HomeMy WebLinkAbout1976-09-27 Board of Public Works Minutes September 27, 1976
' Meeting of the Board of Public Works opened at 7:30 P. M.
in Room 16, Municipal Building.
Present were Chairman Russell , Board Members Blood and
Botka, Superintendent Louanis, Acting Assistant Superintendent
Bergeron together with Douglas Cowell and Paul Dube from the
Finance Committee.
Minutes of the previous meeting were accepted as written.
At the request of the Board of Selectmen Secretary Dustin
has volunteered to serve on the Dump Study Committee and at
this meeting Mr. Blood agreed to assume the position of alternate.
Bids were received on September 9, 1976 for one new three-
quarter ton 5 passenger Van Type Truck as follows:
Stoneham Motor Company $ 4,950.00
Shawsheen Motor Mart, Inc. 5,225.00
Knox Bros. Dodge 5,650.00
Burlington Dodge, Inc. 5,850.00
' Following a brief discussion it was moved, seconded and voted
to award the contract for the new Van Type Truck to the low
bidder, Stoneham Motor Company in the amount of $4,950.
Bids were received on September 9, 1976 for one new wheel
type articulated front end loader, all complete to operate as
follows:
Casey and Dupuis Equipment. Corp. $ 28, 500.00
Jackson Industries, Inc. 29,900.00
C. N. Wood Co. Inc. 28,712.00
Fisk Alden Ford Tr.Sls. lnc. 22,595.00 + 53,600-tires
Witt-Armstrong Equip. Co. 32,875.00
State Equipment Corp. 23,620.00
It was moved, seconded and voted to award the contract for one
new front end loader to the low bidder, State Equipment Corp. ,
in the amount of $23,620.00.
Bids were received on September 9, 1976 for one truck, chassis
cab and body. However, the Superintendent did not have a recom-
mendation to make relative to this item and the matter was post-
poned until the meeting of October 4, 1976.
Mr. David Blake of Weston and Sampson, Consulting Engineers,
presented a progress report on the Willow Street Interceptor
Sewer and Street Sewers Project outlining all the ramifications ,
and dealings with the State and Federal Governments, indicating
we are reasonably assured now of State and Federal funds up to
90% of the eligible construction costs. Estimated cost of the
interceptor sewer is between $750,000 and $900,000. The estimated
street sewers is in the vicinity of $800,000. It is now anti-
cipated that official approval of the funding may be received in
approximately six weeks.
Mr. Dustin joined the meeting at 8:05 P.M.
The Board met with Mr. Southworth of McNeil 8 Associates,
Inc. who propose to develop acreage off North Main Street for
lower and middle income housing. Mr. Southworth indicated the
approximate location of the proposed 120 units stating they
would be attractively landscaped, serviced with a twenty-four
foot travelled way flanked on either side by sidewalks, under-
ground electric service, sewered and an allowance of one-half '
parking space per unit allowed. It is intended to have a six
acre buffer area between the development and private property.
Mr. Southworth showed slides of other projects constructed by
McNeil S Associates, Inc. in the greater Boston area and noted
that it was felt two story construction of wood and brick combin-
ation would be most suitable for the Reading development. The
financial return on the investment is controlled by Chapter 121-A
and application for construction is made under Chapter 40-A or 40-B.
The project would be covered by a 100% performance bond and it
would be at least two years before the project would be complete.
The members of the Board asked many questions concerning the
proposed development regarding the control the Town of Reading
would have over the project and the taxable income to the Town
and many details concerning the layout of the roads, water,
sewer etc. Mr. Southworth answered some of the questions but
most were unanswered since detailed plans are not complete at '
this time. Mr. Southworth indicated he was looking for input
from the community and the Board responded by asking him to con-
form with the Board of Survey Rules and Regulations. The Board
Minutes — continued September 27, 1976
indicated it would be helpful if Mr. Southworth could provide
the Town of Reading with a list of concerns so the different
Boards and Committees could respond more intelligently re in—
put 6n this project.
The Board met with Mr. Brewster W. Fuller, Dr. T. T. Chiang
and Richard F. Merrikin from the firm of Whitman and Howard, Inc.
together with Chairperson Lynn Stasz, Gilbert Nicholson, Henry
Fienneman, Ronald Boucher, Thomas Riley and William Hanright of
the Conservation Commission for the purpose of establishing a
common ground acceptable to the Board of Public Works and the
Conservation Commission. (Mr. Price abstained from the dis—
cussion. ) Mr. Richard Merrikin presented the drainage criteria
used in the master drainage study emphasizing the need to estab—
lish a unified criteria to be used by all parties evaluating
drainage within the Town of Reading. He stressed the use of
the rational method stating that some minimum standards in
' coefficient of runoff, rainfall , intensity, curve and time of
concentration had been established for the study. Mr. Merrikin
stated that the rational method had been developed for small
drainage areas and had been used by many engineers over a long
period of time in this part of the country and had proven to be
effective as a tool to design adequate drainage at a reasonable
cost for many, many communities. The soil—cover—complex method
which was basically designed for very large areas in the mid
west where the terrain and soil conditions were very similar
can be used there successfully but is still in the development
stage for this part of the country and although it has its place
in drainage design and can be an effective tool for drainage
design it is felt it has not been developed sufficiently to be
used as a standard at this time. Mr . Gilbert Nicholson asked
if Whitman and Howard had compared the two methods on a sample
drainage area of the Town. Mr. Merriken indicated that he and
Dr. Carr had evaluated the same drainage area using a different
method and found there was a major difference in the result
when the two methods used the same storm frequency, but there
was only a slight difference between the two methods when Dr.
Carr used a twenty-five year storm frequency and the soil- '
cover-complex method and he used a fifty year storm frequency
and the rational method. Dr. Carr indicated that he would
not design the area beyond the twenty-five year storm fre-
quency. Mrs. Stasz indicated the Conservation Commission
would respond to the discussion in the very near future.
The Board reviewed Petition from the New England Telephone
and Telegraph Company and the Town of Reading Municipal Light
Department requesting that pole 91/16 be relocated approximately
sixty-seven feet northerly. A letter from Mr. G. H. Cooley
Right-of-Way Agent for the New England Telephone and Telegraph
Company indicated that a public hearing was not required and
that the relocation was requested for the proposed driveway of
General Tire and Rubber Company. Mr. Blood abstained from the
discussion and the vote. It was moved, seconded and voted to
grant permission to the utility companies to move the pole to
the proposed location. ,
The Superintendent reported that the Mineral Street Bridge
has become an issue because of rotting of the subflooring and
loosening of surface planking. It is proposed to close the
bridge on October 4th through November 15, 1976. The estimate
of cost is difficult to project at this time but it appears
that it will be in the range from two to six thousand dollars.
The report was accepted as a point of information.
The Board signed the Pay Roll for the period ending Septem-
ber 26 and the Bill Roll dated October 1 , 1976.
The Chairman requested that the Board go into Executive
Session for the purpose of discussing labor negotiations, not
to reconvene in open session and the Executive Session to be
limited to twenty minutes. Roll call vote as follows:
Paul Dustin -- In favor
Lawrence Blood - In favor
John Price - In favor '
Alexander Botka- In favor
John Russell - In favor
Meeting adjourned at 10: 15 P.M.
Respectfully submitted,
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