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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1931-01-06SRLE:CT?:rEN'S MEETING JAN ,--iRY 6, 1931. A regular meeting of the Board of Selectmen was held at the Selectmen's Room, Town Office 15uilding, at 7:30 P.M. Messrs. Burnham, Custance, Trask, Blake and Shannon were present. The. Supt. o'' Public Works and the Clerk were also present. The Board voted to grant an Auctioneer's License to Ralph Elveat, 59 No. Hancock St., he 'laving filed the necessary three letters of recommendation as to his character. Officer Barry was called before the Board by r. Trask who called him before the Board to give him the revrard which is ,,ziven by the Farm Bureau. He stated that last summer Mr. Ballard lost some of his oi;-s and reported it and Officer Barry found the boys who were responsible and took them into court; he secured a conviction. The rule of the Farm Bureau is that an award is made to the persons who receive a conviction for an offense of this kind. ',?r. Trask therefore presented Officer Barry with a check in appreciation of his good work. Letter was received from the Town Counsel in which ' he stated that he went to Waltham to Court to prosecute the Brophy case, and the Attorney for the ot',ier side decided that he did not wish to try the case, and therefore it was non -suited. iur. Wrightington had ordered ancexecution of the costs in this case. Letter was received from the Town counsel in .regard to the case of Frank Perkins, in which he recommended that Mr. Perkins receive a copy ol-l' the- lette written to Mr. A. N. Maddison on December 2, 1930, regarding the Perkins application to the ?oard of Appealsp In tegard to the gasoline application, he felt that it was entirely proper for the Selectmen to consider in its decision that the Town holds an execution for over $150 against 1.1r. Perkins which the Selectmen have instructed him to collect, and Mr. Perkins made no answer to his demands and made no suggestion if ever he would pay it. The Board considered the matter of whether or not Mr. Perkins was entitled to continue with the business of repairing automobiles on the premises at 542 Mass. Avenue, Lexington, and inasmuch as the Town Counsel instructed that it was up to the Board of Selectmen to decide the question as tocwhethbr he was_entitled to this use, the Board voted to 7o on record as a,) -,)roving the continuance of the isiness on the property owned by F. W. Perkins at 542 Mass. Avenue, ' for the purpose of repairing automobiles, wagons and other similar conveyances. Reward to Officer Barry. Brophy Case. Perkins Case. In reg-ird to the application of Mr. F. W. Perkins for a permit to instill gasoline tanks in the amount of Perkins 2000 gallons at 542 Mass. Avenue, the Board voted to gasoline give Mr. uerkins leave to *ithdrlw his application to install tanks. the gasoline tanks. 390 ADr)rop- riation for Dist. Nurse Assoc. Mr. Trask reported recrardin, the matter which has been discussed many times relative to the anprooriation for the District Nu,sing Association from the Town funds. The Town Counsel of Lexington ruled that this could not be done. In Arlington, the Town Counsel ruled that it could be done and a copy o-' the Arlington article in the Warrant was placed before the Board which showed that an appropriation is made for district and other nursing. Mr. Trask decided to take the matter up with the Town Counsel of Lexin?ton to find o�lt if he would advise patting an article in our. Annual Warrant similar to the Arlington article. Bill for $42.75 listim7 the Visits made in tuberculosis cases "y the Pu'�lic Health Association was approved by the Board for the visits,- made in 1930. Letter was received from Mr. Charles F. Pierce Acknowledge- thanking the Board of Selectmen for the gift of ?old ment of presented to Mr. & Mrs. C. F. Pierce on the occasion gift. of their 50th wedding anniversary. Letter was received from Mr. S. A. Benson, Clerk of the Roard of Public Works of Arlington, in which he stated in regard to the request of this Board' Culvert, reimburse the Town of Lexin,:%ton to the extent of Arl.-Lex. $431.66 for the construction of a corrugated culvert Line. in Lexi.nmton, near the Arlington Line, that the Town Couns62 of Arlington informed him that it would not be legal to reimburse Lexington for this expense. The Board voted to appoint. Mr. Osborne J. Gorman as the Supt. of the Moth Department for the year ending Appoint- 1931 'subject to the approval of the State Forester. ments. The Board voted to appoint Mr. Edward W. Taylor as Forest Fire Warden for the year 1931 subject to the approval of the State Forester. Town Counsel bill -i Ryd e r Case. I Abatement of M.& B. St.Rwy.Co. ' taxes. Bill of the Town Counsel for his services in the Ryder case in the amount of $1074.50 was approved by the Bo ard. Letter was received from the Middlesex & Boston Street Railway Co. regardin3- the abatement of taxes on their property. The Board of Selectmen decided to write a letter to the Board of Assessors advising them that through no fault of Q J Letter was received from Mrs. Elmf�r King, corner Complaint Reed and Asli S,_reets, comdlaining of the barking of re barking dogs in the neighborhood. of dogs. Letter was written to Mrs. King asking if she could state who the owners of the dogs were. In regard to the application for a gara_e license of Lawrence A. Husted, 36 Ke,.dall Road, Mn. Custance ' and Mr. Burnham viewed the premises and stated that they Husted believed Mr. Husted could place the garage on his garage premises so that there would be one row of fruit trees permit. between the garage and Mr. McElman's house, and therefore voted to grant the permit provided Mr. Husted was willing to do this. Letter was received from Mr. S. A. Benson, Clerk of the Roard of Public Works of Arlington, in which he stated in regard to the request of this Board' Culvert, reimburse the Town of Lexin,:%ton to the extent of Arl.-Lex. $431.66 for the construction of a corrugated culvert Line. in Lexi.nmton, near the Arlington Line, that the Town Couns62 of Arlington informed him that it would not be legal to reimburse Lexington for this expense. The Board voted to appoint. Mr. Osborne J. Gorman as the Supt. of the Moth Department for the year ending Appoint- 1931 'subject to the approval of the State Forester. ments. The Board voted to appoint Mr. Edward W. Taylor as Forest Fire Warden for the year 1931 subject to the approval of the State Forester. Town Counsel bill -i Ryd e r Case. I Abatement of M.& B. St.Rwy.Co. ' taxes. Bill of the Town Counsel for his services in the Ryder case in the amount of $1074.50 was approved by the Bo ard. Letter was received from the Middlesex & Boston Street Railway Co. regardin3- the abatement of taxes on their property. The Board of Selectmen decided to write a letter to the Board of Assessors advising them that through no fault of Q J the Middlesex ?c Boston Street Railwa, Co. the transfer of the 391 property to the Town did not occur before April lst,. and advising the abatement of the tax. Mr. Custance brought up the matter of disposal of ' the land purchased by floe Town from the Middlesex & Boston Street Railway Co. which land was purchased when the Public Works De")t. was purchased. He presented a plan drawn up by the Engineer sho,;i��g the right-of-way on this property and a proposed division of each parcel which might be made. This would allow the extension of Ledgelawn Avenue Disposal of to Bedford Street and give the Dix Lumber Co. and the Land pur- Home Finance Co. several lots on this street. chased from The matter was left with Mr. Custance to study into M.'& B. further. Mr. Edward W. Taylor came before the Board as a result of a notice inserted in the paper regarding the Five Forks Service Station, stating that no inspection Gasoline had been made by the Fire Dept. of the tanks when they permits. were installed. In asmuch as one of the Oil Cos. stated that they had notified the Fire Dept. when ready for inspection in this particular case, and bar. Taylor did not believe that they had notified thdir Dept., the Board requested Mr. Taylor to make up some forms so that the request and the statement of inspection can be given in writing and thereby eliminate any misunderstanding that might occur between the Oil Company and the Fire Dent. Mr. Taylor agreed to do this. Mr. Taylor had taken the matter up ti:-ith the State Fire Marshall and was advised by him to make the inspections as best he could on the ground and he gave a report showing • that. he had made an inspection of the premises under date of January 6, 1931, and stated that the information he wanted was the number of tanks th:-.t had already been installed. He found upon consulting with the State Fire Marshall that all the permits in the Town hai been handled incorrectly inasmuch as the Selectmen should vote to grant a permit and the permit should not be issued until after all of the installations had been inspected by the Fire Department and approved by him and then the permit could be issued. Mr. Taylor stated th t when th application is received, it should be sent to him to see whether or not he approved of the location generally, and '.hen the Board of Selectmen should hold a hearing on the application. Mr. Burnham stated that he understood from the Fire Marshall who called him on the telephone, that the Board should ratify the action taken in previous permits granted, inasmuch as it was not `;he intention of the Board t# violate any of the regulations. The Bo!ird passed the following vote to correct all action previously taken on gasoline filling staticns which are now in operation' The Board of Selectmen hereby confirm and ratify all action taken concerning the granting of permits for the storage or sale of gasoline within the limits of the Town ' of Lexington prior to Tuesday, January 6, 1931 that are already in 6peration. Albert H. Burnham Hallie C. Blake Board of Theodore A. Custance Robert P. Trask Selectmen of Clarence Shannon Lexington 392 Letter was received from J. V. Morse, representing the Layman's League in which he asked if the Board would Layman's grant the reduced rate again this year for the use of League Cary Memorial Hall as they did last year, inasmuch as the Request proceeds from the Play af{e given to the Public Health Association. The report of the Town Engineer was received on the draina.Me of Lexington Park Property. He stated that the Drainage, flow of the draina7e would not effect the wells of the Lex.Park owners of the property in that seetiong provided another Property. cemetery was established on the Lexington Park Property. hearing was declared open at 8 P.M. on the petition of the N.E.Tel. &Tel. Co. and the E.E.I.Co. for erection Pole of 11 poles on Mass. Avenue northwesterly from Wood Street locationo and easterly from Pdarrett Road, foar poles. This was taking care of the relocation of Massachusetts Avenue which was recently done. Mr. William P. Herbert came to view the plan but did not register any objection. The 3oard.voted to grant the petition. Mr. Edward J. Gavin,. Sr. came before the Board again regarding tree settlement of damages on his property. Mr. Gavin stated that he thought he was entitled to $2000.. The Gavin's Board informed him that the County Commissioners believed highway that the street was a benefit to him,.and that there was no damages. damage: to his property; that the land was improved by the layout of the street. Mr. Gavin stated that they did not notify him that the street was being laid out, and he did not think it was: fair for anyone to take a person's land withoat even notifying them that they were going to do it. The Board asked Mr. Gavin what his opinion was of the layout made by the Town Engineer showing the three lots of land left on the right hand side of the street, and which showed what might be transferred to other owners of the ad- jacent property provided the whole highway is abandoned. Mr. Gavin stated that he approved of the layout. The Board made an offer of $300 to Mr. Gavin allowing him: to retain the three lots and to make the transfers of the necessary property to complete the layout as made by the Town Engineer. Mr. Gavin felt that this was sufficient and after retiringr to think the matter over, he stated that he wo-ald accept $500. The Board finally voted to give him $5,00 for the land taken for street purposes and to allow him the three lots remaining on the right hand side of the street and provided he make the transfers of.the property of the Town as laid out by the Town Engineer. Mr. Gavin stated that he was aktisfied. Commitment of water charges in the amount of $241.42; Commit- Water rates in the amount of $5253.35; Hydrants in the ments. amount of $1417.50 and sewer charges in the amount of $131.77 were si*ned by the Board. 393 ' The copies of the Par'.cing Regulations which had been Parking previously adopted were handed to the Board so that they might Regu- consider whatever changes necessary and bring the Regulations lations. all togother nroviding a penalty for the violation of the regulations. C Notice was served coon the Town Treasurer by the Dep -A, -T Sheriff to aupear' 6t -.aFt Cambrid re on tite first Monday of Febr.aary in connection with the case of damages of O'Connell vs. Town of Lexington, in establishing a Build! ng Line. Mr. Uustance stated that Mr. O'Connell requested that prompt action be taken in the case so that an award of damages may be made at an early date. The Board discussed the matter as to whether or not they should advise the Town Counsel to proceed too rapidly in the case, and voted t, -at tr,e Town Counsel be advised to proceed in the O'Connell case as speedily as consistent viith the proper preparation. Mr. Trask called attention to the fact that Mr:� Garrity was desirous of cleaninx up the property surrounding the pumping station and asked that he be given permission to do so. Mr. Scamman stated that he would Ave directions as to where the material should be sent inasmach as the material there belongs to the highway Department. Letter was received from 1'r. W. C. Hill directed to James Stuart Smith, Chairman of the School- Committee on Franklin School Construction, in which 'lie enclosed a policy of $50,000 covering the fire insurance on tY� Franklin School in its process o=' construction. fie also called attention that there is also $30,000 more binding on this school house which will be issued at a later date and 'sill be cancelled when the property is placed upon the schedule. Letter was received from Mr. Geor_Te H. Bruce in which he stated that the guaranty bond riven by Mr. Stack on the Stack property was Mr. Stack's own personal bond and did not have any effedt upon the real estate. It was decided to send a copy of this letter to Mr. D. J. O'Connell who is interested in straightening out the property for Mrs. Stack; O'Connell case in court. Request to clean up PumI)ing Station. Insurance on Franklin School. Suck water guar- anty bond. The Clerk reported that many persons were calling at the Selectmen's Office for employment, and at the present.Unemployment. time there seems to be nothing that they can be placed to work at for the Town. . The Board discussed the estimates tentatively for the various departments. The estimates for 1931 have not all been received; the estimates that have been filed are tentative and not in detail. Many of the estimates Estimates were approved. 1931. 394 Mr. Custance called attention to the fact that the ; Public Works Dept. roof is leaking in the section occupied by the Water Department, so much so that pails had to be placed around to catch the water. He secured the following ' Public estimates on the repair of that part of the roof. Mr. Works Dept. Custance stated that that section oi' the roof should be Bldg. Roof. fixed imiaediately and c+ias an emergency measure. David_ R. Jones $2367.00 Ea:le Cornice & Skylight Works 1792.00 It was voted to accept the bid of tl,e Eagle Cornice & Skylight Works. Mr. Custance stated that there would. be a ten year guarantee on the job - of roofing. After considering the matter the Boc.rd voted to authorize Mr. C,stance and the Supt. of Public 'Vorks to proceed to hive the roof fixed, and to work out the derails. The Supt. of Public Works was instructed'to have two police globes with the.word "police" printed on, purchased Police so that one could be pl•lced on the li,ht recently installed light. in front of the 1`own Office Building. The following is the weekly report of the Supt. of Public Works. For.the week ending January 3, 1931. HIGHWAY DEPARTMENT ' The entire department was occupied with snow removal and sanding streets. Next week the regular maintenance work will be attended to unless it will be necessary to remove snow. MOTH & SHAnE TREE DEPT. Gypsy moth nests were treated with creosote and work done at the new quarters. Next week the work of treating moth nexts will be continued. PARK DEPARTMENT Regular maintenance work attended to and will be looked after next week. WATE'R & SHOWER DEPARTMENT r Vffater Maintenance Five men have been shovelling snow from hydrants. Moved stock from old shop to new Public Works Bldg. Water Construction We have laid 300 feet of 10" pipe in Wood Street. 395 ' The work contemplated for the week ending January 17th is as follows: Wood Street, water and sewer services, etc. ENnTNEERING DEPARTMENT ' "7"' Highways Stta'red out Wood Street line at ,Syer property. Staked out proposed Mass.. Avenue lots at Gavin - Kane properties. Staked out Hill Street lines near Cedar Street. Made borin s on Lincoln Street proposed lines. Drainage Contint}ed plottinLr of Vine ?rook survey from Hayes Lane to North Street. Sewers Mapped out 1030 Sewer construction work for appoint- ment with Metropolitan District Committee, January 5th. Miscellaneous ' Made street and lotting study adjacent to Burrill and Di'x-Lumber Comnany properties. Started work on .1030 Town Report. Indexed plans for office record. Yours very truly, William S. Scamman Supt. of Pablic Works The meeting adjourned at 12:30 A.M. A true record, Attest: Clerk. u