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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1971-02-08-BOS-min 37b SELECTMEN'S MEETING February 8, 1971 A regular meeting of the Board of Selectmen was held in the Bird Room, Cary Memorial Building, on Monday evening, February 8, 1971 , at 7 30 p.m. Chairman Cataldo, Messrs. Mabee, Kenney and Greeley were present 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 also present. Hearing was declared open upon petition of the Boston Edison Com- pany and the New England Telephone Company to install one pole on Spring Street Notices of the hearing were mailed to the petitioners and owners of the property as listed on the petitioners' plan and also filed with the Town Engineer. Mr. Pratt representing the Boston Edison Company, and Mr Dunn, representing the New England Telephone Company, were present. Spring St Mr Pratt said that this request is to locate a pole with a bad- Pole Loca- break switch; in case of a break in service, we could switch to the tion Waltham side of the service. No one appearing in favor or in opposition, the Chairman declared the hearing closed. Upon motion duly made and' seconded, it was voted to approve the following location Spring Street, westerly side, approximately 85 feet north of Hayden Avenue, -- One ( I) pole Hearing was declared open upon petition of the Boston Edison Com- pany and the New England Telephone Company to install one pple on North Street Notices of the hearing were mailed to the petitioners and owners of the property as listed on the petitioners' plan and also filed with the Town Engineer. North St. Mr Pratt said that this request is for the relocation of a pole, Pole Loca- at the request of Mrs. Mason, 40 North Street, to clear the driveway. tion No one appearing in favor or in opposition, the Chairman declared the hearing closed. Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to approve the following location North Street, northeasterly side, approximately 2,457 feet north- west of Adams Street, -- One ( I ) pole (one existing JO pole to be removed) 1 379 Hearing was declared open upon petition of the Boston Edison Com- pany and the New England Telephone Company to install one pole on Hillside Terrace. Notices of the hearingwere mailed to the petitioners and owners of the property as listed on the petitioners' plan and also filed with the Town Engineer Mr. Dunn said the petition is a request to relocate a pole on the property line. Mrs. Nola A DeWolfe, 7 Hillside Terrace, waspresent and said the pole is on the corner of our driveway and everyone who drives out of the driveway hits the pole. If the pole is relocated on a patch of lawn about 4 ft wide, we couldn't hit it. The Chairman asked if anyone was in favor of this petition? A letter from Mrs. G.C. Turner, 9 Hillside Terrace, was submitted Hillside in favor of the relocation. Mrs. Turner was recorded in favor of the Terrace petition Pole No one appearing in opposition, the Chairman declared the hearing Location closed Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to grant permis- sion to the Boston Edison Company and the New England Telephone Com- pany for the following location Hillside Terrace, westerly side, approximately 165 feet north of Ledge lawn Avenue, -- One ( I ) pole (one existing JO pole to be removed) The Chairman informed the Board that a recommendation has been re- ceived from the Planning Board in response to a request from Charles E. Wesinger, Jr., 38 Walnut Street, Arlington, to purchase tax title lot No. 2, Reed Street, for $ 1 ,000. According to Mr Wesinger Lot No 2 is located on Reed Street, bounded on one side by Thomas Tansey, who is willing to sell his lot to me, and on the other side by Orchard Street Our intent in buying said lot is to build a one family dwelling . If permission to build is not granted, I would withdraw my offer The Planning Board' s letter states that lot No 2 is not bounded Tax Title by Orchard Street but is located one 25 ft. wide lot away Even if Wesinger this lot were combined with the adjacent 25 ft Tansey lot, the result- Request ing 50 ft. lot would have an effective width of only 22 5 ft. available for building due to the 20 ft setback from Orchard Street. This would result in a sub-standard lot and house not considered satisfactory by the Planning Board Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to deny the re- quest of Mr. Charles E Wesinger, Jr., to purchase tax title lot No.2, Reed Street, in the amount of $ 1 ,000 Mr. Mollo-Christensen of the Minute-man Regional Technical Voce- Vocational tional School Planning Committee came into the meeting and said that Technical they are requesting $4, 120 at Town Meeting as the Town' s share of the School $20,000 expenses, to be divided among the other participating towns 3bU approval only Arlington, Belmont, Concord and Lexingtonvo e t pp roval of the plan, our share would be higher and we can ask for an amendment on Town Meeting floor when we know how the other towns vote. Mr Mollo-Christensen retired frau the meeting The Chairman read a letter from residents of Grant Street regard- ing traffic conditions on Grant Street, above and below Sherman Street; there is no sidewalk and because of snowbanks, the children walk in the street. The Chairman said that one again, this is the complaint because we Grant St have allowed parking on both sides of the railroad bridge and the Parking Traffic Committee has looked at this more than once. Mr Kenney asked about the Post Office employees parking there. The Chairman said they can't park in the Post Office lot as there is no room for them Mr Kenney asked if we have to make it a no-parking zone? Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to request the Traffic Committee to evaluate the Grant Street area and submit the recommended language if a decision is made by the Board to remove this parking zone from our traffic rules and regulations The Chairman read a letter from Mrs Freier, 12 Demar Road, re- garding traffic conditions of Robinson Road in that children walk to school via Demar Road, Turning Mill Road and Robinson Road and these Robinson roads are the last to be plowed and seem to be sanded only if Public Road Works is called. Mrs. Freier recommends a plowed sidewalk; widening Traffic of Robinson Road; some restriction to the flow of traffic on Robinson Road, close off Robinson Road, except to residents, during certain hours Mr Mabee said this is a bad road and there is poly one solution and that is to widen Robinson Road and put in a sidewalk; a tremen- dous number of children use it to get to school . The Board agreed to request the Traffic Committee to set up a meeting with the residents of Robinson Road, Demar Road and Turning Mill Road to discuss the possibility of alleviating the problems of the area A letter will be written to Mrs Freier that the Traffic Commit- tee Chairman will contact her to set up the meeting Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to sign a Common Victualler license for the Lexington Golf Club (renewal) Lexington Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to sign a Club Golf Club Liquor license for the Lexington Golf Club (renewal); hours are 11 30 a.m. to 6 00 p.m., Monday thru Thursday, II 30 a.m to 10.00 p.m., Friday and Saturday; 1 00 p.m. to 10.00 p.m. Sunday Liquor Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted that Package Stores Washington' s are to remain closed on Washington' s Birthday, Monday, February 15, 1971; Birthday motels and clubs may serve liquor during the usual holiday hours 381 Mr. Legro, Town Counsel , came into the meeting at 8 00 p.m. I Mr Kenneydiscussed the vacancyon the Committee on Air Pollution. The Committee still feels it has a reason to continue until the final Air State standards are accepted. Five nominees have been submitted and it Pollution is recommended that M Louis Arin, 128 Maple Street, be appointed a mem- Committee ber of the Committee. Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to appoint M. Louis Arin a member of the Committee on Air Pollution Mr Greeley discussed a letter in the Minute-man regarding multi- ple tow truck responses after an accident, there seems to be compettion racing to the scene of the accident The Chairman said that we have been wrestling with towing for the last three or four years and there is no answer; the main thing is to get the cars off the street Mr. Greeley felt that when the police cruiser gets to the scene, Towing the officer would know how many wreckers are needed. Policy Mr O'Connell said that some firms try to respond, hoping the police will want to get the vehicle or vehicles out of the way. Mr Greeley said he was questioning whether the first one there gets the business. The Chairman said if you are involved and you want a wrecker, you can have any one you want III Mr O'Connell asked if the Board would like a statement prepared on the Board' s policy? The Board agreed that Mr O'Connell is to prepare a statement for publication in the Minute-man Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to go into Execu- tive Session for the purpose of discussing, deliberating or voting on matters, which, if made public, might adversely affect the public Executive security, the financial interests of the Town or the reputation of a Session 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 Planning Board met with the Board. Mr. Lund said that we would like to discuss the Muzzey Street- Clarke Street parking situation. Basically, the situation is we can't Clarke I do anything with Mrs. Carroll and the Lexington Federal Savings Bank; Street everybody else is amenable. We would propose to go ahead for options Parking and nominal sums for the back lots of the Medical Building and the Goldberg Building which is under construction off Muzzey Street, and we hoped to get an easement partly from them and partly from Mrs Carroll; I understand there are 12 ft available which would serve as an entrance to the parking Jot The Chairman asked if back of the Medical Building is paved? Mr Worrell replied that most of it is paved. 382 Mr. Lund said that the Doctors are most amenable to anything we propose for expansion purposes; to sell and move it somewhere else limits the use of other building and expansion possibilities. The Chairman asked what happens with Mrs. Carroll and the Bank? Mr. Lund replied that, basically, as far as Mrs. Carroll is concerned, we feel we shouldn't let the fact that her Counsel doesn't talk with us to affect the rest, when she is willing to talk with us. . . Mr Lund showed a map of the area and pointed out the Lexington Federal Savings Bank lot He said they are unwilling to enter into any kind of agreement as they want it for their own customer pur- poses. We propose to do it without Mrs Carroll and the Bank; to acquire a 12 ft easement on the Goldberg piece behind the building; the Goldberg property would give the Town access and ownership Mr Greeley asked how many parking spaces would there be, exclud- ing the Lexington Federal Savings Bank? Mr. Zaleski replied there would be 100 parking spaces, including parking for the Library Mr Worrell said the Library would take 35 spaces for themselves, to have it laid out to have a separate entrance from Clarke Street to get on the other lot. Mr. Brown asked if it were a firm position on the part of the Library? Mr. Mabee replied that is fust part of the specifications. Mrs Brown said the position of the Doctors is interesting; they don't contemplate parking for the secretaries and themselves but would rather be coordinated in the municipal lot and find other spaces for themselves The Chairman asked what would this do for the Town? I see a substantial number of headaches in construction costs without any great benefits. Mr Lund said that the Town would be getting from Goldberg and the Medical Building a substantial piece of land. We think the land should be acquired for a nominal consideration for a municipal park? ing lot; in the long range, it would be needed for this block. The Chairman asked what would it do for the Town at this point? Mr Lund replied that the Town acquires the land at a cheap price and holds it. The Chairman asked who polices this and who maintains this once the Town owns it? Mr. Clarke replied that we would have to make interim arrange- ments. Mrs. Brown said that the Town could put meters in. The Chairman said that his point is, why not enter into an agree- ment and when you get the rest of it then acquire the fee in this. Mr Lund said that the Doctors are very flexible to any arrange- ment. The Chairman said that once we are zoned, we are in the soup. We have to go in here and rebuild this; if not, we end up with another Harvard Trust lot Mr Worrell thought it exceedingly short-sighted if we don't take the opportunity to get the land for practically nothing. The Chairman asked, you don't think it would change under the existing zone? Mr. Worrell said that the Library people could park there just as well as patrons of the business. It is not a handout to business people, it is a benefit to the community. The Chairman stated that he was asking if - are we prepared? Mr Brown said we are giving you something free Mr. Lund said that the Town could acquire under long term options Mr Greeley asked Mr. Legro how long would they give it to us? Would they give it on a five year option? Mr Legro didn't know how long they would give it to us He said if you are asking do I think a five year option would be binding, I would answer, yes. Mr. Greeley felt there is a real advantage to an option rather than wait until we are going to do something with the property and we would hope to consummate some kind of arrangement with the Carroll property and get a long range option. Mr Lund said we could have a vote in Town Meeting to sign the op- tion and for the Town to exercise the option and not until we need it The Chairman asked about zoning? Mr. Lund said you wouldn't ask for the rezoning Mr Lund said Mr. Legro could draw the option to have it exercised U prior to Town Meeting .. Mr Mabee said he had reservations. Mr. Greeley said he would be opposed to changing it for parking The Chairman asked what is the hurry to do this? What is the thrust to get this accomplished"! Mr Lund said we had a lot of questions from the Doctors to sell the building because it is inadequate and we would like to assist them in setting up an adequate building. It can't be done as far as expan- sion because of the present zoning and they can't sell the building because of present zoning This would be a net gain to the Town. Mr Zaleski said it depends on the area and the shape In that event you would get 20 or 30 spaces Mr Greeley said the net gain to the Town is avoiding getting into the position of owners getting into zoning. Mr Worrell said that this is in the long range plan. The Chairman said that no one would question it if you came in and said this is what we are going to do. To do it piecemeal and ac- cept the responsibility for this area without knowing what to do with the rest.. Mr. Worrell said that Mr. Zaleski has drawn up plans showing what we can do with the land; we would then have it, excluding the Bank and Mrs. Carroll . The Chairman said that no one knows how this library facility is going to be designed or utilized. Mr. Lund asked do you want to wait? Why would it hurt the Town by having an option on this? 384 Mr. Mabee said he had reservations about going the option route and rezoning; but if you go to Town Meeting with rezoning and the option exercised, he would like to do the rezoning at the same time we get the options exercised. He has reservations just as Mr Greeley does and questions if that is going to be adequate for the building that is there He just didn't think things are going to- gether Mr. Worrell said to Mr Mabee that, essentially, you are adopt- ing the original plans of the Planning Board of acquiring it The Chairman said we are saying you are in a tremendous bargain- ing position now before it is rezoned. Mr. Lund said that is why we are going it now Mr. Worell said it is good practice to acquire land when you get it The Chairman said if we could leave it there until we want to build it, I would say, yes. Mr. Greeley asked are you content that a 12 ft. way access from Muzzey Street is wide enough? Mr Lund replied, yes. Mr Greeley asked where do you put the snow? Mr. Lund said that it could be pushed through somehow. The Board agreed to discuss the matter. Mr. Lund said that we would like to know your views The Planning Board retired from the meeting 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 10.20 p.m. A true record, Attest Executive Clerk, Selectmen