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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1980-01-14 Board of Public Works Minutes January 14, 1980 Meeting of the Board of Public Works convened in Room 16, at 7:32 P. M. Present were Chairman Price, Secretary Cowell , Board Members DeHart and Wood, Superintendent Louanis, Assistant Superintendent Bergeron and Assistant Superintendent McIntire and Finance Committee Member Linscott. Secretary Cowell moved, Mr. DeHart seconded and it was voted to accept the minutes of the meeting of January 7th as written. It was moved, seconded and voted to accept the minutes of the Executive Session of January 7th, 1980 as written. Mr. Price recognized Mr. Williams and Mrs. Morand of 386 Sumner Avenue at 7:35 P.M. to discuss a service pipe construction bill submitted to Mrs. Morand. Superintendent Louanis reviewed the background leading to the issuance of the bill , stating that a right-of-way off Sumner Avenue providing access to Mrs. Morand' s home has been replaced by a newly developed street known as Cumber- land Road Extension. Mr. Rivers, the developer, has installed water and sewer lines in the new street in front of Mrs. Morand' s property and beyond to service the new homes being constructed. Mrs. Morand' s original water service, 334 feet in length, was installed in 1930 and during the freezing winter months has been a constant source of aggravation. Mrs. Morand applied for a renewal of her existing ser- vice and the request was inadvertently processed as a service pipe construction application and billed at $782. 18. Superintendent Louanis went on to state that the relocation of the service pipe will benefit both the Town and the homeowner due to the fact that the new service is at sufficient depth to eliminate freezing during the winter months. The service should have been billed as follows: 108.6 feet of copper at $3. 50 per foot - $380. 10 plus a Ford Valve at $11 . 18 totalling $391 . 28. Mrs. Wood moved, it was seconded and voted unanamously to abate $390.90 of the $782. 18 bill leaving a balance of $391 . 28 to be paid by Mrs. Morand. There will be no charge for sewer frontage levied against Mrs. Morand' s property but it will be necessary for her to hire a licensed drain layer to install a house connection and assume the cost when she wishes this work done. Chairman Price reviewed letter to the E.P.A. as prepared by Weston and Sampson. Secretary Cowell suggested that the Board members review the letter in depth during the ensuing , week and then confer with Mr. Blake of Weston and Sampson be- fore taking any action. The Board agreed to accede to Mr. Cowell ' s suggestion. Meeting adjourned temporarily and following a meeting of the Board of Survey reconvened at 8:05 P.M. The Board reviewed and accepted as a point of information report from D.E.Q.E. Mr. Cowell moved, it was seconded and voted to inform Camp, Dresser and McKee of the contents of the report and suggest a meeting with Mr. McCall . The Board reviewed memorandum from Mr. Bergeron (copy attached) with regard to drainage problems on Lakeview Avenue. Mr. Cowell moved, it was seconded and voted unanamously to in- struct the Superintendent to draft a letter of reply to Saul Feldman then call and obtain an opinion as to proper form etc. , from Town Counsel before sending the letter. The drainage problem at Mr. Berger ' s mall located at the apex of Ash and Main Street was brought to the Board' s attention by the Chairman. The Superintendent stated there are three options available to Mr. Berger all of which are expensive. Mr. DeHart suggested that Mr. Berger ' s engineer prepare a design to present to the Board for approval or disapproval . Mrs. Wood moved, it was seconded and voted to draft a letter to Mr. Berger setting forth the recommendations of the Board of Public Works. Mr. Cowell moved to go into Executive Session for the pur- pose of discussing labor negotiations with the intention of re- convening in open session. This was seconded. Roll call vote as follows: Mrs. Wood - In favor Mr. DeHart Mr. Cowell " Mr. Price Meeting reconvened in open session at 9: 15 P.M. and the Board proceeded with a discussion concerning the budget, startingwith Equipment Maintenance, Account 4400. Assistant Superintendent , McIntire stated that the item calling for a gas analyzer had been deleted thereby lowering the requested expense amount by $2,900. I Minutes - continued January 14, 1980 Account 4500 - Parks and Playgrounds - Mr. McIntire stated the department plans to refurbish the varsity field at Birch Meadow, seal two tennis courts at Washington Park and purchase a gravely machine with snow plow, snow blower, rotary mower and power brush attachments. Since the department has already made an investment in Washington Park and the Birch Meadow varsity field Mr. McIntire suggested that maintenance be provided to pro- tect the investment. The gravely machine machine will cost $4,500 rather than the budgeted figure of $11 ,000 thereby reducing the requested expense figure by $6,500. Mr. Price suggested that per- haps the Recreation Committee might like to present a Special Article at Town Meeting for twenty or twenty-five thousand dollars indicat- ing how they wish the money spent with the work involved to be done under the supervision of the Department of Public Works. Account 4520 Forestry Division - The same level of effort and the same number of people will be maintained. The contract for treating trees with Dutch Elm Disease has been eliminated from the budget for FY-81 as it did not prove successful . Account 4600 - Sewer Maintenance - Mr. Cowell questioned the increase in account 4600-335 Chemicals from $3,790 to $4,600 as he felt the increased cost of chemicals was more dramatic than that but Mr. McIntire felt it was sufficient. The increase in the cost of power from $6,000 to $14, 300 was explained on the backup sheet. Account 4620 - Sewer House Connections - There are 89 applica- tions on hand and Mr. Cowell suggested that the validity of the 89 be investigated in an effort to see if they all wish to be connected. Account 4700 - Snow and Ice - It was agreed to maintain the level of FY-80 and keep the account at $157,000 lowering the suggested figure of $166,691 . It was agreed to postpone discussion of the Water Construction and Maintenance Account. Account 4900 - Rubbish Collection - The increase in this account is due to the 5% escalation in the contract price. The $2, 100 in salaries is to cover the cost of a man in the square to care for the barrels etc. Account 4950-5955 Landfill and Recycling - Salaries are down by approximately one third - $30,000 to $20,023 and Expenses down l from $30,000 to $16,650. This it is felt is due to the fact that the area is open only 6 weeks in the Fall and 6 weeks in the Spring. Mr. Price asked to have a traffic count taken at the dump this com- ing Saturday. Mr. Cowell moved, Mrs. Wood seconded and it was voted to table discussion of New Equipment. The Board signed the Bill Roll dated January 18th and the Pay Roll for the period ending January 11 , 1980. - It was moved, seconded and voted to approve the minutes of the meeting of January 10, 1980. Meeting adjourned at 10:45 P.M. fully submitteC�"" Secret i i