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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1977-02-22-BOS-min :35tl SELECTMEN'S MEETING February 22, 1977 A regular meeting of the Board of Selectmen was held in the Select- men's Meeting Room, Town Office Building, on Tuesday, February 22, 1977 at 7 30 p m. Chairman Kassler, Mr Bailey, Mr Buse, Mrs Battin, Mrs Miley; Mr Hutchinson, Town Manager; Mr McSweeney, Director of Public Works/ Engineering; Mrs McCurdy, Executive Clerk, were present At the request of the Town Clerk, the following jurors were drawn Jurors Filomena R. Heil 34 Whipple Road Guy M. Weyl 25 Pine Knoll Road Joseph P Upham 2 Oxbow Road Florence M. Sawyer 5 Centre Street Steven B Whitcomb 29 Fern Street Anne L Leavitt 130 Laconia Street George A. Kolovson 10 Dewey Road Blanche McKenzie 53 Ledgelawn Avenue Chairman Kassler declared the hearing open on the petition of the Pole Boston Edison Company for the location of one pole on Williams Road. Williams Notices of the hearing were sent to abutters listed on the Road petitioner's plan and also filed with the Public Works Department Mr Louis Pratt, representing the Boston Edison Company, was present and informed the Board that this request is for street lighting purposes Chairman Kassler read a report from the Director of Public Works/ Engineering stating that the location had been reviewed and it is recommended that permission be granted to install pole #116/6 on Williams Road. No one appearing in favor or in opposition, the hearing was declared closed. Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to grant permis- sion to the Boston Edison Company for the installation of pole #116/6 for street lighting purposes at the following location Williams Road, northwesterly side, approximately 93 feet northeast of Gleason Road, one (1) pole Mr Louis A. Zehner, Town Treasurer, informed the Board that he Treasurer had received seven bids on borrowing $1 million in tax anticipation and he requested approval of accepting the lowest bidders Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to approve the recommendation of the Town Treasurer to borrow $1 million in tax anticipation loans dated 2/25/77, due 4/29/77, with interest at maturity, from the following banks 1 3(iU Selectmen' s Meeting February 22, 1977 Baybank Newton-Waltham $250,000 2 08% Baybank Middlesex $250,000 2 08% First National Bank of Boston $250,000 2 09% New England Merchants $250.000 2 12% Personnel Mr John Butler, Chairman, and Mr James Crain of the Personnel Board Advisory Board met with the Selectmen Goals Chairman Kessler read a memo from Mr Butler regarding the goals of the Personnel Advisory Board for 1977 "Our board has met twice recently with the Town Manager to discuss the personnel policy issues of major concern to his office; and out of these sessions we have consensus on and recommend to you, our pursuit of these tasks 1 Reoganization of Human Services To become fully informed by direct discussion with agency represen- tatives about the present and potential services needed in Lexington and to assist in the preparation of an efficient organizational structure for them. Completion Date November 30, 1977 2 Manpower Planning111 a) Affirmative Action - Assist in the development of policies recommended to guide Town government as an employer Completion Date March 31, 1977 b) Staffing - To assist in analysis of present and future staffing patterns to maintain desired services with minimal staff members Completion Date August 31, 1977 c) Training and Development Programs - Assist in an audit of the Police Cadet program and in the development of programs to strengthen the managerial capabilities of the department heads Completion Date June 30, 1977 3 Salary Administration and Performance Appraisal Evaluate and make recommendations to implement more fully the con- cepts contained in the ADL proposal Completion Date August 31, 1977 Of course, in addition to these specific projects we remain avail- able for advice and counseling as seem needed by your Board and Town Manager " 361 Selectmen's Meeting February 22, 1977 Chairman Kassler expressed appreciation for the Personnel Board's projections and wished them success in completing their goals within the specified dates These are areas which the Board has been concerned about for so long and there is a specific timetable consistent with quick action by this Board Mr Hutchinson said that there would be in-house action, and we should come close to completion dates Mrs Battin informed the Board that the Mass League of Cities and Towns has just hired Barbara Thornton to provide, as a free service, technical assistance to cities and towns on human services Also, the HEW regional office has someone on their staff on human services Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to accept the recommendations of the Personnel Advisory Board and the Town Manager regarding thoals of the Personnel Advisory Board for 1977 Chairman Kassler read a request from Mr McSweeney to abate water Water bills Abatements Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to abate the following water bills Tony Cataldo, 41 Rindge Avenue, $94 95; wrong reading as there is a new meter Steven E Cox, 64 Garfield Street, $132 65; vandalism; meter not working new one put in Dr Carl Toga, 67 Turning Mill Road, $50 85; owner sent in wrong reading Chairman Kassler read an annual request for the Ten Mile Road Permit- race Road Race Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to grant permis- sion to the Greek Orthodox Church of Cambridge to conduct the Ten Mile Road Race on Sunday, March 27, 1977, to start at the Minuteman Statue at 1 00 p m. , with Police cruiser escort to the Arlington Town Line Chairman Kassler read a request from the TV Weathermen of Massa- Proclamation chusetts for a proclamation to help crippled children Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to proclaim Friday, March 11, 1977, as Coffee Day for Crippled Children Mr Tippett of Arlex Taxi Corporation d/b/a Lexington Cab Co Lexington was not present for his appointment at 8 00 p m. Taxicabs- Mr Hutchinson informed the Board that ten vehicles are now Tippett operating, and it is recommended that a 60-day extension of the licenses be granted. There does seem to be a good faith effort by the owner and he did say that it would take him some time There are five new taxicabs in service Chairman Kassler said that he was not inclined to extend for 60 days as Mr Tippett did not keep his appointment, and, therefore, we are unable to discuss the status of his operation Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to grant a 30- day extension of the 12 taxicab licenses issued to Arlex Taxi Corpora- tion d/b/a Lexington Cab Co , expiring March 28, 1977 4362 Selectmen's Meeting February 22, 1977 Later on in the meeting, Mr Tippett was present and was informed of the above vote Mr Tippett agreed to continue repairs until all cabs are up to standards He mentioned that it was impossible to attach the framed drivers' permits to the back seats of 1977 cars and questioned whether he could affix them to the door panel The Board agreed that Mr Hutchinson is to work with Mr Tippett and the Police Department on the location of drivers' permits in the cabs Selectmen's Mr Bailey discussed the establishment of a Selectmen's policy Policy - regarding sewer and water extensions He said that, on more and more Sewer & Water occasions, people petition to have sewer and/or water extensions in Extension unaccepted portions of the Town, and we have had trouble on how to handle the dollars The Board has been reluctant for the Town to pick up the costs and, even when owners are willing to pay charges themselves, we do not have a good mechanism to accept them. As a re- sult of discussion by Town Counsel, Engineering, the the Planning Board, we have a document which we can alter tonight and evaluate the possibility of establishing this policy Dr Eric Clarke of the Planning Board was present and, after discussion with the Board, agreed to the recommended policy Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to adopt the following Policy of the Board of Selectmen on Sewer and Water Ex- tensions The Town regularly receives requests for extensions of existing town utilities by individuals and corporations who wish to pay for construction themselves since the Town, due to scheduling, financing and various other reasons, cannot justify funding the extensions The Selectmen have no a priori objections to such extensions, and wish to consider each request on its own merits In order to avoid confusion, and to provide for consistent handling of such request, the Board hereby establishes the following guidelines for all extensions of Town utilities where the owner or developer will assume 100% of the construction cost These guide- lines are based on the Town issuing the contract, with an alternate for the owner or developer to let the contract himself The guide- lines are 1. A written request detailing the need of the extension and any pertinent information shall be submitted to the Town, (Board of Select- men}, so that the engineering department as well as other cognizant town boards can determine the acceptability of the extension in regards to overall town planning; including but not limited to compliance with existing zoning by-laws, sub-division rules and regulations, wetlands provisions, building permits, street numbering permits, etc Following receipt of opinions from the cognizant boards and agencies, the Board Selectmen's Meeting February 22, 1977 c&Selectmen will review the status of the request with the petitioner prior to seeking a detailed plan 2 The owner or developer shall submit a properly engineered con- struction plan, by a Registered Engineer, for review and approval by the engineering department 3 The Town will estimate the cost of construction and prepare an order of construction 4 The owner or developer must deposit with the Town a proper check for the full amount of the estimated cost. 5 The Town Meeting must then appropriate a sum of money over and above the budget requests for town funded projects, to cover the cost of this construction This appropriation would come from the funds deposited with the Town by the petitioner in advance of the con- struction 6 The Town will file the order of construction, put the job out to bid in a contract, accept a contractor, inspect the work and remunerate the contractor 7 Upon satisfactory completion of the work, the actual cost of construction will be ascertained by the engineering department. At this time either the remaining balance will be returned to the owner/ developer, or a bill will be sent for any additional payment needed to close the transaction Under certain circumstances, it may be advantageous to allow the owner or developer to contract privately for the work Normally, how- ever, this alternative will not be available and, in any event, should not be used to circumvent the normal budget process In these in- stances the following recommendations will be applied 1. A written request detailing the need of the extension and any pertinent information shall be submitted to the Town, so that the engineering department as well as cognizant Town boards can determine the acceptability of the extension in regards to overall Town planning Following receipt of opinions from the cognizant boards and agencies, the Board of Selectmen will review the status of the request with this petitioner prior to seeking a detailed plan 2 The owner or developer shall submit a properly engineered con- struction plan, by a Registered Engineer, for review and approval by the engineering department 3. The owner or developer may hire a contractor subject to the approval of the Town 364 Selectmen's Meeting February 22, 1977 ni 4 The contractor shall obtain a street opening permit,, furnish appropriate insurance and post a bond for an amount determined by the Town, to insure completion of the work 5 Construction shall be in accordance with existing Town speci- fications and inspected by the Town 6 Upon completion of the work the owner must grant ownership of the utilities to the Town Repairs on Dr Clarke discussed a letter he had submitted to the Board Private Ways recommending that $10,000 be included in Article 4 annually to cover the cost of repairs on private ways He pointed out that the Town is trying to save money and this would mean that we would not have full costs for complete construction of streets Mr Hutchinson said that he had talked with Mr McSweeney and there are some arguments about Dr Clark's position Mr Hutchinson supports the concept but not the money involved. Eventually, through a systematic way, it might be possible to do something about existing streets by a policy that the Board of Selectmen might want to adopt. The Board agreed to discuss the matter after Town Meeting Reg Ref - Mr James Reilly, Chairman, and members of the Regional Refuse Sanitary Advisory Committee met with the Board to discuss the sanitary land- Landfill fill Mr Reilly explained that the committee had looked into ways of extending the life of the sanitary landfill and Joyce Hals' group had worked up a proposal on curbside collection of recyclables The committee had reviewed the possibility of the Town nominating a site for a resource recovery facility to serve communities participating in the 128 West Resource Recovery Council and, after studying avail- able open spaces in Lexington, they had found only one site which met the designated criteria, and that is the dry part of the sanitary land- fill They are also in the process of looking at areas for a transfer station Most of the towns that have been responding to the 128 Coun- cil have been nominating a transfer site; Lincoln and Beford have gotten together and identified suitable sites on the side of Hanscom Field, and another one interesting to the committee is the one nomi- nated in Weston Weston and Hanscom are rather centrally located, as well as being close to Route 128 We are looking at places in our town that would satisfy the criteria for a transfer station General discussion was held on the effect on the traffic pattern in Town and it was agreed to consult a traffic study of the area con- ducted by the Traffic Safety Committee before the Regional Refuse Advisory Committee comes back to the Board with further recommendations The Commitee retired from the meeting Chairman Kassler read a letter from Congressman Tsongas stating 365 Selectmen's Meeting February 22, 1977 that he is working diligently towards the reinstatement of the Minuteman Minuteman National Park Advisory Board. Chairman Kessler informed National the Board that Senator Kennedy's office had also called to say that Park Committee every effort is being made by them regarding the Committee Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to approve Minutes minutes of the Selectmen's meetings held on November 1 and December 6, 1976 The Board discussed a request from the Youth Advisory Commission Youth Advisory and agreed to authorize the use of the Town seal by the Commission Commission on the special warrant for the Student Town Meeting on March 16, 1977 The Board discussed a recommendation from the Transportation Ad- MBTA Express visory Committee regarding the discontinuance of the commuter train Bus Request from Bedford and Lexington to the North Station, and it was agreed to send a letter to the MBTA to request the institution of express bus service to Boston as Lexington would like their transportation dollars to be applied to the provision of alternate service The Board agreed to Mr Hutchinson's recommendation to execute Drainage the contract with Whitman & Howard in the amount of $25,000 for the Study drainage study authorized under Article 28 of the 1976 Annual Town Meeting Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to adjourn at 9 50 p.m. A True record, Attest Executive Clerk, Selectmen I