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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1974-06-03-BOS-min 5(i() SELECTMEN'S MEETING June 3, 1974 I A regular meeting of the Board of Selectmen was held in the Select- men's Meeting Room, Town Office Building, on Monday, June 3, 1974, at 7 30 p.m Chairman Kenney, Messrs Bailey, Buse, Brown, and Mrs Battin; Mr O'Connell, Town Manager; Mr Cohen, Town Counsel; Mr Chase, Town Engineer; Mr Martin, Assistant Town Engineer; Mrs McCurdy, Executive Clerk, were present Hearing was declared open upon petition of Itek Corporation to in- stall one 6,000 gallon underground tank for storage of gasoline on the premises at 10 Maguire Road, Lexington Gasoline A notice of the hearing was inserted in the May 23, 1974 issue of Itek the Lexington Minute-man, and sent by certified mail by the applicant to Corporation the abutters, as listed on the records of the Assessors Application was approved by Fire Chief Spellman, after inspection of the proposed location of the underground tank Mr Robert A. Silk, representing Itek Corporation, was present, and said that the 6,000 gallon tank would be buried underground in accordance with the regulations set forth by the Fire Chief The gasoline is to be used for company vehicles, not for re-sale Chairman Kenney The plan meets with the Approval of the Fire Chief and he has informed us that no capsule is necessary Mr Brown and Mr Bailey felt that the tank should be encased because of the wet area and the possibility of leakage Mr Silk agreed that the underground tank would be encased in a plastic capsule No one appearing in favor or in opposition, Chairman Kenney declared the hearing closed Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to grant permission to Itek Corporation for the installation of a 6,000 underground gasoline tank on the premises at 10 Maguire Road, subject to the condition that the tank be encased in a plastic capsule Hearing was declared open on the petition of the Boston Edison Com- Boston pany to install conduit and manholes on Spring Street and Hayden Avenue Edison Notices of the hearing were sent to abutters, as shown on the Conduit Assessors' records, and filed with the Director of Public Works/Engineer- ing Spring St Chairman Kenney read a recommendation from Mr Coscia, DPW Manager, Hayden Ave stating that the Boston Edison Company is proposing to install conduit and manholes in Hayden Avenue for the purpose of providing electrical service to W R. Grace Company This department has reviewed the location and recommends that the Boston Edison be granted permission to install conduit and manholes with the condition that the working hours be 9 00 a.m.-3 30 p.m. Also, 1 In the event of changes that may occur to the electrical service for the Hayden Avenue Pumping Station, the Town of Lexington will not be responsible for any additional costs 51i 1 Selectmen's Meeting June 3, 1974 2 Boston Edison Company must provide electrical leads for proposed street lighting 3 Boston Edison Company must receive permission from the State Department of Public Works for that portion of Hayden Avenue that is State highway Mr Louis Jones, representing the Boston Edison Company, said that this petition is for a duct line of fibre pipe, and we will come around the corner in the grass and not open the pavement When installed, the existing pole line will be removed and, at that time, we have an Order from the Town to install thirteen lamp posts, which will feed out of the same line We are going to pick up the load for the industrial area, and once the fibre pipe is in the grass we will go overhead so that the load in Hayden Avenue will be supplied from the Waltham station Mr Bailey Essentially, it is overhead, out of the manhole? Mr Jones Yes The concrete lamp posts will be spaced 200 feet apart During construction, the driveways will be plated over for ac- cess Chairman Kenney Do our DPW restrictions bother you? Mr Coscia recommends that there be no additional cost to the Town Mr Jones No problem. I have discussed this with them, and I have met with District #4 (State) Engineers and they are in agreement The only thing we have yet to do is give the State an environmental re- port Chairman Kenney Is there anyone in the audience in favor or in opposition? Mr Van Boughton, representing W R. Grace Co , said that this peti- tion stems from a long series of negotiations with Boston Edison It had been our desire to have as much wiring as possible underground, and I understand the Town put the service to the pumping station underground Kennecott Copper was anxious to get the poles removed The difficult thing is that Edison refused to put underground in and we had a hearing on poles, at which time the petition was tabled because we felt we were going to work out something with Edison, and the cost of this work is being borne by Kennecott Copper, Burroughs, and W R. Grace I had a question about the cost of reconnection to the pumping station, and the Engineer's report says at no expense to the Town It was my understand- ing the Town was willing to pay that cost I don't know what it is and so I can't talk about it Mr Martin, Assistant Engineer I discussed it with Mr Coscia and he did tell me that he worked things out with Edison Mr Jones He took the position where we are allowed to tap into the manhole The Company said it would pick up the cost to the manhole What the cost would be, I don't know Mr Bailey As far as you know, it is acceptable? 5 t '2 Selectmen's Meeting June 3, 1974 Chairman Kenney You weren't expecting the cost? Mr Boughton No It might be a matter to hack out with Edison Chairman Kenney Is there anyone present in favor or in opposi- tion? Mr Van Boughton, W R. Grace Co , and Mr Lloyd Grace, Kennecott Copper, were recorded in favor of the petition Chairman Kenney declared the hearing closed Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to grant permis- sion to the Boston Edison Company for the following location of the installation of conduit and manholes Spring Street, at and northerly from Hayden Avenue, a distance of about 165 feet - Conduit Hayden Avenue, at and easterly from Spring Street, a distance of about 2,355 feet - Manholes and Conduit Hayden Avenue, southerly, approximately 630 feet east of Spring Street, a distance of about 18 feet - Conduit Hayden Avenue, northerly, approximately 980 feet east of Spring Street, a distance of about 5 feet - Conduit Hayden Avenue, northerly approximately 990 feet east of Spring Street a distance of about 5 feet - Conduit Permission was granted subject to the following conditions 1 In the event of changes that may occur to the electrical ser- vices for the Hayden Avenue Pumping Station, the Town of Lexington will not be responsible for any additional costs 2 Boston Edison Company must provide electrical leads for pro- posed street lighting 3 Working hours shall be 9 00 a m. to 3 30 p m Boston Hearing was declared open on the petition of the Boston Edison Com- Edison pany to install conduit and manholes on Spring Street at and Northerly Conduit from the Waltham-Lexington Town Line, 805 feet, more or less Spring St Notices of the hearing were sent to abutters, as shown on the Assessors' records, and filed with the Director of Public Works/Engineer- ing Chairman Kenney read a recommendation from Mr Coscia, DPW Manager, stating that the Boston Edison Company is proposing to install conduit and manholes in Spring Street for the purpose of providing electrical service to W R. Grace Company This department has reviewed the location and recommends that the Boston Edison be granted permission to install conduit and manholes with the condition that working hours shall be 900 am to 3 30pm Chairman Kenney This petition is in conjunction with the previous one just voted II/ Selectmen's Meeting June 3, 1974 Mr Van Boughton, W R. Grace Company, and Mr Lloyd Grace, Kennecott Copper, were recorded in favor of the petition No one else appearing in favor or in opposition, Chairman Kenney de- ' Glared the hearing closed Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to grant permis- sion to the Boston Edison Company for the following location of conduit and manholes, subject to the condition that working hours be from 9 00 a m to 3 30 p m. Spring Street, at and northerly from the Waltham-Lexington Town line a distance of about 805 feet-Manholes & Conduit Mr O'Connell recommended that the Board award the contract for sani- tary sewer construction on Wyman Road Interceptor, Lincoln Street, Wyman Contract Road to Somerset Paving Corporation, Somerset, Mass , as low bidder in the 73-13-E amount of $122,845 03 Authority for this work is contained in the appro- Sanitary priation under Article 20, 1973 He informed the Board that the Town is Sewers on a good construction timetable regarding sewers Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to award Contract 73-13-E to Somerset Paving Corporation for the construction of sanitary sewers in the amount of $122,845 03 Mr O'Connell showed sketches of signs for the identification of the Cary Memorial Building, and recommended that the Board meet with the Signs Trustees to discuss their preferences Cary The Board agreed that Mr O'Connell is to talk with one of the Memorial Trustees regarding the wording of the signs, to get some architectural Hall advice before the Board meets with the Historic Districts Commission, and to investigate funding for the signs Chairman Kenney read a memorandum from Mr John J McSweeney, Direc- tor of Public Works/Engineering, stating that approval has been received from the County Commissioners for an additional allotment in the amount of $9,500 00 for the East Street Chapter 90 Reconstruction Project, as requested by the Selectmen in their letter of January 3, 1974 to Dis- East St trict 4 Mass Department of Public Works, "Pursuant to your request re- Chap 90 garding the funding of the East Street Chapter 90 Project, please be Addition- advised that the Board of Selectmen at their regular meeting of December al Allot- 13, 1973 voted to approve the transfer of $9,500 to supplement funds ment previously appropriated for the reconstruction of East Street at a point of about 200 feet east of Lowell Street (Sta 6 + 65-) and extending in the westerly direction to Grant Street (Sta 37 + 501) This has been concurred by the Appropriation Committee at their regular meeting of January 2, 1974 " Chairman Kenney read a recommendation from the Director of Public Abate- Works/Engineering to abate water liens ments Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to sign the abate- Water ment of the following water liens Liens 4 564 Selectmen's Meeting June 3, 1974 111 Raymond Barnes 59 Gleason Rd $27 40 Last billing period water meter read wrong by meter man-Account liened-Now adjustment to be made Richard Rebsted 29 Woodcliffe Rd 95 55 " Mr McSweeney also recommended an abatement of a water betterment assessment Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to sign the abate- Water ment of the water betterment assessment to Donald Edward Watson, 65 Reed Assess Street, on Lots 73, 74, 75, 76 Garfield Street, in the amount of $150 00. Garfield The construction cost was borne by him Street Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to sign the list of water betterment assessments on Garfield Street Resignation Chairman Kenney read a letter of resignation from Kingston L Howard Bicentennial as a member and Chairman of the Lexington Bicentennial Committee Committee Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to accept, with re- gret, the resignation of Kingston L Howard from the Bicentennial Committee The Board discussed the proposal for the widening of Bedford Street Chairman Kenney Mrs Renee Cochin, Richard Sullivan, and Robert Proposal Whitman, Citizens Advisory Committee, are present but we are not asking to Widen for input at this time Last Wednesday evening, May 29, we were all at Bedford Cary Hall for the presentation of TAMS (Tippetts-Abbott-McCarthy-Stratton) Street and the State Department of Public Works, and this proposal met with some disapproval In fact, at one point it was suggested to tell the State to forget it We can't do that as we recognize that we have a traffic prob- lem, and if we feel there are no other alternatives, we may have to get down to Schemes A and B I think the direction from the Board would be to review the entire proposal Mrs Battin I would suggest the recommendation which came from the Planning Board Chairman Kenney read the following recommendation of the Planning Board "The Planning Board has reviewed the TAMS proposals for the recon- struction of Bedford Street Our principal concern about both alterna- tives is that no serious attention has apparently been given to the possibility of a narrow service road on the north side to serve the homes which now front diredtly on Bedford Street The problems which these residents suffer and which they create for passing drivers when they enter Bedford Street traffic, usually backwards, will only grow more acute if Bedford Street becomes wider and faster in this section We recognize there may be design problems and, certainly, the addition of another service road to that contemplated by Plan B would increase the cost These problems should be evaluated, however, and all design possibilities explored, before Lexington commits itself to either of 1 64)0 Selectmen's Meeting June 3, 1974 the alternatives presented so far Therefore, the Planning Board urges the Board of Selectmen to impress upon the Massachusetts Department of Public Works, as well as the consultants, the need for this further in- vestigation " Chairman Kenney TAMS and the State did some investigation Mr Chase, Engineer They didn't investigate going down to the Armory Mr Brown It seems to me they have never considered moving Bedford Street over; we have 300 ft on the south side and the State and consul- tants have never discussed moving Bedford Street bodily Mr Bailey This was not the consultant's assignment Mrs Battin I agree to recommend moving it Mr Brown I think the plan would be much more feasible and it should be moved Chairman Kenney Yours is one suggestion If these two plans are based on engineering data, you need storage capacity and six lanes for traffic There are roads like Memorial Drive and Storrow Drive that have four lanes, and Memorial Drive has side friction If, on an engineering premise, you have to have storage capacity, I would like to have it proven Mr Chase They said traffic would back up on Route 128, and the residents said, "No " Chairman Kenney They said we have to have three lanes or it would back up on Route 128 I think we have to examine and assign Police there Also, to have someone from Traffic there to have a professional, detailed study on how many cars come out of Eldred Street, at how many seconds, etc Mr Martin We did that a year ago Chairman Kenney We put a detail there and no one reported a back-up Mr Brown A Police Officer could be a traffic light by being a timer; that experiment has not been done That would give us a real time control and, also, if it backs up to Route 128 Mr Bailey Given a traffic flow, you can predict. I wouldn't want the Police to arbitrarily stop people Mrs Battin They could have a stack-up lane Mr Busa If you take Schemes A and B, if the critical point is at the bridge, they have already eliminated that Chairman Kenney Do you feel we could gather additional information by running a check for a week? Mr Martin By giving the count, there are ways to do it and it can be analyzed Chairman Kenney Has someone provided information to your satisfac- tion that traffic would back up? Mr Chase If they say so, I believe them. Mr O'Connell Has anyone in Engineering seen the consultant's data? Mr Chase Not to my knowledge Mr O'Connell If you fellows haven't seen it, you are running thin How good is his data? 566 Selectmen's Meeting June 3, 1974 Chairman Kenney Hold an experiment and look at their data to ana- lyze it and if we don't have information, you go out and get it See if we can answer the question as accurately as possible if the traffic would back up Mr Martin You aren't talking about 1973 problems; you are trying to build a road to solve problems in 1980 Chairman Kenney Admittedly, yes, but we have addressed ourselves to the Hartwell Avenue Connector and, when built, that should take consider- able amount of traffic off the street i don't think this road should necessarily be built with the idea that the Hartwell Connector not be built It seems to me that a smaller scope of the road would be a vast improvement with the connector Mr Bailey If we get the access road north of Bedford, what would it alleviate, if anything Could people going West hook in so that the light would be shorter? And if it would carry the storage? Chairman Kenney That is why we want to know more about the storage problem Mr Martin I don't think it would be too much of a job to verify the figures that TAMS has Chairman Kenney Why not see what they have and if their figures are accurate If we are not satisfied, we'll do it We are asking for an- other conceptual aspect Mr Brown I agree with Mr O'Connell that we need their numbers Mr Martin We agree with the Planning Board Mrs Battin Can't we refuse both of these proposals altogether? Chairman Kenney Yes, but it is encumbent upon us to request that other ways are explored which would help the traffic problem Chairman Kenney read a letter from Attorney David Murphy of the law Lot 91 firm of Russian and Barton regarding Lot 91 at the corner of Valleyfield Valleyfield Street and Grassland Street, which is owned by Joseph William Tripi, Jr Brook and Robin Marie Sokow The letter states that "for many years, indeed from time immemorial until some time five or six years ago, there existed a ditch which ran across Lot 91 along the rear line of the lot The course of the ditch is clearly shown on a recorded plan However, at some point in the recent past the Town was dredging the area and inad- vertently altered the course of the ditch such that presently it runs across the middle of Lot 91 My clients have purchased Lot 91 with the intention of constructing a home on the site All necessary permits have been obtained We have been heard by the Conservation Commission and are awaiting their Hatch Act approval of our proposal to have the course of the ditch re-altered back to substantially its original course in the rear of the lot My purpose is to request your Board to issue appropriate orders for the performance of the work by the Town and the payment by the Town of the costs involved The original alteration of the ditch was inadvertent I Q)6) i Selectmen's Meeting June 3, 1974 and improper I suggest to you that the Town accept itsresponsibility in this matter is the only logical and just course " Chairman Kenney read a letter from the Director of Public Works/ Engineering to Attorney Murphy stating that " The Town regrets to inform you that it can neither relocate brooks at the request of indivi- dual citizens nor bear the expense for such work Chapter 263 of the Acts and Resolves of 1926 gives the Town of Lexington, through its Board of Selectmen, authority to alter water courses as it deems necessary If your client wishes to alter the brook course, it is suggested that he re- quest, by writing the Selectmen, permission to relocate the brook With this written request must be submitted an acceptable plan and profile of the work to be done While not required by law, the Town is most inter- ested in obtaining permanent brook maintenance easements along all of its brooks Such easements, it is felt, will serve the future interests of the Town and the land owner by firmly setting the course of each brook and by giving the Town the unquestionable right to enter privately owned land in the interest of the Town For that reason the Department of Public Works/Engineering requests that you consider granting an ease- ment at no cost to the Town Its width and location would be decided by mutual agreement We must point out that all relocation work must be done entirely within the property lines of Lot 91 unless agreements are made with the abutters Finally, the Town will not bear the expense for any of the work Mr O'Connell Attorney Russian came to see me and said that about 5 or 20 years ago, the Town did something to the brook and the course was changed Because it was changed, the owner needs to do something about the problem. Chairman Kenney Mr McSweeney said that the Town didn't alter it, and our answer will be that, to the best of our knowledge, DPW did not alter the course of the brook Therefore, we feel it is encumbent upon his clients to make whatever changes are desired on their own This, of course, would be subject to conditions outlined in Mr McSweeney's letter to Attorney Murphy The Board agreed Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to approve the min- Minutes utes of the Selectmen's Meetings held on January 14, May2, and May 6, 1974 The Board discussed the vacancy existing on the Associate Membership Appt Board of the Board of Appeals of Appeals Mrs Battin moved and Mr Bailey seconded the motion that Mrs Associate Natalie H Riff in be appointed Member Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to appoint Mrs Natalie H Riffin an Associate Member of the Board of Appeals for a term of office to March 31, 1975, effective immediately 568 Selectmen's Meeting June. 3, 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 secu- rity, the financial interests of the Town, or the reputation of a person After discussion of a matter concerning Hinchey Road, and matters concerning the financial interest of the Town, it was voted to go out of Executive Session Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to adjourn at 940pm A true record, Attest � stiie�.✓ 2- c L4� Executive Clerk, Selectmen-