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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1981-03-30 Board of Public Works Minutes March 30, 1981 Meeting of the Board of Public Warks convened in Room 16, Municipal Building at 7: 30 P . M. Present were Chairman Cowell , Secretary Wood, Board Mem- bers DeHart , Barker , Superintendent Louanis, Assistant Super- intendent McIntire , William Redford of the Engineering Division and Irving Dickey , Supervisor of the Forestry and Park Division. Chairman Cowell requested that the Board offer a moment of silent prayer in observance of the national tragedy involving the attempted assination of the President of the United States, shooting of the Press Secretary, a Secret Service man and a Washington Police Officer earlier today. Mrs. Wood moved , it was seconded and voted 4:0:0 to accept the minutes of the meeting of March 16th as written. Chairman Cowell assigned budget items to Board Members for presentation at Town Meeting, as follows: Board of Public Works - General Budget -- Douglas Cowell ' Snow and Ice Budget Douglass Barker Water Maintenance Budget - Douglas Cowell Sewer Maintenance Budget - Gail Wood Rubbish Disposal Budget -- Don DeHart Drain Construction -- Douglass Barker Road Reconstruction Budget -- Don DeHart Equipment Replacement Budget -- John Fallon Park Construction Budget -- Gail Wood Article 10 -- John Fallon The Board read letter from John Weisel , Chairman of the 1981 Fair Committee for the First Congregational Church request- ing permission to close off and occupy the portion of Sanborn Street between Lowell and Woburn Streets on Saturday, September 19th from 7:00 A.M. to 6:00 P.M. It was moved , seconded and voted 4:0:0 to grant permission to close off Sanborn Street between Lowell and Woburn Streets on September 19th from 7:00 A.M. to 6:00 P .M. subject to the standard provisions, as follows: 1. No alcoholic beverages may be consumed in the public way. 2 . Proper insurance and police protection must be provided. 3. The area must be broom clean at the conclusion of the event. 4. It will be necessary for a representative to pick up and return to the Town Garage horses to be used to block off the streets . The Board met with William Hughes, Chairman of the Recrea- tion Committee and John Pacino, Superintendent of the Recreation Department at 7:45 P.M. to discuss the proposed schedule outlined in the Board of Public Works letter to the Recreation Committee . Mr. Hughes stated that he had discussed the lighting problem at the soft ball field with Mr . Blomley of the Municipal Light De- partment and realized that additional poles and lamping would not be effective unless the whole layout was redesigned. The lighting of the varsity field is also very expensive and must be postponed into the future when more funds are available . There seemed to be some misunderstanding as to what locations were to be relamped and fixtures cleaned . After a discussion, it was agreed that the lighted soft ball field, the three tennis courts and the basket ball court at Birch Meadow would be relamped and fixtures cleaned with the possibility of the Municipal Light Department purchasing the lamps being investigated by the Department. Mr. Barker suggested the bids be arranged with various alternates so the Board could award the bid in the beat interest of the Town. Mr. Pacino informed the Board that the Recreation Committee is planning ' a basketball league meet during the month of August and wished the proposed work at Birch Meadow Basket Ball Court either be completed before that date or postponed until after the end of August. It was agreed the Department would work around the pro- posed schedule . Mr . Hughes was concerned about what the tot lot equipment was going to look like . Superintendent Louanis suggested the Recreation Committee review our catalogues and select equipment that was acceptable to them and inform the Board of the location they wished it to be erected. Mr. Pacino suggested Glen Meadow would be the ideal location since there was a school there and would serve a multi purpose use. Mrs . Wood and Mr . DeHart felt Memorial Park would be a better location as there were a lot of young children in the area and Mr. DeHart added a great deal has already been done in this regard at Sturgis Park for that side of the Town. Mr. Hughes suggested he take it up with his committee and get back to the Board . Mr . Pacino felt , there was some misunderstanding regarding the tether ball and volley ball poles . Mr . Cowell informed the Recreation Committee 1 that the Board felt this problem could be handled with the I general park maintenance budget and suggested Mr . Pacino and Mr. Louanis meet and review the locations in an attempt to arrive at an equitable solution to the problem. Mr. Cowell informed the Recreation Committee the Board had received a letter from Barry Jenkins noting a change in the American Softball Association regulations regarding the length of the first and third baselines from sixty feet to sixty-five feet in length. Mr. Jenkins wonder- ed if the Recreation Committee was aware of the change and if they had a position in this matter. Mr. Hughes was aware of the change and felt the Board could accommodate the needed distance when reconstructing the utility ball field. Mrs. Wood was con- cerned that it might affect the girls softball activities since there had not been a change to her knowledge in their rules. It was pointed out by Mr. McIntire that an additional five feet of grass area would be cut out and clay installed and it would have no affect on the girl ' s activity . Mr . Cowell expressed his dis- appointment to Mr. Hughes in that other members of the Recreation Committee had not taken the opportunity to attend this meeting to which they were invited. Mr . Hughes stated he would discuss it with his committee . Following a ten minute recess the Board meeting reconvened at 8: 50 P . M. Bids received on February 24th for Fertilizer, Grass Seed, etc . , were once again brought to the attention of the Board. Mrs. Wood moved to reconsider the vote taken on March 16th relative to the awarding of the contract for Fertilizer, Grass Seed , etc. The motion was seconded and voted 4:0:0. The Board members ques- tioned Mr . Dickey, Supervisor of the Park and Forestry Division, as to whether it would be advisable to invest a few extra dollars and purchase the more expensive materials to be used in refurbish- ing the playing fields. Based on Mr . Dickey ' s assurance that the recommendations made by the Department were his best judgment, the Board moved to award the contract for 3,000 pounds of 18-4-7 Gran- ular Fertilizer with systemic 24D plus MCPP Herbicide to Johnson Farm Supply , Inc. , 10 Haven Street in Reading in the amount of $814.80 and the contract for four (4) fifty-five (55) gallon drums of Creosote to Johnson Farm Supply, Inc . in the amount of $810 .44. ' Mr. Dickey informed the Board he had barrels to return to Johnson Farm Supply, Inc. , therefore there would be no deposit necessary for this item. The motion was seconded and voted 4:0: 0 . It was moved , seconded and voted 4:0:0 to award the contract for 300 pounds of Playfield Mix Grass Seed in the amount of $299 .50 and 200 pounds of 50% Baron Kentucky Bluegrass, 30% Jamestown; and 20% Regal Rye Grass Seed in the amount of $320.00 for a total of $549.50 to John D. Lyon, Inc. , 143 Alewife Brook Parkway , Cambridge, Ms . 02140. Mr. Fallon joined the meeting at 9:10 P .M. during the dis- cussion on the following motion. It was further moved , seconded and voted 4:0: 1 to award the contract for 4250 pounds of 21-6-11 (nonburning) Granular Fertilizer in the amount of $820.00 and to award the contract for 215 pounds of granular lawn insect control with Dursban to cover 100,000 sq. ft. fertilizer in the amount of $154.71 to Richey and Clapper, Inc . , 28 Rutledge Road, Natick, Ma, 01760, Superintendent Louanis reviewed a Report of Progress on the FY-81 Budget through March 27th and the estimated expen- ditures to be made through June 30th indicating that even with , the addition of ten temporary employees hired until July let the Department expects to be able to return approximately $50,00 to the General Fund and $27,000 to the Water Surplus Account at the end of the fiscal year. Chairman Cowell stated this was a commendable effort on the part of the Department. The Board reviewed letter to the Town Accountant prepared by the Chairman requesting that a Water Surplus Account be established in accordance with G. L . Chapter 41 , Section 69B so that the income earned from the sale of water for FY-81 and FY-82 may be accumulated to offset the bonding cost anticipated to be- gin in FY-83. Mrs. Wood moved , it was seconded and voted 5:0:0 that Chairman Cowell sign the letter . Mr . Cowell informed the Board Mr . Barker had developed a proposal for for control of the use and planned maintenance on play areas of the Town and he felt it had some merit and asked Mr . Barker to explain his proposal . Mr. Barker stated while work- ing with the Study and Fact Finding Committee relative to estab- lishing a Recreation Department he felt that scheduling and pro- gramming maintenance and expansion and communication between various groups were the major problems facing the Town' s park and play- ground program. He felt a better inventory of what was avail- able and who controlled it, what activities were to be scheduled on it both for funds and maintenance and the construction of new items could be addressed by the form submitted to the Board . A detailed discussion ensued as to work to be done and Mr. Cowell pointed out the Board should be dealing with the concept rather than the details at this time . It was agreed the idea had merit and it was suggested Mr . Barker work with the Superintendent to develop the idea further . The Board reviewed Notice to Public Entities regarding claims arising from purchases of engineering drafting supplies. After discussion of the benefits of exposure to the Town, Mrs. Wood moved, Mr . DeHart seconded to be included in the suit. The motion lost 1: 2: 1. Mrs. Wood then moved to refer to the Law Committee , Mr . DeHart seconded and the motion lost 2 :3 . Mrs. Wood moved , Mr . DeHart seconded to inform the District Court 1 that the Town wished to be excluded from the suit. The motion carried 3:2. The Board signed the Payroll for the period ending March 27th and the Billroll for the same period . Meeting adjourned at 10 :40 P . M. Resp c tfullly�suJb�mitte�d, .,T ecretary DOUGLAS A. COWELL. Ch¢irn n TOWN OF READING OFFICE OF GAIL F. WOOD, Se eta.v DON H. DeHART j JOHN L. FALLON. JR. BOARD OF PUBLIC WORKS DOUGLASS L. BARKER E. ROGER LOUANIS, Superintendent LY MUNICIPAL BUILDING •• p READING. MASS. 01887 MASSACHUSETTS COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS Middlesex,. ss. The undersigned, Hoard of Public Yorks of the Town of Peoding, in compliance with the provisions of the Ceneral Laws, Chapter 80, so amended by Chapter 63 of the Acts of 3933, hereby certify that the lista herewith contain the names of persons against whom we have made betterment assessments together with the loca- tion of the land benefited by the improvement and the nature and amount of such betterment asseaeaent . Savor lateral (705). . . .. . . .S 1112.tt0 Such list is certified to you for the purpose of committing the same to the Tax Collector, as provided by 1ay. WITNESS our hands this fourteenth day of April 1981 A.O. _ < irmon _+ ecrotory Q� T Sen [owmit.ment Sheet for List ti