HomeMy WebLinkAbout1961-05-15-BOS-min 49 ,.
SELECTMEN'S MEETING
May 15, 1961
A regular meeting of the Board of Selectmen was
held in the Selectmen' s Room on Monday evening, May
15, 1961. Mr. Adams , Chairman pro tem, Messrs .
Ferguson, Richards, and Cole were present . Mr. Stevens,
Town Counsel, Mr. Carroll, Superintendent of Public
Works, and the Executive Clerk were also present .
The Chairman read a letter from Mr . William
Roger Greeley, suggesting that the Town acquire
O'Neil ' s (Bowser) race track for playground purposes
for the east side of town. Land for
It was agreed to acknowledge the letter and Playground
advise Mr. Greeley that the subject has been referred
to the Planning Board.
Hearing was declared open upon petition of the
New England Telephone and Telegraph Company for per-
mission to lay approximately 952 feet of conduit from
manhole 54/56 at Hancock Street, northwesterly to man-
hole 54/100. Telephone
Notice of the hearing was sent to all abutters conduit
involved .
Mr. Consilvio, representing the petitioner, was
the only person present at the hearing. He explained
that there are five ducts going along Bedford Street;
three are telephone and two are fire alarm. The com-
pany desires to build the area up to feed from here
orders in the area and also give relief to the telephone
service at the airport .
Mr. Carroll said he would require the company to
put in the sidewalks .
The hearing was declared closed.
Hearing was declared open upon petition of the
New England Telephone and Telegraph Company for per-
mission to lay approximately 5,249 feet of conduit in
Massachusetts Avenge from manhole 54/80 at Lincoln
Street, northwesterly. Telephone
Mr. Consilvio, representing the petitioner, was conduit
the only person present at the hearing. He explained
that it would take two or three weeks to construct the
cable feeding from the corner of Lincoln Street and
Massachusetts Avenue, and the last time the company
repaired a cable in that area was 1930. He said it
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is necessary to increase the circuits to Concord and
the Lincoln Laboratory.
Mr. Carroll advised that he is having difficulty
with the telephone company and the Boston Edison Com-
pany with replacement and removal of poles, although
he believed the problems were being worked out. He
said he was not satisfied with service relative to the
poles on Jean Road., that are now being worked on. He
reported that he has asked repeatedly to have a pole
replaced on Maple and Lowell Street which is interferdng
with the Chapter 90 construction. He recommended that
the Board defer action on the two petitions presented
this evening until the poles on Jean Road are in place
and in service and the pole on Maple and Lowell Strleet
has been replaced.
The hearing was declared closed and Mr. Consilvio
retired at 8:10 P.M.
Both petitions for conduit locations were taken
under advisement.
Mr. Stevens referred to an accident that occurred
on or about February 9, 1959, at which time a police
Release cruiser was damaged by Joseph P. Shannon. He reported
that he had prepared a release for the Board to sign
upon payment by Mr . Shannon of $222.70.
Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted
to sign a release in consideration of $222.70 paid by
Joseph P. Shannon. The original document was taken by
Mr . Stevens and a copy left for the Selectment s files .
Mr. Stevens presented two contracts with Whitman
& Howard for engineering services covering street con-
Contracts struction and sewer laterals.
Mr. Carroll explained that these two contracts
are for street construction this year and sewer laterals
this year.
Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted
to sign two contracts between the Town of Lexington and
Whitman & Howard for engineering services covering street
construction and sewer laterals for 1961 .
Mr. Stevens mentioned that the last payment of the
agreed price for the land acquired in 1959 from Hillcrest
Village is in the amount of $14,000. and due on or about
Hillcrest January 5, 1962. The attorney for Hillcrest Village has
Village requested that final payment be made now as the copporation
payment intends to dissolve and Mr. Stevens said he knew of no
reason why payment should not be made inasmuch as the
postponement was for the benefit of Hillcrest Village .
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Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted
to approve payment of $14,000. to Hillcrest Village .
The Chairman said he visited the Town Offices at
Concord today in an effort to obtain information rela-
tive to an Executive Assistant . He did not get too
much information on that but did find out about busi- Executive
ness machines . He reported that he asked Mr. Stevens Assistant
if he could fine out who has the power to employ and
discharge elected officials and boards, in connection
with an Executive Assistant, and if he would have the
authority to establish salaries .
Mr. Stevens retired at 8:24 P.M.
Mr. Carroll reported that bids on sewer laterals
and sidewalks will be opened next Monday afternoon at Bid opening
4 o'clock.
The Chairman read a letter from Roger G. Leland,
attorney for Leonard Jellis, stating that when he
negotiated for the transfer of a piece of Mr . Jellis'
property in front of his house , an agreement was made
to place a concrete bound at the Reed Street side of
his property. He stated that, although requests have
been made to the Tp to Engineer, no reply has been re-
ceived. Jellis ' bound
Mr. Carroll stated that he received one letter
from Mr. Leland on January 10 in which he mentioned
Mr. Hossfield' s property and requested a stake , but
nothing was mentioned about Jellis . Three weeks ago,
Mr. Hossfield came into his office , at which time he
told him nothing had been done because of the weather.
It was agreed to acknowledge Mr . Leland' s letter
and state that _it is assumed he has reference to
placement of a stake similar to that which is being
set for Mr . Hossfield.
Mr. Carroll reported that Mr. Mazerall would like
permission to place three benches he has made along
town property, adjacent to theSchool Administration
Office , on Fletcher Avenue . Benches
Mr. Ferguson said he would prefer not to have
them placed there, but the other members of the Board
agreed to grant Mr. Mazerall' s request and see how
they work out .
Mr. Carroll reported that he received a telephone
call from Richard Power, associated with the State
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Divisionrof Sanitary Engineers, who received a letter
from Mr. Walter C . Birchler, the man who wrote the
Board about two weeks ago relative to a drainage
Drainage problem on Marrett Road. Mr . Power thinks there is a
health problem there and suggested that the Board of
Selectmen take some positive action in the way of get-
ting the State to do something about the problem.
The Chairman reported that he also had received
a call from Mr. Power .
It was agreed to have Mr . Carroll draft a letter
to be sent to the State, copies to be mailed to the
representatives.
The Chairman read a letter from Earle C . Banks,
31 Simonds Road, stating that two months of the spring
Damage to have gone by and he feels something should have been
lawn done before now to grass his lawn damaged when the
sidewalk was installed .
Mr. Carroll said he had not forgotten the matter
but there have been only a few days this spring when
the grass could be sown.
Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted
to grant a j/o pole location, approvad by Mr . Carroll,
Pole lo- on Waltham Street about four feet from the Waltham-
cation Lexington line .
Mr. Carroll said he thought there should be a
meeting with the various Boards, and others interested,
relative to plans for the Center Playground now that
Center play- Worthen Road is definitely in progress . He said as
^round plans soon as the location of the school has been determined,
some decision should be made so funds can be included
in the 1962 budget .
The Chairman reported that the question of filling
' Sw mming private swimming pools had come up and Mr. Ferguson
pools said it had been decided last year that they were to be
filled out of the individuals own taps .
Mr. Carroll retired at 8:45 P.M.
Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted
Minutes to approve the minutes of the Selectme nts Meeting held
on May 8, 1961 .
Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted
to go into executive session for the purpose of discus-
sing, deliberating or voting on a matter which, if made
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public , might adversely affect the public security, the Executive
financial interest of the Town, or the reputation of any session
person.
Following a discussion relative to Mr. Paul Yarin' s
sewage disposal system at 34 Webster Road, it was voted
to resume the open meeting.
Mr. Paul Yarin met with the Board at 9:00 P.M.
The Chairman stated that the Board has gone over
the subject quite carefully and arrived at a decision .
Mr. Richards said that since Mr. Yarin' s visit with
the Board, the Board has written anumber .of letters, Yarin' s
one to Whitman & Howard, the engineers acting for the sewage dis-
Town, a supplement to the inspection services rendered posal system.
by the Board of Health on disposal systems . He explained
that the Board has also discussed the matter at some
length with the Board of Health and with Mr. Lurvey who
works under the Board of Health. He stated that the
Board has an exhibit from the court in the form of a
letter written prior to judgment in Mr. Yarin' s case .
Mr. Yarin said that was after the Judge had been
to the property.
Mr. Richards said it was part of the proceedings
and he assumed that Mr. Yarin was represented by Mr.
Fulman to whom the letter was addressed. He said this
gave the Board the background of the Judge ' s feelings
at the time the case was being tried between Mr . Yarin
and the Superior Homes . He said the Board also has a
complete background of the Town' s action and it is the
Board's feeling that, on behalf of the Town, the Select-
men are powerless to act to assist Mr. Yarin on the in-
formation made available to them. He said this was
based on the best legal advice the Board could obtain,
Town Counsel, who is of the opinion that acts of an
inspector in a case like this is not an act for which
the Town is liable . It is an actto see if a certain
item is up to the standard of the Town and is not an
act done for the property owner himself. It is to
benefit the health of the townspeople as a whole . He
said the Inspector who inspected the house which Mr .
Yarin purchased, inspected it at the time when it was
being built , was an employee of Whitman & Howard and
was supplementing the inspection staff of the Board
of Health . He said the Board also noted with interest
that Mr. Yarin purchased the property in 1955.
Mr. Yarin said he purchased the house four years
ago this July and it was vacant all that time .
Mr. Richards said the records show that Mr . Yarin
had a new system installed in 1959 and Mr. Yarin said
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that was correct .
Mr. Richa-'ds said it was, then, after the second
system had been built that Mr. Yarin brought action
against the builder .
Mr. Yarin said he started action against the builder
and was h€ ving a problem withthe drainage . The action
was brought against the builder for other things.
Mr . Richards said Mr . Yarin' s attorney did not
mention the sewage disposal system .
Mr. Yarin said Mr. Richards based the suit on
legal problems . He said he was having trouble with a
leaching system which he assumed was there . The trial
lasted for five months and during that period, the
leaching field became so bad he had it dug up and there
was no leaching field there . At that time , it was called
to the etten.tien of his lawyer who called it to the at-
thntion of the Judge and he inspected it . At that time,
the Judge had written this letter to the attorney sug-
gesting and reminding him to include this as part of the
proceedings. He said he did not suppose the Board wrote
the judge and asked for his findings . He said the Judge
found in his favor on all accounts . Mr. Yarin said he
spent $1100 to put in a new leaching field and spent
$2400 on a heating system.
Mr . Richards explained that the Board has nothing
to do with the heating system.
Mr. Yarin said the Board had consulted the entire
opposition; Whitman & Howard, the Board of Health, and
Mr. Lurvey. He saidhe received no satisfaction from
the Board of Health and Mr . Lurvey was protecting his
name or the name of the wvrktan who was working for
Whitman & Howard. He said the only people who knew the
leaching field was not there are the people who saw the '
ground dug up, Mr. Capone and the builder .
Mr. Richards explained that Mr. Capone was not an
employee of the Town of Lexington in any form, shape or
fashion. He said the Board does not know him, where
he is . He stated that the Selectmen went through all
of the Town Boards, people for whose action the Selectmen
want to know if they are performed properly and the
Selectmen think they have arrived at a satisfactory answer.
He explained that if Mr. Yarin felt he had any rights
against the Town of Lexington and it is his feeling that
he should recover damages, he should move against the
Town to protect those rights because time is running out.
He said the Board has acted in good faith to give him a
proper answer. He said the Board understands the Town
has done more in this case probably than for any other
individual in the Town to help him. He stated that
whether the advice has been good or bad, Mr. Yarin has
been given a lot of advice to what is admittedly a bad
situation. He said the Board would like to help him and
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explained that Whitman & Howard is an auxiliary and most
towns don' t have this service . He stated it is a special
service theTown provides and have done it only since
1955 to assist the home owners .
Mr . Yarin said he was not going to sue the Town
of Lexington. He said the Ba rd shrugged off the fact
that Mr. Capone did not work for the Town of Lexington .
He said he came to the Ba rd because of the money he
had spent . He asked if the Board had, as a piece of
evidence , the permit from the Town. He stated that
shows an enormous leaching field that never existed.
He said they dug up the location that the buider speci-
fied and he was the one that was supposed to know where
it was . He said he came to the Board not to let a situ-
ation like this happen again in Lexington. He asked
what protection home owners in Lexington had if the
Board takes the attitude that this man does not work for
Lexington.
The Chairman said one phase is a financial loss
and the other probelm is the question of this man.
Mr. Yarin asked if the Board wrote letters to
anyone who could corroborate his views of the situation.
Mr. Richards explained that the Bca rd cannot inter-
vene in a legal proceeding when it is not a party to it .
Mr. Yarin said the case is closed. He asked if
the Board investigated the fact that Mr. Capone was
friendly with the builder, that he lived in one of his
houses . He asked if the Boa-d thought this man would
tell Whitman & Howard that he signed a permit for a
Teaching field that was not there .
Mr. Richards explained that the Slectmen do not
have the power to subpoena withesses, and asked if Mr.
Yarin thought this man, assuming his suspicions were
correct, would give the Board any information.
Mr. Yarin replied in the negative and said the
fact remains that there was no leaching field and in
Mr . Capone ' s own handwriting, it was there .
Mr. Richards slid that right now the Board has
no power that can materially assist Mr . Yarin.
Mr. Yarin said if the Town of Lexington is paying
many thousands of dollars a year for engineering ser-
vices, they should stand behind their work. He said
they should pay damages and that is what he recommends.
He said if the Board preferred not to make it money,
something should be done to clear up the matter. He
said tie Board has made its decision and he did not
know if he would fight it any further or not as now it
is not a matter of money but a matter of principle .
Mr. Ferguson said, as he understood Mr. Yarin's
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complaint, it is that an inspector of Whitman & Howard
did not do his work and Mr . Yarin is coming to the Board
as a citizen to tell that the Town is not getting its
money' s worth.
Mr. 'Tarin replied in the negative and said that
first, he was caused considerable expense because of a
leaching field that did not exist was passed, and second,
he believed that Whitman & Howard should be reprimanded
in some manner for letting a situation like this pass
through their offices .
Mr. Ferguson asked if Mr . Yarin' s complaint was
first, he thought he was damaged because the inspection
was not made properly, and second, he would like to
have the Board reprimand Whitman & Howard because their
inspector, in Mr . Yarin' s opinion, had not done a good
job .
Mr. Yarin replied in the affirmative , and said
he would not like to see any innocent person suffer.
He said he has no ax to grind with Whitman &Howard,
but if they had a man making phoney inspections, it
is still their responsibility and action should be
taken down the line . He said he thought the whole
problem should not go unnoticed.
Mr. Ferguson said it seemed to him that there are
two aspects to this.
Mr. Yarin said when he referred to the whole pro-
blem he was referring to the problem of his leaching
field. He said the fact should be established with the
Board that there was not a leaching field thereaand
Whitman & Howard should be aware of the fact that a
leaching field was not there .
Mr. Richards said the Board of Health had apprised
them of that .
Mr. Yarin asked how many instances the Board was •
aware of that the Board of Health has called Whitman &
Howard and had them lay out the leaching field. He
asked how many hours the Town paid for.
Mr. Richards explained that the Town pays $2500 or
$3,000 a year .
Mr. Yarin asked if there was an invoice ' on his
property and Mr . Richards replied in the negative.
Mr. Yarin asked if the Town was billed for laying
out a new leaching field on his property two years ago.
Mr. Richards replied that he did not know .
Mr. Yarin said that Whitman & Howard' s engineer
did the entire design and that Mr. Lurvey stood on his
front steps and told him that he would hire the workmen
and the Town paid the fee .
The Chairman asked if Mr. Lurvey said the Town
would pay the laborers .
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Mr. Yarin replied that was correct. He said he took
his bill to Mr. Lurvey' s office when the job was done and
then he said he meant Mr. Yarin would pay the men himself .
He said that recently Mr. Lurvey denied he said that.
The Chairman asked if the houses that the contractor
built were adjacent to Mr. Yarin' s and he replied in the
affirmative . He said his house was built on a swamp and
the whole area is very bad leaching area.
The Chairman asked if the residents in the other
houses have had any problem such as his, and Mr . Yarin
replied he did not know anyone who has had this problem.
Mr. Ferguson asked how Mr. Lurvey offered to pay
these men, and Mr. Yarin replied that he told him he
would pay the men.
Mr. Ferguson asked how he made that offer.
Mr. Yarin replied that he told Mr. Lurvey they dug
across the lot to next door. There were arguments going
on there as to why the leaching field did not go along
with the permit. At that time he said "Don' t worry - we have
a man coming to do the job." Mr. Yarin said Mr . Lurvey
made that statement to him.
Mr. Richards explained that the men on the Board of .
Health serve without any compensation and try to do a
good job and most of the time he thought they were doing
a good job.
Mr. Yarin said he went to the Board of Health five
weeks ago and they took a man down from Maine who laid
out the second leaching field and this man was harassing
him no end.
Mr. Richards said the Board of Selectmen has not
done anything to hinder the Board of Health' s decision
to go forward in assisting Mr. Yarin but he didn' t think
there is much more to do to give him aid. He said if Mr.
Yarin thought any employee of the Town of Lexington was
giving him a bad time , the Board of Selectmen wanted to
know about it . He said the Board also wanted to know
if Mr. Yarin felt any employee of the Town has misre-
presented anything.
Mr. Yarin said he could go to a hundred Board
meetings but no one could straighten his mind that
there was no leaching field there . He said the Board
should be interested in the talk and the talk is ,
there was a deal on. There was no leaching field and
the Town' s agent passed a diagram that there was a
leaching field.
Mr. Richards said Mr. Yarin relied on that diagram.
Mr. Yarin said when one moves into a Town which is
well run, with a Health Officer, it is assumed that one
is protected. He said he did rely on it .
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The Chairman said he did not think there was any
question that there is no field there , but at this
point, he did not think there was much the Board could
do. He said the Board hoped it would not happen to
anyone else .
Mr. Richards said that the Board came to the con-
clusion that the Board of Selectmen is powerless, from
the evidence it had, to assist Mr. Yarin any further .
Mr. Yarin said he would like to establish the fact
that he did not come to theBoard as a crank wanting to
get out of his house at night .
Mr. Ferguson asked what ..it is he wanted to establish.
Mr. Yarin replied to see if it is possible to get
back the money, and secondly, to see that the person
who did this improper act had been reprimanded. He
said from the decision of the Board this evening, he
found that it is not going to make an effort to reprimand
this person or reimburse him because it is not in the
Board' s power, according to the Board. He said he
would, therefore , like to establish if he is right or
wrong on general principle . He asked if he proved to
this Board that he got cheated.
Mr. Ferguson said Mr. Yarin had made his two
problems clear , and the Board does not feel the Town
has any liability to him on the first . On the second
one , the Bcard has looked into and asked the Board of ,.
Health what they are doing about Whitman & Howard.
Mr . Yarin said, based on what Mr. Adams said - -
Mr. Ferguson explained that Mr. Adams expressed
a personal opinion and was not speaking for the board.
The Chairman said that was correct, he was speaking
for himself.
Mr. Yarin said the Board would have to understand
his problem to know why he was here .
Mr. Yarin retired at 4:55 P.M.
Mr. Norman May met with the Board and said he was
interested in a zoning proposition in the area of
Route 128 and Route 2, and was desirous of having an
Article article in the warrant for the June Town Meeting but
the Planning Board is not willing to sponsor it.
The Board felt that the regular procedure of
obtaining 100 signatures for the insertion of an
Article or 200 signatures for calling a Special Town
Meeting should be followied.
Mr. May retired.
Westview Acquisition of 14 acres of land adjoining the Westview
Cemetery Cemetery is to be discussed with Mr. John Carroll next week .
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The Assessors ' letter relative to the use of the
large conference room next to their office for re-
valuation was held over . Mr. Stevens had previously Conference
stated to the Board that he would not approve the Room
Town' s supplying office space for the concern doing
the revaluation.
Application was received from Busa Bros. for a
transfer of Package Goods Store license at 131 Massa-
chusettn Avenue to Busa Bros . Liquors, Inc . , at the Transfer of
same address . license
The Clerk was instructed to ask for a Certificate
of who the stockholders are .
Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted
to advertise the application.
Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted
to grant a Yearly Dump Permit to Joseph P. Kelley, who Dump Permit
has taken over the Minute Man Disposal Inc . business .
Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted
to grant the following licenses :
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Licenses
Louis spasito ,116 Bedford St. Fruit &
Vegetable Peddler (renw' L)
David C . Hatfield, Jr. , 67 Baker Ave .
Taxi Driver
Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted
to sign a notice of intention to lay out Buckman Drive Layout
from existing Buckman Drive a distance of 235 feet,
more or less, southerly to Moreland Avenue .
Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted
to sign a notice of ittention to lay out Summit Road Layout
from near Pinewood Street a distance of 700 feet, more
or less, southerly to Fern Street .
Mr. Ferguson said he thought the Board should talk
to Whitman & Howard directly and should also talk to Mr.
Lurvey.
It was agreed to make an appointment for Mr. Lurvey
next week and to have the other three Inspectors ; Build-
ing, Plumbing, and Wirdaig in before Mr . Lurvey, for about
five minutes .
Appointments to the Town Celebrations Committee,
Fire Commissioners, Board of Health, and Gas Inspector
were held over.
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The Chairman called the Board' s attention to vouchers
put through for payment by the School Department for dab
Town fares incurred for transporting school teams and it was
Accountant agreed to invite Mr. Palmer to meet with the Board next
week to discuss accounting procedures .
The Chairman called the Board ' s attention to an
item of $57.50 incurred by the School Department for
three color plates for the cover of ti-e School Annual
Town Report and two extra colors on the cover. He explained
Report this was not included in the specifications and thought
the School Department should be billed. The other
members of the Board agreed.
The meeting adjourned at 10:40 P.M.
A true record, Attest :
/ s
ec ive L2' lerk, pelectme /
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