Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout1935-02-10 306 01 CD SELECTMEN'S MEETING FEBRUARY 10, 1935. A regular meeting of the Selectmen was held in thole-.•,•s Selectmen 's Room, Town Office Building, at 7:30 P. M. Messrs. Trask, Gi]c reast, Ferguson, O'Connell and Lyons were present. The Clerk was also present . Mr. Mitchell reported in regard to the case of Al- fred J. Lee who has a wife and two children and who lives Lee Case. in David Murphy's house on Forest Street, receiving $12. per week on E.R.A. Mr, Murphy called attention to the fact that he was back on the payments of his rent and the Board voted to allow fuel only if necessary in this case. In regard to the application of Robert Walker of Waltham Street, Mr. Mitchell reported that he wqs getting Walker the money for one day extra and there were three in his Case. family and the rent was $20. per month. He wanted to work one extra day to pay towards his rent. It was de- cided tot to grant any additional aid beyond the extra work for the fuel. Mr. Mitchell reported having received application Whalen from Raymond W. Whalen of 166 Mass. Avenue for assistance. Case. He did not have an opportunity to investigate and there- for no action was taken on the application. Peddler application of Earl Folsom of 11 Cedar St. to peddle fruit, vegetables and eggs was signed by the Folsom, Board. Mr. Lyons reported that he had lived in town Peddlers for many years and had been employed as a chauffeur for Application. Albert B. Tenney. He was now only on part time pay, Mr. Tenney being away, and he desired to have this work to earn sufficient to carefor his needs. MacLean Ped- The application of Dan K. MacLean of Waltham St. to lers Appli- peddle vegetable was signed by the Board, this being a cation. renewal. It was voted to authorize the renewal of $90,000. Insurance. fire insurance expiring through the office of Elmer A. Lord & Co. on March 1st. Notice of the meetings every other Thursday at the Meetings. Metropolitan District Commission Office to discuss the affairs connected with the Metropolitan District Commis- sion and towns was received from Mr. Eugene Hultman. Abatement of $94.56, being sewer assessment against Abatement. the property of Mildred E. Wyman on Locust Avenue and which the Board agreed to abate, was signed by the Board. 307 Letter was received from John W. Duff & Sons in which they gave figures in regard to the invoices on the Cary Memorial Building built -n 1927-1928 and compared them with figures on the same materials being furnished now for the Dracut School Built in 1935. He again recommended that the Board make an insurance appraisal of the Town buildings and gave as his figure to do the work of apprais- ing all the buildings, $1700. Insurance The Chairman stated that Mr. Duff called at the of- Appraisal. five today and he informed him that the Board had decided that they would not spend any money for an appraisal this year, and after being so informed, he rendered this letter. It was decided not to take any action on the matter. Letter was received from the Town Accountant in which he called attention to the fact that there were sew- er assessments against the property of Marjory B. Bluitte, which property had been forclosed by the Town and taken over under tax title, and the Board discussed the matter Bluitte and stated that they felt if it was abated it would be Ababement. overlooked when the property is taken over The Clerk informed the Board that the Town Account- ant stated that the property would be sold by the Board of Assessors and in selling the property they would take this matter into consideration Mr. O'Connell felt that the town, in taking over tax title property rarely gets the proper title to the pro- perty and that through some technicality the title is usually not clear and if this is ao, Marjory Bluitte would get the benefit of the abatement . It was voted not to sign the abatement. The Chairman reported that it was necessary to em- plgry an E.R.A. investigator to investigate the applica- tions for E.R.A. which were to be all reviewed, and he stated that he had made aggrangements to employ Miss Chapin who was recommended by the E.R.A. office at a salary of $25.00 per week, which includes the use of her car. E. R. A. The question arose as to whether or not a local per- Ingestigator. son should be employed in this work and the Chairman stated that the E.R.A. office preferred to have someone who was not familiar with the cases in the town. It was voted to approve the employment, the expense to be borne by the Welfare Department. Verbal suggestion was received from Dr. Blakely that the dogs which had been inoculated might be allowed to run from now until March 1st. This he felt might give Dogs. some encouragement to persons who have taken the trouble to inoculate their dogs. The Board felt that it would be considerable work for the Police Department to look after the dogs if this 308 was allowed and, decided to let the order remain as it stands until March 1st. Circular letter was received from Dr. Chadwick en- closing a copy of a flyer addressed to dog owners which Dogs. he felt was suitable to be given out at the tine of the issuing of the annual dog license. No action was taken on the matter as the circular “- had also been sent to the Town Clerk. Letter was received from the Civil Service Commission- er in which he stated that the eligible list for police Police service in Lexington would be extended to May 1st as re- Dept. quested by the Board. Mr. O'Connell suggested that a third sergeant be ap- pointed in the Police Department and that with the in- crease of the two men on the Department which it is in- tended to employ, he felt that an appointment Should be made. The Board felt that the suggestion should come from the Chief of Police and decided to ask him to come before the Board next Tuesday evetifilg t'o discdsa the s.ett'er. - 9 * The reports of the Supt. of Streets and Supt. of rub- Reports. lie Works for publication in the annual Town Report were received. Letter was received from the Bureau of Old Age Assis- tance in which they advised that the salary of William De- vine, son of Sarah Devine, was receiving $54.15 a week where Devine he was employed with the Edison Ill. Co. , and they there- Old Age. for felt that the aid being rendered to his mother in the amount of $6. per week should be reduced to $4. per week. Mrs. Devine is now living faith her son, having had a shock, and it was voted to accept the recommendation of the Bureau of Old Age Assistance. Letter was received from the Planning Board in which they stated that they voted to approve and encour- Kinneen age the Board of Selectmen 's proposal to purchase the Kin- Pond. neer Pond as a park to be used for sports and suggested that they might render assistance to the Selectmen in de- veloping or carrying out the proposal. Letter was received from the Planning Board in which they enclosed an article for the Town Warrant to change Warrant. the zone at the corner of East and Lowell Streets on the property of Mrs. Catherine Kelly. The Board decided to insert the article in the War- rant. Planning Letter was also received from the Planning Board in Board. which they asked that they be given an appropriation of $300. for technical assistance. 309 The Chairman stated that they desired this owing to the fact that when they desire to make a special study of a tract of project, the Town Engineer has sometimes not been able to give them the necessary time to make a study. The Board felt that this was a reasonable request for them to make and voted to approve the appropriation of $300. to be in4uded in the request for the regular appro- priation for the Planning Board. Application for incorporation of Burdett College Cert. of Alumni, Inc. in which William H. Ballaid was one of the Incorpor. incorporators, was signed certifying to the character of William H. Ballard. Letter was received from the Water and Sewer Supt. in which he called attention to the fact that Hobart N. Croeker of 20 North Hancock Street advised that he was not in a position to pay his over-due water rates of Crocker $26.34. Mr. Ross stated that he was going to shut. off Water Rates. the service and he desired to have the Board so advise him if they decided on any other procedure. The Board felt that this was the usual procedure and did not see any particular reason why they should not up- hold Mr. Ross 's notice to shut off the water. Letter was received from the Supt. of the Water and Sewer Dept. in whichrhe gave figures on the cost of ex- tending water under two different schemes to prodide ser- vice to the Prilgousky family on Wellington Lane . The first scheme to lay a twelve inch main in the new Concord Avenue highway from Pleasant Street northerly and an Wate Main; eight inch main in Lawn Avenue and also in Wellington Wellington Lane Avenue would cost $12,325. The second scheme would Lane. cost $8,865. He recommended that if the Board acts fav- orably on the project, that scheme #1 be adopted as scheme #2 would be too much of a draft on the distribu- tion system could avail themselves with water from that extension. He also called attention to the fact that the Department had a letter from Mr. Worthen requesting that they give consideration to an extension of water main on the new Concord Avenue Highway for fire protection. Safety Survey Report was received from H. L. Jones, Chief Engineer of the Employers1 Group, giving a report Accident of his inspections of the accidents occurting under the Report. compensation insurance. Letter was received from the BuildingInspector in which he reported in regard to the dogs oVinton W. Mason Dogs. Mason that Mr. Mason still had two more dogs on the pre- mises when he made his inspection and he gave him notice that he would have to get rid of all the dogs in ten days. 310 COD CD The Board decided to wait for two weeks and request another report from the Building Inspector as to how many dogs he had at that time before taking any action,[ The Chairman called attention to the fact that the Water Dept. presented a bill for Edward O'Connor for ser- O'Connor vices as electrician at the union rate of $1.372 an hour. Bill. He felt that there was no reason why union wages should be paid to anyone employed by the town. The Board discussed the matter of various town em- ployees using gasoline for their private cars from the tanks at the Public Works Building and decided to inform Use of Mr. Scamman that some time ago when the use of gasoline Gasoline. was discussed, the orders were given that no person should obtain any gasoline from the tanks and calling his atten- tion to the fact that these orders should be lived up to and no gasoline should be used in any but the tanks of the town-owned cars. Letter was received from Mr. Ross in which he asked what persons were allowed the use of gasoline from the tanks at the Public Works Dept. It was also decided to notify him that the matter was taken up some years ago and that orders were given that no gasoline shouldbe fur- nished to anyone. The Board felt that town employees should not make any charge for the use of their cars. Mr. Seaman reported in regard to the Highway truck that was burned at the Public Works Building that he esti- Highway mated the cost of repairing the truck to be $100. and he Truck. recommended that it be repaired and used as it was need- ed for E. R. A. work The Board authorized the Supt. of sub. Works to have the truck repaired for the sum of $100. rather than pur- chase a new one . Incidentally, the mechanic at the Pub- lic Works Building stated that the truck is in excelatent running order. The Chairman called attention to the fact that Town Employees park their cars in the driveway to the Cary Memorial and Town Office Buildings and he felt that notice Parking. should be sent to them to park their ears in the rear of the hall where parking space is provided. The Board authorized the Chairman to send the notices. The Board discussed some of the articles for the War - rant for the Annual Town Meeting and considered having- Wgrrant. a special meeting for the drawing of the Warrant, but it was finally decided that the Chairman should look after the matter. 311 Statement of blasting damages to the house of Wil- liam V. T. Hinckley, 335 Marrett Road, was presented to Blasting the Board. The damage was done while blasting was being Damages. down on Waltham Street. No action was taken. Letter was received from Henry J. Wood, owner of the house occupied by Dr. Chester L. Blakely in reference to Blasting the blasting damages done to the house. Damages. It was decided to loo k up the report of the Engineer in reference to the damage done. The Chairman reported that he interviewed Peter Kin- neen in regard to the purchase of approximately 4i acres of land on Burlington Street where there is a pond which has been flooded recently for skating and he felt that an offer should be made for the land of $1000. The Fed- Kinnean eral Band Bank held the mortgage on. the property and they Property. would have to be consulted in regard to the sale. It was voted to authorize the Chairman to proceed to make negotiations with Mr. Kinneen on the basis of purchasing the land for $1000. Mr. O'Connell reported that some of the residents of Winter Street were registering land and desired to ' have a lay out of the street made in that section. Winter The Board informed him that the residents of that Street. section had been previously advised of the procedure to have a Board of Survey lay out made and to have the street accepted. Mr. O'Connell relt that the section should be studied by the Town and the lay out made by the Board. No action was taken on the matter. Circular letter was received in regard to the Dutch Dutch Elm Elm Disease. No action was taken on the matter. Disease. Letter was received from the aupt. of Public Works in whifih he stated that owing to t1ie fire at the Public Works uilding, the large door should be replaced and some of the doors are also in need of repa,r . He asked the• Overhead Door Sales Co. and F. H. Newton Co. to give Door at prices for necessary repairs and replacements. The bid Public Wks. from the Overhead Door Co. was $370. net and F. H. Newton Building, Co., $380.00. He recommended that the work be given to the Overhead Door Sales Co. The Board felt that the price of $270. for a new door to replace the door burned was rather high and de- cided to inquire whether or not this door could be re- paired. Letter was received from Albert A. Ross in which he Sewer Job, called attention to the fact that application was made Extra Items. to the P.W.A. authorities requesting the approval of 312 certain items which were not a part of the original con- tract, namely the replacing of the wall at Bow Street at a cost of $112.92; the construction of a fence along the railroad in accordance with the request of the railroad company, $112.74; the employment of a watchman at the cost of $794.50; $225. labor and materials involved in plastering of the man holes; changing the course Of Sickle Brook in order to obstruct the flow of water at a cost of between $400. and $500.00. All of these items were disapproved by the P.W.A. authorities as in these cases the P.W.A. Inspector approved the items. The Board felt that if the item of plastering the manholes was not included in the original contract that Mr. Ross should have had the approval of the oard be- fore proceeding to do the work. It was decided to request Mr. Ross to furnish infor- mation to the Board why this and the other items had not been approved by Board. Letter w2s received from Willard 0. Hill in which he informed the oard that recently on the Harvard College Insurance they increased the schedule 12i% and he felt that this information shoved that there was not any need of reduction in the schedule. Robert Whitney came before the Board and presented Insurance. to the Hoard a sheet giving the value of all the Town Buildings and stating therein the manner in which he had worked out his proposition to increase the coinsurance to 90% rather than 80% and thereby decreasing the insurance._ On tBe various buildings obtaining a lower rate by which the additional insurance, approximately $58p0.00 might be added and the Town would still be carrying more in- surance at a less cost than at present. The Board reviewed the figures and decided that Mr. Trask should talk the matter over with Mr. Hill and rew bort at• the text iaee#ing. The matter of the salary of George Harrington was Salary of discussed and it was decided to consult with the Supt. Harrington. of the Water and Sewer Dept. and the Town Engineer to obtain information in regard to Harrington's duties be- for taking any action. The meeting adjourned at 10:30 P. M. A true record, Attest: Clerk.