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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1937-10-19 47 SELECTMEN'S MEETING OCT. 19, 1937. A regular meeting of the Board of Selectmen was held in the Selectmen' s Room, Town Office Building, at 7:30 P.M. Chairman Ferguson, Messrs. Potter and Ross were present. The Clerk was also present. At 7:30 P.M. , the Town Treasurer appeared before the Board and submitted the following bids received on the $100,000.00 loan in anticipation of revenue, notes to be dated October 20, 1937 and payable July 29, 1938 Second National Bank - .468 R. L. Day & Co. - .67 First Nat. Bank of Boston- .66 Loan. Lexington Trust Co. - .68 N. E. Trust Co. - .469 Chase Whiteside & Co. - .51 plus $1. Mr. Ross moved that the bid of the Second National Bank in the amount of .468 be accepted. Mr. Potter seconded the motion and it was so voted. At 7:32 P.M. bids were received on the loan of $24,000. to be dated October 20th, 1937 and payable as follows 5,000. October 20, 1938; $52000.00 October 20, 1939; 5,000.00 October 20, 1940; $5,000.00 October 20, 9141; Loan for $4,000.00 October 20, 1942 purchase Second National Bank - 10 - 100.486 of Barnes Lexington Trust Co. - l*% - 100.25 property. Tyler and Co. - 10 - 100.399 Chase Whiteside & Co. - 111% - 100.39 Mr. Ross moved that the bid of the Second National Bank be accepted. Mr. Potter seconded the motion and it was so voted. At 8 00 P.M., hearing was declared open on the appli— cation of George J. Tessier, Jr. for permission to maintain Tessier a one car garage at 22 Downing Road, Lexington. Mr. garage Tessier appeared and presented plan of the proposed garage. hearing. No persons appeared in opposition. Mr. Ross moved that the permit be granted subject to the approval of the Building Inspector. Mr. Potter seconded the motion and it was so voted. At 8:02 P.M., hearing was declared open on the appli- cation of the Home Finance Co. for permission to maintain Home a one car garage at 32 Liberty Avenue, a one car garage Finance at 36 Liberty Avenue and a one car garage at 38 Liberty Co. garage Avenue. No one appeared to represent the petitioner. Mr. hearings. Potter moved that no action be taken on the matter. Mr. Ross seconded the motion and it was so voted. 48 CO 30 At 8:08 P.M. , hearing was declared open on the appli- cation of the Fuelite Natural Gas Corp. for permission to Gasoline maintain one underground tank with a capacity of 500 hearing - gallons for the storage of gasoline for their own use on Fuelite the premises at 313-315 Marrett Road. Mr. Pope, manager Natural Gas of the company, appeared. He said that the pump would Co. be in the rear of the building. Mr. Ross moved that the permit be granted. Mr. Potter seconded the motion and it was so voted. Letter was received from Richard A. Clarke applying Application for a position as janitor of the Barnes property, providing for one was to be appointed. Mr. Ross moved that the letter position. be placed on file for future consideration. Mr. Potter seconded the motion and it was so voted. Letter was received from Alice R. Cook of New Use of hall Bedford, asking if Cary Memorial Hall could be granted denied. for a first class residence stock company for the coming winter, performances to be held four or five evenings each week and one matinee. Mr. Ross moved that the request be denied. Mr. Potter seconded the motion and it was so voted. The agreement between the Town and J. Willard Hayden relative to the extension of the water main in Shade Street and the assessment of betterments thereon was signed as follows: AGR.EEM RNT. This agreement by and between the Town of Lexington, in Middlesex County, Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and J. Willard Hayden, also of said Lexington, in consideration of the sum of Five Hundred Twenty-seven Dollars and thirty- one Cents ($527.31) paid by the said Hayden to the Town of Lexington, the receipt whereof is hereby acknowledged, Shade Street WITNESSETH Agreement. That the said Town agrees to install an eight inch water main in Shade Street in said Lexington for a distance of approximately 1320 feet easterly from Weston Street, said installation to be completed in time to make running water available to the residence of the said Hayden not later than December 1, 1937, at the usual meter rates with hydrants placed in Shade Street, one opposite the driveway to the residence now being erected and one opposite the entrance to the site of the First Lexington Pageant, approximately 75 feet from the corner of Weston Street. That for the consideration hereinbefore stated, the Town of Lexington does hereby release and discharge the 49 said Hayden, his heirs, executors, administrators and ' assigns from any and all liability to assessments for better- ments aS a result of the extension herein provided for or as the result of any future extensions, renewals of enlarge- ment of water main past or adjacent to property of the said Hayden on said Shade Street as long as said property is used as a reddence by the said Hayden, or his heirs or by his wife, N. Blanche nayden or members of his family, or is used for charitable purposes, and the Town of Lexington waives curing such period the right to assess, lay or collect alleged betterments arising out of the existence of said water main in Shade Street or any extension, enlargement or rene*al thereof. IN WITNESS WHEREOF the Town of Lexington has caused this agreement and a duplicate thereof to be executed in its name and behalf by the Selectmen of the Town of Lex- ington, lhereunto authorized in Town Meeting duly assembled and held on the 27th day of September, 1937, and J. Willard Hayden has set his hand and seal this 14th day of October, 1937. MAJORITY OF I SELECTMEN OF TOWN OF LEXINGTON Charles B. Ferguson II William G. Potter Albert A. Ross I J. Willard Hayden Bo rd of Appeals order granting permission to Charles Board of W. R7der to maintain a real estate office and sign on Appeals Winthrop Road Extension at Waltham Street, was noted. order. Ap lication was received from Roy C. Peterson for permiss on to sell Methyl Alcohol at his filling station Alcohol oh the oncord Turnpike at Blossom Street. Mr. Ross moved license that th permit be granted. Mr. Potter seconded the motion and It as so voted. Th Chairman stated that a few weeks ago, the Board vote, t truck the material excavated from Waltham Street Waltham to t: e layground and to charge the expense incurred to Street the al ham Street ap ropriation. In connection with this funds. work heysuggested that the Board pass a vote to make avai ab e the $4700.00 appropriated for the construction of W it am Street to be used in conjunction with the money II appr)pr ated by the State and County. Mr. Ross moved that the .s ug estion be approved. Mr. Potter seconded the motion nd it was so voted. 50 fV 3Q Letter was received from the Administrator on the Unemploy- Census of partial employment, unemployment and occupation, went. relative to the national census of the unemployed. It was decided to hold the matter over for one week. At 8:10 P.M. , Mr. Warren G. Lawson of 151 Follen Road appeared before the Board. The Chairman read a letter received from Mr. Lawson requesting that a sewer be extended in Follen Road from Smith Avenue to take care of his property. Mr. Lawson said that he had lived on Follen Road for about twelve years and the situation had reached a point where he could not do much more about it. He has built another cesspool and a large dry well and put in a trench forty feet long with a dry well on the end of that. He said his difficulty was that he is on level ground and is therefor unable to put in a septic tank. To do that, it Pollen Road would be necessary to go down six feet below the surface Sewer and that would spoil the drainage as he would be down into blue clay. The sewage now backs up into his kitchen. Mr. Ross asked how many houses there were between his house and Smith Avenue. He said there was one on his side and two on the opposite side of the street. Mrs. Allcock, whd lives opposite Mr. Lawson' s property, would probably object. Ernest Cutter lives beside him and the Chairman asked if he had any trouble. Mr. Lawson said that he did have trouble when he first went there but he put in a dry well and 1ias not had trouble since. Mr. Raymond and Joseph Ross have been up there and they both say that there is absolutely no use in spending money on it any more. He asked if the Sewer Dept. had a reserve fund from which funds could be taken to do this work. The Chairman said that there was an appropriation for sewer construction in Sundry Streets and if there was enough money in that appropriation, the cost of the work could be charged to it. Mr. Lawson said that he was in a very bad situation and he asked that the Board give the matter favorable consideration. He retired. At 8:15 P.M. , Mr. Stephen Hamblin appeared before the Board and asked if the Board could make some reg- ulations that would make it better for the children riding bicycles to cross Mass. Avenue at the High School. The Chairman said that we had bicycle regulations in force Bicycle now. Mr. Hamblin said that they did not take care of the regulations.situation at the High School adequately. The bicycles turn into the drive before they get to the traffic officer. The officer stops traffic to allow pedestrians to cross but it has been ruled that a bicycle is a vehicle. Mr. Hamblin said that when his child was hit, the motor cycle officer passed two lines of traffic. He wondered why this was so unless this was an emergency and if this was an emergency, the officer would have had a siren. Mr. Hamblin said that this was the second accident that had 51 occurred a; the High School this year. The Chairman said that he thought the Supt. of Schools was more acquainted with the situation and he would suggest that Mr. G-indle and the Chief of Police make some suggest- ion as to ;he proper regulations to be adopted. He said that the Beard would be pleased to take the matter up with Mr. Grindle and the Chief. The Selectmen could then adopt their reco*amendation if they approved it. Mr. Ross thought that the main trouble was that two busses were unloading at the same time. The Chairman said that private citizens unloading children also complicated the situation. Mr. Hamblin asked how long the Chairman thought it would take before the regulation was submitted and the Chairman said he thought it should come in within a week. Mr. Hamblin said he hoped the regulation would be enforced after it was adopted . He retired. The Clerk was instructed to take the matter up with the Supt. of Schools and the Chief of Police. At 8 30 P. M. the Chief of Police and Forrest Knapp Knapp appeared before the Board to discuss the matter of Knapp's suspension. suspension by the Chief. No action was taken on the matter. The C'l.airman said that Mr. Edward Crown of Curve Street had requested that the Arlington Elks be granted permission Beano to run Beano parties in Lexington. Mr. Ross moved that the parties . request be denied. Mr. Potter seconded the motion and it was so voted. Mr. Rpbert L. Ryder appeared before the Board to dis- Ryder cuss the proposed agreement in the various Ryder drainage agreement cases. Mr. Wrightington informed the Board that he talked with Charles Viano on the case of Colonial Garage Inc., vs. Torn of Lexington and was told that another lawyer was going to try the case. Eugene Viano told Charles Viano that the Selectmen were not going to do anything on the case and that he was going ahead and have it tried. He believed Charles Viano when he said that Eugene Viano would Colonial not be satisfied with the settlement of anything but the Garage settlement of $9,500.00. The Chairman asked Mr. Raymond Case. how much it would cost to encase in concrete the sewer pipe in the right of way beside the Colonial Garage. Mr. Raymond said it would cost about $2500.00. The Chairman said that if the BoaJrd offered to settle for approximately what it would cost to do the work, it would be in order. Mr. Wrightington said that that was what Viano was going to consider. He found that there was no statutory authority for abandoning a sewer but there is authority for abandon- ing a highway. There is also no statutory authority to compel_ a man to take back something you have taken from him. Fie wants his money, but there is nothing to prevent him from accepting an offer from the town. Mr. Wrightington 52 said that the Vianos were insisting on doing something and said that they had a right to have the case advanced for speedy trial. The Chairman said that Mr. Raymond could submit a detailed estimate of the cost of encasing the pipe and if the matter was discussed next week with the full Board, the matter of submitting a proposition to the Vianos could be considered. Mr. Wrightington said that he would tell Mr. Charles Viano that the Board would discuss the matter again next week. Mr. Ross requested that Mr. Raymond also submit an estimate of what it would cost to shift the pipe over to the old right of way. Mr. Wrightington informed the Board that he talked Cummings with D. J. O'Connell about the Cummings case. He told case. Mr. O'Connell that Mrs. Cummings was not damaged and asked if he thought Mrs. Cummings would settle for $100 .00. Cummings O'Connell said to make it $200.00. Mr. Ross moved that case. Mrs. Cummings be offered $100.00. Mr. Potter seconded the motion and it was so voted. Mr. Wrightington said that nothing had been done in Scheibe the Scheibe case and that the Selectmen ought to decide ease. what they wanted to do about it. No action was taken on the matter. Letter was received from the Town Counsel with reference to the deed from the Barnes heirs to the Town. Barnes Mr. Wrightington said that Northrup claims that the vote property. which the Town adopted authorized purchase for $29,000.00 plus abatement of taxes for the current year. The Chair- man said that the Board would see if the Assessors would abate the taxes for 1937. The Town Counsel said that the Board could hold the town' s check and Northrup could hold the deed until the taxes were abated. Mr. Ross asked Mr. Wrightington if the Town would be Harvey compelled to pay Officer Harvey for the period of his suspension- suspension. Mr. Wrightington said that he assumed when salary. a man was suspended, he was not earning his salary although the Statute says nothing about salary . The Chairman said that there would not be any sense in suspending the man if he was going to be paid. Mr. Raymond presented a letter from the District Plowing Highway Engineer asking the Chairman of the Board, tb Route 2A. sign an agreement to pay one-half the cost of plowing snow on Route 2A for a distance of approximately .20 miles. Mr. Raymond said that the Town plowed Mass. Ave. anyway and he could see no sense in agreeing to pay one- half the cost of this short strip from the Maple Street bridge to Marrett Road. Mr. Ross moved that no action be taken on the matter. Mr. Potter seconded the motion and it was so voted. L_ 53 M . Raymond said that he estimated that it would cost $1800. 10, plus resurfacing, to install a sewer in Follen Road f om Smith Avenue to serve the Lawson house. There is app oximately $1800.00 in the Sewer Construction Sundry Street account. He said that there was another sewer emerge cy in Hayes Avenue which he had just heard about. The Ch. irman asked if it was a health menace and if so, which extension was most vital right now. Mr. Raymond Sewers. said tiat he had not had a chance to see the Hayes Avenue job ye , but he thought the two streets were on a par. The Ha es Avenue job would cost about $1900.00 and it would erve only the Wardsworth house. The assessments on the Follen Road sewer would amount to about $1900.00. It was decided to hold both matters over for one week. Mr. Raymond read a letter which he had received from the Town Counsel which stated that the town had no right to do the work of lowering the sidewalk in front of St. Work at Brigids Church, as the work of widening the driveway had Church been done to provide more room for parking and was done property. by the owner on his own initiative. For that reason, Mr. Wrightington said that the town should not stand the expense of lowering the walk. Mr. Ross said that he would like a copy of the letter to submit to Father McCarthy. Mr. Raymond read the proposal submitted by Roessler & Sons of Woburn to make repairs to the Capt. Parker' Captain monument for the slitof $595.00. The Chairman said he Parker noticed that no performance bond was mentioned in the Monument. proposal and he thought the Statute required one. Mr. Raymond said that he would look into the matter. The following bids for furnishing eight inch cement lined cast ironP A i e were received:- Warren Pipe and Foundry Co., Inc. - $1.28 per foot delivered Bids on U. S . Cast Iron Pipe & Foundry Co. - $1.30 per foot on pipe. cars in Lexington. M . Ross moved that the bid of the Warren Pipe and Foundry Co. be accepted. Mr. Ferguson seconded the motion and it was so voted. M.- sewage Raymond informed the Board that the sew ge from the 1775 House was polluting Clematis Brook again. Mr. Sewage Ross moved that the matter be turned over to the Health Inspector for investigation and report. Mr. Ferguson seconded the motion and it was so voted. The Chairman signed W.P.A. form #4516 for copying W.P.A. Town records. form. Mr. Raymond said that they had a lot of clerical work in the Highway Department which they were not getting Clerk for caught up on. He would like to put on another clerk for Highway Dept five or six weeks. There is no money in the Highway 54 n= ag Maintenance, Personal services appropriation, but he thought that the expense could probably be charged to the Highway Maintenance Expenses account. The Chair- man suggested that Mr. Raymond discuss the matter with Mr. Russell to see if this could be done. Mr. Ross moved that another girl be hired to do the necessary work provided Mr. Russell approves having the expense charged to this appropriation. Mr. Potter seconded the motion and it was so voted. Letter was received from J. Willard Hayden request- ing that the telephone poles on Shade Street between his Poles on driveway and Andresens, bemoved to the other side of Shade St. the street. He requested that the Board discuss the matter and take favorable action on the request. The Board felt that it would have no objection to relocating the poles provided the abutters had no objection. It was decided to refer the matter to Mr. Raymond to contact the Telephone Company on the matter. Mr. Ross moved that the Telephone Company be advised Telephone that the Selectmen had received a verbal request from the wires. Pastor of St . Brigids Church that the telephone wires in Mass. Avenue from Elm Avenue to a point opposite Forest Street, be installed underground and that the company be requested to give the matter consideration. Mr. Potter seconded the motion and it was so voted. Letter was received from the Appropriation Committee Insurance. relative to the Board' s request that funds be transferred from the Reserve Fund to pay for increasing the valuation on Town properties by 10%. Several questions were asked and it was decided to hold the matter over for one week. Mr. Ross moved that the vote of the Selectmen at a meeting held on January 12, 1937 to pay the insurance Insurance on Chief Taylor's car and that the additional cost of on Chief insuring the car with M plates be deducted from the allow: Taylor's car. ance made Mr. Taylor for his car be rescinded. Mr. Potter seconded the motion and it was so voted. Mr. Ross then moved that the following vote be passed: Voted that the Town pay the whole insurance on Chief Taylor's car and that he reimburse the town that amount which it would cost him to insure the car as a private individual. Mr. Potter seconded the motion and it was so voted. Welfare The Welfare Agent discussed welfare matters with the Board. The meeting adjourned at 10:45 P.M. A true record, Attest : Clerk.