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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1977-10-03-BOS-min 14 SELECTMEN'S MEETING October 3, 1977 A regular meeting of the Board of Selectmen was held in the Select- men's Meeting Room, Town Office Building, on Monday, October 3, 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; Mr McSweeney, Director of Public Works/Engineering; Mrs McCurdy, Executive Clerk, were present Bandstand - Mrs Mary Lou Touart, Chairman, and Mr Herbert Grossimon the the Permanent Permanent B4Olding Committee, Mr Levi Burnell, President, and Mr Bldg Comm Donald Gillespie, Director, of the Bicentennial Band, met with the Board to discuss the construction of a bandstand on Town-owned property The Board was informed that sites had been investigated and the Com- mittee favors the land at Buckman Park near the old barn This loca- tion would be desirable because it is in the Center, adequate parking is available, and it is close to Greeley and Vynebrooke Villages Funds for the bandstand will be solicited, and plans and specifications are needed Favorable reaction has been received from architectural schools, which had been approached regarding the possibility of having student participation in the bandstand project The committee had also taken into consideration the possibility of a portable structure which could be stored for the winter It was pointed out that approval of the His- toric Districts is required After discussion, the Board thanked the group for the presentation and encouraged them to go forward with the project, and to come back to the Board with final plans for an Article in the Warrant for the 1978 Annual Town Meeting Chapter 90- Chairman Battin read a report from Mr John McSweeney, Director of Adams St Public Works/Engineering, recommending that the Board designate Adams East St Street for Chapter 90 Contruction, and East Street as the alternate street Both streets are eligible as they are not completed and, with the lessening of restrictions on design criteria, as we experienced on Hancock Street, both Adams Street and East Street are now viable pro- jects Considering the serious horizontal and vertical alignment defects on Adams Street, we must place it as our first priority Mrs Miley said that we know we don't have to widen Adams Street but is that true on East Street? Mr Bailey replied that we would have the same restraints as on Hancock Street Mr McSweeney said that the Board is only designating streets now and between now and Town Meeting, we will have a proposal, final de- sign, and will meet wits State D P W Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to designate the following streets for consideration of the State Department of Public Selectmen's Meeting October 3, 1977 Works for Chapter 90 Contruction, subject to the same restraints pre- viously set forth on Hancock Street CHAPTER 90 CONSTRUCTION Adams Street from East Street to the Burlington Town Line, approximately 3600 feet Estimated Cost $250,000 Estimated Town Expenditure 60,000 ALTERNATE CHAPTER 90 STREET East Street from Lowell Street to Woburn Town Line, approximately 800 feet Estimated Cost $ 60,000 Mr Hutchinson informed the Board that the appointment with Whit- Sanitary man and Howard has been rescheduled for the next meeting Their re- Landfill port on the landfill has been completed and copies will be distributed for the Board's review before the joint meeting takes place Chairman Battin read a recommendation from Mr John McSweeney, Marrett Road Director of Public Works/Engineering, that all bids be rejected for Bacon Street the construction of the sewer on Marrett Road and Bacon Street Bids Sewers - Bid ranged from $296,750 to $560,203 and the total appropriation under Rejection Articles 20 and 21 of the 1976 Annual Town Meeting is $212,000 The differential appears to have been caused by a significant increase in the price of major items in the last six months Since these increased (the first of this magnitude in at lease 12 years) have come at a time when federal funding of sewer work is nearing a peak, it is believed that they are primarily due to an abundance of work being bid now, and in the near future, within the area This may also account for the fact that we had only four bidders when we normally have three to four times that number In order to determine whether our beliefs are well founded, we would like to re-bid the project in November; however, we would like to include with it a project approved at this year's Town Meeting of sufficient size to double the overall job This will enable us to determine whether larger projects will bring better prices and, if better prices do not result, we will know that we must return to Town Meeting for a supplementary appropriation to fund projects already on the books Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to accept the recommendation of the Director of Public Works to reject all bids on Contract 77-5-E for the construction of the Marrett Road Sewer and the Bacon Street Trunk Sewer Mrs Miley recommended that the Board approve the request from the MCAS/Lexing Treasurer of the Middlesex County Advisory Board for payment of $150 00 Expenses Selectmen's Meeting October 3, 1977 as Lexington's share in the apportionment of MCAB expenses She ex- plained that Cambridge pays the entire salary of the staff person and operating expenses are shared by cities and towns in Middlesex County She personally felt that we should take some of the burden from Cam- bridge and items, such as a typewriter, are needed for the office $150 00 is Lexington's portion, which is to be used for a good cause Chairman Battin agreed and said that MCAB's watchdog function is important Mr Busa said that he had no objection but requested a financial statement of the total amount received by MCAB from all municipalities The Board agreed to approve the expenditure of $150 00 as Lexing- ton's share in expenses incurred by the Middlesex County Advisory Board, and Mrs Miley is to give each Selectman a copy of MCAB's budget Special Town Chairman Battin requested the Board to vote on the Special Town Meeting Meeting; also, to sign the Warrant for the Special Election December 5 Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to call the Special Town Meeting for Monday, December 5, 1977, at 8 00 p.m in Cary Memorial Hall, and to close the Warrant on Monday, October 17, 1977 at 4 30 p m. for the submission of Articles for the Special Town Meeting Special Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to sign the Warrant Election for the Special Election of a State Representative on November 1, 1977 Warrant to be held in Precincts 7 and 8 The Board discussed Mr Busa's question on the number of special Town Meeting sessions and it was agreed to get the reaction of TMMA and interested Boards as to whether they are favorably inclined to continue the customary Monday/Wednesday sessions The Board approved the following request Proclamation Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to approve the re- quest of Mrs Handwerker, President of Constitution Chapter 221, to pro- claim the month of October as B'nai B'rith Women Membership Month Permit Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to approve the re- quest of the Elks Club to hold a flea Market at 959 Waltham Street on October 22, 1977 from 9 00 a.m to 3 00 p.m Certificate of Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to approve Post Incorporation Office Box 473, Lexington, as a mail drop for the New England Sunday Address School Association, Inc , as requested by Secretary Guzzi Cary Hall Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to grant permission to the Masterworks Chorale to use Cary Memorial Hall on the following dates December 9, 1977 from 1 00 to 4 30 p.m & 6 30 p.m to 10 30 p.m " 10, 1977 from 7 00 to 10 30 p.m " 11, 1977 from 2 00 to 6 00 p.m 17 Selectmen's Meeting October 3, 1977 Mr Hutchinson agreed to have staff representation at the October 5 Rte 128 planning meeting of the Governor's Route 128 Economic Conference to be Economic held at the Waltham City Hall Meeting Mr and Mrs Harold Johansson met with the Board to discuss ap- Johansson proval of a request submitted on April 30, 1976 for a water main ex- Water Ext tension of 150 feet to service a home to be constructed at #17 Banks Banks Ave Avenue Chairman Battin read a report from Mr John J McSweeney, Director of Public Works/Engineering, dated September 13, 1977 with copies to Town Manager, Planning Board and Conservation Commission "In accordance with the Selectmen's Policy for Sewer and Water Extensions in Unaccepted Streets, and Article 17 of the 1977 Annual Town Meeting, this office requested comments or concerns relative to the subject water main extension from various Town departments We have now received comments from the Planning Board, Conservation Commis- sion, Building Inspector and the Board of Appeals Enclosed are copies for your review along with a copy of the proposed plan After reviewing all of the data and comments, it is our recommenda- tion that permission be granted to extend the water main subject to the following conditions 1 The applicant shall improve Banks Avenue to a condition of suitable grade and construction 2 A 'Determination of Applicability of the Wetlands Protection Act' be requested from the Conservation Commission, and if necessary an order of conditions be obtained prior to the start of any construction 3 The applicant shall obtain all necessary releases from abutters prior to the start of work In this instance we would recommend that the petitioner contract privately for this work in accordance with the alternate procedures outlined on page 2 of the policy memo We make this recommendation in light of the lateness of the season, the remoteness of the area as it relates to public travel, and the nature and extent of the work to be done " Chairman Battin read recommendations from the Planning Board, Con- servation Commission, Building Commissioner and Board of Appeals The Planning Board report, dated September 1, 1977, stated that at its Meeting on August 29, 1977, the Planning Board reviewed the plan accompanying the request for recommendations with respect to extensions of water mains in unaccepted streets The Planning Board opposes the Banks Avenue proposal for the following reasons 1 The road is of inadequate grade and construction to accomo- date additional building lots 2 Topography of the land is not suitable for construction of homes 3 Lots in the general area are wet and unsuitable for construc- tion 18 Selectmen's Meeting October 3, 1977 The Conservation Commission report, dated August 16, 1977, advised that if alteration of wetlands is contemplated by this proposed project, then the Wetlands Protection Act should be addressed The Building Commissioner's report stated that he had no concern, but it will make buildable the remaining vacant lots on the street The Board of Appeals advised that they had no comments at this time (August 19, 1977) Mr McSweeney explained to the Board that there is presently an existing sewer and an existing drain easement; the road is paved to a certain point and then becomes gravel and it is barely passable; areas are wet because the road currently there does not have suitable drainage Mrs Iris Wheaton of the Planning Board was present and raised questions about the three lots in the lower area of Banks Avenue being opened up if permission were granted Mr Johannson said that he had owned this lot for 10 years, the sewer had been put in, and he had been paying taxes on it and would like to do something with it If it would suddenly become a bird sanctuary, he would get rid of it Mr Kent stated that it does appear that the recommendations of the DPW Director do take into account the previous objections of the Planning Board with his condition that "the applicant shall improve Banks Avenue to a condition of suitable grad and construction " He asked if there had been any further dialogue since the Planning Board's initial reaction to it? Mr McSweeney replied, "No " He had talked to Mr Briggs, Planning Director, who said that the Planning Board felt if the homeowner could meet these conditions as set by the Planning Board, then approval be given, and the Conservation Commission felt the same way Lengthy discussion was held and Mr Busa recommended that approval be granted as the Johanssons are only asking for an extension of 150 feet He said that is why it was put before Town Meeting last March to extend sewer and water on roads such as Banks Avenue The Board is only discussing one lot and if the other are unsuitable for building, at some point in time the owners can go to a Hatch Act hearing Mr Hutchinson also pointed out that Mr McSweeney's recommendations had been sent to the Planning Board on September 13 and no objection from them had been recieved to date Mr Bailey was in favor of approving the Johansson request and stated that they had been waiting a long time for a decision to be made Chairman Battin and Mrs Miley agreed Mr McSweeney added that it is an unaccepted street, a gravel street which is not in very good condition and open to public travel Their lot is on high ground and there are certain conditions they have to meet; they have to go to the Conservation Commission; bring the road up to grade to make it passable for fire and emergency apparatus After going through a long process, he felt the Johanssons had met all the condi- tions required of them Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to approve the request of Mr and Mrs Harold P Johanason for an extension of 150 feet 19 Selectmen's Meeting October 3, 1977 from the existing water main on Banks Avenue to service #17 Banks Avenue, subject to the following conditions outlined by Mr John J McSweeney, Director of Public Works/Engineering; also subject to the approval of Town Counsel 1 The applicant shall improve Banks Avenue to a condition of suitable grade and construction 2 A "Determination of applicability of the Wetlands Protection Act" be requested from the Conservation Commission and, if necessary, an order of conditions be obtained prior to the start of any construction 3 The applicant shall obtain all necessary releases from abutters prior to the start of work The Appropriation Committee, Capital Expenditures Committee, Joint Meeting- ; Personnel Advisory Board, Mrs Patricia Swanson, Chairman of the Budgets School Committee, and Dr John Lawson, School Superintendent, met with the Board to discuss the Town's financial situation and the budget process Mr Alfred Vigderman, Mass League of Cities and Towns, was also present Mr Hutchinson reviewed the town budget as it exists now, what the State is giving us, and what our charges are going to be The budget is $31 2 million, $11 4 million being allocated to general government, $16 3 million to schools, including the Minute Man Vocational School and $4+ million for County and State charges as well as our overlay Our actual local appropriation for running the town is $27 7 million or 88% We have not cost allocated figures for the school system, debt, insurance, etc and 36 5% relates to $31 2 million not $27 7 million The budget is primarily funded by the property tax We receive $4 0 million cherry sheet money; $1 6 million available funds; $2 8 million estimated receipts; $22 8 million coming from the property tax We had $4 million in State and County charges to the town and about $4 million in aid, so it nets out to the fact that about 4% of our budget is being supported by the State We are in excess of 90% of the budget being supported by property taxes Our costs are $18 million-payroll, including $13 3 for schools and S4 7 for town government; $800,000-Insurance Blue Cross/Blue Shield and 3150,000 for buildings, $700,000 unfunded retirement; $1 8 million debt, $1 0 million energy costs for school and town; miscellaneous articles $150,000 for the reserve fund, $1 0 million for capital items Every- body is familiar with the problems, and the School Committee has been addressing them. Looking at the payroll, we have to scrutinize it very closely because it is where our biggest gains can be made in the sense of controlling our growth Mr Hutchinson said that if we review these items, with everybody talking together, perhaps we can develop some commonality of interests, recognizing that various boards and agencies have specific tasks I assigned to them The problem is that we are not sure where we are going 20 Selectmen's Meeting October 3, 1977 on payroll, energy, insurance, and how much we are going to be able to impact in these areas We do know we have problems on sewers and solid waste that have to be resolved It is up to the Board of Selectmen, the School Committee, and the Appropriation Committee to set the atmosphere with the Town Manager and the department heads who have to operate He had asked people to look at the idea of continuing quality service to the town and identify those goals, and had asked department heads to give him a narrative on what level funding would do to them and also what a 5% cut would do to them It doesn't look that good and maybe with a concerted effort, we can minimize the pain Mr White, Chairman of the Appropriation Committee, said that his committee is always looking for the least possible increases The School Committee is taking that approach early in the game and we hope their budget does not show an increase We would be interested in the guidelines the School Committee has adopted, such as the constraints and limitations There are a number of things which would change, some of which are controllables and some that are not, i e , 766 We would like people to consider that maybe they could live on a fixed income, and the town can trade off some things we have to increase for those we don't have to We have to take an objective look at the sewer pro- gram to see how far and how fast we want to go Regarding salaries, the only way to change them is with the number of people; negotiations will continue on and on and we know we have to live with that situation There may be some hope downstream, particularly if the State continues to reimburse us at the level they surprisingly did this past year, but it would be a serious mistake to assume that is going to continue in- definitely If we can get a handle on these things and get a reasonable level of funding in areas like 766 under control, he would like to think we can see a substantially lower tax dollar increase next year Mr Barnert, Chairman of the Capital Expenditures Committee, said that his committee is more pessimistic, and all capital projects next year are going to be reduced 3 or 4% We were lucky with the cut in revenue last year that we could defer larger capital items In looking ahead, we can see on the horizon capital expenditures which will hit the town, such as closure of the landfill which will have quite a clout, and funding of the retirement pension plan These are capital costs we cannot defer, so we have to have a handle on the other areas quickly Mr Butler, Chairman of the Personnel Advisory Board, said that being realistic in inflationary times, with two-thirds of the money tied up in payrolls, the only way to really move on that is to increase productivity if that's possible within areas, and end up through attrition probably with fewer numbers of people, wherever; that's easier to say than done Mrs Swanson, Chairman of the School Committee, said that we recog- nize that the only way to control the budget is to have good management The school system has worked very hard in coordinating programs We revised our accounting system and will give the details to Don White We have established goals and objectives in almost all programs and a1 111 Selectmen's Meeting October 3, 1977 everybody is working to reach those goals We have asked Dr Lawson to improve the school system and cut the budget at the same time, and that's exactly what he is doing If he can't do it, he will tell us why Dr Lawson said that we are looking at every expenditure and rais- ing a lot of questions We went to a computer terminal to encumber all of our purchase orders and we had to shift various positions; our busi- ness assistant has told us that he will try not to fill the position we just eliminated by putting the terminal on We have also eliminated two assistant principals at the elementary level this year He was not willing to make recommendations to the School Committee if they will interfere with the educational quality of the boys and girls but was II willing to scrutinize, examine and make suggestions for reductions with- out affecting what those kids need We eliminated 35 positions this year, which was a painful process and one he hoped the town will have the opportunity of experiencing at some point Chairman Battin said that she would like to turn to the State level, which is very important Last year, the Selectmen met with our Senators h and Representatives about some of our municipal concerns about State actions which were really impacting our budget, and this year we are instituting a process of meeting with them on a regular basis to dis- cuss with interested committees involved some of our collective concerns One is in regard to the initiative petition drive on compulsory and binding arbitration, which seems to have worked The Police and Fire are meeting and, this morning, a memo of understanding was signed by the presidents of the five municipal associations and the State Police and Fire unions which, if put into law, we will really have a coup as it is much better than the Governor's proposal for factfinding or the triggering mechanism for going to arbitration last spring We are not going to stop the petition drive until the proposal is actually enacted as a law and signed by the Governor So we really have taken a stand, and that is one step Mr White mentioned Chapter 766, which has es- calating costs that are astronomical. The Local Government Advisory Committee, in which I set, has really been working on this; we have a task force, of which I have been Chairman, and we persuaded the Gover- nor last spring that the escalating costs should be contained The State doesn't do all it should to capture federal monies and Massachu- setts has been losing between $25 to $40 million The Governor listened to the task force report and appointed his own task force The Secretary of Community Affairs and I took our recommendations to the Governor and he directed his cabinet secretaries to get together and resolve the difficulties The Governor is concerned with what is happening in municipalities and we were talking about setting up a mechanism to go into place right away for claiming those federal entitle- ments for 766 costs Mr Verderman of the staff of the Mass League of Cities and Towns said that there are some things in the Legislature that are of concern to cities and towns, and the first one is unemployment compensation, k_ 22 Selectmen's Meeting October 3, 1977 which will have an effect beginning July 1, 1978 This will impose the necessity of covering all local employees under the unemployment compen- sation law, and will be enacted within the next several days The im- pact of that bill is to impose on each of the cities and towns the ex- pense of unemployment compensation, and the formula for paying is some- what complicated The other subject before the Legislature which is of great interest to us is compulsory and binding arbitration We've had a very heartening breakthrough because the agreement which was arrived at is expected to be passed by the Legislature before it prorogues This will solve the problem by the establishment of a labor management committee which will have the power to control the question of whether you are going to go to compulsory and binding arbitration It will have to first decide whether indeed an impasse exists, and we won't have the situation where each side says we are at an impasse and will have to go to compulsory and binding arbitration Somebody else is going to have to decide whether indeed that exists and that is going to create a different climate Both sides having agreed, we think we are going to see a very swift enactment of the solution to this problem Another possibility affecting the budget of the Town of Lexington is the occupation health and safety act, which is not before the Legislature Nothing is going to happen at this session of the Legislature on pen- sions We've had a pay-as-you go system since the beginning and it is obvious we can't continue in that vein, but it seems to me we are going to have a vigorous battle over what system do we go to Finally, some- thing rather new growing out of a decision of the spring judicial court affecting the question of municipal liability Massachusetts has been one of the five states which continued to act under the doctrine of sovereign immunity, which is to say that the municipality enjoyed the cloak of sovereign immunity and was not liable for certain kinds of accidents and other events In August, the judicial court said that the legislature has got to change that, and gave them through the next session in 1978 to alter the present arrangement We are bound to see an increase in the number of successful suits against the municipali- ties Which again raises the question of how we will protect ourselves against that, what kind of insurance we will have to have - insurance which we don't now have because is no liability After further discussion, it was agreed to make arrangements for a more informal atmosphere for conducting meetings with Senators, Repre- sentatives, and interested boards and committees during the year Kelley lots Chairman Battin read a request from Attorney Patricia Hagedorn for Earle Street approval of a transfer of title to Lots 20 and 21 in Block 16 on Earle Street in Lexington by Evelyn L Kelley to her son and daughter-in-law, Kenneth P Kelley and Veronica N Kelley The two lots were conveyed in 1972 to the late Kenneth P Kelley and Evelyn L Kelley subject to easements, restrictions, covenants and agreements of record and to the additional restriction that for the purpose of building lots 20 and 21 were to be combined with other lots adjacent and only one building to- Selectmen's Meeting October 3, 1977 gether with customary accessory buildings was to be erected, placed or maintained on the combined lot Mrs Kelley would like to convey lots 20 and 21 so that they might be combined with the adjacent lots presently owned by her son and daughter-in-law, lots 1, 2, and 3 in Block 16 sub- ject to the same restrictions Also, it is the understanding that the Planning Board has no objection Mr Cohen recommended that the Board approve the transfer and he would work with Atty Hagedorn on the preparation of an appropriate deed Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to transfer lots 20 and 21 in Block 16 on Earle Street, owned by Evelyn L Kelley, to Kenneth P Kelley and Veronica N Kelley to be combined with adjacent lots 1, 2, and 3 in Block 16, subject to the original restrictions placed upon said lots in 1972 The Hancock School was discussed and Mr Hutchinson said that a Hancock decision must be made on the use, and then to take it to Town Meeting School to indicate in which direction we are going The School Sites Con- version Committee feels that the use of the Hancock School should be limited to housing, and that the property should be sold outright, sub- ject to restrictive covenants with regard to protecting the historical character of the building and the Town retaining approximately 1 acre of the 2 iE acre site Mr Bailey said that, last week, he had made the comment to use the Hancock School for apartments but information was developed at that meeting which caused him to consider that probably condominiums rep- resent the best use of the Hancock School However, he hoped that the Board would address the need for apartments at one of the other schools After discussion, it was agreed to select the condominium use and to make arrangements to invite developers to submit proposals for condo- minium purposes Arrangements will then be made to meet with the devel- opers to discuss ground rules, including suggestions to them on the character of the building from the standpoint of the Town Mr Cohen advised the Board that the process followed by the com- mittee had been perfectly legal Also, he understood that the Planning Board is working on rezoning Mr Bailey recommended that the proposals be kept confidential, and the Board agreed Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to accept the recom- mendations of the School Sites Conversion Committee regarding the Han- cock School, and to support an Article at the Special Town Meeting on December 5 for condominium use of the Hancock School Chairman Battin said that the Board cannot make a decision on the Adams/Parker use of Adams and/or Parker Schools but, personally, she would opt for School Use moderate income housing Mr Otis Brown, member of the School Sites Conversion Committee, said that in talking with the Housing Authority, he thought they might 24 Selectmen's Meeting October 3, 1977 start exploring in terms of funding Mrs Miley said that the Housing Authority is doing everything they can to help Mr Busa stated that the same process should be followed as with the Hancock School Bid Award- Mr Hutchinson informed the Board that bids had been received for Recyclable the purchasing of recyclable materials from the Town of Lexington, and Material he recommended that the contract be awarded to Recycling Enterprises, Inc , 14+0 Southbridge Street, North Oxford, as they have offered the best price for cans and glass and they appear to be the more reliable of the bidders Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to award the con- tract for purchasing of recyclable materials from the Town of Lexington to Recycling Enterprises, Inc , North Oxford, Massachusetts, for Alter- nate bid "A", at $15 00/ton for glass (clear, green, and brown, separate) , and $6 00/ton for metal cans Bedford Mr Hutchinson discussed the proposed Bedford relief sewer, which Relief would tie into the Lexington system, and recommended that the Board vote Sewer their support for this relief sewer Also, he suggested that letters by written to Representative Cole and Senator Amick informing them of this action by the Board In response to questions, Mr Hutchinson said that Bedford will pay for the sewer and it will be a federally funded line, and it will relieve some of the burdens on Lexington's system MDC will comply with all necessary environmental and public hearings at the local level regarding any proposed location of such a relief sewer Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to support the proposed Bedford relief sewer, and to authorize the Town Manager to write to Representative Cole and Senator Amick informing them of such action by the Board of Selectmen Executive Session Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted 5-0 by roll call vote to go into Executive Session for the purpose of discussing strategy with respect to collective bargaining and a matter concerning the repu- tation of a person, with no intention of resuming the open session After discussion, it was voted to go out of Executive Session Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to adjourn at 10 20 p.m A true record, Attest ' Executive Clerk, Selectmen