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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1938-11-28AA get SELECTMENISMEETING �= NOV. 28, 1938 , A regular meeting of the Board of Selectmen was held in the Selectments Room, Town Office Building, at 9:20 P.M. Chairman Giroux, Messrs. Potter, Ross, Clark and Rowse were present. The Clerk was also present. Note of A note of thanks was received from Mrs. Charles E. thanks. Hadley and family for flowers sent upon the death of Mr. Hadley, former Sealer of Weights and Measures. Letter was received from Edwin B. Worthen, Clerk of the Isaac Harris Cary Educational Fund. The letter stated Offer to that the Trustees were ready to dispose of the lot of land sell land, on Clarke Street adjoining the Cary Memorial Library and to Clarke St. offer the land to the Tovin for X1500.00. The lot contains 12,508 square feet and is assessed for 0,130.00. The Clerk stated that if the Town accepted the offer during 1939, it would seem reasonable to assume that the 1939 tax would be abated. The Clerk was instructed to have a plot plan prepared to be studied at the next meeting. Letter was received from the Town Accountant stating ' Police that the liabilities incurred against the Police Dept. account. account might be in excess of the unexpended balance. A copy of a letter to Chief Sullivan was attached showing a balance of 80.50 whereas the monthly expenditures run from V200. to N300. No action was taken on the matter. Mr. Raymond appeared before the Board. He stated that Vine Brook he had been advised by the Federal authorities that the Project. town should request an advance grant right away and get the 15% from the Government and use it on the Vine Brook Drain and Sewer Project. He recommended that the Board authorize him to request such a grant. Mr. Rowse moved that the recommendation be approved and hat Mr. Raymond be author- ized to request an advance grant. -Mr. Clark seconded the motion and it was so voted. Mr. Raymond recommended that the starting date for the North Lex. North Lexington Sewer Project be set at December 5th. Mr. Sewer Clark moved that that date be approved:\ Mr. Ross seconded Project. the motion and it was so voted. Mr. Clark moved that the contractr the North Lex- ington Sewer project with P. DeCristafar & Co., Inc. be signed. Mr. Rowse seconded the motion and it was so voted. Mr. Raymond stated that the salesman for the City ' Service Co. had offered a new contract for motor fuel at one quarter of a cent lower than the contract we have now 41 expiringDecember 31st, with a maximum price one cent lower 1 than Up price we have now. The maximum now is aj� per gallon and he offers it at 71.¢. The Chairman asked if the contract should be awarded without obtaining bids from other concerns. Mr. Clark recommended that the bids be received from other concerns such as the Standard Oil Co. of New Jersey, the Standard Oil Co. of New York, the Texas Co., etc. Mr. Raymond said he did not believe that the City Service Co. would submit as low a bid. He also said that the contract was dated Dec. 1st, 1938 and he did not believe that he could get the other bids in by that date. The Chairman suggested that he try to get a week's extension from the City Serkice Co. Mr. Raymond said that he had had a request to try to plow a sidewalk from the overpass on Waltham Street down to Allen Street, but said that it was impossible to plow there because there is no sidewalk. The request came from a person having two small children who is afraid because the Plowing children have to walk on the street. Mr. Rowse moved that the Supt, of Public Works explain the situation to the com- plainant with the suggestion that the matter be taken up with the School Department to see if it could take care of the matter in some other way. Mr. Potter seconded the motion and it was so voted. Mr. Raymond said that he had received a request to 1 plow Bbwker Street with a truck instead of a plow, and the Supt. of Streets did not want to be responsible for starting a truck at the top of Bowker Street. Mr. Raymond said that he did not care to be responsible for it either. Mr. Ross moved that no action be taken on the matter. Mr. Rowse seconded the motion and it was so voted. Mr. Raymond said that by tonight the town probably was overdrawn on the Snow Removal appropriation. Approximately 02,000. has been spent on the last two storms and he said that at least $2,000. should be available on December lst to take care of snow. The Chairman said he talked with the Town Accountant and it seemed to him that the best thing to Snow do was to have Mr. Raymond decide how much money he needed Removal to get through the month of December and then to go over account the various accounts to see how much money was available for transfer at a Town Meeting. The Chairman stated that the State grant of $16,500. could not be used for snow removal. Mr. Rowse asked what kind of bills would be unpaid if money was not available and Mr. Raymond said that the bills would be for sand, salt and equiment. Mr,'Rowse asked Mr. Raymond how much he thought would be overdrawn, and he said he thought it would be about y 200. or 4'�300. Mr. Rowse moved that the Supt. of Public Works prepare a statement showing the cost of snow removal to date, also the amount of money overdrawn and that he submit the matter to the Appropriation Committee with the request that a transfer be made from the Reserve Fund to cover the amount needed in order to save the expense of calling a Town Meeting for such a small amount of money. Mr. Ross seconded t_1e motion and it was so voted. ",ompl ai nt re snow. Cataldo case. Parking rules Typewriter Mr. Clark stated that he wished to make his annual complaint that the streets in Lexington were over -cowed. Mr. Raymond read a letter from Mr. Wrightington stat- ing that Jerry Cataldo claimed that certain ditches had been dug or brooks straightened near the Arlington -Lexington line so that water from farms northeast of the Arlington Heights Reservoir which formerly were wet are now dry, which water is brought by these channels into the Arlington Heights Reservoir. Mr. Wrightington said he was unable from the ddscription, to identify the exact locality of the work. He suggested that Mr. Raymond arrange to have someone from the Town Offices go with Cataldo on the land and see what streams and farms he referred to. He said that the investigation should be made to determine whether the work was done in Lexington or Arlington and by whom it was done, etc. Mr. Clark moved that the Supt. of Public Works be authorized to detail someone to go with Cataldo as suggested by the Town Counsel. Mr. Ross seconded the motion and it was so voted. Mr. Raymond stated that under Section 3, Article 2 of the Traffic Rules and Regulations, the Selectmen could Instruct the Police Dept. to prohibit all night parking where the Highway Department had to plow snow. Mr. Rowse said that there should not be all night parking on public streets anyway. Mr. Potter moved that in accordance with Article 2, Section 3 of the Traffic Rules and Regulations of the Town of Lexington, the Chief of Police be autborized to prohibit parking after midnight in excess of one hour on any street or highway within the confines of the town during the 9no,w plowing season. Mr. Rowse seconded the motion and it was so voted. Messrs. Clark and Ross voted in opposition. Mr. Raymond suggested that the Board request the Appropriation Committee to approve a transfer of about 015. to the Supt. of Public Works' Expense account. He said that last year he asked for a new typewriter but did not get it. It looks now as though he would have about $95. left in his appropriation and 14. has already been spent on repairs for the machine this year. Mr. Rowse suggested that he get bids on typewriters and that the matter be held over for one week. Mr. Raymond presented a revised copy of the agreement 'Sewer between Arlington and Lexington in the matter of sewer Agreement connections. He said that the agreement was satisfactory to him and he believed Arlington was going to sign a similar one tonight. It will be necessary to go before the town again for final approval. Mr. Ross moved that the new agreement be signed. in' the f ollowing form. Mr. Potter seconded the motion and it was so voted. fl 1 u 14 r AGREEMENT AN AGREEMENT made this 28th day of November, 1938 between the Town of Arlington, a municipal corporation in Middlesex County, of the one part, WHEREAS both Arlington and Lexington are included in the Metropolitan Sewer District and sewage from Lexington now flows through a trunk line or trunk lines in Lexington into similar lines in Arlington; and ffiMEEA.S in certain sections of the two Towns adjacent to the line between them it will be more economical to dis- charge sewage from sewers directly into the street mains of the other Town instead of directly to the trunkline of each Town respectively, and it is the purpose of this agreement to provide a reciprocal arrangement for that purpose, and this agreement is entered into on behalf of the said Towns by their respective Boards of Selectmen but is to take effect only upon ratification thereof by the Town Meetings of the respective Towns; and WHEREAS when used herein the word "sewer" refers to sanitary sewers and not to drains for surface -water; NOVI, TAEMPORE, in consideration of the premises and ' of the mutual agreements herein contained it Is hereby mutually agreed as follows: 1. Whenever the Town of Lexington shall build a sewer in Crescent Hill Avenue, Lexington, extending to or near the Arlington line, the Town of Arlington may connect with it sewers in Arlington within the area shown on the plan hereto annexed marked "A", and discharge through it sewage from the said area. 2. Whenever the Town of Lexington shall build a sewer in Daniels Street, Lexington, extending to or near the Arlington line, the Town of Arlington may connect with it sewers in Arlington within the area shown on the plan hereto annextd marked "B", and discha ge t1r ough it sewage from the said area. 3. The Town of Lexington may connect a sewer in Lowell Street, Lexington, to the Arlington sewer in Lowell Street at or near the Arlington -Lexington line and through that Lowell Street sewer in Lexington discharge the sewage from an area described as follows: Beginning at a point on the Arlington -Lexington town line at the center of Summer Street so-called, thence north- easterly 900 feet along said town line,thence northwesterly a distance of 1000 feet to a point about 600 feet northeast- erly of the center line of Summer Street, thence southwest- erly about 1000 feet to a point on the center line of Lowell Street which is 1500 feet measured along the center lihe of `4 said Lowell Street from the point where the Arlington - Lexington line crosses said Lowell Street, thence south- ' westerly by a line perpendicular to Lowell Street for a distance of 150 feet, thence southeasterly and parallel with said Lowell Street to the saidArlington-Lexington town line, and thence northeasterly by said Arlington -Lexington town line to the point of beginning. Said area is shown on the plan hereto annexed marked "C". 4. Neither Town shall be obligated to pay any part o;f thb Cd9 t of Cbh8't11Uct1ai3 of 3na.intehAhffe of Sewrers iii the other Town except such parts.of sewers across the town line as it may choose to construct at connecting points. Any construction by one Town in the other shall be in a manner satisfactory to the Superintendent of the Sewer Department of the other and thereafter the surface of the ground excavated shall be restored by the Town making the excavation to the condition in which it was before such excavation. No charge shall be made by either Town to the other for the facilities hereby accorded. 5. This agreement shall take effect when ratified by the Town Meetings of Lexington and Arlington respectively. IN WITNESS WHEREOF the parties hereto have caused this instrument and a duplicate original thereof to be signed ' in their names and on their behalf and their respective corporate seals to be affixed by their respective officers thereunto duly authorized. TOWN OF ARLINGTON By James R. Smith Willard A. Wallace TOWN OF LEXINGTON By Archibald R. Giroux A. Edward Rowse Philip M. Clark Albert A. Ross William G. Potter Letter was received from Metcalf & Eddy relative to contract "A" of the Vine Brook Drain and Sewer. The letter stated that.DiMarco & Ciccone, Inc. had submitted a quotation covering the use of Well Points for the entire length of the line in place of under drains for the larger portion of the Vine Brook line. The contractor believes that this will be a conven- job. ience to him in construction. The engineers believed that from the town's standpoint, it would result in better ' progress, less leakage and somewhat tighter joints. They believed the amount of the change order would be approx- imately $5,000. The Engineers believed that the cost to the Petition was received signed by eleven residents to make Taft Avenue, from Mass. Ave. to Cherry Street, a coasting street. Mr. Raymond said he thought it would be Taft Ave. all right from Cherry Street southerly, but he did not Coasting. approve of allowing coasting at the Mass. Avenue end of the street. He recommended sanding that portion and allow- ing the children to coast on the upper portion of the street. Mr. Potter moved that the Superintendentts recommendation be approved. Mr. Rowse seconded the motion and it was so voted. ' Letter was received from the Town Counsel stating that the Lexington Trust Co. was cancelling its insurance on the Aldrich property on November 25th. The Chairman stated that a binder in the amount of 3,000. had been put on the barn and another in the amount of $2500. had been put on Aldrich the house. The Chairman asked Mr. Raymond his opinion on property the matter, and Mr. Raymond said he would not put any insurance insurance at all on the house as it had little or no salvage value. Mr. Ross moved that the binder on the house at 20 Lincoln Street be allowed to lapse and that no insurance at all be put on this particular building. Mr. Rowse seconded the motion and it was so voted. It was decided to take no action at the present time on the insurance on the barn. The Chairman asked what the Board wanted to do about ordering the people out of the premises. Mr. Rowse moved that all buildings on the property at 20 Lincoln Street be ordered vacated at once. Mr. Ross seconded the motion and it was so voted. The Chairman said one of the terms of the deed was that all buildings must be torn down, but Mr. Garrity would like to have the barn and kennels left standing. Mr. Clark asked what the hurry was in tearing down the buildings, and the Chairman said that it was to meet Mr. Hayden's request. The Chairman asked if the Board wished to give Mr. Garrity authority to talk to Mr. Hayden about leaving these buildings standing, but it did not wish to do so. Mr. Potter moved that Mr. Giroux be given permission to consult with Mr. Hayden to see how town on the basis of the original contract without this change order would be about the same amount. There is a ' possibility, however, if a substantial length of larger size of under drains should be required, that the cost on the original basis would be in excess of the cost under this change order. The Engineers recommended the accept- ance of the quotation by the town and the issuance of a change order in accordance vd th it, subject of course to the approval of the P.W.A. The Chairman asked Mr. Raymond if he recommended that the change order be approved and he replied in the affirmative. Mr. Ross moved that the change order be approved. Mr. Potter seconded the motion and it was so voted. Petition was received signed by eleven residents to make Taft Avenue, from Mass. Ave. to Cherry Street, a coasting street. Mr. Raymond said he thought it would be Taft Ave. all right from Cherry Street southerly, but he did not Coasting. approve of allowing coasting at the Mass. Avenue end of the street. He recommended sanding that portion and allow- ing the children to coast on the upper portion of the street. Mr. Potter moved that the Superintendentts recommendation be approved. Mr. Rowse seconded the motion and it was so voted. ' Letter was received from the Town Counsel stating that the Lexington Trust Co. was cancelling its insurance on the Aldrich property on November 25th. The Chairman stated that a binder in the amount of 3,000. had been put on the barn and another in the amount of $2500. had been put on Aldrich the house. The Chairman asked Mr. Raymond his opinion on property the matter, and Mr. Raymond said he would not put any insurance insurance at all on the house as it had little or no salvage value. Mr. Ross moved that the binder on the house at 20 Lincoln Street be allowed to lapse and that no insurance at all be put on this particular building. Mr. Rowse seconded the motion and it was so voted. It was decided to take no action at the present time on the insurance on the barn. The Chairman asked what the Board wanted to do about ordering the people out of the premises. Mr. Rowse moved that all buildings on the property at 20 Lincoln Street be ordered vacated at once. Mr. Ross seconded the motion and it was so voted. The Chairman said one of the terms of the deed was that all buildings must be torn down, but Mr. Garrity would like to have the barn and kennels left standing. Mr. Clark asked what the hurry was in tearing down the buildings, and the Chairman said that it was to meet Mr. Hayden's request. The Chairman asked if the Board wished to give Mr. Garrity authority to talk to Mr. Hayden about leaving these buildings standing, but it did not wish to do so. Mr. Potter moved that Mr. Giroux be given permission to consult with Mr. Hayden to see how Curbing Ryder tax title cases. much of the buildings he would be willing to save, with the understanding that the interview was not committing the Board in any way. Mr. Ross seconded the motion and it was so voted. Letter was received from Robert C. Merriam regarding curbing construction. It was decided to hold the matter over for one week. At 10;30 P.M. the Town Treasurer appeared before the Board. He said he wished to discuss the matter of the Ryder tax titles, and said he had two communications from Commissioner Long regarding them. Mr. Carroll said that the whole proposition came under the jurisdiction of the Town Treasurer and Mr. R. L. Ryder had seen him previously regarding an extension of time. There are some cases coming up on Dec. 15th, and in Mr. Carrollts opinion, a final de- cision will be handed down on that date. C. W. Ryder went to Commissioner Long and apparently requested Long to ask Mr. Carroll to give him an extension of time. Mr. Carroll thought that where the Town Counsel was handling the cases, that he was the one to make the decision on the extension of time, but he found out that that was not so. Mr. Wrightington suggested that he get the Board's opinion on the matter. He read a letter from Mr. Long stating that Charles W. Ryder wanted an extension of time to August 1, 1939 as he felt by that time that the Ryders would have sold enough property to satisfy the Court and the Town. Mr. Long said he thought nothing would be lost to the town if the request was granted but said that the matter was entirely up to the Town Treasurer, Mr. Carroll wrote Commissioner Long and told him that he did not know how any action could be taken by him as Town Treasurer.inasmuch as the cases had been turned over to the Town Counsel and were in the Land Court awaiting a final decision from the Judge. Mr. Carroll did not be- lieve he could interfere. Mr. Long replied and said that it was the policy of the State of Massachusetts to allow people to keep property if it was at all possible for them to do so, and he asked if Mr. Carroll would be willing to agree to a little longer postponement. The Chairman told Mr. Carroll that the Selectmen had instructed Mr. Wrightington some time ago to go ahead and force the collection in the Land Court. The reason for this was that the Board had an agreement with the Ryders drawn up which would have ended the whole issue, but the Town turned down the agreement. Therefor the Board took that action to mean that the Town desired to go ahead and enforce collection. Mr. Carroll asked if it was the Boardts feeling that that was still the instruction of the Town and the Chairman replied in the affirmative. He asked the members if they wished to change their position on the matter in any way, and none of them did. Mr. Carroll said that he understood teat the position of the Board was the same and the Chairman said that that was correct. D 1 MI, Mr. Carroll said he wished to discuss the Elections appropriation. He said that the Board of Selectmen have the right to appoint the Election Officers, and to set'the rate of pay, provide food for the election workers, etc. He said that up until two years ago, it was handled through the Town Clerk, but he found that there were variations in the rate of pay and the food furnished, so he suggested that Elections a separate account be set up for Elections. The Chairman budget asked what items under elections would come under the juris- diction of the Town Clerk and he said that they would be such things as setting up booths, providing rulers, pencils, etc. The Chairman asked him how he would feel about making up his budget for that part of the elections he should handle and including it in the budget that the Selectmen made up and have only one budget for the Elections account. He said that whet he wanted to do was to have the account separated into two parts, one for the part he should handle and the other for the part the Selectmen should handle. It was decided to hold the matter over for one week until Mr. Wrightington's opinion in the matter had been received. Mr. Carroll retired. Report was received from the Health Inspector on the brook at Marrett Road which runs into the Reservoir. Com- plaint had been received some time ago that this brook was Marrett a definite health menace. The analyses of water taken from the brook before it crossed Marrett Road showed no polution. Road brook ' Mr. Lamont recommended that the culvert under Marrett Road be lowered and the land owners instructed to clean out the brook and he thought that a constant flow of water vnuld result. Mr. Clark moved that the matter of the culvert be referred to the Supt. of Public Works for report. Mr. Rowse seconded the motion and it was so voted. Deed of Lots 32-36 inclusive in Rosemont to Charles Deed R. and Nora Alter was received, and signed by the Board. Letter was received from Robert Whitney requesting that he be given consideration when the bond on the Vine Insurance Brook project was placed. The applications of John J. Rudd, 1845-1849 Mass. Avenue and Joseph Trani, 1757 Mass. Ave., for retail package goods store licenses were received. Letter was received Liquor from the Chief of Police statin; that neither of these licenses persons nor M. B. Berman of 12 Mass. Avenue, nor James Philips of 1882 Mass. Avenue, had been arrested for any liquor violation or any violation of the law during 1938. Mr. Potter moved that the licenses be granted subject to the approval of the Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission. Mr. Clark seconded the motion and it was so voted. r The -report of the Moth Committee appointed in 1938 was Moth received. The matter was held over for one week. Report. 48 v� Commitment of water rates in the amount of $6342.23 Commitment. and commitment of water liens in the amount of 050.22 were signed. The meeting adjourned at 11:03 P.M. A true record, Attest: f� Clerk. 1 1