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Home My WebLink About2004-06-29-NAC-min MINUTES NOISE ADVISORY COMMITTEE 29 JUNE 2004 MEETING LEXINGTON TOWN OFFICES Selectmen's Meeting Room, 7:30 P.M. NAC Members present: Tony Galaitsis, Chair, Noise Advisory Committee (NAC) Julian Bussgang, Jim Fearnside, Myla Kabat-Zinn, M. Wood Liaison persons present: Richard Pagett (Selectmen), Stew Kennedy (Bicycle Committee) David Pinsonneault (Public Grounds Superintendent) Members of the Public: Charles Hornig, Cynthia Johnson, Ingrid Klimoff, Brian Susnock Welcome, Introductions Participants introduced themselves Report of NAC Chairman: Tony Galaitsis contacted Chair of the Lexington Chamber of Commerce, John Ott, asking him to recommend candidates from the business community to serve on the Committee. After the Chair receives the recommendations, he will circulate them to the NAC members. AGENDA ITEMS DISCUSSED 1. Special Permit Application Form Lexington’s Noise By-Law, Section 8(a), stipulates that a person seeking a Special Permit for any activity otherwise forbidden by the provisions of this By-Law make a written application to the Board of Selectmen, or designee, on the appropriate form. Presently, there is no such form available. The Committee will prepare the draft of such a form modeled on the form used by the Zoning Board of Appeals. Tony Galaitsis will prepare such a proposed draft form and will circulate it to the members of the Committee for review and comment. 2. Preston Road Massport Noise Monitor Massport operates one Noise Monitor in Lexington, located on Preston Road. This location was identified by the Hanscom Field Airport Noise Work Group (NWG) as unsatisfactory, because its noise level may be dominated by Rte. 128 traffic noise. The Selectmen charged NAC with recommending a replacement site. Massport wants the town to suggest a better site where electrical power for the monitor would be available, and the owner of the property would permit the monitor to be mounted on a pole. Massport is currently revamping the noise- monitoring network for Hanscom, so that a timely recommendation is in order. Tony Galaitsis and Julian Bussgang have examined the neighborhood and plan to come up with a recommendation soon. 3. NAC Plans & Projects The Committee plans to meet approximately 4 times a year to review the record of noise- related complaints to the Police Department, Board of Health, other town officials, and the matters and cases referred to them by the Board of Selectmen. NAC Minutes 6/29/2004 Page 1 If there is a pattern in the registered complaints, NAC may make some recommendations to the Selectmen. 4. Logs of Complaints The Committee will review the system for logging complaints, so that they can be reviewed and analyzed on a quarterly basis. Tony Galaitsis will contact the Police Dept. Jim Fearnside will arrange for complaints filed with the Board of Health to be submitted to NAC on a quarterly basis. It's not clear that any other departments receive complaints. 5. Route 128 Noise Barriers Richard Pagett reported that the injunction request by the town had a court hearing earlier in the day, but that the judge's decision was not yet known. Also, the Lexington selectmen are scheduled to meet on the subject with Commissioner John Cogliano of Mass Highway Department 6. Arlex Mitigation Proposal Richard Pagett reported that the selectmen are still awaiting a recommendation from NAC regarding the additional measures to minimize noise at 275 Massachusetts Avenue and 240 Bedford Street from Arlex's heating oil business that were outlined in David Eagle's and Sean Maloney's letter to Selectman McKenna of March 19, 2004. According to the Arlex letter, the following measures have already been taken: -Arlex tanker trucks are being diverted to the Arlex operation in Sudbury, MA, for their first load in the morning. Only the second trip of the trucks now comes to the Lexington facility, and thus is later in the morning. -Arlex has had meetings with their oil drivers and service technicians to explain the new guidelines as to stationary engine idling. These instructions have been posted by Arlex on their bulletin boards and compliance is being monitored. -Arlex moved some functions, such as tank cleaning and certain repairs from the yard to inside the building. -At the Bedford Street site drivers have been instructed to orient parked vehicles so as to eliminate backing up (and noise from back-up alarms) at night and weekends. The Arlex letter also asked for guidance from the town regarding the proposed fencing structure alongside the bike path and a plan for planting evergreen trees. Discussion of the Arlex letter included comments by Stew Kennedy and David Pinsonneault. They pointed out that the planting and fence might involve intrusion into town property and/or bicycle path land controlled by Transit Realty Associates, an agency affiliated with the MBTA. Committee members wondered whether noise at this location could be mitigated effectively by proposed planting of trees and/or the erection of a fence. The NAC did not wish to encourage Arlex to spend money for such plantings and fence unless the results can be predictably effective. The NAC decided to seek further clarification from Arlex and to develop and issue a recommendation to the Selectmen only after a review of an outline of Arlex’s proposed plans NAC Minutes 6/29/2004 Page 2 for the contemplated tree plantings and fence. In that respect, the Committee asked Martha Wood to draft a letter asking Arlex for the following: 1) Information about the operations and the location of Arlex's Sudbury facility 2) A copy of the instructions for truck drivers posted on the board 3) A tentative plan showing the proposed location (delineating property lines and ownership) for the proposed trees and fence and their general description 4) Projected noise reduction estimates from the proposed planted trees and the fence After an e-mail review of Martha's draft to Arlex, the letter will be sent to Arlex by Tony Galaitsis. After a review of Arlex’s plans for tree plantings and fence by the NAC (before and during the next meeting), the NAC will prepare a letter summarizing its opinion about the mitigation plans and will submit it to the selectmen. 7. Noise Measurements The Lexington Noise By-law, Section 3.9, defines noise that violates the state regulation 310 CMR 7.10 according to Massachusetts Department of Air Quality Control Policy, DAQC 90- 001. The Committee reviewed DAQC Policy documents defining noise standards and measurements. The documents <http://www.mass.gov/dep/bwp/daqc/daqcpubs.htm#regs> and <http://www.nonoise.org/lawlib/states/mass/mass.httm#Air%20Pollution%20Control> describe the standard, and the document <http://www.mass.gov/dep/energy/noispol.htm> describes in detail how noise should be measured to determine whether it violates the policy. The Committee suggested that when complaints about repeated excessive noise incidents are lodged with the Board of Health or the Police Department, measurements be taken according to the state instructions. The LPD has a sound level meter and a staff person trained in its use. 8. Next Meeting The next meeting of NAC was tentatively scheduled for September 14 at 7:30 p.m. Jim Fearnside was asked to explore whether the Board of Health staff person could participate to record meeting minutes. These are draft minutes prepared by Julian Bussgang, edited based on comments by Tony Galaitsis and Richard Pagett.Any further suggested changes should be submitted to Tony Galaitsis. The final version of the minutes will be issued after the minutes have been officially accepted by the Committee. Reviewed and approved by the Noise Advisory Committee on September 14, 2004 Submitted via email by: Anthony G. Galaitsis September 14, 2004 NAC Minutes 6/29/2004 Page 3