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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1970-03-02-BOS-min i vl SELECTMEN'S MEETING March 2, 1970 A regular meeting of the Board of Selectmen was held in the Select- men' s Room, Town Office Building, on Monday evening, March 2, 1970 at 7 30 p.m Chairman Cataldo, Messrs, Mabee, Kenney, Greeley and Bailey were present Mr O'Connell , Town Manager, Mr Gray, Executive Assist- ant, Mr. Burke, Superintendent of Public Works; Mr McSweeney, Town Engineer, and Mrs McCurdy, Executive Clerk, were also present. The Chairman informed the Board that Mr O'Connell is to assume his duties as Town Manager on March 2, 1970 and, according to the legisla- tion, at least a majority of the Board must be present and the entire Board ►s-here, the Town Clerk, Miss McDonough is also present to swear Town in Mr. O'Connell Manager The Town Clerk conducted the swearing-in ceremony and Mr Walter C. O'Connell is now the duly authorized Town Manager of Lexington. Mr O'Connell informed the Board that in view of the expiration of the Cemetery Commission, the Board of Fire Commissioners and the expira- tion of the term of Mr Yewell as Treasurer, he suggested that letters of appreciation be written to them Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to approve the recommendation of Mr O'Connell that letters of appreciation be written to the Cemetery Commissions, Fire Commissioners and M . Yewell . Mr. O'Connell informed the Board that Chief Corr has requested that Captain Furdon be appointed as Acting Chief during his vacation period of March 5 through March II , 1970 Police Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to appoint Cap- Dept taro Paul E Furdon as Acting Chief of Police during your vacation period of March 5 through March 11 , 1970 Mr. O'Connell reported to the Board that he had met with Mr. Maloney of the Regional Office of the State Department of Welfare con- cerning the relocation of the Welfare Department. They are very appre- ciative of the Town working with them and raised the question of Welfare whether the Town would allow the State Welfare Department to use the Dept Newell House as a temporary location, any problems associated with tenancy, they would deal with, meaning, they would assist in the problem of relocating tenants The Chairman felt they should come back to the Board with a propo- sition for the Board to consider Mr. O'Connell asked if Welfare should request the Selectmen to entertain a proposal on that property? The Chairman said that we have a problem of zoning and we feel if they could find another location, we would rather no}get into this, but III — i 2 if, in the final analysis they could find no other appropriate loca- tion, we could consider this, perhaps the Building Committee could recommend areas for them to consider Mr. O'Connell is to talk with the Welfare Department and come back to the Board Mr Burke discussed the permit fees He said that when the rates were established for pickup trucks, in order to have a permit, a vehicle must be garaged in Lexington Does the vehicle have to be garaged, only in Lexington or garaged and registered in Lexington? There is one individual with a vehicle garaged in Lexington and registered out of Town and he is using the vehicle for transporta- tion to and from work There is another vehicle garaged and regis- tered out of Lexington and he is a Lexington resident Is it the Board' s intent that a vehicle be registered in Lexington or only garaged? Dump The Chairman didn't know how this would be written in the regu- Permit lation but anyone using a pickup to carry his own rubbish to the dump should be entitled to a $5 00 permit; how it would be written to be policed, he didn't know Mr Burke would like to issue permits and run a check on indivi- duals and, if they are bringing something other than their own personal rubbish, the permit should be revoked The Board did not agree with this approach The Chairman recommended that the regulation be rewritten to deal with this problem and to enforce it He asked Mr Burke to come back with recommended language to change the regulation Mr Burke is to come back to the Board with the proper language, including that the refuse originates in Lexington Mr McSweeney discussed the Cotton-Ashley site and showed a map of the area He requested the Board to accept the concept that the Cotton- line dividing the Ashley property be such that it will leave a 100' Ashley opening adjacent to what is proposed for the future Worthen Road; Property and taking about 8 acres adjacent to the Cotton and Holt properties, with the remainder of the Ashley property having enough land for a proposed subdivision Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to accept the concept of the Cotton-Ashley site, as presented by the Town Engineer Mr Oscar Carlson met with the Board The Chairman informed the Board that Mr Carlson is here in re- gard to Article 100, the lot of land on Rockville Avenue We have Article 100 been requested to sell this lot and, when we asked the Planning Rockville Board for a recommendation, they agreed that it be sold as an addi- Ave Lot tion to the adjacent cent lot. Mr Carlson cameas� n to see mehe is con- cerned with our position, he feels that because the taking was made from him, he should be given the opportunity to buy it I explained the condition that it be sold as an addition to the other lot, and he asked to come before the Board tonight. 3 / Mr. Carlson said that the lot on Rockville Avenue was taken in the Spring of 1963; the Town offered $ 1500 and I refused it because the market value was $4,000, and the land was to be taken for a fu- ture school , street or playground My attorney and I petitioned for a hearing in 1963 In 1966, the Town offered $2500, which was still under the market value and rather than go to court, I accepted it, as I live in Town and if the Town needed the land for a school or a road, I settled for $2500 I developed the land and hot-topped the road and put in water and a hydrant, at no expense to the Town and there were no improvements for the land from the Town If the Town wants to sell it, it should revert to me for $2500, plus, I will pay the compounded interest from 1966 I think this is only fair and my attorney told me to present it to the Board I don't know enough about parliamentary procedure to bring it up on the Town Meeting floor, but the land should revert to me. The Chairman said that he had explained to Mr Carlson that we didn't hold it back for three years, it was the Court. We are not selling it as an individual building lot but there is a condition to annex it to make one lot Mr. Greeley asked if it was a legal building lot but at the present time does not conform? Mr. Carlson said that it is not a tax title lot; it is a 66 foot lot and is sewered now, talking about housing, he has built 150 houses on 50' x 60' lots The Chairman said that it was a legal building lot when we took it and annexed it to one lot of 15 acres, there is one parcel left; does this put it in another category? If this lot were sold, could you get a building permit? Mr. Carlson said that he could unless the Town had any encum- brances, this 60' x 120' lot should revert back Mr. Greeley said that if it were attached to another adjoining lot, he didn't think the owner could use it for two lots and it would no longer be a legal building lot Mr. Carlson said that the adjoining lot was not taken by eminent domain, it was supposed to be; the adjoining lot is 60' and a legal building lot It was offered to me and I refused to take it, that was one of the lots to be taken which was never taken; now the Town doesn't need it, as Philip Road was cut through and there was one lot left; I would like to buy it back. I think the Town could sell it to anyone they please Mr. Kenney asked if it was established as a legal lot because of zoning? Mr. O'Connell replied in the affirmative. He said there was a stipulation when we transferred the title and he didn't think the status would change if Mr Carlson could buy it Mr. Mabee suggested that Mr Carlson get a legal opinion on this, we will do the same, and there will be a meeting of the minds. The Chairman said that Mr Carlson feels the Town has a moral obligation; if the opinion comes back that it is no longer a legal building lot, and we write to you that no building permit can be issued on this, what is your feeling then? A- 4 Mr Carlson said that it would no longer be of any use to him. Mr. Greeley asked if he had intended to build in 19632 Mr. Carlson replied, yes; he had built all the other houses and had put in all of the utilities; he felt that the lot should revert to him It was agreed that Mr. Carlson is to consult his Attorney for a legal opinion and the Board is to consult Town Counsel and meet with Mr. Carlson at a future date on the matter of whether the lot on Rockville Avenue is a legal building lot Mr Carlson retired from the meeting The Conservation Commission met with the Board The Chairman said that the Commission had written to the Board on February 4, 1970 regarding the cleaning of Munroe Brook and also asked for a meeting with us. Mr Smith said that this letter was sent because we would like to be kept informed when Public Works goes into the area surrounding the Great Meadow, so that we could inform the people involved in the study Camp, Dresser and McKee were doing the survey that we en- gaged them to do, and had set up meters to test the flow of water Munroe Any major changes in the area would affect their readings Brook The Chairman said that we received a letter from you dated Octo- ber 31 , 1969, saying that the study would be made and asking to be informed of any future plans for the areas surrounding the Great Meadow We wrote back to you, immediately, and asked what areas you were interested in and I , personally, came down to a Committee meet- ing to ask what areas you had designated There was no definite answer either way Munroe Brook doesn't flow into Great Meadows. If Camp, Dresser and McKee came in to set up equipment, someone should have come and said they were going in When Mr Burke came in, he didn't know the equipment was in there We made every effort to cooperate and heard nothing from you Mrs. Frick said that we assumed that you and Public Works knew where Munroe Brook starts and it does not go through the Great Meadow but affects it, and this is the whole concept of the study She didn't understand the puzzlement of the Board The Chairman said that we asked you what areas you wanted us to stay out of , you should have told the Superintendent of Public Works and he would have gone around you You know we go in to clean brooks and we have made the attempt to get the study underway and to give , you the help you needed; we had no answers, so Mr Burke went in. Mr Smith said that dredging has an effect on the whole study Mr Greeley said that the Commission is now in a position to work with the Superintendent of Public Works, what is the next step? Mr Totman said that they had notified the contractor Mrs Frick thought that the contractor had called the Public Works and, as far as we are concerned, we are willing to work with you in any area you want to go into The Chairman said that the Commission should let us know when they want to go into an area. 1 Mr. Smith said that having notified the contractor, that is all that needs to be done The Chairman said that he was surprised that Camp, Dresser and McKee hadn't notified the Department of Public Works. It was agreed that Mr Totman is to talk with Camp, Dresser and McKee and Mr O'Connell , Town Manager The Chairman asked about the list of priorities Mr. Smith said that Drummer Boy, Article 93, is Number I ; this is the one with the greatest potential damage to the Town with flood- ing. The Chairman asked if there was anything different other than was submitted to us? Mr. Smith said that they have an appraiser and we felt that with the number of parcels involved, it was inadvisable to have opinions of value, not knowing if the Town would buy them, we have gone ahead to have opinions of value on the major ones and to move indefinite postponement on the others Our thinking was that there was a lot of opposition at all of the hearings on eminent domain, with private property with buildings on it When we take a portion of somebody' s house lot, we will run into what we ran into on Grapevine. This year, we don't think it important enough to run into this opposition and have concentrated on bigger parcels, we have done it in that fashion. No. 2 priority Article 96, Heritage Hall on Bedford Street, Boy this is tied into the same water shed area Drummer No 3 priority Article 94, $ 1 ,000 figure or outright purchase of two acres. No 4 priority Article 77, which is the 3 8 acre Busa piece, this is being appraised and we, undoubtedly, will have an agreement before Town Meeting No. 5 priority Article 79, the Hamilton property on Juniper Hill ; not the whole area, the wet area No 6 priority Article 97, the Green and White piece, west of Maple Street . The Chairman asked if they were getting an opinion of value for easements or on the cost to buy it? Mr. Smith said that they had asked for it on an easement basis. The Chairman said that it would make sense to get both Mr Greeley said that it would be about the same price to pur- chase. Mr. Kenney said that in order to argue easements, you must have both He asked if Conservation was operating on the assumption that easements were cheaper J Mr Smith said that they are bound to be This is the list or priorities and the rest will be postponed. The Chairman requested that the Commission get the descrip- tions to Mr Legro and the numbers on Article 96, 94, 77, 79 and 97 We will assume that Articles 95, 78, 80 and 81 are going to be postponed If we get the descriptions right away, it will be much easier to draw the motions and we can leave the numbers blank Mr Smith said there may be another one on Article 78, land East of Maple Street; this would be priority No 7 The Chairman said, in other words, there is no money attached to that, just that we would accept it; this would have to come up after the Citizens' Articles Mr Smith said that the information on the motions would be given to Mr O'Connell Mr O'Connell brought up the question on the Valleyfield op- tion The Chairman said that as he understood it, this was for twenty-five acres and, when surveyed, it was twenty-eight acres. The motion that carried was based on twenty-five acres and we have a deficiency of funds, but if we use part of Conservation funds, we can sign the option and consummate the purchase Is this the feeling of the Conservation Commission? Mr. Smith replied in the affirmative Mr O'Connell said that we are about $4,000 short and this is in the Conservation fund Mr Smith said that they expect to ask for the fund to be in- creased to $ 10,000 next year and hoped the Board would support them. The Conservation Commission retired Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to approve Bond bonds for Deputy Collectors Paul E and Frederic J. Kelley, in the amount of $2500 each, to December 31 , 1970 Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to certify Cert of the character of Miriam Landau, 65 Turning Mill Road, who has incorp applied for a Certificate of Incorporation "Voice of Women - New England, Inc " The Chairman said that we have written to the Planning Board and asked for a recommendation on applying for the Workable Program Workable Re-certification and have received a reply stating that no housing Program program under consideration would be jeopardized by the failure to have the Workable Program re-certified Mr Greeley recommended that the Town apply for re-certifica- tion The Chairman said that the necessary papers will be ready for signature on next Monday evening The Chairmanreada Commissioners letter from the Board of Fire Commissi Hers requesting permission to advertise for bids on the old rescue truck Rescue Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to grant per- Truck mission to the Fire Department to advertise for bids on the old Bid rescue truck The Town Manager was requested to talk with the Fire Chief and put it out to bid. Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to grant the re- Pole quest of the Boston Edison Co and New England Telephone Co. to locate Location three poles on Sheila Road, northwest of Lillian Road The Chairman read a letter from Marjorie Burke requesting im- provement in safety measures for ice skaters at Kineen' s playground. Skating at The Board agreed to instruct the Town Manager to meet with the Kineen' s Recreation Committee and come back to the Board with a recommendation to resolve this situation Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to approve the Minutes of the Selectmen' s Meeting held on February 16, 1970. Minutes The Chairman read the list of streets to be presented to Town Meeting for acceptance; the Board agreed, with the exception of Forbes Road Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to approve the layout of the following streets Angier Road - Burlington Street to Emerson Road Augustus Road from Reed Street to Vaille Avenue Blinn Road from Hickory Street to end Bloomfield Street section in the subdivision Carol Lane from Bedford Street to end Diamond Road-Grove Street to Emerson Road Emerson Road from near Diamond Road to 337+ feet beyond Angier Road Hickory Street from Garfield Street to Kimball Road Mason Street from Pleasant Street to accepted portion Street Oak Park Circle from Saddle Club Road to end Layouts Paddock Lane from Follen Road to end Saddle Club Road from Grant Street to accepted portion Shaw Place from Augustus Road to end Vaille Avenue from limit of acceptance westerly to end White Pine Lane from Mason Street to end White Terrace from Diamond Road to end Bloomfield Street from end of subdivision to Highland Avenue Downing Road from Marrett Road to Outlook Drive Minola Road from accepted portion to Bloomfield Street Massachusetts Avenue-Building line on the southerly side of Massa- chusetts Avenue from the easterly boundary line of the pre- " mises now numbered 1620 Massachusetts Avenue to the westerly boundary line of the premises now numbered 1654- 1656 Massa- chusetts Avenue Wallis Court-Building line on both sides of the entire length. The Chairman informed the Board that a request has been received ORT from the Battle Green Chapter of ORT for approval by the Board of the issuance of a proclamation declaring March 18, 1970 as ORT Day in Lexington A copy of the proclamation will be sent to each member of the Board and we will discuss it at the next meeting. Attorney Richard Lovell and Paul Boyd, Executive Vice President of Niles Realty Company met with the Board Attorney Lovell said that the purpose of the meeting was to dis- cuss Article 101 , which is a proposal to rezone land now owned by Mr. Haroian They plan a joint venture with Mr Haroian to build gar- den apartments on eight acres of land on Concord Avenue near Waltham Street. We want your Board to be aware of this and would request that you make some determination to bring the sewer to the parcel He showed a plan of the proposed apartments and said that they have been designed by Royal Barry Wills and the idea was to make it look like a single house residential area The Chairman asked if they would be of all-brick construction? Mr Boyd replied that it would not; there will be a variety of brick, clapboard and shingle houses, to break it up in order to lose the common appearance; there is a firewall between each unit The Chairman asked how much it would cost to build? Mr Boyd replied, $2 M Niles The Chairman asked Mr McSweeney how this development could be Realty serviced? Haroian Mr. McSweeney said that the sewer would come down Concord Avenue where the brook crosses. The Chairman asked if he could estimate what this would cost? Mr McSweeney replied in the negative Mr. Lovell said that it would involve extending the lateral The Chairman asked if it is rezoned, what is the schedule for construction? Mr. Boyd said that they hoped to get started by fall , maybe sooner The Chairman said that if it is rezoned and we had your request next year for the lateral , will that be soon enough? Mr. Boyd said that we would have to wait as we doubt that we could get the proper financing to start construction prior to the sewer coming in The Chairman said that if we ask Town Meeting for an appropria- tion of funds, there' s no guarantee of you not starting the project Attorney Lovell said that they would like to know the status of that trunk line and how it stands at the moment The Chairman said that the status is, it is under design and could be let out for bid between May and June. J b Attorney Lovell asked if that could be installed this summer, is there any chance of going to a special Town Meeting for action on the lateral? The Chairman said that there will be a special meeting this year, but he could assure them that we could get no support for more sewer money this year He asked the Board' s feeling? Mr Kenney said that we operate within the capital budget and we would hesitate to ask; how much money are you talking? Mr McSweeney replied, about $70,000 The Chairman said that if it were a small amount, there is no question but that we would ask for it but the sewer budget this year is $650,000, with sewer requests at $ 1 ,400,000 from people with prob- lems. Mr Greeley said that the request couldn't go in at the special meeting and we couldn't ask for $70,000 from the tax levy because the money is not there The Chairman said that the Town Manager will have the numbers for us; he asked Mr McSweeney to get a rough estimate ready by to- morrow Mr. Greeley asked if the entering streets would be private streets? Attorney Lovell replied that they would be entirely maintained by them. We have been assured of gas service either by Mystic Valley or Boston Gas; the water is there Mr McSweeney asked if they would maintain all of these facili- ties out of Concord Avenue, water and sewer? Attorney Lovell replied, yes, we will pick it all up at the street line The Chairman said that in other words, the only services we have to provide are police and fire Attorney Lovell said that we would like to be able to say at Town Meeting that we have presented this to the Board and if we could say that while, of course, this could depend on future action of the Town, we have the encouragement of the Board of Selectmen and, depending on the action to rezone taken by the Town, the Board will take steps to recommend the extension of the sewer The Chairman asked if they would make a presentation at the informational meeting? Mr Boyd said they would, provided they are invited; we haven't been notified yet The Chairman said that their next presentation, then, will be at Town Meeting Mr. Boyd said it would be, unless they are invited to the in- formational meeting. Attorney Lovell said that if this were presented to the next annual meeting in March, 1971 , Mr Boyd had said that would hold up construction but if no effective action can be taken before that, I would say our timing would have to be adjusted Mr Greeley didn't see how the Board could recommend construc- tion of the sewer at a meeting prior to next March; if there is a l zoning change, we would feel obligated to give the lateral high pri- ority next year The Chairman agreed He said that Mr McSweeney will come back with the recommended layout of how the lateral is to be constructed to service this area We will discuss it among ourselves and, if the zoning change is passed, we would recommend this to the Town. He asked Attorney Lovell to let the Board know when their next pre- sentation is going to be Attorney Lovell agreed and he and Mr Boyd retired from the meeting Mr Legro came into the Meeting The Chairman informed Mr Legro that the Board has voted to lay out all of the streets, with the exception of Forbes Road Forbes Mr Legro said that on Forbes Road, it is a matter of laying Road out over State property and we have no right to do it I will have a report for the Board on next Monday evening The Chairman asked Mr Legro to look over an agreement with the MDC MDC to transfer 15 feet of a 27 inch sewer and manhole owned by the Town, and advise the Board on signing it Mr Legro requested the Board to sign a release in the amount of $589 14 on the Town' s claim against Michael G Sinkevich for Release hitting a hydrant on October 14, 1969 Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to sign the release in the amount of $589 14 on the Town' s claim against Michael G Sinkevich for hitting a hydrant on October 14, 1969. Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to adjourn at 9 22 P.M. A true record, Attest -t- k.,/1")\ h;�s��x �/ a 1f° Executive Clerk, Selectmen