Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout1974-12-09-BOS-min SELECTMEN'S MEETING December 9, 1974 A regular meeting of the Board of Selectmen was held in the Select- men's Meeting Room, Town Office Building, on Monday, December 9, 1974, at 7 30 p.m. Chairman Kenney, Messrs Bailey, Busa, Brown and Mrs Battin Mr O'Connell, Town Manager; Mr Cohen, Town Counsel; Mrs McCurdy, Executive Clerk, were present Mr. Kenneth Briggs, Planning Director, introduced Mr William Planning Loudon to the Board as the new Planning Intern Intern Board members welcomed Mr. Loudon and wished him success as a new employes of the Town Mr O'Connell advised the Board that the new section of guard Burlington rail on Lowell Street, at the Burlington Arcade, will be ready for in- Arcade - stallation within the week As authorized by the Board, a contract Guard Rail was awarded for $2,800 to provide for that section of guard rail Emergently measures had to be taken because the developer had created a safety hazard in the area We believe that this will soon be under control. Mr. O'Connell discussed the People's Bicentennial Commission Mr Randy Barber had talked to me concerning their planned activities on April 19 I asked him to write to me and give complete identifi- cation of the organization and to list the activities In the letter, People's he did not give identification but indicated a desire to participate Bicenten- in the parade and to have a booth for literature; also, to provide a nial number of roving theatre groups performing on street corners, and Commission suggesting that the Town provide public properties for a staging area for their activities, and requesting the use of Hastings Park for an exhibition He asked if any approval was necessary for a parade from Concord to Lexington, ending in Hastings Park After hearing from Mr Barber, I asked him first to provide identification but that the matters of parade participation and roving theatre groups would come under the program responsibility of the Bicentennial Committee, and to apply through the Director and the matter would be handled from there With respect to a booth, I advised him that we were going to keep all groups out of the area On the request for the use of public property, I described the problems in connection with the many demands but that we would sit with him to discuss what their problems and needs are On the parade, I told him of problems in connection with preparation for our major parade A meeting is scheduled tomorrow with Mr Barber, Chief Corr, Mr Tarlin and me and, after that, we will have specific details. firman Kenney What is Mr. Barbers' connection with the People's III Bicente ial? 148 Selectmen's Meeting December 9, 1974 Mr O'Connell It is my impression that he is acting as their area representative, as a paid employee handling the plans and pro- grams for propaganda during the bicentennial period Chairman Kenney I agree with the approach you are taking, and the fact that you are meeting with him to give the Town's posture but would tend to let this group know that if their requests are reasonable and within the scope and we can accommodate them, fine However, they must realize they must operate with the rules and regulations, and have a proper, peaceful demonstration Mr. O'Connell agreed to pursue the matter along those lines Chairman Kenney read a request from the Town Clerk regarding pre- Precinct cinct registrations Registra- Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to eliminate tions precinct registrations prior to the 1975 Annual Town Election and all voter registrations are to be held in the Town Clerk's Office. Cert. of Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to certify the Incorp character of Jacqueline B Davison and Manfred P Friedman, who have applied for Certificate of Incorporation, "Friends of Walden Pond, Inc " Chairman Kenney read a memo from Police Chief Corr stating, "As Police you know, the Town Manager, Town Counsel and I have discussed at length Civil the problems we have had with the Division of Civil Service regarding Service the calibre of men on the police list, and our inability to fill our vacancies with what we consider desirable candidates As a result, we feel that an Article should be placed in this year's warrant asking Town Meeting's permission to petition the General Court for legisla- tion to remove the Lexington Police Department from Civil Service, while at the same time granting a tenure system similar to what the policemen presently have " Chairman Kenney Are there any other municipalities that have taken this approach? Mr Cohen Yes, a few Chairman Kenney to Mr O'Connell What is your recommendation? Mr O'Connell My recommendation is that a space be reserved for an Article in the Warrant of the 1975 Annual Town Meeting to cover this Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to reserve space in the Warrant of the 1975 Annual Town Meeting for an Article to peti- tion the General Court for legislation to remove the Lexington Police Department from Civil Service Chairman Kenney read a letter from Mr Manfred Friedman request- Hanscom ing that the Board of Selectmen take a position similar to that of the Field Lincoln Board of Selectmen against keeping Hanscom Field open at night Friedman Lincoln has let Massport know of this position, with a request that Hanscom Field be closed to all but emergency traffic from sundown to sunup A public statement by the Lexington Selectmen in support of X49 Selectmen's Meeting December 9, 1974 night-time flight restriction would help ensure Hanscom Field retain its current status for use only by small airplanes; serve notice of Lexington interests for the people who will be preparing a Hanscom Field Master Plan. Chairman Kenney This is of such importance that I have asked Mr Brown a_zd,Mr O'Connell to get information on it Mri. Brown I was surprised at this letter because the Lincoln Board of Selectmen had written to the Hanscom Task Force that its offi- cial position was that operations should be of a character that mini- mizes night and weekend noise offensive to the surrounding communities I called the Lincoln Board of Selectmen and they said they requested Massport for a curfew "if no substantial injury to the operation of the airport, results and, perhaps, not to have frivolous flights at night;" that means, flights that take off at the airport, go nowhere, and come down It is their feeling that the statement Mr Friedman suggests, "to help ensure Hanscom Field to retain its current status for use only by small airplanes," would have the opposite effect with a sundown to sunup curfew This would mean closing the airport at 4 00 o'clock in the afternoon at this time of year, and the people who use it are busi- ness mets and those coming home for supper with their families, and this would be between 6 30 and 8 00 p m. No airplane comes in after 10 00 p m. , the tower closes up and the runway lights are turned off at 11 00 p.m. Emergencies are handled with control being operated from Logan Airport. Asking for a statement from the Board that this will "serve notice of Lexington interests for the people who will be preparing a Hanscom Field Master Plan," is not in accordance with the facts As you know, I am Chairman of the Hanscom Task Force and we are developing a plan right nbw Conservation Commission, Planning Board, and the Town Engi- neer have fed information into this master plan and, obviously, Lexing- ton is interested. We should send an answer to Mr Friedman that Lexington should do nothing about it at the present time Mr' O'Connell I discussed it on the telephone with Mr Hidinger, Massport Manager at Hanscom, and he confirmed what Mr Brown has said. He indicated verbally that, basically, he had been in contact with several. of the larger industries of the area for a statement from them on how it would impact their businesses Three of them had said that curtailing night operation would be serious as they felt that Lexing- ton has, businesses which would be using Hanscom Field The Board agreed not to issue a policy statement on a curfew on night flying at Hanscom Field, and to so inform Mr. Friedman by letter outlining the above mentioned reasons Chairman Kenney read a request from the Elks Club for an exten- Elks Club sion ofl hours on New Year's Eve. New Year's Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to grant permis- Eve sion to the Elks Club for an extension of hours under the Club liquor license' to 2 00 a m. on New Year's Eve 1. 50 Selectmen's Meeting December 9, 1974 Chairman Kenney read a request from the Knights of Columbus for an K of C extension of hours on May 10, 1975 to 1 00 a m. Their hail has been Extension reserved for a non-profit charitable organization after a concert at the of Hours High School Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to grant permis- sion to the Knights of Columbus for an extension of hours under the Club liquor license to 1 00 a m. on May 10, 1975 Mrs Elizabeth Reinhardt, Mrs. Ruth Morey, Mr Larry Whipple, Mr Dan Fenn, Mrs Georgia Williams, and Mr Roland Greeley met with Request for the Board to request an Article in the Warrant for the establishment Establishment of an Historical Commission of the Town of Lexington under the provi- of Historical sions of G.L. Chapter 40, section 8D Commission Mrs Reinhardt. We would like to establish an Historical Com- mission so that we can become part of the state planning program. The advantages are two-fold and, once admitted to the national regis- ter status, we would be eligible for state and federal funded projects Mr Bailey Why do we need another historical group? Mrs Reinhardt The advantage is that we could have private funds Chairman Kenney We would assume that the Historical Society would continue as they have in the past and they would be custodians of property such as Buckman Tavern? Mrs Reinhardt The Historical Commission does not want property A budget of $500 a year would be adequate for us Mr Busa Since you wouldn't abolish the Historical Society, I assume they would work together? Mrs Reinhardt. Yes Mr Busa I disagree with you in being able to obtain federal funds; who is going to be leading the commission? Who will make deter- minations and decisions on what is best for historic places? Mrs Reinhardt Historic Districts would continue to answer and the Lexington Historical Society would work with them. It would be determined by the immediate situation of any given case I have been to the Historic Districts Commission and they are very supportive, in- cluding Chairman Jaquith Mr O'Connell I would comment on the matter of appointment. I believe it is the intent of the law, as applying to Lexington, that appointment would be by the Manager with approval of the Selectmen. My question is, "Do you know of anything that the Historical Commission intends to do that the Historical Society either is unable or unwilling or unauthorized to do? Mrs Reinhardt Our intention is that, primarily, our responsi- bilities would be as a legally established commission Mr O'Connell Then there is benefit to the Town if we have a legally constituted commission but the appointments should be from one and the same thing (Historical Society) but to be two different entities, the responsibility rests substantially with the same group of people 151 Selectmen's Meeting December 9, 1974 Mr Greeley If the Historical Commission identifies a property, it can act on its own but if it sees the need for an additional his- toric district, it would have to act through Town Meeting Chairman Kenney We agree to endorse your request to insert an Article in the Warrant for the 1975 Annual Town Meeting and it will be submitted as a Selectmen's Article rather than a Citizens' Article We would request that a member of your organization be prepared to carry the Article at Town Meeting The members agreed and retired from the meeting Chairman Kenney informed the Board that applications have been re- Renewal ceived for renewal of Package Stores licenses $1,500 fee has been re- Package ceived from each. Stores Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to renew the Package Goods licenses for the following Berman'$ Market Inc 55 Mass Ave Joseph Trani 1775 Mass Ave Busa Bros Liquors, Inc 131 Mass Ave Vinebrook Corp 1700 Mass Ave Mr. Busa abstained from voting Chairman Kenney informed the Board that applications have been re- Class 1 ceived for renewal of Class 1 licenses; also, Class 3 license $25 00 Class 3 fee for each Renewals Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to renew the Class 1 licenses for the following Class 1 Class 3 Auto Engineering, Inc 436 Marrett Rd. John P Carroll Co , Inc Colonial Garage, Inc 1668 Mass Ave 31 Allen Street Rowe Chevrolet, Inc 33 Bedford St. The Board discussed the Village Circle island and it was agreed Village to arrange a meeting with the residents of the area Circle Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to cancel the meeting scheduled on Monday, December 23, 1974 Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to go into Execu- Executive tive Session for the purpose of discussing, deliberating or voting on Session 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 matters of financial interest to the Town, it was voted to go out of Executive Session and resume the open meeting 152 Selectmen's Meeting December 9, 1974 II/ Mr Alden Webster met with the Board to discuss his property located Alden Webster at 113 North Street. 113 North St Chairman Kenney As I understand it, you own the house at 113 North Street and you intend to enlarge it; as a consequence, you would lose one- half of your driveway Mr Webster Yes The area is quite small there and it would be awkward to extend the house there Chairman Kenney Your question is if you could acquire a piece of town-owned land on the other side If it were tax title, it would be relatively easy, but it was acquired by the Town for playground or recrea- tional purposes Under Article 13, 1957 Special Town Meeting, the Town bought 10 9 acres As a bulk, this land is for wetland and conservation purposes and we would never consider selling it The Town does have a 50 ft. easement on Vine Brook The Town property line is 8 or 9 feet from the house Is the piece you are asking for high and dry? Mr Webster Yes; it is presently yard area Mr O'Connell I have a suggestion after hearing of Mr Webster's problem as to whether the Town could give him a right-of-way or an ease- ment for passage on Town land. It would still protect the Town's desire to keep the fee Mr Bailey An easement or right-of-way means a Town Meeting vote We should go back to the point of whether it would ever be used for the purposes for which the Town acquired it Mr Busa We could save a space for an Article to be put in the Warrant Chairman Kenney I think we should ask Mr. Webster to approach the Planning Board All we want is an indication from them on how they feel about it. The Board agreed to write to the Planning Board and request that they arrange a meeting with Mr. Webster to discuss the matter Mr Webster retired from the meeting Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to go into Executive Executive Session for the purpose of discussing, deliberating or voting on matters Session 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 matters concerning members of Town Boards, it was voted to go out of Executive Session Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to adjourn at 9 35 p.m. A true record, Attest Executive Clerk, Selectmen 111