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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1931-10-271 0 1 217: SELECTMEN'S MEETING OCTOBER 27, 1931.., A regular meeting of the Board of Seledtmen was held in the Selectmen's Room, Town Office Building, at 7:30 P.M. Messrs. Trask, Blake, Shannon, Custance and Gilereast were present. The Supt. of Public Works and the Clerk were also present. At 8 P.M. hearinwas declared. open on the application , of the Lexington Coal �ompany to increase the capacity of the gasoline tank located on the premises at Bedford Hearing. Street from 230 to 500 gall6ns. No one appeared to represent the Coal Company. The Board decided to notify the applicatht that the hearing would be laid over for one week. Licenses were granted to the Standard Oil Company to sell denatured. alcohol at the following places: 789 Mass.Avenue, 89 Bedford Street, and Waltham Street and Marrett Road. Letter was received from the Health Inspector in which he stated that the cesspool on the property of Leslie Bull at 83 Hancock Street was in very bad condition and the nuisance should be abated and/Aw=, cesspool should be constructed. The Board therefor voted to instruct Mr. Bull to abate the nuisance and construct a new cesspool. Mr. Trask reported in regard to the gift of the Teachers Club that the teachers ,ave these funds on their own initiative. Information was obtained that the funds could be expended by a committee of the Public Welfare De -)t. and a committee of the Teachers Club providing the Town does not accept the gift. He recommended that the Board not accept the gift but that it be expended.' -7 the Committee. He recommended that the C'lairman and the Clerk be. the committee to repres-,ent.the Public. Welfare Dept. to expend this money with the Committee of. the TeachersClub. It appears from the dates that are set .for the Cary Lectures, that the majority of the dates are on Tuesday evenings. Thit is:.the,nt ht that the Roard of Selectmen and also the School.Cotmnittee have their regular meetings. The Board decided to call this to the attention of Mr. Robert Holt of the committee on Lectures. The Town Counsel carne before the Board in regard to Wood Street. The Town Engineer presented the topogr-:phical plan showing the Brogna property, and explained the contour of the land. The Town Counsel stated that Mr. Brogna felt that he should get $2000. for the damages done to his property. It appeared that the new street was built with a htghsr grade than the land. The land originally, however, was low and the Board did not deem of great value. The Town Engineer felt that an entrance should be made from Fairview Avenue to Wood Street through this land, and it was considered. that it might be well to Alcohol licenses. Cesspool, Bull property. Gift Lectures. Wood St. consider getting the width of the street for Fairview Avenue. The Board considered the matter and voted that in their opinion the sum of $2000. is an excessive amount to be paid to Mr. Vincent Brogna for the land taken and dameees to his property. The Board also voted to authorize the Town Counsel to make an offer to 11r. Vincent Brogna not exceeding $100. for the land taken and the damages. Letter was received from Francis E. Burke acting as Attorney for Joseph S. and Mary A. Ferry of 20 Cedar Damages Street in which he called attention to the damage done to their home and personal injury by the blasttng on Monday, October 19th at two to two -thirty P.M. At this time a "sleeper" was thrown into the air and landed on their roof causing; damage and pe-sonal injury he claimed. The Board requested Mr. Custance to see Mr. Burke and find out what he had in mind rri-lative to the damage done. It was voted to grant Frank Dias of Concord Avenue Garbage a license to haul garbage through the Town inasmuch as License. he desired to haul to his piggery in Lincoln. Abatement of sewer assessment in the amount of $2056.18 was signed by the Board. These assessments Abatements. we --e committed on Au!rust 4th, but the work was not done at that time. The amounts were recommitted under date of Oct. 27th, 1931 in the amount of $2056.18 Committment of sewer charges in the amount of $486.02 was also signed by the Board. Sidewalk Betterment charge of $57.28, Highway Maintenance committement of 25., Water charges in the amount of $702.09 and Highway Betterment abatement on Fottler Avenue against Mari=aret Bartels in the amount of $332.56 and against Sarah I. Musgraves in the amount of $199.82 were signed by the Board. Letter was received from the Mass. Emergency Committee on Unemployment asking whether or not a committee had been appointed to take care of the unemployment situation Committee in the Town. on The Board decided that at the present time they Unemployment,, felt the matter is being satisfactorily handled by the Selectmen's Oft'ice and did not deem it necessary to appoint a committee. It was voted to inform the Massachusetts Committee to that effect. Letter was received from John F. Cantwell, President of the '<3oston Navy Yard Work Council, in which he urged Boston Navy the Selectmen to bring pressure to bear upon the President Yard. of the United States, Herbert Hoover, and Secretary of the Navy, Charles Francis Adams, against the proposed abandonment of the Boston Naey Yard*. The Board considered that the Navy Yard is an asset to the State of Massachusetts and instructed the Chairman to communicate with the President and the Speretary to urge that the Navy Yard be not abandoned. Letter was received from the County Commissioners in which they requested the amount the Board would need for the 1932 appropriation. r 1 L 219 The Board voted to request the County to -furnish ' the following sums: Lincoln Street, $15000; Wood Street, $7,000. At 8:15 P.M. hearing was declared open on the Board's notice of intention to lay out Smith Avenue from Independence Avenue to Follen Road.. Mr. Donnelly stated that the petition had been circulated on the street and if'he was correct, -all but two or three signatures had bben obtained. Mr. Cunningham stated that his address was '54 Independ- ence Avenue and his property was at the corner of Independ- ence Avenue and Smith Avenue. He desired to know how Smith the betterment was figured a,e,ainst his property. This Avenue. wzs explained to him by the Town hngineer. Mr. Cunnin_;ham also inquired why the fi tures were larger this year than they were last year when the estimate was -riven. The Town Engineer expla,ned to him that the fi7ure given on the estimate would be the outside figure of the cost of the job, and it might be possible that it could be done for a less amount of money. Mr. Keery desired to know whether or not the figure included paving, whether there was to be any curbing,- and any drainage. fie was informed that the macadam roadway would be 24 feet wide and that thn width or the street would be 40 feet with sidewalks, and smoulders for grass borders of three feet. There appeared to be no objection to the construction of this street. Mr. James R. Smith did not file the paper with the signatures. Mr. Custance explained that Mr. Smith has presented the paper to him and he returned it to him for. one or two more signatures and in all probability Mr. Smith would present the paper in a few dais . It was voted to pass the following order: COh,MONWEALTH OF 11ASSACHUSETTS Middlesex, ss. Lexingt1bn*Mass-,October 27,1931. Town of Lexington, Selectmen's Room. At a meeting of ,the Board of Selectmen of the Town of Lexington, after having given due written notice of the intention of said ?oard, as required by law, to lay out as a town ;racy the way known as Smith Avenue from Independence Avenue to Pollen Road, all as hereinafter more fully appears, and. after pu'alic hearing thereon held this day, and no objections havinf been made; Now, upon consideration of the matter, it is ORDERED that this Board of. Selectmen is of the opinion that public necessity and convenience require that said Smith Avenue be laid out andestablished as a public town way, and that the same hereby is laid out and established as a public woyn way, and that the same hereby'is laid out and established as a public town way - respectively, as follows:. - The easterly line of Smith Avenue begins at a point in the 220 northerly line of Pollen Road, said point being easterly and distm t 10.00 feet from a stone bound marking the westerly terminus of a curve of 216.33 feet radius in said northerly line of Follen Road, thence be--Lri.n�-_ to the right with a curve of 21.06 feet radius distant 36.31 feet to a point of tangency,thence north 370 57140" west distant 255.21 feet to a point of curvature, thence hearing iote to the right with a curve of 550.00 feet radius distm t 358.41 feet to a point of compound curvature, thence bearing to the right with a curve of 40.00 feet radius distant 89.48 feet to a point in the westerly line of I4de.pendence Avenue. The westerly line of Smith Avenue begins at a point in the northerly line of Pollen Road, thence bearing to the left with a curve of 20.00 feet radius distant 27.43 feet to a point of tancrency, thence north 370571 40" west distant 272.15 feet to a -e 71 point of curvature, thence bearing to the right with a curve of 590.00 feet radius distant 495.31 feet to a point of reverse curvature, thence be-3.ring to the left with a curve of 40;77 feet radius distant 23.96 feet to a point of tangefiey, thence north 230 311 40" west distant 24.63 feet to a point in the westerly line of Independence Avenue. The above described lines are parallel with and distant 40.00 feet from each other with the exception of the curved intersections at Pollen Road and at Independence Avenue. Said Smith Avenue is hereby laid out and esti'.-lished as shown on a plan entitle d,"Plan of Smith Avenue and a part of Independence Avenue, Lexington,Mass.Scale 1 in.- 40 ft. Oct. 19, 1931, John T. Cosgrove, Town Engineer," which plan is on rile in the Town Clerk's O"face in the Town Office Building and a copy of which will be recorded. with Middlesex South , District Deeds with a copy of this order. And said Board having considered the question of damages sustained by the owners of lands across and through which said ways have been laid out and established as aforesaid, hereby determines that no damages are sustained and no damages are awarded, and said Board hereby declares that all acts herein are done under the provisions of law azthorizing the assessment of betterments. Robert P. Trask Board Clarence Shannon of Hallie C. Blake John E. Gilc:reast _ Selectmen. Theodore A. Custance Hearing was declared open on the'3oardls notice of intention to day out Tucker Avenue from Carville Avenue to raker Avenue. Arthur r. Fol,er gave a lengthy speech and stated that he was in favor of betterments but lie o-ojected to the lay out of,this street. He objected principally because the figure for the cost of the construction of the street was higher than that paid for the construction of Bennett Avenue and 11af t Avenue. he understood that the cost -per foot for construction of Bennett Avenue was $3. and Taft Avenue was $4.26. He stated that he could h readily see vy-Taft Avenue would cost as much qs it did owing to the labor that had t'be put into the construction of the street, but he did not feel that Tucker Avenue warranted an expenditure of egad a foot over ttie cost of 221 Bennett Avenue or i3ar>er Avenue. -lie also believed that there should be sufficient drainage. re also did not believe that one man should be allowed to request acceptance ' of a street. Mr. Frank H. Hudson questioned the assessment on the Tucker 30 feet of his property. He could not understand why he was being assessed inasmuch as he i,.ad alre=idy been asoessed on Baker Avenue. The Town Engineer explained to him that he had three lots. Mr. Hudson claimed that his house was located on a hart of these lots and thatcat onetime &'-..partyolooked at tf�e lots and'decided that they were too small to build a house upon. He has decided to have a garden on this land and he did not know why he should have to pay a betterment tax. It was left with the Town Engineer to see whether or not the house was located on the lots•on Tucker Avenue. Mr. John Audick spoke in favor of the petition. he stated that the condition of the street was very bad from Baker to Carville Ave. Anthony Jaiusas stated that he did not want to pay any betterment. The hearing was declared closed and the matter taken into consideration. The Board considered the signatures presented by Mr. Audick and felt that he had sufficient signatures to do a pirt of the street and therefor it should be done' at least .for a distance of 360 feet. It was decided to request the Town Engineer to give a new description ' of the lay out for that distance. Hearing was declared oven on the Boardts notice of intention to lay out Indepeddenee Avenue from Lo eubt Avenue to Smith Ave. No persons appeared in regard to this layout. Independence The Board voted to pass the following carder: Avenue. COMKONVVEALTH OF VIASSACHIISF.TTS Middlesex, ss. Lexington, Pdass.,Oct.2711931. Town of Lexington,Selectmen�s Room. At a meeting of the Board of Selectmen of the Town of Lexington, after having given due written notice of the intnn tioA of said Board, as required b-; law, to lay out as a town way the way known as Independence Avenue from Locust Avenue to Smith•Avenue a distance of approxim-ately 200 flet, all as hereinafter more fully appears, and after public hearing thereon hild this day, and no objections having been made, Now, upon consideration of the mat';er, it is ' ORDERED: that this Board of Selectmen is of the opinion that public necessity and convenience require that sa.d Independence Avenue be laid out and established as a public town way, and that the same hereby is laid out and established as a public town way .respectively, as follows The westerly line of Independence Avenue begins at a point 222 in the southerly line of Locust Avenue, said point being easterly and distant 166.42 feet from a stone bound marking an angle point in said southerly line of Locust Avenue, the stone bound being about 547 feet westerly of the westerly line of Tower Street, thence bearing to the r17ht with a curve of 10.00 feet radius distant 16.27 feet to a point of tan geney, thence south 230 311 40" east distant 64.96 feet to a point of curvature, thence bearing to the left with a curve of 259.61 feet radius distant 130.77 feet. The easterly line of Independence Avenue begins at a point in the southerly line of Locust Avenue, thence bearing; to the left with a curve of 20.00 feet radius distant 30.30 feet -to a point of tm geney, thence south 230 311 40" east distant 58.86 feet to a point of curvature, thence bearing to the left with a curve of 219.01 feet radius distant 110.57 feet. 1 The above described lines are ar)rallel with and distant 40.00 feet from each other with the exception of the curved inter- sections at Locust Avenue. Said Independence Avenue is hereby laid out and established as shown on a plan entitled, "Plan of Smith Avenue and a part of Independence Avenue,Lexington, Mass., Scale 1 in. - 40 ft., October 19, 1931, John T. Cosgrove, Town Engineer," which plan is on file in the Town Clerkts Office in the Town Office Building and. a copy of which will be recorded with Middlesex South District Deeds with a copy of this order. And said Hoard having considered the question of damages susta;_ned by the owners of lands across and through which said ways have been laid out and established as afore- said, hereby determines that no damages are sustained and no damages are awarded, and said Board hereby declares that all acts herein are done under the provisions of law authorizing the assessment of betterments. Robert P.Trask Clarence Shannon Board Hallie C. Hli.ke of John E. Gilcreast Selectmen. Theodore A. Custance Hearing was declared open on the Board's notice of intention to lay out Crescent Hill Avenue. Ir. Richardson spoke in favor. of the petition going through for the acceptance of this street. Mr. William Wheatley inquired whether or not the assessment was made on rhe frontage on the long side when a party owns a corner lot. He was informed that this was so. He stated that he would be interested in the acceptance of Haskell Street. ;je called attention to the fact that the Monnehan property was now in the process of being settled and probably would not be settled for some time. Mr. Albert L. Englund stated that he si,ned the estimated cost, and he called attention to the fact that he did not know what his frontage was on the Town of. Lexington side. He was informed by the Town Engineer that his frontage(' would be 6.8 grry. He stated that he was not opposed to the street being con - C 1 ��3 strutted, but he did feel that the Board sho..rld defer action untLl he would know what the total cost of his betterment would be. He, himself, had. petitioned for the Crescent acceptance of this street in Arlington. T'<.e Town "rngineer Hill Ave. ' informed him the betterment in the Town of Lexington would be about $25. Mr. John Wheatley stated that he did not see why the town should have to wait for the amount of betterments in the Town of Arlington inasmuch as it might be possible that the Town of Arlington would not construct their end of the highway. Mr. John Podmore stated that he had lived in the town for�_four and one-half years and. that he had petitioned for snow plow service and. until recently had had considerable trouble with the garbage until the Town decided to collect it. rie now feels that they sho�zld i ave this street built. Mr. Richards, -)n called attention to the gush of water tliat comes down the stre:,t from the Arlinton hill. The Town Engineer informed hin_ that they intended to have a catch basin near the Arlinton line that would take care of this. Mr. Gohn E. Goodwin inquired how soon, if rhe Town accepts the street, the work will be started. Mr.. Custance informed him tiat if the Town accepts the street at Town Meeting this fall, that the subgrading could be done this f'911.1 and the finish work will be d6ne in the spring. Mr. William Wheatley called attention to the fact ' that a part of Haskell Street might possibly be accepted. No one a.opeared to object to the lay out of Crescent Hill Avenue and the Hoard therefor voted to adopt the following order: COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS Middlesex,ss. Lexingt6n,Mass.,0et. 27, 1931. Town of Lexington,Selectmenls Room. At a meeting; of the Board of Selectmen of the Town of Lexington, after having given due written notice of the intention of said Board, as required. by law, to lay out as a town way the way known as Crescent Bill Avenue from Haskell Street to the Arlington Town line a distance of approximately 550 feet, all as hereinafter more fully appears, and after puloli c hearing --thereon held this day, and no objections having been made; Now,upon consideration of the matter, it is ORDERED: That this Board of Selectmen is of the opinion that public necessity and convenience require that said Crescent Hill Avenue be laid out and established as a public town way, and that the same hereby is laid out and established as a public town way respectively, as follows; - The southwesterly line of Crescent Hill Avenue begins at its junction with the southeasterly line of $askell Street, said junction being northeasterly and distant 300.00 feet from the northeaaterly line of Lowell Street, thence south 26°24120" 224 east Distant about 552.1 feet to its junction with the Arlington - Lexington town line. The northeasterly line of Crescent Hill Avenue begins at its junction with the southeasterly line of Haskell Street, thence south 260 24120" east distant about 530.9 feet tb its junction with the Arlington -Lexington town line. The above described lines are parallel with and distant 40.00 feet from each other. Said Crescent Hill avenue is hereby laid out and established as shown on a plan entitled, "Plan of Crescent Hill Avenue, Lexin7ton,Mass.,Scale 1 in. - 40 ft., Oct. 19, 1931, John T. Cosgrove, Town Engineer", which plan is on file in the Town Clerk's Office in said Lexington and a copy of which will be recorded with Middlesex South District Deeds with a copy of this order. And said 3oard having considered the question of damages sustained by the owners of lands across end through v+h ich said ways have been laid out and established as aforesaid, hereby determines that no danages are sustained and no dama°es are awarded, and said Board hereby delcare,s that all acts herein are done under the provisions of lava authorizing the assessment of betterments. Robert P. Trask Clarence Shar-non Board Hallie C. Blake of John E. Gilcreast Selec#men. , Theodoa�e A. Custa:ned Letter was received from Town Counsel in wh±bhhhe called attention to the fact that the officials of the Lexingtbn Home for Aged People desire him to bring suit on tiie behalf of Mrs. Henry Turner fbr injuries she �i'urner suffered when she fell over a stake on the lawn of in�ey. the Home in the spring of 1930. This stake, he undderstood, *us placed there by the direction of the Engineer of the County. The Clerk reported that. Mr. Charles Faugno was very much disturbed by the notice that he would be taken from the pay -oll of the ''Vater Deot. from which he has been paid the sum of $14.40 a week for the past seven years, the same tb be paid for services rendered. It appears that lie has not rendered any service for some time, and inasmuch as the Town has not accepted any pension act, it was decided to take him from the pay roll. Mr. Faugno stated that he is 73 years old, but accord- ing to the voting; record he is 70. He will, therefor, h.av= Charles to prove his birth record in order to be eligible for old age assistance. His dau;zhter Mrs. Olivadotti has given Faugno. informatio- for the old age assistance application and she has been requested to furnish the additional , data to prove his age. Application for extension of water main on Spring Street a distance of 900 feet was received from Miss C*rrie L. Pilkington. 225 The Board decided to refer this applic4tion to the Water Supt. )f Public Works to see whether or not he recommended Extensions. the extension. The Supt. was also requested to get further information on the Hillcrest Avenue extension. The Supt. of Public Works .reported having attended a meeting* on Monday with the Town Emgineer at the Arlmont Golf Club by the Planning Boards of Belmont and Arlington to procure information as to a proposed highway from Alewife Brook Boulevard to'the. Concord Avenue Turnpike, Mr. Pillsbury o" the, State Dept. of Public Wo--ks stated that there were no definite plans at the present Lime inasmuch as the studies were being made as to the best route, because this wiould be an import,,nt thoroughfare c rrying traffic to Concord and the western or north- western pa -^t of the state and takin_ traffic from Maes. Avenue in Arlington and Lexington and from Marrett Road in Lexington. He stated that if some relief was not available for I•darrett Road it would mean that this street would have to be widened and this Meeting would be a costly and difficult situation. re proposed The proposal to go throu?h M,:irsh Street in Belr.; ;'highway. mont was objected to by the residents of that street inasmuch as they had bought the property there for tke purpose of living in a quiet neighborhood. ' The Belmont and Arlington Planning Boards favored a route which would cut into Lexington near Bowman Street, practically following Bowman Street to Watertown Street and following on nearly a straight line across private land to a point on Concord Avenue at the line of the Miskell and Minute -Man Golf Club property and from there using the Concord Turnpike to Concord. Attentinn was called to the meeting of the Town Engineer with County Engineer Kendall and Town Engineer Hines of Meeting Winchester on Wednesday, October 28 at 2;P.M. at High High St., Street, Winchester in reference to the street connecting Winchester and Lexington. I -'The Board decided to lay the matter of salaries Salaries. over for one week. Letter was received from Arthur A.G. Folger, 26 Tucker Avenue in which he stated that as Chairman of the Committee on Legislative matters of the United lmnrove- went Society, he was writing in regard to the movement of the Society to have an act -passed by the Legislature amending Section 13 of Chapter 80 of the General Laws by striking out the word "ten" in the seventh line and inserti_n the wibrd "20". They believed that the people living on the streets weulddhave a better dpp.ortunity to pay the betterment and that with the unemployment conditions, the Town could do more work. , The Board were not in sympathy with this project and decided to notify Mr. Folger that they did not, recommend spreading the payment over a period of more than ten years. Section 13, Chapter 80. 226Cn tw The Supt. of Public Works presented a letter giving M� Information in regard to cost of telen_hone service in the various buildings in the Town and also persons in Tele- whose homes phones were paid for. , phones. It was decided to r of er this matter to Mr. Gilcreast for his attention. Mr. Custance reported that he had made suggestions to Mr. Longbottom in reference to the arrangement for an y outlet for oil burner demonstration to be held at the Oil Wilton office and he assumed that Mr. Longbottom had Ramer. made the arrangements. In regard to sewer connections to houses, it was decided that a separate appropriati)n would have to Sewer be made for this sum inasmuch as it could not be bonded connections -and therefor could not be included in.the regular Sewer Construction Account. Mr. Trask reported that the Buckman Tavern will be .c losed for the winter and that he had made arrangements for ti;e Public Health Association to use rooms in the Cary Memorial Building for the baby clinic. Mr. Hallie C. Blike very kindly offered to furnish Buckman the equipment for tl�e room, for the clinic. Tavern It has been the custom in the past to leave clothes closing to be furnished to persons in need at the Buckman Tavern. for Inasmuch as the Tavern is to be closed, it was decided ' winter. to build a closet in the basement of the Town Office Building where the clothes could be kept. Mr. Custm cc called attention to the•Zoning Law and stated that he had referrf,d the section to the Town Counsel for his opinion. The section referred to wamoarea regulations, Section Zoning 6, R.1 and R.2 Districts. Law. The Board agreed that they believed that the in- terpretation the Building Inspector has be•:,n placing in this section was incorrect. They believed that the reference providing for a slide yard of at least 10 feet in width referred to the main stra.cture and not to a garage or other building which might be placed upon the lot. They decided to if.form the Building Inspector that he should rule in this manner unless otherwise instructed. Mr. Gilcreast reported that he would have to furnish a $500. bond In connection with the settlement of the estate of Mrs. Frank E. Fogg. The BoArd authorized Rond. the issuance of a bond to settle this estate. Mr. Ingram came before the Board and called attention to the trucks whch were being parked by his next door neighbors on Reed Street on their property. Trucks He desired to place the matter before the Board inasmuch in res- as they may attempting to establish a trucking idential business in a residential district. district. 227 Letter w:is received from Simon Swig offering an Unemploy- opportunity to the unemployed to work with the insurance went. company that he is conTm 't6d with. Old Ape Assistance applications of Florence :'. Mann, Old Age North Street and of Charles Faugno of 12 Vine Street Assistance. were refe-red to Mr. Gilereast. The Weekly report of the Supt. of Public Works was received. The meeting adjourned at 11:30 P.M. A true record, Attest: Clerk. 1