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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1929-10-01REGULAR SELECTMEN'S MEETING.- OCTOBER 1, 1929. The regular meeting of the Board of Selectmen was held at the Selectmen's Office, Town Office Building at 7:30 P.M. Messrs. Burnham, Custance and Blake were present. The Supt. of Public '."forks and. the Clerk were also present. Mr. Custance took up the matter of the acceptance Acceptance of Taft Avenue, from Baker Avenue to Ellis Street, grid of Taft Ave. informed the Board that although 75% of the abutting owners os property on Taft Avenue had not signed the petition, the greater part of the owners had signed it and inasmuch as the other owners were not living on the street and the residents there were very anxious to have the street accepted, he felt that the rule of the Board requiring 75% of the.abutting owners to sig;zo, should be waived in this instance. It was therefore decided to proceed to hold the necessary hearings previous to the layout of this street. 4 Mr. Benjamin Meady called attention to the drainage work that should be done in the vicinity of his property on Reed Street. & Drainage, This matter was referred to the Supt. of Public Reed Street. ' Works to make a study of the drainage system and bring his recommendations to the Board as to what shoul-3 be done. Mr. Peter Kinneen made verbal application for street lights on Grove Street. It was understood that Street lights it was necessary to,have five street Ughts on the street Grove Street. and it was voted to petition the Edison Electric Ill. Co. to install the 11ghts on Grove Street. Notice was received of a hearing before the E.E.I. Co Dept, of Public Utilities on the Edison Electric rates,;;for Ill. Co. rates for school departments to be held on schools. Wednesday at 10:30 A.M. Notice was received from the Town Counsel of Winehester, Addison R. Pike who will present the case for the Town of Winchester and incidentally for other Towns interested in the project. Application for the boarding of infants was signed Boarding for Mrs. Elizabeth M. Burton, l Francis Street,. Infants. " Application for the operation of the Cottage Application Hospital was also signed by the Board. Cottage Hospt. State Aid payroll in the amount of $26. was signed State Aid by the Board. payroll. Certification of the character of Robert H. Holt was signed by the Board to be sent to the Secretary Incorpovation of the Commonwealth in connection with his application of D.U. Corp. 372 for incorporation of the D U. Corporation. Incorporation Application for incorporation of the Vine Brook of Vine Brook Corporation was received from Galen A. Russell, 1505 Corp. Massa Ave., Everett P. Stone, 64 Bloomfield St., William A. Tower, 4 Pelham Road, Alex. M. Harmer, 63 Hancock Street and signed by the Board. Letter was received from Irene E. Gordon, 1358 - Damages to Becaon Street, Brookline, Mass., in which she claimed :automobile. damages.in the amount of 115.75 to her car on account of her running onto an exposed manhole at the junction of "'altham and Forests Streets. The Su-ot. of Public Works stated that wooden horses were placed there qt the entrance where the construction on Waltham Street is being done, and he saw no reason for paying this bill, inasmuch as he felt` that she should not have gone on the highway, in past the horses. f Mr. John C. Cairns came before the Board in y ,Request for connection with the letter written to the Board by Mrs, - sewer abate- Cairns asking for an abatement of her sewer ment, J. C. assessment in the amount of $182.06. Cairns. Mr. Cairns, Jr. stated that the plumbing in the basement, namely a toilet and laundrq could not be taken care of by the sewer. Tbey therefore felt that it was of no benefit to them. Mr. Custance sugFested that the trays in the cellar might possible by raised sufficiently to enter the sewer, and he felt that the Engineering; Dept. should make an investigation as to whether or not this could be done before the Board could` take any action. Water Water Commitment was signed by the Board in the' Commitment. amount of $7677.03. Street Commitment of strut betterment charges in the Betterments. amount of $4980. waq also signed. J. Heaney's At 8 P.M. hearing was declared oven on the application application of John A. Heaney for permission to alter a to alter wooden building on his r,.remises at 55 Baker Avenue fors'` building. use as a one car garage. Mr. Heaney was present and stated that he simply wanted to add on about 41 -to the building so that it could be used as a garage. He had no plot plan to present to the Board. although he had been asked to present one some time ago. He attempted the drawing on one, but the Board refused to accept,same, knowing that he would not know the distances. Mr. Ball was present and represented by his Attorney who objected to the building inasmuch as it was too near the line of Mr. Ball's property. He stated that he understood that the Building Inspector went to Mr. Heaney and stopped him from changing over this building. He did not have any objection to the owner building a ' garage, but he did not believe that he should be allowed to'alter this -particular one in the location that it was �i L in, inasmuch as he would_ like the building to be a reason- able distance from his property.line. It also cuts off the view from one of his windows. He believed that a ' better location could. be found for the garage. The Board declared the matter adjourned until such time as Mr. Heaney presented the proper plans. The Supt. of Public Works reported that he had been but this evening with the representatives of the Apex. Exterminator Co. and they used their 'materials which were put up in bags to exterminte the rate in the Town dumps. He•stated that they threw these small bags of material around the edges of the dumps and that there was something in the material that the rats liked, and when they ate the material, they would become, poisoned and woulq transmit it to other rats. Within fifteen days they would expire from the time they were poisoned with this exterminator. They, stated that the services would probably kill enough of the rats so that it would keep them down. The conditions nould' be watched and inquiries made of the neighbors to find out whether or not.they had been infected so greatly. Unless they were bothered a great deal, he would not recom-nend ser*icing again but if .they were bothered, he would recommend servicing in NovemIcer. Letter was received from the Chairman of the Planning Board asking for assurance of engineering services for the Planning Board. The"Board informed Mr. Emery that with the two assistanta employed by the Town Engineer, it was believed that the Planning Board would get all the assistance necessary. This would be all the assistance they could give owing to the appropriations and the inability to make any direct apprgpriation at a Town Meeting which might beheld. Application was received from Richard Whittemore for permission to install gasoline tanks in the capacity bf-4000 gallons' at premises located at the corner of Marrett Road and Lincoln Street. The Board decided to advertise the application for a hearing. Supt. of Public Works reported that Mr. Frothingham of York Street desired to have the surface of the street that was repaired by the Nater Dept. oiled so that the surface would hold. He stated that Mr. Stetson Humphrey, Mr. Hallie C. Blake and himself would bear the expense. The Supt. felt that in doing this work it would save the work that has already been done on the surfacing and ' would. probably hold.for a considerable time instead of washing away as it would if nothing were done. Mr. Blake called attention to the fact that the drain that was put in back of the McIntosh property runs down through Hancock Street into the property of Apex _Exterminator Co. extermin ating rats.. Engineering Services. R. Whittemore app. for gas tanks. York Street. 374 C; Drain, Dr4 Crawford was backing up into the house owned by Mr; Hancock St. Hall Carpenter, and he felt that something should be done; to relieve the situation. The Supt. of Public Works was reouested to look into ' the matter, The Supt. of Public '"Torks called attention to the Child injured fact that a child by the name of OfConnor while playing ,at playground.on the slide at the playground, threw her leg around the slide in such a way as to tear it on the b^lt. He received doctor's bills from Dr. Barnes and. Dr.' Harrington for taking out the ztxtehes-:. e stated that this child was the first one that had been injured on the playgrouhd, and asked the Board's opinion as tb the responsibility. The Board, after considering the situation, felt that inasmuch as the child misused the apparatus herself that they were not responsible. The weekly report of the Supt. of Public 'Norks is as follows: For the week ending Sept. 280 1929. Highway Department. Surface patches were made in Lincoln Street, Lowell Street, Concord Avenue, Mass. Ave, and Spring Street. The surfaces of Chase Ave., Oak Street, Baker Ave., ' and Charles Street were graded, rolled and oiled. Supt. of Catch basins in various parts of the town were Public Works cleaned. Report. A retaining wall in Cliffe Ave. has been rebuilt. York Street has been treated with a seal coat of asphaltic oll and pea stone. Culvert and ditch that drain Hill Street have been cleaned. Construction of Coolidge Ave. and Fillside Terrace is progressing; the excavating with the steam shovel has been completed in both streets. Next week the department will be occupied with the construction of Coolidge Ave., Hillside Terrace and Harding Road, besided the necessary maintenance work. Moth & Shade Tree Dept. Removed the top of a great tree in East.Street, at the Fiske property. This tree was in a dangerous condition with a number of large dead limbs, ready to fall into the street at any time. ' Also removed the top of a tree in Waltham Street. Next week the department will be occupied. with the treatment of gypsy moth nests. '. Park Department. This department attended to the regular maintenance g work and will be occupied with this work next week. Water Maintenance. Two men have been cutting brush around hydrants. A water service has been installed for Crosby on Bedford St., and. for Marshallts new block. The service has been renewod in the street at Litchfield's on Mass. Avenue. Water Construction. We have laid approximately fifty feet (501) of 8" water pipe in Spring Street. We have also laid approximately one hundred twenty- five fejt (1251) of 6" water pipe in Grape Vine Avenue to connect di -ad ends. - Sewer Maintenance. We have been flushing sewers. One sewer service has been installed for Marshallfs new block. The work contemplated for the week ending October 11th is as follows: Spring Street extension; water and swwer services, etc. Engineering Department. ' Sewers. Continued work on Town Study making profiles of streets totalling 22,000 feet. Highways. Figured and marked grade stakes for Hillside Terrace. Set grade statkes on Harding Road from Simonds Road to Williams Road. Started survey from Simonds Road to Bedford Street. Made up standard sized plans of Hill Street showing original lines. These will be completed for acceptance. Miscellaneous. Spent two days searching for informs.tibn defining boundaries of "Peat Factory" land supposedly owned by - Maurice -A. Page. As yet, no record found contains enough information to establish these boundaries. General loc^tion work at "Five Forks" to prepare plan for zoning change in this vicinity. Yours very, truly, ' William S. Scamman Supt. of Public 'Xorks. e� l The meeting adjourned at 11 o'clock P.M. za A true record, Attest: E Clerk. MEETING OF COMMITTEE ON EIRE STATION SITES. October 1, 1929. A meeting of the Committee on fire station sites was held at the Selectmen's Office, Town Office Building at 8:30 P.M. Messrs. Hallie C. Blake, Chairman, Edward W. Taylor, John H. Devine, Albert H. Burnham, Theodore A. Custance were present. The Clerk was also present. Mr. Blake, Chairman of the Committee, presented a written statement from Mrs. Bridget Leary, owner of land at the corner of Fletcher Avenue and Woburn Street, in which she stated that she would accept an offer of $17,000 for this property. ' He also received a letter from Dr. William L. Barnes in which he explained that he had purchased his property for protection to -himself and for increased valuation. The lot owned by him between his house and Mrs. Leary's would not be of sufficient width for an engine house, but he.would sell a strip of land along his own lot to make that lot of sufficient width. He felt however, that for the lot next to Mrs. Leary's, he should receive $15,000 and the additional strip at a proportionate cost. Mr. Blake did not receive any bid from Miss Caroline Harrington for the lot at the corner of Massachusetts Avenue and Grant Street. The Committee discussed the condition of the engine house and after viewing the situation there on Sunday afternoon last, decided that with some small rooms put' in on the upper floor of the East Lexington station and some plumbing that the building could.be made to go for some five or six years hence. Mr. Blake suggested brick veneering on the outside of the building and slight changes might make the building a more permanent fixture for a number of years to come. It was felt by the Committee that with the expenditure of about $1500,, the building , could be put in fairly good condition. Mr. Taylor stated that he would make a drawing of the inside and suggestions for improvements and submit the drawings to the Committee.. The Committee then discussed the location of Dir. Blakels on Waltham Street and all members of the Committee seemed to look more favorably upon the proposition of accepting the offer of Mr. Blake of this location. Mr. Blake read a letter from the Planning Board to which they recommended the site at the junction of Woburn Street and Fletcher Avenue, namely, the triangle owned by Mr. Harry Aldrich, and suggested that it could be worked out the same as the triangle at the corner of Massachusetts Avenue and Broadway, Arlington. It was decided to request the Planning Board to meet with the Board of Selectmen on Tuesday evening next to discuss the Waltham Street location and at that time to have before thin plans showing the territory in that section in conjunction with the development of the Vine Brook Area. The meeting adjourned at 9 P.M. A true record, Attest: F-1 1 Clerk. 377