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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1970-11-16-BOS-min 27(i SELECTMEN'S MEETING November 16, 1970 A regular meeting of the Board of Selectmen was held in the Bird Room, Cary Memorial Building, on Monday evening, November 16, 1970 at 7 30 p.m Chairman Cataldo, Messrs Mabee, Kenney, Greeley and Bailey 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 Mr Legro requested the Board to sign two releases with respect Release to the property at 64 Pleasant Street which were voted by the Board at the last meeting Mr O'Connell reported to the Board on the perambulation of boundaries. Bedford has been done, Mr Bailey went on this one Perambula- Winchester has asked for Thursday, November 19, and Lincoln has tion asked for any work day next week Mr. Kenney agreed to perambulate the Winchester boundary on November 19 Mr O'Connell said that a request has been received from the Comptroller for a transfer of $2521 for additional funds for Fire Transfer and Police pensions Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to request the Appropriations Committee for a transfer from the Reserve Fund to Fire and Police pensions, in the amount of $2521 Mr O'Connell informed the Board that bids had been taken on November 5 for interceptor and lateral sewers, force main and pump- ing station on Waltham Street-Five Fields There was considerable Sewer interest in bidding and twelve bids were received Crowley Asso- Contract ciates, Inc of Leominster bid $574,320; D DiMartino of Franklin, $585,505, Modern Continental Construction Co Inc , $595,960 The Town Engineer recommends, and I concur, to award the contract to Crowley Associates, Inc. Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to award the contract for interceptor and lateral sewers, force main and pumping station to Crowley Associates, Inc , 25 Mohawk Drive, Leominster, Massachusetts in the amount of $574,320 Mr O'Connell read a letter from Mr. Mistretta to Mr McSweeney regarding our request of October 16, 1970 to construct a sidewalk Marrett Rd on Marrett Road The letter states that prior to granting a permit Sidewalk for the construction of sidewalks within the State Highway location lines by Towns or Cities, the approval of the Governing Body (Board) of Selectmen) to the following agreement shall be on record with the Department. The Town will 277 1 Provide funds for and place the sidewalk surface 2 Be responsible for maintenance and snow removal on the completed sidewalk 3 Be responsible for all slope easements and all grade damage claims by the abutters 4 Make no assessments on abutters for work done by the Town under a permit issued by the State Mr Greeley said that this agreement says we shall not make as- sessments, so we cannot do it Mr. McSweeney said that this is a policy letter and I have already checked it out with the DPW and we can assess betterments. Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to request a permit from the State Department of Public Works to construct a side- walk on Marrett Road, subject to the first three conditions aet forth by the State (Route 2A-Elena Road to Lincoln Street) Mr O'Connell informed the Board that he had received a letter from the District Highway Engineer regarding the pedestrian light at Winchester Drive and Lowell Street. The State DPW makes no date commitment Winchester The Chairman said that he had answered Mrs Tausch last week Drive- that we are requesting a schedule and when it is received, we would Lowell St consider what to do Pedestrian Mr McSweeney said that they are saying it is going into the Light design section The Chairman asked if we could get a more definite answer? In fairness to the interested people, we have to either get a commit- ment from the State or decide what we are going to do If it is going to take six months, should we do something on an interim basis? Mr O'Connell said that we will continue to push on it and see if they can give us a time schedule Mr. O'Connell informed the Board that our DPW has reviewed the problem at 2127 Massachusetts Avenue, as a result of a request from Mrs Stanton, regarding the ditch between the street and sidewalk in front of her home A bituminous concrete curbing could be in- Stanton stalled on both sides of Massachusetts Avenue from Worthen Road to Request Audubon Road and the area loamed and seeded for the entire length The Chairman asked when they would construct this? Mr O'Connell said that this could be done quite soon The Chairman said that we have voted several of these and none have been done yet Mr McSweeney said that he needs an opportunity to review these requests and will include this request and report back to the Board on next Monday evening Mr O'Connell reported to the Board that a letter has been re- ceived from the 4-H Club, thanking us for the use of Lincoln Street 4-H Club site for the fund-raising fair, the Club raised $ 100 for the drug problem in the Town 278 The Chairman read a letter from the University of Massachusetts Irwin enclosing a completion certificate for Donald K Irwin' s attendance Award at the Municipal Building Officials' Conference on October 5-9 1970. The Board agreed to award the certificate to Mr Irwin at the next meeting The Chairman read a letter from the Post Office requesting ap- Post Office proval of the installation of an additional collection box on Request Massachusetts Avenue, opposite Waltham Street, on the new Colonial Mall The Board agreed that Mr. McSweeney is to talk with Mr Walker of the Post Office Department The Chairman read a letter from John F Cogan, Jr., enclosing a draft of a proposed amendment to the By-Laws, Article XXIV, s. 6 By-Laws and s 25 After discussion, the Board agreed to write to Mr Cogan and explain that the Board feels something should be done in these areas but we would evaluate the complete problem in depth and come up with amendments that should be satisfactory to all . Cert of Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to certify the lncorp character of Thomas D O'Neill , 24 Meriam Street, who has applied for a Certificate of Incorporation, "Sno Tek Ski Club, Inc " The Chairman read a petition from the tenants of Greeley Village 111for repairs to Tewksbury Street to provide safe access to the Village for the elderly pedestrians and vehicular traffic Mr O'Connell said that he had written to Mr Scanlon, Chairman of the Housing Authority, to inform him that the petition would be presented to the Board but pointed out that Tewksbury Street is a Tewksbury private way and he hoped it would be made clear to the residents of Street the Village that the deplorable condition of Tewksbury Street is Petition entirely the result of how the property owners, who are responsible, choose to have it Also, that the matter of petitioning for accept- ance by the Town is a matter for the owners and, in any event, before the Town would consider acceptance, it would have to be repaired to Town specifications It might be helpful if we could get the residents to use Shirley Street The bus stop is at Tewksbury Street and if we could get it moved, it would avoid one excuse for using Tewksbury Street Another thing, the taxis used by the residents travel over Tewksbury Street and we could instruct the Taxi Company to request the drivers not to use it Mr Greeley said that we must write to the petitioners, telling them we believe the residents of Tewksbury Street do not wish to have it improved at this time and prefer that people use Shirley Street; we would encourage them to follow that pattern 279 The Chairman said that if we write them and tell them to use Shirley Street, the people on Shirley Street will be down on them It would be best if we tell them We could answer them that Town Meeting would have to accept this street and we are of no mind to submit it The Board agreed. Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to authorize the Chairman to sign the Liquor Identification Card for Judith C I .D. Card Dorion, 5 Park Street Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to sign the abatements for water rate billed to the following Water Raymond Simpson $ 3.85 Wrong Billing Abatements Earl Outhet 234.83 Double Billing Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to grant the request of the Comptroller to rescind the vote of September 21, Amaral 1970 to abate the water bill sent to Dr M.F Amaral , 177 Cedar Water Bill Street, in the amount of $ 156 45, abated in error Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to approve the Minutes minutes of the Selectmen' s Meeting held on November 2, 1970 Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to sign the Order for Construction of Sidewalk on the following streets Marrett Rd Sidewalk Marrett Road-westerly side from Elena Road to Lincoln Street Order Taft Avenue-southerly side from Sutherland Road to Ellis Street The Chairman read a recommendation from the Traffic Committee that additional school zone signs be installed between the Muzzey Junior High and the Munroe School Also, a recommendation that the condition of all school zone signs be watched by the Police Depart- Traffic ment and any signs becoming dilapidated, damaged or poorly visible School be renovated, replaced or visual obstructions cleared as a matter Zones of routine maintenance by the Public Works Department Sign Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to accept the recommendation of the Traffic Committee that additional school zone signs be installed between the Muzzey Junior High and the Munroe School . Also, to accept the recommendation regarding school zone signs The Chairman read a recommendation from the Traffic Committee regarding a request from Mrs. Walsh, 19 Bertwell Road, for the in- Traffic stallation of a cautionary sign The report states the Committee Walsh can suggest no cautionary sign for Mrs Walsh other than the stand- Request and "Blind Child " The alternative is a standard "Caution Children" sign which we all agree is generally disregarded because it is seen so often and requires no specific action 280 The Board agreed to instruct the Town Manager to make the neces- sary arrangements to install a "Caution Children" sign on Bertwell Road and to so inform Mrs Walsh The Chairman read an excerpt from the Traffic Committee regard- ing a request from Mr Cosgrove that speed signs be posted on Hart- Traffic well Avenue. The report states this is not possible since the Cosgrove State DPW does not permit posting except on streets subject to Hartwell special speed zone; Chief Corr has promised to concentrate on the Avenue enforcement of speed laws on Hartwell Avenue and this is considered a more effective way of controlling violations than posting addi- tional signs The Board agreed to reply to Mr Cosgrove that we cannot legal- ly approve his requests but Chief Corr will enforce the speed laws as they exist. The Chairman read a letter from B.E. Jordan, Chairman of U.S Senate Committee on Rules and Administration regarding prayer Prayer breakfasts for community leadership. Mr. Jordan states that if we Breakfasts would be interested in having a prayer breakfast, he would be happy to send us the format used in the Senate Breakfast Group After discussion, the Board agreed to acknowledge Mr. Jordan's letter and thank him for his interest. Mr. Mabee informed the Board of a vacancy on the Drug Advisory Committee because of the resignation of Rev. Lund. At the meeting of the Committee, it was the unanimous recommendation to request the Board to appoint Jack H. Monderer as the 5th member of the Committee. Drug Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was unanimously voted Advisory to appoint Jack H Monderer a member of the Drug Advisory Committee, Committee effective immediately Mr Mabee said that if the Board would like to have a tie-in with the Council of Churches, the Drug Advisory Board would be amenable. The Chairman said that the Council of Churches wanted to be part of it to the appropriating of money, and they haven't, as far as I know Mr Mabee said that we could have a 6th non-voting liaison man. The Board agreed that the Drug Advisory Committee could have a liaison with the Council of Churches Mr Temple Scanlon of the Housing Authority requested the Housing Board to sign the contract for Financial Assistance by and between Authority the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the Lexington Housing Contract Authority Fin. Aid Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to sign the contract for Financial Assistance by and between the Commonwealth of 1 281 Massachusetts, acting by and through the Commissioner of the Depart- ment of Community Affairs and the Lexington Housing Authority, sub- ject to the approval of Town Counsel Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to go into Executive Session for the purpose of discussing, deliberating or Executive voting on matters which, if made public, might adversely affect the Session public security, the financial interests of the Town or the reputa- tion 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 Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to insert the following Articles in the Warrant for the Special Town Meeting of January II , 1971 Special I Reports January Meeting 2. Appropriations for Junior High School building Articles ( Inserted at the request of Permanent Building Committee) 3 Stedman Road land taking for Junior High School site ( Inserted at the request of Permanent Building Committee) 4 Authorization to spend Federal funds on relief sewer ( Inserted by Board of Selectmen) 5 Abolish hunting ( Inserted at the request of the Hunting Committee) 6 Appropriation for Fire Department budget ( Inserted at the request of the Town Manager) 7 By-Law change - mailing of warrant ( Inserted by Board of Selectmen) 8 Zoning maps - Planning Board ( Inserted at the request of the Planning Board) 9 Acceptance of gift - Georgie Burr Smith - $300. ( Inserted by the Board of Selectmen) 10 Acceptance of gift - Katharine Harrington - $ 1500 ( Inserted by Board of Selectmen) II. Outdoor Tennis Club ( Inserted at the request of 100 or more registered voters ) I 2842 12 Covenant Church re-zoning ( Inserted at the request of 100 or more registered voters) 13 Meagherville ( Inserted at the request of 100 or more registered voters) Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to adjourn at 10 52 p.m A true record, Attest Executive Clerk, Selectmen 1 1