LINCOLN BOARD OF SELECTMEN
MINUTES OF MAY 2, 2005
Sarah Cannon Holden, Chair
Sara A. Mattes
Gary Taylor
Timothy S. Higgins, Town Administrator
Donna M. Adam, Recorder
The meeting was called to order at 7:30 by Ms. Sarah Cannon Holden.
WELCOME:
The Chair recognized former Selectman John Kerr. Mr. Kerr presented the Board with a special replica of the famous ‘three legged stool’ concept. The Board thanked Mr. Kerr for his unique gift.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Ms. Holden reminded all that the Lincoln PTA will hold their Bi-Annual Plant Sale in the area in front of Town Hall on Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon.
Ms. Mattes apologized for the remarks she made at the last Selectmen’s meeting with regard to the Water Commission’s minutes, stating that such remarks clearly do nothing to advance the work of the Water Board, the Board of Selectmen, and the town
Ms. Holden then reviewed the evening’s agenda and introduced the evening’s first appointment.
APPOINTMENTS:
DENNIS BOTELHO, HIGHWAY FOREMAN RE: ROADWAY IMPROVEMENT PLAN
As everyone knows, the Highway Department is currently working without a superintendent, and Mr. Higgins took the opportunity to compliment the entire Highway Department on the excellent work they have been doing, making sure that things get done and done well.
Each spring Mr. Higgins confers with the Highway Department to see what they would recommend to undertake, following the Roadway Plan. A recent review of the Plan by Mr. Higgins and Mr. Botelho shows that fairly substantial progress has been made on the first tier as recommended. Since State Aid has been cut by 30%, the Town is not in a position to fund major resurfacing and Mr. Higgins talked with the Board about financial realities. Presently there is $150,000 in the Roadway Account and the town will receive an additional $166,000 on July 1st. The Board had conversation last year as to whether we should take on a new project or go back and finish (chip seal) one or more of the roads which were previously resurfaced. The office has received a lot of complaints about Ballfield Road and Codman Road
needs a lot of work. Codman Road is actually disintegrating and patching is not an option. Mr. Botelho estimated it would cost $180,000 to do Codman Road (cold plane—scraping it down to its sub surface); $20,000 to do Ballfield Road; $20,000 to Chip Seal Old Sudbury Road.
The ‘chip seal’ treatment provides some degree of traffic calming. Ms. Mattes reminded the Board they had previously committed to going back and ‘chip sealing’ Old Sudbury Road.
Another option would be to do the next group of neighborhood roads. Ms. Holden asked what the cost would be to do the neighborhood roads. Ms. Mattes asked that the minutes be checked to verify that the Board had previously voted to do the chip sealing.
The Board will take the matter under advisement, pending provision of the figures and the record of the previous vote.
PIERCE HOUSE COMMITTEE
The Selectmen welcomed Christopher Coleman, Assistant Town Administrator, members of the Pierce House Committee, and Richard Silver, the Pierce House caretaker to join them for a twofold discussion. The main discussion centered on the current state of the Pierce House finances. Mr. Coleman explained that a change in the marketplace has had a dramatic affect on the Pierce House’s income and the House Fund Balance has been drawn down to approximately $20,000 which could easily be exhausted within six months time unless bookings increase. Historically the Pierce House has been self suffiicient, however no cash reserve has ever been set aside. The Pierce House needs to think about doing business differently. House revenues were also applied to capital improvements; CPA funds have been used recently to offset
some capital concerns, but it would probably be wise to fund capital needs in the future either through the CPA or capital planning.
The Pierce House Committee raised one particular repair they feel is crucial, that of repairing the terrace in back of the house. The Committee feels $10,000 would be sufficient to fund the repair, stating that it needs to be done now for safety sake, and by putting it off the cost of the sod will increase and it will cost more to repair in the future. The Selectmen support going to Finance Committee for a Reserve Fund Transfer to cover the cost of the terrace repair. In the meantime the Board suggested that the Pierce House Committee needs to come up with a plan to restructure their finances in a realistic way.
The Board also made the following appointments to the Pierce House Committee: Judy Gross for a one year term; Jean Horne for a two year term; Lucia MacMahon for a three year term; Stephanie Rolfe for a one year term; and Max Mason for a three year term.
CANDIDATES FOR LIBRARY TRUSTEE
Melinda Webster Loof and Jacqueline Apsler, candidates for appointment as the Selectmen’s liaison to the Library Trustees, Barbara Myles, Library Director, and Jack Pugh, Chair of the Library Trustees joined the Selectmen. Mr. Pugh outlined three broad categories he feels it is important that a library trustee possess and each responded in turn, stating their qualifications and reasons for seeking appointment. The Selectmen thanked each candidate and took the appointment under advisement.
CANDIDATES FOR HOUSING COMMISSIN
The Selectmen welcomed B-J Scheff, Chair of the Housing Commission. B-J took the opportunity to remind the cable audience of tomorrow evening’s meeting regarding Sunnyside Lane a which time the architect will be making a presentation for construction of two units. B-J said the major focus of the Commission right now is the accessory apartment approach as presented at Town Meeting. Mrs. Scheff is in support of reappointment of the two incumbent members of the Commission, Bryce Wolf, and George Georges. There were no other candidates. The Selectmen voted unanimously to reappoint both Mrs. Wolf and Mr. Georges.
OPEN FORUM: No one was present to take advantage of the opportunity provided by the Selectmen to speak with the board without a scheduled appointment.
TOWN ADMINISTRATOR’S REPORT:
Train Whistle Ban: The Town was surprised when it was advised very late last week that starting today (May 2nd) the train horns will resume blowing. The Town had been led to believe by the DTE that we would have the opportunity to apply to the Federal Government once the regulation was published and we would develop the town’s application based on the investigations the Town’s Engineers had done and we were confident would qualify for the continuation of the ban assuming we were willing to implement the mitigation measures the new ban called for. We were in process of pursuing this path, when we received the notice. Our best sense of the issue is that State’s authority will lapse on June 24th. The Selectmen need to submit a formal notice of intend to the Federal
Railway Administration (June 3rd) and then on June 24th they will notify the State that the Federal Government has assumed authority and the horns will be ordered to cease. We then have three years to come up with a detailed plan delineating all the mitigation measures and then an additional two years to implement the measures.
The office has received numerous questions as to the Town’s intent to appeal. Town Counsel felt it would not be in the Town’s best interest to pursue an appeal at this time.
Mall Parking Lease: Mr. Higgins has talked with the RLF about the lease for the Town parking spaces. The key is one of timing and sequencing.
Housing Privatization: Mr. Higgins is still attempting to secure a copy of the final lease between American Eagle and the Department of Defense.
School Facilities Committee: Mr. Higgins extended the Selectmen’s request to Mr. Schmertzler to represent them on the committee; Mr. Schmertzler has not yet responded. Mr. Higgins talked with Julie Dobrow regarding the need for coordinating as we go forward and not to integrate the process.
Collective Bargaining: The DPW bargaining process is underway. Negotiations with the Police and Fire will begin in two weeks.
DISCUSSION ITEMS:
BRAC: Last Thursday was the final meeting with Sasaki in our pre-BRAC planning meeting. (Documents will be available on the town web site). BRAC list is now reported to come out on May 13th.
The four HATS Selectmen met in executive session (with regard to real estate acquisition) with Attorney Knisley on Saturday and it was a very productive meeting. We continue to make good progress in determining what the risks and opportunities are to our communities, and to explore the options of seeking a sitable partner or partners as we look to the future. We will be meeting again after the announcement of the BRAC list and hope is hat the four towns’ planning boards will set up and hold a similar meeting. We continue to work with DTI and our very first priority is if we are on the list to get off it, and our second is if we are not on the list, to stay off the list until September.
In the course of our deliberations we have determined that a Special Town Meeting may be required within the next three months to secure what is best for our future.
LIAISION REPORTS:
Sarah Cannon Holden met with the Route Group on Saturday. It was a very good meeting and it an ongoing process.
Sara Mattes reported out on the Conservation Commission’s (ConCom) meeting regarding dog regulations for Mt. Misery. There were well over one hundred people in attendance. The purpose of the meeting was to reiterate the problem as defined by the ConCom and gather suggestions for ways to address the problem. The ConCom read its charge and mission and also read the documents that provided for the acquisition of Mt. Misery and the requirements for public access and responsibililty for stewardship. The Concom emphasized that proposed solutions needed to be easy to implement, not rely on volunteer enforcement and be cost neutral. Many suggestions were made. It was recognized that a meeting such as was held was an uncomfortable place for any to speak in support of the ConCom initiatives.
Ms. Mattes reported out on attending the HC/HDC Meeting.
(1) On the hearing regarding an application for a tear down of Aunt Sadie’s – no presentation was made as to what may replace it. A statement was made that they had been prevented from leasing to anyone who could run a business.
(2) On the hearing regarding the application for teardown of the Heck house on Bedford Road, the application was made on April 1st. The HDAC must make a ruling within 60 days of the application filing. The HDC had its first public hearing on April 26th and a decision must be rendered by June 1st. The hearing opened with a presentation by the RLF as to the overall project which included the protection of significant amount of acres, primarily protecting the view shed from Flint’s Field and the side lot view sheds of abutters. The remaining 6+ acres and the house have been sold and the application for permission to tear down the house has been made by the new owner. The applicant made a presentation of the proposed project and then introduced
architectural consultants, architects for the proposed new project, lawyers, and landscape designers. All argued that the new project would be an improvement over the Heck house and merited the town’s approval.
Opponents to the application then made presentations. FOMA-Friends of Modern Architecture led the opponents. They made several presentations about the philosophy behind the International School of Architecture, the importance of the international school both in US and Lincoln’s history, and the importance of the Heck house as a representative of that movement. They next made a case that a teardown should not be allowed in the HD and this particular application did not meet the criteria for a Certificate of Approval as laid out in the HDC Bylaws. The hearing was continued to May 10th when general public comments will be accepted.
ACTION ITEMS:
APPOINTMENTS TO SCHOLARSHIP COMMITTEE & RECYCLING COMMITTEE
A motion was made by Mr. Taylor and seconded by Ms. Mattes and on a roll call vote in which each Selectman voted ‘aye’, the Board voted to appoint Nancy Marshall as the Selectmen’s Appointee to the Lincoln Scholarship Committee and to appoint James Meadors as a member of the Recycling Committee.
The weekly warrants were approved.
The minutes of April 25th were presented for approval. Ms. Mattes may bring forth revisions at the next Selectmen’s meeting.
The meeting of May 2, 2005 was adjourned at 10:17 p.m.
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