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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1973-12-17-BOS-min 366 SELECTMEN'S Meeting December 17, 1973 A regular meeting of the Board of Selectmen was held in the Select- men's Meeting Room, Town Office Building, on Monday, December 17, 1973, at 7 30 p.m. Chairman Kenney, Mr. Busa, Mr. Brown and Mrs. Riffin; Mr. O'Connell , Town Manager; Mr. Cohen, Town Counsel ; Mrs. McCurdy, Executive Clerk, were present. Chairman Kenney opened the hearing on the application of the Minuteman Regional Vocational Technical School for permission to in- stall the following in underground vaulted concrete storage tanks: Two 15,000 gallons 04 fuel oil ; one 8,000 gallons gasoline; one 1 ,000 gallons propane gas; one 1 ,000 gallons waste oil and one 750 gallons propane gas stored above ground. The hearing was advertised in the December 6 issue of the Lexing- ton Minute-man and notices sent to the abutters by the applicant. Mr. Alfred Cron, representing the Minuteman Regional Vocational Technical High School , and Penelope Beye, representing the School Architect, were present and explained the plans to the Board. MRVTHS Chairman Kenney to Mr. Cron Do I understand that these tanks Fuel are already installed? Application Mr. Cron Yes, the plans were approved by the Fire Chief. Chairman Kenney: You had no license to install the tanks. Mr. Cron Our understanding was that we needed a license to keep the fuel. Mr. O'Connell I tanked to them about the application and, due to the size of the storage tanks, I believe I made it clear a license should be applied for. Chairman Kenney It seems to me that the Board, as the licens- ing authority, would have something to say about the fact that they are already in.. Having gone that far with construction rather pre- cludes the licensing authority having anything to say. This is the first time we have had people coming in for a license for storage of inflammable fuel when they have already installed the tanks. Chairman Kenney to Mr. O'Connell Did you speak to them? Mr. O'Connell I recall the discussion well over a year ago, about the need for vaulting and I spoke to several people, and" I had one or two conversations with the architectural firm on the matter. Mr. Brown: Are these all vaulted? Mr. Cron The oil tanks are vaulted and the gas and waste storage are vaulted; the propane tank is not vaulted. I had a conver- sation with Mr. O'Connell and Chief Spellman because of the watershed; they were vaulted in concrete to be waterproof. Maybe there was an error. 367 Selectmen's Meeting December 17, 1973 Chairman Kenney: I would emphatically say, sir, that you were in error. Mr. Cron: Two 15,000 gallon oil tanks sit in a vault and it is not covered over. There is a small building with propane tank, oxygen and acetylene tanks. We have two propane tanks for emergency lights, one propane tank for one of the stoves, and one is buried in the ground. Mr. Busa: All the tanks that were buried, were they inspected? Mr. Cron Yes, the architect had someone from the Fire Department inspect them. The gasoline tanks are not in place yet. Mr. Brown: There is one propane tank above ground? Mr. Cron There is one in the building and one underground. Mr. Busa Before we vote to grant permission, we should have them inspected. Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to table the ap- plication of the Minuteman Regional Vocational Technical School for a license for fuel tanks. Mr. Cron For the School Distrtct Committee, I apologize for the misunderstanding. Mr. Brown There should be a special report on oxygen and acetylene tanks being stored in the same building. Mr. O'Connell agreed to speak to Chief Spellman and ask for a com- plete inspection and a report to the Board. Mr. O'Connell discussed National Flood insurance. There is the question whether or not Lexington is flood-prone, and I would say it is flood-prone in a very limited way. Regarding Tophet Swamp, the Town would have to accept it as an area that floods, but it would not be easy to get mortgages on buildings in that area as there would have to Flood be state inspections made. insurance Mr. Brown What about the Great Meadows? Although it Is in Lexington, does this cover land not owned by the Town? Mr. O'Connell: I think the Great Meadows would become Arlington under this insurance. Mr. Brown: I think there is a question whether the Town is re- sponsible for land owned by another town. Mr. O'Connell : You can get the Army Engineers to say whether land is subject to flooding under their definitions. Chairman Kenney: We can read this application and come to the con- clusion that we can go no further. Mr. O'Connell: Yes. You can get the Army Engineer's survey Mr. O'Connell reported to the Board that today's ice storm pro- duced a large number of trees down and streets were blocked at times; Ice there was also considerable basement flooding and loss of power. Storm Boston Edison has had four crews working up to 7 00 p.m. and they have been working closely with the Town crews in order to get the system 1 Selectmen's Meeting December 17, 1973 back in operation. We have alerted our disaster personnel in case some families have to be taken to warm buildings; cots will be set up in Cary Hall and a custodian will be on duty. The Board expressed appreciation to the Town Manager and Town De- partments for doing an excellent job during the severe storm. Mr. Cohen came into the meeting at 7 55 p.m. Chairman Kenney read a request from the Tax Collector regarding an Ambulance ambulance bill abatement. Bill Upon motion duly made and seconded, It was voted to rescind the vote of November 26, 1973 to abate the 1971 ambulance bill of Kenneth Toomey, 183 Woburn Street, in the amount of $10.00, as payment has been received. Upon motion duly, wede andcseconded, it was voted to sign the Class I Motor Vehicle Licenses (renewals) , as follows: Lawless Mawhiney Motors, Inc. 581 Marrett Road Auto Engineering, Inc. 436 Marrett Road Colonial Garage, Inc. 1668 Mass. Avenue Patriot Ford, Inc. 409 Mass. Avenue Rowe Chevrolet, Inc. 33 Bedford Street New Year's Chairman Kenney read a request from the Sheraton Lexington Motor Sheraton Inn regarding New Year's Eve. Lexington Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to approve the Inn request of the Sheraton Lexington Motor Inn for an extension of hours under their Innholder Liquor License on New Year's Eve to 100 a.m. Chairman Kenney read a request from the Lexington Golf Club for an extension of hours on New Year's Eve. Also, an extension of hours Lextngton on Fridays and Saturdays to 12 00 M. instead of 10 00 p.m. Golf Club Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to approve the request of the Lexington Goif Club for an extension of hours under their Club Liquor License on New Year's Eve to 2 00 a.m. Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to approve the request of the Lexington Golf Club for an extension of hours under their Club Liquor License on Fridays and Saturdays from II 30 a.m. to 12:00 M. Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to sign the 1974 Club Liquor License (renewal ) for the Lexington Golf Club, with Dan Martinez as the new Manager. Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to sign the appli- cation to the Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission for approval of the new Manager, Dan Martinez, of the Lexington Golf Club. 369 Selectmen's Meeting December 17, 1973 Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to sign the 1974 Innholder Liquor Licenses (renewals) for the Sheraton Lexington Motor Inn and the Battle Green Inn. The Board discussed applications for Common Victualler Licenses. Chairman Kenney We have a part time inspector attempting to in- spect all of these places but there is a great deal of time involved and it is impossible for him to get to all of them. The Board agreed to write to all holders of Common Victualler Licenses and inform them that they will be under continuous inspection by the Health Inspector and subject to meeting the standards of the Board of Health. Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to sign Common Victualler Licenses for the following renewals: Common Arno's Deli 321 Woburn Street Victualler Sutton Place, Inc. 399 Lowell Street Licenses Danish House 1847 Mass. Avenue Renewals Woodhaven Country Store 424 ?Jarrett Road Alexander's Pizza 180 Bedford Street Peking Gardens 27 Waltham Street Kentucky Fried Chicken 211 Mass. Avenue Regent Deli 1729 Mass. Avenue 111 Denny's Restaurant 438 Bedford Street Hancock Market 6 No. Hancock Street Howard Johnson Route 128 Minute Man Restaurant 1715 Mass. Avenue Brighams/Buttricks 34 Bedford Street Brighams 1777 Mass. Avenue Dunkin Donuts 373 Waltham Street Bora-Bora 177 Mass. Avenue Pewter Pot Muffin House 1710 Mass. Avenue Friendly Ice Cream Corp. 60 Bedford Street Chairman Kenney discussed the printing of the Warrant for the 1974 Annual Town Meeting. A quotation of $31.00 per page has been received from the Lexington Press, who has been printing the Warrant for many Printing years and does an excellent job Also, being conveniently located, we Town are able to work well with them in having proofs returned quickly, Warrant warrants sent to be addressed, then to the Pott Office for mailing - all in a matter of a short period of time. Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to award the con- tract for the printing of the Warrant for the 1974 Annual Town Meeting to Lexington Press. Inc. , in the amount of $31.00 per page. Chairman Kenney said that the Board iS aware of the opposition of Lincoln the abutters of Lincoln Street for the construction of a sidewalk. This Street was the consensus at the street hearings held last week. Sidewalk 370 Selectmen's Meeting December 17, 1973 Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to delete the Lincoln Street sidewalk from the proposed capital budget. ido further consideration will be given. Woodland St. Chairman Kenney recommended that Woodland Street and Sunny Knoll Sunny Knoll Avenue be deleted from the proposed capital budget because of opposi- Avenue tion expressed at the street hearings. Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to delete Woodland Street and Sunny Knoll Avenue from the proposed capital budget. The Board agreed to consider Tewksbury Street and a portion of Wachusetts Drive - Fair Oaks to Prospect Hill Road for 1974 streets. Mrs. Margery Battin and Mrs. Elizabeth Clarke met with the Board. Mrs. Clarke: We asked to talk with you because of the problem of filling a vacancy on the School Committee. We feel that having a Filling special election is wasteful , and our first idea was to extend the Vacancies period from 100 to 200 days. There have been many people concerned on Boards about it and other Boards felt they hadn't been consulted. Chairman Kenney All we said was that we were going to insert it in the warrant. Mrs. Riff in: 1 did speak to the.:Chairman of the.Bchool Committee. Mrs. Clarke: I thought,,and there were other people that felt they would like to be consulted. Chairman Kenney: We intend to talk with people. Mrs. Battin: I think they would have liked input before it was put into the warrant. Mr. Busa Are you insinuating that 10,000 people be told before we can put an article in a warrant? Mrs. Riffin: The warrant doesn't close until December 21. Mrs. Clarke: I have listed some alternatives, and there are alternatives to those. Some people suggested the matter should be studied. Mrs. Battin I had checked in other towns and we came to conclu- sions that it might make more sense that rather than one article, to refer to a study committee of a Selectman, School Committeeman, and a Town Meeting member. There are a lot of people who would like to have input. Mrs. Clarke: I think it would be possible for study before Town Meeting on whether to have. a broader article, but I have strong feel- ings if there is only the article put in. Chairman Kenney to Mr. Cohen How broad could the article be? Mr. Cohen: I think it could be broad enough. Chairman Kenney: We had primarily discussed the way it was done before by the School Committee and the Board of Selectmen. Mr. Cohen There would be an amendment to the Town Manager Act and you have. to go to the Legislature; the article could be broad enough to include this. 374 Selectmen's Meeting December 17, 1973 Mrs. Clarke: My suggestions are. the old way, signatures- on nomi- nation papers, Special Town Meeting to elect from among nominees, elect the runner-up provided he had received 25-35% of the vote, extend the number of days for 6 months, the remaining 4 members of the Board fill the vacancy, a 7-man Board and why fill at all if we have a 6-man Board left. Mrs. Battin: We would like thus to be thoughtfully considered. It concerned me that this is the one part of the charter that the voters voted themselves to fill a vacancy, and we ought to give them the right. Mr. Cohen If you change this, you can always put in the Act that it won't be until you put it in an election. Mrs. Clarke: Personally, I think it should include filling vacan- cies on the Board of Selectmen and the Planning Board. Chairman Kenney thanked Mrs. Battin and Mrs. Clarke for meeting with the Board. It was agreed to take their suggestions into consider- ation when the matter is further discussed. Mr. George Silverman, Capital Expenditures Committee, and Mr. Mitchell , Kingston, Whitman, Blaisdell , Dailey, and Perry of the Appropriation Com- mittee met with the Board. Mr. Silverman: We have made a reasonable evaluation of five years and have capital costs remain somewhat level. We have made certain pro- Budgets jections in prior years and we find sewers and water mains are in line; streets, sidewalks and DPW 100 percent of projection. The fact that saves us is the new fire engine is out and conservation has not made projections. We do this based upon what is spent in past years and based upon requirements submitted to us in prior years. Unfortunately, we have not had a good 5-year overall on streets and sidewalks, and we are over. We asked the Engineering Department years ago how much it would cost to sewer the Town and how they could handle the engineer- ing, and that was the basis for $600,000 for the sewer figure. At FY 1977, that level will drop in sewers to $ 100,000. You will recall last year we were looking for that kind of relief. Chairman Kenney 1 want to emphasize the capability of DPW and all projects are out, they are all committed. We were running a year or a year and a half behind and most of them are built. Mr. Silverman We would like to see what street projections are for the next five years and whether the kinds of figures we are maintain- ing are the kinds to anticipate - to see at what point we could antici- pate that roads and streets would be completed and, particularly resurfacing unaccepted streets, we would like to know how many streets are in that condition. Chairman Kenney We started off with $140,000 and these are all betterment streets. Mr. Kingston We carry $225,000 for streets, drains and traffic control. Mr. O'Connell I think the Board's intent is not very far from $100,000. The main addition is the attempt to cope with unaccepted streets and, if you identify these, you will find the Board is not very far from $100,000. 372 Selectmen's Meeting December 17, 1973 Mr. Whitman We are saying how much do we want to have on the tax rate. Mr. O'Connell: That is not the category I was talking about. 1 am saying that this year, under unaccepted streets, for the first time there is under consideration for the Board to spend money to do minor improvements on unaccepted streets. This is a category we have not considered before and, if you separate that money, we are at $100,000 - 80 percent and 20 percent for unaccepted streets. Mr. Silverman We have asked the School Department and the Recreation Committee for 5-year projections. We are not going to have conservation in that we know of. How long do we have to maintain level? The operation budget continues to go up and people look at us. We have a small part of the tax rate. Mr. O'Connell: I told you we would do our best to get a 5-year projection. Chairman Kenney: People come in and ask for streets and then say they don't want them. Mr. Silverman Our basic philosophy is that capital items, If . based upon valid need and requirement, ought not to be deferred because in delaying them it is only going to cost us money in future years. The only problem we run into is in DPW when we come to the crunch that we have to replace equipment. Mr. Whitman We understand the new category but want to see what priorities are; I am not prepared to go ahead and vote priorities. Chairman Kenney: We gave you the figures this year at the same time the Manager gave them to us, and there are going to be refinements. Mr. Kingston We are saying we might agree if we see the 5-year projection. Mr. O'Connell: On DPW equipment, the fleet is going to age and I made the recommendation to go for $150,000 and, if the total budget would allow it, we should go to $200,000. i am making a forecast to you now that you have to see $200,000 worth every year. Mr. Whitman What about Chapter 90 this year? Chairman Kenney: We have Hancock Street under the new rules which allows reconstruction of streets within existing layouts and width, and it would involve no trees and have all new drainage and all new sidewalks. Mrs, Riffin I would like to comment that we have received two requests from conservation for opinions of value, which makes me think there may be articles. Mr. O'Connell They have a plan for Hillside Avenue, and there would be a very modest figure to buy lots that are scattered in Town- owned lots. Chairman Kenney Our proposal on streets will go down. We will have to get you in the future a 5-year plan on equipment, and Mr. O'Connell and Mr. McSweeney will get that for you. Mr. Kingston We would like a 5-year plan on streets. Mr. Mitchell We have completed our extrapolation of what the tax rate looks like for next year and came out with $79.00, and that is too much. $5.00 has to come off the list. 373 Selectmen's Meeting December 17, 1973 11 Ill Chairman Kenney Where do you want us to get the $5.00 off? Mr. Mitchell All articles outside of Article 4. Mr. Kingston: If you take it out, we are in agreement. Mr. Silverman: The problem is that everything turns to projects that come out in big chunks, and the problem is we are delaying expenditures for machinery items. There is nothing to be gained by deferring itmes this year. Mr. O'Connell Of the $79.00, $55.00 is for local education and $24.00 for general government. We will be hit for the Minuteman School and this will add $2.00. Everybody looks at the $24.00 and I think we should start looking at the $55.00. Chairman Kenney: Fundamentally, we have to stay with the plan. Beyond the overall view, does the Appropriation Committee have any com- ments on the capital budget? Mr. Mitchell It is high. Chairman Kenney: We will come back with you once more. Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to go into Execu- tive Sessioh for the purpose of discussing, deliberating or voting on Executive matters which, if made public, might adversely effect the public secu- Session rity, 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. The Board discussed funds for Chapter 90-East Street. The State has informed Mr. McSweeney that bids came in higher than had been Chapter estimated and they are short about $19,000. The recommendation is to 90 East request the Appropriation Committee for a transfer of $9,500 for East Street Street. Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to request the Appropriation Committee for approval of a transfer from the Reserve Fund in the amount of $9,500 for Chapter 90-East Street. Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to adjourn at 10:50 p.m. A true record, Attest Executive Clerk, Selectmen j I