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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1975-03-31-BOS-min 259 SRLrcTMEN' MEETING March 31, 1975 A regular meeting of the Board of Selectmen was held in the Selectmen's Meeting Room, Town Office Building, on Monday, March 31, 1975, at 7 00 p.m Chairman Kenney, Messrs Bailey, Busa, Kessler, and Mrs. Battin; Mr O'Connell, Town Manager; Mr. Cohen, Town Counsel; Mr McSweeney, Director of Public Works/Engineering; Mrs McCurdy, Executive Clerk, were present Reverend Harold T Handley, Director of Guides, met with the Guides Board to present the Guides of the Town of Lexington for 1975. Chairman Kenney to Rev. Handley Some people have approached us that there should be a dress code for the Guides and, also, have voiced the opinion that there have been too many Guides on the Green at one time Rev. Handley We have had some little friends that I have spoken to and warned them about dressing properly We assign them , on the Green in groups of three, and we have not had more than nine or ten there at a.time Chairman Kenney welcomed the Guides and gave each a Bicentennial 111 Guide badge and certificate Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to appoint the following Guides of the Town of Lexington, for a term expiring June 1, 1976 Appointments Thomas Farmer 9 Chandler Street Jeffrey Spencer 32 Hancock Street Bill McKibben 32 Middle Street Neil Mager 1 Berwick Road Reappointments Harvey Bass 30 Eastern Avenue Karl Block 37 Wyman Road Dave Campbell 100 Bertwell Road Ann Carroll 38 Young Street Norma Coates 30 Donald Street Richard Gerrig 44 Eldred Street Brad Golden 11 Dane Road Ellen Helgeland 52 Liberty Avenue Richard John 19 Saddleclub Road Tom Kocher 4 Nickerson Road Colleen Leary 189 Wood Street I • 261) Selectmen's Meeting March 31, 1975 Jeff Lucas 11 Summit Road Eric Michelson 54 Asbury Street Robin Miles 3 Dewey Road Paul O'Shaughnessy 61 Ivan Street Carolyn Ryan 44 Eastern Avenue Kathleen Ryan 44 Eastern Avenue Claudia Sauermann 14 Russell Road Alan Wachman 10 Diamond Road Cheryl Wang 9 Gould Road Pam Wishney 46 Burlington Street Grammot Attorney Donald E Legro met with. the Board to request that the Sewer bond given by Ronald C Grammont and Diana H Grammont to secure the completion of the Grammont sewer project be reduced from $7,000 to $3,000, and to request that the Board authorize the Town Treasurer to permit Mr and Mrs Grammont, or their Attorney, to withdraw all money on deposit in the Leader Federal Savings and Loan Association in excess of $3,000 Also, to request the Board to sign the grant of utilities -to the Town Chairman Kenney read a report from Mr McSweeney, Director of Public Works/Engineering, recommending that the above requests be granted Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to reduce the sum of $7,000 to $3,000 on the bond of Ronald G Grammont and Diana H Grammont given to secure the completion of the Grammont sewer project; to authorize the Town Treasurer to permit Ronald G Grammont or Diana H Grammont, or their Attorney, Donald E Legro, to with- draw all money on deposit in Leader Federal Savings and Loan Associ- ation Account No 01-42183 in excess of $3,000 Also, to sign the grant of utilities, as submitted by Attorney Donald E Legro, Counsel for Mr Grammont, subject to the approval of Town Counsel Norman P Cohen Mr Legro thanked the Board and retired from the meeting HUD Mr O'Connell informed the Board that a letter has been re- Grants ceived from the Department of Urban Development notifying us that it is recommended that the Town of Lexington not make application for funds under the new Housing Act as "there are no balances when they get down to communities such as Lexington" Therefore, it is useless to apply State Mr O'Connell advised the Board that written approval has been Census received from the State Census Bureau agreeing with our plan for using computer print-out and doing the census by mail They also agreed that we add the question relative to unemployment 1 261 ,Selectmen's Meeting March 31, 1975 Mr Cohen requested the Board to sign the document certifying Wellston the approval of a gift to the Town of a parcel of land for conser- Realty Corp vation purposes from Wellston Realty Corp Conservation Mr Cohen The 1973 Annual Town Meeting voted to take land Land owned by Porter, and it also included a portion owned by Weymint Realty and Wellston Realty Corp We have been able to negotiate an easement and they have asked the Town to pay the legal expenses they have incurred. They do plan to sell the land and have asked me to record it by the middle of April. Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to approve the receipt of the deed of an easement to the Town of Lexington from Weymint Realty and Wellston Realty Corp The Board discussed with Mr McSweeney the cleaning of the Clematis Brook in the Paddock Lane area Mr McSweeney Last year, the Board received a letter from an Clematis attorney representing Patrick J Montuori, 12 Paddock Lane, requesting---gg*ok (that the Town correct conditions in the area by cleaning the brook Cleaning adjacent to Mr. Montuori's property We reviewed the situation and contacted Mr Montuori We want to clean the brook, which is subject to hearings and further investigations, and must file an application under the Hatch Act Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to authorize the Chairman to sign the application under the Wetland Protection Act to clean the Clematis Brook in the Paddock Lane area, and to authorize the Town Engineer to file the application Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to table Bond approval of Constable John Shine's bond in the amount of $3,000 Chairman Kenney requested the Board to vote the 1975 annual Annual appointments Appointments Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to appoint the following BOARDS AND COMMITTEES NAME TERM EXPIRATION DATE Town Celebration Committee Eleanor B Litchfield 3 yrs April 30, 1978 Edward Turner Ruth M. Mitchell ,Historic Districts Commission Georgia H Williams 5 yrs. January 1, 1980 (Library Trustees) Standing Plumbing & Building Richard w Souza 3 yrs April 30, 1978 By-Law Committee Carl Harry Erickson 262 Selectmen's Meeting March 31, 1975 BOARDS AND COMMITTEES (CON'T ) NAME TERM EXPIRATION DATE Gammell Legacy Income Trustee James E Collins 1 yr March 31, 1976 Bridge Charitable Fund Gaynor K. Rutherford 3 yrs March 31, 1978 Fence Viewers Rev Harold T Handley 1 yr March 31, 1976 Louis A. Zehner Registrar of Voters Reed Kingston Taylor 3 yrs March 31, 1978 Executive Clerk Eleanor M. McCurdy 1 yr March 31, 1976 Drug Advisory Committee Margery M. Battin 1 yr March 31, 1976 Sumner E Pearlman Dr Jack H Monderer " Dr Charles E Ellicott Irving H. Mabee Drug Counselor Charles L McManus 1 yr March 31, 1976 Street & Sidewalk Design Advisory Committee Paul J Nicholson 3 yrs March 31, 1978 Board of The Board discussed appointments to the Board of Appeals and Appeals Associate Members of the Board of Appeals Dr Kessler Sometimes, in any organization or group, it be- hoves us to stop and reevaluate the criteria in which we have been operating In that spirit, I would like to submit the following "In view of its very sensitive nature, the following criteria should be applied in selecting new members and associate members for the Board of Appeals 1 The appointee should be well acquainted with the town's physical character, layout, needs, problems, and plans. He or she should have a publicly recognized commitment to the interests and welfare of the town as a whole 2 The appointee's local investment and commercial interests, in- cluding those of family and business associates, should not be so extensively related to the work of the Board of Appeals as to ra ie any question in the public mind about the objectivity with which he or she would be able to discharge a Board member's responsibilities. I 263 Q. Selectmen's Meeting March 31, 1975 3 The appointee's manner of dealing with others, both privately and in public forums, should be such as to help ensure that de- cisions of the Board will be based on all pertinent information, clearly and forthrightly presented 4 Appointees should be selected with a view to keeping the Board reasonably representative of the full spectrum of town opinion on all issues of social policy significantly affected by the Board's work The number of townspeople both willing and well-qualified to serve is ample to make compromise unnecessary on any of the four criteria Citizens whose qualifications fall short on any of the criteria may be able to serve the Town well in some other capacity; but they should not serve on the Board of Appeals " Chairman Kenney Having briefly looked at this set of criteria, I can agree with most of it; some I would have to delve into These people we are proposing to re-appoint - Logan Clark, as a regular member, and Haskell Reed, Irving Mabee, Robert Cataldo, Robert Gary, Thomas G Taylor, and Natalie Rif fin as Associate Members - represent outstanding citizens, have served honestly and well, and have the Towns's best interest at heart. It is without hesitation that I would recommend their appointment Mrs Battin I wholeheartedly subscribe to the criteria and I would want to vote on them, name by name Mr Busa; I agree with the Chairman, and we have always abided with the conflict of interest law I feel an attorney should be on the Board of Appeals and, even though there is not an attorney, he could make a judgment of the appeal before them Mr Bailey If there is concern about possible conflict of interest here, it strikes me there is always risk. If.there is any one of the associate members who finds himself in conflict about something before the Board, that is why we have six associate members, and one or more could fill in It is quite improbably that there could be one placed in conflict on any matter Dr Kessler I don't disagree but there should be some set of criteria All appointments can be laid out and explained on what basis we judge, and then if there are any particular questions, we can address ourselves to them. Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was unanimously voted to Board of re-appoint Mr Logan Clark, Jr as member of the Board of Appeals Appeals for a five year term expiring March 31, 1980 Appts 264 Selectmen's Meeting March 31, 1975 Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was unanimously voted to reappoint MR. Haskell W Reed an Associate Member of the Board of Appeals for a one year term expiring March 31, 1976 Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was unanimously voted to reappoint Mr. Irving H Mabee an Associate Member of the Board of Appeals for a one year term expiring March 31, 1976 Motion was made by Mr Busa and seconded by Mr Apiley to re-appoint Mr Robert Cataldo an Associate Member of the Board of Appeals Mrs Battin I would like to nominate an eminently well- qualified former Chariman of T M.M.A. , Shirley Stolz Dr Kessler seconded the nomination Chairman Kenney voted in favor of Mr Cataldo, and it was voted 3 - 2 to re-appoint Mr Robert Cataldo an Associate Member of the Board of Appeals* Chairman Kenney, Mr Bailey and Mr Busa voting in favor and Mrs Battin and Dr Kassler in opposition *for a one year term expiring March 31, 1976 Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was unanimously voted to re-appoint Mr Robert M. Gary an Associate Member of the Board of Appeals for a one year term expiring March 31, 1976 Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was unanimously voted to re-appoint Mr Thomas G Taylor an Associate Member of the Board of Appeals for a one year term expiring March 31, 1976 Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was unanimously voted to re-appoint Mrs. Natalie H Rif fin an Associate Member of the Board of Appeals for a one year term expiring March 31, 19/6 Tabled Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to table the Permit request from Molly Pritcher, Inc for permission to conduct a bicycle marathon on Sunday, May 11, 1975, pending further back- ground information regarding the organization Cart of Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to certify the Incorp character of Marily Speiser, 449 Waltham Street, who has applied for Certificate of Incorporation, "Health, Education and Resource Center, Inc " Abatements Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to approve the 1 Water Bill recommendation of the Director of Public Works/Engineering to abate the following water bills I LIE�e), Selectmen's Meeting March 31, 1975 Moore ,Homes, Inc 15 Oakland St $ 5 00 Overcharge Arts & Crafts 130A Waltham St 8 75 Billing Error Ching Mee Fee 53 Westview St 9 90 Incorrect meter reading - owner R. J Caller 209 Lincoln St 26 47 Late return of card ChairmanIOnvread an invitation from the Town Celebration Com- April 19 mittee to participate^• in the parade on April 19, 1975, at 7 30 a m. AM Parade from the Adams School to the Battle Green Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to approve the Minutes minutes of Selectmen's meeting held on September 9, 16, 23, 1974; November 4, 1974; March 10, 1975 Chairman Kenney read a request from Norman P Cohen, Town Counsel, Carriage Dr to sign sewer easements Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to sign the taking Volunteer of sewer easements on Carriage Drive and Volunteer Way; *Instrument Way Sewer #213 of April 7, 1975 - Plan #228 of 1975; Instrument #214 of April Easements 7, 1975 - Plan #229 of 1975 ill The Board agreed that a letter should be written to Package Goods Bicentenn Stores requesting them to remain closed on Saturday, April 19, and Pkg Goods Monday, April 21, 1975, due tQ the Bicentennial weekend celebration Stores For the information of the Board, Chairman Kenney read a letter from Chief Corr addressed to Mr William P Fitzgerald and Mr Gift - I Malcolm Keljikian of Mal's Night and Day Towing Company, 7 Mass- MOtor achusetts Avenue, thanking them for the presentation of two motor Scooters scooters to be used in recreation and conservation areas and behind the business blocks in the Center Chairman Kenney We will be using them for crowd control and April 19th. The Board discussed the renewal of a Lodging House license to Wild Acre Wild Acre Inn and it was agreed to hold the license, pending further Inn reports from the Board of Health, Building Commissioner and the Fire Department. *Instrument #214 of April 7, 1975 - Plan #229 of 1975; Instrument #213 of April 7, 1975 - Plan #228 of 1975 266 Selectmen's Meeting March 31, 1975 1 Executive Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to go into Session Executive Session for the purpose of discussing, deliberating or voting on matters which, if made public, might adversely affect the public security, the financial interests of the Town, or the reputation of a person. After discussion of public health and collective bargaining matters, it was voted to go out of Executive Session Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to adjourn at 7 55 p m. A true record, Attest: ,ti° Executive Clerk, Selectmen I