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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1972-02-28-BOS-min 264 SELECTMEN'S MEETING February 28, 1972 A regular meeting of the Board of Selectmen was held in the Select- men' s Room, Town Offic Building, on Monday evening, February 28, 1972, at 7 30 p.m Chairman Cataldo, Messrs Kenney, Bailey and Buse, and Mrs Rift in; Mr Legro, Town Counsel; Mr. O'Connell, Town Manager, Mr McSweeney, Town Engineer and Acting Superintendent of Public Works; and Mrs McCurdy, Executive Clerk, were present Chairman Cataldo informed the Board that a request has been re- ceived from the Red Cross to sign the Proclamation declaring March as Red Cross Month Red Cross Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to authorize Proclama- the Chairman to sign the Proclamation declaring March as Red Cross tion Month Mr O'Connell informed the Board that the Red Cross requests that the Red Cross Flags be flown around the Green on next Sunday, March 5, 1972, and I recommend they be flown at some place in the Center other than around the Green. The Board agreed that Mr. O'Connell is to talk with the Red Cross and decide upon the location of the flags At the request of the Town Clerk, five jurors were drawn, as follows Herman Blasbalg I Baskin Road Jurors Martin L Borish 30 Partridge Road Paul G Scheidemantel 28 Ivan Street Floyd T. Wimberly 6 Alcott Road David L. Woodland 15 Hibbert Street Mr. Legro requested the Board to sign the contract for the con- struction of the Wood Street trunk sewer which was awarded on Wood St February 14, 1972 to Modern Continental Construction Co., Inc. Trunk 905 Main Street, Cambridge, in the amount of $88,947. 13. Sewer Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to sign the contract for the construction of the Wood Street trunk sewer with the Modern Continental Construction Co., Inc. in the amount of $88,947 13. Mr. Legro requested the Board to sign two orders of taking Orders of Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to sign the Taking order of taking of a parcel of land, 27.259 acres, off Woburn Street Benjamin for school and playground and other public purposes, with an award Franklin of damages in the amount of $82,000 to Benjamin Franklin Homes. Homes Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to sign the (G&W) order of taking of a parcel of land 4 4 acres, off Woburn Street for playground and recreation purposes, adjacent to the Harrington School with an award of damages in the amount of $13,000 to Benjamin Franklin Homes. A i R• 2 6,) S Mr. O'Connell informed the Board that he had received a letter from the Regional Director of Health and Welfare notifying the Town that the Welfare Service Office is to be moved from Lexington to Woburn on March 27, Request was made that a room be made available for a half day on Welfare Wednesdays for clients who are unable to go to Woburn. My recommenda- Move tion is for a room in Cary Hall to be made available to them Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to request the Town Manager to make whatever arrangements are necessary to make a room available to the Welfare Office for the purpose of interviewing Lexington residents Chairman Cataldo informed the Board that the Town Manager recom- mends that we accept G.L. Chapter 32B, Section 11E. Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to accept G L. Retired Chapter 326, Section IIE (Retired Teachers) that all teachers insured Teachers' for group life and health insurance, and their dependents, upon re- Insurance ceiving a. pension or annuity allowance from the teachers' retirement system, to have such insurance transferred to the state for convenience of premium withholdings, with the Town making payment of fifty percent of the premium, a portion of the administrative expense and the payment of a subsidiary or additional rate to be paid by the Town Mr. O'Cohnell informed the Board that the Building Inspector has advised him that he had discussions with the manufacturer of factory pre-assembled homes concerning the problem of assembling, and he has received a request for a building permit for two homes they are plan- Pre-fab ning to deliver and erect in Lexington In his judgment, in order to Homes conform with the Lexington building codes, a significant amount of factory inspection will be necessary On a trial basis, .1 T:ecomtinetld the Board authorize a fee for Lexington Inspectors to perform inspec- tion at the factory in southern New Hampshire Chairman Cataldo Are you talking a standard fee or a fee based upon the actual cost to the Town? Mr O'Connell A fee of $50 per day per man; he would be travel- ing in a Town car. This charge would be paid to the Town Treasurer. Mrs. Riff in In this case, the trip to New Hampshire wouldbe included in the $50? Mr O'Connell Yes; this is the total cos+ to the manufacturer and includes the incidentals This will take no more than three trips as the plumber and electrician will go. Mr. Busa I have no objection on a trial basis until we see the problems that crop up. The Board agreed to the fee, on a trial basis, of $50 per day per man for inspection at the factory of pre-assembeled homes, inspec- tion criteria to be set up by the Town Manager Chairman Cataldo informed the Board that nominees have been re- Comm on ceived for the appointments to the Advisory Committee to study the Extenison extension of historic districts in Lexington Hist Dist 266 Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to appoint the following members to the committee on the Extension:oif Historic Districts in Lexington Allan F Kenney, Chairman,, 10 Frost Road Board of Selectmen Eric T Clarke 29 Moon Hill Rd. Planning Board Ralph H. Hall 1656 Mass Avenue Chamber of Commerce Donald J Shaw 6 Barrymeade Dr Historic Districts Comm. Paul MacKenzie 13 Maple Street Town Meeting Member Asso. Chairman Cataldo read a letter from Dr Carl Cahzanelli , 21 Heritage Drive, requesting assistance in obtaining snowplowing services for Snow Heritage Drive. Plowing Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to refer the letter to the Town Manager and request Mr. O'Connell to contact Dr. Canzanelli to resolve the situation. Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to certify the Cert of character of Carol and John Dacey, 37 Woodcliffe Road, who have ap- Incorp. plied for Certificate of Incorporation "Scientific Thought in Astrological Research, Inc." Chairman Cataldo read a notice from the Technical Advisory Com- mittee of the Boston Metropolitan Area Transportation Study that a meeting is scheduled on March 14 at the Transportation Planning Center, Boston, on the proposed Areawide TOPICS Plan and the recom- TOPICS mended Type II Network, comments from the Board are requested if Plan Board members are unable to attend the meeting. Chairman Cataldo We submitted the TOPICS report to the Town Engineer and he recommended that it be referred to the Traffic , Committee for evaluation. Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to request a recommendation of the Traffic Committee on the proposed TOPICS Plan. Chairman Cataldo read a notice from the Alcoholic Beverages A.B.0 Commission regarding a public hearing on March 20 on the proposed 1 repeal of Commission Regulation No. I5B "Hotels and Restaurants shall not on Sundais ,after 1:00 a.m.. illuminate any exterior sign to advertise alcoholic beverages.." Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to inform the ABC that it is the position of the Board to oppose the repeal of Commission Regulation 15B. Chairman Catac$do read a report from the Traffic Committee Traffic stating that the Police Department and the Principal of the Frank- Allen & lin School have studied problems and hazards which arise from the Stedman Sts. present traffic pattern and involve several points of conflict 267 between vehicular and pedestrian traffic to the school . As a result of these studies, recommendations were made by Police Captain Lima to the Traffic Committee and considered and approved by the Committee. These recommendations include both internal traffic changes on school prop- erty, which can be instituted by school authorities, and amendments to the Traffic Rules regarding "No Parking" restrictions. The Traffic Committee recommends that the amendments be considered and approved by the Board of Selectmen. Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted that the Traffic Rules and Orders of Lexington adopted by the Board of Selectmen November 13, 1967 are hereby amended as follows By adding to Article V, Section 2, Schedule #1 the following LOCATION SIDE FROM TO TYPE PARKING Allen Street Southerly Waltham St. 564' Easterly No Parking Stedman Road Westerly House #l2 Southeasterly No Parking to Allen Street Allen Street Northerly Stedman Rd Westerly to No Parking Waltham Street Chairman Cataldo read a report from the Traffic Committee regard- ing the request of Craft Cleansers for a "No Parking - Loading Zone" area. The report states that the Town owns 15 feet of the 30 feet- wide passage between Craft Cleansers and the rear yard of the block of 'stores facing Massachusetts Avenue. At the present time, about 5 feet nearest to the Craft Cleansers are marked "No Parking". The Traffic Committee has no objection to Craft the above strip being redesignated as "No Parking - Loading Zone" Cleansers It must be made clear to the owners that Town land cannot be reserved for any one-owner's exclusive use and that a loading zone in this lo- cation could be used for deliveries to and frons the rear of the stores facing Massachusetts Avenue, as well as Craft Cleansers. Mr. Kenney Two things bother me, ( 1) we would be reducing the amount of the area, particularly when there is snow. (2) what if others tome in with the same request? I question whether people would be pulling up and just parking there without having clothes to take in. It bothers me to narrow the strip and, also, we are doing something particular for one individual here; whether or not we could expand this for other similar requests would bother me. Chairman Cataldo I would rather do it to have some control and orderliness in the traffic pattern. If designated properly and en- forced so they do use it properly, there would be no argument. You must accept the fact that business in the Center is not the greatest. Also, we lease that area; we don't own that whole parking area. 1268 Mr. McSweeney The loading zone wouldn't be exclusive to Craft Cleansers; you can't set up a loading zone just for them. Chairman Cataldo to Mr. McSweeney Did you take into considera- tion the flow of traffic, and would this hinder it? Mr McSweeney No it would not because it is one-way. Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to accept the recommendation of the Traffic Committee to designate a "No Parking - Loading Zone" area in front of Craft Cleansers, 1707 Massachusetts Avenue, with the understanding that it is not to be used for the ex- clusive use of Craft Cleansers but as a loading zone for the area. Mr. Kenney was recorded in the negative. Mrs. Riff in discussed the campaign rules sent out by TMNA relating to restrictions on political signs at the polls, and that a permit is required from the Board of Selectmen. Mrs. Rift in Several people are concerned, and if the Board has a policy on this procedure, everybody would know how to proceed. I would recommend that we continue with ourastpractice of allowing people to hold signs, and allow them to have signs on cars, 150 feet from the polls. If the Board wants to review the law and take a stand different from previous practice, we should do it in the future, as it is difficult at this date for people to bring in letters. Chairman Cataldo The ' 150 feet' is the state statute, not our by- law, and they should be treated separately. I think it is unfor- tunate that the TMMA news letter came out based on one person's- Sign opinion of the by- law and create this confusion. Section 19 of our By-Law by- law reads that "No person shall, in any street or public place, carry and display, for advertising purposes, any show card, placard, or sign, except in accordance with a permit so to do from the Select- men". If the intent is not to allow political signs, I am ready to enforce it, but 1 would like to get the opinion of Town Counsel. Mr. Legro This by- law has always been interpreted for adver- tising for sale or appealing to people for commercial purposes. Chairman Cataldo. You are saying that political signs do not come under the scope of this by- law? Mr. Legro Not under this by- law; that is the way this by- law has been- interpreted. A broad interpretation is neither fitting nor proper and I question as to its constitutionality. Mrs. Riff in I have also been asked abbut slgas on carve = " at the Central Fire Station; people have called and have been told they can't park in the Central Fire Station lot. Can there -be cars parked there? - Chairman Cataldo As far as I am concerned, if it is within the election taw and within the rules and regulations of the Fire Depart- ment, fine, but we must accept the fact that this was designed for a specific function and not for all day parking. There is a Credit Union there and people must vote and it should be left open -I don't know what the Fire Department regulations are. Mrs. Rift in I would like to know what the policy is in the Fire Station lot and have it in the newspaper. 26!) III Chairman Cataldo Is the Board agreeable to the interpretation as Town Counsel explained it? The Board agreed. Chairman Cataldo discussed the water being supplied to the Town of Burlington on an emergency basis. Chairman Cataldo The Burlington Board of Selectmen was to meet Water with us this evening at 7 30 and we did not receive word that the ap- Burlington poi.ntment would not be kept. What is the Board' s feeling? The Board agreed to contact the Burlington Board of Selectmen and request a special meeting be held on Wednesday at 8 30 a.m. in our Selectmen' s,'Meeting Room Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to go into Exe- cutive Session, for the purpose of discussing deliberating or voting Executive on matters which, if made public, might adversely affect the public Session 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.; Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to adjourn at 9 37 p.m. A true record, Attest, Executive Clerk, Selectmen6