Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout1977-09-19-BOS-min X86 SELECTMEN'S MEETING September 19, 1977 A regular meeting of the Board of Selectmen was held in the Selectmen's Meeting Room, Town Office Building, on Monday, September 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; Mr McSweeney, Director of Public Works/Engineering; Mrs McCurdy, Executive Clerk, were present Jurors At the request of the Town Clerk, the following jurors were drawn Madeleine E Bennett 52 Grove Street Catherine L LaFauci 56 Cary Avenue Susan E Morian 9 Millbrook Road Mark Wright 11 Kendall Road Norma M Ricci 55 Bridge Street Katherine M Youland 215 Follen Road Lawrence Phillip Chair 25 Fairlawn Lane Perry Adler 46 Webster Road Poles - Chairman Battin opened a hearing on the joint petition of the New Hancock St England Telephone Company and the Boston Edison Company for the re- moval of one pole and the location of one pole on Hancock Street at the Hancock Clarke House Notices of the hearing were sent to abutters listed on the petitioners' plan and also filed with the Public Works Department Chairman Battin read a recommendation from Mr McSweeney that permission be granted for the removal of one pole and installation of one pole in accordance with the request of the Historical Society Mr Roland Pinault, representing the Telephone Company, and Mr Edmund Kelley, representing the Boston Edison Company, were present to request approval of the project Mr Martin Gilman, President of the Historical Society, was re- corded in favor of the petition He questioned how they will be ser- viced by the new pole as the Hancock Clarke House is presently under- ground from the existing pole Mr McSweeney explained that details are being worked out by the Public Works Department No one else being present in favor or in opposition, Chairman Battin declared the hearing closed Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to grant per- mission to the New England Telephone Company and the Boston Edison Company for the following joint owned poles Hancock Street, on the easterly side, approximately 160+ feet north of Hancock Avenue, one pole with sidewalk anchor and guy 5 8'r Selectmen's MeetingSeptember 19, 1977 Hancock Street, on the westerlyapproximately side, approx mately 160+ feet north of Hancock Avenue, one pole Chairman Battin opened a hearing on the petition of the New Eng- Conduit - land Telephone Company for the location of 66+ feet of conduit on Worthen Rd Worthen Road to service the Ryder Lane subdivision Ryder Lane Notices of the hearing were sent to abutters listed on the Subdivision petitioner's plan and also filed with the Public Works Department Chairman Battin read a recommendation from Mr McSweeney that permission be granted for the installation of underground conduit to provide service to the new Ryder Lane subdivision Mr Roland Pinault and Mr Edmund Kelley requested approval of the project No one else being present in favor or in opposition, Chairman Battin declared the hearing closed Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to grant per- mission to the New England Telephone Company for the installation of conduit at the following location Worthen Road, on the northerly side, from existing pole 345-50 located east of John Poulter Road, easterly to Ryder Lane, approximately 66+ feet of conduit Chairman Battin read a petition from the New England Telephone Poles - Company and the Boston Edison Company for approval of joint reloca- East Street tion and removal of poles on East Street A report from Mr McSweeney stated that the petition, plans and orders were done in conjunction with Chapter 90 on East Street, which the Board previously approved This approval is only a formality to complete the record keeping by the Town of Lexington, Boston Edison Company and the New England Telephone Company Mr Pinault, representing the New England Telephone Company, and Mr Kelley, representing the Boston Edison Company, agreed that it was just for the record Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to approve the petition of the New England Telephone Company and the Boston Edison Co , without a hearing, for the following project which had been com- pleted because of a public commitment to the Town of Lexington East Street, approximately 180 feet southerly from Lowell Street, nineteen poles, also, twenty-one poles to be re- moved Sidewalk anchor guys on existing pole 27/40; sidewalk anchor guys on poles 27/28 and 27/29 Mr Louis A. Zehner, Town Treasurer, informed the Board that he Treasurer had received bids on borrowing $1,250,000 in tax anticipation, and he recommended that they be awarded to the lowest bidders IllUpon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to approve the 588 Selectmen's Meeting September 19, 1977 recommendation of the Town Treasurer to borrow $1 25 0,000 in tax anticipation, notes to be dated September 30, 1977 and due on November 7, 1977, interest at maturity, from the following banks Shawmut County Bank $500,000 at 1 90% Harvard Trust Co 200,000 at 1 97% New England Merchants Bank 250,000 at 1 99% Shawmut of Boston 250,000 at 2 00% First National Bank of Boston 25,000 at 2 01% State Street Bank 25,000 at 2 01% State Mr Hutchinson commented that he had never worked in a place where Certification the State has to certify the notes and he felt that it is an unnecessary of Notes process; perhaps we should submit legislation to get rid of it Mr Cohen said that if the State didn't certify the notes, you would have to go through Bond Counsel Chairman Battin said that we might want it repealed, and suggested that Mr Hutchinson bring it up at the Managers' Association meeting Forum on Chairman Battin informed the Board that Mr William Page, Chairman Aging Appt of the Forum on Aging, recommends the appointment of Mr Jacob Gardner, 17 Normandy Road, representing the AARP Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was unanimously voted to appoint Mr Jacob Gardner a member of the Lexington Forum on Aging as the representative of the American Association of Retired Persons Sewer Chairman Battin read a request from Mr McSweeney, Director of Assessments Public Works/Engineering, to sign the lists of sewer betterments and and abatements for Mr and Mrs Strang and Mr and Mrs Roos Abatements Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to sign the list of sewer betterments on Alcott Road, Cliffe Avenue, Earle Street, and Concord Avenue; with abatements for William & Ann T Strang, 225 Concord Avenue, on Lot 4A, in the amount of $871+ 60, having been previously assessed on Hutchinson Road Also, Eric H & Signe Roos, 217 Concord Avenue, on Lot 5A, in the amount of $1,018 30, having been previously assessed on Hutchinson Road Minutes Minutes of the September 6 meeting were submitted for approval Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to approve the minutes of the Selectmen's meeting held on September 6, 1977 Sewer - Mr McSweeney requested that the Board table his request to sign Marrett Rd the order of construction of sewer on Marrett Road Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to table the matter of signing the order of construction of sewer on Marrett Road, as requested by the Director of Public Works/Engineering Cary Hall The Board discussed a request from Mr Levi Burnell for the use Bicen Band of Cary Hall for two Bicentennial Band concerts with the Town absorb- Concerts ing fees for custodian, policeman and fireman The Board agreed because Selectmen's Meeting September 19, 1977 they are free concerts for the enjoyment of the public Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to grant permis- sion to the Bicentennial Band for the use of Cary Hall on November 18, 1977 and March 10, 1978, with no charge for custodian, policeman and fireman Chairman Battin read a request for a parade permit Parade Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to grant per- Permit mission to the Menotomy Minute Men to march from the Arlington line on Massachusetts Avenue to the Battle Green on Sunday, October 9, 1977 at 10 00 a.m , subject to the conditions stipulated by the Town Manager or the Chief of Police Chairman Battin informed the Board that Mr James Wood of 51 Initiative Gleason Road is willing to serve as the Lexington coordinator of the Petition initiative petition drive for local acceptance of arbitration awards Drive Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to appoint Mr James Wood as Lexington coordinator of the initiative petition drive for local acceptance of arbitration awards Chairman Battin said that we have contacted the Appropriation Committee, the Town Meeting Members Association, and the Personnel Advisory Board to find out what kind of help they are willing to give, and it is my hope that each member of the Board of Selectmen will also make a commitment to obtain some signatures in their own precinct The Board agreed to schedule a joint meeting on September 26 at 8 00 p.m to discuss the campaign for the initiative petition drive Chairman Battin read a report from Mr John McSweeney, Chairman Traffic- of the Traffic Safety Committee, in response to a request from Mrs Vynebrooke Reilly of Vynebrooke Village to alleviate conditions caused by park- Waltham St ing on Waltham Street Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to accept the recommendation of the Traffic Safety Committee that the curbing at Vynebrooke Village on Waltham Street be painted yellow in the area located twenty feet before and twenty feet after the entrance to Vynebrooke Village Chairman Battin read a letter of resignation from Mrs Ruth Resignation Mitchell Celebrations Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to accept, Committee with regret, the resignation of Mrs Ruth Mitchell as a member of the Town Celebrations Committee, subject to Mrs Mitchell submitting her resignation to the Town Clerk The Board discussed with Mrs Jacqueline Ward and Mr Roger Voting Signs Trudeau the matter of "Vote Today" signs for the special primary and election of a State Representative on October 4 and November 1 590 Selectmen's Meeting September 19, 1977 It was agreed that Mr McSweeney would make arrangements with the Public Works Department to paint the signs and install them at street levels near the polling places in Precincts 7 and 8, and other places designated by Mrs Ward and Mr Trudeau, with the understanding that the Town would be reimbursed for the costs involved Forum on Mr Hutchinson announced that the Town had received a grant of Aging Grant $5,000 from the National Science Foundation to the Lexington Forum on Aging Congratulations are due Mr William Page for his fine work as Chairman and he is responsible for this grant being given to support the activities of the Forum on Aging The Board agreed Bedford Mr Bailey and Mr Kent commented on the 128 West Resource Recovery Resource Council meeting in Cary Hall on September 14 Recovery Site Mr Bailey said that Lexington's position was why should Lexington have to support Bedford's nomination of a resurce recovery plant site at Hanscom? It turns out that the site probably isn't any good unless some adjacent land in Lexington is included, so Lexington is essential to them going forward with the evaluation, and it seems there is no reason not to do it It may die at any point as there are many, many steps it has to go through before it is approved. Mr Kent added that there was another factor of the Hartwell Avenue connector, which should be revived for consideration and become part of the picture Mr Bailey recommended that the Board invite the Planning Board and the Selectmen's Solid Waste Advisory Committee to a joint meeting next week The Board agreed to schedule an appointment for September 26, 1977 Ambulance Mr Hutchinson explained that the Town is owed over $1,500 in un- Bills collectible ambulance bills and despite efforts pursued by the previous administration, we have been unsuccessful in collecting these past bills While he personally found it distasteful, he suggested that the Board may want to consider utilizing a collection agency to pursue these in- dividuals; we could further consider legal actions against these indi- viduals or write it off the books Letters have been sent by the Tax Collector, telephone calls have been made, and Town Counsel advises that it is not a lien matter After discussion, the Board agreed that Mr Hutchinson is to design a process of collecting overdue ambulance bills, discuss it with Town Counsel, and come back to the Board with a recommendation Central Mr Hutchinson informed the Board that, in addition to Mr Bailey, Maintenance Mr Busa has indicated his willingness to serve on the task force to System study the feasibility of a central maintenance system The Board agreed that Mr Bailey and Mr Busa are to represent the Board of Selectmen on the task force 591 Selectmen's Meeting September 19, 1977 The Board agreed to a joint meeting with the Appropriation Commit- Joint Budget tee, Capital Expenditures Committee, School Committee, and the Personnel Meeting Advisory Board on October 3 to discuss the Town's financial situation and the budget process The Board also agreed with Chairman Battin's recommendation that discussion be held at the joint meeting about instituting a process of having our State legislators meet with the Selectmen and the other three committeesto discuss concerns about legislation which impacts the Town; to speak generally at the first meeting and then talk about specific legislation Mr McSweeney discussed recycling and submitted a proposal for con- Recycling sideration of the Board and approval on September 26 The proposal in- cluded 1 Expenditure for the bunkers, 2 Methods on getting alternate bids for 3 days vs 42 days' pick-up He continued that we are now using the Hartwell landfill for the collection and taking it to the marketplace We need a decision on the proposal; then, go out for bids The Board agreed to discuss the recycling proposal at the next meeting The Board briefly discussed petitions from residents of Emerson Emerson & Road and Worthen Road expressing their dissatisfaction with the recent Worthen Rds change in house numbers Notices had been sent by the Town Manager Street Nos to each home on both streets that the matter would be discussed by the Board at 8 30 p.m this evening; Mr Howard Levingston of Emerson Road was the only resident present Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to change the numbers on Emerson Road and Worthen Road back to their original desig- nation On behalf of the residents, Mr Levingston thanked the Board for its action in resolving a confusing situation, and retired from the meeting Mr Hutchinson informed the Board that results have been favor- Chapter 90 able on the Chapter 90 Hancock Street project Costs were $130,000, Adams Street leaving a remainder of $100,000 and, by October 4, the Board could submit to the County the name of another street and an alternate for Chapter 90 funding Next week, the Public Works Department will sub- mit a recommendation for Adams Street for the consideration of the Board and, if approved, to be submitted to the County Commissioners Mr Bailey said that the philosophy on Hancock Street for Chapter 90 was quite different Adams Street (previously turned down by Town Meeting) was undertaken on the old Chapter 90 guidelines and if we approach it the same way as we did on Hancock Street - uniform width within the present layout, curbing, no trees removed - he had no * hangup about it at this time Mr Kent said that in the light of what is involved fiscally, we ought to do what we can here but if we follow this tack, and particu- larly if Adams Street is to be a candidate, there is a stark necessity c Selectmen's Meeting September 19, 1977 of a very clear, concise and contemporaneous explanation due the people who live there as to what we are about and not have them unnecessarily upset The only way to avoid this is by a very carefully worded explana- tion of what we are doing, which is why we are considering two things together (a) Chapter 90; (b) Adams St Mr Hutchinson agreed to come back to the Board next week with his recommendation on Chapter 90 Policies/ Chairman Battin informed the Board that she and Mr Kent had gone I Procedures through areas in which other towns had policies and procedures, and had selected six areas which might be written on - Board meetings, procedure for handling agenda, employees of the Board, procedure for the minutes, conducting hearings, and advisory committees She recommended that the Board look at the remaining areas in which some policy decisions would have to be made The Board agreed to discussion at a later meeting Town The Board discussed the 1977 Town Report and Mr Bailey said that Report he had written and submitted what he thought expressed the feelings of the Board for a more austere town report with substantially reduced distribution, and greater emphasis on factual rather than philosophi- cal content Some suggested guidelines are 1) the report should be thought of a compendium of information for use by Town Meeting Members and other interested parties and as a readily available repository for information of historical interest; 2) distribution should be limited to those active in Town Government and anyone else who wishes to pick up a copy at the Town Offices; 3) expository text should be greatly limited or eliminated and photographs should be used only when a point cannot be made any other way Mr Bailey said that Mrs Miley had deleted Item 2 on distribution, and had amended item 3 to read, "Text should be informative Photographs should be used only when a point cannot be made any other way " Mrs Miley responded that she felt the town report should contain concise, hard information rather than having a report which says that every department is doing a marvelous job and with lovely pictures to show it Mr Hutchinson said that reports become very subjective things when you deal with people involved; some like pictures, etc He suggested that the report focus on the structure of government, with an organization chart on how government functions, its boards ; these are all varying dimensions on every report We might try to reach these guidelines while working with the committee the Board appoints To him, distribution is a question and, as Mr Busa said, we want to avoid more than one copy being distributed to a household Mr Busa agreed with Mr Bailey that the report should not be condensed to a point that it would be useless to the people of Lexington He said that distribution could be looked at later on, and suggested that the Board table the entire subject until he, Mr Bailey and Mrs Miley 593 Selectmen's Meeting September 19, 1977 Ill review reports from surrounding towns in order to recommend guidelines to the committee Mr Kent agreed Chairman Battin said that the Board had agreed that Town Meeting Members, who need the report as a woriing document, would be very useful members of the committee TMM4 has submitted nominees and we can appoint the committee next week and give them guidelines Upon motion duly made and second>d, it was voted to table the matter of the 1977 Annual Town Report until the next meeting Mrs Miley recommended that a program be instituted on the educa- Public tion of people on driving, riding bicycles, walking in crosswalks Safety She said that there is a whole generation of young people who ride Program bicycles facing the traffic The Police have put up signs on posts around Town, "Watch out for Children" and have also gone into the school to speak to the youngsters about bicycles Also, people do not know that you have to stop when a person is within a crosswalk Mr Hutchinson said that the Police Department does focus on schools and would have excellent reco:nmendations on the whole area of safety education He agreed to talk with Chief Corr, the Recreation Committee, and the Minute-man for publicity purposes, on the educe- tion of adults Chairman Battin said that the matter of Selectmen's Expenses is Selectmen's an area in which the Board has to dev=lop a policy Expenses Mr Kent said that thequestion was asked prominentlyand publicly if the Selectmen have been paid enou , and it should be made crystal clear that the Selectmen are not paid It is his view, and he believed of each member of the Board, that the Selectmen ought not to be paid for their services, so that, to the extent we have something to talk about in a topic, it relates to reimbursement for out-of-pocket expenses incurred by members of the Board for service on behalf of the Town The second observation he would make is, having looked at the subject, examined some bills and examined some budget items, he was satisfied totally that bills that have been submitted at this point by any member of the Board have been within categories in which there are line items in the budget and in every instance payment has been approved by the Town Manager, the official charged by law with making approval Now, in the light of some changing functions of members of the Board of Selectmen, this is a topic which finds its way into a number of separate line items as currently administered, and we need to draw the subject together and to come up with some clearcut policy as to under what circumstances what shall be paid, upon approval, by whom Mr Bailey said that he was not about to seek reconsideration of the current $200 annual expense allowance for the Selectmen, we have that - and if we have a problem, it is trying to cope with certain out- ' of-pocket expenses certain members try to cope with over and above that 594 Selectmen's Meeting September 19, 1977 One of the elements of this problem is that the Town Manager is the per- son responsible for signing the warrants for Selectmen's expenses This is a unique situation as it is the Selectmen who appoint the Town Mana- ger; therefore, he thought it imperative that the Selectmen lay down a policy for their own guidance and, primarily, for the Town Manager; this would protect him from a lot of grief either now or in the future For his own edification, he had prepared a draft of a suggested procedure and policy on Selectmen's expense reimbursement, and he had divided them into three categories I Incidental Expenses, defined as mileage, parking, tolls, and meals related to attendance at meetings not exceeding one day in length Submit a voucher quarterly (3-31, 6-30, 9-30, 12-31) itemizing the expenses in whatever detail may be required by the Manager and/or Comptroller Reimbursement will be on the basis of the approved total expenses less the $50 quarterly expense allow- ance provided to the Selectmen II In-State Travel, consisting of mileage (or other transportation), parking, tolls, meals, accomodations and registration fees Prior approval of the Board to incur the charges is required Submit a voucher itemizing the expenses to the Manager within 10 days of the completion of the Meeting/conference/seminar III Out of State Travel Same as in-state travel except that advance approval of both the Board and Manager is required Out-of-state travel by members of the Board of Selectmen should be approved only when the travel can unequivocally be shown to be in the best interest of the taxpayers of Lexington Travel resulting from assignments by County or State-level groups or from commitments accepted by members of the Board that do not meet this criterion should not be considered for reimbursement by the Town of Lexing- ton If a member of the Board undertakes out-of-state travel as a member and does not seek reimbursement from the Town for expense, he shall disclose to the Board the source of funding for the trip (personal funds, reimbursement by an outside agency, business support, etc ) Chairman Battin said that when the Board discusses policies and procedures in a few weeks, we will work on these suggestions as a guide- line Mr Busa agreed to further discussion by the Board, and added that even if he had to stand alone on the issue, he felt it inappropriate for the previous vouchers to have been submitted and approved by the Town Manager without authorization of the entire Board The Board agreed to discuss Selectmen's Expenses at the workshop meeting on Policies and Procedures Executive Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted 5-0 by roll call 590 Selectmen's Meeting September 19, 1977 vote to go into Executive Session for the purpose of discussing the value of real property, and with no intention of resuming the open meeting Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to adjourn at 10 00 p.m. A true record, Attest Executive Clerk, Selectmen I 596 v o 1 D I