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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1934-03-06 535 SELT'CTMEN'S MEETING Niter CH 6, 1934. A regular meeting of the Board of Selectmen was held at the Selectmen' s Room, Town Office Building, on Tuesday March 6 , 1934, at 7: 'z,0 P M Messrs Trask, Gilcreast, Ferguson, O 'Connell and LYons were present. The Clerk was also present . The Board organi7ed with Robert P. Trask as Chairman Organization by a unanimous vote. Mr. Wiliam G. Potter. of Walnut Street was drawn as Juror a Juror for the Civil. Session at Lowell. The Board signed approval of the application of Geo. Peddler's W. Porter of 7,9 Tarbel Avenue, Lexington, for a peddler' s License License . Commitment of pater liens in the amount of $244 40 Commitments and for water rates for the first: section in the amount of $6142 .10 were signed b`= the Board A. A. Ross , Supt of Water & Sewer Department came be- fore the Board and presented another schedule showing the amount of overtime the water department employees worked, and also the amount of money they would receive if they were paid time and a half for o-rertime. Some of the men worked three weeks, some two and some one, and therefore they were unable to get in as much time. The Board discussed the Water Jept, matter of establishing a precedent if time and a half was Overtime paid and whether or not it would be better to pav them $10 for the extra time It was felt, however, that al] of the men sho ld not get $10 as they did not work the same length of time . It was finally decided that all those receiving over $20 for overtime should ;et $10 and those under $20 should get $5. and Mr Ross was requested to attend the mat- ter. Mr Ross stated that Winchester paid tine and a half for over time and double time for Sunday Wakefield and Danvers also paid the same Other towns such as Danvers and Belmont also paid over ti e . The Supt , howeirer, stated that he felt that the men would ' e satisfied with some payment for extra time as suggested by the Board The Chair- man stated that he would wz to a letter of appreciation to the men. o Mr. Ernest Glaolson came before the Board in reference to obtaining a lien discharge He purchased the property at Glawson JII the corner of Mass. Avenue and School Street formerly owned property by Sarah Innis He thought the property was all right and he Paid the taxes . The mortgage was placed by the Woburn bank. He understood that no taxes had been paid on the 536 1.4 land for 40 years He wanted to wet the matter strai7htened out , and the Treasu.7 er told him he would have to wait until the next me ting. Mr. O'Connell informed him that he would agree to straighten the matter out for him. Mr. Courhlin demanded the use of one of the pumps owned Rental of by the Water Dept to -Dump out - is cellar, and Mr. Ross stated pimps that he was unable to furnish the pump. red The Chairman called attention to the fact that last year the Board voted that none of the town equipment should be used by private parties , and that pumps could be rented by persons needing them from parties owning them. Mr. Trask called attention to House Bill # 246 by which House bill the water tax of the Metropolitan District will be apportioned #246 according to the use rat_zer than the valuation The saving to the town would be ap-)roximate lT $3000 and Mr. Ross was to attend the hearing tomorrow morning to favor the bill. Other of the small towns would also favor the bill on account of the saving. Letter was received fror Walter J. Rose of 6 Tew',-sbury Rose St asking that something be done about the damage to his property property on account of the blasting in that vicinity It was decided to reque t Mr Higgins , Assit Town Engineer, to view the property to ascertain the damage. The Board signed three contracts for the construction Contracts, of steel standpipe by McClintic Marshall Corporation. Bonds Steel covering the construction' of the standpipe and the labor were Standpipe filed by the Corporation. Application to board two infants was received from Boarding Mrs . Gertrude H. Emery of 361 Mass . Avenue, and was referred infants to the Clerk for check-up Letter as recei,-ed from the County Engineers relative to the construction of Pleasant and Watertowns Streets . He Highway, stated that while the figures given previously by Mr Dalton Pleasant ''t. were $22,500 for pleasant Street and $15,000 on the new lo- cation on Watertown Stret , r:a'.-i_ng a total of $' 7 ,500 after going over the matter it was found th. t the cost would be $50, 000 The Chairman stated that since the hearing the Town Engineer had been over the matret with the State Engi- neer and the County Engineer and by making a slight curve in the road the deep cut that Mr. Kendall objected to, can be avoided, without making any material difference in the street. Mr. Dalton approved of the plan also. Let er was received from the Town Counsel in which he Montague stated that the Building Inspector turned over the case of Undertaker Mr. and Mrs . Montague for carting on an undertaker' s busi- Permit ness on the property of Mrs Montague on Bedford St . in a 537 residence district. The Board discussed the ratter nnnsiderenly, and Mr O 'Connell felt that Mr inntague would soon lose his home anyway, and that would be the end of the business After discussing the matt r it was d,cid> to notify the Town Counsel to roceed ,t Inst Mr. & Mrs. Montague for operating an Undertaker ' s Office in a residence district, inasmuch as it was felt that if there are violations of the zoning Law, and the Bui.ld , nr Inspe tor, who duty it ib to enforce the Zoning Lay. , sees fit to place the matter in the hands of the Town Counsel , _-s action should be sustained. Letter was received from the Town Counsel in which he calledattention to the procedure on foreclosure of tax titles . He enclosed copy of letter sent to the Town Trea- Tax fore- surer in which it appears that erroneous descriptions have closure been made of the properties , and he recommended that Mr. sales Spencer be as'-ed to check the n: ,s- iptons. Town treas- The Chairman explained that the Town Treasurer took carer to come the attitude thst the Town Counsel insulted him and that before Board he would employ other counsel , and thet inasmuch as he was an elected officer he would cond"' ^t his office as he wished. After discussing the mater it was decided to request Mr. Carroll and the Town Counsel to come before the Board to talk the matter over next Tuesday evening. The app7.ictinn of Msry R Flve of Revere Street was Old Age laid on the table for one week for mo e information. Assistance In refe-ence to the ap-olicati on for Old Age Assistance Mr. Gilcreast stat,H that Henrietta J Dow was paying $5. per weer for her room ith the u-e of the kitchenette, and therefore would be unable to pure , ,se her food if allowed the $5 previously voted. He recommended that she be given $8 per week, and it was so voted. Report was received from Mr. Stevenson in regard to the cesspool on proper y owned by Mrs Tamdini of Arlington Cesspool and located on Blossom Street Mr Canessa informed the Health Inspector that the cesspool was caked up and the water would not seep aiav, and vould fill up as fast s it was emptied. The Inspector advised an overflow should be built and the owner agreed to at end to this as soon as possible. Report was receiv3d from the Health Inspe^tor in re- ga i. to the propert,- of John Fitvgerald of 66 Hancock St. Fitzgerald and condition of the cow h.-rn He recommended thst Mr. Milk permit Fitzgerald should not get any furt er consideration in ref- erence to uis milk permit It was decided not to take any action u. _til April lst Mr. Ross agreed to ,a figures within two weeks of Water rates the 1953 water rates for comparison to see if a reduction would be made. ! 38 01 The Inspector for the Alcoholic Beverage Commission Lex.Fruit reported toot one of the Grigor Brothers in the Lexington Beer & Wine Froit Co �•. as not a cit en, and therefo 'e the license eer & issued to them 1,ould have to lbe changed and the man would Lnot be able to handle liquor . Mr Lyons stated that he would check up Frith the Com- mission, just what could be done, and report at the next meeting. The Board discussed the matter of appointment of As- Assessorssessors but did not take any dofinite action. In reference to the appointment of the April 19th Com- April 19th mlttee, at -vas decided to apnoint Eugene H. Partridge as Committee C' airman of the Committee and have him suggest to Mr. Trask other members he would like to have appointed. It was voted to ren-w compensation insurance on the Park & Jan. Park Dept and Janitors expiring on Apr 1 let, 194 , thru Comp.Ins. the office of Elmer A Lord & Co Copies of the decisions of the Board f Appeals granting Board of permission to the following physicians to maintain offices Appeals wee 'received Dr. R H Wells , 1430 Mass Ave. ; Dr. C R. permits Hardcastle, 57 Waltham St . ; and Dr Ivan G Pyle, 11 Muzzey Street. Permit vas also granted to Robbins & Smith to maintain a sign at 981 to 1003 Mass Avenue provided the sign was reworded to advertise the property on which it vas located. Mr. Mi.tnnell came before tie Board and stated that applicL.tion had been reeved from Mr. Lewis Lawrence of LawrenceConcord Avenue who had. been assisued bar the Simon W Robinson aid Lod&e and Mr Mi c.iell granted him tAn orders of groceries . Mr Lawrence now has -.is come in the Home Loan Corp and As the man has not worked since August 19'33, he is in need of assistance. The man was formerly a starter for the Middle- sex and Boston Street Rwy Co. Mr. Mitclell recommended $6 per week as for the care of himself and his wife and it was so voted. Application was received for medioal care for the child of Henry Nutt Jr Mr. Nutt was working for Gus Young and Nutt aid vas laid off and he again retarned to work and was laid off again, but recommended that the child be taken care of, as it was in need of hospita] i7ation. Application ,vas again received from Henry 4ead who is now on the Civil Works for three days one .peek skipping the Mead aid next weer, and the chairman informed Mr Mitchell that he I could not rete-ve any further aid at the present time but later on they may be able to give him more Civil Works work. 539 Application was received from L=roy 0 Robbins , 29 Cot- tage Street, who worked for R--d 0' s and he had aided him to groceries and notified the State Dept He had a wife and no children, and lives in one of Mr Coll=,ntroppo ' s houses . habbins aid Mr. John Lamont, employed b-- Mr Ryd r, stated that he felt the man was in need of assist-nce and he was unable to tell when he would employ him again if he did employ him. The question of whether or not rent would be paid was left to Mr. Mitchell. Application was -eceived from Theodo e A Carmichael who lives on Reed Street The man owns his -louse free and Carmichael clear and he has been unable to do electrical contracting aid work inasmuch as he has not a license and therefore he was unable to earn in this ca eacitir He has an automobile and the Board felt that he s ,ou] d be informed that he cannnot keep a car if he receives assistance , and Mr O 'Connell felt that he should be a )] e to borrow $5000 on his house. Application was received from Warren E Haynes , a single man who lives with his father, Alfred Haynes , on Hill St . The man was formerly employed nn the C W A but got through Haynes aid on Feb 15thwhen the single men were discharged, and he has made application for Soldier' s Relief The Chairman in- ' formed him to report to Mr Paxton so that he could be em- ployed further Mr. O'Connell stated that Mr. Paul Glynn of 111 Bedford St was in Court and ordered to pay a $50 fine for driving under the influence of liquor and he stated thaw he had Glynn been unable to get any -id The man was employed on the Civil Worl's and had also receivcd groceries from Mr Mitchell. The Clerk reported in r f--enee to Mr Nelson Dwyer that his wife telephoned in reference to the income at her house that she received $10 a week from her oldest daughter; that her Youngest daughter left high school to take case of her Dryer youngest boy who vas a cripple in a Thee]_ chair and she her- ca8e self works as a corsetierre going from house to house and making on an average of $5 to $6 per week. She also has with her her two married doug ters and their husbands who have been cut of work. She stii,ed further that her oldest daughter will proba le leave home if she takes the father ,r i , there owing to the fact teat the children do not have very much respect for their father as he did very little for them when their were children She stated that financially she res una' le to pay his hoard at she would sne his brother and find out whether or not he ^ou d find a place for him to board other than Tewks uric The Board voted to authorize transfer ink aim fro- Rutland to Tewksbury provided no other place could be found for his board His wife stated that he is unable to wal and has to be moved from a chair into a wheel chair and wil need :onsiderable care 540 C2 Letter was received from the Town Counsel in which he reiterated th, t it was the duty of the Selectmen to fix the salary of the Fire En-ineers . In this respect the Chairman stated that he informed Mr Ta- lor of the deci-sio-a of the Chief Board and le talked informally witil Mr. Rowse of the Appro- Taylor' s priation Commitee, and Mr Rowse did not believe that the salary Appropriat on Committee would favor any considerable increase However, the Ap rouriation Committee wouldhave a meeting at a later date at which time the matter ^rillto discussed. The Chairman inquired of Mr Taylor if he would take less and he stated he felt h- should get at least. $1280 for the time he puts in and he also felt that be should get $200 for the use of his car town Meetiltig One of the Town' s citi'ens suggested that a tabulation of the attendance of the Town Meeting Members be made and members publ.ishe-1 at the end of the Year . The Board, however, were not interested in doing this and took no action Tax collector Letter was "ecei_ ed from the Tax Colle tor In which he requested an increase in pay as Town Colle tor owing to the fart that 15 per cent of this amount was ta'-en from his pay last year. The Board discussed the matter and finally decided that his salary should remain the same as at present. Mr. Richard O' Connell and Mr . Harry Johnson came before the Board and the Chairman informed them that he did not have the agreement read.=r for Mr. Johnson to sign but would have it i ready for the next meeting of the Board. Supt . of Public Works reported an accident that happened to the car of Mr. B A. Bouchard of 405 Washington Street, Accident Broo'-line, when the e r struck a wooden horse on Bedford St. near North Hancock Street The lantem on the horse was out at the time of the accident and this fact was su' stantiated by three witnesses. The amount of damages to the car was 548. Supt of Public Works felt that the bill should be paid and the Board so voted. In this connection, however, the Board thought that special attention should be riven b-r the Police Dept to lo- Lights cations where work is being done by the Town Departments and the Supt of Public Works was requested to notify the Pblice Dept when construction was being done so th^ t they could give attention to this matter. Notice was received from the Mass . Civic League inquiring Dumps whether or not work was to e done on the dumps bzi unemployed. They were notified that work was to to done in this manner. Supt . of Public Works called attention to the fact that �. Mr. Barry has put in twice as much time as he ordinarilly does 541 fixing the machines and seeping them in order so that they could go out on the snow work durlig the last storm and he felt that he should be given som2t'- ing or overtime . Barry work The Supt. suggested that he get half time above his salary for the period of four ;reeks. This would amount to $59.50 and the Boardvoted to approve this suggestion. The matter of draina-e as sugpester r- the repent report of Metcalf and Eddy in East Lexington was considered again and. the Chairman reported that the Town Counsel felt that work Should not,be done on the Shea property owners might Drainage see fit until after the suit is settled, and also that other property owners fight see f ' t to bring suit against the Town The matter of expensing the amount recommended by Met- calf and Eddy of $24,000 or expending $10,000 as suggested previously to the Appropriation of 10,000 should be requested and the lower part of the work could be done first and this would be -eady for connect_ cn vr_tT the ork above after the suit is completed. The Meeting adjoarnel at 10 o' clock. A true record, Attest Clerk, Selectmen s