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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1983-03-24 Board of Public Works MinutesBoard of Public Works Meeting of March 1-4, 1983 Page 1 A meeting of the Board of Public Works convened in the Auditorium of the Community Center, 52 Sanborn Street, Reading, Ma. at 7:00 P.M. Present were Chairman Wood, Secretary Fallon, Board Members Barker and Griffin, Superintendent E. Roger Louanis and Assistant Superintendent William R. Bergeron, Officer Joseph Veno of the Reading Police Department and Tree Warden Irving E. Dickey, Jr. Mr. Fallon read the Notice of Public Hearing at 7:00 P.M. regarding the upcoming roadway reconstruction project on Federal Street. There were six Federal Street residents present. Chairman Wood introduced the Board to the residents and explained Mr. Bergeron would give a presentation and then. any questinns could be asked after that time. Mr. Bergeron showed several slides of the process used for roadway reconstructinn. - ' He explained that the sidewalks will remain in their present location. The total construction time for Federal Street will take between two and three weeks. No trees and no land takings are involved with this project. There are several houses that have old water services and two houses are not connected to the sewer main. The Town will install a lateral from the main to the property 'Line of these two homes. Many of the water services were installed around the turn of the Century. Seven services are lead-lined. The Town will replace the portion from the main to the sidewalk area for each of these houses. The pavement width will remain exactly as it currently exists. The actual grade of the road will remain as it currently exists. The Town is proposing to install bituminous concrete curbing where no curbing 1 ��� exists now. Board of Publir Works Meeting of March '24. 1983 Page 2 Chairman Wood stated that on any street that is a Public Way there are no betterment assessments for reconstructing the road. She explained the assessments for the installation of the sewer laterals and the water connection renewals. Mae A. Tanner of 24 Federal Street asked if the drainage problem will be alleviated. Mr, Bergeron replied the installation of the berm should correct this problem. / Mr. Polychrones joined the meeting at 7:20 P.M. Laura Kiley of 621 Federal Street asked how Federal Street could be made a one-way street. Officer Veno replied she would have to petition the Board of Selectmen who in turn would give the petition to the Police Department. This petition will also have to be discussed with the State D.P.W. We ' have to get approval from the State to erect signs for speeding, etc. This is an unposted 30 M.P.H. speed limit street. He also stated the Police will monitor the speed on the street at the citizens request. P.M. It was moved, seconded and voted S:O to close the Hearing at 7:35 Mr. Fallon read the Notice of Public Hearing regarding the upcoming roadway project and to obtain citizen input regarding Wakefield Street at 7|4S P.M. There were ten Wakefield Street residents present. Mrs. Wood introduced the Board and Mr. Bergeron. Mr. Bergeron explained the changes in the reconstruction of Wakefield Street. The tree removals have been eliminated from this new construction. He addressed the trees that previously were going to be removed and the new solutions for keeping all trees as they exist on the road. Board of Public Works Meeting of March 24, 1?33 Page 3 There will be vertical granite curbing installed to blend into the corner at the Juniper Circle intersection. We will also be petitioning the phone company to relocate the telephone pole in front of 46 Wakefield Street. In front of #129 - 133 Wakefield Street the drainage will be realigned toward the center of the road three to four feet. Near #ISO one catch basin will be moved three to four feet toward the center of the road and there will be a catch basin installed directly across from this. The catch basin near #166 will be moved towards the center of the � road slightly. g y. The intersection at Pearl Street will be narrowed nn the right hand lane onto Pearl Street, to an angle closer to 90 degrees. This will create a more well-defined stop at Pearl Street. Near #178 the small hill will be lowered approximately 8 inches and will be blended into the property lines in that section. In front of #177 there may be ledge and we may have to put in a small sloped curbing. The existing pavement width is 16 - 24 feet. We are now talking of a uniform 20' width from Charles Street to Pearl Street. Mr. Charles A. Wing of 96 Wakefield Street asked how close the pavement would be to the trees in front of his house. Mr. Bergeron replied the pavement will be moved 2 1/211 feet toward the trees. The centerline of the street in that location will be centered between the two trees. Mr. Wing asked how close can you get to the trees without damaging them? Tree Warden Dickey stated we would have to have at least a foot at the minimum without hot top not to damage the trees. Board of Public Works Meeting of March 24, 1983 Page 4 M'. Bergeron stated we will make sure we have the proper, clearance. Mr. Richard Canty of 127 Wakefield Street asked about the sloping near his property. Mr. Bergeron replied we will be cutting slightly into the slope and will blend in 8" of curb on that side. We will maintain the edge of the road there. Mr. Paul Exner of 178 Wakefield Street asked about the possible blasting of ledge in front of his home, what is the Towns liability? Mr. Bergeron replied the Town hires licensed blasters who are licensed with the Fire Department in Reading and by the State who are well covered by insurance. Mr. Exner asked if the Town or blaster would do pre-blasting inspections. Mr. Bergeron replied no. Mr. Exner asked what recourse he has if something happens. Superintendent Louanis replied the liability for the blasting will be with the Contractor. They are required to provide insurance. If you want, at the time the work is going on, you can request the Contractor to have his insurance company monitor the blast. They come out with a device to put on your foundation to monitor the blast. It is much more effective evidence to determine whether any damage has occured, however, I want to caution you that the insurance company may say this is unwarranted. The best way to handle this is we will notify you if " blasting is going to take place and we will give you the name of the | ^ contractoor and his insurance company. Joanne Nickerson of 299 Pearl Street asked about the intersection of Wakefield and Pearl Streets. Board of Public Works Meeting of March 24, 1983 Page 6 Mr. Bergeron replied it will be a grassed area with no pavement. Mr. Thomas Hunt of 129 Wakefield Street asked if the new street will have a crown so the water will drain from the center. Mr. Bergeron replied yes. Mr. Charles Wing of 96 Wakefield Street asked when the construction will begin. Superintendent Looanis replied it will depend on Town Meeting and then be scheduled with a contractor. We will try to complete this in one construction season. P.M. Tt was moved, seconded and voted 5:0 to close the Hearing at 8:15 Mr. Fallon read the Notice of Public Hearing to discuss the roadway project and to obtain citizen input regapding Pearl Street at 8:30 P.M. There were sixteen Pearl Street residents present. Mrs. Wood introduced the Board and explained that Mr. Bergeron would give a presentation on the revised construction plans. Mr. Bergeron gave the presentation on the reconstruction in its final stage. Starting at Lucy Drive; the Department was informed of drainage problems. We will install drainage here where it presently does not exist. We will be installing twn new catch basins in the vicinity of 446 Pearl Street. There will be a slight grade change in this area as well. The roadway, when completed, will have a crown section of three inches. Near Briarwood Road the existing catch basin will be eliminated and two new catch basins will be installed, one on the East side and one on the West. We are still talking about a 20' width from Lucy Drive to Forest Glen Road. Board of Public Works Meeting Of March 24, 1983 Page 6 ; We met with Mr. Vars. He is going to remove the hedges that are � ^ �N� « �N� obstructing sight. We will be using sloped granite curbing in front of Y the existing phone pole to blend into his existing side slope. We will � | not be building a retaining wall. Continuing on, we are proposing to protect all trees and the work. will be done by hand. The Subcommittee expressed concern about poor drainage in the Willard Road area. We will extend the drainage from its present end near #359 with a new set of catch basins in this area. Near Forest Glen Road we will be widening slightly towards #321 and pulling in the roadway closer on the Westerly side. The telephone pole will not be moved. At the intersection of Linnea Lane it is a 22' wide section. We will be slightly reducing the width of the Wakefield Street entrance by i narrowing. The section between #321 and #328 is proposed to be slightly cut down between 6" and one foot. Betwee7i Trving Street and Forest Glen Road we are going to blend into the existing property lines as they exist with minimal disruptions to the tree lawn area' We have tried to come up with as reaso-nable solutions as we could to the Subcommittees problems, Mr. Paul Stevens on 402 Pearl Street stated you have staked out the road in our area. Are they staked correctly? Mr. Bergeron replied the stakes on ynur property line and on the � opposite end of the road were placed to show where the roadway would be � ! �N� moving closer to your property line - l 1/2 feet maximum. The existing i � telephone pole will remain where it is now. Board of Public. Works Meeting of March 24, 1983 Page 7 Lucille Prince of 387 Pearl Street asked why are the stakes placed at only some of the property. Mr. Bergeron replied the Subcommittee asked for two particular, areas only. We will stake out the whole mad when we do the actual process. The staking out of the roadway is a very involved process. Mr. Edmund Miscowski of 459 Pearl Street asked how the edge of the road will be finished off. He is having draipage problems now. Mr. Bergeron stated the finish on the road will be to blend into the tree lawn or sidewalk area and we will landscape after the roadway is completed. We will make a roll and grass the section in to maintain the water in the gutter line. Mr. Cronin of 403 Pearl Street stated the reason Mr. Stevens property at 402 Pearl. Street was staked out was because we did not want to cause damage to any trees. Superintendent Louanis stated we would meet with Mr. Stevens when we stake out the street and address his concerns at that time. Lucille Prince of 387 Pearl Street asked what is the ruling on how close a street can come to a large tree. Tree Warden Dickey stated any change around the tree is a detriment to the tree, it shortens its life; however, l do not know of a ruling. Mrs. Prince stated she is afraid that the widening of the street will cause more accidents because of the close proximity of the trees to the street. r am afraid for safety reasons. Mr. Arthur Vars of 414 Pearl Street stated after the last presentation; Mr- Bergeron told us the road was going to stay one foot away from the trees. We have met with the Board Members and Superintendent Louani.s and propose that the Board consider from 399 Pearl up to Willard Road an 18 or 19 foot layor.O This would help keep the Board of Public Works Meeting of March 24, 1983 Page 8 distance the one foot away from the trees. We were assured that they will hand dig and inspect each tree as they go along. Mary Ann Atwood of 393 Pearl Street stated she is concerned that this road will be a speedway when it is finished. Officer Veno stated we have speeding problems all over the Town. Since he came to the last Hearing he has run radar in the area and found nothing, however, he can not be there 24 hours a day. P.M. It was moved, seconded and voted S:O to close the Hearing at 9:1S Mr. Fallon read the Notice of Public Hearing at 9:20 P.M. regarding the upcoming roadway project and to obtain citizen input regarding Bay State Road. There were sixteen Bay State Road residents present. Chairman Wood welcomed the residents to the final hearing on Bay State Road. She stated the Board received a list of suggestions from the residents. The Board took many of these into consideration. The one concern they could not address was the sidewalk. The Comprehensive Permit for the housing that was built required a sidewalk to be installed on Bay . State Road. This is a legal document. Town Counsel has ruled that we must put in the sidewalk as the document states. Mr. Bergeron reviewed the present plans for Bay State Road. The original plan was to center the actual pavement in the middle of the roadway. We are now going to keep the road basically as it is laid out now. No telephone poles will be moved. The pavement line will be in front of the existing poles. Since the previous hearing we have talked with the owners of Parkers Restaurant and they do want to maintain their entrance on Bay State Road. We have not made a final decision on this as yet. Board of Public Works Meeting of March 24, 1983 Page 9 i The plan has changed in that we will be adding an additional ! | �0� catch basin in front of house #1.0 at the edge of the road. Near houses #3S and #41 we will be installing a catch basin on the Southerly side' also we will be adding catch basins in the turn-around on both sides. At the intersection of the entrance to Horizon Homes the Cedar, tree will be trimmed, but not removed. There are twr, 3" trees near, house #42 that will have to be moved slightly. There is also a bush in frunt of house #36 that will have to be in f ropt of house #30 the pole should be moved back to thf. 6CtL16l property line. The fence line in front of house #24 will have to be moved back. In front of house #52 the Pine trees will have to be slightly trimmed. exists. This layout plan closely resembles the layout as it presently Mr. Reggie Peters of 62 Bay State Road stated regarding the sidewalk' I understand the petitioner could request to have the sidewalk removed. If the petitioner would request to have the sidewalk renxoved, we could go back to the Zoning Board of Aopeals. Does the petitioner still want the sidewalk? Chairman Wood replied wf- must do what the legal ducument states. Mr. Herbert Converse of 18 Wells Road stated he could only speak for himself and he believes the Committee as a whole would want the � sidewalk installed for a safety factor for the elderly and the children on the strept. ^ Chairman Wood stated perhaps yuu should explore the possibility of speaking with that Committee at annther, time. Board of Public Works Meeting of March 24, 1983 Parle 10 Timothy Horgan of 6 Clay State Road asked if their. is to be Tlo curbing on this sidewalk, what safety factor is gained? Mr. Bergeron stated the fact that you are not in the actual roadway. There is no curbing being installed except at the intersection of Salem Street and Clay State Road, The balance of the roadway will remain as it currently is, Mr. Horgan asked if this proposal will make the Sunday ti-affi;- congestion even worse. curbiTio Mr. Cierr,eron stated in front of House #6 and #10 there will be Officer- Veno stated the resideiits could get. a petition to the Police Department to have a "no parking" area designated. Mr. Paul. Fiore of S9 Clay State Road asked how Touch distance will be between the edge of the street and the edge of the sidewalk. Mr. Bergeron staed 4 1/2 feet, a standard distance is 3 1/2 feet; 8 feet front the back edge of the sidewalk to the back edge of the pavement. Mr. Fiore also stated the residents would like a stop sign installed at the Horizon Homes intersection, and the existing Pine tr-re trimmed. Also, when the private contractor• plows sTruw it is pushed up on both sides of the Horizon Homes intersection very high and we would like this pushed back about ten feet. Mr. Converse stated the stop sign will be installed. Mr-. Fiore asked if it would be possible to put a berm sidewalk in rather than granite. a Superintendent Louanis .replied yes, we could, but we have o telephone poles that Are going to be 1 1/2' off the erage of that curbing and would have to move those poles back and put them in concrete. Board of Public Works Meeting of March 24, 1983 Rage 11 x Mr. Fallon asked if you could put a two foot grass strip with a four foot sidewalk. | Mr. Be,ge'on replied it makes it more difficult for entering into driveways as the grade would be steeper. Mr. James McTaggart of 30 Bay State Road asked if they could got a double wide driveway apron installed. Superintendent Louanis replied I don't see any problem with that but we will have to look into each case separately. Mr. Curt Nituche of 42 Bay State Road asked if there will be any opportunity at the time of construction to speak with the individuals at the time of construction. Chairman Wood stated yes, we will look at each case separately. Mr. McTaugart of 30 Bay State Road asked who will be moving the fences and household light pules. III ` Mr. Bergeron stated the residents. The bush could be removed by the Department. Mr. McTaogart asked if there is a deadline for the meeting between the residents and Horizon Humes. Chairman Wood stated I would suggest you hurry that along. The water main is going to be put in Bay State Road this CUBSOULKOP Season. It was moved' seconded and voted S:O to close the Hearing at 10: 20 P.M. The meeting adjourned at 10:20 P.M. i Respectfully submittedv Secretary