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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1928-11-26-STM-MIN 206 For "Tarrant- sen page 213 . O CD TO N MEETING November 26 , 1928 . The meeting was called to order by Moderator Robert H . Holt at 7 : 30 P . M . On motion the reading of the warrant , excepting the return of the Constable , was omitted . Art . 1 . Under this article , Mr . Theodore A , Custance read the report of the Selectmen on the new Memorial Building , andit was unanimously " Voted : That as the initial action at the first Town Meeting held in the ISAAC HARRIS C � ; Y MEMORIAL BUILDING , the inhabitants of Lexington do hereby accept the report of the Selectmen that the Trustees of the Isaac Harris Cary Educational Fund have duly carried out their agreement with the Town in accordance with the vote adopted January 31 , 1927 , and direct that a copy of the report be spread upon the minutes of this meeting . " " Further Voted : That the inhabitants of Lexington are deeply appreciative of the long , careful and far sighted work of the Trustees of the Isaac Harris Cary Edu- cational Fund in carrying out their trusts under the wills of Eliza Cary Farnham and Susanna E . Cary and of the commodious and beautiful building which they have erected and conveyed to the Town pursuant to their trust . " The following is the report of the Selectmen. November 26 , 1928. To the citizens of Lexington : The Selectmen respectfully report to the Town with regard to the new Memorial Building as follows , viz ; The Trustees of Isaac Harris Cary Educational Fund duly completed in accordance with the agreement resulting from the Towns acceptance , by vote passed January 31st , 1927 , of the gffer addressed. by them to the selectmen under date of anuary , 1927 , the Memorial Building therein described . The building was dedicated by appropriate exercises on Thursday evening , October 18 , 1928 , at which time the Trustees deliveredto the Selectmen for the Town a deed of gift executed. in conformity with the draft annexedto said vote . Previous to that time the agreement provided for in said vote had been executed and delivered under date of February 15 , 1927 . The deed referred to was accepted on behalf of the Town by the Chairman of your Board of ' electmen in a brief address delivered as a part of the dedicatory exercises , and the deed has been filed for record in the Middlesex South Listrict , Registry of Deeds . Lexington , November 26 , 1928 . Respectfully stbmitted , Albert H . Burnham illiam H . Ballard Theodore A . Custance Selectmen dames G . Robertson Francis Chamberlain . 207 Art . 2 . Mr . Theodore A . Custance read the letter from Miss EllenM . Tower a s follows : - November ollows : - November 24 , 1928 . To the Seleetmen of Lexington , Gentlemen : - For many years I have wished to establish a memorial to my father , William Augustus Tower , who during nearly half a century was a loyal and devoted citizen of Lexington . He loved the old town and I would like his name to be remembered within its borders . To this end. 1 am offering to give to the Town about twelve acres of land , situated onMassachusetts Avenue , opposite the home where so many happy years of my father ' s life were spent . This tract of land to be kept open and maintained for all time as a Public Park . Another strong feeling moves me to propose the memorial in this form. It seems most important that we , of this generation , should secure for those who come after us , open spaces in our town , that a bit of the country may be preserved in the midst of buildings and rushing traffic . If we do not do this , our children will find themselves living in a crowded noisy world with no touch of nature and little beauty . Therefore I would ask you as Selectmen of Lexington to bring my proposal before the approaching town meeting and see if the town will accept the gift . kith the land will go the sum of ten thousand dollars for investment , the interest of which will aid in maintaining the Park in good condition . A portion of the land is planted with trees and shrubs and laid out with walks , suitable for a Park , and a portion of it is left wild , for wildness sake , or for future development . If the town shall be willing to accept and care for this land it will be a great satisfaction to me , as I believe it will be a benefit to Lexington and because it is given in memory of my 111 father . A copy of the deed proposed for use in conveying the land accompanies this letter . Should the town vote to accept the park the deed will be delivered at onee together with the ten thousand dollars . I am , Very respectfully yours , Ellen M . Tower . The deed referred to in above letter from Miss Ellen M . Tower to the Town of Lexington granting a tract of land on Massachusetts Avenue and 910 , 000 . for maintaining said park , was read by Mr . Theodore A . Custance which is as follows : I , Ellen M . Tower , of Lexington , Middlesex County , Massa- chusetts , being unmarried , grant to the Town of Lexington , a municipal corporation existing under the lows of said Commonwealth, for the purpose of a public park in the memory of my father , 14illiam Augustus Tower , a citizen of said Lexington , and for no 9ther purpose except as hereinafter provided , the land in said Lexington described as follows , namely : hree certain adjoining parcels of land with the buildings thereon situated in that part of said Lexington known as East Lexington , between Massachusetts Avenue and the location of the Lexington Branch of the Boston and Maine Railroad , said three parcels being bounded and described together as follows , namely : Beginning at the Southwesterly corner of the grantedremises at Massachusetts Avenue and land now or formerly of Laura premises thence running in several courses bounded by said land of Brigham and land formerly of Charlotte Brown a total distance of seven hundred fotty- nine and forty-eight one hundredths ( 749 . 48 ) feet , more or less to land of the Boston and Maine Railroad , all as shown upon a " Plan of Land in Last Lexington belonging to Ema I . Cutler" drawn by J . 0 . Goodwin , surveyor , dated November 1886 , and recorded with Middlesex ' ouch District Deeds , Book of Pland 50 , Plan 13 , to which plan reference is hereby made for a more particular description of 1 208 in said boundary line • thence running North 180 191 West by land of the Boston and Maine Railroad about one thousand two hundred ' nine ( 1209 ) feet to land formerly of Jonas Munroe ; thence turning '� and running Soutti-westerly by saidland formerly of Munroe about two hundred. forty ( 240 ) feet to Massachusetts Avenue , thence turning and running in a general Southerly direction , following the line of said Massachusetts Avenue , about one thousandthree hundred s i7c ( 1306 ) feet to the point of beginning or however otherwise saidpremises may be bounded , measured anddescribed and be all said distances more or less , intending to include herein all of the three ad- joining parcels of land described in the following deeds to which reference is hereby made , viz : - deed of George L . Lothrop to Ellen M . Tower , dated. "Tay 29 , 1912 , andrecorded with lfidd. lesex South District Deeds , Book 3696 , Page 519 ; deed of Nathaniel Pierce to I:11111am A . Tower dated April 29 , 1884 , and recorded with said deeds , Boob 1664 ,, Page 345 ; and. dped of Laura Brigham to Ellen M . Tower , dated. dune 3 , 1912 , and recorded with said Deeds , Boob 3698 , Page 224 . Granting to the Town of Lexington the right to lay out a public way near the southerly boundary of the park an indicated on a plan entitled " Suggested Street Development in and Ad . acent to the rroperty of -1 len M . Tower , " December 22 , 1927 , John T . Cosgrove , Acting Town Engineer , and to thereafter convey, for reasonable consideration the portion of the premises lying southerly of said proposed street free from restrictions except that no building shall be erected within twenty feet of said proposed stree , the proceeds therefrom to be added to the fund hereinafter set apart for the care of said park . Granting to said Town the right to erect on the southerly endof said park a memorial to the Minute Men of Lexington ; provided , however , that any such memorial shall be approved by three of the leading architects of the country at the tine of its erection . Reserving to the grantor and her legal representatives the right to place a suitable tablet at or near the entrance to the park in memory of said William Augustus Tower . And for the purpose of providing a permanent fund the income of which shall be applied from time to time during each and every year hereafter towards the care andmaintenance of said. parr , I hereby assign , transfer , set over , andpay to said Town of Lex- ington the sum of ten thousand dollars ( 010 , 000 . 00 ) to be safely invested and reinvested by said Town and kept distinct and separate from the other funds of said. Town , the income thereof to be applied by said Town in eadh and every year for the care , maintenance and improvement of said park . IN ':':ITNES "'HEREOF I the said. Ellen Y . Tower hereunto set my hand andseal this seventeenth day of September in the year one thousand nine hundredandtwentyGeight . Ellen M . Tower ( Seal ) COMMOW EALTII OF MASSACHUSETTS Middlesex ss . eptember 17 , 1928 . Then personally appeared the above named Ellen M . Tower and acknowledged the foregoing instrument to be her free act and deed , before me Edwin i • ITo we s My commission expires February 21 , 1934 . Justice of the Peace The Town of Lexington hereby accepts the foregoing conveyance upon the terms and conditions herein above set forth and agrees to hold the fund hereinabove referred to for the purposes and in the manner hereinabove set forth. • . 2oP • The resolutions recorded hereunder were read by Mr . Theodore A . . Custance and unanimously adopted : WHEE\3 , Miss Ellen M . Tower , of this •Town , hns , by letter dated November 24 , 1920 , offer ' d to present to the To'rvn a tract A of land containinp; approximately twelve ( 12 ) €cres , lying between rassachusetts Avenue and the location of the Boston & Maine Railroad , for the purpose of a public park in memory of here father , William Augustus Tower , and has caused the premises to be improved and laid out as a park ; and hns further offered. to give to the To"m Ten Thousand Dollars ( $10 , 000 ) to be held in trust , the income to be used for the care nrirl maintenance of the park ; Nn , THEREFOR ", , be it - - R7SOLVED : Tit the above described offer of Miss Ellen ?R . Tower be accepted tinct tt- e Selectmen be authorized to accept a deed in substantially the form nccomnanying the offer , together . with the fund of Ten Thousand Dollars ( $10 , 000 ) , any' that said premises and fund shall be held by the Town for the purposes stated in said deed , and the Selectmen are authnrizerl to execute an acceptance of said deed upon the terms and :t . conditions therein provided . It 17711TPR =1ESOZ,= : That in accepting the gift of a p' iblic park and a trust fund for the maintenance thereof from Miss Ellen M . Tower , the inhabitants of the Town of Lexington express by this resolution their grateful appreciation of her generosity ft and public ppirit , and also their pleasure that the worthy memory of her father , the late William Augustus Tower , long a distinguished and devoted citizen of this Town , be per- petuated b;T the maintenance of the proposed park in his memory . FURTHER RESOLVED : Ths t a copy of these resolutions be properly engrossed and delivered to the Donor . T!-leonore Art . 3 . Under this article Mr . 7/. A . Custance offered the following vote which wss unanimously adorned = "VOTED : that the former Board of Selectmen , namely , Albert B . Tenney , Albert H . Burnham , Joseph R . Cotton '''illiam S . Scamman and Halite C . Blake , be reimbursed 20 . 00 each paid by them for legal services in the actinn brought against them by i'enry McCaffrey in conjunction with the action of McCaffrey v . Town of. Lexington , and that one hundred dollars be transferred from the Law Account . If 'jTh eorio e Art . 12 . On motion of Mr . 7. A . Custance It was ` VOTED : that the Town accept the layout of Benfet t Avenue from Baker Avenue to Chase Avenue a distance of 200 feet as laid out by the Selectmen November 16 , 1928 and shown on a certain plan on file in the Town clerk ' s Office entitled , " Plan of Ben - ett Avenue , Lexington , Mass . , Scale 1 inch - 40 feet , October 25 , 1928 , John T . Cosgrove , Town Engineer , " and f irtlnr r voted tl '' s_t for the purpose of constructing said street tf e sum of 3800 . be transferred from General Revenue and Surplus A. ccount . " Art . 17 . On motion of Mr . Joseph R . Cotton , Secretary of Com ' ittee on Rep resent ? ti ve To'rm Meetings , it was " VOTED : that tl- e Selectmen be a-, ri liereb : are requested and authorized in the name an (' on. betialf of the Town to make arplicati ^ n to the General Court to establish in the Town of Lexington a form or Town Government providing for a Town Meeting limited to such : nhabitar is or tine Town as may be elected to meet , deliberate , act and vote in the exercise of the corporate powers of tine toren subject 210 to such restrictions and regulations as the General Court may � prescribe , by the enactment or a statute substantially in the form provided by Chnnter 167 of the Acts of 1027 being an act to establish in the Town of Winchester representative town government b ,. limited town meetings . " 1 rising; vote wns taken , 120 being in L1- e of ' irmstive and 106 in the negative . VnT ^D : t', ` t the final report of the committee of five arrnoi rted under vote or the town on December. 6 , 1926 to recommend v:olst action , if any , shall be taken with respect to securing authority fer representative town meetings , be accented and the come^ ittee discharged . " III renert presented by r"r . Cotton is in follows : Lexington , Mass . Nov . 26 ' 28 . Finnl Report of the Committee of five arrointedby the Moderator under vote of the Town passed December 6 , 1926 to investig ^ te and rerort with respect to securing a.utrorizati'on for representative town meetings . To the Citizens of Lexington : At the Town Meeting it If.arch 1928 an, extensive renort of progress ws presented giving in detail the scope , for ,i and. general iden of the so- calledrepresentative town meetings , the research wort,- of the Committee and closed with the suggestion that further ronort woul -' be made in the Fall . . ' Your committee has cortirued its labors in the interim add has e come to the conclusion trait Lexington should hove rep- resentative toy►rr meetings . It recommends that the next step should be taken , namely , theSelectmen our ,� .,Seectmen be authorized to yeti tion the Legislature for an Pict which would make it possible for ti- e Voters to tcore definite action atsuch time in the near future ns they mi. g' t r' eem necessary to carry out the recommendations of t '- H s Committee . For the purpose of carryinr out the recommeni-lnti_ ons which we herewith make , the Committ ' e will present a motion to ttt i s meeting . The most recent Act for Representative town meetings has been adopted by the neighboring Town of Winchester within the month . Its general form and provisions would apply to the geography , spree" of nonulation voting strength and probable future growth of our Town . We the -refore refer to it in our motion as a model for our Selectmen to follow ' in preparing a specific Act for Lexingto . Under the vote to be offered , you do not com - it your- selves to representative to ;, n government . That you yore doing is a.uthorizinr the Selectmen to have placedon the Statute hooks a specific Act . Such an Act will hair ° no effect until and unless accepted by the Town . ' e think there should be a rrovision in the Act to the effect that it may be accented at any time w itl- in the next three or four years which will put us in a position , dlirinr-, that time , where we may give the matter full corsi deretion s to details and whether or not we wish to accent it . With over 4000 voters , with the necessity of dividing the vote in Precinct 2 and lookirp' forward toV th- e r anima growth of tl- e Town and its greatly increased and earl-gem, business administration , the question of having n morn blisitess - like town meeting should be presented to the voters for their considerntinn . It can only be nresenteri in concrete f'orm by havi.np- a specific Act pissed by t� e Legislature , and this your Committee recommends . The 6omrittee also considers the acceptance or such an Act would be for the be t interests of the Town . Respectfully submitted , George L . Prig {}•s , Chairman John E . A . Yullitren Robert L . Ryder George ''= . Umith Joseph R . Cotton , Secretary 211 Art . 5 . Yr . Fr derick L . Emery moved that the matter be tai on the table until an adjourned meeting on Monday , December 17 , 1928 . He then moved th ^ t when the meeting v ms adjourned it be adjourned until December 17 , 1928 and that tris article be first bitsne the ^ i ss to be consideree' and that: sufficient time be given to its discussion . Yr . Emery ' s motion was then taken up and passed . Art . 4 . Under this article on motion on Mr . James G . Robertson it wn s " VOTED : that Selectmen be and they hereby are instructed to give to the City of ".'altham and the Commissioner of MM"ental. Diseases on or before December first in the current year , as provided in Section 12 of Chapter 372 of the Acts of 1928 , notice that the Town of Lexington does not desire to avail itself of the opnortunf ty of connecting the sewers of that area of the Town in the valley of Beaver Brock as described in Section 1 of the said act with the sewers provided for in the said. Act . " Mr . Sydney P . Trightingto » a'slred the Moderator for a special privilege itich was granted hi"' , to offer the following; vote : " VOTED that tro Selectmen be requested to set apart a Oertain portion of the balcony in the Cary memorial. Hall for the use of school children , and non-voters until such time as that space shall be needed by the voters . " The motion was passed . Art . 6 . On motion of Mr . Albert H . Burnham , it was " VfT D : that the following amounts be transferred from General Revenue and Surplus Account : Election e! Registration $300 . 00 Assessors 25 . 00 Town Hall 550 . 00 Fire Department 2500 . 00 Removal of Ashes ° Care of Dumps 250 . 00 Dept . of Publi n Welfare 1200 . 00 Soldiers ' Relief 300 . 00 Parrs & Playgrounds 250 . 00 • • Snow Removal 1000 . 00 Highway Maintenance Insurance 1500 . 00 2000 . 00 It was voted to lay the item of t '. , ghway Construction ( Massa- chusetts Avenue , Oak Street to Mid 'lle Street ) $548 . 67 on the table . Dr . Clarence Shannon , Chairman o {' the Anpropriati on Committee , stated that the above amounts were approved by is Committee . Albert Art . 7 . Under this article Mr . / . H . Burnham offero(3 the following motion : " VOT7D : that the Selectri:en be instrw• ted Lo install street lights in the following unaccepted streets : Tower street , I rider.en den cc A1' enue , , Smith Avenue , Eaton Road , Fair Oars Drive and Tachusett Drive . " Aft . A O . Under this article 71-1 . . rTI . Parnham offered the following motion : o ing ' " VOTED : that the Board of :. electr1en be authorize' to 0o nstruct a sower in Edgewood fond from Hancock f t.reet a distance of a nnroximgtel. y 480 feet . " ' Albert Art . 9 . On motion of Nir . 11 . H . Burnha,i the following motion puns passed : " VrT7D : that the Town purcha e apnroxinately `'our hundred fifty ( 450 ) feet of 6 " water main in York Street Whichvas laid by the Edward T . Harrington Co . in 1915 in ac - cordance ivith agreement dated August 5 , 1914 for the sun of r715 . 42 , said amount to : ,e charged to Mater Construction Account . " 21. 24. ,. Art . 13 . On motion of Mr . ' 'heoc.ore. A . Cus tante _ this s.rtigle was Unif indefinitely postponed . E Art . 14 . It wqs voted On motion of 7r . Theodore. Ar, ! ustance "That the Town accept the layout of Baker Avenue from Oak Street to Butler Avenue , a distance of 890 feet as laid out by the Selectmen November 16 , 1928 and shown on a certain nlan on file it the Town Clark ' s Office entitled , " Plan of B&11'er AlTen ie , Lexington . Mass . , Scale 1 inch - 40 feet , October 25 , 1928 , John T . Cosgrove , Town " g m �'ngineer , and further voted tk . t for the purpose of constructing said street the sum of 30000 be transferred from fleneral Revenue and Surplus Account . " Art . 15 . On motion of Mr . Theodore A . Custance this article was indefinitely postponed . • Art . 10 . On motion of 'vAlq . -Theodore A . Custancej it was " VOTED: that the Town accept the layout of Summit Road from its intersection with Pollen Road to Pinewood. Street as laid out by the Selectmen November 6 , 1928 and shown on a certain plan on file in the Town Clerk ' s Office entitled , " Plan of Summit Road , Lexington , Mass . , Scale 1 inch - 40 feet , October 25 , 1928 , John T . Cosgrove , Town Engineer , " and furter voted that for the pur- pose of constructing said street the sum of ;11500 be transferred from Ge .' er ri 1 Revenue and Surplus Account . " Art . 11 . On motion of Mr . Theodore A . Custance it w°. s " VOTED : that the Town accept the layout of Pinewood. Street a . distance of 500 fent as laid out b:v the Selectmen November 6 , 1928 and shown on a certain plan on file in the Town Clerk ' s Office entitled , ' " Plan of Pine - wood 2t r° eet , Lexington , Mass . , Scale 1 inch - 40 feet , October 25 , 1928 , John T . Cosgrove , Town Engineer . " III It was passed by a rising vote of 31 in the affirmative and 26 in the negative. At 10 : 10 o ' clock P . M . the meeting adjourned to December 17 , 1928 at 8 P . 7 . A true record , Attest : "6 . 69-41Ln Town Clerk . • • r . , .