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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1976-11-22-BOS-min 2 56 SELECTMEN'S MEETING 111 November 22, 1976 A regular meeting of the Board of Selectmen was held in the Selectmen's Meeting Room, Town Office Building, on Monday, November 22. 1976, at 7 30 p m. Chairman Kessler, Mr Buss, Mrs Battin and Mrs Miley; Mr Perry, Acting 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 Goerge J Bacigalupo 89 Adams Street Marie Hiscock 29 Stimson Avenue Francis A. Lyons 15 Rawson Avenue Elinor Allia 1 Sunnyknoll Avenue Frederick A. Schloman 74 Spring Street Robert E Barrett 11 Winston Road Virginia Coates Busiek 12 Patriots Drive Carmela A. Passanisi 135 Laconia Street Harriett M Eckstein 24 Barberry Road Insurance Mr Perry recommended that the Board approve the list of in- Commissions surance agents to participate in commission on the Town's insurance Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to approve the following list of agents to participate in commissions on the Town of Lexington's insurance schedule, in the amount of $325 00, each W Dana Bartlett Insurance Agency of Lexington, Inc 1840 Massachusetts Avenue, Lexington MacNeil Insurance Agency, Inc 19 Depot Square, Lexington Otis S Brown Insurance Agency 1 Militia Drive, Lexington Northwest Insurance Agency, Inc 1709 Massachusetts Avenue, Lexington Fred Hersom Insurance Agency 1840 Massachusetts Avenue, Lexington Public Works For the record, Mr Perry informed the Board of the receipt of a Employment check for $33,927 from the Federal government under the Anti-recession Act - Fiscal Assistance-Public Works Employment Act The use of these funds Financial must be appropriated by Town Meeting into specific accounts as it was Assistance 257 Selectmen's Meeting November 22, 1976 111 the intent of Congress that they be used primarily for employment of persons and provision of basic services in construction areas by the Town Mr Perry informed the Board of his intention to appoint Mr Acting McSweeney as the Acting Town Engineer, as important documents must Town be signed by a certified Engineer Meanwhile, the search will con- Engineer tinue for a new Town Engineer The Board approved Mr. Perry's proposed action Mr Busa discussed the hearing he chaired on November 17, 1976 Myers Dog on a dog owned by Mrs Brenda Myers, 26 Curve Street Mr Barry Littleton, Animal Control Officer, had initiated the complaint and, according to testimony of neighbors, Mr Littleton, and Mr George Smith, Health Director, the dog had bitten four people From all evidence presented, it was Mr Busa's opinion, and Mr Littleton and Mr Smith concurred, that this dog was a vicious animal and should be removed from Lexington At one point, Mr Littleton had suggested to Mrs Myers that he take the dog and put him in a home which would provide an area for the dog to run At first, Mrs Myers agreed, but then disagreed and said that she would wait for the decision of the Board of Selectmen Chairman Kassler said that Mr Littleton reports that two dog bites are intolerable, and this dog has bitten four times He also pointed out the close proximity of the house and yard to Adams School and Mass Avenue, and recommended that the dog be removed from Lexington. Dr Kassler agreed with this recommendation because of the strong evidence against the dog Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to inform Mrs Brenda Myers that, by Order of the Board of Selectmen, the Husky/Shepherd dog is a nuisance by reason of a vicisous disposition and, therefore, is to be removed from the Town of Lexington within twenty (20) days from the receipt of the letter Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to approve Minutes the minutes of the Selectmen's meeting held on November 8, 1976, as amended Chairman Kessler asked if any member of the audience had a Leaves question of the Board Mrs Helena Butters, 52 Meriam Street, said that it is her understanding that it is illegal to rake leaves into the street but it is still happening on Meriam Street Mr McSweeney explained that if a member of the Public Works Department observes this violation, the owner of the home is immediately notified to remove the leaves immediately A citizen may also register a complaint with DPW I X58 Selectmen' s Meeting November 22, 1976 ' regarding s Chairman Kessler read a report from Mr McSweeney rega g the Request - Town of Lincoln's request to use the Lexington sewerage system for Septage septage disposal The report states that meetings had been held Disposal to review the proposal, taking into consideration not only the con- cerns of the Town of Lexington with that of the Town of Lincoln, the Metropolitan District Commission Sewerage Division, and the Common- wealth of Mass Department of Environmental Quality Engineering A number of questions are yet to be answered, including a number of conditions that should be considered before the Lexington Board of Public Works can entertain an acceptable proposal from the Town of Lincoln What constitutes an emergency? Will the emergency mean the entire Town of Lincoln or just the housing complex? Will the septage disposal consist of all sludge? If a proposal is acceptable, it is recommmended that the follow- ing conditions be agreed upon with the Town of Lincoln 1 Contract to be made with the Town of Lexington and the Town of Lincoln. 2 Payment to be made directly from the Town of Lincoln to the Town of Lexington 3 The Town of Lincoln must pay a fee in the amount of $10 per thousand gallons of sewerage 4 The Town of Lexington, Department of Public Works, must receive written permission from both the Town of Lincoln and the Town of Lexington Board of Health 5 The Town of Lexington must receive written approval from the De- partment of Environmental Quality Engineering If approval is received and special equipment is recommended, the Town of Lincoln must pay for the furnishing and installation of said equipment 6 The sewerage contractor must obtain a permit from the Town of Lexington, Public Works Department, to dispose of sewerage at the Bow Street disposal site Said contractor must also submit a copy of a permit issued to him from the Town of Lincoln 7 The sewerage contractor must be licensed with the Board of Health, Town of Lexington 8 The Town of Lexington's Board of Health Director and the Director of Public Works/Engineering retain the right to cease operation at any time, or the issuance of a permit should they deem an emergency does not exist and/or existing conditions are such that the Town of Lexington cannot accept septage disposal The report concluded with the statement that, since the meeting held on September 1, 1976 with Mr Flint of the Town of Lincoln, Mr McSweeney has received word that the Town of Lincoln is only interested at this point in emergency septage disposal and, in the interim, Lin- coln has made the necessary arrangements with the Town of Framingham and the Town of Bedford to accept their overflow of septage on a con- tractual basis I 25,9 Selectmen's Meeting November 22, 1976 Mr McSweeney said that he wanted to spell out the conditions and the Town of Lincoln has been informed of these conditions MDC said that they would grant permission providing Lincoln received permission from Lexington There are serious questions from Water Quality and E P.A and, if they approve, Lincoln would cover the expense and that would save us bookkeeping Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to authorize Mr John McSweeney, Director of Public Works/Engineering, to continue negotiations with the Town of Lincoln, based on the conditions out- lined above Mr McSweeney discussed the list of construction and subdivision FY 78 streets to be submitted for FY 78 acceptance, plus the discontinuance Streets of Hinchey Road and Wood Street An informational meeting will be held on November 30, 1976 on Construction Streets-Banks Avenue, Cushing Street, Emerald Street, Tower Road; Subdivision Streets- Brent Road,Emerson Road, Suzanne Road, Lois Lane A letter has been received from the Planning Board stating the vote of November 15, 1976 to recommend the four subdivision streets On December 13, the Board of Selectmen will vote the intent to lay out these streets and to notify the Planning Board of this intent Seven days before the hearing, written notice will be delivered by the Constable to all abutters of the intent to lay out On January 11, 1977, public hearing will be held by the Board of Selectmen,and on January 17, the Board of Selectmen will vote to lay out the streets which will be submitted for approval of Town Meeting Mrs Joyce Hals, Chairman, Mrs Elaine Dratch, Mr William Transporta- O'Neil, and Mr Paul Rempfer, members of the Transporation Advisory tion Advis Committee, met with the Board to give a progress report Committee Mrs Hals and Mrs Dratch reported that a questionnaire had been distributed to Lexingtonians and approximately 400 people had been interviewed It was the unanimous opinion to continue bus service in the community and most were in favor of express buses, by the same route, to and from Boston Commuters also wanted to have more maps and the availability of more bus schedules The Town Clerk has offered to have a supply available in her office One of the requests was for bus service to the Mall and the MBTA consultant had come up with the concept of continuing the Waltham Bus from Lexington Center to the Burlington Mall and back to the Center It would go down Hancock Street to Adams Street, turn up the narrow road at the intersection and come onto the Middlesex Turn- pike The Planning Board unanimously agreed that it should be diverted from Adams Street to East Street to Lowell Street Changes have been recommended on the Hanscom bus route There have been problems on both ends; early mornings and late evenings, it runs quickly to Harvard Square but the rest of the day it winds through Belmont, and people want to eliminate this by going directly from `26O Selectmen's Meeting November 22, 1976 Lexington to Harvard Square every half hour The Transportation Committee has asked if a bus could go down Hartwell Avenue and up Maguire Road as we think it to be an advantage by having more service coming into Lexington The Bedford Center-Arlington Heights bus line is a very success- ful route and no changes are recommended, but the consultant recommends that it continue to Harvard Square The line from Five Forks to Woburn Street to Lowell Street to Arlington Center has been eliminated and there would be two lines to the Burlington Mall, one on the hour and one on the half-hour Mr Busa suggested that a mini-bus be used on the Mall route as it would be hard to maneuver a large bus, but Mr O'Neil said that it would be difficult to convince the MSTAto change the type of bus Mrs Hals said that three members of the committee had regularly attended the Minuteman Area Transit Study meetings and had contributed a great deal of input, much of which had been taken into account by the consultants and they had added it to their programs Chairman Kessler recommended that the committee check the recom- mendations with the Traffic Safety Committee so that there would be mutual agreement on routes throughout Lexington Mr Cohen said that he uses the buses often and was disappointed not to see express routes to Boston Many people in Lexington feel this way and cannot understand why we don't have this service; Burling- ton has an express route to Boston Mrs Hals said that it had been discussed but she will look into it further In answer to Mrs Battin's questions, Mrs Hals said that it would not be possible for the Burlington Mall bus to go down Woburn Street to Lowell Street as there are two different routes and we would lose passengers to the Center Also, the committee is keeping an eye on intertown buses between Lexington and Bedford Mrs Miley commented that we can gain experience with the newly established bus service for the elderly to the Burlington Mall (feder- ally funded) The Board expressed appreciation to the Transportation Advisory Committee for a most productive year, and the group retired from the meeting New Battle Mr Busa discussed the dedication of the new flagpole on the Green Green Flag- and the Board agreed that the ceremony should be held in 1976 Mr pole Busa agreed to follow up on the details with the Town Celebrations Committee Woburn- Chairman Kessler read a request from Mr McSweeney for a vote to Lexington reaffirm the location of the common boundary line between the City of Boundaries Woburn and the Town of Lexington, as shown on original town line plans on file in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts archives, and identified 261 Selectmen's Meeting November 22, 1976 as "1794 Plan of Lexington by Thompson" ,�and 1794 Plan of Woburn by Thompson " Mr McSweeney recommended that the Board send a letter to the Mayor of Woburn requesting that Woburn consider ratifying the common boundary line as shown on the Thompson plans Several meetings had been held between representatives of Woburn, Lexington and Middle- sex County engineering departments, which resulted in mutual agreement on the original 1794 Thompson survey If Woburn agrees, hopefully this should resolve the problem that residents of Douglas Road, Lexington, have had by receiving tax bills stating that a portion of their land lies with Woburn limits Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to reaffirm the original common boundary line between the City of Woburn and the Town of Lexington, as shown on the original Town Line Plans of 1794 on file in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Archives and identified as "1794 Plan of Lexington by Thompson," Archives No 1186 and "1794 Plan of Woburn by Thompson," Archives No 1206 Chairman Kassler agreed to send a letter to the Mayor of Woburn requesting affirmative action to ratify the common boundary line The Board agreed to arrange a joint meeting on a Monday evening Capital with the Appropriation Committee and the Capital Expenditures Commit- Budget tee for a presentation of DPW capital budget items Mr Perry is to Meeting distribute the material to all at the same time on that evening Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted, 4-0 by roll Ekecttive call vote, to go into Executive Session for the purpose of discuss- Session ing strategy with respect to litigation and one item concerning a re- quest from another town After discussion, it was voted to go out of Executive Session Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to adjourn at 9 02 p.m A true record, Attest Executive Clerk, Selectmen I