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Home My WebLink About1981-01-19 Board of Selectmen Minutes JkNUARY 19, 1981 2431 The Board of Selectmen held their regular meeting on this date with all members present except Selectman DiFruscio who was ill. Present were Charles A. Salisbury, Thomas J. McEvoy, Ralph H. Joyce,with Chairman John W. Graham presiding. The minutes and warrant, were @pproved as submitted. MISSILE SITE: Gil:Bliss,~ Director of Forests. andParks, Don Stoddard, Regional Supervisor, met with t~e Selectmen to discuss, the lonE proposed State park in the Site area. Mr. Bliss advised the Board that the acquisition of additional parcels of land.would make possible the development of .that area into a park. He is hopeful that the $700,000 needed to acquire the lmd will be funded by the State. He also stated that thewater studies indicated that people~could swim in the park and that the site could supportt000peopleaa day. 'Mr.. Bliss has been involved in making this park a eeality since 1973 and it is now No. 4 on the priority list. Selectman Graham said that it would take some pushing on the Selectmen's part through.their A~park wo~ld alleviate the problems now in the area, car burning, otc. As it is .now~.,it takes the combined efforts of the Boxford, North Andover police together with the State policeto keep order in the area. Mike Schena said t~at~.no planning had been done for tax producing businesses in the area. He suggested that %the the Town Industrial Commission and .the Town Planner plan a business.'-future in the area and aake the necessary steps toattract bus~ iness,there. Another person, Paul Butaiee, disa~reed and stated the a~ea Should be kept residential. Upon motion of Selectman J0Y~, it was unani- mous.ly ~voted to write to .Senator Pollard and Representative He,mann for · .aid to, promote the park. TOWN FARM COMMITTEE: Tom Leavitt appeared before the Selectmen stating.he was willing to the Town Farm Committee but he. woqld like some imput frpm the Selectman as to what=hey could s~ggest o.the= than.the articles chat were turned: down ~t =hZ-las~Town'Meeting.. Select.man Joyce suggested that =he farm should not be al!ow~dt0 .deteriorate, that. funds, be~appropriated t~.expedite the necessaryrePairs..soIt then could be rented and support itself, Town should do something besides letting it sit and rot. S,electman Salisbury stated that something has to be done and they would heed the direction of the T°wn Farm Committee. Selectman MoEvoy stated that.he wo~ld cal~ a meeting'otqithe committee this.coming Wednesday. VOC SCHOOL PRELIMINAkY BUDGET:.. .., · . ,~ ...., . - Th~ Selec~nen received a Fiscal 82, preliminary, budget from the G,L..T.H,.S. Superintendent-Director, Louis E. Gleason.. The budget~share for was~.lower than last year.. $125,000 Fy.81..,$74,158,30 Fy 82 .... due to addie ti~nal 'state funds for reduction. The Board votedto authorize the 0hairman aCknowiedge reCeipt of the budget HILLSIDE RD.-RT. Letter received from District Highway Engineer re the Town's request, to, have.'the~DPW install an island at the intersection of.Hillside Roadand · ' .cros~zng.ano R~. 114:to prevent cars/turnxng~zez~. Mr..,.Eidlemanstated ~n,~his, letter. the DFd did not approve of theinstallation of an island.and,stated reasons .why it was disapproved. He suggested a counter proposal..placement of barrel 'and signs on a.trial basis and, if proven,effective, a permanent~ type .island will be installed. Police enforcement would he .necessa~y..ona regular basis. He said ~his department ,had also taken measures to ,make the intersection safer by placing additional Stop signs, Stop Ahead signs and the trimming and removal of shrubbery and ~rees. "He said his office would welcome the Board's fee[ings on =his matter and/or concurrence on the DPW counter propo- · sa1. He had also stated in his letter..that the D ,PW had. received numerous caliS-°bJecting to theisland that the Town proposed to be installed. After discussion, it was'unanimously voted to have a hearing,.once'again, on the State's proposal and the Town's proposal to give anyone objecting to either~ a chance to state their objection. Hearing is scheduled for Monday, Feb. 2, at 7:30 P.M. in the Selectmen's Meeting room. Mr. Eidleman will be so no- tified. S~HOOL FUNDING SUIT: Letter from the School Committee stated that they had voted to deny any financial support for the school funding suit as requested in Selec~men's letter. ~4 January 19, 1981 (continued) SCHOOL FUNDING SUIT (cont.) Selectman Salisbury stated that there should be equal opportunity for equal funding for school children, that the Town should support the suit wtth~oney from the Special Legal Fund. Chairman Graham stated that there never will be equality education throughout the State, that the matter should be left to the local school board. The real problems'are:. in the cities. It was voted n~ to follow up with suit by funding. Voted approval of the motion...Graham, McEvoy, 3oyce. Opposed, Salisbury. POLICE CHIEF EXAM: Notice received from Civil Service that'the Police Chief exs~, scheduled for February 7, t981, has been postponed because there were not a suff£cient number of applicants. Ex~nwill be rescheduled at a later . date. PROPOSITION 2 1/2: , Letter from the Town of Arling~On,Mass. T own Manager, Donald R. Marquis, requested the Selectmen to join other cities and towns in their effort to increase local aid and to bring about tax reform at the state leVel~~. In other words, it is tax reform through tax redistribution.~ They,sa£d~ that the MMAhad accepted the~ proposal as a logical one.and will. urge all cities and towns to get behind the Bill Representative Gerald-Cohen' has filed calling forstate level spending the next fiscal year.' Less. spending at both~ the local and state levels of government would.he following the real mandate ofProposition 2 1/2. If the state spending for fiscal year 1982 is not any greater than Ey 8.t and if the stateagency 'spending for Fy 82 (MBTA, MDC, County, etc.) is not any ~ore than the state agency spending for Fy 1981 there would be an estimated savings of approximately $350million which could be returned to the cities a~d ':" towns in increased local aid for Fy 82. This would preventmaJor disruption in either local or state services. They urged the Board. to insert an article to expedite the above. Brian suggested thatit'be: a ballot question. It was an unanimous vote to send letter to the officials of the Town of Arlington advising them of North Andover's' .support of their proposal. DRUNK DRIVERS: ': Selectman McEvoy expressed his concern about the many accidents and: injuries, some fatal, as a result of drunken drivers. He stated that the present sentence of these drivers is a $200 fine and manditorY:. attendance for six.weeks at a driver (alcoholic) education school.~ They do not lose theirlicense. He stated that he would like ~o'.have a letter written to Senato~ Pollard and Representative Hermann request- ing they introduce a Bill that would cause a driver, arrested for ' drunken driving, to lose his or her license immediately. It. was VO~ed unanimously tow rite the letter strongly urging the B ill. Advisory Board: Selectmen were advised that the Advisory Board would like to meet with the Selectmen. Brian'was requested to try to'set up a meeting for'. Tuesday, January 27th. ' ' HOSTAGES: With the news that the $2 hostages may be freed after 444 days in captivicy, they ordered all the flags in Town'to be raised to the:toP of the masts and the fire horns to blow when the hews~hat the hostages had boarded the bus for the airport in Iran. // / ~--~ ~' Alice M. Letarte, Secretary*~~erk Chairman Graham called an executive session re'~',negotiatio//s.