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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1978-09-25 Board of Public Works Minutes September 25, 1978 Meeting of the Board of Public Works opened in Room 16, Muni- cipal Building at 7:30 P. M. Present were Secretary Price, Board Members Russell , Cowell and Testa. The Finance Committee was represented by Gail Wood and Paul Metcalf. Minutes of the meeting of September 5th were accepted as corrected and the minutes of the meeting of September 11th were accepted as written. Mr. Dustin joined the meeting at 7: 35 P. M. Mr. Russell reported that a discussion with members of the Recreation Committee revealed they would prefer to have the tennis courts paved this Fall as opposed to next Spring, as there will be some playing time this Fall and spring sports will not have to be set aside for construction time. Bids for this work were as follows: New England Sealcoating Company. . . . . . . . $ 2,634.00 California Products Corporation. . . . . . . . 3,444.00 ' Frank E, Clynes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4, 197.00 It was moved, seconded and voted to award Contract 78-3 Birch Mea- dow Tennis Court Resurfacing to the low bidder, New England Seal- coating Company subject to their ability to furnish a performance bond and work to be completed this Fall . The*Board signed the con- tract. The Board signed Contract 78-6 Applying Bituminous Concrete Overlay and Cross Section Improvements awarded to Warren Brothers Company in the amount of $26,453.70 at the meeting of September 11th. The Board signed Contract 78-4 Cleaning and Painting Auburn Street Elevated Storage Tank awarded to Tank Company at the Board meet- ing of September 5th. Representative from the First National Bank (Old Colony Bank) scheduled to appear before the Board at 7:40 P. M. requested that he be granted a delay in time until his engineer could join him. The Board agreed to postpone the meeting until later in the evening. Meeting adjourned temporarily in order that a meeting of the Board of Survey take place and the Board of Public Works reconvened at 9:30 P. M. The Board read memorandum from the Engineering Division recom- mending the release of monies held under bond covering performance , of work on Parkview, Oakland and Longfellow Roads. Superintendent Louanis stated that all work required under the performance bond was complete. It was then moved, seconded and voted to release $19,500. Superintendent Louanis reported that the Finance Committee's Capital Outlay Subcommittee was meeting on September 28th to dis- cuss the overall Capital Outlay for the Town. The Superintendent reported the Capital Outlay as presented to the Board differed only in the following areas: The sewer house connection monies were in- creased to reflect the necessary funds to cover the cost of complet- ing the applications on hand. The second area was related to the water expansion program change, the estimated amount from last year up graded in keeping with the Consultant' s Study received last Spring. Also, the Capital Budget Committee has requested the Board include Equipment Replacement Program in the Capital Budget Plan. Those figures have not been up dated but will be prior to the meeting on the 28th with the Chairman and submitted to the ' Capital Budget Committee at that time. Superintendent Louanis stated he had reviewed the Report of Identified Reductions and recommended that the following changes be made on Sheet No. 7, as follows: Line item #149 read $44,000 increasing the amount previously identified for the reduction of the Water Salary Account and Line Item #150 read $20,690 thereby decreasing the amount identified previously for Water Account Ex- penses. This change will result in some curtailment of services to homeowners; the particular areas are identified in the Report attached hereto. Mr. Testa questioned the wisdom of the proposed cut on Line Items 147 and 148 since the cut would involve dis- continuing sidewalk snowplowing. Mr. Testa was mainly concerned with the safety of young school children and suggested that perhaps a cut in either Parks or Forestry would be more acceptable. It was pointed out that a $3,700 cut in salaries has been identified in the Park Division thereby eliminating the summer help completely ' automatically reducing the overall maintenance level of the parks. A $4,000 cut in salaries eliminating the summer help and a $2,000 reduction in expenses eliminating the purchase of trees and shrubs Minutes - continued September 25, 1978 completely has been suggested for the Forestry Division. It was agreed after a lengthy discussion that the Superintendent would re- view the report and consult with Mr. Testa on his findings. Mr. Dustin was directed to write a letter to the Selectmen pointing out the Boards views as to the serious impact some of these cuts would have on the lifestyle of the citizens. The Board read letter from Mr. L. A. Beaulieu of 62 Red Gate Lane regarding the history of water usage at his home, and the high reading for the period of October 1976. The Board read the report prepared by the Water Department. Mr. Price moved, it was seconded and voted to credit the next bill issued to Mr. Beaulieu with a re- duction of 8,000 cubic feet of water. Read letter from Frank A. Smith, Jr. , Chairman of the Board of Selectmen with regard to the Union Contract for the labor forces. It was accepted as a point of information. Read Notice of Hearing to be held by the Department of Public Works of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts on October 10th, 1978 at 10:00 A. M. Superintendent Louanis stated he would attend the open forum at the New Superior Court House. The Board approved the letter written by the Superintendent to the State Department of Public Works requesting consideration of a highway construction program for FY-79. Salem Street, Lowell Street and Woburn Street were areas where funds could be utilized to advantage. The Board agreed to meet in October as follows: October 2, 10, 16, 23 and 30 at 7: 30 P. M. in Room 16, Municipal Building and at 7:00 P. M. October 5, 1978 at the Parker Junior High School . It was moved, seconded and voted to table discussion of Batchel- der Park until October 2, 1978. The Board signed the Pay Roll for the period ending September 22, 1978 and the Bill Roll dated September 29, 1978. Meeting adjourned at 11 :20 P. M. pec/t(f�ruVl/l y�ubmi tted, cre PAUL C. DUSTIN, Llai man TOWN OF READING OFFICE OF JOHN W.PRICE.JOHN R. RUSSELL me1atb DOUGLAS A. COW L BOARD OF PUBLIC WORKS DAVID L. TESTA E. AGGER LOUANIS. Suyetint ent MUNICIPAL BUILDING jM .e..o�. READING. MASS. OfRel MASSACHUSETTS COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS Middlesex, ss. The undersigned, Board of Public Works of the Town of Reading, in compliance with the provisions of General Laws, Chapter 80, as amended by Chapter 63 of the Acts of 1933, hereby Certify that the lists herewith con— tain the names of persons against whom we have made better— ment assessments together with the location of the land benefited by the improvement and the nature and amount of such betterment assessment. Sewer Frontage Supplemental $3,047.84 aw Sewer House Connection Supplental 1 ,020.00 Total $4,067.84 Such list is certified to you for the purpose of committing the same to the Tax Collector, as provided by law. WITNESS our hands this fifth day of October A.D. 1978. See Commitment Sheet For List 1� es