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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1971-08-02-BOS-min 1G SELECTMEN'S 'MEETING August 2, 1971 A regular meeting of the Board of Selectmen was held in the Bird Room, Cary Memorial Building, on Monday evening, August 2, 1971 at 7:30 p.m Chairman Cataldo, Messrs Kenney, Bailey and Buse', Mrs Riff in, Mr Legro, Town Counsel ; Mr O'Connell , Town Manager; Mrs McCurdy, Executive Clerk, were present Mr. O'Connell informed the Board that a petition, signed by nine residents of Grapevine Avenue, has been received for a hearing to be held regarding a dog owned by the Stankowski family at 30 Grapevine Avenue This petition grows out of a complaint of some history A Stankowski report from the Dog Officer has been received There has been a rash Dog of complaints since June 8, 1971 , of the dog being loose in the neighborhood Apparently, according to the report, the family has said they have been trying to find another home for the dog Chairman Cataldo The Board decided last year the approach would be for a Selectmen, with the Town Manager, to hold the hearing and come back to the Board with a report The Board agreed that Mr Kenney is to hold the hearing; Mr Buse, Mrs Riff in and Mr O'Connell are to be present Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted that Mr Kenney is to schedule a hearing regarding the Stankowski dog Mr O'Connell read a letter, addressed to the Superintendent of Letter of Public Works, from Mr Deveau of 49 Downing Road concerning the Apprecia- project of building the new Downing Road; he was very grateful to tion Mr. McSweeney, Mr Jones and Mr Maaerall for the project which will benefit all in the neighborhood Mr O'Connell informed the Board that bids have been taken on July 30 on street resurfacing; five bids were received; Starrett Street re- Paving Corporation-$50, 150; Massachusetts Broken Stone Co -$55,356; surfacing Warren Brothers Company-$57,795; Trimount Bituminous Products Co - Award $58,794, George Brox, Inc -$60,550 Mr McSweeney recammends, and I concur, that the contract be awarded to the low bidder, Starrett Paving Corporation, 656 Boston Post Road, Marlboro, in the amount of $50, 150. Mr O'Connell informed the Board that a letter has been re- Federal calved from HUD that there is now a Federal Insurance Administration Crime and, effective August I, under a Federal Crime Insurance program, Insurance crime insurance becomes availbble in ten states, one of which is Massachusetts; this is insurance for potential victims of crime. This information has been made available to the Minute-man Newspaper. 1 17 Complete information is available at licensed insurance brokers Com- mercial businesses, residential property owners and towns are all eligible For areas which are experiencing a high crime rate, the premiums would be lower than on the private market Certain deduct- ibles apply and it is necessary to meet certain security standards. Mr O'Connell informed the Board that bids on the Bowman School roof have been received and are being studied by the Permanent Building Committee; Commonwealth Builders of Boston bid $91 ,009; the Article appropriation was $116,000. Federal Roofing is the high bidder at $145,700 and they have written the Permanent Building Com- mittee that the job can be done for much less money by not removing the insulating felt layer The Committee expects to make the award Bowman soon School Chairman Cataldo Have you talked to the Standing School Com- Roof mittee? Who is handling it? Mr O'Connell It is being handled by Mr Hargrove and the other four members of the Standing School Building Committee, Mr Taylor, Mr Brown, Mr DiNapoli and Mr Marshall . Chairman Cataldo I would suggest that you contact them before it gets out of hand by having no decisions made when it is awarded Mr Legro It must be awarded within 30 days, Saturdays, Sun- days and Holidays excluded; they are meeting this week Mr O'Connell agreed to talk with Mr Hargrove The Chairman read a letter from Rev Richard E Harding in appreciation of the way the Board responded to the request of the People' s Coalition to walk through and in Lexington on August 5 and 6; he expressed his thanks for the Board' s part in enabling the events scheduled for our community to be as peaceable and meaningful as possible. He had not been involved in the planning of the acttiv- ities but because it is his understanding that all activities witl be People' s non-violent, with a good corps of marshals and if it becomes neces- Coalition sary to remove or arrest anyone there will be no form of resistance, such as going limp. He will be participating in some way. Rev Harding was present and said that he had come tonight not as a representative of the group involved but as a member of the Board of Directors of the Cambridge Ministry of Higher Education and, their vote, after much heated debate, was unanimous in regards to the war and, in particular, to the spirit of this responsible, non-violent act It opens up a major concern growing out of the experience in the events that took place at the J F K building and the communications breakdown in the afternoon, those responsible spoke to the police, and the emphasis of those of us is the lack of communications with those in charge of enforcing the law. Those involved in the community have, or have not, decided whether to sit in the street or picket or be an observer There is this question of enforcement level ; who do we go to see when ranks of these demonstrators get out of hand? is Chairman Cataldo There is no question that Chief Corr has full responsibility of enforcing the law. In my letter to Lucy Perry, I asked her to contact Chief Corr and convey to him such information as schedule, timing, number of people expected, and any other inform- ation that she thought could be helpful in having the march go smoothly I made it quite clear and asked them in the beginning who the people are we could make contact with, who represents the People' s Coalition, and we didn't seem to get much of an answer. As I under- stand it, having talked to two or three of them, each time they meet, there is a different chairman; there is no structure of the People' s Coalition. This puts us under a handicap. Our question is who do we talk to, and we couldn't seem to get that sort of information Even in my letter I said that and we have had no contact from them and we feel this is not a two-way street, which is unfortunate Our attitude is, it is their right to march, to demonstrate, if they see fit We don't feel very good about the fact that they knowingly break the law but can't do anything about it We said we would like to see it go as smooth as possible and haven't received any informa- tion from them Rev Harding One of the apprehensions might be that there was no formal word on this as to the leadership because et the J F K building the leaders were identified and they were pulled out, and they were left without leadership. This may be one of the apprehen- sions and I don't know whether it is part of the strategy or not. Chairman Cataldo Miss Perry' s answer to me was that every meeting is different Contact Chief Corr, he will have complete re- sponsibility that day Rev Harding retired from the meeting The Chairman informed the Board that a request has been received from Lynx Workshops for the use of Cary Hall on August 27 and August 28, from 9:00 p.m to 12 00 M for a film festival for the youth of Lexington A previous request was granted and cancelled last week because there were not enough people interested in attend- ing They are asking for the hours of 9.00 to 12:00 M and I think Cary Hall there could be a problem as it would be quite late Film Mr Bailey agreed Festival Chairman Cataldo. Chief Corr feels two police officers should be assigned If permission is granted for the first night, the silt*- ation should be reviewed before, permission is granted for the second night We could see how many people attend on the first night and what problems might arise. Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to grant permis- sion to Lynx Workshops for the use of Cary Hall for a film festival. on August 27 !from 8 00 p.m to II 00 p.m. subject to the restrictions of the Chief of Police; permission is granted for August 28 from 8:00 p.m to II 00 p.m., subject to the restrictions of the Chief of Police and whatever restrictions the Town Manager deems necessary The Chairman informed the Board that a request has been received from the Five Fields community to hold a square dance on September 4 from 7 15 p.m. to II 00 p.m (rain date of September 5) Because of the sewer construction in the neighborhood the exact location will Permit be determined at a later date Square Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to grant per- Dance mission to the Five Fields community to hold a square dance in the neighborhood on Saturday, September 4, 1971 from 7 15 p.m. to II 00 p.m (rain date of September 5), subject to the restrictions and approval of the location by the Chief of Police The Chairman read a copy of a letter from the Concord Board of Selectmen to the Regional Vocational Technical School Committee re- garding the possible use of Xavier High School for the Regional School Mr Kenney The Committee met with us and said it was unsuit- able Mrs Riff in The Committee said it was under consideration because of the acreage and the cost of necessary renovations The Chairman The letter states that it is the understanding of the Concord Board that Xavier is available in the $3M to $3 5M price range The estimated cost of construction of a new school is $10M to $12M and this would be, roughly, three times the price of Xavier Construction costs are inflating at the rate of about $1 ,000 per hour on a $IOM school and we assume this may be a, stnmbg *actor in the construction bids when they are finally received, and we are concerned about the initial cost difference in this time of inflation, weak economy and rising tax burdens Regional The Board agreed to acknowledge by a letter to the Concord Vocational Board that the Regional Committee had discussed Xavier with the School Board and, in its opinion, a new facility was in the best interests of the region. But if new information is received to support a change in thinking, we would be most happy to discuss it with the Concord Board The Board will also request the position of the Concord Board whether it is in support of Xavier or a new facility The Chairman read a request from the Mystic Valley Gas Company to locate a 4-inch high gas main in Valleyfield Street to service house No 59 Valleyfield Street Chairman Cataldo to Mr McSweeney Would they open up the new pavement and, if so, would the Gas Company repair it and put it Gas Permit back in good condition? Mr McSweeney: They have to open up the street but the Gas Company will take care of the repairs Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to grant per- mission to the Mystic Valley Gas Company to locate a 4-inch high 'pressure welded steel gas main in Valleyfield Street to service house No 59 Valleyfield Street, subject to the specifications of the Town Engineer 20 The Chairman read a letter from William L Phelan, 17 Nichols Road, informing us that his son was bitten on the hip on July 22 by the Nawoichik dog, Heidi Chairman Cataldo This is the same dog we ordered removed fro* the Town last year Nawoichik Mr Legro It Is the same name Dog Mr Phelan was present and said it is the same dog I talked• with Victor Nawoichik and there is no doubt in my mind we were talking about Heidi I have seen the dog on other occasions. I talked with Stephen Nawoichik this evening and informed him of the fact that' the matter would be discussed tonight; he said he has been in the hospital and might not be able to make it tonight Mr Legro The order is still withstanding; I thought the dog had been removed from Lexington I haven't heard anything official . Mr Kenney Do you have to have a 7-day notice for a dog hearing? Chairman Cataldo The Board agreed that Mr Kenney is to conduct a hearing on the Nawoichik dog to gather all the necessary facts for the information of the Board The Chairman read a letter from Captain John C Shull, Research Officer in Saigon, requesting information concerning the Memorial Pay VVAW demonstration by the Vietnam Veterans Against the War Captain Shull. lnforma- is in the process of establishing research files for doctoral work tion upon his release from the service in 1972 Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to send Captain Shull whatever public information is readily available The Chairman read a letter from Mrs Sylvia Leyenaar, 30 More- land Avenue, stating that her name is on the publicized jury list and if she were called for jury duty, she would consider it a hard- Duty ship as her husband has just undergone open heart surgery Jury List Chairman Cataldo: On the jury questionnaire, there is a ques- tion asking if there is any reason why you can't serve on a jury and Mrs Leyenaar answered no Her name is in the jury box. The Board agreed to inform Mrs Leyenaar that her name is on the list and is in the jury box If and when her name is drawn, she may then appeal to the Clerk of Courts to be excused; if her name is not drawn, she will automatically be removed from the list in three years The Chairman read a petition from the residents of Grassland Traffic Street for "Caution Children" signs at approximately I Grassland Signs Street and approximately 30 Grassland Street Grassland Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to refer the, Street request to the Traffic Committee for a recommendation Skolnikoff The Chairman read a letter from Eugene B. Skolnikoff, 3 Chandler Sewer Req Street, requesting a connection to the nearest appropriate sewer line 21 A report from the Town Engineer was read, stating that to sewer the lot, it would be necessary to first extend the sewer a distance of ap- proximately I80 feet from Upland Road to Chandler Street, at an esti- mated cost of $9,000 and betterment of $1 ,567 73 The recommendation is that this be included in the 1972 sewer lateral budget and a priority assigned, subject to a determination by the Board of Health Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted that Mr Skolni- koff' s request is to be considered at budget time to be included in the 1972 sewer lateral budget The Chairman read a letter from the Planning Board regarding Peacock Farms pedestrian easements and nature preservation areas to protect the attractive natural setting These easements were recorded by the developers, Benjamin Franklin Homes, Inc , in a form nor accept- able to Town Counsel because it required the Town to assume certain obligations Two of the easements include the condition that certain Peacock actions by the Town, through its Board of Selectmen, must be taken Farms before January 2, 1972; otherwise the easement rights will lapse Easement The Board agreed that these easements should not lapse and will pursue the matter with Town Counsel . , Mr Legro agreed to have a report by August 16 meeting The Chairman read letters from Donald M Sutherland, 11 Grant Place, and Robert Guest, 18 Grant Place, regarding low water pressure The Town Engineer' s report was read recommending that 400 feet of water main in Grant Place be replaced with a 6 in water main and 200 feet of Holland Street with a 6 inch water main There is money avail- Water able for this work under Article 13 of 1967. Main Chairman Cataldo to Mr McSweeney There is no question that water Holland main has to be replaced in some manner but do we know what we are going Street to do? Mr McSweeney We have spent a considerable amount of time on a survey. of Grant Place and it is just a question of what are we going to do with the parking area and access Chairman Cataldo Are you ready to go and put it in if the Board approves? Mr McSweeney Yes Holland Street is a different situation The Board agreed to act on Grant Place when the Town Engineer submits the proper information. Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to authorize Mr McSweeney to install a water main in Holland Street The Chairman informed the Board that a letter has been received from the County Commissioners stating that if future work is to be done on Spring Street, it will be necessary that the Commissioners receive Spring St a petition for this, signed by five inhabitants of the Town The Board agreed to delay signing the petition until next week. Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to approve the Minutes minutes of the Selectmen's Meeting held on July 19, 1971 . 22 The Chairman read a notice from the Massachusetts Selectmen's Assoc- House Bill iation recommending the support of House Bill 1558-a bill to limit the 1558 authority of the legislature to enact laws imposing additional cost on cities and towns except by a two-thirds vote or unless the Commonwealth assumes the cost Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to support House Bill 1558 and to so inform Senator Mackenzie and Representative Cole Mr Gallagher, Chairman of the Recreation Committee, and Mr Bertini , Recreation Director, met with the Board Mr O'Connell informed the Board that there are two requests for the transfers for the "old res," one is for a transfer in the amount of $1500 for special police detail , growing out of vandalism. Mr Gallagher The Recreation Committee is concerned about vandalism at the "old res" and other parts of town on recreational property, and the real problem now isn't just vandalism but vicious- ness; booby traps are set up to inflict serious injury to people and there is some indication of mob activity of a large group of young- ` sters It is the Committee' s unanimous feeling that the manner in which we have been taking care of patrolling with college youngsters is not feasible and we are frequently concerned with their safety Old Res We had an emergency meeting with Mr O'Connell , Chief Corr and Mr Bertini to figure out the best way to handle patrolling We don't have enough money to take care of this as it requires more than one person from 10-00 p.m to 2 00 p.m and we feel it requires a profes- sional to handle the situation The vandals place glass in the water and if a youngster steps on it, it is a real problem. We find our- selves in a difficult position and we need to keep the facilities open There were better than 10,000 swim tags sold and we never sold more than 3,000; there have been 1 ,200 people in attendance some days and it has been higher than that. We have had a number of telephone calls when we had to close up to get back in operation Mr O'Connell requests the necessary monies to take care of policing. I would point out that we have returned to E & D some $800 profit from tags Mr O'Connell We are not dealing with casual carelessness in the discarding of broken bottles but deliberate distribution in the water I can show you a sharp pin in an upright position which was placed by the drinking fountain and covered over with dirt and could have been stepped on by children; it was discovered by a man when he pushed the dirt aside. This is what we are dealing with There seems to be little doubt there is gang activity and late night drunk- ness is a characteristic of the problem. We could have one member of the res staff stay until 10 00 p.m. and then have a police detail from 10.00 p.m. to 2 00 a.m. The cost of this combination is $12 or $13 a night and represents an estimated $300 a week for five weeks We may not have to continue this but are asking for $1500 if we have to continue through the season. Chairman Cataldo: It is unfortunate that it is not only happen- ing at the res but in every area in town. ,Mr Gallagher There are bottles and beer cans at the end of Park Drive and we are trying to do something about it The box that con- trols the electrical system at the tennis courts was broken open and we had to chain the entire area around the box, including the roof; we are now requesting a steel box. We have lost tennis nets and have had to buy two steel tennis nets at $102 a piece. This is getting very cost l y Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to request the Appropriation Committee for a transfer from the Reserve Fund to the Recreation Account No. 2470, in the amount of $1500. Mr. O'Connell requested the transfer of $500 to cover two chemi- cal treatments for the "Old Res" . We did not put money in the Depart- ment of Public Works' budget for this; last year, we had the treatment required but it was charged to the Old Res Article; digging and Old Res preparation of the beach expended the Article. Mr. Cortell is donat- Transfer ing his personal services' fee to the Town and the money is for the actual chemicals Mr Cortell estimates $750 but I believe $500 will cover it. Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to request the Appropriation Committee for a transfer from the Reserve Fund to the Public Works Account No. 6000, in the amount of $500. Mr. Dailey reported on the meeting held by the Massachusetts Port Authority at Hanscom Field, which he attended with Mr. O'Connell Mrs. Riff in and Mr. Busa, to disclose their plans or lack of same re- garding the future of Hanscom Field. Mr. King took charge of the Hanscom affair for the purpose, once and for all , of making it clear what Field they were or were not to do ( I) They are not contemplating any runway extensions; they have been acquiring property to prevent high- rise buildings. (2) They have no intention of encouraging air cargo. (3) There is no question in their minds but that Hanscom is not a suitable field for air cargo because of inadequate space and would interfere with Logan Airport, which is a.much better place for aviation They think they can do a better job to accommodate the users of Hanscom and that is why they are building T hangers on the Lincoln side. All in all , it came through clearly that they are not pressuring Hanscom for an alternate or air cargo. The only thing going on is resurfacing one of the runways; the Airport is paying for that. The Chairman said that at the last meeting in June, we dis- cussed the sanitary landfill permits and told Mr Wilson, 73 Mariam Street, that we would discuss his question regarding the fee of $5 00 for a pickup truck when he is taking his own rubbish to the dump. I have asked Mr. O'Connell and Mr. McSweeney to give us their attitude Dump concerning this matter. Permit Mr O'Connell Basically, the problem seems to hinge around this one grey area due to classification of vehicles. Generally speaking, the DPW uses the registration class of vehicle and we have 24 run into a few cases and we feel an administrative decision can be ar- rived at In a few cases, someone lives in Lexington and ownsesfamily automobile, also a pickup truck registered as a commercial vehicle; it may or may not be registered in Lexington but at a business out of Lexington. In this category, if they want to haul rubbish to the dump, they should apply for and get a commercial permit. In some cases, it is the intent of the homeowner to haul household rubbish and in most cases, we have managed to work out a permanent arrangement. I don't think it is a problem but a few people get emotional about it We have to be careful because of the widespread abuse of the restric- tions of the landfill by people who get a permit and use it for rub- bish in substantial quantities from outside of Lexington. Mr McSweeney We have had continued abuse by contractors bringing in rubbish from outside and we make the owner sign a slip that this rubbish originates in Lexington. The residents have been most cooperative We have gone into permits for $2.00 for one day and have brought it down from $25.00 to $5.00 for pickup trucks for residents taking their own material to the dump; we were not charging them $25.00 and we have had very few complaints. Chairman Cataldo What is the Board's feeling? Mr Buse 1 recommend that we leave it as an administration policy on fringe cases Mrs. Riff in I would hope each household could get one permit at a standard fee for household trash and it would be the-same rate whether the owner had a station wagon or a pickup truck. Mr McSweeney: Not for a pickup truck Chairman Cataldo: if someone has a pickup truck and someone at the barn uses discretion, would you only charge $1 .00? Mr McSweeney No Mr O'Connell We made an exception if individuals are using a car not registered in Lexington but garaged in Lexington. Mrs Riff in I recommend that we follow the present policy but, in the future, look into issuing one sticker per household for per- sonal trash; each household pay a certain flat rate. It is the first year and I don't think we should change the policy now. Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted not to chdnge the present policy for sanitary landfill permits, $1 .00 for cars, $5.00 for pickup trucks with household rubbish; $25.00 for commercial vehicles with own household rubbish; $100.00 for commercial vehicles engaged in commercial pick up rubbish. 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 public security and personnel of the Town, it was voted to go out of Executive Session and resume the open meeting. 9-` 25 Mr. McSweeney reported that he had attended a meeting held by the Massachusetts Bureau of Transportation, Planning and Development on an urban system highway network. We were asked to come up with a road system to tie in with surrounding towns and, if approved, will be 50 percent federal and 50 percent state funded. The design and construc- tion specifications have not been finished and this is in the prelim- inary stage They said we could add or deduct anything we wanted and, if they agree, they will put them on a map including Winchester, Woburn and Lexington and will send the plan to Washington by Septem- ber 1st. On that plan will be a place for the signature of the governing board or the representative. This urban highway includes Route 128 and is a programming for the future, in 1990. They have listed Waltham Street; Marrett Road; Woburn Street; Bedford Street; Massachusetts Avenue from the Arlington line to Pleasant Street; Massachusetts Avenue from Pleasant Street to the Minuteman; Watertown Street and Pleasant Street from Massachusetts Avenue to Route 2. We added Massachusetts Avenue from the Minuteman to Marrett Road; Spring Street from the Waltham line to Marrett Road; Adams Street be- tween Hancock Street and the Burlington line; Hancock Street from Bedford Street to Adams Street; East Street between Adams Street and State DPW the Woburn line; Winchester Drive-entire length; Maple Street- entire Urban length; Hartwell Avenue from Wood Street to Bedford Street; Worthen System Raid-new section between Marrett Road and Waltham Street; Concord Avenue between Spring Street and the Belmont Line; Lowell Street from the Arlington line to the Burlington Iine; Hartwell Avenue connector road. Chairman Cataido. At what point would we be able to veto it? Mr McSweeney When the time comes, like any other program, if you don't want the street done, they will put the money some other place They only have $7.5M for the whole Commonwealth Mr Kenney In other words, we could limit the agreement., Mr McSweeney We are agreeing that we are including these streets in the urban system. Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to accept the recommendation of the Town Engineer and approve the list of streets as suggested by the Massachusetts Department of Public Works Bureau of Transportation, Planning and Development and to add to the list of the above-mentioned streets for the Urban System Highway Network. Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to adjourn at 10.00 p.m A true record, Attest „iv A ya �} xecut i ve Clerk, Select t'