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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1939-10-16466 SELECTMEN'S MEETING OCT. 16, 1939. A regular meeting of the Board of Selectmen was held in the Selectmen's Room, Town Office Building, at 7:30 P.M. Chairman Giroux, Messrs. Potter, Sarano and Locke were present. The Clerk was also present. Mr. Rowse arrived at 7:55 P.M. Mr. Raymond appeared before the Board. He said that in the matter of the Busa claim, he thought that if Busa would execute a satisfactory release in connection with the Vine Brook taking, construction of the channel, that a fair Busa award of damages would be t375.00. He said be expected claim. that we should have the approval of the Town Counsel on this, however, and if the Board considered this a fair figure, he suggested that the matter be taken up with the Town Counsel. Mr. Potter moved_ that an award of $"375. be approved, subject to the approval of the Town Counsel. Mr. Sarano seconded the motion and it was so voted. Mr. Raymond said that in the matter of articles for the warrant for the Town Meeting to be held on November 13th, he would like a transfer of funds from the Road Machinery Fund to the Road Machinery Account to allow the purchase of , Town two sand spreaders and a,new sidewalk tractor and snow plow. Meeting During the'past year, all three of the sand spreaders went Articles. out of commission on the same job. They have been repaired several timesand Mr. Raymond thought that if we had a bad ice storm, it would be a long time before the Highway Depart- ment would be able to cover the streets. One spreader has been purchased since Mr. Raymond came here and the others were purchased before that time. The spreaders will coat about $300. each. He said there were two persons in the past who wanted their horses used for plowing snow, but one was near the Arlington line and the other was near the Waltham line and the horses would be all in by the time they reached the places they were supposed to plow. He and Mr. Paxton thought that a McCormack -Deering tractor should be purchased because they felt it would :;e the best for speed and because it could be used on other work. This will cost about $1900.00. Mr. Potter moved that the Selectmen recommend 'the purchase of the two sand spreaders and the sidewalk -tractor. Mr. Locke seconded the motion and it was so voted. Mr. Raymond said that he was asking for $1,000. for Snow Removal and said that the department was harder up now than it was last year at the same time for funds for snow removal. There is just about enoug# money to take care of ' putting out snow fence and taking care of ordinary sanding. If we get one six inch snow storm, they will not be able to take care of it. Mr. Raymond said he did not think they . ought to be put in the position of having to declare an 1 emergency in the middle of a snow storm and the Board agreed with him. He said that he would like to get more than 1,000. as that would take care of only one five inch storm. He thought °1500. would be a fairly safe figure. Mr. Potter moved that the Selectmen approve the request for „1500. to be transferred from the Excess & Deficiency Account or other available funds. Mr. Sarano seconded the motion and it was so voted. Mr. Raymond reported that the Lexington Chapter DeMolay had requested the use of Cary Full on Dec. 14th for a rehearsal and Dec. 15th and 16th for a play. Admission will be charged and the money will be used for charities and a scholarship fund. Mr. Potter moved that a charge of $10. be made for the dress rehearsal and a charge of x25. be made for each night of the play. Mr. Locke seconded the motion and it was so voted. Letter was received from William E. Fiske of 71 East Street stating that before the Vine Brook project was started, he possessed a frontage of 859 feet along the brook which was taken from him by Eminent Domain. Mr. Fiske presented various claims because of the taking and requested reimbursement. Mr. Raymond said that he had not had a chance to check up on the matter but thought there was no question but that Mr. Fiske could show a considerable amount of damage. Mr. Potter moved that Mr. Raymond study the matter further and discuss it with Mr. o"drightington before reporting to the Board. Mr. Locke seconded -the motion and it was so voted. Letter was received from Luigina Coscia claiming damages to her property because of the Vine Brook project and taking. Mr. Raymond said he thought there was some money due Mrs. Coscia for the destruction of her trees, but he would like an opportunity to study the matter further. Mr. Potter moved that the matter be referred to Mr. Raymond for further study. Mr. Locke seconded the motion and it was so voted. Mr. Raymond said he had received a request from Mr. J. L. Douglass of Sheridan Street for the use of the grader in smoothing; out that street. He told Douglass that he would take the matter up with the Board to see if it would allow the use of the machine without charge after the con - ,tractor got out. The contractor has some more grading to do. The Chairman asked if he thought that this was some- thing that should be done for nothing, and Mr. Raymond said he did not believe it should be done for nothing, but suggested a charge of $1.00 so that at some future time, they could not say the Town had done the work for nothing. He also recommended in exchange for this, that Mr. Douglass be requested to give a release in connection with the Vine Brook job. Mr. Sarano moved that both Mr. Raymond's recommendations be approved. Mr. Potter seconded the motion and it was so voted. Use of Hall. Fiske claim Coscia claim. Use of Grader - Douglass 468 Mr. Raymond reported that he had approved of the School location which Mr. Brindle had selected for a shelter for shelter. school children, which is between Westview Street and Hinchey ' Road. Mr. Locke moved that the site be approved even though the shelter mill be within the twenty foot set back line required by the Zoning Law. Mr. Sarano seconded the motion and it was so voted. Mr. Raymond said he wanted to buy some rubber -lined hose for the Highway Dept. Some time ago, they told the Purchase salesman for the Boston Belting and Hose Co. that whenever of Hose. he had a good buy, to let them know. They heard from the salesman today, and he said he had some hose the town could buy for 0.62,, a foot. They got prices from two other com- panies which were higher than this price. Mr. Sarano moved that the purchase of approximately 300 feet of hose at 0.622 A foot be approved. Mr. Locke seconded the motion and it was so voted. Letter was received from the Lexington Fruit Co. stating that within the past several years, the town had received complaints regarding the levelness of the sidewalk in front of their store at 1740 Mass. Ave. Some time ago, the sidewalk was patched, but in their opinion, this seemed Sidewalk to make matters worse. The letter said that within the past 1740 Mass. month there had been two near accidents and the company Ave. wished to go on record as reporting that the sidewalk was ' dangerous and should be taken care of immediately. Mr. Raymond said he thought that a new sidewalk should be put in. The Chairman asked if there was money enough to do the work and Mr. Raymond said he thought that the money could be found in Highway Maintenance. The Board instructed Mr. Raymond to do the work at his convenience and to call the Fruit Co. and tell them it would be done as soon as possible. Letter was received from Mr. Sexauer of the Federal Land Bank of Springfield relative to the proposed changes Kenrick and improvements in Vine Brook where it flows through a farm claim. of Oscar B. Kenrick, 114 East Street. The letter said the changes would lower the brook about 22 feet and this probably would have an adverse effect on the water table of the land adjoining the brook. They wanted to know what provision was being made to protect Mr. Kenrick from this damage. Mr. Raymond said he had requested the Town Counsel to draft a reply to be sent to the Federal Land Bank and the Chairman told Mr. Raymond to sign the letter. Letter was received from Robert %hitney advising that Insurance. fire insurance under blanket schedule in the sum of W10,000 expired on Nov. 24th. Mr. Potter -moved that the policy be renewed through the same office for a period of five years. Mr. Locke seconded the motion and it was so voted. ' Letter was received from the Appropriation Committee advising that that body approved the painting of the Barnes, �. house and would be prepared to transfer an amount not in excess of $250.00 from the Reserve Fund to the Town Office and Cary Memorial Building Expenses account when such additional money was needed, and in the event that the telephone expenses exceeded the budget estimate by the approximate amount of $200.00. Letter was received from Charles E. Teeter, Jr. of 463 Concord Ave. stating that his Sept. lst water bill was X26.79 as compared with $,310.74 for the same quarter in 1938. Mr. Teeter listed various reasons why he felt the bill was in, error, even though the meter registered accurately. Report was received from the Supt. of the Water Department advising that on Aug. 17th when the meter reader called at Teeters, he noticed that the meter was leaking. The next day the meter was removed and taken to the water shop for testing and it tested 99.9%. Upon examining the meter, it was found that the leak was due to the packing, which had dried up. Mr. Ross said that the leak in no way could register on the meter. Mr. Rowse moved that the request for an abatement be refused on the basis of Mr. Ross's report. Mr. Potter seconded the motion and it was so'voted. Im Painting Barnes house - f unds . Teeter water bill Letter was received from Mr. J. A. Corbiey offering ' to purchase six acres of the back part of the former Ryder Offer for land on Woburn Street for the sum of $600. It was decided lots. to hold the matter over for one week so that the committee could look at the property. Letter was received from Mr. L. W. Slocomb of 91 Gleason Road stating that he was willing to pay the sum of Tax title $300. for lots 36 and 37 in Block 22, Dexter Road, prov- property, i ding the lots had a clear title, the property surveyed and Dexter Rd. the taxes paid through the current year. Letter was received from Ready and Mott stating that they were willing to complete the sale for the Town without any commission. Mr. 147rightington appeared before the Board and the Chairman asked him if the town could give Mr. Slocomb a clear title. Mr. 'Nrightington said that in order to do so, we would have to pay 110th of the assessed valuation for the registration of the title, plus publication charges. He said the examination they make on tax title foreclosures is very sketchy. Mr. Rowse moved that the offer of $300. be accepted and that Mr. Slobomb be advised that it is not the practice of the town to give a survey or plan of lots taken by tax title foreclosure and that ordinarily the purchaser has the title examined himself. Mr. Potter seconded the motion and it was so voted. The Chairman read a letter from Mr. Wrightington to Mr. Raymond which said that he saw no escape from requiring 470 Connors Brothers to give a three year bond'on the garbage contract unless the Selectmen decided to change the terms of the contract. Mr. Potter asked Mr. 'Urightington if it would be satisfactory if Connors Brothers gave a cash bond. , Mr. Wrightington said he thought that would be all right. Garbage Mr. Thomas Connors appeared before the Board. The contract. Chairman asked him if he would care to consider a cash bond in the sum of $5,000. and have that held under an agreement during the period of the contract. Connors said that that would be agreeable to him and that he was all ready to start with the exception of the bond. He has been unsuccessful in securing a bonding company which will give him a three year bond. The Board accordingly signed the contract and the Clerk was instructed not to release it until instructed to do so by the Town Counsel. Chief Sullivan appeared before the Board. The Chair - Police at man asked him to look into the matter of the way his police fires. officers handled traffic at fires. He suggested that the Chief consult with Chief Taylor and come to some agreement as to how the matter should be handled. The Chief said he would do that. The Chief said that the trouble was that motorists beat the police to the fires as a usual thing. The Chairman asked Chief Sullivan to have the police officers keep after the cars parked in the bus stop on Mass. Parking. Ave. east of Waltham Street. Mr. Rowse asked the Chief what could be done about , merchants and other people using restricted parking areas in the center of the town hours at a time. The Chief said that there were only a couple of afternoons a week vdzen there was much traffic in the center, and when parking over- N time was bothersome. Mr. Rowse asked if the department had done anything about it, and the Chief said that they had not been doing anything about it. Mr. Rowse asked him to get after the chief offenders. Mr. Rowse asked Chief Sullivan about establishing a speed limit in Lexington, and the Chief replied that he did Speed not believe Lexington was congested enough. In Arlington limit. it is different because the area along Mass. Ave. is all congested. He said since April, he had sent in 300 names of traffic offenders to Registrar Goodwin. The Chief retired. Weiss Letter was received from Hyman Weiss who holds a junk junk license in Lexington requesting that the Board grant license. him permission to hire Arthur Donohue of Arlington to drive his truck. Mir. Locke moved that Mr. Weiss be informed that the Board had no objection to this. Mr. Sarano seconded the motion and it was so voted. Pigeon Letter was received from John Lamont, Health Inspector, permit. advising that he had called on the neighbors of the McCarter ' family, 23 Hancock Street. Three persons skid they would have no objections to a permit to keep pigeons being granted 1 D 1 Idw If the pigeons were not allowed out and two persons said they had no objections. Mr. Potter moved that a permit to keep four pigeons be granted. Mr. Sarano seconded the motion and it was so voted. The Board considered Webster L. Taylor's offer to purchase Lot 9 on Lincoln Street for 050. Mr. Rowse moved Offer for that Mr. Taylor be advised that the Board would accept property. $100. for the lot. Mr. Sarano seconded the motion, and it was so voted. The Chairman brought up the matter of Edward Casey's application for permission to keep pigs at 76 Laconia St. Casey He said that Messrs. Sarano and Potter recommended that the pig neighbors be contacted to see if they have any objections permit. to the granting of the permit, but the Board turned the application down without doing this. The Clerk was therefor .instructed to write the neighbors and ask if any had any objections to the granting of the permit. Mr. Morse appeared before the Board relative to Wel- fare matters. Welfare. Commitment of water miscellaneous charges in the amount of $261.74 and commitment of sewer miscellaneous charges in Commitments the amount of $26.99 were signed by the Board. Mr. Rowse moved that upon the return of Lawrence G. Mitchell from his vacation on Oct. 17th, that he be assigned Mitchell'v to work in the Welfare Department under Mr. Morse's direct- employment ion, at a salary of $?25.00 per week through January 25th, 1940. Mr. Locke seconded the motion and it was so voted. The meeting adjourned at 10:30 P.M. A true record, Attest: C er