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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1930-01-07 r 1 ' J 4 ; SELECTMEN 'S MEETING : fii: January 7, 1930 ' iA regular meeting of the Board of Selectmen was held at the Selectmen's Rooth, Town Office ' Building, at 7 :30 P.M. Messrs . Burnham, Custance, Chamberlain, Blake and Shannon were present. The Supt. of Public Works and the Clerk were also present. The Board decided to review all the Reports reports written by the various departments . reviewed. The following reports were reviewed: Assessors, Slaughter Inspector, Town Counsel and April 19th Committee reports. Letter was received from the Secretary of the Commonwealth regarding the adoption Change in of the Town seal. He stated that frau their Town seal records, the Lexington town seal was authorized discussed. by vote in 1857, and according to the vote of the town passed at the Town Meeting, the Selectmen authorized the establishment of the town seal. Thenatter of making a change in i: Jo the deal was discussed, and suggestions were offered that the Belfry and Lexington. Minute- Man might be used as the seal. It was decided therefore , to write. .t.o Mr. Edwin B. Worthen, Historian, Lexington Historical Society and ask his opinion regarding. the town seal and if the. Socle.ty had. any sug- gestions for a change in the seal. Mr. Francis Chamberlain called attention to 4 the fact that the Shell Gasoline. Company had Shell_ Gasoline put up a fence and a sign out to the sideways Co. re building w line, near the corner of Fottler. and Massachusetts line. Avenues. He questioned whether they hada right to do this inasmuch as the parties owning the property, namely Mary A. Welsh. and. Anselm C. Mullen had signed a release in connection wi.th. the. es- tablishment of a building line. Town Counsel, S. R. Wrightington was present and asked whether or not the building line. was actually established by the Board, and he was informed that it was not, and he stated in. this instance that the releases simply were effec.tivs when the building line was established. It was decided to write a letter to the ► Shell Gas Company and ask them to kindly remove the sign. 7 The application of Bertha V. Pichette and Ahern. &- PicthPt:.t ' Maurice P. Ahern was considered again by the Board Application I.; of Selectmen. granted. 2 Letter was received from the Town Counsel ri'J in which he stated that in accordance with the l� General Laws, Chapter 148, section 14, and Chapter 485 of the Acts of 1921, the delegation of powers of the Metropolitan Fire District, the Board of Selectmen advertised properly the application that was before them for a garage ' to be operated at 851 Massachusetts Avenue. It appeared from the information given by the Town Counsel that the use of the garage wa a repair shop was not incidental to the granting of the permit. The Board of Selectmen therefore voted to grant to Bertha V. Pichette and Maurice P. Ahern a license for a two car garage. Petition of the E.E.I.Co. for permission to Pole erect one pole on Waltham Street, 4601 south- Location, westerly of Forest Street was granted after a hearing held at 8:20 P.M. At 8325 P.M. hearing was held on the E.E.I.Co. Pole and thd N.E.Tel. & Tel. Co. for permission to attachments . attach wires and cables to one pole on Waltham Street approximately 225 feet north of Grape Vine Avenue and to one pole on Waltham Street approximately 900 feet southwest of Forest Street. The petition was granted. At 8315 P.M. hearing was declared open Country Side on the application of the Country Side Inc . Inc. granted for permission to increase the number of application. gasoline tanks to eight and the capacity of the tanks to 5000 gallons. No persons appeared for or against the petition. A plan was on hand showingthe location of the building and tanks;. it was voted to grant the permit. In regard to whether or not the Town Departments outside of the Highway Department Employees should be paid for Thanksgiving, Christmas paid for and New Years, it was decided to let the holidays. authorization stand as made by the Supt . of Public Works that he give to some of the permanent members of the Department their pay for New Years to take the place of Thanksgiving day. The Supt. of Public Works was requested to give a schedule of the number of regular men in the Departments other than the Highway Department so the Board could consider whether they would pay the men in the other departments for Christmas and Thanksgiving. First class Agents license was signed for I. Licenses Calvin W. Childs. Signed. Second class Dealers license was signed for Peter Canessa. Hearing was declared open on the application of John T. Hinchey for the approval o3 Hinchey Road. Ill Letter was received from the Planning Board Hinchey Road in which they stated that they approved the layout layout of this street provided the Town Engineer approved. approve the proper entrances and outlets for the street. Mr. John T. Hinchey was present, and no persons appeared to object; it was voted to approve the layout and Board signed the plan. Letter was received from Mrs. Henry C. Davis, President of the Public Health Association, in which she asked if by some arrangement the Board Public Health of Selectmen could pay a part of the nurse's Association. salary provided the nurse was appointed an agent for the Town to assist in the Public Health work. Mrs . Davist letter was forwarded. to the Town Counsel who wrote a letter to the Board in which he explained that if the nurse was an agent of the Town, paid by the Town, she would have to be under the control of the Town andnot under the control of the Public Health Association; .for this reason he did not see how the Town could contribute to the Public Health Association in that manner. It was therefore decided to send Mrs . Davis a copy of the opinion of the Town Counsel and express to her that the Board did not see how they could, under the opinion of the Town Counsel, contribute to the Public Health Association by the suggestion made in her letter, and the Town was not ready to take over as yet any of the work of the Public Health Association. The Board signed the_ application .o.f. the. National Philatelic Exhibition of 1930, Ince of which. William National S.Barker, 68 Bedford Street, was a member. Report Philatelic was received .from the Chief of Police in which he Exhibition. stated that Mr. Barker was a highly reputable citizen and never arrested in the Town; the Board certified to that effect. Letter was received from the Planning Board in which they stated that they recommended restoring Change in to a residential district certain parts of Five Five Forks. Forks as follows, namely: Marrett Road north of Lincoln. Street; Lincoln Street east and west of Marrett Road, and School Street on both sides. Letter was written by the Board to the Planning Board stating that they were agreeable to the change t and would be glad to render their support when the matter is brought before the Town for a Change. 111 Letter was received from the Planning Board in which they stated they felt that the Town should cooperate with the State and County Engineers in . r 4 the matter of widening and improving Concord Concord Ave. Avenue. The Board replied to the Planning Board relocation. that there is already before the County Com-, missioners a petition for the relocation of Concord Avenue, and they felt that something should be done about the matter and suggested a width of 801 and possibly 1001 , provided the cost of land was not prohibitive and, informed the Planning Board that they have asked the County Commissioners for a conference on the matter. Mr. William A. Robbins came before the Board to discuss the bill of $617.15 rendered by Robbins and Smith Inc. to the Town of Lexington for land Robbins and taken from George Harrington and Mr. Morgan. Smith bill. Mr. Robbins appeared before the Board to discuss the matter and explained the situation to the Board, inasmuch as he was delegated to handle the situation. He explained that when Smith Avenue was to be laid out Robbins and Smith did not own the land out to Follen Road. For this reason an entrance was necessary to make a layout onto Pollen Road. $cwtto... .m,aw.i..6 .64;a7[aXing The entrance as planned was not satisfactory to the Board of Selectmen; the entrance laid out by them was over land of George Harrington and land originally owned by the Bay State Builders ,Supply Company. Mr. Chamberlain was authorized to negotiate with Mr. Harrington for a fair price for the land, and Mr. Harrington agreed with him on a price of 105/ per foot, which was the .same price that he sold the land to Mr. Lawson for. He did not know anything about the price of the land purchased by Mr. Morgan. When the bill was set forth by Robbins and Smith, hefelt that the price of. $525. for the land of Mr. Harrington was excessive and not in accordance with his agreement with Mr. Harrington. Mr. Robbins explained that this was the amount paid by him to Mr. Harrington, and he. was informed by him that this was the price agreed. upon. The plan of the land apparently showed that the land taken for the street left Mr. Harrington without one lot he would otherwise have had, and for this reason Mr. Robbins felt that this should be taken into consideration. Mr. Robbins naked pc3aitderation in payment of the bill. After discussing the matter, the Board decided to approve the bill . They then decided to request the Town Counsel 's opinion as to whether an appropriation should be made for the land taking to pay for the land now, or if the street which Mr. Robbins intends to petition the town to layout, namely Smith Avenue, be accepted, and then pay for the land. Mr. Robbins asked also for an abatement of the sewer assessment on lot 63 and 64 on Independence Avenue inasmuch as he felt that the lots were below the street and the sewer Robbins sewer by them could not be used. abatement. ill The Board informed Mr. Robbins that they would take this matter under advisement. The matter of bringing taxable property in the East Lexington Meadows into the Town was East Lexington discussed by the Board and the Town Engineer was Meadows. &quested to give the names of the abutting owners along the property. There appears to be ap- proximately 176 acres which are now not assessed to anyone. It was decided to ask the Town Counsel what the proper procedure would be to find out who are the owners of this property. The Town Engineer pres.ented .p.lan__showing the proposed location of a street from Hancock Street Proposed across private lands to Oakland Street, thence Street. across to Grant Street, Sherman Street, Hayes Lane and then to Woburn Street. It was decided to refer this matter to the Planning Board for their consideration. It was voted to instruct the Clerk to have Precinct descriptions of the division of precincts made, descriptions so that they might be posted up about, the Town posted. so that the voters might know in which precinct they were to vote . The following bids were received for the printing of the voting lists : Hadley Press, Composition and printing 50 copies - 3800 names & sheets # prec. @ 2' each) $160.00 Voting list Medford Printing Company, 4i per name bids. 3%93 names at present 04 $151.72 The Board decided to have the voting lists printed inasmuch as the second voting list printed after the registration of voters. in February would only add a small additional cost to the printing of the lists . It was voted to award the bid to the Medford Printing Come, they being the lowest bidder. The Board discussed whether or not they IIIwould call a meeting to bring the attention Representative of the voters to the change in form of Town TownGovermmmtt. Government to Representative Form of Town Government. The Town Counsel advised the Selectmen not to take any part in the establishment or calling j 6 together any meetings for representative Town Government. He felt that as time went on and information was circulated in the paper that people would become interested and it would automatically be followed up so that the representatives would run for office. Reception for It was voted to grant the free use of John McNamara the Cary Memorial Hall on January 24, 1930 for a reception to be given to John McNamara by the Athletic Association to promote interest in athletics. State Aid. State Aid return in the amount of $S6. was approved by the Board. Mr. Gorman It was voted to appoint Osborne J. Gorman as appointed Moth Supt. and as Forest Warden for the Town of Moth Shpt. Lexington for the year 1930. Letter was received from the Massachusetts Mosquito Mosquito Control Association asking whether or Control not the Town of Lexington would like to have a Survey. survey of the Town made in connection. with mosquito control, and stated that. there. would be no charge for the survey. The Board signed the application to have this et rvey made. Old Home Information regarding Old Home Week was Week. forwarded to Mr. Harold B. Lamont. Sewer assessment abatement in the amount of 4118.48 water abatements in the amount_ of 443.06 and commitment Of sewer charges in. the Commitments amount of 4312.54 were signed by the Board. and abate- Commitment of water charges in the amount wont signed. of $1619.27 wasalso signed. Attention was called to the request of Speeding, Mr. Roland W. Baldrey that something be done Mass . Ave. to stop speeding on Massachusetts Avenue. .below Maple Street. It was suggested that nothing could be done except to erect signs . Mr.Custance and Mr. Blake reported a conference with Rubin & Seligman and the Town Conference, Counsel at the latter's office regarding the taking Rubin & of land in front of the Rubin & Seligman property. Seligman. They did not wish to deed their land. to the Town if they were to have a betterment asaeasmemtt when the O'Connell property is moved, back; they therefore wanted a release from the Board of Selectmen to that effect. The Town Counsel informed, them_ that as far as he was concerned, he would recomn.end. t.Q the. Town not to make any payment to them for the land if they did not wish to give a deed to the Town of a strip of land up to the building. 7 A statement was drawn up by Mr. Blake and Mr. Custance to be handed to Rubin & Seligman in consideration of the deed; that as far as they were concerned, no betterment assessments 111 would be made. On the other hand, the present Board of Selectmen cannot bind the future Board to an agreement of this kind. However, it was g expected that Rubin & Seligman would be satisfied with a statement of this kind. The weekly report of the. Supt. of Public Works is as follows : For the week ending January 4, 1930. Supt. ts report. Highway Department. The work of widening Woburn Stree# by cutting back the high bank on the north side is still in progress and nearing completion. This work consists of excavating the bank on the north side of the street, filling in the low places and outlining a sidewalk. Near Utica Street some of the gravel taken from the north side will be used to fill in several low place.s_.an. the south side which are now considerably below the street level. Catch basins have been cleaned and a drain pipe at the corner of Washington Street and Rliot Road has been taken up, cleaned and replaced. Streets and sidewalks were sanded and snow removed from several business areas of the Town. Next week the regular maintenance work will be attended to and work of widening Hill Street. Moth & Shade Tree Dept. Gypsy moth nests were treated with creosote on Concord Avenue and Spring Street and this work will occupy the department next week. Park Department. The regular maintenance work has occupied the department this week and will be attended to next week. Water Maintenance. A water service has been completed for Furtado on Avon Street. A renewal has been installed for Yanushkis on Curve Street. We have been installing hydrants with steam nozzles. Men have been cleaning up the yard. Sewer Maintenance. A sewer service has been renewed for White on Glen Road, and a service has been installed for Yanuskkis on Curve street. Regular routine work is planned for the week ending January 18, 1930. Engineering Dept. Highway Woburn Street lines. Sewers Work on Plans for office record. Miscellaneous Lincoln Street Topo. Wrote descriptions for takings at Colonial Block Computations for eighty foot highway. Descriptions of streets included in each precinct. Yours very truly, William S. Seaman Supt. of Public Works. The meeting adjourned at 11:45 P.M. A true record, Attest : VILL e Clerk.