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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1977-05-16-BOS-min 450 SELECTMEN'S MEE'1'ING May 16, 1977 1 A regular meeting of the Board of Selectmen was held in the Selectmen's Meeting Room, Town Office Building, on Monday, May 16, 1977, at 7 30 p.m Vice Chairman Battin, Mr Busa, and Mrs Miley; Mr Hutchinson, Town Manager; Mrs McCurdy, Executive Clerk, were present Storm - Mr Hutchinson discussed the aftermath of last week's storm Clean-Up and what do do about the accumulation of brush already left at the roadsides; also, the numerous calls received from citizens ques- tioning if the Town will pick up the brush if they put it out at the roadside He explained that D P W forces had been working all week on Town property and, on Saturday, the National Guard had joined with them in a combined effort to clean up many sections He publicly asked that all citizens cooperate by taking debris to the landfill or to make arrangements for a contractor to do it Mrs Battin recommended that the elderly and hardship cases be taken care of She suggested that service clubs, boy scouts, etc organize a project, and perhaps Town Meeting Members might ask for the assistance of neighborhood block groups to pick up the brush, with Town trucks being made available to them Mr Hutchinson pointed out the lack of overtime funds Mr Busa raised an objection by saying that first the people are told to take the brush to the dump, and now you say that groups are encouraged to organize and pick it up People will go into their backyards and bring everything out Mr Hutchinson agreed with Mr Busa's point Mrs Battin suggested that Town Meeting Members might ask that it be done in neighborhood block groups using private vehicles Mr Busa agreed and said that this is the old Lexington way of doing it Litter Later on in the meeting, Vice Chairman Battin read a letter Olympics from Ms Evelyn F Murphy, Secretary of the Environmental Affairs, Clean-up requesting the Town's support of the Governor's "Litter Olympics" Week by declaring the week of May 21-28 as "Litter Olympics Weeks" for an environmental cleanup program The Town is asked to encourage all elementary, high school and college students, environmental and civic groups to participate in the program The Board agreed to publicize Litter Olympics Week of May 21-28 and to encourage citizen participation with their own vehicles From the audience, Mr Herbert Grossimon expressed his con- fusion as to whether the Town would or would not pick up at private property Mr Hutchinson explained that the Town will pick up brush from its trees, but private residents are responsible for their own trees and their collection and disposal at the landfill or some other source 451 Selectmen's Meeting May 16 1977 However, people have alreadypiledthe side of the road and we p p it at are saying that if they continue to do this, we will eventually get to cleaning it up but we cannot say when Mr Hutchinson discussed the sanitary landfill and said that we Sanitary have received a rather serious report from the State Department o Landfill Environmental Quality Engineering indicating violations by the Toim at the landfill This has been given high priority as we are con- cerned about the landfill operation being allowed to continue, and we are preparing a response He and representatives of the Board and Town administration have to appear at a hearing scheduled on June 6th To tie into this, he reported that we have men at the landfill and have started to cover slopes, and we have appropriated money for a Caterpillar Officials will be meeting with him this week and they will discuss means of extending the life until an ultimate solution is reached We feel that it is important that the regulations be updated Landfill and we recommend that the landfill be closed one day a week, per- Regulations haps on Wednesdays, on a permanent basis Changes would call for a six day week in the winter and five days in the summer with the Sunday closing All logs and brush are to be separated before coiling to the landfill We do plan on putting our own chipper at the land- fill We have also added one holiday closing, Martin Luther King day Mr Hutchinson informed the Board that he had met with the citizens' committee on the landfill, and they agreed to shutting down on one day The Board agreed to closing the landfill permanently on Wednes- days Mrs Battin said we are informing the people that, although 'Lt is a hardship to close on Wednesdays, it is better than having the landfill closed permanently Mr Busa moved that Sections 1 through 9 of the amended regiiLa- tions be adopted, with the understanding that the Town Manager se- the effective date for closing on Wednesdays Mrs Miley asked that the record show that, later on, we will not only talk about fees and permits but how much we can possibly take from the hard users of the dump She seconded the motion Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to approve and. adopt Sections 1 through 9 of the amended rules and regulations gov- erning the operation of the Hartwell Avenue Sanitary Landfill, with the understanding that Section 10-Permits and contractors using the landfill for excessive amounts of demolition materials would be dis- cussed at a later date RULES AND REGULATIONS GOVERNING OPERATION OF HARTWELL AVENUE SANITARY LANDFILL Adopted on May 16, 1977 Pursuant to the power conferred on the Board of Selectmen by the Gen- 452 Selectmen's Meeting May 16, 1977 eral By-Laws of the Town, and every power in any way enabling them, the Board of Selectmen of the Town of Lexington hereby adopts the following rules and regulations governing the operation of the Sani- tary Landfill situated on Hartwell Avenue in Lexington 1 The landfill shall be open from 8 00 a.m to 5 00 p m. on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, and from 8 00 a.m. to 7 00 p.m. on Mondays and Fridays from the beginning of Eastern Daylight Savings Time to SepLember 30th The landfill will be closed nn Sundays, beginning the third Sunday in June, until Labor Day, and on Wednesdays beginning June 1, 1977 For the remainder of the year, the landfill will be open on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sun- day from 8 00 a.m to 5 00 p.m The placing or depositing of any material in or about the landfill, except during aforesaid hours, is prohibited No person, unless expressly authorized by the Director of Public Works, is permitted within the landfill during the hours that it is closed COMMERCIAL COLLECTION VEHICLES WILT, NOT BE ALLOWED TO DUMP AFTER 4 00 P.M 2 The lighting of any fire in the landfill, or the placing of any combustible material on any fire that may be burn- ing in the landfill, is expressly prohibited, except that the burii.xg of diseased elms, under the supervision of the Director of Public Works, and within the scope of Chapter 111 of the General Laws and its related acts, is permitted 3 Material is to be placed or deposited in accordance with any directions that may be given by the person in charge at the Sanitary Landfill, and no material is to be placed or deposited by any person in any portion of the landfill that may be-marked with signs indicating that dumping in those areas is not permitted a Other Materials - Tires, appliances, and scrap metal must be placed in designated areas 4 No garbage, offal or offensive material shall be placed or deposited in or about the sanitary landfill 5 Brush - Homeowners who take brush into the landfill in private cars, or private cars with trailers, must tie the brush in bundles not exceeding 3' x 3' x 9' , and must neatly stack it in the designated area Metal bands or wire may not be used for tying Brush will be chipped bi-weekly by the Town All truckers and commercial brush haulers must chip brush before delivery to the landfill Chips must be dumped in the designated area a Trees and Logs - Trees and logs must be cut into lengths not longer than 4' These must be placed in the desig- nated area 4'53 Selectmen's Meeting May 16, 1977 Authority for Above The Commonwealth of Massachusetts Regulations for the Disposal of Solid Wastes by Sanitary Landfill, adopted under the provisions of Section 150A, Chapter 111, General Laws, as inserted by Chapter 83? of the Acts of 1970, effective dated April 27, 1971 Regulation 17 Disposal of Bulky Waste 17 2 If brush is accepted at the sanitary landfill, it shall be chipped prior to placement in the active working area of the facility Brush received at the site shall be chipped within two weeks after deposition 6 The landfill is maintained for the deposit of ashes, cin- ders, papers and other rubbish and refuse originating with- in the Town of Lexington, and the dumping or depositing therein of any material originating outside of the Town of Lexington is prohibited 7 Contractors applying for permits to dump excessive amounts of demolition materials shall supply cover, on a load for load basis, and a machine to handle these materials All sites or areas are subject to inspection before a permit is issued. 8 Picking the sanitary landfill, or removing from the sani- tary landfill, any material that has been placed or deposited therein is prohibited 9 The Sanitary Landfill shall be closed on the following days New Year's Day, Martin Luther King Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Washington's Birthday, Eastern Sunday, Patriot's Day, Memorial Day, Columbus Day, Veteran's Day, Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas Day The Penalty for violation of these rules and regulations is a finE not exceeding $20 00 for each offense Mr Hutchinson reported to the Board that a meeting had been held Bedford Water with the State Water Pollution Control Division and with Bedford & Sewers Officials Bedford had sent us correspondence regarding their $lf million sewer program, and we have mutual problems At a future time, officials of both towns will get together to discuss the matter We would support Bedford but first our inflow-infiltration study has to be done and we have to determine the impact on our water supply The Metropolitan District Commission, Lexington and Bedford are all in- volved, and people have to understand that a solution is not going; to happen overnight Bedford hopes the program will go forward but there is also the process of getting legislation and studies have to be done Vice Chairman Battin asked if the Sewer Advisory Committee would be advised and become involved Mr Hutchinson agreed to give information to the committee In response to Mrs Battin's request for comments, Mr Frank Sandy stated that he was very happy with the way the Town Manager has been getting things straightened out Y5.4 Selectmen's Meeting May 16, 1977 Appointments Mr Hutchinson informed the Board that appointments to the Coun- Process - cil on Aging are to be made within the next three weeks He recom- Council on mended that interested people contact him, and some thoughtful ap- Aging proach would be designed for selecting those who would be best suited The Board agreed HUD Rejection Mr Hutchinson informed the Board that the Town had been turned Garfield St down on our pre-application for community development money for hous- ing on Garfield Street We were told that our proposal did not score well in competitive rating with other activities and programs and, therefore, we were not invited to submit a full application for discretionary funding in this fiscal year Transfer Mr Hutchinson recommended approval of the Board on requests for Requests transfers Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to request the Acct #1900 approval of the Appropriation Committee for a transfer from the Selectmen's Reserve Fund to Account #1900-Selectmen's Elections to cover the cost Elections of three special elections on May 24, June 13 and June 21, 1977 Acct #1125 Mr Hutchinson requested approval of an additional $1,000 trans- Police & Fire fer to Account #1125-Police and Fire Medical On March 30, 1977, the Medical Board had approved a request for $6,000, and it was necessary to come back again because of increased medical bills Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to request ap- proval of the Appropriation Committee for a transfer of $1,000 to Account #1125-Police and Fire Medical, in addition to the $6,000 't previously requested on March 30, 1977 11 Transfer- Mr Hutchinson informed the Board that the $6,000 transfer re- Acct #7200- quest for Account #7200-Veterans Benefits has been amended to $4,000 Veterans Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to request approval of the Appropriation Committee for a transfer from the Reserve Fund to Account #7200 in the amount of $4,000 Liquor Vice Chairman Battin read an application from Peking Gardens Peking for an All Alcoholic Beverages Common Victualler license to cover Gardens their expanded premises Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to accept the application from Lexington Enterprises, Inc , d/b/a Peking Gardens for an All Alcoholic Beverages Common Victualler license to cover the expansion of premises of 29-31 Waltham Street Public hearing was set for June 6 at 8 00 p m in the Selectmen's Meeting Room. Tax Title The Board approved Mrs Miley's recommendation to table until Moratorium May 23 the request from the Lexington Housing Authority to extend the moratorium on the sale of Town-owned lots suitable for scattered site and low and moderate income housing, pending review by Town Counsel of all tax title lots In addition, Mrs Miley is to talk with Interfaith regarding their possible interest in the lots 4�,) Selectmen's Meeting May 16, 1977 Miss Nancy Abelmann Chairman, and Mrs Mary Anderson of the By-Law Youth Youth Advisory Committee met with the Board. Commission Vice Chairman Battin read a letter from Miss Abelmann, stating that if the By-Law Youth Commission has not been formed by Septem- ber, the Advisory Youth Commission is willing to select new members and thus have a Youth Commission ready in September either for the purpose of filling a void or to put themselves at the disposal of the By-Law Commission After a lengthy discussion, it was agreed that the Youth Ad- visory Commission has been abolished by vote of the 1977 Annual Town Meeting to establish a By-Law Youth Commission Any person interested in becoming a student sub-committee member or adult mem- ber of the By-Law Youth Commission should make application to the. Town Manager When appointed, the By-Law Youth Commission may then appoint the youth sub-committee Vice Chairman Battin read a letter from Mrs Martha Lima request- Lima Request - ing the installation of a guardrail at 40 Vaille Avenue because of Vaille Ave damage being done in the wintertime by cars skidding over her lawn A report from the Traffic Safety Committee stated that after investigation by the committee it was agreed that the installation of a guardrail fence was not warranted However, the committee recommended that the Public Works Department be requested to install a new drainage system in the area Upon motion duly made and seconde, it was voted to approve the recommendation of the Traffic Safety Committee that a guardrail was not warranted at 40 Vaille Avenue It was agreed to request the Public Works Department to investigate the possibility of installing a new drainage system in the Vaille Avenue area Vice Chairman Battin read a letter from Mr and Mrs Peter Dikeman,Dikeman 2295 Massachusetts Avenue, expressing their concerns about traffic Concord Hill conditions in the area and, also, requesting that the Town consider Traffic & Trees a beautification program by planting trees along Massachusetts Avenue from Worthen Road to Route 128 A report from the Traffic Safety Committee stated that the Concord Hill area is under constant surveillance bythe Police ur De- partment The committee had referred the beautification request to the Public Works Department for review Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to approve the recommendation of the Traffic Safety Committee concerning the letter from Mr and Mrs Dikeman, and will await a recommendation from the Public Works Department concerning beautification of the Concord Hill area Vice Chairman Battin read a request for a block party Permit Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to grant permission to the Minuteman Associates Association for a block 456 Selectmen's Meeting May 16, 1977 June 2 from 12 00 noon to 00 111 party to be conducted on Saturday, 5, 9 p.m with a rain date of June 26, 1977 Water Vice Chairman Battin requested a vote of the Board on an abate- Abatement went of a water bill Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to approve the request of the Director of Public Works/Engineering for abatement of a water bill for 9 Circle Road in the amount of $11 25 due to a bookkeeping error Permit Vice Chairman Battin read a request for a bake sale Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to grant per- mission to the Pilgrim Congregational Church to use the Visitors' Center lawn for a colonial bake sale on June 9 from 10 00 a m. to 2 00 p.m , with a rain date of June 10, 1977 Upon motion duly made and seconded,it was voted to adjourn at 835pm. A true record, Attest J114. Executive Clerk, Selectmen