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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1930-07-08 224 SELECTMEN'S MEETING 0 JULY 8, 1930. 1 A regular meeting of the Board of Selectmen was held at the Selectmen ' s Office, Town Office Building at 7v30' P.M. Messrs. Burnham, Custance, Trask and Blake were present. The Supt . of Public Works and the Clerk were also present. The Board discussed the request of Mr. Francis E. Burke to consider the granting of a permit for gasoline tanks to Mr. Ernest R. Rowland of Lowell Rowland Street, inasmuch as the matter had been taken up gas tank with the Chairman of the Planning Board, and he application stated that he felt that this was an accessory refused. use to a store . After considering the matter, the Board decided to notify Mr. Burke that they did not consider a gasoline station as an accessory use to a store . The Chairman of the Board signed the warrant Dog warrant . to Patrick J. Maguire, dog officer for the killing of all unlicensed dogs . There appear to be 239 unlicensed dogs . The Board of Appeals r^quested the Board of Selectmen to place "no parking" signs opposite No parking the roadside stand of Joseph V. Boinay, Pleasant sign, PleasantStreet so that there would be no parking on the Street . side of the street opposite the stand endangering the passing traffic . The -Supt. of Public Works was instructed to have these signs erected. The Supt . of Public Works reported an accident to the car of Sydney T. Curtis, 108 Ronald Rd. Arlington, and presented an itemized bill for the Accident to amount of $30.17. car of The Board decided to pay the bill inasmuch S. T. Curtis . as they felt that the man came in contact with the rock on the side of the road that had been covered by the bushes which had grown over it. . Letter was received from the Suburban Land Co. asking whether or not any arrangements had been made to purchase the water pipe on Fottler Avenue Water pipe, that was installed for the Suburban Land Co. Fottler Ave . inasmuch as the Town had voted to accept Fottler Ave. The figures presented by the Water Department showed that ther was no guarantee, but the Suburban Land Co. paid for the installation of the pipe and the Town furnished the stock and laid the 225 -ripe. The charge to the Suburban Land Co. was $279.01 in the first installation and in the second installation, $239.61. ' The Supt . of Public Works *as instructed to proceed to settle with the Suburban Land Co. for the payments made by them for this water pipe. Letter was received from the Town Accountant in which he called attention to the fact that it will be necessary to borrow more money on a $175,000 loan. temporary loan. It was deoi ded to borrow $175,000 and request the bids to be in on Tuesday evening next. Letter was received from the Supt. of Public Works in which he enclosed a letter from the Traffic Signal Divisi 'n of the Dept . of Public Traffic signal, Works of the State. They stated that they would Oak Street. not place a traffic signal at Oak Street, and suggested building a sidewalk along Mass . Ave . and to paint cross walks . Mr. Albert A. Ross came before the Board and discussed with the Board the letter received from Edwin B. Worthen relative to the Workmen 's Workmen's Compen- Compensati -,n in the water and sewe- department. sation. He stated in his letter that the Employers Liability Assurance Corp. had in the years that they have held the insurance on the Water & Sewer Dept. a loss ratio of 179% and they would not place the insurance on the Town if they continued to have losses of this kind. Mr. Ross stated that if he could hire skilled labor he probably would not have nearly as many accidents as he has at the present time. He called attention to one instance where the Employers Liability Assurance Corp. had a considerable sum to pay in the case of Manuel A. Lee, an elderly gentleman who was injured while at work about one year ago , and the Company is still paying compensation to him. Mr. Ross stated that it was necessary for him to put on men in the Department such as this man, and they do not move fast enough to get out of the way in case of danger; therefore they get injured. He did not see under the circumstances, how he would be ablb to do anything different inasmuch as these men and their families feel that they are entitled to employment on the town forces . It was suggested that possibly if the highway compensation insurance might be transferred to the Fnployers Liability Assurance CoT-o. , inasmuch as the kccidents in this pepartment, ate"very much less than in the Water & Sewer Dept. that probably it would average up better for the Employers Liability Assurance Corp. It was left with the Clerk to take this matter up with the other agents and see if by doing this it would remedy the conditirn. 226 Letter was received from the Supt. of Public 'T] Works in regard to the condition at the property ra of Miss LeMay on Follen Road. He stated that her house is located below the level o�' the street and was built that way by the parties who owned it before Miss LeMay purchased the property, and the wash from the street goes into her driveway. Damage to This last rain storm badly damaced her property. Miss LeMay's Mr. Scannnan stated that it would cost about $3500 property. to remedy the condition, by constructing a drain near Summit Road to Mass. Avenue. He could, however, temporarily carry some of the water back by constructing a catch basin on each side of the driveway at a cost of about $200. The Board authorized the Supt. of Public Works to construct the catch basins . A delegation from the East Lexington Improvement East Lex. Society headed by James E. McCarthy, 27 Chase Ave . , Improvement came before the Board and asked when Charles Street Society. would be fixed. Mr. Seaman informed them that he would go up to Charles Street tomorrow morning and fix it . One reply to the advertisement for a garage Advertisement mechanic was received from the advertisement in for garage the local paper. This matter was laid u-)on the mechanic. table until such time as the advertisement is completed. Letter was received from Edward W. Taylor, Chief of the Fire Dept. in reply to the letter of the Clerk relative to the Fire whistle. Mr. Taylor stated that the cost of operatin-' the whistle at the present location is expensive and he sug~ested that p ssibly it might be well to either rent a portion of a building in the rear of the fire station headquarters in which to store the tanks where they would be dry, or to rent a piece of land in the rear Location of of the fire station and erect a shelter for the tanks . fire whistle The Board considered whether or not it would be best to continue keeping the tanks in the present location, inasmuch as it would probably cost at least $850 to move the tanks again and the rental of the store would probably be as much as the present rental on the Rubin & Seligman property. The question as to whether or not a headquarters is in the immediate future or not was also considered; also the question as to whether or not there might be some new type of whistle that would not need storage tanks of this kind. Inasmuch as the present tanks are about 18 years old, it was felt that they might need to be renewed. All these phases of the situation were reviewed and referred to Mr. Hallie C. Blake to look into and report later. Mr. Custance brought up the matter as to Siding, whether or not the Board should spend money for No.Lexington a siding at North Lexington. The Supt. of Public 227 Works stated that it would cost about $10,000 to putt in a siding. Mr. Ross submitted figures of the cost of unloading the water pipe at North Lexington and East Lexington which was recently purchased. According to these figures , it appeared that it would be cheaper at the present time to unload the pipe into possibly a 5 ton truck with a derrick, and Mr. Custance recommended the purchase of a truck of this kind rather than spending any sums of money for a siding at this time . In fact he felt that possi'-ly the Town could get along without a siding. The Blerk brought up the matter of having gasoline come in in tank loads on a. siding, but inasmuch as it was not indended to have a siding this could not be done. was therefore decided to hold a hearing:zon the i . stallation of a tank to be had on the property. 1r. Custance also brought up the fact that it would be necessary, inasmuch as the Town intends to mi : sand and gravel and road material, to have i hearing before the Board of Appeals to get permission to manufacture on the property, inasmxch as the Town Counsel advised that the Town shoul4 do this as well as any individual. :specifications made up by Mr. Custance for the p_umbing, heating and electrical work to be do e at the East Lexington Fire Station were East Lex. Fire prese. ted. The plans and specifications were Station. turne over to Mr. Hallie C. Blake to go over with Edwar. W. Taylor, Chief of the Fire Dept. to advise what 'contractors he wishes to have the specifications sent o . letter was received from Mr. Thomas P. Culhane Attor ,ey for Mary T. Pall, asking whether or nct it wo ld be necessary for them to take action again- t John Heaney for erectinr an addition to a bui ding on Baker Ave . to be used for a garage Heaney building. on the premises of Mr. Heaney. 'ome time ago the Building Inspector was requd ted to brder2Mb: Eedney to remove this addit on inasmuch as it did not comply with the law. he Board decided to request the Building Inspe �tor to take action further. against Mr. Heaney to re ;'ove this building. Ilii regard to the matter of land damages in conneition with the O'Connell property, 1775 Mass . Ave . to an.1including 1757 Mass . Ave. , it was decided that the danages which Mr. O'Connell wanted were far in excess of what the Board would settle for, and it waithe"efore felt that the matter should be refer d to a Board of three appraisers, the Town to choose one member, Mr. O'Connell to choose the second member and the third to be chosen b;,- both O'Connell parties, one-half of the expense to be paid, damages, by the Town and the other half by Er. O'Conmell. Mass . Ave. It was felt that no action need be taken immediately upon this matter and when the occasion arises it will be handlbd in this way In regard to the decision made in the case of John Gay who has been employed by Mrs . Rose Board of Whitney Smith for a number of years, it having John Gay been decided at a previous meeting that the Boai'd would remove him to Tewksbury, Mr. Custance brought up the matter again and it was decided to pay to Rose Whitney Smith $20.00 a month for his board. Mr. Custance presented pictures showing the flood lighting of the various town buildings together with a letter from the E.E.I.Co. giving Flood the cost per hour of flood lighting the buildings . lighting. The Boar did nct feel that the Town could afford to adopt flood lighting for the various bui'dings, end it was the-efore voted not to take any action on this matter. Supt:s report . The following is the weekly report of the Supt. of Public Works . For the week ending July 5, 1930. Highway Department Work of resurfaci .g Concord Avenue was continued; that part between Waltham Street and the Lincoln Town line is completed and the department is now working on the section between Waltham Street and Belmont Town line. Gutters were cleaned in various streets . Surface patches were made in Lowell Street and Washington Street. Painting lines for Cross Walks and Parking Spaces. Next week the department will be occupied with work on Concord Avenue and other maintenance. Moth & Shade Tree Dept. The Department was occupied with the work of trimming trees during the past week and will attend to this work nest week. Park Department . Carried on the regular maintenance and the grading in Hastings Park and will be occupied with this work next week. Water & Sewer Department Water Maintenance Completed r-newal of service for Viano on Mass . 229 Ave. ; renewal for Morse, Sherman Street. Three men have been drilling ledge at the carbarn property. Water Construction Vall7 Road has been completed and a total of 8481 of 6" pipe have been laid and one hydrant has been installed. We have laid 10001 12" pipe in Pleasant Street easterly from Watertown Street . Allen Street has been completed with the exception of the connection on old Allen Street, and this will be done just as soon a^ the contractor gives us a location of the 6" main and the new school building. We have received the five carloads of 16" pipe containing one hundred and forty pieces. By tonight this pipe will have been unloaded and distributed along Mass. Avenue from the Arlington line in a northerly direction. Sewer Maintenance Completed sewer service for Viano on Mass. Avenue Work will be started on the 16" main in Mass. Ave. which will be laid approximately twenty-fi e (25 + ) off the westerly street line. Arrangements have been made with the telephone and gas companies to have one of their men on the job during the progress of the work. Engineering* Department Highways Street line on Fottler Avenue. Measurements of granolithic sidewalks. Grade stakes for cui,b at Hastings Park. Water Location of new main in Pleasant Street. Miscellaneous. Measurement of ledTe at new Public Works Building. Tracing block plans. Yours very truly, William S . Seaman Supt. of Public Works. ' The meeting adjourned at 10 P.M. A true record, Attest : / '. Clerk.