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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1976-03-01-BOS-min 592 SELECTMEN'S MEETING March 1, 1976 A regular meeting of the Board of Selectmen 4,as held in the Select- men's Meeting Room, Town Office Building, on March 1, 1976, at 7 30 p.m. Acting Chairman Kenney, Messrs Busa, Kessler and Mrs Battin; Mr O'Connell, Town Manager; Mr Cohen, Town Counsel; Mr McSweeney, Direc- tor of Public Works/Engineering; Miss Casey, Principal Clerk were present At the request of the Town Clerk six jurors were drawn as follows Sara C. Bittenbender 85 Meriam Street Theresa Rheum 28 Ward Street Ted Porretti 7 Percy Road Judith Kliger 20 Turning Mill Road Marshall S Kates 15 Burroughs Road Carl B Swanton 66 Harding Road Proclamation Acting Chairman Kenney informed the Board that a request had been re- ceived from Albert L Sherburne, 0 D for the Board of Selectmen to proclaim the Month of March as "Save Your Vision Month" Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted that Board of Select- men would sign the proclamation declaring the Month of March as "Save Your Vision Month" Presenta- Miss Mary Rockwood, Chairman of the Youth Advisory Commission, met tion M. with the Board and informed them that she had spent the month of January Rockwood in Washington working in Congressman Tsongas' office and had been requested to return to Lexington the large sketch of President Ford that had been sent there to be autographed She also presented to Mr Kenney a picture of himself and President Ford that was taken at the Bicentennial ceremonies on April 19, 1975 and autographed by the President Mr Kenney thanked Miss Rockwood and she retired from the meeting Cary Hall Mr Lewis Gurman met with the Board to further review his request for Mr Gurman the use of Cary Hall for the "Lexington Theatre Company" As a result of several questions by Mr Busa, Mr Gurman informed the Board that this is an amateur group comprised of 80% Lexington residents with 12 students from the High School It is in the process of becoming incorporated as a non profit organization and the directors will not be paid a fee Mr Gunman explained that the group wanted to use the Hall as a "theatre in the round" which would necessitate moving chairs and increase lighting, with one row deep of moveable seats on the floor and the performance would be in the center Mr McSweeney cautioned that this would be changing the seating arrangements and would come under the General Laws, Chapter 148 "Fire Prevention" A lengthy discussion was held relative to the lighting arrangements and the question of insurance coverage Mr Gurman agreed e) 9 Selectmen' s Meeting March 1, 1976 that the "Lexington Theatre Company" would cooperate in every way requested for complete compliance with all local ordinances, inspections and permits necessary as well as an inspection by the Fire Department Anything in terms of change would have to be done under the direction of the Director of Public Works/Engineering Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to grant permission to the "Lexington Theatre Company" for the use of Cary Hall, under the direction of the Town Manager, for the following dates May 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 28 and 29 Mr Gurman retired from the meeting Mr. Zehner, Town Treasurer, met with the Board to request approval to Town borrow $20,000 for the acquisition of the Mimno land on Pleasant Street Treasurer Bids were received from the Harvard Trust Company 25 2 75%, New England Merchants at 2 45% and County Shawmut at 2 38% It was his recommendation to award to the lowest bidder Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to approve the rec- ommendation of the Town Treasurer to borrow $20,000 from County Shawmut at 2.38%, notes to be dated March 5 and mature on June 1, 1976 Town Counsel recommended that the Board approve the request of the Mimno Conservation Commission to acquire land on pleasant Street owned by Harry Land Rowe Mimno and Kate Mimno and to sign the Order of Taking Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to approve the re- quest of the Conservation Commission to acquire the land owned by Harry Rowe Mimno and Kate Mimno and to sign the Order of Taking by eminent domain for conservation purposes in the amount of $18,000 Mr. Zehner retired from the meeting Mr O'Connell recommended that the Board approve a request for a Transfer transfer of $800 00 to Account 2470 to adjust for the FY 76 self-sus- Request taining added volleyball program. Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to request the approval of the Appropriation Committee for a transfer from the reserve fund to Account 2470 in the amount of $800 00 Mr O'Connell recommended that the Board approve a reserve transfer Transfer request in the amount of $1100 to Account 3550 for the operation of the Request new animal shelter including money for cages for injured and stray cats Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to request the approval of the Appropriation Committee for a transfer from the reserve fund to Account 3550 in the amount of $1100 Mr O'Connell informed the Board that the Inspection Services Office Insurance (formerly N E Fire Insurance Rating Bureau) are in town to start an up- Rating date of Lexington's insurance rating, which involves an evaluation of our Fire Department and will include an evaluation of our water system. He stated that this would form the basis for a new insurance rating for the Town 594 Selectmen's Meeting March 1, 1976 i ' Public Mr O'Connell recommended to the Board that it select Alexander & Liability Alexander to place the Public Official Liability Insurance with the Mid- Insurance land per their quote of $5,838 annually Mr Kenney asked what the effective date would be and Mr O'Connell replied that it would be the date of the authorization by the Town. Mr Kenney then asked if he had talked to them regarding the spread- ing of the payments Mr O'Connell stated that if they can, and the Town could pay one quarter and pick up the balance we would need $500.00 with a net of $3,000 He felt that this policy had a big advantage over the other one It was agreed that Mr O'Connell would ask for an OK from the Appropriation Committee for a transfer and get back to the Board next week Burlington Mr O'Connell informed the Board that Mr Irwin had met with Mr Arcade Bernard late last week to have him remove the trailer mounted with cloth signs on the opening of Loehmann's store Mr Bernard advised him that the court had ruled in his favor regarding the egress The barriers had been taken down at the entrance and exit This will further complicate traffic on North and Lowell Streets Mr O'Connell suggested that Mr McSweeney take a look at it in a few weeks after the opening days were over and traffic would be at a normal flow Mr McSweeney is to report back to the Board Unpaid The question of the abatement of the unpaid ambulance bills was again Ambulance discussed and Mr Busa reiterated his earlier position that something Bills should be done to collect this money and make it more equitable to all citizens of Lexington It was decided to have letters sent out to all the names on the list to see if some of the money can be collected Recreation Mr O'Connell distributed a memo relative to the Recreation Committee Comm. Personal Services Budget under Article 5 of $87,528 The Recreation Com- Budget mittee requests that they have the authority to make adjustments in the programs between the budgeted bases (which will be spelled out on a pro- gram basis on the pink sheet when submitted) and the actual basis which they may wish to adopt in October after a review of the 1976 program ex- perience Any revisions would be between programs with no increase in total programs cost Mr O'Connell felt that this was a reasonable request providing flexibility for the Recreation Committee to best meet the public needs and apply cost/benefits analysis in the final determination He strongly recommended that once the year's programs are finalized they should be operated that way without change, except for very exceptional circumstances The Board agreed Recreation A discussion was held relative to the February 26 article in the Facilities Minute Man describing the proposal of the Minute Man Regional Vocational Minute Man School's proposal to offer to member towns a cooperative plan for utiliz- Vocational ation of the school's recreational facilities when not in use It was School brought out that Lexington, because of its location, would benefit greatly Selectmen's Meeting March 1, 1976 from this and could make available to Minute Man School any of its Gen- eral Government recreational facilities when available which might help fill an unmet need Mr O'Connell is to write to the Superintendent of the school expressing the appreciation of the Board of Selectmen and to offer Lexington's recreational facilities pointing out that the availabil- ity would be subject to the prior commitments of Lexington's school or recreation program requirements Mr O'Connell informed the Board that he had received from the School School Department the final fiscal 1977 budget in the amount of $14,490,134 Budget Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to sign the Common Dunkin Victualler License for the new owner of Dunkin Donut Shop, 374 Waltham Donuts Street, Claude J Djevalikian with the same hours as the present license License Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to grant the re- Buckman quest from the Painters Guild of the Lexington Arts and Crafts Society Tavern for the use of Buckman Tavern grounds on May 22, 1976 with May 29 as a Grounds Arts rain date from 10 00 a m. to 5 00 p m. and on October 2 with a rain date & Crafts of October 9 to hold "Meet the Artist Day " Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to refer the Dis- Traffic trict Highway Engineer' s letter of February 17 relative to Mrs Hartery's Sign request for a "caution" light on Marrett Road/Middle Street to the Traf- Marrett Rd/ fic Safety Committee for further study Middle St Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to grant the request Permit of Major P H Ray, United States Marine Corps for permission to use the Battle Green Battle Green to conduct commissioning ceremonies on Saturday, June 12, 1976 Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to approve the Minutes minutes of the Selectmen's meeting of February 23 as amended Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to grant permission Permits to Mr David Terry, Principal of the Muzzey Junior High School for two Battle students to decorate one of the refuse containers on the Green with a Green Revolutionary-Colonial motif under the direction of Mr McSweeney, Director Public Works/Engineering Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to sign the gift of Cons a conservation easement from Mr & Mrs David Walsh The easement runs Easement along their property which borders the Vine Brook The Town was autho- rized to acquire the easement by vote taken at the 1967 Town Meeting Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to appoint Alfred S Acting Busa acting chairman from March 2 through March 4 Chairman Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted, 4-0, by roll call Executive vote to go into Executive Session for the purpose of discussing strategy Session 596 Selectmen's Meeting March 1, 1976 with respect to collective bargaining and related matters Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to adjourn at 9 01 p m A true record, Attest. /12262, 2, U Principal Clerk a-4-T %rt. ti I