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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1934-03-13 542 ►-c L,ELI,CTME. ' S MEETING MAL.CH 13, 1934. A rerular meet _ng of the Board of Selectmen was held in the Selectmen' s Room, Town Office Building, at 7 30 P M Messrs Trask, Gilcneast , Ferguson, O 'Conne_l.l and Lyons were present . The Cle' k was also present . Letter was received from Dr C Reginald Hardcastle in which he replied to the Board' s letter regarding the nursing Nursing done to the Town that he did not believe it poss.ble for one nurse to take care of all the nursing services necessary in the Town The Board felt that they were not in a position to pay for any further nursing services at the present time and de- cided to turn it over to the Public Health Association to see whether or not they could provide any additional nursing services . Mr. Lyons reported that he checked up with the Alcoholic Beverage Commission and they informed him that the Lexington Lea.Fruit Fruit Company could form a corporation and the younger bro- Co. beer they, who is not a citizen could not be in the corporation license and neit' or could he handle any of the liquor sales. The mat- ter of forming the corporation has been attended to and there- fore it was voted to 'evoke the previous license granted to the Lexington Fruit Company, Andon, Adam and Argir Grigor as partners, and to issue a new license to the Lexington Fruit Company. The bond of Patrick J. Maguire as Const ble in the Town Constable vs approved by the Board bond Pasteurization of Milk Li_ceno , was granted to Patrick Milk Shanahan of 60 Pleasant Street for a period of one Year, the License Milk Inspector having approved the granting of the permit. License to haul gaibage torough the Town was granted toice se John F McGrath of Blancha-d Rnad, Burlington. or hiaul- garbage The bond of the Tax Coller.tor in the amount of $47,000 issued through the American Employers ' Insurance Co was Bond approved b,r the Board, the same to he forwarded to the Com- Tax uol- missioner of Corporations and Taxation for their approval. lector The Clerk reported in reference to the application of License tc Mrs. Gertrude H Emery of 361 Mass Avenue for a license to board in- board two infants, that the condit ons at the home were very fants satisfactory. The Board therefore, approved the application of Mrs. Emery to board two infants . 543• Notice of a hearing on March 20th, Room 422 at 10:30 Billboards A P.4 on billboards was rece v=d from the Town Counsel . The matter of appearance to the above was to he at- tended to by the Town Counsel Letter of thanks was eceived from Joseph A Ross in reference to the bonus paid ?tI rfor overtime work in the Water Department on ac -ount of freeze-ups. Letter was -ec ived from the Supt of the Water & Sewer Department in which he stated t1- 1.t Miss Katherine Harrington requested an abatement on her sewer rental bill of $7.80 for the period ending Jan 'l, 1934, inasmuch as she claimed Sewer that most of the water used dur'ng that period was for lawn Rental and garden purposes . The Board decided nct to take any action on this mat- ter until such time as the matter of sewer rentals is again discussed and definite decision made in reference to sewer rentals. At 8 00 P M hearing was declared open on the appli- cation of Walter E. Jones for approval of Board of Survey plan of a part of Winter Street. Winter St. Mr. Jones came late to the meeting and the Chairman explained that this approval is necessary before the water could be laid in the street and inasmuch as an article was in the Warrant requesting that water be installed 'n this part of Winter Street, it was necessary to approve the Board of Surveir plan. The plan was presented by the A ,; ' t Town En ineer, Stanley Higgins, and the Board approved the layout of Winter Street from the present accepted. end a distance of 530 feet. Agreement was received from the Boston & Maine Railroad B & M. Co giving the right to e. cavate a portion of the right of B. way at the rear of the Adams School- right-of- wa The Board voted to nnrina e Dr Chester L Blakely as Animal Animal Inspe- tor providing the norination ,ros approved by Inspector the State Dept of Animal Industry The Board voted to apno nt the fol T o^,ring as a Board of Assessors: William G Potter for the '-erm of three -ears ; Eugene T Buc'-ley e term of two years ; Curlys L Sloci Arthur Earle one year; John Valentine " " " II " ° Aiebesara It vas also voted to ap-)c int the following assistant Assessors Frederick J Spencer for a term of one year; 544 cD Paul McDonnell, George V Morse , and John Sweeney for such period of time as the Assessors deer necessary to retain them for t] ear services . In regard to the vote rf the Board of Selectmen at Town Counsel the last meeting authorizing the To-en Counsel to proceed against Mr. and Mrs . Montague for maintaining an undertaker' s vs.Montague sign in a residence district at their home at 21 Bedford Streit, the Chairman reportedthat they agreed to remove the sign and therefore no action was necessary against them The Chairman reported that he consulted with Mr Eugene H. Partridge in regard to appointing other members of the April 19th Committee. Mr. Partridge agreed to act as Chair- April 19th man of the Committee and stated that he would like to have Committee Mr. James H. Russell on the Committee and also Mr. John E Gilcreast representing the Minute-Men. He also suggested that Mr. A. Randall Sodernerg be a member of the Committee. The Board voted to appoint the above named as the April 19th Committee. Letter was received from the, Supt of the Water and Sewer Dept. in which he stated that Mr. Eugene B Hamilton Water desired to have the water extended into the Town of Bedford Hamilton to provide wate to a part of his development. Mr. Ross stated that he was informed that it was necessary to have an Act of the Legislature in order to comply with Mr. Hamilton' s request. The Board discussed the matter and felt that they had no desire to furnish water over the line in the Town of Bedford. Letter was received from the Supt. of the Water and Sewer Dept in which he stated that he had discussed with Mr. Parker of Col. Gow' s office the matter of withdrawing from the stand- pipe project, docket #2263, the furnishing and laving of 3000 feet of 10" and 12" pipe. Mr. Parker agreed that the Town could save some money if this part of the work was omitted Standpipe from the project . Mr. Ross stated that some time ago an order was placed with the Warren Foundry and Pipe Co for le" pipe and considerable of the order has not been delivered. If this pipe is used on the project there will be a saving of $464 on the pipe alone and that they have hydrants and valves enough in stock which have been purchased at a much lower price than the present market price . He therefore recommended that as much of the excavation be done by machinery as possible , that the laving of the pipe be done by the r-pular Depart- ment men and the backi'illing with town equipment and labor. He estimated the cost to le about P000 and the money was pro- vided in the original project The Board agreed to the recommendation of Mr. Ross and decided to request that this part of the project be with- drawn from the original project for the standpipe. the Board voted to nominate Matthew Stevenson as .laughter Inspector providing this nomination was approved by the State SlaugYar Inspector Dept. of Public Health. 545 II Mrs . Laurette Ducharme came bef cee the Board in ref- erence to application for Common Victualler' s license at 1786 Mass. Avenue. Some time a ,o Mrs Ducharme made ap- plication for a hearing before the Board of Appeals and gave a chock which could not tic cashed mrin;r to the fact Ducharme that there were no funds in the bank, license The Board -informed her `h. t they felt she should set- tle up with the Town for this amount before they would take action on the application She denied that she had received any letter from the Twn Counsel inasmuch as she stated she had been ill all winter and if any member of her family had received a letter she did not know anything about it. Estimates of betterment assessments for proposed sewer in Bow Street, Cliffe And, Theresa Avenues were received from the Town Engineer The ret'-ermeets as ^essed would be $3305,98 and the Town Engineer stated th t the actual amount of bet- Sewers terments would be $1788.21 owing to the fact that b-r reason of the grad- on the Shaw propert—, which assessment amounts to $1412 75, and the as-essmeet on the Town of Arlington property of $105 02, would probably be atafe ' on account of no bet erment -,ccruing. Letter was r3c2ived fro the Tax Colic tor in reply to the Board' s lett,-r in which they stated that they did not Tax Collect I II see their way clear to increase his pay as Town Collector, or in which he =pressed the feeling that he was not satisfied with the decision of the Board. Letter was eeceivei from Edward W Taylor in which he gave informat on in regard to insuring the air tanks at the Fire Station, also to insijianco of the c st ron bailer in Air tanks the fire station & boiler The Chairman stated that at the previous meeting when he brought up the matter of boiler insurance , he neglected to bring up th matter of insurance on the air trnks about which Mr. Taylor had spoken to him, and the Board therefore di cussed the ratter as to vheth r th.,ir should place insur- ance of this kind The tanks at the present time are located in the shed in the rear of the rld location of the Town Hall and the sheds are not owned by the Town Prior to that they were located in the Old Town Hall Building for a great many years and the Board decided not to to -e any action in placing insurance on the air tanks Letter was received from Elmer A Lord & Co giving a report of the i-lspecton of the boiler at the Center Fire Boiler Eng ne House and giving .c °rtain items which must done be- insurance fore the insurance an re placed on the boiler. It was decided to leave the ratter to the Supt. of Pati l_ic Works 546 The Chairman stated that he received a telephone call from Mr. Arthur H Roberts of Adams Street who operates the Oak Knoll Dairy and he stated th t the milk regulations were Milk }-eing vi ola t d inasmuch as rew m. 1 vas being sold in the Town and he fe' t that the reguistions sho; ld '-e printed in regulations the to al paner calling et ention to the fret. Mr. Roberts previolsly made a comnlaint to the Milk Inspector in regard to the same matter but refused to state who the p^rties were that were violating the regulations . The Milk Regul tions have been previously printed and the Milk Inspector knows of no persons who are violating the law and it was therefore decided that unless Mr. Roberts wave definite information in regard to any violations, that the ieguations would not he printed again The Supt of Public Works presented firu s on the pur- chase of wa+-er cooler for fro, Town Office Budding as follows Inrtallati_nn of Frigidaire on socond floor and connect with outbler on first florr - $201.50 plus $30 for plus bing, Electric Westinghouse would furnish a cooler for $175.95 cooler General Electric Cooler - $207. plus elu: bing costs ; Kelvinator is on a rental plan basis which the Supt did not recommend as economical; Mayflower Cooler - $200 installed. Pure Filter Co. would furnish bubeler instal' -gid on the two floors including plumbing ,vith a one year guarantee for $171. Tbev would also service it fror year to year for $10 nor year The Supt rc ^omnended the purchase of a General Electric Cooler even though the 3os- was greater in ,smLch as he stied that the Puro is an assembled machine , and he also recommended the cooler he not extended to the Police Stat on owing tb the large cost of plumbing installation and also the electric cur- rent for operating. The cooler for the office building would be closed off nights , Sundays , and holidays. The Board felt that the Pure Filter Co price was the lowest and inasmuch as they have installed their products in various court houses , Department Stores, and Insurance offices, that the product must be reliable and Ina much as a one Year Fuarantee would be given and the difference in saving was $65 over the cost of the General Electric installed , the Board the efore voted to instruct the Sunt. to ourchse a Puro Filter Co. cooler Bids were received on the plastering and calsomining cf ceilings -n the house of Walter J Rose , 6 Tewksbury St. as follows : Rose house, p F Dacey, Plastering - $65.00 damages Frank H Tobin, Calsomining - 15.00 George H. Jaynes - Plastering- 45.00 Calsomining - 12.00 547 , IBothry Mr. Jaynes and Mr Dacey e tinned the fact that the wall paper in the hall could not vers well be saved when the plastering was done on the hall ceiling. Mr Jaynes gave a figure of $8 fnr paper_ng the hall. The Board decided that they would recommend that the plastering and calsomining he done at Mr. Jaynes' figures of $45 and 12 but that Mr Rose should stand the expense of the wall paper and also that Mr. Rose should givd a release to the Town for the work as ordered above Some time ago the matter of assisting Mrs. Martha Jones of Pleasant Street 1eas taken up with Dr Walsh and it was agreed to move a welfare farm ly into her house paving her $15 a month rent . At that time Mrs. Jones was earning suf- ficient to support her family and could get along very Jones nicely She stated th ' ', Dr Wa.l-s'r _nfo e3 her at that time water that town wou d take care o" } - ter rates for her but bill this agreement wa not mane bar the Board Ther simply agreed to as„ist her by pa *ing the rent for a Welfare family that had. to be cared for. Owing to the fact that sh misunder- stood the situation, waterbills were sent to her and she had not paid them. Therefore, a lied was placed upon her property for water rates ',mounting to $15 She now ewes the addit_nr_al IIsum of $12 for wa'1 or rates a 1 o now b_3 _ng ass_sted from the Soldiers' Relief Dept owing to the fart that she is unable to secure work to surmnrt her family of four children. It was decided to instruct Mr Mi chell to render her sufficient aid to take cae of the water rills , and to allow her sufficient to pay the water rates in the future The Supt. of Public Welles presented the following bids on the cost of two automobiles , one fnr the Suet -f Streets and the other for the Town Engineer: Pontiac Business Coure - $810. Chevrol t Coupe - 645. Ford Coupe - 609.97 ears PlTm°out -1 Coupe - 585.58 He also sta ed. that Mr Childs h d two 1933 coupes which could be purch-,a ed for 450 and $475 respertfully or the two could 1e purchased for $900 , 'and tilt Mr Johnson had a 1932 Coupe which could he purc},as ;r' f c r $350. It was suggested that two different types of cars might be purchased, ,oth Ford and Chevr let dealers being tax payers in the Town, and it hg' s suggested that It would be better to purchase a new car rather than a second hand car. It was therefore voted to authorize the Supt. to pur- ' chase a new Chevrolet Coupe for the Supt of Streets and to purchase a Ford for the Engine rin Dept It was decided, however, to ral'- over ,vitt the Town Engineer as to the ti-pe of car he des_red. 548 Letter was received from Matthew Stevenson reporting in regard to the condition of the house which Mary Lowe lives in Lowe on Wood Street . Mr. Bashian made the cmplaint t,, the 'build- ► house ing to the Building Inspector that he did not think the house was fit to live in. Mr. Stevenson stated that the house was considerably filled up with furniture and the woman lived there alone with three dogs . She owns two house lots at the corner of Waltham Street and Farmcrest Avenue and he felt that the house should be condemned as a place to live in. It was decided to have the Building Inspector make a re- port in regard to the conditon of the house. In response to the Boardts request, Town Counsel, Town Tax Treasurer, Chairman and Clerk of the Board of Assessors, came t/tItt before the Board to discuss the matter of foreclosures of tax titles . Letter was previously received from the Town Counsel in which he called attention to the fact that there were errors in the descriptions of tax Titles and therefore there was some expense to the procedure which the Town would lose and he felt that the Tax Collector, Treasurer and the Assessors of- fice should cooperate so that these errors would not occur. Mr. Wrightington stated that it appeared that in the past when the Tax Collector advertised bids for the sale of land for tax- es, that someone in his office went into the Assessors Office and got the descriptions without having had the descriptions checked. Mr. Spencer stated that as he understands the law, it is necessary for the Assessors to furnish the descriptions and he stated that he would be glad to do so, or if Mr. Earle did not want to have him get the descriptions that he would check all descriptions in the future and therefore avoid the errors that have occurred in the past . The Town Treasurer stated that if the correct description was given in the first instance there was no reason why the Tax Title procedure should not be correct. It was agreed, therefore, that the Assessors would take care of the matter of checking all descriptions for Tax Title sales . In regard to the drainage in East Lexington, the Chair- man stated that he would withdraw his objection to doing all of the work on Sickle Brook as proposed by Metcalf and Eddy Drainage at a cost of 4.24,000. this year and he stated also that the Appropriation Committee were in favor of having all the work done and were willing to approve the appropriation at the Annual Meeting, the amount necessary to be appropriated with a bond issue being $5400. and it was decided to appropriate 46000. and issue bonds for $18,000. The Board therefore voted to reauest this appropriation at the Annual Town Meeting and proceed to complete this sec- tion of drainage this year. 549 Michael Pero, the son of Norman Pero of 17 Pleasant St. applied for assistance. He was recently living with his aunt on Waltham Street and had been working for her. The Chairman stated that he understood that he was unwilling to work the long hours that she required him to work and there- Pero fore he left her employ. He also was dischareged from driv- ease ing a taxi cab on account of drunkenness. He stated that he hado place pl ce to live. The Board felt that Mr. Mitchell should inquire of Mrs . Pero whether or not she would be willing to take him back if he were willing to work rather than aid him. It was voted to grant Mrs . Sarah Makechnie 41. more Makechnie additional Old Age Assistance so that she could pay for her coal. This made an allowance of 42. a week extra for her coal until May 1st. Mr. Mitchell reported that the C .W.A. worker visited this family and felt that something should be done about caring for Mrs. Makechnie and her son as they would be un- able to continue living there together for any great length of time. The meeting adjourned at 10:05 P.M. A true record, Attest: Clerk.