alcoholic Beverages license expiring December 31, 1978 Approval of the Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission is to be requested for Mr Henry and Mr Powderly Lodging Chairman Battin read reports from Mr Smith, Director of Public House Health, and Mr Kelley, Building Inspector, concerning the application License of Dr Bernard Yudowitz for a lodging house license for Wild Acre Inn at 50 Percy Road Mr Smith reported minor violations in the general housing and kitchen areas, and no health hazard condition was found due to the system having been pumped recently He noted that a sewer connection may be forthcoming when the weather permits and the recom- mendation was to renew the lodging house license contingent upon a connection to the municipal sewer system Mr Kelley cited four violations concerning removal of smoke de- tectors, non-operating emergency light, repairs to the roof as an escape route, and needed repairs to the porch After discussion, the Board agreed to renew the license for a 30-day period, pending correction of all violations Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to renew the Lodging House license for the Wild Acre Inn at 50 Percy Road until January 31, 1978, subject to correction of violations and further inspections at the end of the 30-day period Sewer The Board agreed to Mr Hutchinson's recommendation to table dis- Patricia cussion on a letter to be sent to the Town of Arlington concerning the Terrace installation of a sewer on Patricia Terrace Insurance Mr Hutchinson requested approval of a list of insurance agents Agents' who would participate in commissions on the Town's insurance Commission Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to approve the following list of agents to participate in the commissions on the Town of Lexington's insurance schedule, in the amount of $325 00, each W Dana Bartlett Insurance Agency of Lexington, Inc 11 Muzzey Street, Lexington MacNeil Insurance Agency, Inc 19 Depot Square, Lexington Otis S Brown Insurance Agency One Militia Drive, Lexington Northwest Insurance Agency, Inc 1709 Massachusetts Avenue, Lexington 95 111 Selectmen' s Meeting December 19, 1977 Chairman Battin read a request from Mr Alan Greene for the use Cary Hall of Estabrook Hall on February 28 through March 3, 1978 for a course in Microprocessors to be sponsored by the Institute of Electrical Engineers The Board agreed that Cary Hall is not to be used for a business- type operation and requested that further information be submitted on the request Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to table the IEE request to use Estabrook Hall, pending a report from the Town Manager The Board discussed street lights and no action was taken on the Street possibility of replacing incandescent lights with mercury vapor lights Lights Mr Hutchinson said that the Town Manager's hearing on the proposed Revenue use of revenue sharing funds was held this evening at 7 00 p.m. He Sharing will submit to the Board a summary of comments made; they were geared Funds to senior citizen concerns and human services concerns The suggestion as made that the process begin for the site location and design on the senior citizen community center, and there were other requests for a multi-purpose community center A requirement is that senior citizens be notified of hearings on revenue sharing funds and they were informed that the Selectmen's hearing will be held at a later date During the budget process, the Selectmen should propose the use of some of the funds , and administrative recommendations would be given based upon the comments at the Manager's hearing Mr Hutchinson said that he had filed the operating budget with Manager's the Board of Selectmen Operating Budget Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted 5-0 by roll call vote to go into Executive Session, with the intention of resuming the open meeting, for the purpose of discussing strategy with respect to Executive collective bargaining, litigation, and a matter concerning personal Session reputation After discussion, it was voted to go out of Executive Session and resume the open meeting Mr Hutchinson recommended that the request from Mrs Vivian Costello Costello for a connection to the town sewer system to service Lot 24, Sewer Request Map 90, Morris Street, be denied Mrs Costello had asked that her case be considered as a hardship exemption under the present sewer moratorium to be in effect until May 1, 1978 Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to accept the recommendation of the Town Manager to deny Mrs Vivian Costello's request for a sewer connection to service Lot 24, Map 90, Morris Street Mr Busa recommended that the Board discuss the sewer moratorium Sewer on or before May 1, 1978 Moratorium Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to discuss the 96 Selectmen's Meeting December 19, 1977 Costello Mr Hutchinson recommended that the request from Mrs Vivian Costello Sewer for a connection to the town sewer system to service Lot 24, map 90, Request Morris Street, be denied Mrs Costello had asked that her case be considered as a hardship exemption under the present sewer moratorium to be in effect until May 1, 1978 Sewer Mr Busa recommended that the Board discuss the sewer moratorium Moratorium on or before May 1, 1978 Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to discuss the lifting of the sewer moratorium at a Selectmen's meeting held on or before May 1, 1978 Manager's Mr Hutchinson gave a brief overview of the proposed budget of Operating $28,859,014, which would necessitate a proposed tax rate of $89 96, Budget and increase of $1 56 over last year's rate Frankly, he felt that Proposal the rate would go up because of some of the assumptions that were utilized in the preparation of the budgets; namely, the School Com- mittee budget would remain at existing levels - this was only an assumption, and he did not have figures now as they are negotiating on matters on policy decisions Also, estimated borrowing for sewers, policy matters on handling garbage He said that the Board might want to consider some contribution towards the funding of the $12 5 million pension liability The biggest problem areas in general government are in the expense area where there had been some growth geared to un- controllables, insurance costs, debt increases, unemployment compen- sation insurance, and the normal growth in the payroll based upon concluded bargaining setttlements and any anticipated settlements for next year Now, the only outstanding collective bargaining agreement would be the public works union and salaried employees He had received today an anticipated increase in the Minuteman School budget, which is a preliminary type figure Also, the Police Chief will need a $4,000 increase in his budget for a computer terminal which is tied into their information reporting The hope is that this budget does reflect some attempt at tax stabilization but there are still some dramatic costs within that One of the items we will be considering is where we are going on capital improvements He did not recommend too much, zero in certain areas In fairness, he did not want to do this too often on a year to year basis as eventually we will have to get into some type of street construction program The Selectmen/Town Manager Act re- quires that the Manager give the Board of Selectmen an estimated tax rate and, basically, this $1 56 increase reflects the impact of this particular proposal Mr Busa said that he could see areas where the budget could be cut It is up 10 percent and it is unfair to tell citizens and Town Meeting that we are only anticipating $1 56 increase The School budget may be higher and also the Minuteman School budget, and we can't predict now that $1 56 is going to fly Mr Hutchinson agreed and said that we will have escalating costs 97 Selectmen's Meeting December 19, 1977 that will force us up but at least now we are thinking in terms of a minimal increase Mr Hutchinson said that the firefighters had asked him to bring Fire- up the subject that the Board had reviewed their contract and approved fighters' it concerning wages and compensation, and manning levels have been Contract approved by the Board subject to approval of Town Meeting Chairman Battin said that the Board of Selectmen acknowledges that fact A representative of the fire department was present and said that Lexington is the first town to successfully change minimum manning from a per shift basis to a per piece basis by collective bargaining without the use of factfinding This makes us very happy It makes a good package and we are very pleased with it, and we are looking forward to signing the contract tomorrow Chairman Battin said that it speaks well for both sides Mr John McSweeney met with the Board D P W Budget Mr Hutchinson discussed the proposed $2 million sewer bonding and said that he would like to take a presentation to Town Meeting showing the remaining areas in town to be serviced over the next 3 to 5 years, and asking for the capability to spend up to $2 million without necessarily having to come back for approval each year We should maximize the opportunity of taking advantage of lumping a number of contracts together After lengthy discussion, the Board agreed to request a written report from the Sewer Advisory Committee and to arrange a joint meeting to discuss the recommendations contained therein Streets for acceptance were discussed and it was agreed to have three articles for Cushing Street, Banks Avenue and Tucker Avenue, to hold street hearings, and present them for approval of Town Meeting Other items were - Road Machinery-$130,000; Westview Cemetery- $100,000, reduced from $130,000, Maintenance and Conservation Fund- $10,000; Comprehensive Drainage Study-$35,000; Inflow-Infiltration Study-$225,000; Central District Plan-$5,000; Center Pool-$700,000 but the Permanent Building Committee is working hard to bring this figure down; Property Revaluation-$15,000 The Board agreed to meet with the Recreation Committee on the bicycle plan and lighting Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to adjourn at 10 30 p.m A true record, Attest 2)1 rhC J Executive Clerk, Selectmen