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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1968-09-23-BOS-min SELECTMEN'S MEETING September 23, 1968 A regular meeting of the Board of Selectmen was held in the Selectmen' s Room, Town Office Building, on Monday evening, September 23, 1968 at 7:30 P.M. Chairman Cole, Messrs. Cataldo, Mabee, Kenner, and Greeley were present. Mr. MEM, Town Counsel, Mr. Gray, Executive Assistant, Mr. Burke, Superintendent of Public Works, Mr. McSweeney, Town Engineer, Mr. Wenham, Assistant Superintandent,of Public Works, and Mrs. McCurdy, Executive Clerk were also present. At the request of the Town Clerk, three Jurors were drawn, as follows: Francis A. Broussard 75 Pottier Avenue Jurors Arnold G. Kramer 9 Fulton Road Harvey H. Horn 272 Woburn Street The Chairman said that permission has bosh requested by the Lexington Minute Men to hold their installation on the Lexington Green on Saturday, October 19, 1968 at 5:00 Permit P.M. Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to grant permission to the Lexington Minute Men to hold their installation on the Lexington Green on Saturday, October 19, 1968 at 5:00 P.M. The Chairman said that the League of Women Voters has requested the Board to proclaim the week of October 6-12, Proala- 1968, as League of Women Voters Week. motion Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to authorize the Chairman to sign the proclamation declaring the week of October 6-12, 1968 as League of Women Voters Week. Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to ID Card authorize the Chairman to sign a liquor identification card for Richard H. Kent, 63 Blossomcrest Road. The Chairman read a letter from the Citizens for Lexington Conservation, requesting permission to use the meadow in Willard' s Woods for one or more public star- gazing nights; they will furnish telescopes and invite Permit public attendance. This will take place some Friday or Saturday night, depending on the weather, during the latter half of October. Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to grant permission to the Citizens for Lexington Conservation for stargazing nights in Willardts Woods for a weekend of October 18, 1968; in ease of rain, to be held on the first clear weekend. Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to approve the uncollectable ambulanoe abatements submitted Abate- by the Tax Collector for the years 1965 and 1966. menta The Chairman informed the Board that the Lexington Liquor Mart, in accordance with the Liquor Control Act pertaining to the issuance of liquor licenses, requests the Chairman to sign a notice to be advertised in the Minute-man on September 26, 1966 regarding permission to transfer their license to a new store to be constructed as an addition to the existing Knit National Stores on Lexington Bedford Street. Ten days after the filing of the notice, Liquor a bearing will be held. It was agreed to hold the hearing Mart on October 7, 1968. Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to file the notice of the Lexington Liquor Mart for a change of location and a transfer of liquor license. Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to approve the Minutes of the Selectments Meeting held on September 16, 1968. 114 The Chairman read a letter from the Planning Board requesting that segments of Town administration, such as the Building Inspector, Town Engineer, Public Works, etc. , to cooperate on a workable program with the Committee on Suburban Responsibility. Thi■ is the federal designation Lexington of a town-wide program comprising (1) code improvement and Sub. Resp enforcement, (2) comprehensive planning, (3) analyses of neighborhood deficiencies, (4) administrative organization and (5) financing provisions, ( 6) housing for displaced families, and ( 7) citizen participation, all in accordance with federal requirements. A workable program is a legal prerequisite for obtaining federal funds for various hous- ing assistance programs under consideration by the Com- mittee. The Chairman said that they are asking that we direct the akencies under our control to cooperate with the Sub- urban Responsibility Committee. Mr. Greeley said that in order to participate in the money of the Federal Aid Programs, such as moderate in- come housing, you must be certified by HUD; you don't be- come eligible until you are certified. Mr. Cataldo asked if the Responsibility Commitker has been established long enough to take this route. Mr. Greeley said that the Committee firmly believes that we would want to encourage the support of private agencies; there may be some programs that will require specific Town action, such as moderate housing. Mr. Cataldo asked if the type of housing we now have is subsidized? Mr. Greeley replied that there are lower capital costs, single family houses. The Commission will come in very soon to request that the Board make available the tax title lots that could be used; perhaps, to re- lease part of Meagherville. Mr. Gray said that the way it was defined, it was a large regional planning program relating to housing. Mr. Greeley said that they want to be sure of a good building program; we have a master plan. The Chairman said that they are asking us for tech- nical aesistanoe. Mr. Greeley said that the Committee wants to be able to say that they have the support of the Selectmen. The Chairman said that this is the Commission, ap- pointed by the Board, which will report back to the Selectmen whenever we desire them, even though their Chairman is on our Board. If we asked them to come and report the progress, they would be willing to do it. Mr. Greeley said that the Planning Board and the Board of Selectmen would work directly with HUD. Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted that the Board of Selectmen instruct the Departments under its jurisdiction to cooperate in every way possible with the Planning Board for a workable pro- gram. The Chairman said that a letter of resignation from the Conservation Commission has been received from Mr. Ripley. He was Chairman of the Hunting Committee and Hunting is it possible to make him an Ex-officio member to the Committee Commission? Mr. Legro said that he could attend the meetings if he wished and the Board could take advice from him; he wouldn't have any power. Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to appoint Mr. Aiden L. Ripley as Advisor to the Hunting Coitmeitteo. Mr. Woodington of Kennecott Copper Corporation met with the Board. Hearing was declared open on the Kennecott Copper Corporation request for approval of an access roadway 44.15 connecting to the adjacent Tow road. ' Mr Gray showed the plan o the area involved and said that approval bas been gi en by the Planning Board, Board of Health and the Conger ation Commission. Mr. Woodington said that pproval is required by the Kenneoott Board of Selectmen for the driveway which comes under the Copper Hatch Act, as it involved removing and filling of a wet- Driveway land. He has already filed with the State Department of Natural Resources. No one appearing in favor or opposition, the Chair- man declared the hearing ()lose ' . Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to approve theplan of the drivew of the Kennecott Copper PP y PP Corportion. Mr. Gray informed the Boa d that the Traffic Commit- tee had met and discussed the omplaint of the East Lexin-- ton merchants regarding the pa king in their area - there are no restricts - ons near the A lin tog line and theypre- sented their problem to us and theTrafficCommitteP recommends that our traffic re ulations be amended. Mr. Kenney asked if the r quest should extend to Charles Street. Mr. Gray said that the c ittee will take a look at it and further restrict if it is eoessary. ' Mr. Kenney asked if Sunda a were included. Mr. Gray said that the re ulations do not exclude Sun- days. Mr. Kenney said that he didn' t think the merchants wanted Sundays and holidays included in the regulations. Mr. Gray said that he would discuss it with them. Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to Traffic amend Article V, Section 2, Parking Locations and Pro- Rules hibitions by adding the following to Schedule 1: Massachusetts Avenue, Southwesterly aide from Hibbert Street tc+ Taft Avenue. Massachusetts Avenue, Northeaserly side from Arlington Line to ow Street. Parking to be restricted to on hour, between the hours of 8:00 A.M. an 6:00 P.M. Mr. Gray said that the Tr ffic Commission had dis- cussed the parking at Bedford .,treat, Simonds Road and Harding Road. tt is difficult for the fire apparatus to turn on Harding Road as cars axe parked on Simonds Road, which is ver narrow. Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to amend the Traffic Regulations, Article s, Section 2, Park- ing Locations and Prohibitions, and add to Schedule 1: Simonds Road, northerly aide from Bedford Street to Harding Road. 'JOT Mr. Gray said that the Traffic Committee has been discussing the installation of meters on Depot Square and it is recommended to amend the Traffic Regulations by striking out from schedule 4 the following: Depot Square, Easterly aide from Massachusetts Avenue, 110 feet north- erly and adding the following: Depot Square, Easterly side from Edison Way, 80 feet northerly. This will per- mit us to put in three meters on the wide part; there are no prohibitions now. We would paint a yellow curb in that section; would keep the sight distance clear on the curb. Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was Voted to amend the Traffic Regulations, Article V, Section 12, Parking Meter Locatiol:s and Regulations, by striking out from Schedule 4 the following: Depot Square, Easterly side Xlivia. Mae. �► :� 110 feet northerly. and adding to Schedule 4 the following: Depot Square, Easterly side from Edison Way, 80 feet southwesterly. Mr. Gray informed the Board that he had talked with Mr. Barboza, applicant for the position of Dog Officer, on Dog Tuesday morning regarding the matter of maintaining a dog Officer pound. Mr. Barboza is retiring and is not interested in a full time job. If two or three men do it, he is inter- ested. The Chairman said that the Board asked for- and has re- ceived an affadavit from Dr. Titlebaum, regarding the dog owned by Prank Bussey. Mr. Cataldo said that we said that we would take it under advisement. Mr. Legro skid that since there was no examination of Bussey the complainant under oath, I suggested that it would be Dog advisable to call him in to be heard; because of the ill- ness described. by Mr. Sullivan, I said that the Board might take an affadavit. The Chairman asked if the Board is prepared to take action at this time? Have you decided that this dog is a nuisance and what you wish to impose? Mr. Kenney said that the dog is under- a restraining , order now. Mr. Greeley said that either he is a public nuisance. Be is clearly a public nuisance. Mr. Cataldo said that we should give ten days to abate the nuisance, or another restraining order. The Chairman said that he had no objection to re- straining order, how can you stop the dog from barking? 51( ' Mr. Cataldo said that the v ice box could be removed or get rid of the dog. I think a should give hime the oppgrtuoieyorotdapoge of the do , give so many days. The Chairman said that, fir t, we have to declare dog a public nitisance, by excess ve barking. Mr. Cataldo said that we sh uld give ten days to abate the nuisance. We should v to to consider the dog to be a nuisance because of exce sive barking adjacent to a sick person. Upon motion duly made and a conded, it was voted that the owner of the dog, Frank Buse y, be given ten day's no- tine to abate the nuisance, or t e 'Board of Selectmen will determine what manner in which to abate the nuisance. Mr. Gray said that a letter has been received from the Town Engineer regarding Cont-mot No. 4, 1968 Streets, Drains, and sidewalk Work. The letter stated that bids were opened on September 9, and John J. Paonessa Company was the low bidder at $138,385.25. The Engineering Department, in its budget request for 1968, requested an appropriation of $98,000 for the four streets involved im this contract. In reviewing the preliminary costs, we have found that our costs by items were not updated for 1968 construction costs. We have reviewed this project, street by street and item by item, and find that with a total project cost of $155,000, Street including engineering and inspection, we are unable to re- Contract duce the price. The elimination of consultant inspection and the retaining walls could po sibly bring this price down to $135,000. The recommendation are as follows: (1) De- cline all bids and re-advertise n the early spring. (2) Ask for authorization from the 1969 own Meeting to use funds from Chapter 616, which has $35, 000 available for street con- struction. Included in our deo/ ion, we had to consider the problem of pole removal by the T • lephone Company, which has a three to four months waiting 1 st on all work schedules due to the strike this past summ: r, also the problem of November 15 deadline for bitumin' us concrete paving. The Chairman asked what strata are involved and he was told that they are Ewell Avenue, Grassland Street, Vaille Avenue and Hillcrest Avenue. Mr. Mabee said that Mr. Lego was going to give an opinion as to whether the Selecten had the right to deduct one street. Mr. Legro said that it was ithin the power of the Board to award the contract as tie present time for part of the streets. His opinion is bas -d oa the feeling that the Board could divide the contract nd do it in separate sec- tions. They will probably have to come back and ask for an appropriation or use Chapter 616. 5 b 2 The Chairman said that we did tell Town Meeting what streets are going to be done. If the Board decides to go along with a partial contract, we have to decide what streets to do. Mr. Legro said that there are four Articles involved, one for each street, with one appropriation for the four streets. The reason is, if you wirM to appropriate sepa- rate sums for,each of the four streets, you could very well have too much in one appropriation. A lump appropria- tion for a group of streets, in my opinion is still ad- visable. The Chairman said that we will have authority to do the other streets; we need more money and it would take another Article; Town Meeting did vote a specific amount of money for all four streets. I would suggest to the Board that there is no indioitiei that the cost of con- struction will go down, in another year, it will go up. By maintaining a certain level of money for streets, sewers, etc., we are just cutting back. Mr. Greeley said that he would like to ask the Town Engineer, in his estimation on his priority, if we should do two or three now and the fourth in the fall? Mr. McSweeney replied that, from the Telephone Com- pany' s point of view regarding the lateness in the year, in the spring, we might have an appropriation and we could do it then. Mr. Greeley asked if poles are involved on all four streets? Mr. McSweeney said that there are some. Mr. Cataldo said that as far as priorities are con- cerned, we have half of Hillcrest to do and we were going to do the other half next year. We could delete Hillcrest and do it all at once. Mr. Greeley asked if we had enough for the other three streets, or if it is marginal? Mr. Mabee asked if, on the estimate of each street, did the low bidder give any estimates at all? Mr. McSweeney said that Ewell Avenue is estimated at $48,931; Grassland Street, $28,252; Vaille Avenue $25,855; Hillcrest Avenue $35,347. The total construction costs are $138,385; add engineeringand inspection fees and the contract becomes a total of 155 ,000. Mr. Cataldo asked if the $2500 you have spent so far is for engineering. Mr. McSweeney said it was for engineering and adver- tising. The Chairman asked if it was possible to leave the wall out on Grassland and Vaille Avenue? Mr. McSweeney said that be would come up with a recommendation to see how much we can reduce. 5S1 Mr. Gray said they will work Wirth Mr. Legro and report back to the Board. The Chairman suggested that they work on the particular angle of leaving the wall off Ewell Avenue and absorbing the inspection. Mr. Gray said that the sidewalk bids have been opened and there were two bidders, Bernard Lazaro $26,360 and Belli Bros., $28,61$. This is within the money appropriated for that purpose. Sidewalk Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to Bids award the sidewalk contract to the low bidder, Bernard J. Lazaro, Inc., 31 Lunda Street, Waltham, in the amount of $26,360, subject to the approval of Town Counsel and Town Engineer's investigation. The Conservation Commission met with the Board of Selectmen for the purpose of appointing a member to the Conservation Commission to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Aiden L. Ripley. The Chairman declared that nominations were opened for the position. Cons. Mr. Sussman nominated Mr. Frank Totman. Comm. Motion was made and seconded that nominations be closed. Members of both Boards voted by Ballot which the clerk collected and tallied. Of the nine members, there were nine ballots cast for Frank H. Totman. The Chairman declared Mr. Frank Totman to be unani- mously elected to the Lexington Conservation Commission for a term expiring March 31, 1970, caused by the resignation of Mr. Aiden L. Ripley. Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to appoint Mr. Aiden L. Ripley as Advisor to the Conservation Commission. Mr. Burke said that he would like to discuss the con- version of a 1951 international truck which had been used in the past as a dump truck during the summer months; there was difficulty with the engine and it was deemed advisable not to repair it. The frame, transmission, cable and body are in good condition and the engine could be rebuilt and Public a winch mounted on the truck. It could be used in the Works winter and Mr. Burke wondered how the Board felt about Truck spending $350 on the truck; there is money in the Road Machinery account and they could do the work on a piecemeal basis. Mr. Cataldo said that he was not in favor of it; we have been trying for two years to get a wrecker and, taking - this into consideration, he would rather not see you do it 58$ ra T � c with this tmuok. We should ha4ve a decent wrecker and he could not see spending $350 on this truck. We buillt the 111 first one and it coat more than this, even with our own labor. The Chairman asked if, assuming we approved, what use would you make of this truck? Mr. Burke said that $350 tan, basically, for the en- gine and material to complete the job. The Board discussed the merits of procuring a wrecker from Surplus Stores and it was agreed that Mr. Gray is to talk with Mr. Burrell of Civil Defense and see is anything is available. Mr. Greeley said that the suburban Responsibility Com- mission would like a place in which to meet and he has been checking out the possibility of using the room above Cary Memorial Hall. It is under the supervision of the Trustees, but no one knows who the Trustees are. He would like to find a way of releasing the jurisdiction of it from the Trustees and put it under someone who is available when Cary people want to use the room. Memorial Mr. Cataldo said that the room was built for the Hall Trustees to meet in. Mr. Greeley said that there are twelve Trustees who never meet. We should meet with them and work something out. The Chairman suggested that we write to the Trustees and ask them to give u■ a blanket use of the room, for such use as the Board of Selectmen would deem necessary. Mr. Legro said that he felt the Board should get more information concerning the duties and functions of the Trustees and what is within the province of the Board of Seleotmen. The Chairman asked Mr. Gray to write to the Trustees and request a meeting with them. Mr. Greeley said that Mr. Worrell is interested in sidewalkds on Cedar Street. Before we come in with some kind of engineering proposal, we should sound out the abutters. I donit think there should be a blanket widen- ing of the street, there could be some sort of easement on lawns, a didewalk that goes behind the trees. It would be Sidewalks better to work it out by asking them to suggest solutions. My guess is we could get a sidewalk easement muob easier than we could by condemning part of the lot. Mr. Legro said that, ordinarily, a didewalk is con- structed within the limits of the way. Mr. Greeley said that if we are going to put a side- walk there, it should be back of the street line. Mr. Legro said that back to the layout of a pedestrian way is authorized by statute; laid out by action of the Board and acceptance by Town Meeting vote. t Mr. Greeley suggested that they talk with the owners of the property. Mr. Legro said that we could do it in the same way by getting grants of easements. The Chairman said that you are suggesting that we write a letter to the abutters between Massachusetts Avenue and Hil Street and ask them to meet with the Board. Mr. Greeley said that they oould meet with the Select- men or the Planning Board. The Chairman said that nothing could be done this year. Mr. McSweeney said that now is the time to think about it, to find out in which direction we are going. Mr. Greeley said that if we tell the abutters that we want to lay out the sidewalk according to a plan, they will say that it is no good, but if we asked them to suggest a solution, they will be on our team. It was agreed that Mr. McSweeney is to talk with Mr. Gray and have a meeting with the abutters. The Chairman asked that he be included when the meet- ing is set up. Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to go into Executive Session for the purpose of discussing, delib- erating or voting on matters which, if made public, might Exec, adversely affect the public security, the financial interest Session of the Town, or the reputation of any person. Following discussion concerning personnel of the Town, it was voted to resume the open meeting. - Mr. Gray informed the Board that Mr. Cortell has been over to the Reservoir and has made investigations; the flow of water is practically minimum. When we get his report, we will discuss it with the Board of Health. Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to ad- journ at 9:45 P.M. A true record, Attest: Executive Clerk, Selectmen 1. _ _. ; t I