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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1977-10-24-BOS-min 33 SELECTMEN'S MEETING October 24, 1977 A regular meeting of the Board of Selectmen was held in the Select- men's Meeting Room, Town Office Building, on Monday, October 24, 1977 at 7 30 p m. Chairman Battin, Selectmen Bailey, Busa, Miley and Kent; Mr Hutchinson, Town Manager; Mr Cohen, Town Counsel and Miss Casey, Principal Clerk were present The Board met with Mr Stephen Russian, counsel for the Ford Motor Special Company, relative to his request on behalf of his client to submit three Town inter-related petitions to be inserted as articles in the warrant for Meeting the Special Town Meeting on December 5 Article One of the petitions, after certification by the Town Clerk, con- Mr Russian tained 99 certified signatures of the 116 submitted The Board noted that it was obligated to put into the warrant for a special town meet- ing only those petitions which bore 100 certified signatures Mr Russian addressed the Board and stated that he felt that, be- cause of the tripartite petitions, there was an expression by citizens of the Town that the petitions should be heard He felt that the letter and the spirit of the ordinance was met During discussion of the problem, it was brought out that to dis- qualify one of the petitions would make the other two meaningless Mr Bailey pointed out that under the law they could not put the petition P in the warrant as a citizens article, but could insert it in the warrant as a Selectmen's article if they felt justified to do so Town Counsel agreed that this could be done The Board agreed to insert the petition as a Selectmen's article, solely on the grounds that the other two petitions would be meaningless unless the three were inserted at the same time It was brought out that this action should not be construed as setting a precident for future action of this sort and should a question arise at Town Meeting a full explanation of the circumstances could be given Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to insert in the warrant for the Special Town Meeting at the request of the Board of Selectmen the petition from Mr Stephen Russian on behalf of the Ford Motor Company containing 99 certified signatures The Chairman asked the Board for input relative to a request from Binding Mr William H Levison to address them relative to seeking its support Arbitration for an initiative petition to amend the State constitution to limit Initiative the rate of growth of the State budget Mr Levison stated in his Petition letter that he was not necessarily asking the Lexington Board of Select- men to support the proposed amendment at this time 1 It was brought out during discussion of Mr Levison's request that to meet with Mr Levison might convey the impression that the Board was endorsing the petition The Board that it supported and encouraged any citizen to lay before the Legislature by initiative petition a measure 34 Selectmen's Meeting October 24, 1977 in which he believes but did not feel that it should, as a body, support or oppose the petition Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to authorize the Chairman to reply to Mr Levison's letter on behalf of the Board of Selectmen encouraging Mr Levison, as it would any citizen, to seek to lay before the Legislature by initiative petition a measure in which he believes The Board does not believe that it should, as a body, support or oppose the particular petition Hartwell The Town Manager requested the Board to authorize a transfer of Ave $25,000 to engage Whitman and Howard for the preparation of the closure Landfill plan for the Hartwell Avenue landfill The plan would contain the addi- Transfer tional water quality testing required by the Board of Selectmen He ex- ' of Funds plained that testing that should cover it He requested that the docu- ments be executed tonight as the Appropriation Committee was meeting also Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to authorize the Chairman to sign the necessary transfer form authorizing the transfer of $25,000 to engage Whitman and Howard for the preparation of the closure plan for the Hartwell Avenue landfill Vine Brook The Town Manager requested the Board's support of a moratorium for Sewer sewer connections in the Vine Brook Water Shed area until such time as Moratorium the contingency plan is completely tested and the I & I study results are completed in June, 1978 During discussion of this request it was brought out that there are development proposals being received for the area as well as a 56 lot subdivision plan Mr Bailey brought out the point that the Town could be brought to court by these developers if they were not allowed to connect to an existing sewer system. Mr Cohen concurred that this was a possibility It was also brought out that the decision as to whether or not a developer can connect to a particular sewer system is not an administrative decision and that the Planning Board and the Board of Health make this decision Mr Busa asked whether or not this mora- torium would apply to every home in Lexington that either directly or indirectly goes into that trunk line are on a moratorium too as to future requests to connect to the system Mr Hutchinson stated that the mora- torium is not intended to apply where there is a health hazard It was then brought out that individuals could also bring suit against the Town if developers were allowed to connect, to what they felt, was a potential hazard to the system. Mr Hutchinson pointed out that this was only to be a temporary measure but could not give a time certain for its duration After further discussion relative to the legal implications of such a moratorium it was decided to table the matter until the next meeting when the Town Manager, Mr Bailey and Town Counsel will draft a new proposal with suitable wording Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to table to re- quest of the Town Manager for support of a moratorium of sewer connec- Selectmen's Meeting October 24, 1977 tions in the Vine Brook Water Shed area until next week when the Town Manager, Mr Bailey and Town Counsel will have drafted a new proposal The Town Manager presented data relative to proposed rate increase Increase in in the water rates and requested that it be approved in time for the Water Rates December water billing It was agreed by the Board to discuss the matter at the work session the second Monday in November The Town Manager informed the Board that the cost for the poll Poll League conducted by the League of Cities and Towns relative to the initiative of Cities and petition was $8,000 00 exclusive of mailing costs The revenue re- Towns ceived was $8800 00 from 26 towns that participated Mr Busa requested a break-down of the share of the towns that did participate and the amounts that each town paid Mr Hutchinson said that he would report back to the Board with this information Mr Hutchinson informed the Board that he expects the Town to re- General ceive $525,000 of general revenue sharing for utilization in the 1978 Revenue budget He stated that last year the process held hearings after the Sharing Board had effectively adopted the budget rather than giving people the chance for input on how they would like to see the money utilized He would like the process reversed as he would like to develop an admini- strative proposal based upon comments that were received The Town Manager reminded the Board that the contract for the re- Recycling cycling had been awarded to Stanley Roketenetz, Inc and requested Contract authorization from the Board to execute the agreement subject to Town Counsel's review of the document Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to authorize the Town Manager to executive the agreement between the Town of Lexington and Stanley Roketenetz, inc for the recycling program Mr Hutchinson requested authorization of the Board to request the Street Light Boston Edison Company to install a street light on Ross Road Ross Road Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to authorize the Town Manager to make arrangements with the Public Works/Engineering Department for the installation of a street light on Ross Road The Board discussed the report from the Director of the Public Street Light- Works/Engineering Department concerning the updating of existing 100 ing lumen incandescent street lighting to 3500 lumen mercury vapor lamps Mr Bailey said he would like to know why consideration has not been given to conversion to the two types of sodium vapor lamps He stated that they are far more economical than mercury vapor as far as operation is concerned, but did not know about initial cost 36 Selectmen's Meeting October 24, 1977 Mr Hutchinson said that he would look into the matter further and it was agreed to discuss it again the second Monday in November Collective Mr Hutchinson informed the Board that he had attended the Mass Bargaining Managers meeting and had opposed the proposed memorandum of understand- ing that had been agreed upon by the League of Cities and Towns and the unions within the State He stated that he opposed it primarily because he didn't think it dealt with the problem and he feels that collective bargaining is still a process of compromise He stated that he felt that it compromised his effectiveness as a manager, but was hopeful that the Statute would work He also attended a session on costing for human services He stated that there was some assistance to the processes that we are in- volved with right now, but not as much as he had hoped Court He was particularly interested in Mr Cox's remarks about court Reform reform. He stated that the Board might want to consider the financial impact in itself, how the courts are funded through the County There is a $500,000 assessable against the Town of Lexington that would be fazed out over a five-year period Mrs Battin stated that the Middlesex County Selectmen's Associa- tion is planning to bring the issue up at their meeting in November to decide whether the Association should take a stand in support of it County Mrs Miley read a letter that had come in from the Middlesex County Advisory Advisory Board relative to the RotbPrg study review committee There Board was a meeting in our Selectmen's Meeting Room in October at which the following resolutions were adopted (1) "We recommend that the Board of County Commissioners be comprised of about 11 part time non-partisan commissioners elected by districts for 2 year terms who then select a professional full time County manager " (2) "The County will then determine its own budget without Legislative approval " Mrs Miley stated that she was just presenting this for the Board's information Policies and The Board discussed the forthcoming manual of the Policies and Procedures Procedures of the Board of Selectmen The subjects covered were Em- Manual ployees of the Board and the various powers and duties connected with each position; Selectmen's meetings procedures relative to the time to be held, scheduling and recording, staff members in attendance, notice of meetings, executive session, special meetings, emergency meetings and work meetings; agenda procedure relative to the responsibility, timing, format and content, posting, delivery and notification of interested parties Corrections and additions by the Board members were noted on the draft copy and it will be discussed again at a future Selectmen's meeting Executive Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted 5-0 by roll call Session vote to go into Executive Session, with no intention of resuming the 37 Selectmen's Meeting October 24, 1977 open session, for the purpose of discussing litigation and acquisition of real property After discussion, it was voted to go out of Executive Session and adjourn Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to adjourn at 9 20 p m. A true record, Attest , r 4 / -2h7 a'L7- Principal Clerk, Selectmen