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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1931-05-1947 SELECTMEN'S MEETING MAY 19, 1931. A regular meeting of the Board of Selectmen was held at the Selectmen's Room, Town Office Building at 7:30 P.M. Messrs. Trask, Custance, Blake and Shannon were present. The Supt. of Public Works and the Clerk were also present. Bids were received on the $50.,000 water notes as follows: Harris Forbes & Co. 101.19 R. L. Day & Co. 101.659 Lexington Trust Co. 101.337 Atlantic Corporation 101.505 'water Bond Estabrook & Co. 101.222 bids Bank of Commerce & Trust Co.101.222 Faxon & Gade 101.15 The Nat. City Co. of Boston 101.16 First Nat. Old Colony Corp. 101.15 The bid was awarded to R. L. Day & Co., and the Town Treasurer authorized to complete negotiations. Bids were received as follows on the temporary loan of $175,000: Lexin_;�ton Trust Co. 1.56 discount Bank of Commwrce & Trust Co. 1.825 $175.9000 Old Colony First National 1.67 temporary plus 25 premium loan. Faxon & Gade 1.84 Grafton Co. 1.73 The bid was awarded to the LexinTton Trust Co., and the Town Treasurer authorized to compete negotiations. Mr. F. W. Longbottom, Building Inspector, came before the Board-relative to the application made to him by D. J. O'Connell for permission to alter the store occupied by Mr. Train.i adjacent to the First . National Stores at 1757 Mass. Ave., Lexington. The Building Inspector did not know whether or not he should issue the permit. It was considered that it might be possible that Mr. O'Connell, if the Town widens Mass. Ave. to the Building line recently established on his property, might ask for additional damages for the benefit which this window will be to his building. The Board believed that in accordance with the opinion of the Town Counsel that the Building Inspector could permit ' this window to be placed in the building. After Mr. Longbottom retired, Mr. O'Connell appeared and the Board questioned him" as to whether or not the permit for the window to be placed on the side of the building would enhance the value of the building Request for apportion- went of High- way bill. Proposed Restaurant, Concord Ave. & Wal tham St . to the extent that he would ask for additional damages on top of the value that he now feels the building is worth. He stated that he did not consider that he would be entitled to additional damages on' his account. Mr. O'Connell spoke of the bill for highway betterment rendered to Frank Freeman., Coolidge Ave. for which Mr. Freeman did not request apportionment. He stated that Mr. Freeman did not deny that he received the proper h6tice with an opportunity to apportion the bill, but at the time of the notice o£• the apportion- ment, he felt that he would be Itle to parr the amount in fall. Since that time, he finds that his financial circumstanees•will not allow him to do this, and -he desires to have the bill apportioned. Mr. O'Connell stated that he knew of decisions of the Court whereby it was entirely within the power of the Selectmen to do this. The Board requested that Mr. O''onnell give this information to our Town Counsel so that if there were any way possible of helping people in situations of this kind that they might do so. Up to the present time the Board has been advised that this cannot be done, once the bill has been committed to the Collector unless there has been some error made in the office in making the bill out. Mr. Custance brought up the situation that exists at the building to be built at the corner of Waltham Street and Concord Avenue. This building is to be a restaurant, and it is the desire of Mr. Dwyer who is an interested party to place the building back of the business section. Mr. Custance stated that his office had drawn the plans for Mr. Dwyer and that a suggestion was made to have wings on the building so that it could all be placed in the business district. He did not know whether or not Mr. Dwyer desired to accept this or not, but if he desired to p lace the building back of the business section, this apparently would be a matter for the $oard of Appeals to decide. The matter of the drain in the rear of the location of the restaurant proposed by Mr. Dwyer, was referred to Mr. Custance and Mr. Trask to look into. This drain is filled up with material which sours and causes an odor and is a nuisance to the neighborhood. Mr. James G. Robertson, Plainfield Street,, Water Main, representing the State Holding Co., came before the Summit Rd. Board and requested that the water pipe in Summit Road be purchased by the Town. The Board informed Mr. Robertson that it has been their custom to purchase water mains and they felt that perhaps they should pur- chase all water mains that were put in under the same circumstances. The Board voted to insert an article in the Warrant asking for the purchase of the meter main in Summit Road. r I I 1 n Mr. Robertson agreed that if any of the parties building houses there, desired to connect onto this water main they could do so as long as the Board intends to purchase the main. Letter was received from Russell I. Prentiss, Health Inspector, approving the granting of a pig permit to Ernest K. Ballard of hood Street. The Board, therefore, voted to grant the permit. Application was received from the Golf Club owned by Mrs. H. S. Moody at the corner of Concord Avenue and Pleasant Street, asking for p ermission'to install two 500 gallon gasoline tanks for the use of the club ma chi ne ry and for the use of the club members. The Board felt that this application was asking for a little too much and voted to give Mr. Moody an opportunity to withdraw his application. Letter was receibed from Mr. Robert H. Holt in which he stated that Miss Ellen A. Stone had con- sulted with him in regard to the property which the Town voted to take by eminent domain and purchase from her for school and olayground purposes. He asked that no-one visit Miss Stone relative to this matter. ' Mr. Custance reported that after seeing this letter he endeavored to consult with Mr. Holt, and found that Mr. Holt was already in the hospital for an operation. It was voted that the Chairman be instructed to reply to Mr. Holt's letter asking him to have a conference with Mr. Custance regarding the matter at an early date. Mr. Custance also suggested that it might be possible that an agreement may be signed by Miss Stone so that the work oft preparing the grounds for a playground could .proceed. Mr. Tra:,k reported that he had talked with Swenson Brothers in r -pard to laying out a highway over their property connecting with Marrett Road and the! street in front of the'Franklin`ehool. . He stated that Mr. Swensoh was very agreeable about anything that would be done about the highway. The Cle±%k'reported that the Town Engineer could not find anything very definite about the layout of Allen Street and Old County Road in the old records. Letter from the County Commissioners to the Town Counsel showed that they did not have any record of ' any road in that section. When the territory is studied by the Town Engineer, it would be decided what could be done about the layout of the highway. The Board when decided that this study of the layout of this section should be referred to the Planning Board. Pig permit. Moody gasoline application. Ellen A. Stone property. Highway over Swenson property. Allen St. 50 Mr. Custanee reported that Mr. Peter Canessa P. Canessa -,was-willing to erect the fence that he was directed re fence. to put up on his premises and also to clean up the premises, and he advised that the license for a Second Hand Dealers Lieense, should not be signed until this was done. Traffic Letter was received from Mr. Thomas S. Grin.dle protection, Supt. of Schools, in which he asked that the Town furnish Franklin traffic protection in September for the school children School. at the Franklin School. The matter was left with the Chairman to take up with Mr. Grindle. Letter was received from Mr. W. C. Hill of Elmer A. Lord & Co., in which he asked whether or not the Board desired to make changes in the Insurance. schedule of insurance now, or whether they desired to wait until S-eptember when the Franklin School rate will be promulTated. The Board decided to wait until September and so advised Mr. Hill. Letter was received from Mr. E. W. Taylor in which he requested that he be given a share of the insurance on the schedule when it is revised. Letter was also received from Robert Whitney in which he requested permission to be allowed to place additional fire insurance on the schedule.. Letter was received from ElmerA. Lord & Co. in which they stated that the rate was reduced on Insurance the Public vlorks Dept. building to 16� on the Public Works building and 24� on the cap` ents and they mailed Bldg. rebates amounting to $60. to the Board covering the reimbursement. They asked whether or not the $40,000 which egpires June 6th should be renewed, pending the new blanket rate. ' The Board voted that this should be renewed- until eneweduntil such time as the schedule is revised. Letter was received from the Boston & Maine R. R. Co., in'which they stated that they looked over the dump on their property and found that the Town f orces had'dumped rubbish ,gin their land against the "ence and after they had broken the fence, they dumped on their land. They felt that the rubbish should B.&.M. be removed and repains to the fence should be made Dump at the expense of the Town. Mr. Trask replied to their letter and stated that the rubbish which was dumped on the land of Mr. O'Connell adjoining the Boston & Maine Railroad Co. property was dumped there by private citizens and not by the em)loyees of the Town, and the Town was in no way responsible. However, the Town would have the dump cleaned up and done away with and cover 1 1 1 L u it with filling so that the land could be properly levelled and no longer used as a dump. Information was brought in by the Clerk from various towns relative to the permits required for miniature golf and driving ranges. It was found that none of the Towns or cities, namely Wellesley, Needham, Stoneham, Wakefield, Melrose, Cm bridge, Woburn, Belmont, Arlington. and Winchester, had driving ranges. It was found generally that no form of permit was used except the signatures of the Board on Sunday'Amusement permits and generally speaking the charge was made of $1. per Sunday. The Town of Arlington had a lengthy form of permit drawn up by their Town Counsel. In most Towns if a permit were used'at all, a simple form of permit was used. The Board directed that the simole form drawn up by -the Clerk should be used, and that the Chairman write to the various golf clubs informing them of the charge of $25. per year for miniature golf courses and $10. per year for the driving ranges and putting greens which must be paid. 51 Golf permits Letter was received from the Crosscup-Pishon Post American #281, American Legion, in which they sent invitations Legion for a banquet to be held at the Stader Hotel, May Banquet 25 at seven o'clock. At was left with Mr. Trask and Mr. Custance Lights to view the lights at the corner of No. Hancock Street and Bedford Street, and Marrett Road and Mass. Agenue. In regard to the proposal relative to the layout of a water main on the McCaffrey property, Mr. Custance reported that Mary J. McCaffrey has McCaffrey signed the proposal but he requested that they take proposal the proposal up with their Attorney so that they would be satisfied that they digned the proper paper. However, in the meantime, they had given permission for the pipe to be laid in the location of the proposed highway. Letter was received from the Town Counsel advising the procedure of establishing exterior lines which procedure he advised in the case of laying the lines over the McCaffrey property to the standpipe. It was voted to lair over the application of Bean's George William Bean for a Common Victuallers License Victuallers until such time as the building is. erected. License. The matter of the location of the German Field German Field Piece was discussed but nothing Definite was done. Piece. 52 Mr. Custance called attention to the fact that he felt that the cases where welfare aid was given that the water bi ll s should be taken wire of by the Welfare Dept. The Clerk called attention to the fact that a number of names presented on the list by the fl 1 1 Letter was received from the Supt. of Public Works regarding the brick sidewalk -in front of the Hunt Building, and the former Cooperative Bank Sidewalk. Building. He stated that the loose bricks there may cause someone to stumble and fall and cause an injury. He stated that the bricks should be taken up, the bed of sand renewed and levelled and bricks relayed. The Board authorized. the Supt. of Public Works to have this work done. Letter was received from Mr. Ernest K. Figenbaum 34 Cliffe Avenue, in which he stained his experience in the line of contracting and engineering work and asked for employment in some branch of the Town, owing to Request for the fact that he has been out of work since last work, E. K. November. He had had experience with his father who Finenbaum was a private contractor.. and who was now Supt. of Streets and Sewers in Leominster; he not only could drive a truck, but could boss a gang of men, measure the yardage of co ncrete.that was used in the new side- walks or roadwork, build concrete blocks, garages, and concrete cellars. He studied engineering while in the service of the U. S. Army and studied drafting for a number of years. The Board felt that this man being a resident of Lexington for some time, could be worked in as a working foreman and might be valuable upon some of the construction work which is expected to be done this year by the Town. The Board decided that they would endeavor to place him if possible. Mr. Custance called attention to the fact that the snow plows had been placed at the blacksmith shop to be repaired, and he did not believe they should be; that this was a matter that the blacksmith Snow plows employed by the. Town could take care of. reoai_red Mr. Scamman stated that he would have the blacksmith do the work and remove the snow _plows from the blacksmith shop, and if he could not do the wood work on them, that he would have a man from the Welfare Dept. who was a carpenter do this work. Mr. Custance also called attention to the condition at Fottler Avenue. He felt that the Town Fottler Ave. was losing money by the conditions that existed there. Mr. Scamman explained that one of the jobs was a sewer job and one was a draina--^e job. Mr. Custance believed that there was no occasion for a delay in the arrival of the pipe. Mr. Custance called attention to the fact that he felt that the cases where welfare aid was given that the water bi ll s should be taken wire of by the Welfare Dept. The Clerk called attention to the fact that a number of names presented on the list by the fl 1 1 Mr. Custance called attention to the fact that a man by the name of Warren Grant, Farmcrest Avenue, Mr. Grant called upon him for work in the Town. He stated that re request he has a mortgage of 3000 on his house and he did have for work. a second mortgage of 1600 which has been paid off. Mr. Custance advised the man to go to the bank for an addition: al mortgage but Mr. Grant did not wish to do so, and felt that the Town should give him work. The Clerk reported that the man has not yet applied for assistance in the iVelfare Dept. The weekly report of the Suot. of Public Works was received. The following licenses were granted: Licenses. 0gerh ing-Sign, Amy V. Eisenhauer Public Carriage, Thos. M. Montague, Jas. F. McCarthy Pig Permit, Ernest K. Ballard Special Police commission, Albert H. Burnham Common Victualerrs, Philomema 1Perg. Lucille MacLean, and Pers. Christine Wheeler, The meeting adjourned at 10:35 P.M. A true record, Attest: Clerk. 53 Water Dept., were not cases where Welfare aid was given, but simply cases where people were out of work ai d. have been in need *his winter. Water bills The Board voted that the Water Dept . should re payment submit a list of water charges each quarter of by Welfare water takers as far as they coulc ascertain who Dept. were receiving welfare aid, and that the Welfare Dept. should tale care of the charges for the water. Mr. Custance reported having communicated with Mr. Daniel Tierney, Chief of the Fire Dept. of Arl- ington in reference to locating a standpipe on Turkey Standpipe, Hill. -He stated that Mr. Tierney felt that they shol_zld Turkey Hill, have a standpipe on that side of Arlington. Mr. Arlington. Custance felt that it would be'good business to have a consultation with the Selectmen of the Town of Arlingtdn in regard to this matter, inasmuch as this location on Turkey Hill is only six inches lower than where our present standpipe is. This could be connected up on the Lowell Street side of the Town and bring in a water supply that would besufficient for sometime to come, and would eliminate,the need of another standpipe in the Town of Lexington. It was voted that the Chairman be instructed t6 write a letter to the Chairman of the Board of Selectmen of the Town of Arlington and ask then if they think it would be' possible to go into a conference with respect . to the water supply. Mr. Custance called attention to the fact that a man by the name of Warren Grant, Farmcrest Avenue, Mr. Grant called upon him for work in the Town. He stated that re request he has a mortgage of 3000 on his house and he did have for work. a second mortgage of 1600 which has been paid off. Mr. Custance advised the man to go to the bank for an addition: al mortgage but Mr. Grant did not wish to do so, and felt that the Town should give him work. The Clerk reported that the man has not yet applied for assistance in the iVelfare Dept. The weekly report of the Suot. of Public Works was received. The following licenses were granted: Licenses. 0gerh ing-Sign, Amy V. Eisenhauer Public Carriage, Thos. M. Montague, Jas. F. McCarthy Pig Permit, Ernest K. Ballard Special Police commission, Albert H. Burnham Common Victualerrs, Philomema 1Perg. Lucille MacLean, and Pers. Christine Wheeler, The meeting adjourned at 10:35 P.M. A true record, Attest: Clerk.