HomeMy WebLinkAbout1983-01-24 Board of Public Works Minutes1 .
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Board of Public Works Meeting of January 24, 1983 Page 1
A meeting of the Board of Public Works convened in Room 16,
Municipal Building at 7:32 P.M Present were Secretary Fallon, Board
Members Barker, Polychrones and Griffin and Superintendent E. Roger
Louanis.
Secretary Fallon assumed the Chair in Mrs. Woods absence.
Chairman Wood joined the meeting at 7:36 P.M.
It was moved, seconded and voted 4 :0:1 (Mrs. Wood abstaining) to
accept the minutes of the Board of Public Works meeting of January 10,
1983 as corrected.
It was moved, seconded and voted 5:0 to accept the minutes of the
Board of Public Works meeting of January 17, 1983 as written.
It was moved, seconded and voted 5:0 to accept the Executive
Session minutes of the Board of Public Works meeting of January 17, 1983
as written, and that they remain in private privy.
The Board reviewed the letter from Browning- Ferris Industries
regarding rubbish pick -up from multi - family complexes in the Town. It was
moved, seconded and voted 5:0 to accept the letter as a point of
information for further discussion.
Mr. Fallon stated he felt the letter was self - explanatory as to
the costs involved and felt it was beyond the reach financially of this
Board at this time.
Mr. Griffin asked if Mr. Bergeron's total estimate of
$67,666.79 /year came close to what the Superintendent's assumptions were.
Superintendent Louanis replied that he suspected it would be
fairly substantial in terms of additional cost, but he did not expect it
would be as low a figure as it is . Because this is an add -on to the
Contract, this is a great opportunity for the Contractor to increase
costs. The Superintendent felt they were fairly reasonable with the
estimates.
Board of Public Works Meeting of January 24, 1983 Page 2
Mr. Griffin stated he felt there will be increased pressure from
groups owning condominiums and was wondering if the Superintendent was
content with these figures.
The Superintendent stated he was under the impression the Board
was planning to change policy, and he would make his recommendation at
that time. He asked the Board to consider what other information they
would like in order to make a decision regarding the change of this
policy, and felt the Board should speak with the Board of Assessors
regarding this issue.
The Board reviewed the report from the D.E.Q.E. Lawrence
Experiment Station regarding the Trihalomethane Testing Program.
It was moved, seconded and voted 5:0 that the Board accept this
as a point of information and that the Superintendent explain the report
to the Board.
Superintendent Louanis stated this is a study mandated by the EPA
in which the EPA requires that each community have an evaluation of
Trihalomethanes in their system. His belief is that this is a program
that will recur every three years. The maximum allowable under this new
standard is 100 parts per billion. None of the sampling stations in
Reading exceeded this amount. The new Treatment Plant has been designed
to take care of this problem. These samples were taken before the
Treatment Plant went on -line.
Mr. Fallon asked that when the Treatment Plant goes completely on
line, is it possible these tests will be repeated so that we will be able
to gauge the effectiveness of the plant sooner than when it is normally
done by the State.
The Superintendent replied this is something the Town can elect
to do , however, it could depend on the workload of the State.
Board of Public Works Meeting of January 24, 1983 Page 3
The Board adjourned temporarily at 8 :25 P.M. to meet as the Board
of Survey.
The meeting reconvened at 8:30 P.M.
It was moved, seconded and voted 5:0 that the Board accept the
revised Budget Sheets as a point of information.
It was moved, seconded and voted 5:0 to accept the Motions from
the Personnel Board regarding the personnel "compensation plan" effective
July 1, 1982 as a point of information, to be filed in the BPW handbook.
Under Old and New Business: Mr. Fallon inquired as to why the
brake job on the 1981 truck was sent out instead of being done by our
mechanics.
Superintendent Louanis stated our mechanics looked at the brakes
and couldn't find anything wrong with them, however, we had two
near - accidents because of faulty brakes and the job was sent out because
our mechanics were not coming up with a solution.
Mr. Fallon questioned the Overtime at the Treatment Plant on
January 17. Superintendent Louanis stated he would check into this and
report back to the Board.
Mr. Barker asked when the Board could expect an approved copy of
the Memorandum of Agreement between the School Committee, the Board of
Public Works and the Recreation Committee to be submitted to the Board for
signature.
Chairman Wood stated it is not known at this time.
Mr. Barker asked what the Department plans to do regarding the
Auto Emission Testing Program.
Superintendent Louanis stated he would give the Board a report at
a later date on what he sees as a solution to this problem.
Board of Public Works Meeting of January 24, 1983 Page 4
Mr. Barker also requested that the department Secretary set up a
file for follow -up of items that have been tabled at past meetings (i.e.,
Dolben properties, BFI - rubbish collection) and categorize the items,
including date of initial action.
Mrs. Wood stated she had spoken with Gerald Fiore of the Finance
Committee regarding the upcoming BPW Budget Meetings. He suggested the
Board use summaries with their presentation. Mrs. Wood stated she would
inform Fin. Comm. that in the Maintenance portion of the Budget we are
dangerously close to not being able to handle things of an extraordinary
nature. If we start making cuts in that area, major emergencies will be a
problem. She will ask that they not make any cuts in the Maintenance, the
only place she could see they could make a cut in Maintenance would be
under Snow and Ice. Finance Committee has asked us to outline for them
Capital Projects that are needed and the costs.
Superintendent Louanis stated he will have a report on the street
hearings before we meet with Fin. Comm.
The Board reviewed the reconstruction plans for Pearl Street and
Franklin Street.
Superintendent Louanis stated that slides will be shown at the
Public Hearings on January 27th.
The Superintendent pointed out that Franklin Street will involve
land takings to lay out a 40' right -of -way. This is proposed to be a 24'
layout with 8 feet of grassed area on either side. The intersection at
Haverhill Street and Franklin has two alternatives for reconstruction.
The effort in the design is to minimize land takings and tree removal and
to improve the intersection at Haverhill Street and provide the proper
drainage to drain the whole section from Main Street to Haverhill Street
as there is no drainage there now. We have proposed granite curbing at
the intersection under the new alternative.
Board of Public Works meeting of January 24, 1983 Page 5
Mr. Barker asked why not go to a 20 foot roadway.
The Superintendent stated it would reduce the land takings and
should reduce the number of trees taken, however, he would like to propose
the 24 foot roadway as this is a heavily travelled roadway.
The Board discussed the reconstruction of Pearl Street.
The Superintendent stated there will be no land takings on Pearl
Street. He also pointed out he felt we could go with a 20 foot wide
pavement on this road because of the lower volume of traffic on this
street.
Mr. Darker requested that the Department contact Officer Veno and
ask him to bring accident data for Pearl and Franklin Streets to the
Hearings.
The Board signed the Payroll and the Billroll for the period
ending January 21, 1983.
Mr. Fallon moved that the Board go into Executive Session, not to
reconvene in open session, to discuss Union negotiation matters. It was
seconded and Chairman Wood polled the Board as follows:
Mr. Griffin - aye
Mr. Polychrones - aye
Mr. Barker - aye
Mr. Fallon - aye
Mrs. Wood - aye
The meeting adjourned at 9:45 P.M.
kesp ctfully submitted,
L-•
retary