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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1977-07-11-BOS-min 521 SELECTMEN'S MEETING July 11, 1977 A regular meeting of the Board of Selectmen was held in the Select- men's Meeting Room, Town Office Building, on Monday, July 11, 1977, at 7 30 p m Chairman Battin, Mr Bailey, Mr Busa, Mrs Miley, and Mr Kent; Mr Hutchinson, Town Manager, Mr Jeffrey Shaw, Administrative Assistant; Mr McSweeney, Director of Public Works/Engineering, were present Mr Joseph Rooney, Chairman, and Mr Temple Scanlon, Director, of HUD/LHA the Lexington Housing Authority met with the Board to request approval Section 8 of the execution of the HUD amendatory annual contributions contract Amended dated on June 23, 1977, which reduces the contract from $178,94+4 to Contract $118,81+8 for 33 units, which represents a net reduction of 17 units from the original allocation of 50 units The contract authorizes the continuation of the program consisting of six 1-bedroom, eleven 2-bed- room, twelve 3-bedroom and four 1+-bedroom units for five years from the date of the original contract Mr Busa asked if, at some point in time during the year, they find other people in need of subsidization, would LHA go back to HUD? Mr Rooney replied that LHA had met with HUD on June 21 and we tried to make that point but we were told to send a letter to HUD to that effect Mr Scanlon sent the letter and, later on this year, if we do have sufficient applications that meet the guidelines, there is no question but what we can make application; we don't know how success- ful we'll be but we don't consider it a dead issue Chairman Battin informed all that letters of approval have been received from the Metropolitan Area Planning Council and Mr Albert Zabin, Planning Board representative on MAPC Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was to authorize Chairman Battin to sign the original and four copies of the Section 8 Housing Assistance Payments Program Amendatory Annual Contributions Contract between the Lexington Housing Authority and the Department of Housing and Urban Development Mr Rooney and Mr Scanlon retired from the meeting Chairman Battin read a request from Town Counsel to approve the Conservation acceptance of gifts of land to the Town for conservation purposes Land Gifts Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to approve the acceptance of the following gifts of land to the Town for conserva- tion purposes 1 Lot 99-A, Map 83; Lots 9, 19 and 20, Map 82 - from Frances May Baskin 2 Six acres of land on Concord Avenue from State Department of Mental Health 522 Selectmen's Meeting July 11, 1977 3 67,742 sq feet of land on Concord Avenue from Concord Avenue Realty Corp 4 3 78 acres of land east of B & M railroad tracks in the vicinity of Centra Estates from Moore Homes, Inc 5 10 346 acres of land adjacent to Drummer Boy Green from Drummer Boy Trust Jury List Chairman Battin requested approval of the jury list Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to approve the 1977-1978 Jury List, including 249 males, 172 females, total of 421 Minutes Chairman Battin requested approval of Selectmen's minutes Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to approve minutes of Selectmen's meetings held on June 13, 16, 29, 1977 Pole - Chairman Battin read a request from the New England Telephone Paul Revere Company and the Boston Edison Company to relocate one pole on Paul Road Revere Road A report from Mr McSweeney, Director of Public Works, recommended that approval be granted as the relocation is necessary due to the construction of the roadway to the Centre Village subdivi- s ion Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to grant permis- sion to the New England Telephone Company and the Boston Edison Company for the relocation of a pole in the following area Paul Revere Road on the south side, approximately 117+ feet west of Greenwood Street, one pole, one pole to be removed Comp & Mr Hutchinson discussed the request from the Massachusetts League Binding of Cities and Towns for agreement to an assessment of $350 as Lexington's Arbitration share of the services provided by Jack Walsh and Associates for polling Survey of citizen attitudes relative to compulsory and binding arbitration In addition, the consultant will analyze the data and recommend political strategy to be used to gather the required signatures and to place the issue on the November 1978 ballot Mr Busa raised the questions of how many cities and towns would participate for $350 each, and how much money was involved for the consultants to produce the entire package Chairman Battin agreed to come back to the Board with the necessary information after she attends a meeting of the Mass League on July 12 Whitman & Mr Hutchinson recommended that the Board sign the Inflow-Infiltra- Howard - tion contract awarded on July 19, 1976 to Whitman & Howard, Wellesley, I/I Study for Engineering services on Phase I of the project, in an amount not to exceed $67,000 The authority for this contract is contained in Article 25 of the 1976 Annual Town Meeting for an Inflow/Infiltration Study; also, a letter of approval dated April 21, 1977 from the Water 52: Selectmen's Meeting July 11, 1977 Resources Commission, Division of Water Pollution Control, and a letter from the Environmental Protection Agency dated April 19, 1977 approving a grant of $52,586 Mr Hutchinson added that this project is consis- tent with the plans we have discussed with Burlington and Bedford Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to award the Inflow/Infiltration contract with Whitman & Howard in an amount not to exceed $67,000 The Board accepted the interim contingency plan for sanitary sewer Sewer system overflows, as recommended by Mr Hutchinson and Mr McSweeney, System Director of Public Works/Engineering The report from McSweeney Overflows stated that each division head and supervisor, in cooperation with the Health Director, will use this plan as a guideline for any future problems that we might encounter In the meantime, his office, with the assistance of Health Director Smith, will be making necessary arrangements with the Towns of Burlington, Bedford, Massachusetts Division of Water Pollution and Control, Division of Environmental Quality Engineering, and the Metropolitan District Commision-Sewer Division, in an effort to provide a solution to the problem Mr Hutchinson advised that he will come back to the Board at a later meeting on the next phase of the plan after Mr McSweeney meets with the Metropolitan District Commision and other involved State de- 1 partments INTERIM CONTINGENCY PLAN FOR SANITARY SEWER SYSTEM OVERFLOWS 1 Arrange for a meeting with Mass Division of Water Pollution Control and Department of Environmental Quality Engineering for input on acceptable chlorination methods, and discharge permits 2 Provide for improved communications between the Towns of Burlington and Bedford for early warning system in the event that sewage over- flows seem imminent 3 Develop a contingency plan for furnishing and/or stockpiling suffi- cient quantities of chlorine and hay to facilitate chlorination of the discharge of sewage effluents should this become necessary 4 Increase the public awareness that discharge of storm water into a sanitary sewer is in violation of sewer use regulations This to be done either by inserting a flyer with the water bills or through the local newspaper, or both 5 Accelerate sewer cleaning and maintenance program, especially in critical areas Also, request similar activities by the Metropoli- tan District Commission on the receiving sewers 6 Surcharge North Lexington Sewer System to minimize flows coming into critical points (Vine Brook Area) 524 Selectmen's Meeting July 11, 1977 atKiln Brook as opposed 7 Overflow North Lexington Pumping Station to to Vine Brook This to be done by constructing hay bale dams to trap solids and improved chlorination methods to be developed 8 Provide for a standby pumping arrangement at Brookwood Road also adopting hay bale dams, and improved chlorination procedures as an emergency back-up to the North Lexington overflow 9 Undertake a quarterly sampling program of the water quality in Vine Brook to establish baseline data from which the effects of sewage overflows can be measured Baseline data will be available on Kiln Brook as a result of the Sanitary Landfill Water Quality Study 10 Initiate inflow-infiltration studies as soon as possible to reduce sanitary flows Contract Mr Hutchinson informed the Board that bids have been received for 78-1-E test borings in various locations for the purpose of designing roadways, Test Borings various underground utilities and structures, as needed on a periodic basis He recommended that the contract be awarded to the lowest bidder, Soil Exploration Corp , Stow, Massachusetts , in the amount of $4,470 Authority for this work is contained in various articles, depending upon the purpose of the project Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to award Contract 78-1-E to Soil Exploration Corp in the amount of $4,470 for test borings in various locations in the Town of Lexington Personnel Mr John Butler, Chairman, Mr James Crain and Mrs Joanne Small Advisory of the Personnel Advisory Board met with the Selectmen to discuss the Board affirmative action plan Mr Hutchinson informed the Board that the Personnel Advisory Board has been working with administration on an affirmative action plan and we are having a better response, the character of the work force will be more reflective of a metropolitan society involving women and minorities We feel that recruitment efforts will help in training and job develop- ment The most recent experience has been the appointment of a women patrolman, who is now at the State Police Adademy We did have 25 women applicants and approximately 15 minority applicants for the firefighters' examination More people are coming forward to apply and this in itself ought to help produce some of the changes demonstrated by the Town through affirmative action Ms Small said that the Personnel Advisory Board is concerned about applicants They are not talking about hiring 100 people a year but talking about a select number of job openings, and they are concerned that the basic pool be broadened Unless we have a mix in the pool, we are not going to have a mix in the work force In order to accomplish that, we have to take the time and the thought to recruit where we might not have done it in the past We are seeing that this will become part of doing business in Lexington 525 Selectmen's Meeting July 11, 1977 Mr Busasaid aid that it really bothered him that a lot of people feel that Lexington has never had an affirmative action program He did not want anyone to think that Lexington is now doing something new, for as long as he has been in Town, and on the Board, Lexington has always had affirmative action, equal opportunity, and equal hiring Just because it doesn't show it at this point in time, it wasn't because of a lack of effort but because of a lack of people coming forward who wanted to work in the Town of Lexington Mr Butler said that the Personnel Advisory Board had looked at this and one of the first things we would encourage the Selectmen to consider is a written statement of policy with respect to past practice - to clarify exactly what the policy of the Town is, in order that people who might be employed in the future, and more importantly people who work for the Town now, would hear about it When we first began our work in 1974, there were many policies and practices in the Town that we hadn't brought together in a codified personnel policy PAB feels that in order for the Town, as professional personnel people, to meet its responsibilities, it should as widely as possible seek people to carry out jobs and be sure that personnel policies are understood by everybody, and being acted upon The simplest way to state this, in management terms, is a process of management by objectives; this is an important way one can proceed to accomplish a given role - an affirma- tive action program which is beginning to evolve in a formal way with adoption of reaffirmation of the policy; a way by which we, as a Town, set forth a goal and management resolves it accordingly Mr Kent said it appears that the focus is upon the recruitment stage and that is where we are talking about - affirmative action rather than, for the moment, at the appointment stage, at which time he felt there was a consensus that equal opportunity very definitely takes over If the results of past policies of equal opportunity are not evident - and figures indicate that is so - to a marked degree, this may be said to result from the absence of vigorous recruitment, which lies at the heart of affirmative action Particularly, when we are talking about minority groups, if we desire within a framework of equal opportunity to achieve results, we must recognize that we are in a competitive mar- ket with respect to minorities by definition, therefore, if we have to achieve results by vigorous recruitment and thus affirmative action in the sense, it strikes me as perhaps being imperative We are agreed that equal opportunity is where we are at and the recruitment stage, and it seems to the that we have to recognize that in order to have equal opportunity stage meaningful, we have to do some vigorous recruit- ing amongst minority groups - and that's what I hear being advocated Mr Busa said that when you do vigorous recruiting on a certain level of a group of people, you are then discriminating against the other person who does not have that equal opportunity Mr Kent asked if that other person has not been the effective addressee of our recruiting efforts in the past" Mr Busa replied that as long as he has been a member of the Board of Selectmen, that has not been the policy 526 Selectmen's Meeting July 11, 1977 Chairman Battin said that we will advertise in all the places that we have before and inform all the people about making application We have to know how to word it in terms of there being equal opportunity but affirmative action is the one further step She asked for the Board's comments Mr Bailey said that PABrs draft doesn't make him feel at all defensive because they are statements of policy If we have been doing exactly what they say, so much the better and, if we haven't, just be- cause it is written down in a policy statement doesn't immediately imply to him that we haven't been doing it Mr Busa said that he appreciates PAB's efforts even though he didn't agree He moved that the Board concur in spirit and accept the report of the Personnel Advisory Board as policy fact Mrs Miley said that she fully supported the Personnel Advisory Board and moved to accept and adopt the suggested policy of the Per- sonnel Advisory Board Both motions were seconded and it was voted the recommendations of the Personnel Advisory Board concerning equal opportunity and affirma- tive action as the policy of the Board of Selectmen The Personnel Advisory Board retired from the meeting *See attached Page 526-A for Statement of Policy Chapter 90 Mr Hutchinson recommended that the Board sign the Memorandum of Hancock St Agreement between the Town of Lexington and the Commonwealth of Mass- achusetts for the Hancock Street project Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to sign the Agree- ment between the Town of Lexington and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts for the reconstruction of Hancock Street by excavation, grading, drain- age, granite curbing, sidewalks, Class I bituminous concrete type I-1 over a rehabilitated asphalt pavement and other incidental work Hancock Street Chairman Battin read a request from Mr McSweeney regarding ease- l Easements ments on Hancock Street Upon motion duly made and seconded, the Board voted the intent to take temporary easements necessary for the completion of the Hancock Street reconstruction project Contract Mr Hutchinson informed the Board that bids have been received for 78-2-E resurfacing Concord Avenue, and recommended that the contract be awarded Concord Ave to the lowest bidder Resurfacing Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to award Contract 78-2-E to Starrett Paving Corp , Marlboro, in the amount of $29,777 50 for resurfacing the street and necessary drives on Concord Avenue Park Mr Hutchinson read a request from the Recreation Committee to in- Benches- stall two park benches at Hastings Park; one on Massachusetts Avenue Hastings and one situated along the path to Lincoln Street A number of senior Park citizens have requested benches and it appears to be a needed improve- ment to the Park If the Trustees of Public Trusts could find the funds, approximately $130, the Park Department would install the benches this Selectmen's Meeting July 11, 1977 STATEMENT OF POLICY The Town of Lexington by ea i ss policy and moral commit- ment to provide equal employ�it o port to all individuals with- out regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin or age Any employment or personnel practice which even inadvertently dis- criminates against any employee or applicant for employment violates both state and federal laws and is not in the best interest of the Town of Lexington All employment decisions, policies, and programs have been made and will continue to be made without regard to an in- dividual's race, color, religion, sex, national origin or age The Town is in the process of developing and implementing an Affirmative Action Program designed to further its commitment to the fair and non-discriminatory treatment of all employees and applicants for employment A major goal of this Affirmative Action Program will be to effect the full utilization of miniorities and women at all levels of municipal government The Town will adhere to the provisions of all federal and state laws governing equal opportunity in employment Such laws presently include Massachusetts General Laws, Ch 151B, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 as amended, 42 U S C s 2000e, Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967, 29 U S C s621; and the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 as amended, 29 U S C s201 In implementing this policy, the Town intends to comply fully with the letter and spirit of the law The Town will, without regard to race, color, religion, national origin or age 1 Recruit and hire persons who are qualified to perform the defined duties and responsibilities of the position to be filled 2 Provide all employees with the privileges and benefits of employment 3 Promote, transfer, discipline, and discharge employees on a non-discriminatory basis 4 Provide all qualified employees with an equal opportunity to participate in training programs 5 Compensate all employees based upon the principles of equal pay for equal work and measured performance The Town Manager will evaluate and compensate all Supervisors and Department Heads based, in part, upon the accomplishment of the goals and objectives embodied in the Town's Affirmative Action Program 1 iAb 8 \\ I V 0 1 0 527 Selectmen's Meeting July 11, 1977 e summ r Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to request the Trustees of Public Trusts for an expenditure of approximately $130 from the appropriate trust fund for the purchase of two park benches, which will be installed by the Public Works Department Chairman Battin discussed the establishment of goals and priori- Selectmen's ties of the Board of Selectmen She said that she had looked at Policies & existing policies in other towns and had gathered together copies Procedures of Lexington's existing policies She suggested that the Board schedule time at a future meeting for discussion in greater detail in order to develop a process The Board agreed The Board discussed the request from the Planning Board for a Planning joint meeting to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Paul Board MacKenzie Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to schedule a joint meeting and to advertise the following legal notice in the Minuteman on July 14, 1977 "In accordance with the provisions of Chapter 41, Section 11, a meeting of the Board of Selectmen and the remaining members of the Lexington Planning Board will be held on Monday, July 25, 1977, at 8 00 p.m in the Selectmen's Meeting Room to fill, by roll call vote, a vacancy on the Lexington Planning Board " Mrs Miley informed the Board that the School Sites Conversion Hancock School Committee had voted at the last meeting to recommend to the Selectmen that the Hancock School and the Town land adjoining be put under the aegis of the Historic Districts Commission Also, to have an Article submitted by the Board of Selectmen at the next Town Meeting The Board agreed that no action is necessary at this time Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted 5-0 by roll call Executive vote to go into Executive Session, with no intention of resuming the open session, for the purpose of discussing personnel matters Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to adjourn around 9 00 p.m Typed from tape recorded minutes 4ee..f A Executive Clerk, Selectme& �r Y r