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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1976-09-27-BOS-min 202 SELECTMEN'S MEETING September 27, 1976 A regular meeting of the Board of Selectmen was held in the Select- men's Meeting Room, Town Office Building, on Monday, September 27, 1976 at 7 30 p m. Chairman Kassler, Mr Bailey, Mr Busa, Mrs Battin and Mrs Miley; Mr Cohen, Town Counsel; Mr Perry, Acting Town Manager; Mr Martin, Assistant Town Engineer; Mrs McCurdy, Executive Clerk, were present. Treasurer Mr Louis Zehner, Town Treasurer, met with the Board to request ap- proval of borrowing $600,000 in anticipation of taxes; notes to be dated October 1, 1976 and mature on November 1, 1977 Bids were received as follows New England Merchants Bank at 2.24% on $300,000 and 2 39% on $300,000; a joint bid from the sister banks, Middlesex Bank and Newton Waltham Bank at 2 24% on $600,000 He recommended approval of dividing loans for $200,000 to each bank Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to approve the recommendation of the Town Treasurer to borrow $600,000 in anticipation of taxes with notes dated October 1, 1976 and maturing on November 1, 1977 as follows New England Merchants Bank at 2 24% on $200,000; Middlesex Bank at 2 24% on $200,000; Newton Waltham Bank at 2 24% on $200,000 Mr Zehner also negotiated renewal of notes on $355,000 in anticipa- tion of bonding four conservation land purchases; notes to be dated October 1, 1976 and mature on May 1, 1977 He anticipated going to market for a bond issue on May 15, 1977 He recommended the award to Harvard Trust Company at 2 75% on $355,000 Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to approve the recommendation of the Town Treasurer to renew the notes on $355,000 by awarding it to the Harvard Trust Company at 2 75% Mrs Battin The Board congratulated Mrs Battin on her recent election as the Mass Sel first woman Treasurer of the Massachusetts Selectmen's Association Treasurer Mrs Battin informed the Board and Mr Zehner that the 1975 Lexington Town Report had won third prize in the Massachusetts Select- men's Association contest and she had accepted the award in behalf of the Board, the Town Report Committee, and the Town Also, she had accepted awards for pictures that Mr Zehner had entered, for the Town, in the Municipal Photography Contest First prize in the public interest category; second prize in the action category; second and third prizes in the candid category; second and third prizes in the landscape category Board members expressed sincere appreciation to Mr Zehner for his outstanding achievements while serving as Chairman of the Town Report Committee Mr Zehner retired from the meeting Mass. The Board agreed to have an agenda item at the next meeting for Select Mrs Battin to discuss a legislative lobbying program recommended by Assoc the Massachusetts Selectmen' s Association Legislative Committee 203 Selectmen' s Meeting September 27, 1976 Dr Kassler discussed additional appointments to the Youth Advisory Youth Committee Last week, the question arose as to whether two members of a Advisory family should serve on a committee and it was agreed to leave the deci- Commission sion to Mr Myron Miller and his son, Peter It is Mr Miller's feeling Appts that Peter should be appointed but he will always be available on a voluntary basis The Board concurred on the appointment of Mrs Margaret Cole as an adult member Dr Kassler informed the Board that Chief Corr has endorsed the ap- pointment of Officers Shine and Hoag as ex-officio members Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to appoint the following members of the Youth Advisory Commission Mr Peter Miller, representing Lexington High School as a member of the sophomore class; Mrs Margaret Cole, as an adult member; Officers John J Shine, Jr and Daniel F Hoag, ex-officio members Terms of office expire September 30, 1977 Mr Paul MacKenzie, Chairman, and members of the Planning Board met Grey Nuns' with the Selectmen Property Discussion was held on the proposal from Meredith & Grew, Real Estate Brokers, for the Town to purchase the Grey Nuns' property on Pelham Road. Chairman Kassler said that all interested Town agencies had responded that, because of lack of funds, they had no interest in this acquisition Furthermore, because of the possibility of schools being phased out, con- sideration would have to be given to the use of those buildings by Town agencies We are now in the midst of cutting back on expenditures and it is the feeling of the Board that this is over our heads The Planning Board agreed that there was no pressing need to con- sider the proposal but, if the price diminished, perhaps reconsideration could be given It was the final determination to write to Meredith & Grew informing them of the concensus that the Town of Lexington would not be interested in acquiring the Grey Nuns' property at this time and at the current offer of sale price Chairman Kassler asked for comments from the Planning Board regarding Zoning - the excessive number of banks in the Center and if consideration had been Central given to Center zoning and the possibility of Articles for Town Meeting District Mr MacKenzie replied that no conclusions had been reached on a zon- ing Article but the Planning Board sees a variety of actions that could be taken to limit the number of banks, possibly by bringing it to Town Meeting as a change in the by-law An alternative would be to have some change in the central business district or some definition of controlled commercial zone adjustment to the central district by having it go further up Waltham Street; to be a buffer zone not as freewheeling as the central district A committee of six has been formed, under Mr. Zabin's chairman- , ship, to review and potentially revise the entire zoning by-laws, which is necessary in order to comply with the new Zoning Act In December, the 204 Selectmen's Meeting September 27, 1976 committee will submit proposals for consideration of the Planning Board. Mr Zabin outlined three priority items of his committee (1) revi- sions that are mandated by the new Zoning Act (these revisions are not simple and will take time); (2) changes not mandated by the Act; (3) gen- eral changes that might be desirable (banks might fall into this category) If the Board of Selectmen has a priority regarding the banks, we might move them up Mr Cohen asked if the committee planned on having those changes in 1977? Mr Zabin replied that they hope to do the first classification the first year, and it might be possible to do the second classification, also; the third classification, the next year Mr Cohen advised that they should keep in mind that this would mean that the new Zoning Act would be accepted in 1978 Mr MacKenzie suggested that they might be able to advance it for acceptance of the new Zoning Act in 1977 He also said that, as a result of the recreation study, there will be warrant Articles, plus Articles because of the by-law revisions He had heard there will be citizens' Articles, but hadn't heard of any pressure being put on about rezoning in the central district Chairman Kassler said that a joint meeting with the Recreation Committee will be held in a few weeks to discuss the report on the recrea- tion study and related problems Hartwell As a matter of interest to all, Chairman Kassler said that repre- Landfill sentatives of the Selectmen, Planning Board, Conservation, Engineering, and citizens' groups have been working quietly and diligently on the matter of solid waste° and the sanitary landfill Mrs Miley is Chair- man of the group that has been making some active inquiries into planning of the area, and Frank Sandy is Chairman of the group which has been actively working on problems of maintaining the sanitary landfill so that we may viably enter into a program of solid waste Mr MacKenzie said that the Planning Board will sit in on a meeting next week for a review of the problems with DPW, Frank Sandy, and the committees Chairman Kassler stated that he had very positive feelings about the outcome He thanked the members of the Planning Board and they retired from the meeting Board of The Board discussed an appointment to the Board of Appeals Appeals Chairman Kassler Due to the retirement of Mr Nickerson, we have Appt a vacancy on the Board of Appeals Mrs Battin In order to continue the best possible balance, I would like to nominate Mr Thomas Taylor for appointment to the Board of Appeals Mrs Miley seconded the motion Mr Bailey and Mr Buse expressed strong feelings against selecting a junior associate member when there were three others with seniority They agreed that all associate members are qualified to sit on the Board 20 Selectmen's Meeting September 27, 1976 of Appeals but pp stressed the point that seniority is a very important factor They felt that, otherwise, it would be difficult to get future candidates for the associate membership Dr Kassler said that when an opening exists, he felt that it should be filled by the associate member who would contribute most to the over- all balance and needs of the Board of Appeals at that particular time Seniority should not be a determining factor As a lawyer, whose ex- perience, ability and integrity are undisputed, Mr Taylor is clearly needed now to help the Board of Appeals and he enthusiastically endorsed his appointment Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted, 3-0, to appoint Mr Thomas Taylor a member of the Board of Appeals for a term expiring March 31, 1977 Mr Bailey and Mr Busa abstained Chairman Kassler read a request from Mr McSweeney to sign Street Street and and Sewer betterment assessments Sewer Bettez Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to sign better- Assessments ment assessments for the following streets Street Belfry Terrace, Tewksbury Street Sewer Rangeway, Summer Street, Scotland Road, Volunteer Way, Waltham Street, and Wood Street Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to abate the sewer betterment assessment of Walter V and Suzena A. Farnham for parts of lots 24 and 25 Summer Street in the amount of $482 23 as the sewer is not constructed to service them. Chairman Kassler read a request from Mr McSweeney to sign Contract Contract 77-16-E, awarded to D.L Jones Subsurface Investigations, Inc , Peabody 77-16-E for test borings, in the amount of $8,400 Test Borings Mr Martin, Assistant Town Engineer, explained that this was put out for bid and the price is based on last year's experience with this type of service relating to sewers, drains, and water mains Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to sign Contract 77-16-E, awarded to D L Jones Subsurface Investigations, Inc , for test borings, in the amount of $8,400 The Board discussed a report from Mr McSweeney recommending Town Chapter 90 streets to be proposed for highway improvements at the County Commis- sioners' hearing on October 5, 1976 regarding Chapter 90 construction Hancock Street from Bedford Street to Adams Street, approximately 2750 feet, and an alternate of East Street from Lowell Street to the Woburn Town line, approximately 665 feet During the discussion, it was pointed out that, last year, Town Meeting had turned down this section of East Street Mr Martin advised the Board that this section had been recommended by the State as it pre- fers to finish the East Street project Adams Street was also mentioned as an alternative ` 1IEi Selectmen's Meeting September 27, 1976 The Board agreed to discuss alternate streets at a later date and to instruct Mr McSweeney to present the proposal at the hearing on October 5, 1976, as follows Chapter 90 Construction Hancock Street, from Bedford Street to Adams Street, approxi- mately 2750 feet; estimated cost of $192,500; estimated Town expenditure of $60,000 Town Report Mr Hal Singley, Chairman of the Town Report Committee, met with the Board. Mr John Blaisdell, Approporiation Committee; Mr George Silverman, Chairman of the Capital Expenditures Committee; Mr Stanley Toye, TMMA, and Mr Louis Zehner were also present Mr Singley informed the Board of the recommendations of the 1976 Town Report Committee 1 A 5 percent reduction from $10,000 to $9,500 but not to decrease the number of copies, 10,000, printed last year 2 Part I to be reduced from 96 to 80 pages; Part 2, to hold to 112 pages but try to reduce to 96 pages Part I To specifically allocate space for reports in order to curtail space Reports to be submitted on time is an absolute requirement 3 Office support for typing and re-typing Mr Buse recommended that a survey be conducted to see how many people are actually using or reading the report Mr Singley agreed that it could be considered The saving in the difference between 9,000 and 10,000 copies is not as significant as re- ducing the number of pages Mr Zehner recommended that the Board approve a budget of $9,500 for 10,000 copies as he felt that anything below that amount would be at the expense of quality Mr Blaisdell Looking at the anticipated tax rate for next year, and with all due respect for the previous jobs, the message from the Appropriation Committee is to cut back to the legal limit and distribu- tion A few years ago, we had 700 copies printed and there were some left over To cut back to the bare minimum, we would save something that we would have to look for elsewhere Mr Singley explained that it was $4 00 a copy for 700 copies in 1965 and, even with all the color, it was a little less than $1 50 a copy last year The Board agreed to continue the current practice of the distribu- tion of the Town Report but to study the matter of recommended changes for next year Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was unanimously voted to approve an operating budget not to exceed $9,500 for the Town Report Town' s Chairman Kessler read a prepared statement regarding the severe finan- Financial cial crisis facing the town. Crisis "The Board of Selectmen has been very concerned about the severe fiscal burden the Town is facing since the $1 million deficit in our State reim- bursement was announced this summer When we received that news we imme- diately instituted a review of the capital and operating budgets of all 0107 a Selectmen's Meeting September 27, 1976 departments in Lexington that are under our jurisdiction We now have reports back from each of our department heads in res- ponse to our request that at least a 5 percent cutback in operating ex- penses be considered, as well as some cuts in capital expenditures To- night, we begin the process of reviewing these reports with our Town Man- ager, Appropriation Committee, and Capital Expenditures Committee Additionally, we requested and have now been able to set up a joint meeting with the Finance Committees and the School Committee to consider what further united effort might be expended to relieve the financial crunch facing the homeowners of Lexington " The Board agreed to meet with the School Committee and request their Budget cooperation in reducing expenditures Also, Mr Perry is to talk with Reductions department heads on the possibility of a reduction in line items which were previously reported as being an impossibility this year The Board discussed a report from Mr McSweeney on projected FY 77 DPW overruns in the DPW budget which would result in transfer requests of Budgets approximately $73,000 Mr Bailey pointed out that in going through the budgets last fall, line items were established at very thin margins because of no previous experience in escalating costs of heating fuel, telephone, lights, etc Obviously, everything was underestimated Mr Cohen left the meeting at 9 32 p m. The Board discussed a list of DPW projects approved by the 1976 An- DPW 1976 nual Town Meeting and agreed to the following action Articles 1976 Art Action 11 Clean & maintain streams & brooks $ 15,000 Hold 16 Curb construction 8,000 Hold if possible 17 Drain construction 38,700 Hold 19 Sidewalk construction 27,000 Hold 20 Sewers 350,500 Proceed with those under application for Water Control Act; later recommendation on others 28 Comprehensive drainage study 25,000 Proceed 31 Estabrook School drain 10,000 Investigate 34,35,36 Traffic signals 40,000 Proceed 65,66,67 Street construction 100,000 Hold 25 Inflow infiltration study 20,000 Proceed Mr Perry informed that Board of a request from the Firefighters Permit Association to photograph a 1911 fire engine with the Minuteman statue in the background, to be used as the cover of a book on the History of the Lexington Fire Department The Board had no objection /623 Selectmen's Meeting September 27, 1976 CATV Mr Baileyadvised the Board that the Cable Television Advisory o y Com- mittee requests a meeting with the Selectmen He has been serving as liaison and mentioned the impossibility of attending all CATV meetings because of previous commitments The Board agreed that it was applicable to all and, therefore, Mrs Battin stressed the importance of the Selectmen receiving copies of minutes of committee meetings It was agreed to arrange a meeting with CATV Town Mgr Chairman Kassler reported that, of the 268 applications received, the Town Manager Search Committee recommends 7 candidates The Board is in the process of interviews and expect to narrow the field within a few weeks MVMH/ Mrs Battin announced that a letter of affiliation has been signed Choate by Mystic Valley Mental Health and Choate Hospital and, therefore, federal Hospital funds are not jeopardized There are some questions to be resolved and Mrs Cochin will report back to the Board Executive Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted, 5-0 by roll call Session vote, to go into Executive Session to discuss strategy with respect tb collective bargaining After discussion, it was voted to go out of Executive Session Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to adjourn at 1030 p m A true record, Attest NJ i NN Executive Clerk, Selectmen I