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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1976-01-19-BOS-min 5(ig SELECTMEN'S MEETING January 19, 1976 A regular meeting of the Board of Selectmen was held in the Select- men's Meeting Room on Monday, January 19, 1976, at 7 30 p m. Chairman Bailey, Messrs. Kenney, Busa, Kessler and Mrs Battin; Mr O'Connell, Town Manager; Mr Cohen, Town Counsel; Miss Casey, Principal Clerk, were present. At the request of the Town Clerk, six jurors were drawn as follows Jurors Joan P Austin 23 Pine Knoll Road William T Kivlen 12 Tucker Avenue Donna D Ryan 125 Burlington Street Wendy Jellis 12 Oxford Street Tage Hansen 46 Farmcrest Avenue Milton M Klein 54 Burlington Street Mr O'Connell informed the Board that he had received a request from Mr G H Mr G H Blackington, Wakefield, for approval to use photographs of the Blackington diorama in the Visitors' Center Mr Blackington has put together a color slide program of the history of the American Revolution, all at his own expense, which he hopes to make available to schools etc at no charge Mr O'Connell stated that he had seen the program and it was in very good taste Mr Blackington requests the use of Cary Hall to invite those who have a keen interest in the American Revolution for a one-time preview as he is interested in getting pre-public reaction Further discussion of the request brought out that Mr Blackington is employed at the John Hancock Insurance Company and this is an extension of his own personal hobby He fully intends to maintain his amateur status Upon notion duly made and seconded, it was voted to grant Mr Black- ington the use of Cary Hall to present his showing of the "American Revo- lution" Mr. O'Connell reported to the Board of his findings regarding the can- Public cellation of the public official liability insurance The cancellation Official action by the present carrier (Market) was based upon business losses and Liability not on actual loss experience with public official liability insurance Ins The carrier "bailed out" on coverage with potential heavy liability Mr O'Connell pointed out that the policy contains an extension clause pro- viding the option to the insureds to extend the contract for a year for a fee of 75% of the 3 year premium, but only with respect to actions taken up to the cancellation date For approximately $1,500 protection will be provided until February, 1977 for liability which may have been incurred (but may not yet be aware of) by actions taken up to February, 1976 The policy provides 30 days after cancellation for this action After further discussion it was agreed to submit the present insurance application to Alexander & Alexander and Mr O'Connell was to continue to III pursue the matter with Brewer and Lord It was agreed to discuss the matter further at the meeting on Monday, January 26 562 Selectmen's Meeting January 19, 1976 111 Mr O'Connell left the meeting at 7 50 p m. to keep an appdintment with PoliceChief Corr, and the Appropriation PP riation Committee P Appoint- Mr Bailey informed the Board of a vacancy on the Board of Registrars ment by the resignation of Edward Belliveau (Republican) effective December 31, Board of 1975 It was the suggestion of the Republican member to appoint Mr Theldon Registrars E Phinney, 40 Tower Road, who is willing to serve Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to appoint Mr Theldon E Phinney as the Republican member to the Board of Registrars Chairman Bailey informed the Board that he had received a emo from Dr Kessler submitting the names of four people who had express d a willing- ness and desire to serve on the Transportation Advisory Committ e. Mrs Katherine Menand has resigned from the committee The present embership is composed of Mrs Frayda Cooper, Mrs Joyce Hals, and Mrs Th ima Marin Appoint- Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to appoin the follow- ments ing to the Transportation Advisory Committee Trans Advisory William J O'Neil 789 Mass Avenue Lawyer Committee Mrs Elaine Dratch 2 Maureen Road Interested Citizen John F Lahiff 51 Cary Avenue Interested Citizen Paul S Rempfer 8 Stevens Road Mass Transportation Dept Appoint- Chairman Bailey briefed the Board regarding the Act passed last month ments by the Legislature insuring local involvement in the formulation of a Growth & Growth and Development Policy for Massachusetts Each city and town is to Develop- establish a local Growth Policy Committee including chairmen of the Board Ment of Selectmen, Planning Board, Conservation Commission, Housing thority, Committee Redevelopment Authority, Department of Public Health and the cit or town planner and five citizen representatives Each city and town is to prepare a statement of growth management problems and priorities, responding to questionnaire from the office of State Planning within six months Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to appoint the follow- ing to the Growth Policy Committee Mr James W Lambie Board of Health Mrs Angela E Frick Conservation Commission Ms Susan Hodgkins League of Women Voters of Lexington Mrs Mary E Shunney Lexington Housing Authority Dr George Wadsworth Lexington School Committee Mr Dan Busa Recreation Committee Dr Eric T Clarke Planning Board Mr Robert E Reynolds Lexington Chamber of Co}nmerce Mrs Elizabeth Reinhardt Lexington Historical Commission Mr Fred C Bailey Board of Selectmen Mr Kenneth Briggs Town Planner Mr Robert Connelly Builder/Developer Mr Walter C O'Connell Town Manager Mr Guy W Doran Farm Bureau Mr Frank Sandy Citizen Mr Donald Wilson Citizen 0 ‘3 Selectmen's Meeting January 19, 1976 Chairman Bailey informed the Board of a proposal by the Boston Edison Boston to lease land at the Hartwell Avenue Sanitary Landfill for 212 acres of Edison land at the annual rental fee of $3,000 The Director of Public Works/ Lease Engineering stated that he did not have any basic objections but would recommend that, insofar as possible, any activities be set back off the access road to eliminate the "sidewalk superintendents", and that all activities be restricted to at least 30 feet from the top of the bank of Kiln Brook. The Edison is in the process of updating their transmission lines and are desirous of using this site for equipment storage while they work in the area. Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to sign the lease and to notify the Boston Edison of the 30 foot restriction Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to lay out the fol- Layout of lowing streets Streets Construction Streets Crescent Road 1100+ft from Watertown Street to Green Lane Briggs Road 380+ft from Crescent Road to end Great Rock Road 350+ft from Crescent Road to end Subdivision Streets Hartwell Place 660 feet from Hartwell Avenue to end Brookwood Road 726 feet from Grant Street to end Fairfield Drive 600 feet from Brookwood Road to end Alteration to the layout of the Town ways at the intersection of Clarke and Forest Streets Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to sign the layout of the above listed streets Mr McSweeney, Director of Public Works/Engineering asked if the Board was prepared to include the sidwalks for Crescent, Briggs and Great Rock Roads Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to delete the side- walks for Crescent, Briggs and Great Rock Roads Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to sign the Common Common Carrier license for Hospital Transportation Service, Inc , Nine Munroe Carrier Avenue, Watertown, Mass License Chairman Bailey You will recall that we have the sum of $40,000 Flagpole being carried toward the replacement of the flagpole on the Common A number of people have raised the point that, in their opinion, this should be a project for the townspeople to tackle The people that are proposing that this be set up will conduct all the necessary work to collect the donations and handle the project This project would not be 56-1 Selectmen's Meeting January 19, 1976 in conflict with the completion of the Hancock Clarke House or the Sander- son House I bring it up because it is a good kind of project to get going on if we are going that road It was agreed by the Board that this would be an excellent way to re- place the flagpole and strive for a completion date of July 4, 1976 Selectmen Mr Busa raised a point concerning Mrs Battin's statement at a C.R.0 Available meeting that she feels that the Board of Selectmen have been negligent to Citizens abouttiistening to people about their troubles Mr Busa took exception to this statement being made in public He stated that the Board has never been negligent in listening to the problems of citizens Chairman Bailey pointed out that the proper procedure is for the citi- zen to first go to the primary source of their complaint -- whatever depart- ment that might be -- and then the Board has always been willing to talk with them Mr Kenney stated that the four years that he was Chairman of the Board, the public was always treated with the utmost courtesy He reiterated that the Board was always willing to talk with the public Mrs Battin stated that she had felt it necessary to respolnd to Dr Kassler's statement that the Board of Selectmen were now serving the om- budsman function for persons who felt that they had not received proper satisfaction from adminstrative officials of the Town The statement im- plied there was process in action she felt did not always exist While she felt the ombudsman role was one that the Board should and could assume, she did not feel that the Board now always made it easy or pleasant for citizens to come before it with complaints about administrative actions, although as individuals all Board members have been both accessible and courteous to citizens She cited a recent case when two members of the Board had to argue in order to obtain an audience for a former elected official who wished to discuss his experiences when going the route pre- scribed by the Board for handling complaints Other members of the Board stated at the time that they could not continued to make a practice of hearing such cases or the Board would be inundated She closed by noting that she had stated directly to the Board in the past that she 'did not think they always treated appellant citizens courteously Chairman Bailey stated that the discussion could go on indefinitely and concluded that if anyone felt that the Board was not willing to hear their problems, they were free to bring the Board to task Dr Kessler stated that Mrs Battin's comments were but a 'very small portion of the meeting in question and that the issue was being magnified out of proportion to its context within that meeting Mr O'Connell returned to the meeting at 8 30 p m. Funding Mr O'Connell presented to the Board a list of prospective projects for pre-application for 1976 discretionary funds under Community Develop- ment Act and his comments as to the possibility of funding The projects were the replacement of a fire engine, Estabrook School parking lot drain, Sidewalk repairs in Lexington Center, Brooks reclamation, Replacement of the flagpole on the Battle Green and improvement to the baseball field area at Harrington School 566 Selectmen's Meeting January 19, 1976 UMr O'Connell pointed out that there was a slight chance of funding for the Estabrook School parking lot drain and the sidewalk repairs in the Center, but the prospects were poor for the other items After dis- cussion it was agreed to try for funding of all the items except the re- placement of the flagpole on the Battle Green Mr O'Connell read a letter from Mr MacNeil expressing his desire Insurance to quote on hospital and life insurance for the Town After a brief dis- Mr MacNeil cussion it was agreed that although we did not have all the information that was requested, he would be provided with the experience that was available Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted, 5-0, by roll call Executive vote to go into Executive Session for the purpose of discussing strategy Session with respect to collective bargaining and for discussing the reputation and character of an individual Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to adjourn at 9 50 p m. A true record, Attest OwrtPrincipal Clerk