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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1971-05-03-BOS-min 4 '41 i SELECTMEN'S MEETING May 3, 1971 A regular meeting of the Board of Selectmen was held in the Bird Room, Cary Memorial Building, on Monday evening, May 3, 1971 , at 7 30 p.m Chairman Cataldo, Messrs Kenney, Bailey and Busa, and Mrs Riffin were present; Mr Legro, Town Counsel ; Mr O'Connell, Town Manager; Mr Martin, Assistant Town Engineer and Mrs McCurdy, Executive Clerk, were also present Mr Legro requested the Board to sign the Order of Taking for school purposes the piece of land for the Junior High School within Order of the location of the former Stedman Road, authorized by vote of the Taking Jr January 11 , 1971 Town Meeting, Article 3 In accordance with the ap- IHigh School praisal , no damages have been awarded Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to sign the Order of Taking for school purposes the piece of land for the Junior High School within the location of the former Stedman Road, with an award of no damages Mr Legro said that on April 14, 1971 , the Board voted to award the contracts for the Hamilton Road Relief Sewer and the North Lexing- ton Pumping Station The Board knows this project had to be approved by the Emergency Finance Board and tentative approval was given this Relief morning The DiMartino contract is in proper form but the Snyder con- Sewer & tract is not; the DiMartino contract can be held without damage to Pumping the Emergency Finance Board' s approval , providing the Comptroller Station doesn't certify approval until the Governor approves The Chairman said that they want to get started and we should sign as they are questioning the Board' s good faith Mr Legro said he will see that the Comptroller doesn't certify the contract Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to sign the contracts, subject to approval of the Emergency Finance Board, for the Town of Lexington Water Pollution Control Projcet No WPC Mass - 217 awarded to Contract No. I, Relief Sewer, to D DiMartino Construction Co , 511 Lincoln Street, Franklin, Massachusetts in the amount of $466,735 00. Contract No 3, Pumping Station, to B Snyder and Company, Inc 120 Braintree Street, Allston, Massachusetts in the amount of $182,569 00 Uraneck vs Mr Legro informed the Board he hasn't received his copy of the Busa-Lima Supreme Court decision regarding Uraneck vs Busa and Lima but the news is good 485 Mr O'Connell said that the January II , 1971 Town Meeting adopted an amendment to Article XXV, section 4, relative to the discharge of firearms within the confines of the Town. The Attorney General re- viewed and recommended additional wording regarding the standards for the rifle range At the request of the Board, Chief Corr has pursued By-Law this matter with the Attorney General' s office; I have sent a copy of Amendment the recommended additional wording to the Town Counsel and, if ap- proved by the Board, it would now be approved by the Attorney General . The additional recommended wording is as follows "Upon ranges constructed under the recommended procedures of the National Rifle Association of America" The Chairman said that we would have to insert an Article in the Warrant Mr Legro agreed The Chairman informed the Board that a letter has been received from the Chamber of Commerce, enclosing a letter received from one of its members, Carroll Cosmetics, regarding traffic conditions in the Center and in the parking lots Mr. Kenney said that he didn't agree with all the points set Center forth but recommended that the letter be referred to the Traffic Com- Traffic & mittee for study Parking Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to refer the Lots letter received from Walter M Cobe, Carroll Cosmetics Inc , to the Traffic Committee for a report to be submitted to the Board Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to grant the re- quest of the Tax Collector to rescind the vote of March 3, 1970 to Ambulance abate the ambulance bills submitted to Vahe Boulgarian, 149 High Abatement Street, Fitchburg, and Charles Kesseian, 74 Day Street, Fitchburg, for $5 00 each, bills have been paid Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to sign the fol- lowing licenses, expiring on May I , 1972: 81 Woburn Street Corporation Lexington Cab Company d b.a Minute Man Cab Taxi & Taxi Reg No 4209 Taxi Reg No 2271 Livery 4208 2269 Licenses 4210 5305 Livery Reg No L35057 Livery Reg No. L245Il No P67626 L35059 57379Y 57382Y L35060 PI9706 57383Y L35061 U57950 58384Y L35058 The Chairman said that a request has been received from Mr Solomon C. Samourian, 120 Laconia Street, to defer betterments on his unused property We have referred this request to the Town Engineer 4[86 who reports that the street betterment assessment is $790.20 and the sewer betterment assessment is $740 70 on Lot 37A, Assessors' Map 54, Laconia Street, owned by Mr Samourian. The Chairman explained that these are two lots adjacent to the Samourian house he lives i:n and we usually defer for three years Betterment Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to defer pay- Deferment ment, under the provisions of Chapter 159 of the Acts of 1950, of the street betterment assessment in the amount of $790.20 and sewer betterment assessment in the amount of $740 70, levied against Lot 37A, Laconia Street, owned by Solomon C Samourian, without interest, until said land or any part thereof is built upon, sold or until the expiration of three years from the date hereof, whichever event oc- curs first, provided, however, that this extension of time shall ter- minate immediately if said land or any portion thereof is built upon or sold Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to approve the Minutes minutes of the Selectmen' s Meetings of April 14 and April 26, 1971 Chief Corr and Detective Sgt George W Forten met with the Board Mr O'Connell said that he would like to give the Board some background in connection with this meeting Several months ago, growing out of discussions with the Police concerning the matter of merit performance in the line of duty, the suggestion was made by the Police for some way of recognizing meritorious service performed in the line of duty It is a fact that law enforcement has been coming under increased attack Sometimes, duty calls for a Policeman to forego what other people enjoy and there is a need for personal recog- nition Captain Furdon and Captain Lima came up with a recommendation and brought it to the Chief and me, and recommended ( I) a valor award for heroic action in the line of duty where risk of life was involved, and (2) merit award for outstanding performance of police work I am pleased to support this and have proceeded to implement this as a plan, and the men have drawn up criteria for eligibility for these awards For the name of the citizen to name the Valor Award, they Police recommended it in honor of the present Chief, James F Corr Medal of The Chairman said it is my pleasure to be part of this and 1 Merit Award wholeheartedly concur with the procedures undertaken to accomplish this The commendation reads "To award to Detective Sergeant George W Forten a Medal of Merit for exceptionally meritorious service per- formed in the line of duty while serving as a Lexington Police Officer in that on March 5, 1971 , following an incendiary fire at Lexington High School which caused extensive damage to the Art Wing, so called, he successfully concluded an investigation which resulted in the apprehension of those responsible and further, during an extended period in late 1970 and early 1971 , he distinguished himself by his professional skill and devotion to duty by coordinating a highly successful undercover narcotic drug investigation " Signed by Walter C O'Connell , Town Manager and James F Corr, Chief of Police. 4 Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted unanimously to Sign the award of the Medal of Merit to Detective Sergeant George W Forten The Chairman presented Sergeant Forten with the James F Corr Medal for Valor and a $100 Savings Bond, and asked Mrs Forten to pin the medal on her husband. The Board congratulated Sergeant Forten and commended him for his outstanding performance in the line of duty The Chairman informed the Board that a letter has been received from the School Committee recommending a joint meeting with them to Meeting discuss problems as they see them and as the Board sees them. The Board agreed to meet with the School Committee on Tuesday, May II , at 7 30 p.m at the School Administration Building The Chairman said that we had received a request from Mrs Sally T Neale, 10 Ward Street, to purchase tax title lots 35 through 40 Earl Street The Board asked me to discuss this with Mr Zaleski and he has informed me that these lots are included in the Mea§herville Neale Tax study and would recommend against the sale We can write to Mrs Title Neale that we plan to hold these lots but if and when the Board changes its mind, we will be in touch with her Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to deny the re- quest of Mrs Sally T Neale to purchase tax title lots 35 through 40 Earl Street Residents of Turning Mill Road met with the Board Mr Lee Whitman said that the group had met with state represent- atives and, tonight, they would confine the discussion to local matters in order to coordinate action to achieve effective results There are bills relating to the possibility of connecting through residential areas with a road, and they feel this area falls in the jurisdiction of the Selectmen There is the problem of protection of abutters' property, immediately The abutters are separated by a narrow strip of land from the Town of Burlington and people have raised questions as to what was within the province of the Selectmen to help Turning the people direct their efforts This is really a problem for the Mill three Towns, Bedford, Burlington and Lexington Is it possible for Road the Selectmen to work with their counterparts to see what can be worked out on better buffer strips and controls of developments and the possibility of acquiring a strip of land between the residents and the Town line for Conservation purposes? The land under the Edison easement connects with this and is just opposite Town-owned land on Turning Mill Road This is something the residents would be quite interested in for an Article for the coming June Town Meeting; the Planning Board has talked of that kind of thing The Chairman said I have told Mrs Cochin we have gotten into this in much greater detail and depth and we are willing to talk with the residents of the area; we are quite familiar with working towards this end Edison doesn't own that strip, Green and White owns it 488 We will have a meeting with Mr. Nordblom and Mr Moss tomorrow morn- ing to talk about a buffer strip not only in Lexington but to in- crease it to the Burlington side. We all agree we don't want access in that area and want to work with the developers to protect the residents There is a difference of opinion - you say the Planning Board wants the Article for Conservation purposes, my personal feeling is, this won't help tomorrow morning if they find we want to spend the money I would rather spend the money to protect the neighbors of Turning Mill Road, but we will only find this out after the meeting tomorrow morning It is my feeling if we don't come to terms pretty quick, we have enough time to go to the next Town Meet- ing We would jeopardize the terms if we say negotiate; we should work out terms We have talked with legislators beyond our repre- sentatives, we have talked with the leadership in the State House What to do beyond that at the stage this project is, I don't know Mr Whitman said we wanted to establish communications so people can understand what you are doing and what you have done The Chairman said we are very aware of the concern; we have been concerned for two years and asked the Planning Board to make same recommendations before it got to this point Mrs Anne M Vohl said she had a request to make in behalf of the abutters Today, we have contacted counsel and request the cour- tesy of postponing the talk until the time our counsel can be present We have numbers of proposals, eight possibilities, and more proposals than eight will come up It is a very technical and complex problem We would like to request that you postpone the meeting for tomorrow * Ill The Chairman said that unless the Board votes otherwise, I wouldn't like to have a third party involved in discussions, unless as an organization, you would like to present something on your own to purchase the buffer Mrs Vohl said that the interest of the homeowners may be a little more pressing than the Town The Chairman didn't agree; our main interest is to protect the abutters - that is our concern Dr Donald Taylor said that in terms of what you said about the strip, it comes under the purview of the Selectmen; the Other part is an internal part and there have been discussions by counsel re- tained by all to represent us; we have in mind purchasing a buffer strip. Mrs Vohl said we would like to be kept posted should we wish to make a cash offer over and above the strip in question. The Chairman said there is no question if we couldn't negotiate, the next best thing would be to make the offer What did you feel was an adequate buffer strip? Dr Taylor didn't know; we are having an appraisal made; it is narrow and then widens out The Chairman asked what do you feel would be adequate, I00 ft , 200 ft ? Dr Taylor replied, the entire parcel I don't think it has to be developed Burlington has enough land now and there is only virgin 4H9 forest i,n the whole area to be enjoyed by the whole area If you nego- tiate with Mr Moss, you better ask for the moon and might get a pebble. Mr Kenney asked them to give a little more accurate indication that you wouldn't want to see any developed, if you are looking for 100 ft or 200 ft , give some indication Dr Taylor replied, 100 ft or 150 ft buffer strip This land is zoned industrially and will be developed but we, as three commun- ities, should have a say as to how it was developed Mr Kenney said that you feel there are advantages to have meet- ings, we have considered this We wanted to talk with Edison and the owners of property Mrs Vohl said that we are supporting the outright purchase, ac- complished by the abutters; we feel we would need 200 ft behind our property line, some very small strip The Chairman asked what would be the feeling of you abutters to negotiate a 200 ft strip? Mrs Vohl replied, that would be very fine, with no access The Chairman said there was no question about that, we would fight it Mrs Vohl continued with the proposals; an outright donation from Lexington to Conservation and from Burlington to Conservation; we have wondered whether Burlington would protect and enforce the trust once it was acquired; the Audubon Society might be acceptable to Mr Moss, purchase of scenic or Conservation easement; donation of easement to Audubon Society; purchase by abutters of Moss' Leiington strip and easement; establishment of trust to be endowed by Lexington and Bur- lington for conservancy; possibility of persuading the Town of Lexing- ton to push legislation to buy Conservation land in Burlington It is important for our lawyer to be in on negotiations that take place The Chairman said to let us see how we make out Mr Irving Stiglitz, 23 Turning Mill Road, said that he was not a direct abutter but is in the neighborhood and would be concerned about the fixed number of feet for a buffer zone, if it were level and no trees, 200 ft would be small , if there is ledge and industrial park below, then 50 ft might suffice The Chairman said that before we agreed to anything we would look at the area and have a topographical map At the preliminary meeting tomorrow, we are going to ask for a strip and a substantial strip we have negotiated for Thomas Peterson, 12 Turning Mill Road, said he was not an abutter, he was 200 ft from the Burlington line It is important what he wants to build and it is equally important that you find out what will happen when he develops it all The Chairman said there is no question they can only build on 40 percent of their land We are going to try and get them to leave the bulk of that part of it on the Burlington line Mr Peterson said they can't possibly pave it all Dr Taylor asked in the event you fail to negotiate a strip of any size, what will you do? 490 The Chairman said we would put an Article in the Warrant to buy the strip We would meet with the other Selectmen to make them leave a strip They would rather not have us oppose them; if we take the position we won't fight their legislation, if we get some- thing agreeable to the Town Dr Taylor asked if the Board is prepared to go on record op- posing this? The Chairman replied, we are now on the record opposing it I told Mrs Cochin I don't think we could get the bill killed Mr Peterson asked why was the bill proposed? The Chairman replied, as I understand it, they don't need this legislation; the State DPW gave them permission. We understand your concern and before Mrs Cochin called, we were aware of it and were working for you; you have our assurance we will not let it die We meet tomorrow and want to get this accomplished before it comes out of the Committee We will keep Mrs Cochin informed and if we come to a road block we will let you know and your attorney We have spent a considerable amount of time on this and we recognize your concern Dr. Taylor asked if there was a personal objection to one mem- ber of the community being present at negotiations tomorrow The Chairman said that we should go the way we set it up. Dr Taylor asked about the possibility of eminent domain? The Chairman said there was plenty of time to put an Article in the Warrant and take it; we won't let that section go Mrs Vohls said that a number of people in the community have been in contact with State agencies, such as the Board of Health, on the hazard of water contamination, there is a definite traffic problem, MAPC is interested in getting involved in this type of problem, they were originally and have the expertise I would like to ask you to formally invite MAPC on a long range basis. The Chairman said there is no question but we will be in touch with MAPC, although they get into this, they have no funding and someone has to come up with the money to support them My feeling is, let' s work something out for Lexington. Mrs Vohl said that MAPC might have information which would have a direct bearing on this. Mr Goldstein, Turning Mill Road, said that the development of land has been going on for some time and members of the Board have been apprized of this and the abutters have only recently been in- formed of this and these are emergency techniques Isn't there some procedure by which the Board could inform us? The Chairman said I suppose we could take the time to notify the neighborhood, the newspaper reports our meetings and this is the media we look to. I don't know how we could set up a procedure to notify every neighborhood. Mr Colbourne, 38 Turning Mill Road, asked if each Town has the right to rezone without any effect on the abutter? The Chairman replied as I understand our authority, yes; each Town can rezone within its limits as it sees fit. 491 Mr Colbourne said that we feel very strongly about it; we were told it would not be rezoned Mr Kenney said he understood Senator MacKenzie is looking into the possibility whereby any town contiguous to another town would have to inform the abutters The Chairman said that the Board understands your feelings and rest assured we will stay right with it Mrs Cochin thanked the Board for meeting with the residents and they retired from the meeting Mr Greeley and Mr Graf of the Citizens' Advisory Committee met with the Board The Chairman said that we would ask you to schedule a meeting and elect a Chairman We are sorry that your other member, Mr Eisen- berg, was unable to be here this evening We have two streets, Chap- Citizens ter 90 street, - East Street, take a look at it and come back to the Advisory Board and come back to the Engineer with recommendations to go to the Committee - State DPW; the attitude toward the specifications is loosening up Street We have the Spring Street vote, meet with Mr MCSweeney so you can Construction get that resolved, and then we can meet with the abutters and come up with the final recommendations The problems because of the streets are going to be tremendous As far as we are concerned, we are sure you will do a good job Mr Greeley asked, do you anticipate there will be a list of pre- liminary streets presented for discussion? The Chairman said the Town will come up with a list in June and the list will be sent to you before the hearings Mr Greeley asked if the hearing on Spring Street will be in June? The Chairman replied, no, it will depend on what stage you are at; when you are ready, we will hold it Mr Greeley said that the Report of the Committee on Streets says that the Selectmen will decide on the list of streets and side- walks to be considered for reconstruction and set dates in June for preliminary hearings for all interested citizens. During the summer, Engineering will prepare preliminary plans The Chairman said if you are not ready, tell us When you are far enough along for us to have the hearings, let us know. There is a list of preliminary money for this year and when you are far enough along on the survey and design of Spring Street, let us know. Mr Greeley asked if the Planning Board is being asked for recommendations? The Chairman replied, no; we have not asked them at this point Mr. Greeley and Mr Graf accepted the charge for East Street and Spring Street and retired from the meeting The Chairman said that Mr Custance had informed him that there is a vacancy on the Standing Plumbing and Building By-Law Committee Appointment and he recommended the appointment of Harry Erickson to fill the un- expired term of Perry Lord to April 30', 1972 49 Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to appoint C Harry Erickson, 2678 Massachusetts Avenue, a member of the Stand- ing Plumbing and Building By-Law Committee to fill an unexpired term to April 30, 1972 Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to go into Executive Executive Session for the purpose of discussing, deliberating or Session voting on matters which, if made public, might adversely affect the public security, 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 30 p.m A true record, Attest Eecu� 27? t?2-e—c-ee...„,„--- lerk, Selectmen 1 I