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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1957-01-07-BOS-min 249 4 ; II SELECTMEN'S MEETING January 7, 1957 A regular meeting of the Board of Selectmen was held in the Selectmen's Room, Town Office Building, on Monday evening, January 7,, 1957 at 7:30 P.M. Chairman Reed, Messrs, James, Maloney, Tucker and Mrs. Morey were present. The Executive Clerk was also present. The Chairs n read a letter ,from the Planning Board with ref rence to two options obtained by that Board for ease nts it recommends the Town to ac- quire as a loc tion for the extension of Eldred Eldred Street Street from Ju tin to Grove Streets. A conformed extension copy of each a reement was enclosed. The Plann ng Board requested that a town way be laid out acros the land included in these agree- ments and if the Selectmen agreed, it was suggested that the Town Engineer prepare a. layout of the ex- tension of the street and a public hearing held and Sit then be presented to the Annual Town Meeting for acceptance. The Chairman agreed to check with Mr. Gayer relative to having the layout made. The Chairman read a letter from the State Bureau of Accounts whereby authority was given for Snow Removal the payment of liabilities incurred or to be in- amount curred to an amount not exceeding $4,000 for the re- approved moval of snow and ice due to the extreme emergency involving the health or safety of persons or property in the Town of Lexington. Signed pe•Ation was received for acceptance of Turning Mill Rad and Dema, Road; said petition stat- ing that both oads have been constructed in accord- Turning Mill ante with town specifications and approved. & Demar Rds. If the rods have been constructed according to town specif cations and it is merely a matter of presenting the for acceptance, they are to be in- cluded in the fists of streets to be accepted in March this yea . The Chair n read a letter from the Additional Town Office Bu lding Committee requesting the Select- ' men to conside the extension of the two present 250 r" DI catch basins in the parking area at the rear of the New Town Office Building, and connection to Vine Brook. The Chairman explained that there are two catch basins out there but they don't go anyplace. The water is backing up into part of the building now so it should be extended to Vine Brook anyway. He ex- Town Office plained that the Committee felt it was not an item Bldg. catch that should be charged to its appropriation. He sug- basias gested, and the Board agreed, to have the item included in the 1957 .drainage budget. Letter was received from the Collector of Taxes, together with bond in the sum of $3,000 on behalf of Bond Frederick J. Wright, Deputy Collector for a term eX- piring December 31, 1957. Approval of the Commissioner of Corporations and Taxation was stamped on the bond and signed. Upon motion of Mr. James, seconded by Mrs. Morey, it was voted to approve the bond, to be filed with the Town Clerk. The Chairman read a letter from the Stanley Hill Post, American Legion, requesting permission to con- Blue duct the Blue Crutch March of Dimes Drive on January Crutch 11th and 12th inasmuch as inclement weather caused poet- Drive ponement of the drive last weekend. Upon motion of Mrs. Morey, seconded by Mx. James, it was voted to grant the request. The Chairman read a letter from Robert R. Williams, 19 Ward Street, offering $150 for tax title lot #11 Tax Short Street. title It was agreed to hold over any decision on the offer until late Spring or early Summer when the Board would have an opportunity to view the property. The Chairman reported that •he had called Mr. Purington relative to the position of Director of Civil Defense. Mr. Purington has been over to Natick and was told that a town of this size would involve working four days a week. He and Mr. McKechnie are wil- ling to help but neither of them is willing to take over because of the amount of time involved. Mr Purington has a quantity of information for the Board and will meet here Friday at 3:00 o' clock to explain what he has found out and assist the Board in getting started on Civil Defense. Mr. James mentioned Maurice Gagne as a possible director, but it was decided to defer any action re appointment of a director until after the meeting Friday. 1 ce 251 The Chairman read a letter from Virginia Syjatz, II Caribou, Maine advising that Caribou is considering changing its form of government from an open town meeting to a representative form of town meeting. She wanted to know the attitude of Lexington citizens, if any regret, had been expressed about the change, problems peculiar to representative town meetings and if it has ever been .suggested that the town be operated under a city/government. /form of The Chairman was authorized ts4_acknowledge the letter and advise that it is impractical for a townm, of this size to have open town meetings, that there had been no regrets, the only problem being a revision of precincts and that no suggestion had been made for a city form of government. Upon motion of Mr. Tucker, seconded by Mr. James, Licenses it was voted to renew the following licenses: George R. Reed. & Son Inc. 1721 Mass. Ave. Com. Vic. Ren. Smithas Paper Store, Inc. 1832 Mass. Ave. e " w Wildacre Inn 50 Percy Road " n n At 8:25 P.M. the Planning Board, Mr. Snow, Con- sultant to the Board, Mr. Cronin and Mr. Connell of the Board of Assessors, met with the Selectmen re a town map. Mr. Hathaway explained that when the Planning Board finished the present project, its own needs will have been accomplished, but the Board felt the Town map maps would be of great value to other departments of the town. Mr. Snow explained that the present town map is a diagrammatic map and, as more streets are added, it is difficult to put them in the proper place. He re- ported that the Planning Board has undertaken to have a contract with an Engineering Firm to draw an accurate plan of which he presented a rough draft. He said the town does have a number of 40 scale plans either cn cloth or tracing paper and these could be phot.graphically reduced thereby beginning a system of -pet showing all the pieces of land in the town. He sai. it is estimated that the eost of the photographic ork and drafting necessary to complete this phase of a set of maps would be approximately*2,000, such maps bei g of considerable value to the Assessors as well as other town officials. To complete a set of 100 scale propert • maps for the whole town would cost be- tween $3.00 a d $6.00 a parcel, the lower figure being estimated for the well-developed residential sections of town and t e higher figure for the larger parcels in the open s aces. The figures include a winter aerial survey, and neves sary field work. If there are 6,000 parcels of land to 100 scale and fitted into the co-ordinated system 252 M1 in town, it is estimated that the total amount of work would cost a minimum of $20,000. The engineering firm now engaged in preparing a new map for the town states that it would not be economical to spread the work out over a period of more than three years. Mr. Snow reported that the Town of Wilmington has picked up 1200 parcels of land alone, and paid for the cost of the map through the re-assessment. Mr. Hathaway said this would- also be valuable to the School Committee and Recreation Committee. Mr. Cronin said if such a map were available, the entire sixteen square miles of the town could be ac- counted for. He said that the Assessors' work does -re- quire good maps as they are dealing with metes and bounds. Mr. Snow reported that the man who worked for the Planning Bob g two years ago did a lot of the basic work and/Planning Board has a record for the past two and onehalf years of every piece of land recorded at the Registry, He said he believed the cost to be abut as low a-figure as would be possible under the circumstances, Mr. Maloney asked if a contract for that price could be obtained and Mr. Snow replied that they would be glad to write a contract. They gave the Planning Board unit figures ; so much for draftingfimmuch fo field work, etc. When they get so much/work done or so much drafting done, they send in a bill. The Chairman asked if the most immediate use of the maps would be by the Board of Assessors and Mr. Snow replied in the affirmative. He said once there is a town map at 400 scale, it can be enlarged or re- duced"to serve any purposes. Mr. Valoney asked if the town would recover enough land to compensate for the cost of this map. Mr. Snow said it would recover some land belt he had now idea haw much. Mr. Hathaway said that the Planning Board feels it is of use to the various departments, particularly to the Assessors, but the Board does not go on record as indicating that any land will be picked up. The Chairman said he felt this was something the Assessors should have and the town should be willing to buy it for that reasons Mr. Hathaway said the Selectmen had time at their own pleasure to include this in the 1957 budget and that the Planning Board' s mission is accomplished. The Planning Board retired at 8:45 P.M. 253 The Cha irnanL reported that he called Mr. Tropeano today in re th Lidberg property and was advised that it will cost $ 00 an acre which makes the total $49,000 and no $ 5,000, the figure the Board has been discussi . He said the Board should find out the actual pri a before arriving at a decision. Mrs. More , reported that the day of the Precinct Meeting Mr. Wa..ker came down to $50,000. She said Junior that was still high and, on the telephone, he came High down to $45,000. He said he would consider going School even lower and Mr. Greeley has talked to him beyond Site that. She rep,)rted that Mr. Walker was •eager to get the money in hind and it is money in hand that Ili sell that piece as far as he is concerned. She said that Mr. Spagnuolo insists he is the owner. The Chairman reported that Mr. Tropeano told him he only has an option and Mr. Lidberg is the owner. Mrs. Morey said that Walker has an option from Spagunolo. Mr. James mentioned that in addition to the Lid- berg property there is the Millican property. Mr. Maloney asked how much and Mrs. Morey replied three acres. he explained that Millican was approached by Gordon Stee a and he said he would so-operate at the time it was be ng considered with •the Chiesa property. The Chai said he woad like to know who talked to Walker and s. Morey said that she and Mr. Greeley talked to him. •The Chairman said that at the moment Mr. Tropeano is not talking that figure. Mr. James asked if it were necessary to have thirty- five acres. Mrs. Morey explained .that ten acres of the land is no good. It might be eventually developed for a skating areas, but the town will be getting twenty-five good acres. The Chairman sd that the town would het be paying $1400 an acre for/1aii& but would be paying something for the road. Mr. James asked who the Board had to deal with. Mrs. Morey said that Spagnuolo said the town had to deal with Walker. Mr. Tucker said that the Board should find out who it is dealing with and what the price is. It was agreed to have Mrs. Morey call Roland Greeley and then arrange a meeting for the entire group to meet with the Board. Chief Ryc:roft met with the Board at 9:10 P.M. 254 N trl The Chairman stated that last week the Board thought a letter should be written to the man in- volved in the apprehension of the individuals who have been breaking and entering houses. The Chief would like to give the Board a complete story on the subject before the letter is written because there were actually more men involved than was mentioned Police in the Minute-man. Following the Chief' s report, it was agreed to acknowledge the assistance given by the Police De- partments in Newton, Arlington, Waltham, Lincoln and the State Police. The Chairman reported that the Harrington School Building Committee has approved the lights for the Street Harrington School and instructed the Clerk to have lights the Superintendent of Public Works contact the Boston. Edison Company. It was agreed to discuss budgets with Mr. Gayer on Wednesday evening, January 9th at 7:00 P,M. Mrs. Morey brought up the subject of re-nego- tiating the present garbage contract in an effort to improve the service. Mr. Maloney recalled that thettWn cannot legally pay more than is written in the contract and said that the Board should do something to help the collector. Garbage Mr. James suggested an educational program and it was felt that possibly, Mr. Collins, the collector, should be drivited tc.', meet with the Board in May or June to discuss such a program. The meeting adj ourned at 10:00 P.M. A true record, Attest: / ' 41, -EkeetitivaAller14 Selects n r G