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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1969-06-16-BOS-min ` t} t,, f rF 1 SELECTMEN'S MEETING June 16, 1969 A regular meeting of the Board of Selectmen was held in the Selectmen's Room, Town Office Building, on Monday evening , June 16, 1969 at 7:30 P.M. Chairman Cataldo, Messrs. Mabee, Kenney, Greeley and Bailey were present. Mr. Gr y, Executive- Assistant, Mr. BurkeSuperintendent of Pu is Works, Mr. McSweeney, Town Engineer, and Mrs. McCurd , Executive Clerk, were also present. . Burke, Director of Guides, met with the Board. He int oduoed Marianne Harvell and informed the Board that rianne had successfully passed her examination. He req ested the Board to sign the Guide 's License. e Chairman welcomed Marianne and said that, as a Guide repres ntative of Lexington, we look to her to protect the it ge of Lexington while conducting visitors on a tour o the green. Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to issue a license to Marianna Harvell as Guide of II Lexington. Hearing was declared open upon petition of the New England Telephone Company to lay and maintain under- ground conduits and manholes, with the wires and cables to be laced therein, under the surface of Waltham M. Street Marrett Road, Bridge Street, Spring Street, Old Spring Street and Shade Street. N tires of the hearing were sent to the petitioner, owners of the property as listed on the petitioner's Under- plans, and also filed with the Town Engineer. ground . Dunn, representing the Telephone Company, said Conduit that this petition is presented for the underground con- Spring St. duit to be laid in the Southwest section of Lexington near the intersection of Routes 2 and 128. It will start t a, manhole on Waltham Street to Marrett Road. This w 11 be to serve five new buildings which are pre- sently under construction. Hayward Road is presently fed by four inadequate high voltage power circuits. This i necessary to serve the rapidly growing Lexington and wi 1 all be underground. The Chairman asked if everything above is going un- derground? Mie. Dunn said that we are negotiating as we are partners of the Edison Company on the poles. Going the II r, 330 Southerly sidewalk area, at Prospect Hill Road, we cross over to the Northerly side and continue from another manhole adjacent to Downing Road, then to a connection up to a pole 185' on Marrett Road beyond Spring Street. There is another underground coming down Bridge Street on Spring Street. We plan to stay out in the middle of the road for the project, but we do go in -for the manholes. This is still on the Southerly side of Spring Street. All manholes will be in the sidewalk. There will be a connection 225' up Shade Street and continue until opposite Shade Street when we go into the sidewalk area. As far as I know, there are no trees involved. This goes to the Route 2 overpass. We have existing ducts and propose to pick up the existing conduit at the Bridge to the Waltham-Lexington line. The Chairman asked where it was going on the other side of Route 2? Mr. Dunn said that it would stay on the sidewalk on the other side of Route 2 to the few feet from the Waltham-Lexington line. Any excavations in the side walk area will be backfilled for entrance to homes. The Chairman asked if, during the work, Spring Street would be wide enough to accommodate traffic? Mr. Dunn said that it would be; the work would be a little on the side of the Southerly center. Mr. Greeley asked if it would be one-way traffic? Mr. McSweeney said it would not be. Mr. Dunn said that the project would start in July and take from six to eight weeks to do the whole job. The Chairman caked if:.he knew if the overhead lines would go underground? Mr. Dunn said that the Telephone Company came to an opinion that their equipment could be moved under- ground at Old Shade Street and Spring Street; at the present time, they don't plan to take it down right away. Mr. Greeley asked if Edison would have to dig in another set of conduits? Mr. Dunn said that we were talking with Kennecott Copper and Raytheon and we have reached our agreement with them. The Chairman asked if it comes down, is this con- duit big enough to handle it? Mr. Dunn replied in the affirmative. We need this for the growth out there. We possibly have enough con- duit in there to do that. We have twelve ducts from Marrett Road to Spring Street, then nine going down 1 33 Sprin. 'Street. We do have turnoffs to feed the indus- trial concerns; they will bring their duct out to the prope ty line beyond; the subscriber line is costing them oney. Mc• Sweeney told Mr. Dunn that the Town would like 'he Telephone Company to come down in the sidewalk inste=d of the pavement on Old Spring Street and on Bridg Street. He said that there is new pavement, only two y-ars' old, on Bridge Street and asked if they could just/ y the need to come down as shown on the plan. . Dunn stated that he would check with their Engi- neers, but he believed there would be no problem moving the d ct, as requested. e Chairman asked if there were any questions? ry Barch, 43 Spring Street, asked who pays for this? . Dunn said, the Telephone Company. . Dose, 82 Spring Street, asked about running it in th= center of the street? . Dunn said that it would be a little to the South-rly side and would probably run from 2' '' to 3' deep d 3' wide; it would not affect the sewers. ▪ Done asked if the subscriber would pay? Dunn said that we are not .going to ask you to 11 pay; a will put it underground if people want it that way; the wires are overhead. Mir. Done said that we are satisfied with it the way it is. The Chairman said that we_aaked Mr. Dunn_if they were going underground completely. Tonight, they are asking for this to serve the industrial area beyond you peaple. If you ever get telephone service under- ground, you would have to pay for the installation of service from the property line to your home. Mary Barch said that industry has the upper hand. Erie Kula, 66 Spring Street, said that Mr. Dunn mentio:ied sidewalks and there are no sidewalks on Spring Street. Mr. Dunn said that we are about 6" in back of what is normally Oe curb line. T,'ze Chairman said that everything will be within the ri,;ht of way. C31. Schaffner, 379 Marrett Road, asked about the drivew.iys during the project? Mr. Dunn said that they will be kept open for you and piny back in the same condition as they are right now. Cil. Schaffner said that there are some walls, what happen* is they cave in? M . Dunn said that we have contractor's insurance. 1 332 The Chairman said that in our experience, the con- tractors have left areas in better shape than before they started. Mr. Baylies, 50 Spring Street, said that he is' not clear about the Edison Company; he hoped the Selectmen will tie the two together. Mr. Dunn said that in any new developments, we try to go underground. Edison, sometimes, goes along with us, sometimes not. We have one set of poles and are joint waters; Edison may have their reason not to. The Chairman skid that we asked Edison if they would use the same trench, and the answer was, no. Mr. Baylies said that if there was any chance to hook up_the two lines, and the expense was not too much, we should have the opportunity to look into it; over a long period. of time payment, it would improve the area. The Chairman said that we couldn't get into the ex- pense between you and the utility company. We asked Mr. Dunn if the subscriber wants underground service, would there be one payment or what? Mr. Dunn didn't know. Mrs. Trebino, 83 Spring Street, asked if it would interfere with the trees? Mr. Dunn said that if any trees are involved, it will be hand dug. Mr. Ridgley, 62 Spring Street, asked if this would improve the service where party lines are concerned? Mr. Dunn said that part of this is also for ex- change relief; as we go along, there can be improvements made for 1-party, instead of 2-party lines. Mrs. Trebino asked why the Telephone Company did not go up Route 2 instead of Spring Street. Mr. Dunn said that this is the• most direct route; we do have an existing line on Waltham Street to piek up. Mrs. Bolduc, 89 Spring Street, said that industry is being serviced at the expense of we residents. Mr. Dunn skid that all the new developments going up now as far as we can are going underground; industry is a big part of the service, too. Mr. Bolduc asked, do we have a choice? Mrs. Davison, 86 Spring Street, asked how many man- holes from Marrett Road to Shade Street. Mr. Dunn believed that there were seven manholes, all the way from Marrett Road to the Waltham line; going out Spring Street, it would be on the letthand side. According to our engineer, we are going on the Northerly side and, otherwise, the Southerly side; there will be nothing on private property. s. Davison said that, at the .moment, the road is 50' w de, no sidewalks or curbing where the manholes end u . She asked how, far from the center? . Dunn said that it was actually in the dirt shoul er on Spring Street; the manholes will be in the dirt. . Greeley said that Mrs. Davison is asking wheth r it will be close to the pavement. . Dunn said that it would be in the area which ghoul be the sidewalk; the underneath part of it would actually take the whole sidewalk. Mr. Done, 82 Spring Street, said that his lawn is part of the present sidewalk; it will come right on my lawn. Mr. Dunn told him that there was no manhole near him; it was quite a distance from Mr. Done's grass plot. Mrs. Trebino asked what side of the street would the sidewalk go in? The Chairman said that until Spring Street is de- signed, we can't answer you. In the final analysis, when Spring Street is reconstructed, you will probably find sidewalks on both sides .of Spring Street. Mrs. Trebino said that, then, we would not have any lawn. The Chairman said that we know what problems are there. Mrs. Deloury, 99 Spring Street, asked if it meant that manholes are going to be approximately where the poles are? Mr. Dunn said, no; on the other side. Mr. Riley, 67 Spring Street, said that this conduit is going to serve Kennecott Copper, Raytheon and B & B - you mentioned .that you were going to a manhole from a line up waltham Street; that means you have a conduit on Waltham Street and why not drop it right from Waltham Street, right down Hayden Avenue where the industry is, and that will solve it. Mr. Dunn. said that it is all engineered. Mr. Riley said that you can do it on the Lexington side and it will allow you to put in a lot shorter con= duit. The Chairman said that we wouldn't take the position that -this will be where the sidewalk goes. In the final analysis, this manhole could be moved into the street if the street is widened. The Chairman said that Mr. Dunn will set up the plans for the residents to look at end will answer all questions. Mr. Dunn and the residents left the hearing at 8:08 P.M. 334 At 8:22 P.M., Mr. Dunn and the residents came into the meeting. The Chairman asked if there were any further ques- tions on the design or engineering? Hearing none, the Chairman declared that part of the hearing closed. The Chairman asked if anyone appeared in favor of the petition? Hearing none, the Chairman declared that part of the hearing closed. The Chairman asked if anyone appeared in opposition? Mr. Riley, 67 Spring Street, said that the people he has talked to are against it for many reasons. 1) posi- tioning of manholes will prejudice the future planning of Spring Street; there will be holes in the street on one side, as opposed to the other side. 2) there is no evidence presented as to the alleged economy of dropping the line up Marrett and down Spring Street to serve Hay- den Avenue, as opposed to going down Hayden Avenue, which is built for industry. 3) to service the residents by removing very little poles; the present plan will not re- move the poles or wires, until we elect to dig a hole and pay to have it hooked up; it will not add to the beauty of Spring Street. Mary Bareh, 14.3 Spring Street, was recorded in opposi- tion. William Ridgley, 62 Spring Street, opposed the man- hole covers coming up Spring Street. Mr. Eric Kula said that he echoed Mr. Riley's comments. Eventually, we will have to have underground at Waltham Street; all these should be underground and we are getting nothing out of it but a minor inconven- ience. We have industry, let them pay. Mr. Done, 82 Spring Street, was recorded in opposi- tion; he said to return it to the Telephone Company and get another plan; let them bear the cost. Mrs. Davison was recorded in opposition; she said that it should go down Hayden Avenue. Residents recorded in opposition are as follows : Mrs. Bolduc 89 Spring St. Mr. Mcleod 71 Spring St. Mra. Deloury 99 Spring St. Mrs. Ridgley 62 Spring St. Mrs. Kotler 81 Spring St. Mr. Bacon 65 Spring St. Mr. McDonald 366 Marrett Rd. Roby Rogers 23 Spring St. Mr. Volpe 356 Merrett Rd. Mrs. Baroh 43 Spring St. Mr. Baylies 50 Spring. St. George Percy 17 Spring St. Mr. Welsh, 58 Spring St. Mr. Dunn said that if the Board would like to table this for another night, he will talk with the Telephone Engineer and have him contact Mr. McSweeney. e!ee The Chairman informed the residents and Mr. Dann that the Board will take the petition under advisement. Later on, the Board discussed this petition. It was agreed to table the petition and set up a meeting with the Telephone Company, the Edison Company, Town Engineer, and Mr. Gray, to discuss underground conduit and to find out why the Telephone Company is not going another route. Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to table the petition_ of the New England Telephone Co. to lay and maintain underground conduit on. Waltham Street, Merrett Road, Bridge Street, Spring Street, Old Spring Str®et and Shade Street. Hearing was declared open upon petition of the New England Telephone Company to lay and maintain under- ground conduits and manholes, with the wires end cables to be placed therein, under the surface of Worthen Road. Notices of the hearing were sent to the petitioner and owners of the property, and also filed with the Town Engineer. Mr. Dunn, representing the Telephone Company, was Worthen present at the meeting and said that the petition is to Road put the conduit underground, fust in front of the prop- Under- , erties abutting the Yewell Associates and Outhet ground property. Conduit The Chairman asked if it will be in the island in front of Militia Drive and whether they will be digging up Worthen Road? Mr,. Dunn said that there will be 435 feet of under- ground conduit and the manhole will be in the island. The Chairman asked if the four poles there would come down? Mr. Dunn replied, no; later on we plan to extend the whole thing to Bedford Street. No one appearing in favor or in opposition, the Chairman declared the hearing cloned. Mr. Dunn was informed that the Board would take it under advisement. Later on in the meeting, the Board voted. Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to approve the petition and grant permission to the New England Telephone Company to lay and maintain undert. ground conduits and manhole in the following locational Worthen Read: From a point in front of 51 Worthen Road, Northerly, approximately 435' of under- ground conduit; also, one (1) manhole 345/8. 336 Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted Cert, of to sign the Certificate of Incorporation for Frank T. Ineorp. Parrish, Jr., "Boston Security Analysts Society, Inc. " 'Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted Minutes to approve the minutes of the Selectmen's Meetings held on May 19, May 28, June 9, and June 12, 1969. The Chairman read a letter from the Director of Civil Defense, requesting the appointment of Leonard W. Jackson as Private; Craig MacFarland and Paul J. Civil Lingane in the Communications Service. Defense Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to appoint Leonard W. Jackson as Private in the Civil Defense Program; Craig MacFarland and Paul J. Lingane as members of the Communications Service. The Chairman read a letter from a resident of Five Fields, requesting permission to hold a square dance on Barberry Road-Stonewall Road on July q., 1969 from 7:00 P.M. to 12:00 M. Permit It was agreed to grant permission to 11 :30 P.M. Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to grant permission to the residents of Barberry Road- Stonewall Road to hold a square dance on July 4, 1969 111from 7:00 P.M. to 11:30 P.M. Mr. Gray said that Mr. Legro requests the Board to sign two Orders of Taking for the Kingston Homes and the Advent Christian Church of Somerville. Orders of Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted Taking to sign the Order of Taking of the Kingston Homes, Inc. land, with an award of damages in the amount of *14.900. Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to sign the Order of Taking of the Advent Christian Church of Somerville, Massachusetts land; damages are not awarded as there is a specified price per acre. Mr. Gray read a letter from Mrs. Diana Lund re- questing permission to set up a table for Dollars for Scholars on June 25, 1969, somewhere an the Town Hall lawn. Mr. Gray said that the Town has never had a policy for this on Town property, Request The Chairman instructed Mr. Gray to write to Mrs. Lund, informing her that, although the Board is sympa- thetic to the worthy cause, we should not set the precedent of collecting money on Town property on election day. , Mr. 1 McSweeney said that there will bean Order of Taking prepared by Town Counsel for a sewer easement at Kennecott Copper. This is the Barberry Road-Spring Street sexer under the Gioioso contract. Mr. McSweeney has a letter from Kennecott Copper and it is held up by an easement which has to be taken by the State. Today, a letter was received from Mr. Powers, Director of Right of Way Bureau, stating that they will go ahead. Kennecott They will abandon the easement they had taken at the Copper time of the relocation of Route 2 and will grant permis- Order of sion by letter. Mr. McSweeney requested permission from Taking the Board to make the taking, leaving the right of way out for the State to take. The Chairman said that he bad discussed this before with him and he feels that we should not make the taking unless we get this squared away. We have this letter now and I am sure Commissioner Ribbs will proceed and we will go ahead with our taking. Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to instruct Town Counsel to proceed with the preparation of the Order of Taking for a sever easement in the land owned by the Kennecott Copper Company. Mr. 1McSweeney informed the Board that Orders of Tak- ing must be prepared for slope easements for the purpose of street construction on Manley Court, Bridge Street, Slope Hillcrest Avenue, Ewell Avenue and Grassland Street. Easements Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to instruct Town Counsel to prepare the Orders of Taking for slope easements, for the purpose of street construc- tion, on Manley Court, Bridge Street, Hillcrest Avenue, Ewell Avenue and Grassland Street. The Chairman informed the Board that, as the Board had inntruoted them, Mr. Gray, Mr. McSweeney and Mr. Cole a*d' he had met with Commissioner Ribbe on the recom- mendation of the Traffic Survey of the Bedford-Hartwell Traffic Avenue area. We talked, and the final results went very Bedford well. They see some problems with the recommendation. Hartwell We got the ocmasitment from them that they would do a Avenue feasibility study on this and talk with the Bureau of Public Roads on July 8; they will let us know what their thinking is. We asked them for consideration to call us before there was a final "no" from the DPW or the Bureau of Roads. We would like to. present all the per- tinent facts and they agreed to this. In the meantime, we will have a meeting with the fourteen industries and go over the study with them. We will report to them what was done and solicit their support, if and when it 33S is needed. We willlay out to t3 what direction we should take. The Co—issioner was very responsive' to the Town and we feel if we get our opportunity to sit with the full Commission and the Bureau of Public Roads, we have a good possibility of getting the problem resolved. We were very pleased with the re- sults of the meeting. We will set a date for the meeting with the induatries and hope that our Board members will attend. Mrs. Davison met with the Board. She said that she and Mr. Gula would like to express their feeling regarding the traffic on Spring Street. The Chairman paid that we all recognise the facts of the problem on Spring Street; he asked what they felt were the answers? Mr. Xula said that Chapter 90 has been dismissed at the last two Town Meetings and he would not like to be put in a position on Town Meeting floor to say, don't take Spring Street, take another one; he felt there were certain factors here. Mr. McSweeney Wants it wider; we don't. The feeling is,. moat of us want it on the other side of the street. The decision on the underground wiring may prejudice his decision. One major fact is that Spring Street is different from other Chapter 90 roads; from Marrett to Shade Street, we didn't ask for industry, and now streets turn up for industry. The question is, will widening help? Spring Old arguments are equally valid on Spring Street; it is Street an old street, has a country store, and the houses are closer to the property line, in some cases those with front steps, and other houses are further back. If you widen it to a 30' pavement, there is no doubt this will speed up traffic, and there is a hole, which makes it more difficult. We said to have the street as narrow as you can. We think the situation on Worthen Road be- tween .Bedford Street and Waltham Street is ideal for Chapter 90 funds. We are just hoping you don't widen or repave Spring Street at 24 feet. The Chairman said that we can assure you that if, in the evaluation of the Town Engineer and the Traffic Department they felt it should be reconstructed to some- thing less than Chapter 90 required this,_ we would do. We would not do it unless it actually required it. In the final analysis, we will let you know in enough time for you to present any positions you may have. The only tine we recommend that Chapter 90 funds be used is, if we feel the streets should be built to these standards. Mr. Deloury, 99 Spring Street, said that he believed that when Hayden Avenue was built, Gordon Richards said L_ 339 1 that everybody could take Hayden Avenue, instead of com- ing down Spring Street. If you widen Spring Street, people coning off Routes 128 and 2 forget that they are on a short street and try to pass and do not Alms down.; they are supposed to go thirty miles an hour here. Mr. Greeley asked if Spring Street is to be resur- faced, you want to have it narrow and no parking - you wouldn't tend to accept no parking for one instead of two sides? Would you get together as to which side? The residents all replied, yea. Mr. Greeley said that if they have sidewalks on one side, how is that fair when everybody could use it? The Chairman said that unfortunately, this is the Town's property and how could we legally assess across the street when we haven't done anything in front of his house. The Betterment Act specifically calls for it to be done this way. Mrs. Ridgley, 52 Spring Street, said that if we are a residential area, can anything be done about all types of traffic? She has seen moving vans, etc. going up and down Spring Street. The Chairman said, no. There wan a Superior Court case in Stow; they had closed the street off and the Superior Court ruled against it, as the vehicles had paid the excise tax and had the right to the road. A gentleman said that there was talk of .Spring Street becoming one-way. He asked if they could have a sign giving the speed limit, as Spring Street is thickly nettled and they are quite concerned about children. The Chairman said that the Board could have the Traffic Committee take a look at it; he has never heard of Spring Street being one-way. Mrs. Davison said that she had met with the Traffic Committee and proposed a one-way system at different times of the day; it was presented to the DPW and they turned it down. She would like to ask again, could this be possible, could we have alternate routes on the highways. Commuter traffic is causing a problem, what is the policy? The Charman said that he didn't think we have any street in town. Mrs. Davison said that she had seen this- sign in other communities; Cambridge and Arlington have them posted. Mr. McSweeney said that they could take a look at it. Thelahairman asked Mrs. Davison to send a letter and it will be given to the Traffic Committee. Mral Davison asked what is the width of two moving lanes, with no parking? 340 Mr. McSweeney replied, 2I1 feet. Mrs. Davison said that it we didn't have to con- tend with the curbing, if kept to 18 feet, if a sidewalk is put in and no curbing, we could pull off and the sidewalks could be put further back from the paved road. The Chairman said that she is looking for another Adams Street. Mr. Kenney considered that a danger to the children. Mr. McSweeney asked if they are looking for an im- provement of Spring Street? Mrs. Davison said to leave Spring Street alone. Mrs. Trebino said that we can't get out of our driveways from 8:00 A.M. to 9:00 A.M. A two foot side- walk would be good. The Chairman said that they knew the Town couldn't build a two foot sidewalk. Mr. Ridgley of 62 Spring Street said that he was with the Fire Department in Cambridge and from a safety and traffic viewpoint, the traffic on Spring Street at certain hours of the day is bad and there should be stricter control of traffic before someone is killed; there should be a sidewalk on some side. The Chairman said that we know there should be a sidewalk there. You know the logical remedies to solve the problem. Mr. Ridgley said that widening would speed the traffic up. Shirlee Kotler, 81 Spring Street, said that she liked the suggestion of a sidewalk without curbing but didn't agree with this off-street parking. You are not accomplishing anything. She felt that if it is possible to have a sidewalk and leave the trees along the edge of the street and lawn so there would be trees separating the street from the sidewalk; in the ppen areas, plant a few more trees to improve the look; yet, cars wouldn't be tempted to go on the sidewalk; in the winter, we could plow our own patch. The Chairman said that we all recognize the prob- lems of Spring Street, both traffic and reconstruction. We will let you know before our final plans are re- solved and keep you informed. We have not gone into next year's program; if we felt Spring Street shouldn't be constructed under Chapter 90 we would not do so. He asked Mrs. Davison to write the letter to the Board and it will be given to the Traffic Committee for study. Mrs. Davison and the residents of Spring Street retired. I 34M Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to go into Executive Session for the purpose of dis- cussing, deliberating or voting on matters which, if Executive made public, would adversely affect the public security, Session the financial interests of the Town, or the reputation of any ,person. After discussion of matters of financial interest to the Town, it was voted to resume the open meeting. Upon motion duly made and seconded,. it was voted to schedule the summer meetings as follows : June 30, 19 y•]4,. July 28, August 11, August 25 and September 8, 9Upon motion duly made and aeoonded, it was voted to adjourn at 10:00 P.M. A true record, Attest: Executive Clerk, Seleetm Ct` I