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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1976-10-25-BOS-min 2 2' SETFCTMEN'S MEETING October 25, 1976 A regular meeting of the Board of Selectmen was held in the Select- men's Meeting Room on Monday, October 25, 1976, at 7 30 p m Chairman Kassler, Mr Bailey, Mr Busa, Mrs Battin, Mrs Miley; Mr Perry, Acting Town Manager; Mr Cohen, Town Counsel; Miss Casey, Principal Clerk, were present Dr Kassler was a little late in arriving, it was suggested that a Temporary temporary Chairman be elected Chairman Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to elect Mr Busa as temporary chairman At the request of the Town Clerk, eight jurors were drawn as fol- Jurors lows Herbert E Swartz 7 Lockwood Road William R Hutchins 21 Winthrop Road Sungha Kim 8 Marlboro Road Pamela Jeannie Koehr 42 Normandy Road John Roy Filson 2 Fairland Street Catherine C Turcott 424 Bedford Street James H Sullivan 14 Hastings Road Lucille K. Mahakian 12 Watertown Street Acting Chairman Busa opened the hearing on the petition of the Conduit N E.T & T for the installation of 189'+ (feet) of conduit on Nickerson Rd Nickerson Road Notices of the hearing were sent to the abutters as listed on the petitioner's plan and also filed with the Public Works Department Mr Roland Pinault, representing the Telephone Company explained that the work was being done to provide a new feeder system from the existing underground system on Massachusetts Avenue because of contin- uous trouble in the area Mr Busa read a recommendation from the Director of Public Works/ Engineering recommending that permission be granted for the installa- tion of the conduit No one appearing in favor or in opposition, the hearing was de- clared closed. Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to grant per- mission to the New England Telephone Company for following installation of conduit Nickerson Road on the westerly side, from existing Manhole 54/85 located on the north side of Massachusetts Avenue, southerly to existing handhole location at #28 Nickerson Road, approximately 189'+ (feet) of conduit Dr Kassler joined the meeting and Mr Busa stepped down as Chair- s man 228 Selectmen's Meeting October 25, 1976 Conduit At 7 33 p m. Chairman Kassler read a petition from the N E T & T Cedar St for permission to install approximately 165'+ (feet) of conduit on Cedkr St for the purpose of improving the service in this area Notices of the hearing were sent to the abutters as listed on the petitioner's plan and also filed with the Public Works Department Dr Kassler read a recommendation from the Director of Public Works/Engineering recommending that permission be granted No one appearing in favor or in opposition, the hearing was de- clared closed Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to grant permis- sion to the New England Telephone Company for the following installa- tion of conduit Cedar Street on the westerly side from existing Manhole 54/83 located on the north side of Massachusetts Avenue, northerly approximately 165'+ (feet) of conduit; also Massachusetts Avenue from existing Manhole #54/83 southerly, to existing Pole 57/167, approximately 24' (feet) of conduit Conduit At 7 36 p m Chairman Kassler read a petition from the N E T & T Cary Ave for permission to install approximately 40'+ (feet) of conduit at Cary Avenue for the purpose of servicing a new development (Bicentennial Farms) Notices of the hearing were sent to the abutters as listed on the petitioner's plan and also filed with the Public Works Department A recommendation from the Director of Public Works/Engineering was read recommending that permission be granted for this work. No one appearing in favor or in opposition, the hearing was de- clared closed Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to grant permission to the New England Telephone Company for the following installation of conduit Cary Avenue from existing Pole 30/14 on the southerly side ap- proximately 575'± (feet) east of Shade Street, northerly to Bi- centennial Way (a private way) , approximately 40'+ of conduit Conduit At 7 39 p m. Chairman Kassler read a petition from the N E T & T Curve St for permission to install approximately 40 feet of conduit in Curve St for the purpose of servicing the building located at 850-809 Mass Ave Notices of the hearing were sent to the abutters as listed on the petitioner's plan and also filed with the Public Works Department The Director of Public Works/Engineering recommended that per- mission be granted for this work to be done No one appearing in favor or in opposition, the hearing was de- clared closed Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to grant permission to the New England Telephone Company for the following installation of conduit; 111 229 Selectmen's Meeting October 25, 1976 Curve ury Street on the easterly side from existing Manhole 51+/27 located on the north side of Massachusetts Avenue, northerly approximately 40'+ (feet) , thence 16'+ (feet) easterly to private property #805-809 Massachusetts Avenue, approximately 56'+ (feet) of conduit Acting Town Manager, Mr Perry informed the Board that the con- Police & tract with the Police Betterment Association had been signed The Fire offer presented to the Fire Fighters hall been ratified and he ex- Contracts pected that the contract would be signed within the week Mr Perry informed the Board that Samuel C C Ting, Ph D had Nobel received the 1976 Nobel Prize in physics Prize Chairman Kassler said that this was an honor for a Lexington Dr Ting resident and would extend the Board's congratulations and best wishes for continued success Mr Cohen informed the Board that he is working with the Conser- Conservation vation Commission with respect to the acquisition of the Waltham Land - Ricci Street farms belonging to Ricci on a Land Scape Inc The options Farms to acquire these two farms runs out on November 1, therefore, he requested the Board of Selectmen to formally vote this evening to exercise the options to acquire these farms Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to exercise the options to acquire the Ricci farms The Board discussed the Lodging House License for the Wild Acre Wild Acre Inn and because of the problems in the sewer system agreed to sign Inn License the license on a provisional basis Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to sign the Lodging House License for the Wild Acre Inn on the condition of compliance with the order of the Board of Health requiring the pumping of the existing sewer system at intervals frequent enough to prevent any health hazard from existing A request from the Lexington Golf Club requesting a deferment of Sewer the sewer betterment assessment was read by the Chairman and dis- Deferment cussed by the Board Lexington Mr McSweeney's report indicated that there is now outstanding Golf Club $1+,393 09, $1,400 00 less than that shown in 1973 as a result of a payment made on November 2, 1973 The report indicated that the property and land use are still the same as that of November, 1973, i e no portion has been sub-divided or built upon and that it still remains a golf course The recommendation was that the betterment be paid unless such payment will result in undue financial hardship for the property owner Mr Busa stated that he believed that this did constitute a hard- ship on the property owner and that it would be in order to defer the 230 Selectmen's Meeting October 25, 1976 payment After further discussion, it was agreed to defer the pay- ment of the sewer betterment for the Lexington Golf Club Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to defer pay- ment of the sewer betterment assessment in the amounts of $1,331 41 and $3,061 68 levied against the property located on lot 58/27 Hill Street owned by the Lexington Golf Club Guard Rail Chairman Kassler read a report from the Traffic Safety Committee Freemont regarding a request of Mrs. Eleanor Ross for installation of a guard Street rail at 69 Freemont Street The report indicated that after a study Ross of the area and the traffic conditions, the guard rail was warranted Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to install a guard rail in front of the Ross home at 69 Freemont Street Re-enact- The Board met with the Town Celebrations Committee, Appropriation ment Committee and The Lexington Minute Men to discuss the inclusion Of April 19 the Re-enactments of the Battle on the Green on April 19 Mr Barnes, Chairman of the Town Celebrations Committee informed the Board that his Committee were not planning to include this event in next year's celebration because of budget restrictions He stated that this goes back several years and was planned as a Bi- centennial special event He stated that the major cost was for police and assistance from the men of the Department of Public Works Dr Kassler called on Mr McSweeney, Director of Public Works/ Engineering for his comments Mr McSweeney stated that he would have to use approximately the same amount of men anticipating the size of the expected crowd, which he judged would be less than 100,000 Mr Herbert Grossimon of the Lexington Minute Men thanked the Board for being able to meet with them and explained that those who took part in this event were all deeply moved and all had received expressions of appreciation from people who had witnessed it He expressed the hope of the Minute Men that this would be a regular event on the 19th of April He pointed out that only in Lexington could the reenactment of the first battle of the Rovolution be held The Board discussed further the desirability of continuing the event all agreed that it was a spectacular event and should be con- tinued The question of financing was discussed and Mr Bailey stated that any request for funds should be channeled through the Town's Celebration Committee It was finally decided that a request to con- tinue the re-enactment should be submitted in letter form indicating the approximate cost and then let Town Meeting decide the source of financing Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to continue the re-enactment of the Battle on the Green on April 19 Battle Green A request from the Lexington Minute Men for the use of the Battle Green on Sunday, October 31 to conduct memorial services in con- cort with the Concord Minute Men was read by the Chairman 231 Selectmen's Meeting October 25, 1976 Upon motion dulymade and seconded it was voted togrant permis- sionP to the Lexington Minute Men for the use of the Battle Green on Sunday, October 31 to conduct memorial services The Board discussed further the problem of dead and sick dogs in Dead and the Brent and Hathaway Roads area The Chairman pointed out that a Sick Dogs previous meeting the Board had accepted the recommendations of a Lexington citizen to publicize the matter by sending a notice to this effect home with the school children Mr George Smith, Director of the Board of Health had submitted a very comprehensive report regarding this problem in which he explained the complete and intensive investigation being conducted by himself, the dog officer, Mr Martin of the M.S P C A. and Lt Forten of the Lexington Police Department He pointed out in his report that the Angell Memorial Hospital in Boston has developed an apparent antidote for the prob- lem through a trial and error process and this information has been made available to both of the Lexington veterinarians and others in the immediate area It was the opinion of the investigative per- sonnel that intensive publicity should be discouraged and requested that no further publicity be given to the matter After further discussion, the Board agreed that further publicity would be detrimental to conclusive investigation Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to rescind the vote of October 18, 1976 to request permission from the Superinten- dent of Schools to distribute a notice describing the symptoms and necessity of immediate attention from a veterinarian for any animals that were sick The Chairman read a request from Lenore Fenn to proclaim October UNICEF 31 as UNICEF DAY DAY Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to proclaim October 31, as UNICEF DAY The Chairman read a request from the Council on Aging for the Cary Hall use of Cary Hall without charge, on November 7, 1976 for the pur- Council on pose of an informational meeting and progress report on one year of Aging operation Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to grant per- mission to the Council on Aging for the use of Cary Hall without charge on November 7, 1976 for an information meeting and progress report on one year of operation The Board discussed again the problem of the lack of a definite Sewer and policy regarding requests for sewer and water connections on un- Water Connec- accepted streets This was discussed at length at the October 4 tions meeting It was agreed that a committee made up of members from the Planning Board, Building Department, Mr McSweeney of the Public Works Department, Mr Cohen would work with Mr Bailey to develop a policy regarding this problem. 232 Selectmen's Meeting October 25, 1976 The Board agreed that a decision should be made relative to the three specific cases before them i,e Mr & Mrs James Razzano who had requested that water service be installed from the existing water main on Earl Street; Mr & Mrs Johanssen of 10 Lawrence Lane who requested a water main extension, at the owner's expense, to ser- vice a home to be constructed at 17 Banks Avenue and Mr Robert V Ericson who had requested water and sewer mains to be extended to his lots on Grandview Avenue for the construction of two homes After further discussion, the Board agreed that the requests of Mr & Mrs Johanssen and Mr Robert V Ericson would have to go before Town Meeting The request of Mr & Mrs Razzano was approved due to the fact that the connection would require only about five feet of con- struction and a betterment could legally be charged Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to install water service from the existing water main on Earl Street to ser- vice a house to be erected on lots 45, 46 and 47 Earl Street at the petitioners' expense Community At 8 30 the Board met with the Community Relations Committee Relations The Chairman, Mr Dave Wilson, presented the Board with the report Committee of the Committee regarding the Police-Youth relations in town The Report report indicated that the Committee concluded that the major prob- Police/Youth lem facing the town is one of different community-youth viewpoints on key issues rather than a police/youth problem per se They also feel that to the degree that there are strains in the police/youth relationship, such strains result from the fact that some youth prefer to congregate away from their homes, creating conflict with immediate neighborhood desires; and some youth prefer to travel in groups, creating at times an imposing and threatening presence to which the police must react when called; and increased drinking on the part of youth has resulted in numerous complaints by citizens which, in turn, has heightened tensions between youth and police The Committee feels that the following steps should be taken to promote greater understanding of the needs of youth, the desires of the community and the role and responsibility of the police depart- ment 1 Endorse and support an expanded youth program within the police department 2 Endorse and support the designating of a community relations officer with the police department to provide spotlight articles on the members of the department and to provide information to the public on issues which may arise 3 Endorse and support the police department's providing the general public with a greater understanding of the department's position on sensitive aspects of police procedures 4 Set up a task force to evaluate and make recommendations con- cerning the resources presently available to meet the social, economic, recreational and rehabilatory needs of all youth within the community eJ Selectmen's Meeting October 25, 1976 5 Sponsor programs within the town that are aimed at examining and/or discussing the problem of teenage drinking and how best to handle it 6 Encourage open channels of communication between youth and decision-making bodies of our community The Chairman thanked the Committee for its comprehensive report and noted that a great deal of work had gone into its make-up He suggested that they discuss it at a later date The make-up of the Committee was discussed and Mr Wilson stated that present committee members would like to continue for another year The Chairman informed Mr Wilson that the Board would meet again with them within three weeks and the Committee retired from the meet- ing Mr Robert J Harris and Mr Daniel L McCabe, Chairman of the Curb Cuts Civic Betterment Committee of the Lexington Lions Club met with the Lions Club Board to discuss the recently installed curb cuts to aid handicapped persons Mr Harris stated that he felt that some of the cuts were inadequate especially the one at Clarke and Mass Avenue, due to the steep slope at that area Mr McCabe stated that the Town's accep- tance of the $2,000 gift from the Lions Club for this purpose in- dicated that the cuts would be made according to acceptable standards Dr Kassler requested an explanation from Mr McSweeney who explained how the cuts were made and he did state that he agreed that the cut at Clarke Street would be done over Mr Harris also stated that curb cuts should be made at the two newest schools; Clarke Junior High School and the Minuteman Regional Vocational High School These schools are inaccessible to the handicapped who would be in wheel- chairs Mr Charles Collazzo requested to be heard and stated that curb cuts is only part of the total problem of the sidewalk construc- tion in town He stated that he felt that proper standards are not being followed Mr Busa stated that the Town does have standards and specifications regarding sidewalk installation and that he felt that we have never put in inferior sidewalks Dr Kassler suggested that Mr Harris submit in writing his request for curb cuts at the two schools Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted by a 5-0 roll Executive call vote to go into Executive Session for the purpose of discussing Session the reputation and character of an individual After discussion, it was voted to go out of Executive Session Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to adjourn at 923 p m A true record, Attest 06-4-cr Principal Clerk