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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1974-11-18-BOS-min 11 e3 SELECTMEN'S MEETING November 18, 1974 A regular meeting of the Board of Selectmen was held in the Select- men's Meeting Room, Town Office Building, on Monday, November 18, 1974, at 7 30 p.m Chairman Kenney, Messrs Bailey, Busa, and Brown, Mrs Battin; Mr O'Connell, Town Manager; Mr Cohen, Town Counsel; Mrs McCurdy, Executive Clerk, were present At the request of the Town Clerk, seven jurors were drawn, as follows Freida C Alpert, 12 Tufts Road; Virginia L. Cardozo, 6 Jurors Paul Revere Road; William H McAlduff, 15 Theresa Avenue; Herbert P Grossimon, 52 Winthrop Road; Lila H Groisser, 510 Concord Avenue; Isabel F Willey, 12 Balfour Street; Elizabeth M Pilato, 4 Holmes Road Mr Raftes and Mr Martin Smith, Jr , Post Office officials, met with the Board to discuss the proposed Post Office site on Waltham Street. Chairman Kenney We have asked you to meet with us to update the Board concerning your plans on relocating the central service in the Post Office Town Move Mr Smith We have presented our material to the Planning Board, and will go to the Board of Appeals, on the facility called an incoming mail facility This is one of five being built in the general area around Boston It is primarily aimed at rearrangement of mail distribu- tion pattern in greater Boston and the surrounding area Incoming mail will be coming there but outgoing will not be processed The center will serve Arlington, Belmont, Weston, Waverley, Waltham and Lexington, and will have carrier areas There are 40 carriers located next door now and, in addition to them, Waltham carriers will be there, and 34 carriers from Belmont will be located there Outgoing mail will con- tinue to go into the South Postal station in Boston Incoming will come in to be processed and will be delivered here Lexington mail bound for Portland, for example, would be sent to South Postal There are 40 carrier routes in Lexington and 61 in Waltham, a total of 101 going out here; with the addition of some from Belmont, which will not be effected for some time The facility will operate 24 hours a day, 6 days a week, with an annual payroll of $5 1 million Parking re- quirements on-site are for 289 vehicles, including USPS and employees' vehicles, with future expansion to 345 The 40 Lexington carriers will go to Waltham Street to Spring Street and from there into the Lexington area Waltham carriers will go onto Waltham Street to Waltham. Belmont carriers will go Waltham Street to Route 2 to Con- cord Avenue Most of the operation takes place in the off-peak period. Incoming mail in larger trucks will be done during the night Carriers will go out between 8 to 10 and return between 2 and 4 p m. Chairman Kenney Mr Bailey asks that you further explain the Waltham to Spring Street route 114 Selectmen's Meeting November 18, 1974 Mr Bailey You are apparently seeking to be located on Waltham Street. Why is Spring Street involved? Mr Smith It is not. We will go via Waltham Street. The carriers will all be located down there I know you are interested in the present facility The newspaper previously mentioned that we would have a store-front; we meant that we would have a finance opera- tion in a small store or a new building that we might have built for us We would go into the shopping center There would be no carriers or mail sorting Mr Bailey There would be boxes? Mr Smith Yes, for local pick-up The present building, being federal property, would be turned over to G S.A , who normally offers them first to other federal agencies such as state and municipalities, and finally on the free market for sale at market value At this point, if Lexington is interested in obtaining the postal facility there, it would be no problem to do so Chairman Kenney We don't have any immediate plans but we do want to emphasize the point that we are interested in that it has possibili- ties that are definitely worthwhile exploring Mr. Smith We could also maintain our present finance operation in that building, if the Town wanted to purchase and lease, or we could maintain and lease the rest of the building to the Town We would be flexible There could be the sale to private ownership, and it could be taxable Chairman Kenney One of our problems is getting a left-hand mail drop Mr Smith Mr Walker ha the message Regarding our site, we did look at Hayden Avenue, and tha was turned down by the Board of Appeals as they felt we were getting t o much facility on too little land, and it was tight; there was a questio of whether we could handle additional parking We located a 24 acre tract on Waltham Street and the Planning Board felt that was adequate, more than we need. Mr Raftes Where the area is more than we need, the Planning Board suggested that they pick up 10 acres of the site for Conservation Mr O'Connell showed a map of the area and pointed out the lowland and the area that is buildable Mr. Brown I have a question as to who owns the Aiden L. Ripley painting, which we took off the previous Post Office wall and put on the present one Does the Town own it or the Post Office? It was originally painted on plaster and it was cut out of the wall and mounted Mr Raftes I think the Town would get control of that Mr Brown On the "input - output" level, you suggest that trucks come into the Town between 3 and 5 a m. These would be 10- wheelers Mr Raftes They won't come through the Town Mr Brown The real heavy trucking is coming in just at these hours Mr Smith A good number of them will come up Route 2 Coming from Springfield or South Postal, I am sure they will use Route 2 I15`7 Selectmen's Meeting November 18, 1974 I 111 Mr. Brown I am saying they will come down Waltham Street Is that correct? Mr Raftes There are only a few of them, and they are staggered They don't come all at once Mr Smith They would only come down Waltham Street from the in- tersection of Route 2 Mr Brown I know that the residents will be awakened and will be calling the Selectmen Chairman Kenney Is your next step to go to the Board of Appeals? Mr Raftes and Mr Smith Yes If you have any questions, just let us know and we will keep you advised We did everything in our power to accomplish this and will continue to do so On the advice of the Planning Board, we changed the plan and will not have metal on the building, which is to be of brick and concrete Mr Raftes and Mr. Smith retired from the meeting Fire Chief Spellman, Deputy Chief Silva, the Appropriation Com- mittee, Mr Butler and Mr McGonagle of the Personnel Advisory Board, Fire De- Mr Chapman, Personnel Consultant, met with the Board to discuss per- partment sonnel requirements for the Fire Department Personnel Chief Spellman It is necessary to increase the personnel of the Requests Fire Department and, with the changes in the state law, we believe that what we are to present to you tonight is a program that will in- crease the efficiency and give more protection in the area in which we are empowered. Deputy Silva will make the presentation Deputy Silva The operation of the fire service is becoming more involved each year, which makes it necessary for interdepartmental changes, such as rescheduling of shifts and regrouping of personnel It is the fire department's responsibility to maintain adequate pro- tection in the manner that the residents of the town have been ac- customed to Therefore, sufficient manpower to handle the ordinary emergencies must be considered Manpower has been a problem for many years In all cases, it has been acknowledged that the fire department was below the standards set by the National Fire Prevention Associa- tion's recommendation of 1 09 on-duty men per 1000 population At present, this department is operating on approximately 0 45 on-duty men per 1000 population Beyond this point, our department has a mutual aid agreement with the bordering towns Also, the return of the off- duty men is required. Back in 1968, 1969, and 1970, the department operated with a complement of 16 3 on-duty men per shift In 1971, due to the reduction in the hourly work week from 50 4 hours to a 42-hour work schedule, the manpower was reduced to 14 on-duty men per shift In 1972, the number of men in the department was increased to a total of 15 on-duty men per working shift This is the arrangement that still exists within the department today In view of the adoption pos- sibilities of new federal rules and regulations pertaining to the Emer- gency Medical Services, plus the ever-increasing vacation period and 116 Selectmen's Meeting November 18, 1974 sick leave policy that the town has adopted, reduction in manpower is evident during the greater part of the year We must keep in mind the ever-growing population and the upcoming Bicentennial with its numerous unforeseen problems and emergencies The Fire Prevention and Inspection Bureau has increased in its responsibilities to the ex- tent that the department can afford, and should have, a fire prevention officer working a 5-day week This would increase the personnel by 1 man, and a request of 4 additional men that would increase the total manpower to 16 on-duty men per shift, will nearly equal the complement established back in 1968, 1969 and 1970 The 42-hour work week, as it now exists, is broken down to a 4- shift basis of 15 men, each. With this number, it can be seen that we have the bare minimum for a single emergency of fire Vacations, sick leave, injured leave, and ambulance requirements can reduce this figure to 6 or 9 men If there are 3 men on vacation, 1 man on sick leave, 1 dispatcher, 1 Deputy Chief may be on another assignment, this leaves 9 men to respond. An ambulance .call, which requires 2 or 3 men depending on the required attention of the emercrencv, can reduce the response to 6 or 7 men A calculated risk can sometimes be taken on a given emer- gency but, with the present manning, I believe we are far below the safety factor for the proper protection of the townspeople Mr Chapman How many more are you asking for in addition to the fire prevention man? Deputy Silva Four men, in addition to the fire prevention offi- cer Chairman Kenney How many call firemen are there? Chief Spellman Six Deputy Silva explained a manpower and equipment chart showing a dispatcher, Deputy Chief, driver and officer on Engine 2, driver and attendant on the Rescue vehicle, driver and attendant on the ambulance, and drivers on the ladder and Engine 3 There are two floaters who could be assigned to Engine 2 or the ladder At East Lexington are a driver and officer for Engine 1, and two floaters for Engine 4 Chief Spellman remarked that it is sometimes necessary for him to accompany the ambulance driver because of a shortage of men Mr O'Connell I think it only fair to ask how many times that has happened? Chief Spellman I do not have the figures Chairman Kenney If you go out from East Lexington, would the two engines go out? Deputy Silva Yes Chairman Kenney You have mentioned vacations How many men, normally, are on a shift? Mr O'Connell Explain voluntary call back and how it is used Deputy Silva We do have voluntary call back when we go below the minimum coverage; then we call them back on a voluntary basis Mr Bailey That is below the 12 men? 1 1f( Selectmen's Meeting November 18, 1974 Deputy Silva Yes When we run on a minimum, we are one short in the station Mrs Hagedorn, Appropriation Committee Who establishes minimum coverage? Mr. O'Connell That is now an item for collective bargaining We have 13 men normally, and 12 in the summer Mr Furash, Appropriation Committee Is that subject open, or bar- gained the first year? Mr O'Connell No, but the first year we put it in the contract in this specific a form. Mr Furash What is the Town's obligation? Mr Bailey It is a delicate situation Mr Mitchell, Appropriation Committee Have you considered making the dispatcher a clerk? Mr O'Connell The fact is that we have a sufficient complement of limited duty so we can more than meet that request for a man that can't respond to fires Mr Furash Before the Appropriation Committee evaluates the propo- sal, since you want to use the National Association level, we would like to know at what level it relates to the size of the town and the nature; relate that to fire frequencies, and where does Lexington fit in these fire frequencies Give us the nature of our fire classification in in- ' surance Examine the frequency of fires on a daily basis in relation to the amount of coverage, the frequency of calls, the number of major fires vs minimum fires; ambulance calls for a typical 30-day period Give us a feel on relationship of how you stand on manpower in rela- tion to call frequency Chief Spellman Melrose, Wellesley, Belmont, and Winchester have a population between 22,000 to 34,000 and with their manpower situation compared to Lexington, we are considerably lower We have an area in Lexington of 161 square miles and Melrose has 4 01 and Wellesley has 10 square miles Mr Furash Is the call frequency the same in all these towns? Chief Spellman We differ from the majority because we are the only ones that operate an ambulance Mr Furash But they all have different amounts and different types of industry than we do Chief Spellman The total alarms do not differ from what we have in Lexington Mr. Levingston, Appropriation Committee Some towns don't have an ambulance? Chief Spellman In some, the Police run the ambulance Mr Levingston We would like the population density and the area Mr Furash We are trying to get the number of dwellings and the number of men on duty We are faced with the problem that once we went to the 42-hour week in 1971 Do insurance classifications depend on experience? Has there been any change reflecting adverse experience when we went to 42-hour coverage? 118 Selectmen's Meeting November 18, 1974 Chief Spellman They takeequipment into consideration As far as commercial rates, they said they wouldn't change it That was before we dropped down into a lower manpower situation Chairman Kenney It seems to me that going back over the years when we have had requests for manpower, the attitude was "watch the tax rate " It appears that the time has come to take a hard look at departments and start getting manpower and put it on a more adequate basis; we are in worse shape than in the '60's The town has to face it, maybe spread over a period of years Mr Furash I wouldn't say we are against it if the evidence is not enough to persuade us. We are responsible for making decisions on facts, and dollars and cents We would not consider it on the basis of anecdotes heard here tonight. Mr Mitchell If you get one guy; you asked for five people, what is the priority? Mr. O'Connell There are two positions, four to fill one of the positions, and one for the other Mr. Mitchell Do you want to increase fire coverage on some shifts or on the fire prevention program? Chief Spellman At the present time, we would take one if you say you will give us one, and put him in fire prevention because of the changes in the laws Therefore, we believe the one man on priority would be for fire prevention Mr Mitchell How about two men, would you still go that way? Deputy Silva I can't see an unbalanced structure Chairman Kenney Assuming you couldn't get four, obviously the two men would be two more firefighters to help out on vacations Chief Spellman We do have a floater system Mr Mitchell If you get two men, would one be for fire preven- tion and one for fires? Chief Spellman One for fire prevention and one as a floater Mr Furash I would like to know how fire prevention is being done now and what the workload is being done Deputy Silva When I was the Deputy Chief, my job was in just in schools and in command of Group A; I didn't have enough time and had to do it on off duty time It is a time consuming job Mr Furash Have you made a list of calls and put classifica- tions on them, and a category of things to be done and, at various levels, things not to do? Then, we would like to know who is doing that now Next, how you would assign, and what it would mean by assigning a person Things that people can't do now because they are doing fire prevention and for education purposes Sharing of men is of some benefit Mr. Levingston We would like to see the relationship to fire inspection - what the Fire Department does and what the Building In- spector does 1 1. 1.9 Selectmen's Meeting November 18, 1974 Chief Spellman We have priorities Schools, fire alarm drills, quarterly inspection of nursing homes and, occasionally, we have the state inspectors here and the Department of Public Safety coming out We have to go with them on routine inspections and we have to send a man with them. Mr Furash Does this man have to be specially trained? Chief Spellman Yes, by seminars and special courses Mr. O'Connell There are more than prevention matters The Fire Department operates under a certain section of law which spells out fire safety Building Department operates under,building codes Mr Levingston Is there, in fact, any overlapping? Mr O'Connell Yes The Building Inspector inspects according to plumbing, heating, electrical, etc codes; the Fire Department. accord- ing to combustion hazards Building inspects under the building codes and the Fire Department can find out if it represents a safety hazard. This is the case right now regarding plastic material Mr Chapman I have heard your ideas for the future and, rather than have men playing cards, they could be out on inspection; you could train them for things for which they don't qualify I am talk- ing about greater utilization of manhours that they are being paid for; they are going to be doing more in total than they are doing now and it is of benefit to the town Chief Spellman In 1970, we did 3,000 and now we are doing 6,800 inspections Mr Furash Are people in the department doing this? Chief Spellman Everybody is doing it. Mr Furash With benefit of training, everyone could do inspec- tions What would these people be doing if put in the hands of specialists? Mr O'Connell Mr Chapman is extending it to codes Mr Bailey I visualize the fact now that the way the shift works out, he is on duty during his normal, full sequence of work; the way the four shifts work, something gets lost in the continuity of inspec- tion Also, the continuity of firefighters on the risks, etc The way I visualize it is the lead man would take teams of on-duty firefighters out, and he would be the coordinator and not do it all himself Mr Chapman. Are you doubting the possibility? Mr- Bailey There is one man who is working the day shift and you will have the continuity and it is systematized from Monday through Friday; the men wouldn't end up just two days Deputy Silva It would be two days out of eight Chairman Kenney It was mentioned that they sit around playing cards; these fellows are making inspections Mr Furash If they make 50 inspections, how many men would be out? Chief Spellman it fluctuates Mr Chapman Do the inspections have to be done during the day? Mr. O'Connell The majority are only open during the day Chief Spellman This is when we can get the men out 12() Selectmen's Meeting November 18, 1974 Mr Chapman Someone raised the question of whether this is the 1� result of demands Apart from that, but related to it, what is the feeling of the men regarding staffing, and why? Chief Spellman There is one man on the back of the truck They pick up the codes and ask for figures as they say we are running con- siderably less than surrounding towns They feel they should have sufficient manpower riding on the trucks with them Mr Chapman Is this a feeling of exploitation? Deputy Silva It is a more comfortable feeling to know you have back-up men Mr Chapman I don't understand it if you have 14 or 15 men on a shift. Do you have sick leave statistics? Chief Spellman We were running between 5% and 7% this year; 4% last year Mr Bailey Is this for all causes, injuries, non-injuries? Chief Spellman Yes Mr Chapman What about temporary men? Mr O'Connell We have voluntary call back, on straight time Chief Spellman agreed to compile additional information which will be submitted to the Appropriation Committee, and he and Deputy Chief Silva retired from the meeting Mr Furash discussed the vote of the Board on November 11 to in- Burlington stall a guard rail in front of the Burlington Arcade on Lowell Street Arcade He said that he realized it was necessary because of a public safety Guard Rail hazard but the Appopriation Committee asks what effort is being made against the developer to recover the costs in creating this situation Chairman Kenney You understand that we are in litigation now re- garding illegal removal of gravel from the Lexington side Mr Furash If your Board has ruled that it is a matter of public safety, does this owner have any responsibility for having created a hazard? Mr Busa The hazardous point is at the Burlington-Lexington line Chairman Kenney Our position is that we want him to fix that place up Mrs Hagedorn That is different from public safety Mr Furash; If you run out of money, we will ask what you are doing to get the money back Mr Busa �We will do everything we can Mr Furash; That's what we want to hear The Appropriation Committee, Mr Butler, Mr McGonagle, and Mr Chapman retired from the meeting Chairman Kenney read requests from Mr Trimhold, 57 Reed Street, Traffic for a painted crosswalk at Bedford and Reed Streets, the relocation of Reed and the bus stop from Bedford and Reed Streets to Bedford and Vaille Avenue, Bedford Sts and a pedestrian signal at Bedford Street and Worthen Road 1 121 Selectmen's Meeting November 18, 1974 After discussion, the Board accepted the recommendation of the Bedford & Traffic Safety Committee to continue the bus stop location at Bedford Worthen Rd. and Reed Streets Also, it was agreed that the Traffic Safety Com- Pedestrian mittee would request the Engineering Department to study the inter- Light section of Bedford Street and Worthen Road to determine if this area Request meets the State warrants for a pedestrian signal Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to instruct the Director of Public Works to make arrangements for a crosswalk to be painted at Reed and Bedford Streets The Board discussed the Bicentennial Committee's recommended list of invitations to activities scheduled for Patriots' Day weekend of Guest List 1975 It was agreed to recommend the following changes (1) Confirm April 19, the number for Scottish Rites for 4 people (2) Raise the number for 1975 Week- ESK Hanscom to 6 people (3) Dignitaries for the rededication ceremony end under "Other Countries" should be included on April 19, and the invi- tation to England should be of a higher rank than the Consul General (4) Reserved seating for the distinguished visitor not on the list Guest Lists for Patriots Day Weekend 1975 Saturday, April 19, 1975 Number (Including Spouse) United Nations Secretary General 2 Brad Morse 2 Other Countries British Consul General 2 Mayor, Dolores Hedalgo 2 United States Chief Justice Burgar 2 Senator Brooke 2 Senator Kennedy 2 Representative 2 States Governors of 13 Original States 26 122 Selectmen's Meeting November 18, 1974 Number Saturday. April 19th, 1975 (Con't.) (Including Spouse) Massachusetts Governor 2 Lieutenant Governor 2 Chief Justice 2 Adjutant General 2 Senator MacKenzie 2 Representative Cole 2 One Additional State Senator 2 Two Additional State Representatives 4 Other Towns 21 Other Lexingtons in U S 42 Lexington Town Manager 2 Board of Selectmen 10 Town Celebrations Committee 18 Lexington Bicentennial Committee 30 President, Lexington Historical Society 2 Parade Chief Marshall 2 White Tricon Hat Recipients 7 Chairman, T.M.M.A. 2 Stan Maxwell, Scottish Rites 4 National Park Superintendent 2 Director 2 Military Commander, Fort Devens 2 Commander, 1st Naval District 2 Commander, 1st Coast Guard 2 Commander, ESD Hanscom 6 Sunday, April 20, 1975 (Rededication Ceremony) The guest list for April 20th closely resembles that for April 19th Probable deletions include (a) 21 Other Lexingtons and (b) Military representatives 123 Selectmen's Meeting November 18, 1974 Sunday, April 20th, 1975 (Rededication Ceremony-Con't ) Probable additions include (a) Other Countries England - Queen or representative of royal family Mexico - President or Ambassador Canada - Prime Minister or Ambassador France - President or Ambassador (b) United States President Ford (c) Other Towns Selectman Chairman from 28 neighboring 1775 towns Representatives of Concord Celebrations Committee The Board discussed and agreed to table the decision regarding the Housing & Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 pending a recommendation Comm Dev from Mr O'Connell after his visit to Washington Act of '74 The Board discussed a letter received from Frank Michelman and Donald Turner concerning a letter to the editor, published in the Lex- ington Minute-man, describing an allegedly unwarranted stopping of a Complaint vehicle and interrogation of its occupants by two members of the Lex- Police ington police force Department Chairman Kenney They are saying to the Board that we should investigate this to see if the officers had sufficient cause to stop them and, if that was the case, it should be stopped I don't know if the facts are alleged or complete Mrs Battin Our policy is that the Chief would agree to talk with them. Mr. Bailey How long ago did this occur? Chairman Kenney The incident happened about a month ago Mr O'Connell There has been no contact with anybody in Town government. Mrs Battin We should publicize our policy in the newspaper that (1) they should go to Chief Corr and if there is no satisfaction, (2) to go to the Town Manager Mr O'Connell With the understanding that the parties involved have to document it Chairman Kenney I will respond to the letter and tell them our policy The Board agreed 124 Selectmen's Meeting November 18, 1974 Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to go into Execu- I 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 concerning the financial interest of the Town and an item on the Bicentennial weekend, it was voted to go out of Executive Session Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to adjourn at 10 25 p m. A true record, Attest A )119c Executive Clerk, Sele tmen 1