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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1959-12-14-BOS-min 38.E SELECTMEN'S MEETING December 14, 1959 A regular meeting of the Board of Sebctmen was held in the Selectmen' s Room, Town Office Building, on Monday, December 14, 1959, at 7 :30 P.M. Chairman Maloney, Messrs . James, Adams, Ferguson and Mrs. Morey were present . Mr. Stevens, Town Counsel, Mr Carroll, Superintendent of Public Works, and the Executive Clerk were also present The minutes of the Selectmen' s Meeting held on December 7, 1959 were declared approved subject to Minutes correction The Chairman read a letter from the Lexington Chamber of Commerce advising that the Board of Di- rectors voted to protest action of the Post Office Department in transferring the sorting of Lexington Post Office mail to the Arlington office . The Directors are desirous of the Selectmen taking action to try and prevent the proposed change now scheduled to take place January 2, 1960. Mr. Adams said he thought Lexington should have an independent office the same as Woburn, Winchester, Bedford and Concord. Mrs . Morey stated that if the Board sends a let- ter of protest, the reply will be that there isn' t suf- ficient room in Lexington and she suggested that the Board write that it does not like the transfer and is of the opinion that Lexington should be established as a separate office . Mr. Adams said he would like to see Lexington back on an independent basis Mr. James asked if this change in fact meant the service will be poorer. Mr. Adams reported that for several months the parcel post has been so heavy in Lexington that it has been sorted in Arlington. Now it is planned to sort the first-class mail in Arlington because there isn't room enough in the Lexington office . Mr. James said that if the Board makes an effort to have Lexington established as an independent of- fice, he w uld like to know if it will in fact provide any better service than the town now gets as a part of the Boston Postal Service . If it will not, he felt there was no point in doing it . 386 Mr . Adams said the subject should be studied and 11 he could see no harm in supporting the Chamber of Com- merce Mr Stevens presented in triplicate Contract with Whitman & Howard, No. 1959-5, for engineering Contract services in preparation of plana for the trunk sewer in East Lexington from the intersection of Watertown Street and. Peacock Farm Road to the vicinity of Hutchin- son Road and Webster Road . Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to sign the contract as prepared by Mr. Stevens . Mr. Stevens reported that , as instructed by the Board, he took up the subject of a municipal parking lot on Potters ' land on Waltham Street with the Plan- ning Board. The impression he received was that the members of the Board are not in favor of it. They think this entire matter of parking in C-1 areas re- quires further study and are not prepared at this time to go along with any parking in that area . He said that the Board would have to take the subject up with the Planning Board directly. Mr Stevens retired at 8:20 P.M. and Mr. Anthony Busa met with the Board. Mr. Busa said that the water situation on his farm has become a nuisance and caused a little damage . He said that lat August he intended to close the gap Busa1°s box in Lillian Road subdivision, Section 5. He went to culvert the Superintendent of Public Works, Mr. Carroll, and J showed him what he intended to do. Mr. Carroll re- fused toapprove the plan bec�se the existing pipe is not sufficient to take care of what will happen ten or fifteen years from now . He said that until 1955 the brook was not what one would call a brook. He said it has a name , Munroe Brook, but no one knows how big it was, how deep or how wide . He said it never flooded before . There was a little water in the spring but during the summer, Mr Reed used to cut one or two crops of hay. He said in 1954, after a rain storm, the water flooded cellars on Rawson Avenue and after the w ater disappeared, Mr. Burns sent a machine down there to widen the brook. He said he did not know who gave permission for the town to go onto private property and widen the brook. Since the brook was widened, the water has been coming faster and more of it. He said there has been damage caused but he never made any complaint . Now he is complaining because of the 387 ' box culvert and does not feel responsible for the con- ditions He said he would like to know what the Board intends to do about the box culvert Mr. Carroll presented plans and explained that the culvert has to be large because it drains an area of 1200 acres . He stated that the problem is com- plicated because Mr. Busa must install a sanitary sewer which is the reason for the odd shape of the culvert. The sewer must go underneath it to connect to the MDC sewer on the other side . Mr . Busa wants the town to pay either part of the cost of the culvert or the entire cost. Mr. Adams asked if the culvert would be on top of the sewer and Mr. Carroll replied in the affirmative . Mr. Adams asked if Mr. Busa had to put the sewer in, and Mr. Carroll replied in the affirmative , stating that this is a subdivision. The Chairman asked if Mr. Busa would lose two lots and he replied that if the bro ck had never been widened, a-24" pipe would have taken care of the natural flow. He said the lots would be useless to him and Mr. Carroll agreed He said he would give the Town an easement for those two lots . Mr Carroll explained that the estimated cost of this subdivision, with the exception of the culvert, is $2420 per lot. Dividing six into $9,000 for the culvert would be $1500 per lot. He said it will cost Mr. Busa about $4,000 a lot to build the subdivision. Mr. Busa explained that the Police , Fire and Public Works Departments and the school bus use this as a short-cut road, and the Town would derive more benefit from it than he will. The Chairman asked if Mr. Busa would pay for the construction of the street and everything that goes into it. Mr. Busa replied that he would pay for everything that is right . Mr. James raised the question of how much reimburse- ment the Board is willing to provide by virtue of the box culvert. Mrs . Morey asked about the width of Lillian Road and Mr Busa replied that it is 40 feet wide . Mr. Busa retired at 8:45 P.M. Mr. Adams said that , for the benefit of the Town, he would be in favor of paying one-half of the approxi- mate cost of the culvert which Mr Carroll estimated to be $9,000. He said he was going on the basis that the culvert does not necessarily benefit the developer . Mr Carroll said that, analyzing the cost per lot, 388 CC 1.4 it would not be wise for Mr . Busa to try and develop the land The Chairman said that an access from Lowell Street would increase the value of the property. Mr. Carroll said there are items to consider one , is it to the Town' s advantage for the road to go through; two, if the developer pays the entire cost of the culvert, the cost per lot is out of proportion of what he would want to gamble on; and three , the Town does not have any easement in the brook. Mr. Busa has lived there for many years, and this water has built up for many years . In the case of Mark Moore, he purchased the land knowing the problem that was there . Mr. James said he would like to know, before determining what course to take , exactly what the Town' s liability and rights are in these situations, and he would like to know from Town Counsel. Mr. Carroll said that by contributing to the cost, the Town may be establishing a precedent whereby someone else with a subdivision could have a similar problem Mr. James said that is the reason he would like to get the best opinion possible now. The Subject was discussed with the Planning Board later in the evening and. Mr . Soule said the Planning Board did not feel that the Town was ob- liged to help pay the cost of the culvert. Mr. Abbott explained that there did not seem to be any legal reason for the Town to take care of the water runoff, and if Mr. Busa wants to develop the land with the runoff, he must provide for it . Now the question is, is this road going to be valuable enough for the Town to make a contribution towards the cost of the culvert. He said the Planning Board is not prepared to make a statement now. The Chairman recalled that there had been dis- cussions of access across that area. Mr. Abbott said the Planning Board should look at it very closely because there are many other areas in Town that will be very similar. He said the Plan- ning Board would look into it Mr Carroll reported that ME. Charles Williams has worked for the Town since 1930 and is presently out sidk. His sick leave ran out the week ending December 3 and hr. Carroll took the liberty of giving him one extra week. Mr. Williams is being treated for hemorrhoids and has a very poor attendance record, but he has been sick with pneumonia and an 389 infected foot . When he is well, he comes to work but he is not a very healthy individual. Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to authorize Mr. Carroll to pay Mr. Williams an ad- ditional week sick leave . Mr. Carroll reported that Mr. Spirts discussed with him the installation of a sidewalk in Burlington Street, and he would like to know if the Board definitely wants to include this in the budget He said that, to Burlington build a sidewalk in Burlington Street, will regdre a Street side- layout of the street, and if it is to be laid out, he walk and will have to put his men to work on it . He said the layout street would not have to be constructed but there would have to be a layout . It was agreed to include an item in the budget for the sidewalk and also to have the street laid out. Mr. Carroll reported that lots 5 and 6 Eastern Avenue were owned by Manuel Souza and he converted lot 6 and part of lot 5 into one lot, C . He then purchased lot 7 from the Town with a restriction Souza water that no building shall be erected or placed on it ex- betterment cept a garage or other building accessory to the principal building on lot C . Sewer and dater mains were installed, and Mr Souza inquired about abating the betterment on lot 7 because he cannot use it as a building lot Mr. Carroll told him that this is appurtenant to lot C and in effect, is one lot and the betterment should remain. However, Mr. Souza has a house on Lot C and has water It was agreed th -it Mr. Souza does not derive any betterment and the asseesment on Lot 7 should be abated. Mr Carroll reported that he received a letter from Mr. Harold Toole , M D.C . , advising that a 36" water main is going up Pleasant Street and Concord Chapter 90 Avenue . He said there is no qu&stion in his mind but that funds definitely should not be requested under Chapter 90 this year for Concord Avenue . He recommended requesting $40,000 but $15,000 to be used to surface Winchester Drive with bituminous concrete Mr. Carroll reported that Mr. Tropeano, of Larch- mont Engineering, suggested making snow for the Common Snow in the event there was no snow at Christmas . The only expense to the Town would be for the water used 390 x, cc ina Mr. Carroll reported that Mr Tropeano, of Larch- mont Engineering, suggested making snow for the Common Snow in the event there was no snow at Christmas The only expense to the Town would be for the water used. It was agreed that it would be an attractive decoration to have snow around the creche and the decorated Christmas tree . Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to grant the petition and sign the order for the fol- lowing j/o pole location: Pole location Bartlett Avenue, northwesterly side approxi- mately 515 feet southwest of Pearl Street, One pole Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to grant the petition and sign the order for the fol- lowing j/o pole locations : Pole locations Taft Avenue , southwesterly side , south- easterly from a point approximately 110 feet southeast of Ellis Street, -- Five poles. Taft Avenue , southwesterly side , south- easterly from a point approximately 665 feet southeast of Ellis Street, -- Six poles . Taft Avenue, southeasterly side , approxi- mately 145 feet northeast of Suther- land Road, — One pole The Chairman read a letter from Mr. Henning W. Swenson relative to a water betterment assessment Swenson in the amount of $3,321.00. Mr. Swenson would like Betterment to pay for the portion from Carroll Brothers ' pro- Assessment perty to a point just past his house at #29 Allen Street and defer the remainder of the assessment . Mr. James explained th.t if Mr. Swenson sets his house off on a single lot, the Board can then consider deferring the amount of the betterment on the remaining land . The Chairman read a letter from Mr. Spiris, advising that the Dad' s Club had requested the School Committee to permit them to construct a Food booth permanent booth for the sale of hot dogs at the football games on the enclosed field at the Senior High School. 391 Due to the pos -ible changes that might take place in the area, the Board agreed that it would not be advisable to have such a booth erected at this time The Chairman read a letter from the Town Cele- brations Committee , asking whether or not the Board Thanksgiving wants the Committee to arrange for the Thanksgiving community service on a year to year basis or as a permanent project It was agreed that the observance should be on a permanent basis . Application for a Certificate of Incorporation, on behalf of E. B. VanDusen, 3 Slocum Road, was re- ceived from the Secretary of State Satisfactory Cert . of Inc character reference was received from the Chief of Police . Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to sign the applicatioh. Notice was received from the Commissioner of Corporations and Taxation establishing the sum of $76,700 as the amount not less than which the 1960 bond of the Treasurer shall be written and the sum Bonds of $97,900 as the amount not less th-in which the 1960 bond for the Collector of Taxes shall be writ- ten. Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to set the sum of $76,700 as the amount not less than which the 1960 bond of the Treasurer shall be written and to set the sum of $97,900 as the amount not less than which the 1960 bond of the Collector of Taxes shall be written. Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to renew the following licenses : Licenses Pine Meadows Country Club Common Victualler Geoffroy' s Pharmacy " It The 1775 House , Inc . " The Lexington Inn, Inc " " Howard D. Johnson Company Manhattan Restaurant Battle Green Inn " " The Lexington Inn Innkeeper Morris Motors 1st Class Agent The Chairman reported that Mr Cataldo has re- ceived offers for the purchase of his land, formerly 392 CD CV 010 owned by the Boston & Maine Railroad, and he would like a letter from the Board stating whether or not the Town is interested in acquiring the property He Cataldo would like something in writing to show to other people land for interested in purchasing the property. parking Mr. Adams was in favor of a letter, and Mrs. Morey said she thought a letter properly worded would be all right. Mr. Ferguson said that such a letter might place the Town in the position of being liable to damages and he was opposed. The other members of the Board were in favor, the letter to be approved by Town Counsel. Mr. Carroll retired at 10:35 P.M. The Planning Board met with the Selectmen at 10:35 P.M. and the recent decision handed down by the Superior Court in the appeal taken by the Plan- ning Board was discussed. The meeting adjourned at 10:55 P.M. A true record, Attest: 2V,01 ecutive lerk Select