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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1968-11-13-BOS-min k) 4 SELECTMEN ' S MEETING November 13, 1968 A regular meeting of the Board of Selectmen was held in the Selectmen ' s Room, Town Office Building , on Wednes- day evening, November 13, 1968 at 7 30 P M Chairman Cole, Messrs Cataldo, Mabee and Kenney were present . Mr Legro, Town Counsel , Mr. Gray , Executive Assistant, Mr Burke, Superintendent of Public Works , Mr McSweeney , Town Engineer, Mr. Wenham, Assistant Superintendent of Public Works, and Mrs McCurdy , Executive Clerk, were also present Hearing was declared open upon the applic ation of the Edison Company to lay underground conduit on Edison Way Notice of the hearing was mailed to the petitioner and filed with the Town Engineer There were no owners of property involved Mr Pratt of the Boston Edison Company was present at the meeting and stated that the request for this piece of conduit was to alleviate the strain on Massa- chusetts Avenue No one was present in favor or in opposition and Conduit the Chairman declared that portion of the hearing closed . Location The Chairman read a letter from the Town Engineer recommending that the conduit on Edison Way go directly from the manhole in the southeasterly direction to the east side of Edison Way and then proceed to the pole location 328-3 either in the grass plot of sidewalk area or along the gutter line adjacent to the curb Mr Pratt was given a copy of the Town Engineer' s letter and said that he would inform the Boston Edison Company of the Town Engineer' s recommendation The Clerk was instructed to hold the petition until Mr Pratt clears it with Boston Edison Company Upon motion duly made and seconded , it was voted to approve the petition and sign the order for the follow- ing conduit location , subject to the conditions set forth by the Town Engineer Edison Way , northeasterly from a point approxi - mately 115 ' northeast of Massachusetts Avenue, a distance of about 70 feet - conduit Mr Legro informed the Board that the contract for Painting painting the Town Office Building , Cary Memorial Building Contract and the Police Building, awarded to T Mickle 8 Son , Inc in the amount of $3500, is in order and requested the Board to sign it 6'5 i' Upon motion duly made and seconded , it was voted to sign the contract awarded on October 21 , 1968 to T Mickle 8 Son, Inc in the amount of $3500 Mr Legro said that he would like to point out to the Board that he had suggested one correction to the Superintendent of Public Works in relation to the in- surance certificate, so he has not signed the contract The Board might consider waiving the clause on the reliability on the hiring of non-owned vehicles It doesn ' t, in this particular case, upset the competitive bidding and is totally unnecessary since this con- tractor isn ' t going to have hired vehicles In the future, he recommended that consideration be given to omitting these requirements Insurance Certificate Mr Legro said that, this past week, he had talked to the Superintendent of Public Works about the pro- posed issuing of a permit to Cabot, Cabot and Forbes for the opening of Hartwell Avenue to put in a drain In connection with this, I pointed out that in addition to the bond, required for the contractor, the requiring of the naming of the Town of the insured in the con-. tractor ' s permitee ' s liability insurance policy At the time of the Hunt Building demolition , Cary was the contractor and a piece of equipment knocked down a light standard We had required him to have a $5,000 bond to indemnify the Town and properly protect and re- store the way it had not been the practice for the contractor to do this or indemnify for liability Action was brought against the Town and is still pending Cary ' s Bonding Company refuses to come in and defend for the Town . Mr. Legro said that the other case concerned Belli Brothers on the reconstruction of Lowell and East Streets northerly to the Burlington line Action is pending against Belli Brothers and the Town In that case we did require that the Town be named as insured The In- surance Company finally recognized it to come In and defend the Town and the Town will save money in defense of a suit 1 suggested to the Superintendent of Public Works and the Engineer that it is important when some- body comes in and gets a permit, and has full applica- tion to the situation where Cabot, Cabot and Forbes asked for a private drain i thought it ought to be recommended to the Board as it would provide for the in- demnification for the Town , in the same manner as streets, and sewers It is my understanding That Public Works is , almost daily, issuing permits and I am recommending this for future permits i Mr Cataldo asked if a bond is required on any street opening? Mr Legro said , yes, but not for public utilities . Mr Cataldo asked if he was recommending that we change that also? Mr. Legro said that it was worthy of consideration Mr Kenney asked if it could be a blanket thing . Mr. Legro said that we have not been requiring a bond; I am not sure what has been happening when there has been an injury caused by public utilities opening a way; maybe we can defer action if coming in and defending the Town, we don ' t have the problem that we do with a private contractor This ought to be con- sidered now so that the exposure would be eliminated and we would be properly covered The Chairman said that we have previously voted and Mr Legro has named the restriction s , Public Works will govern accordingly now Mr Mabee asked if there would be a bond and in- demnification? Mr. Legro said there would be both Mr Burke said that a majority of the permits are for contracts approved for Public Works for water and sewer connections and there is a $5,000 bond in all other cases thy are working outside and protection for utilities How does Town Counsel feel about inseeancee for these fellows? Mr Legro asked , doesn ' t that private contractor do work within the limits of the public way? Mr Burke said , only when they are on the public way; we give them a formal permit. Mr Cataldo said that it was not to open the street Upon motion duly made and seconded , it was voted that it is the policy of the Board to require a private Contractor, as a condition to the issuing of a street opening or occupancy permit, to indemnify the Town against all claims that may arise out of that work and to provide insurance satisfactory to the Town covering that contractual liability Mr Gray said that the Board has previously dis- cussed the request from Mrs Rosenberg of the Montessori School to have Rex Trailer and his horse for a fund rais- ing event in May, to raise money for a scholarship fund and Roxbury transportation fund He has talked with Mrs Rosenberg and explained that the horse might damage the sod Mrs Rosenberg said that they could get Rex Trailer without his horse Mr Kenney asked if they would charge admission? I li Mr Gray said that they would as they are trying to raise money for a scholarship fund The Chairman said that they can ' t charge admission , but they can have a donation Mr Gray asked if the Board would object to a collec- tion? The Chairman suggested that they ask for a donation instead of an admission charge He asked about the date Mr Gray said that they would like to use the field in May The Chairman asked Mr Gray to ask the Superintendent of Public Works to check with the Park Superintendent and to check with the School Department to see if the field is available If so, inform Mrs Rosenberg of the conditions under which she may have permission to use the field Mr Kenney said that they charge admission for the football games and asked how they get around that? He asked Mr Gray to check that out with the School Depart- ment. Upon motion duly made and seconded , it was voted to grant permission to the Montessori School to hold a fund raising event in May, 1969, subject to the ironing out of all details involved . Mr Gray said that there is a question about the Newell property, whether to rent it or have Public Works make arrangements to have all the pipes drained We do have a request to rent it from one of our employees Mr Cataldo said that the Library hasn 't answered us about the use of the property Mr Mabee said that it was not in the foreseeable future. Mr. Cataldo said that he would rather have people in the house Mr Kenney asked if a tenant would pay utilities Mr Gray said that it could be rented with the under- standing that the tenant pay for utilities and there would be no renovations Mr Gray will check it out and make a recommendation to the Board for a suitable rental figure Mr Gray informed the Board that at the joint meeting with the Board of Health and the Recreation Committee , the Board of Selectmen had said that nothing would be done un- til a letter had been received from the Board of Health Today , we received a letter from the Board of Health which states that approval is granted for the use of the Reser- voir as a bathing beach , subject to the conditions con- tained in the letter from the State Department of Public Health and any and all provisions of the new sanitary code for bathing beaches "Article VII " to be adopted by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health The letter also states that this approval shall not be construed as a guarantee that the proposed bathing beach will at all times be able to meet the standards of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health for bathing beaches The Chairman said that we now have the letter and can proceed . Upon motion duly made and seconded , it was voted to proceed with the clearing of the bottom of the Reservoir under the direct supervision of the Public Works Department Mr Cataldo spoke about the Town Office Building Committee He said , as you know, we have a problem with the Town Barn We had a meeting on October 14 with everybody concerned and reviewed the things that had to be done We agreed to give the Hartford In- surance Company and Tocci ten days to finish the project. We wrote a letter on October 16 telling them and nothing has been done. He would like to recommend that we write the Hartford Insurance that we would like to terminate the contract under Article 22 of our contract ; it gives us the right to fix Public things The main thing 3s the heating system mast be Works balanced and a couple of controls for the ventilating Building equipment must be installed The doors the Contractor has replaced must be repainted We have set this forth in the letter to the Hartford Insurance Company and there have been no results We still have the bond retention of $20,000 We would like to inform Hartford Insurance that we would terminate the Con- tract Mr Mabee asked if we had enough retainers to finish? Mr Cataldo said, yes We have been living with this thing monthly_ add can see no surer way to getting the job done We will give Town Counsel the letter and he will contact them Mr Mabee asked if they did something and if we paid something on the work they did? Mr Cataldo said that as they did the work, we paid them Mr Legro said that the contract we are terminating was drawn up after the original one, the contract for the completion of the Public Works Building Upon motion duly made and seconded , it was voted that Town Counsel is to take the necessary steps to terminate the contract for the Public Works Building b9 Mr Cataldo informed the Board that we have come to the point of making a recommendation to get the necessary space required in the Town Office Building We have evaluated every conceivable concept The recommendation is to put an addition on this building and the Police are to be in the whole building This will give us 9, 000 square feet Mr Gray said that the survey was done and is in- corporated in the Architect ' s study Mr Mabee asked if there would be enough space for the next twenty years Mr Cataldo answered in the affirmative Mr Kenney said that we are relinquishing space Mr Cataldo said , 3500 square feet We are gain- ing 9200 square feet net; gaining about 6,000 square feet Mr Mabee said that the Police are gaining more Mr Cataldo said that he is asking that they ap- Town prove the concept ; for the budget figures to go to Office Capital Expenditures Building Mr. Mabee said that we will lose a lot of the parking area Mr Cataldo replied that we wouldn ' t lose too much Mr Gray said that he will work that out with the Traffic Committee Mr. Cataldo said that the cost figures are $320,000, addition; $232,860, renovations ; $41 ,000, basement level ; renovation of Police Station , $ 113,725 ; $42,415, contin- gencies and fees; Total of $750 ,000 The recommended figure for the 1970 Town Meeting is $750,000 $45,000 for plans and specifications are not out of the $750,000 Mr Kenney asked what Capital Expenditures has been carrying? Mr Cataldo replied , $500 ,000 This is including air conditioning, Town Manager and Data Processing Basically, we have cut many of the Chief ' s requests out of this Mr Mabee asked if he is prepared to defend this? Mr Cataldo said that he was The Architect' s fee is a flat fee of $2,000 The Chairman asked if the Board was agreeable to this? Mr Cataldo said that he would like the Board to submit it to the Capital Expenditures Committee It was agreed to meet with the Capital Expenditures Committee on next Monday evening to submit the figures for the Town Office Building The Chairman said that a letter has been received from the Retirement Board requesting acceptance of Retirement Chapter 174 of the 1968 Acts and Resolves Board It was agreed to refer the matter of Town Counsel Request and get a report from Mr Perry 700 The Chairman said that a letter has been received from the Senior Citizens ' Club , requesting a school bus to provide transportation for the memb ers of the Senior Citizens ' Club who reside at William Roger Greeley Village to and from the Cary Hall on the third Monday of each month The Chairman said that we have no jurisdiction over the school busses They are asking us to hire one of these busses and pay for it Senior Mr Mabee said that this is something that could Citizens ' be in the budget next year. The Chaii`tfian said , unless the School Department wants to donate one of their busses The Chairman said that we do not have the funds, unless Recreation has funds left. Mr Bond of the Recreation Committee was at the meeting and said that the Board could request a letter from the Senior Citizens and a figure for the busses for the next year' s budget, around $3,000 It was agreed to request the Senior Citizens ' Club to write a letter to the Board with a figure for bus transportation, this amount to be to the Recreation budget Upon motion duly made and seconded , it was voted Town to sign the forms from the Town Clerk stating the Clerk number of ballots cast on November 5, 1968 to be 14,380 Hartwell Upon motion duly made and seconded , it was voted Ave Water to sign the Water Order for Hartwell Avenue Sewer Upon motion duly made and seconded , it was voted Constr to sign the Sewer Construction Order for Turning Mill Order Road Upon motion duly made and seconded , it was voted Minutes to approve the Minutes of the Selectmen ' s Meeting held on November 4, 1968. Police Upon motion duly made and seconded , it was voted Resigna- to accept the resignation of Patrolman Donald J tion Rycroft, effective November 23, 1968 Mr Kenney asked about the status of the Goodwin Club property inspection Licenses Mr. Gray said that the inspection was made by the Building Inspector and the report has gone to Mr. Legro. 71 The Chairman told the Board that we should dis- cuss some of the rules and regulations for Club Licenses so that when applications come in, we can Club tell them the fees and regulations Licenses Mr Gray was instructed to check with other towns that i_sswe Club Licenses , and report back to the Board Mr McSweeney said that he had requested the Board to reject the bids of October 28 on the swim- ming pool as the advertisement wasn 't in order for an alternate bid On November 8, he received two bids , one from the Continental Swim Pool Corporation , and the other from United Swimming Pools, Inc On our invitation , the first bid would be on Camp , Dresser S. McKee specifications and on the alternate, the owner had the right to submit as an alternate bid Con- Swimming tinental submitted only an alternate bid of $ 16,925 Pool United Swimming Pools submitted a standard bid of Contract $52,650, first alternate bid of $ 18,777 and second alternate bid of $25,000 The recommendation is to accept the bid from the Continental Swim Pool Corp . at $ 16,925 He has just received the insurance certifi - cates and has five contracts to be signed The Chairman said that the contracts cannot be signed tonight , as they are incomplete Upon motion duly made and seconded , it was voted to award the contract for the instructional swimming pool to Continental Swim Pool Corporation , 239 Commercial Street, Lynn , Massachusetts in the amount of $ 16 ,925 Chairman Cole informed the Board that the time has come for him to step down as Chairman The Board has elected him Chairman for six years and it is with reluctance that he feels that he must step down Upon motion duly made and seconded , it was voted Chairman of to nominate Robert Cataldo as Chairman of the Board the Board Mr Cataldo was unanimously elected Chairman of the Board to fill the unexpired term caused by the resignation of Mr Cole Mr Cole said that the Chairman is automatically a member of the MBTA Advisory Board He asked the Chair- man if he would like him to continue as a member of the Advisory Board The Chairman said that he would like him to con- tinue and also to continue on the Bargaining Committee with the Union and the Beautification Committee Mr Bond of the Recreation Committee asked if an opinion could be given relative to the use of the Recreation various facilities under the direction of the Recrea- tion Committee; there is the pool and a tennis court - they would expect to charge people for lights 1( 2 Mr Mabee said that some areas make sense to do it and some don ' t The pools and tennis are the two best areas in which you could do it The Chairman said that it should be explored ; there are some parts of the Central Playground you couldn ' t charge Look into it and come back with recommendations Upon motion duly made and seconded , it was voted to go into Executive Session for the purpose of discussing , deliberating or voting on matters Executive which , if made public , might affect public security, Session the financial interest of the Town , or the reputa- tion of a person . After discussion concerning the financial in- terest of the Town, it was voted to go out of Executive Session Upon motion duly made and seconded , it was voted to adjourn at 10 00 P M A true record , Attest Z(C..cle-n/ Executive Clerk, Se ectmen ,