HomeMy WebLinkAbout1977-09-26-BOS-min 1
111 SELECTMEN'S MEETING
September 26, 1977
A regular meeting of the Board of Selectmen was held in the Select-
men's Meeting Room, Town Office Building, on Monday, September 26, 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
Mr David Eagles, Mr Ralph Lord, Coordinator of High School Parker Field
Athletics, and Mr James Lima, Vice President of the Pop Warner League, Refreshment
met with the Board to request approval of the construction of a re- Stand
freshment stand/ticket booth, at no cost to the Town, at the Senior
High School football field
Mr Hutchinson informed the Board that the Recreation Director,
Health Director, and the School Committee fully support the proposal
The building will be erected inside the enclosed field, will be 12'
x 24' , and constructed of concrete block with a spancrete roof and
steel doors There will be two ticket windows built into the rear
of this structure for the sale of tickets and will also include a
stainless steel countertop and a surplus US government stainless steel
field stove for cooking hot dogs, etc ; electricity, probably water,
and a direct telephone line to the fire department for emergency pur-
poses
Mr Busa recommended that the Board endorse the project and the
Board enthusiastically approved this worthwhile venture on the part
of volunteer citizens groups
Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to approve the
construction of a refreshment stand/ticket booth at Parker Field,
at no cost to the Town, subject to the regulations of the Health De-
partment and the Public Works Department, and coordination of the
project to be under the direction of the Town Manager
Chairman Battin read a report from Mrs Joyce Hals, Chairman of Transportation
the Transportation Advisory Committee, stating that the vanpool work- Committee-
shop conducted by the committee for companies in the Hanscom Field Vanpool
area appeared to be successful and, in particular, had added stimula-
tion to the Hanscom Air Force to provide a vanpool prograxh for their
employees Perhaps this will stimulate other companies in the area
to follow their lead. Similar meetings are being planned for discus-
sion with Bedford, Lincoln and Concord Transportation Committees to
discuss common problems of congestion in the 128, 2A, 4-225, and
Hartwell Avenue areas
Chairman Battin read a recommendation from the Traffic
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Selectmen's Meeting September 26, 1977
111
metered Safety Committee requesting that the Board approve an amendment to the
Parking Traffic Rules and Orders to include the metering of the Cary Library
Lots parking lot The Muzzey Street and Edison Way parking lots are also
included because, although metered for many years, have never been in-
cluded in Schedule #4 of the Orders
Metered Lots- Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to amend the
Library, Traffic Rules and Orders of the Town of Lexington, adopted by the Board
Waltham/ of Selectmen on November 13, 1967, be amended by adding to Article V,
Mussey, Section 12, Schedule #4, the following, and to request approval of the
Edison Way State D P W
Location
Off-street parking lot between Waltham Street and Muzzey Street
Off-street parking lot between Massachusetts Avenue and Edison Way
Off-street parking lot off Clarke Street at the rear of Cary Memorial
Library
Center Chairman Battin read a letter from Mr Giroux, Realtor, concern-
Parking - ing parking in Lexington Center recommending that free parking for all-
Giroux day parkers in the Meriam Street parking lot should cease and the entire
area metered, with revenues to be applied to the cost of an underground
garage; if going underground is not feasible, to consider a parking
structure in the Waltham Street lot; to eliminate taxi stands and bus
stops within the Center and relegate them to the fringes Also, if 111
no better use is found, the Hancock School grounds might be considered
for all day parkers and the fees charged to pay for and carry the pro-
ject
A report from the Traffic Safety Committee stated that the Committee
fully recognizes that there are problems relative to parking in the Cen-
ter; however, without further and much more detailed study, we can neither
accept nor reject Mr Giroux's ideas for parking structures and the use
of Hancock School grounds We do feel that elimination of taxi stands
and bus stops would be a serious mistake, as the majority of people who
use them do so because of their easy access in the Center If we elimi-
nate the easy access, we would also eliminate the usage Also, the
Police Department is currently studying the feasibility of increasing
the price at parking meters and their report is expected in about two
months The committee would prefer not to comment on metering of the
entire Meriam Street lot until it has reviewed the report
Mrs Miley didn't think that metering the lot behind Depot Square
seemed relevant and would have to be taken into consideration as far as
changing the cost of meters in other parts of town That is a separate
issue which doesn't necessarily have to come under the Traffic Safety
Committee study which we are doing and will take two months For the
last five or six years, she has felt that it is necessary for the lot
to be metered, and other Town Meeting members have mentioned this
I
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Selectmen's Meeting September 26, 1977
Mr Bailey and Mr Busa agreed that if the Meriam Street parking
lot were metered, it would move all-day parkers up into residential
areas of Meriam Hill and, before a decision is made on metering, an
up-to-date study should be conducted on where the overflow will go
Mr Bailey added that Town Meeting must wake up and cope with parking
problems in the Center; all they say is that it is not our problem but
the merchants' problem - it isn't the merchants' problem, it is the
Town's problem The Planning Board has been studying this for many,
many years, and they don't seem to be any further along than they were
before
Chairman Battin said that there is concern about the whole Center,
and asked if the Planning Board had a study currently underway as Town
Meeting can't take action until we or the Planning Board put something
on the Warrant
Mrs Miley said that a Subcommittee of the Planning Board is work-
ing on a study She reminded the Board that a possible solution, which
was brought up at Town Meeting by the Selectmen several years ago, was
to use the area behind the Edison building for parking for postal workers
As a follow-up after speaking about this at one of our meetings, she was
in touch with Congressman Tsongas's office to ask if it could be possible
for the Postal Department to perhaps lease this piece of property and
hot top it the way the Town was asked to do (and Town Meeting turned it
111
down) and that would ease up this whole area The recommendation from
Congressman Tsongas's office was that if this Board was interested in
this particular issue, to write and ask him to get in touch with the
Postal Department to see if they would consider doing this
Mr Kent said that Mr Bailey is right in terms of the great diffi-
culty of taking ad hoc steps with regard to a particular portion of the
whole problem He also said that the problem does need assessment of
the Town Meeting but the expeditor of all this has got to be this Board
and that this, in terms of our working on policy, is such a big part
of anything we do with respect to the Center, that the sooner we can
see what studies are being done, and by whom? When will they be com-
plete? When do we get around the table with the people involved and
get a package? There are all kinds of possibilities with respect to
that lot -- certainly, the danger that Mr Busa speaks of is very real
The possibility is of metering for all-day purposes but he felt that
it's got to be done as a big package and the Board has some responsi-
bility for seeing that it gets done
Chairman Battin said that she didn't know where the report of the
Subcommittee of the Planning Board is but if they come in with a plan
of the whole traffic situation, we should meet, and the Board of Select-
men and the Planning Board come up with a very strong recommendation and
an Article in the Warrant for Town Meeting to take action on the whole
situation This will be our #1 priority, and we will write to Congress-
man Tsongas's office
The Board agreed, and a letter will be written to Mr Giroux to
this effect
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Selectmen's Meeting September 26, 1977
Meter Limit The Board discussed a letter from Ms Patricia Kaczmarczyk, 13
Signs Gleason Road, regarding a parking violation she had received for feed-
ing the 2-hour meters in the parking lot off Massachusetts Avenue
She asked for the installation of signs informing citizens that at the
end of the parking limit a car must be moved
Mr Hutchinson agreed to discuss the matter of signs with Chief
Corr
Street Chairman Battin read a request from Mr McSweeney for the Board
Betterments - to sign lists of sewer and water assessments and, also, to abate water
bills
Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to sign the lists
Sewer of sewer betterment assessments on Emerald Street, Garfield Street,
Betterments - Elm Street, Walnut Street, Waltham Street; plus an abatement of the
betterment assessment for Mr and Mrs Tomao, 758 Waltham Street, in
the amount of $1,472 12, having been previously assessed on Blossom-
crest Road
Water Bill Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to abate the
Abatements following water bills Josephine Noonan, 309 Marrett Road, $11 25,
water having been turned off; Raymond Tomlinson, 3 Brent Road, $12 15,
incorrect meter reading by meter reader
Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to sign the
list of water betterment assessments on Cliffe Avenue
Permits Chairman Battin read requests for the use of Cary Hall and for a
block party
Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to grant permis-
sion to Mr Richard S Batchelder, 81+ Bertwell Road, for the use of
Cary Hall on Saturday, October 22, 1977, for a concert of classical
music by the Mystic Valley Chamber Orchestra, subject to a fee of
$35 00 for Cary Hall; fees for custodian, policeman and fireman
Upon motion duly made and seconded it was voted to grant permis-
sion to the residents of Independence Avenue and Smith Avenue to con-
duct a block party on Saturday, October 1, 1977, from 6 30 p.m to
10 00 p.m , subject to the regulations of the Police Department
Council on Chairman Battin read a request from the Council on Aging for an
Aging expenditure from the Selectmen's Gift Account
Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to approve an
expenditure in the amount of $380 25 from the Selectmen's Gift
Account for minibus service
Initiative Mr James Wood, Lexington coordinator of the initiative petition
Petition- drive for local acceptance of arbitration awards, representatives of
Binding the Appropriation Committee, Personnel Advisory Board, Town Meeting
Arbitration Members Association, and Mass League of Cities and Towns, met with
the Board to plan strategy with respect to the initiative petition
drive
Chairman Battin said that she hoped that it would be a joint
effort by all to participate Town Meeting, with the approval of
the Appropriation Committee, did vote unanimously to support; also,
5
Selectmen's Meeting September 26, 1977
the Mass Selectmen's Association, Mass League of Cities and Towns,
Middlesex County Selectmen's Association, and the Managers' Association
It is important that we carry through as municipal officials and get
the signatures on the petitions She mentioned that there is a fear
of a drive by Police and Fire Associations
Mr Hutchinson said that the unions have a right to petition for
unfair or incompatible practice This seems to be the best avenue
and we hope that people will give the democratic process a chance
The Legislature seems to be the best alternative the Town has
Ms Sheila Cheimetz, representative of the Mass League of Cities
and Towns, emphasized the point strongly that it is the municipal
associations' intention to speak to the hearbof the basic issue,
which is an attempt to restore local control over local budget, which
is being eroded
Chairman Battin recommended that members of the Board collect 20
signatures on two petitions for each of the 9 precincts and submit
them to the Town Manager's office
The five Selectmen agreed and signed the petitions The repre-
sentatives present agreed to contact their members of the Town Meet-
ing Members Association, the Personnel Advisory Board, and the Appropri-
ation Committee and inform the Board of the decision on how they can
give assistance during the petition drive
Chairman Battin thanked Mr Wood for accepting the position of the
coordinator of Lexington, and all involved persons retired from the
meeting
Mr James Reilly, Chairman, and members of the Regional Refuse Bedford
Study Committee; Mr Albert Zabin, Chairman, and Dr Eric Clarke of Resource
the Planning Board, met with the Selectmen to discuss the parcel of Recovery
land at Hanscom Field on the Bedford/Lexington town line, which has Facility
been nominated by the Town of Bedford as a possible site for a Re-
source Recovery facility
Mr Bailey explained that he and Mr Kent had given a report to
the Board last week and it was agreed to reconsider the Board's
previous position not to support Bedford's nomination because it
might be beneficial to everyone involved
Mr Reilly showed a map of the area, including approximately
six acres of Lexington land abutting the proposed Bedford site
He said that the Bedford land is small and the adjoining Lexington
land is smaller still; with our land, it just makes the site more
feasible, not completely feasible An access road brings up the
subject of the Hartwell Connector and the traffic on Bedford Street
and that generated by the Plant has to be considered and included
in the study We didn't recommend it to Town Meeting but we do
now The Committee is not unanimous but, personally, he felt that
we should let the State know that Lexington feels it makes sense to
support it
Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to communicate
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Selectmen's Meeting September 26, 1977
with the Massachusetts Bureau of Solid Waste Disposal that the Town of
Lexington nominates the Hanscom Field land in Lexington, and contiguous
to the Bedford site, for inclusion in the parcel being considered for
the Resource Recovery facility, subject to the clear understanding
that Lexington is adamantly opposed to use of the Bedford or Lexington
land for any purpose related to solid waste disposal unless an ade-
quate connection is made between the site and Route 128 by the Hart-
well Avenue Connector Also, the Board of Selectmen recommends that
further technical, economic, and environmental studies of the Hanscom
Field site be conducted
The Regional Refuse Study Committee retired from the meeting
MBTA Red Mrs Joyce Hals, Chairman of the Transportation Advisory Committee,
Line met with the Board to submit a report on the Final Environmental Impact
Extension Statement for the Red Line Extension to Arlington Heights
Chairman Battin read the report, and Mr Busa said that he agreed
to the recommendations with the exception of the reference to signali-
zation on Massachusetts Avenue at Bow Street and Fottler Avenue inter-
sections until the residents of East Lexington were consulted to see
if they wanted traffic lights there
Mrs Miley disagreed with Mr Busa and pointed out that there are
two blocks of stores in that area and many residents felt that there
should be pushbutton lights
The Board agreed to delete the reference at this time but future
consideration is to be given to signalization at those intersections
Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to adopt the
recommendations of the Transportation Advisory Committee, as amended,
regarding the Final Environmental Impact Statement for the Red Line
Extension to Arlington Heights, and to advise the U S Department of
Transportation that the plans have not adequately dealt with the
following items
A 350 car garage at Arlington Heights is planned to meet the needs
of the Heights residents only, and supply will be greatly exceeded
by demand No adequate plans have been made for controlling or
dealing with the spill-over which is inevitable
A revitalization of the area is being encouraged, but again no
plans are forthcoming to reconcile the increased parking demand
the changes will bring with the need to provide parking for the
transit patrons
A station at Arlington Heights will attract riders from Bedford,
Burlington and Lexington, however bus service from these areas
has been planned to increase only minimally If good bus ser-
vice is not provided, residents of these towns will drive to the
Heights and try to park, thereby increasing traffic on Lexington's
already congested streets and gravely adding to the parking prob-
lems at the station area
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Selectmen's Meeting September 26, 1977
Increased traffic along Massachusetts Avenue in Lexington will be
inevitable, and its impact and control should be given serious
consideration
During the construction period, plans call for transporting
materials over the Lexington Branch No details have been pro-
vided regarding the point of loading, nor the frequency of travel
for the freight trains
In Summary, the Transportation Advisory Committee believes that more de-
tailed planning is needed to meet the serious increase in demand for
parking which will occur in the Arlington Heights area Furthermore,
the MBTA should re-examine its plans for bus service from adjacent com-
munities Specifically, it should consult with the communities in-
volved and seriously consider the benefits of substantially increasing
the level of service to Arlington Heights If the MBTA fails to do
so, then plans should be made for coping with the increased traffic
along Massachusetts Avenue, Route 4+-225, and Lowell Street in Lexington
Mrs Miley said that the School Sites Conversion Committee has com- Hancock
pleted its work to the point of recommending the use of the Hancock School
School, and Roger Trudeau will give the report
Mr Trudeauread the following report and recommendations of the
School Sites Conversion Committee
"In its last report to the Selectmen, the committee was asked to
continue the effort of analyzing uses and proposals for the Hancock
School At that point in time, the committee had reduced the uses
under consideration to two; namely, housing and housing/office mix The
committee indicated its intent to select two proposals from the
twenty-six received for closer study With the consent provided by the
Selectmen, the committee proceeded on that course It now presents its
findings, and seeks the guidance of the Board of Selectmen before taking
further action
In accordance with its plans, ten developers were selected and in-
vited to meet with the Committee Seven chose to do so Extensive dis-
cussions were held relative to possible uses within the housing and hous-
ing/office framework, and relative to the specific proposals and capabili-
ties of each developer
The Committee now feels that the use of the Hancock School should be
limited to housing In view of the locale and the size of the building,
the Committee feels that office use is inappropriate
The Committee further feels that the Hancock School property should be
sold outright, subject to restrictive covenants with regard to protecting
the historical character of the building, and further subject to the re-
tention by the town of approximately 1 acre of the 2 4 acre site Other
means of conveying the property were examined, including leasing, ground
lease, purchase with buy-back option, and purchase with reversion to the
111 town after a stipulated number of years It is felt that an outright sale
8
Selectmen's Meeting September 26, 1977
is in the best interests of the town 111
With regard to the type of housing to be developed, the Committee felt
that the final decision should be made by the Selectmen The Committee
itself heavily favored condominium use Its second choice was for rental
apartments for moderate income families
In terms of selecting a developer, the Committee reached a quick
concensus on three, namely
Lexington Loft
Sidney & Noyes Associates
American Properties Team
Of these, one expresses reticence to implement condominiums A sec-
ond is not interested in building rental apartments It thus seems that
if all three are invited to submit a further proposal based on the Select-
men's choice of use, at lease two responsive proposals can be anticipated
for the final selection process prior to Town Meeting
Considerable thought was given by the Committee to using the Hancock
School property to partially satisfy the Town's need for subsidized low
income housing Three responsive development proposals were received;
from.
American Properties Team
Sidney & Noyes Associates and
Lexington Interfaith Corporation
For a variety of reasons, the Committee chose not to recommend this
use for Hancock School These reasons included the time element required
to obtain subsidy funding, the size of the building, and the neighborhood
The Committee did feel, however, that the Town should address this
need at the earliest possible time for one of the other school buildings
to be made surplus Both the Committee and the Lexington Housing Authority
felt that either Adams or Parker School would be more satisfactory for
this use By addressing the problem now, the Selectmen could set aside
one of the buildings for subsidized housing and allow potential developers
to begin to address the complex problems of isolating subsidy funds
In summary, the Committee's finds are
1 That Hancock School be sold
2 That Hancock School be used for housing
3 That the Selectmen specify whether the housing consist
of condominiums or rental apartments
4 That all three selected developers be asked to propose
on the selected use, and
5 That the Selectmen address the problem of allocating
another school for Low-income housing use
School Sites Conversion Committee"
Mrs Miley said that the Committee had done a remarkable job during
the summer and the Board appreciates all the hours devoted to this work;
it was a wonderful group and worked very well together
Chairman Battin agreed and thanked Mrs Miley for chairing the com-
mittee
Chairman Battin commented that the report states the reason that the
9
Selectmen's Meeting September 26, 1977
rental units were rejected was because of the size of Hancock School, and Hancock
this was probably because it was going to be a mix and only a certain School
number of units were going to be designated as moderate income (cont'd)
Mr Trudeau said that it was just that we felt we should try and
maintain the present makeup of the neighborhood as much as possible and
that would have changed it somewhat The overriding consideration was
the fact that it could have remained empty if we found ourselves with no
subsidy funding, and we would have to go through this exercise again to
find another use for the building
Mr Bailey said that the Committee has done a great job He ex-
pressed a great preference for rental units vs condominiums because of
the situation where you don't have to have equity in order to have a place
to live
Mr Kent asked Mr Trudeau to what extent in approving one of these
uses is it possible to build in any control notions about the economic
status, whether we are talking about luxury condominiums or what the Town
didn't get at Drummer Boy?
Mr Trudeau said that it was his understanding that there would be
less control over condominiums To some extent, you would have to put
some trust in the developer We are inviting people to make offers to
the Town and, at this particular point, the Board is only indicating the
types of offers we are receiving now and would give to Town Meeting He
felt it within the prerogative of the Board of Selectmen to make it known
to the developers what they would like
Mr Grossimon stated that the committee had voted heavily in favor
of condominiums and the reasons for that were that it seemed to represent
a minimum of units in the property The condominium tentative proposal
was around 17 to 18 units and from their point of view they saw it as a
viable economic package The committee saw condominiums as a more stable
situation in that the site would be developed, units sold, and people would
move in, whereas, if handled for apartments, they might be sold to for-
eign or distant investors, with a less stable situation
Dr Clarke asked if Town Meeting would be given an opportunity to
choose between larger or smaller number of units, whether there would be
subsidization, and charge less for the land to the developer if he went
in a certain direction that the Town wanted? He knew that the Selectmen
will take a position but will Town Meeting be given an opportunity to
choose?
Chairman Battin replied that we aren't giving them alternatives
Mr Trudeau said that we would whittle it down to two and the Select-
men would make a final choice We would go out and ask three people for
bids and the Selectmen would select the better of the three proposals
and go to Town Meeting with a proposed use by the developer - and Town
Meeting approve or disapprove
Mr Zabin said that, if possible the Planning Board would like to
see that choice made for whatever kind of housing the Board of Selectmen
see fit, with as low a possible cost as can be done We think there is
a real need for housing which keeps the cost of living in Lexington down
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Selectmen Meeting September 26, 1977
Hancock Mr Busa said that he also compliments the committee for a job
School well done He disagreed with Mr Bailey on apartments vs condominiums
(cont'd) for the reasons Mr Grossimon stated From reports he has received,
condominiums will give the highest tax return with the least amount of
headaches in the future If we are going to go into moderate apartment
complex in order to bring the apartments down to a reasonable rental for
moderate or medium income people, we would have to increase the density
of the apartments, and he believed that Town Meeting has already given
us direction on the amount of apartments per acre on the other proposed
condominiums vs apartments and in talking with Mrs Miley, there will
be only one acre that will go with those with condominiums and the Town
will maintain an acre and one-half If we are talking of putting 24
units into one acre, he didn't think the neighborhood will be very
receptive to that type of use of Hancock School From this report, he
could not make a serious judgement but would have to rely on the committee,
which has done an excellent job of weighing all the possibilities - and
he would go along with their recommendation of condominiums for this
particular school and, in the future, when the other schools become avail-
able, we then can look into other means of housing He stated that he
would not commit himself to subsidized housing in any of the schools
Mr Hutchinson said that he thought it important that when they
talk about apartments and at the same time talk about moderate income,
that the proposals we received have been essentially for building apart-
ments
and the proposition was advanced that a number of units could be
designated for subsidized housing within it As you know, the Housing
Authority just lost 17 places because it did not have units available -
so that's one policy matter At this point in time, he did not see even
the apartment proposal being all moderate income From the developers'
standpoint, they do want to compete on the same grounds because they
want to be able to make a proposal to the Board and eventually to Town
Meeting predicated around condominiums and/or apartments One has al-
ready indicated to us rather strongly that they chose not to participate
on the apartment basis The quality of proposals received has also in-
fluenced our decisions
In response to Mr Bailey's question as to whether the Planning Board
would be acting on a specific proposal from a developer, Mr Zabin said
that they would like to have a fairly good idea of the kinds of things
that the Board of Selectmen might want, and they do not need a precise
proposal from the developer Mr Zabin agreed that the Planning Board
would submit a letter of recommendation to the Board of Selectmen Re-
garding zoning, there are no fixed zones that will be put in to get the
kind of housing you are talking about; you either have to modify existing
multi-dwelling zones or create new zones
Chairman Battin asked for the Board's feeling on the first two
recommendations submitted by the committee
Vote Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was unanimously voted that the
Hancock School is to be sold outright, with restricted covenants, and
that the Hancock School is to be used for housing purposes
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Selectmen's Meeting September 26, 1977
Mr Trudeau said that the Housing Authority felt that Hancock School
was not suitable for low income housing and either Adams School or Parker
School would be better They felt there was definitely a need for low
income housing in the Town and the School Sites Conversion Committee went
along with that
Chairman Battin said that this is something to which she has been
committed for a long time
Mr Grossimon added that although the vote for condominiums was not
unanimous, the vote for this report was There is considerable strength
and togetherness, and they are anxious to have that carried to Town Meet-
ing
The Board again thanked the committee and they retired from the meet-
ing
It was agreed to further discussion next week on the Hancock School
The Town Report was discussed and Mrs Miley and Mr Busa submitted Town Report
recommendations to the Board It was agreed not to discuss distribu- Committee
tion at this time A list of nominees had been submitted by the Town
Meeting Members Association for the Board's consideration and it was
agreed to appoint the Committee and forward a copy of guidelines to each
new member
Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to appoint the
following members of the 1977 Town Report Committee Mr Sam V Nablo,
6 Brigham Road; Mr Wallace B Baylies, 50 Spring Street; Mr George E
Cooper, 191 Lincoln Street, Rev Harold T Handley, 42B Worthen Road;
Mr Frank Totman, 46 Moreland Avenue; Mr Louis A Zehner, Chairman
Emeritus, 6 Fair Oaks Drive
Guidelines to be used by the Town Report Committee are as follows
1 There should be only one version of the Town Report
Each report should include the technical material
2 The material should be concise and informative
3 In some instances, there should be a reduction in
extraneous clerical material - this would be after
discussion with department heads
4 Pictures should be used only where necessary
5 A decision as to the format should be reached after
discussion between the committee and the board
Possibilities are magazine (present form) ,
paperback (textbook size), pamphlet
6 Distribution may be limited by that will not be deter-
mined at this time
Mr Hutchinson requested authorization of the Board to establish Recycling
bunkers for recycling at the landfill at a cost of $3,000 and to further
authorize the collection of recyclables based upon clear, brown and
green glass, and cans and papers He informed the Board that the Town
had received the highest market prices based upon this type of separation
II/
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Selectmen's Meeting September 26, 1977
Chairman Battin commended Mr McSweeney and Miss Ellen Maguire
for working on the report, which gave all options and consequences
Mr Busa said that he had no objection to building the bins but
he asked what will happen if someone throws brown glass into the white
glass bin
Miss Maguire replied that it would depend on the amount; if a small
amount, it wouldn't make any difference
Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to approve the
collection of recyclables in five separate categories, clear, brown, green
glass, cans and papers; also, to authorize the Town Manager to go forward
with the construction of sectional transfer stations, including bunkers
Miss Maguire and Mr McSweeney retired from the meeting
Lucky Penny Mr Hutchinson advise the Board that the Conservation Commission
Trust Land had informed him today of the closing on the Lucky Penny land Mr
Zehner, Treasurer, will not be able to have the bids until tomorrow
so it will be necessary for the Board to come in and sign the forms,
if they are ready
Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted that, if it be-
comes necessary, Board members are to sign the documents required for
borrowing money from the lowest bidder in order to acquire the land
owned by the Lucky Penny Trust and located off Grove Street, as authorized
under Article 42 of the 1977 Annual Town Meeting
Sanitary Mr Hutchinson informed the Board that Whitman & Howard will meet
Landfill with them next week to discuss the leachate report and possible closing
of the sanitary landfill on January 1, 1978 He commented that closing
the landfill would not solve the leachate problem, so why not keep it
open He will meet with the Sanitary Landfill Committee to bring them
up to date, and recommended that the committee continue to serve until
the final closing plan of the landfill is approved
Soybel Drain- Mr Hutchinson recommended that the Board approve the request from
Winchester Mrs Ruth E Soybel for a drain connection to her property at 14
Drive Winchester Drive Plans had been submitted and reviewed by the Engineer-
ing Department, and their reco,r,mendation is to approve subject to no
excavation of existing pavement or construction of new structures
Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to approve the re-
quest of Mrs Ruth Soybel for a drain connection to her property at
14 Winchester Drive, subject to all conditions set forth by the Director
of Public Works/Engineering
Special Town The Board agreed to vote next week to call the special Town Meeting
Meeting on December 5, and to close the warrant on October 17
Mr Cohen requested the Board to sign the exercise of option on par-
Arts 43-44 cels to be acquired for conservation purposes
Cranberry Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to sign the exer-
Hill Land cise of options on land owned by Foley, Sayre and Cosgrove located on
13
Selectmen's Meeting September 26, 1977
on Cranberry Hill, for conservation purposes, as authorized under Articles
43 and 44 of the 1977 Annual Town Meeting
The Board briefly discussed the list of eight areas in which to Selectmen's
develop policies, and the following members were designated to submit Policies
suggested policies and procedures for discussion at workshop sessions
Chairman Battin I Operating Policies and Procedures of the Board
Robert Kent of Selectmen
Robert Kent II Lexington Center all problems, revitalization
traffic, etc
Mr Hutchinson's III Brook Cleaning
recommendation
to Board
Chairman Battin IV Sale of tax Title Lots; sale or exchange of any
Mrs Miley Town-owned land to private individuals
Mrs Miley V Use of Town property by private groups; fees for
Cary Hall, etc
Add to policy VI Water and sewer for private or unaccepted streets
folder
Mr Hutchinson VII Who gets appointed Special Police Officer, how
to Mrs Miley long a period of appointment; how trained if
guards at private institutions
No policy at VIII Fire Bnxes on Street
this time - Fire Department to Mr Hutchinson to the Board at later date
Mrs Miley recommended action of the Board regarding material which Hancock
is in the Hancock School School-
Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to transfer the Historical
material in the Hancock School to the Lexington Historical Society Society
Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted 5-0 by roll call Executive
vote to go into Executive Session for the purpose of discussing matters Session
with respect to litigation, 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 30 p.m
A true record Attest
(; -17)1•
Executive Clerk, Selectme