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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1940-01-03 573 SELECTMEN'S MEETING Jan. 3rd, 1940. 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, Rowse, Locke and Sarano were present. The Clerk was also present. At 7:30 P.M. Mr. John W. Raymond, Jr. , Supt. of Public Works, Mr. E.A. Lindstrom, Plumbing Inspector, and the following plumbers appeared: Mr. Charles E. Collins, Lester Andrews, Vernon C. Page and William A. Coakley. The Chairman informed the group that the meeting had been called to discuss a proposed change in the charges for permits . He stated that the Selectmen did not want the plumbers to get Plumbing the idea that the Board wanted to make it difficult for any charges. of them and were not picking on them or any other group. He said if this Board or other Boards were negligent in not es- tablishing charges that conformed With those in other communities, then the matter should be rectified as soon as possible. He said the Selectmen had been considering making some specific charges for alterations or replacements of plumbing fixtures. The Chairman said the following fees had been suggested: New Construction,: The base charge for a plumbing permit shall be §2.00 plus 24 per fixture and 24 for each future fixture connection or appliance. Alteration Replacement : The-abase charge for a plumbing permit shall be §1.00 plus 25 cents per fixture and 25cents for each future fixture connection or appliance. Mr. Page said that this would add considerable to the permit costs. The present rate is $2.00 with no charge for extra fixtures. One replacement would cost $1.25 where it costs nothing now. He thought this would add to the burden on the plumbers and that all the taxpayers would not have to share the burden. Page said he was not in favor of having any charges. Mr. Lindstrom said that if he issued a permit for two fixtures in the future it would cost $1,00 and under the present system it cost $1.25. Mr. Andrews said that on a new house with five fixtures the charge would be $3.25. He thought that Lexington needed something so that the Plumbing Inspector could check up on outsiders doing work here. He said he knew in times past, work had been done by outsiders where no permit had been taken out. He said that if a plumber saw that some fixtures had been replaced, he could check up with the Plumbing Inspector to see if a permit had been taken out. Mr. Lindstrom pointed out that the change would make it cost less for replacements than it does now. Mr. Potter asked what a fixture connection was, and 574 Lindstrom said that it was something left in a house for a future connection. A plumber will rough in a house and leave a connection for a fixture there but will not do the work until some later date. Mr. Coakley said that he did not do much work here but thought it was up to the citizens to decide, as they had to pay ford the work. He said that there was no charge whatsoever in Winchester. The Plumbing Inspector there refuses to collect any money as he feels that that is the collector ' s job. If the department needs revenue, and the Town feels that this is the way to get it -- it is just a matter of opinion. Mr. Sarano asked if this was going to complicate business . Supposing a plumber went into a house after having obtained a permit and found that there was more work to be done than he expected, he wondered if it would be necessary to go down and get a revised permit. Mr. Lindstrom said that all the plumber would have to do would be to report the extra fixture and pay the extra quarter. Mr. Rowse asked why the plumbers would not benefit by a much closer inspection, and Mr. Page said that the inspection was close enough now. Mr. Rowse asked if there was additional inspection required under the proposed set-up and Mr. Lindstrom replied in the negative. Mr. Page said he did not favor the proposed change and did not see how it would cost a man more money. Mr. Andrews said he had no objection to the proposed change. Mr. Coakley did not believe the change would help matters any and that the advisability of it was a matter of opinion. Mr. Page objected strenuously and Mr. Collins thought it would cost a man more money on replacements. The Chairman told the group that the matter would be dis- cussed further, and they retired at 8:05 P.M. After some discussion on the matter, Mr. Rowse moved that the following plumbing permit rates be established: New Construction: The base charge for a plumbing permit shall be 02.00 plus 25 cents per fixture and 25 cents for each future fixture connection or appliance. Alteration Replacement : The base charge for a plumbing permit shall be 01.00 plus 25 cents per fixture and 25 cents for each future fixture connection or appliance. Mr. Sarano seconded the motion and-it was so voted. At 8 :10 P.M. Chief Sullivan and Sergeant Russell appeared before the Board. The Chief said that he had received the Board's letter relative to placing a maximum speed sign an Pleasant Street Police and that while he was in accord with the tan who made the matters. complaint, he did not- believe that anything could be done on enforcing the speed limit there because there is no congestion. The Chairman explained to the Chief the main reason for re- questing the sign to be erected, which is because Pleasant Street is the entrance to Lexington from the Concord Turnpike. 575 The Chief said that we could not put up signs that would interfere with the State Law. However, he said he could see the Chairman' s point and thought it was a good one. The Board therefor asked him if he would order the sign and place it wherever he thought best. The Chairman asked him to go down to see Mr. Shanahan and explain the situation to him and he agreed to do that. The Chairman informed the Chief that the people on Hancock Street still complained about the speeding there. General traffic conditions were discussed. Mr. Sarano asked if the lights going off at twelve o'clock inconvenienced the Police Department, and the Chief replied in the affirmative. He said he would prefer to have the street lights on all night , of course. Mr. Rowse asked if there was some advantage to having the police car painted white, and the Chief said he thought there were some advantages. However, he would like to think the matter over before deciding whether or not he would recommend it for Lexington. The Chairman asked him to find out the cost of painting the police cars white and to inform the Board. They retired at 8:30 P.M. Letter was received from A.P. Rounds, contractor on the North Lexington Pumping Station, asking for an extention of time of 119 days on the completion of his contract. Mr. Round's letter listed the reasons for his request. At 8:30 P.M. Mr. Raymond, Supt. of Public Works and Messrs. Alden, Whitman and Wentworth of Metcalf & Eddy, appeared before the Board. Mr. Raymond said that he understood the Selectmen had received a letter from Mr. A.P. Rounds dated December 30th and that that letter included some new things. He said he Rounds did not know if Mr. Eddy had seen the letter, but Mr. Whitman contract. said that Mr. Eddy had seen it but had not had an opportunity to study it. Mr. Raymond said they thought that tonight this matter might possibly be taken up in the nature of a statement by Mr. Rounds followed by a recommendation or statement by Metcalf & Eddy. It develops that ,Mr. Rounds is having new ideas and Mr. Raymond said it seemed best to conduct this hearing as an opportunity for Rounds to explain his case to the Board and that Metcalf & Eddy would like to have a copy of the record. He said probably it would be best not to ask questions, even when Rounds said something that would indicate that a reply should be made by Metcalf & Eddy. He said that if Messrs. Wentworth and Whitman were in a position to say anything when Rounds got through, all right, but Mr. Raymond said he believed they wished to listen and make a study of the information Mr. Rounds gave. 1The Chairman asked the other members of the Board if they had any objection to Metcalf & Eddy being given a copy of the record of the present discussion, and there was no objection. 576 Mr. Whitman said that probably Rounds did not ow of the vote of the Board regarding liquidated damages, and unless they had to, he thought it best not to menti n any- thing about liquidated damages. Mr. Rounds appeared before the Board at 8:45 P.M. The Chairman informed him that the Selectmen were ready to listen to anything he had to say to them. Mr. Rounds said that the meeting was called to see if there was some way they could get the job settled up. He said he understood Mr. Eddy was coming out. Mr. Wentworth said that he represented Mr. Eddy as he was unable to be here. Mr. Rounds said that when Mr. Eddy and he talked about this matter, the gist of the conversation was to try in some way to get a completion date and final estimate on the Rounds contract. ' At the present time, there remains to be done weather-stripping on the doors and windows, for which he has just received an extra work order, and this work is apt to delay the completion another two or three weeks. He said tha this was not in the contract and there ought to be some way to straighten out the whole matter and complete the job. The Chairman asked Rounds if there was anything he wished to say relative to his letter of December 30th."` Mr. Rounds said what he had to say was set forth clearly in that letter. The Chairman said that he merely thought Rounds might want to add something to it. He said the Board had nothing to say as it had had no chance to study the question; it merely wanted to listen to what Rounds had to say and after that, it would study the matter. Mr. Rounds said the main thing was to find some way to get the job finished up and if the Board had any suggestions he would be glad to hear them. The Chairman asked Mr. Raymond if there was anything he wished to say. Mr. Raymond replied that he understood i Rounds wanted to appear before the Board of Selectmen. Rounds said he was in Mr. Eddy' s office last week and in his discussion with„Mr. Eddy, they thought that a common ground could be found in relation to the completion of the job if they got together with the Selectmen and talked the thing over. He. said there had been no work done on. the pumping - station for nearly two months. He said he was not getting completion or his final estimate. Mr. Wentworth asked Rounds if he wanted to do the extra work order. Rounds said he did not care about doing it ; he would rather not do it if it was going to delay completion another two or three weeks. Mr. Raymond said that the Town wanted the work done somehow. Rounds said that if left P.W.A. out of it, he thought he could get the work done for about one-half the cost and it would not cost the Town any more. He Said the man he had figured. th4 job said he could not come here for less than $50.00. He said the trouble was that some people did not care to bother with P.W.A. work now. Mr. Wentworth said that it was just a 4 577 small job of weatherstripping a few doors and windows and that it would take a very short time . Mr. Rounds said that a good reputable concern said it was likely that the work would take two weeks. He said the specifications were not very definite, did not exactly say what was to be done . Mr. Wentworth said that they could not give Rounds a date of completion until the weather-stripping work work was done. Mr. Rounds said that the way the contract read, he would say that the engineers could order him to do the work and it would have to be done. He said that that was one way of getting the work completed. The Chairman said that the Selectmen depended on the engineers to work out matters such as these with the contractor and they were not supposed to listen to .small details. Mr. Wentworth asked the Board to kindly understand that Mr. Rounds asked for this 'hearing to see if he—could get an extension of time. He said there were things in his letter of December 30th that Metcalf & Eddy had never heard of before. The Chairman said he thought it was up to Rounds to get together with Metcalf & Eddy end work out the details of the matter. He said that if Rounds wanted to say anything, he wanted to give him every fair chance to do so. He asked Mr. Rounds again if he wished to say anything. Rounds said that his letter of December 30th covered the extension of time as well as if he told the whole story. The Chairman said that this was merely wasting time talking over technical matters. Rounds said the most import- ant thing was getting the job completed and that was something that could be done if everybody agreed that was the thing to do. The Chairman said that we had a Supt . of Public Works and the town employed engineers to report through him to the Selectmen, and the Government has engineers, and all these people would have to get together and report their recommenda- tion to the Selectmen. Mr. Rounds asked if it would be in order if the group withdraw and discussed the matter and reported to the Selectmen later on in the evening. The Chairman said that he could not say whether or not the engineers and Mr. Raymond were prepared to state that they would arrive at a decision this evening, but the group could withdraw and discuss the matter. When Mr. Rounds is ready to make a recommendation to the Selectmen, all right. Mr. Wentworth acid that he was willing to sit down tonight with Mr. Rounds to .see what he wanted and what could be done on the whole matter. The group retired at 8:55 P.M. Mr. Morse appeared before the Board to discuss Welfare Welfare matters. The Chairman said that there was $830.92 left in Public Welfare funds and their unpaid bills for Somerville and the Pondville Hospital total $1233.36, leaving a shortage of Welfare $402.44. The .1)ecemb r bills amount to $1846:19, making a funds. total shortage of *2248.63. Yr. Raymond said that there was $250. 578 the $1500. made available for Snow Removal. Mr. Morse moved that the Selectmen request the Appropriation Committee to res- cind $250. of the $1500. made available for Snow Removal and that the sum of $2400. be transferred from the Reserve Fund to the Public Welfare Expenses account. Mr. Sarano seconded the motion and it was so voted. Letter was received from Mr. Fred W. Longbottom, Building Inspector, giving the Selectmen formal notice of the termination of his services as Building Inspector as of Resigna- January 31st, 1940. The Chairman asked Mr. Potter to tion of telephone to Mr. Longbottom and ask him if he would consider Building taking a leave of absence. Mr. Potter telephoned to Mr. Inspector.Longbottolp,but Mr. Longbottom said that he would not consider taking a leave of absence because his health was very poor. Mr. Rowse moved that Mr. Longbottom' s resignation be accepted with the sincere regret of the Board of Selectmen inasmuch as his services have been most valuable to the Town of Lexington during the period of his appointment beginning in 1931. Mr. Potter seconded the motion, and it was so voted. Forest Mr. Potter moved that Mr. Edward W. Taylor be appointed Warden. Forest Warden for the year 1940, subject to the approval of the State Forest Warden. Mr: Sarano seconded the motion and it was so voted. Mr. Potter moved that the following persons be appointed Special Police Officers for the period Jan. 2 through Jan Special 17, 1940: Elsworth Pierce, Richard E. Truesdell, Jesse E. Police. Condinho, George Smith, A. Robert Shea, Frederic B. Hunneman, Hubert Hynes, Paul McEnroe, A. Tylomas Ferry, Mr. Locke seconded the motion and it was so voted. Upon motion of Mr. Sarano seconded by Mr. Rowse, it Water was voted that the following water main order be signed: Order. ORDER OF TAKING By the Town of Lexington of Easement fob the Construction of a Water Main. COLONY ROAD (From the present end a distance of approximately 400 feet northeasterly. ) WHEREAS, at a meeting duly called and held on March 20-, 1939; the Town Meeting of LeAington pursuant to an article in the warrant of the meeting for which due notice wets given, duly adopted by unanimous vote the following vote and made an appropriation there- , 579 IIfor: "Voted: That the Selectmen be authorized to install water mains in such accepted or unaccepted streets, as may be applied for during the year 1939 in accordance with authority contained in the By-laws of the Town, subject to the assessments of better- ments, and to take by eminent domain any necessary easements therefor, and for the purpose of said installation the sum of $4,000.00 be appropriated, this money to be provided by the transfer of 1,000.00 from the Water Assessment Fund and the transfer of 3,000.00 from the Water Department Available Sur- plus Account . AND WHEREAS, at a meeting duly, called and held on November 13, 1939, the town meeting of Lexington pursuant to an article in the warrant of the meeting for which due notice was given, duly adopted the following vote and made an appropriation there- for: "VOTED: That the sum of $1,000.00 be appropriated for die Water Construction, Sundry Streets Account, this amount to be transferred from the Water Assessment Fund, That an additional sum of $2,000.00 be appropriated for Water Construction, Sundry Streets, this sumto be transferred from Water Department Avail- able Surplus". AND WHEREAS, the right of way and easement hereinafter des- cribed and taken are necessary for the establishment and main- tenance of the said water main; NOW, THEREFORE, the Board of Selectmen of the Town of Lexington, acting as a Board of Water and Sewer Commissioners, for and in behalf of the said town, by virtue of the authority conferred upon them by the foregoing vote and of every other 1 power them thereto enabling, hereby adopt this order of taking by eminent domain, for the said public improvement for the r s pu po a of constructing and maintaining a water main in Colony Road from the present end a distance of approximately 400 feet northeasterly as aforesaid, the following easement, namely: The right to enter upon the land as Colony Road on a plan entitled, "Plan of Proposed Water Main in Colony Road, Lexington, Mass. , Scale : 1 in. - 40 ft. , Jan. 3, 1940, Joseph A. Ross, Supt. Water Dept. " and owned by Lulu M. Blake and Elizabeth M. Bu.rton, and construct therein a line of water main with all necessary connections , shut-offs, and appurtenances substantially as shown on a plan of Joseph A. Ross, Supt. , Water Department, dated Jan. 3, 1940, to be recorded herewith. The easement covered by this taking includes the right on the part of the Selectmen of the said town or other duly authorized agents of the town to enter upon, dig up, open and use the land embraced within the said way as may be reasonably necessary ' for the purpose of initially constructing and thereafter main- taining, operating, inspecting, repairing and replacing from time to time the said water main, ( the said town being always I bound to see that the ground after the completion of the work in each case is cleared of all surplus material and surface left in as smooth and good condition as at the time of entry) . 580 Betterments will be assessed for this improvement in accordance with the provisions of Chapter 80 of the General Laws. The area which it is expected will receive advantages other than the general advantage to the community from such improvement comprises the several lots shown upon the plan of Joseph A. Ross, Supt. Water Department, above referred to, which are designated in the schedule hereto annexed and made a part hereof. We estimate the betterments that would be assessed upon each said parcel of land to be as shown in the said schedule. We determine that no damages have been sustained and none are awarded. To have and to hold the said easement of the Town of Lexing- ton, its successors and assigns, to its and their own use and behoof forever agreeable to the provisions of the said Chapter 79 of the General Laws and all pertinent acts in amendment thereof or supplemental thereto. IN WITNESS WHEREOF the undersigned being a majority of the Board of Selectmen of Lexington aforesaid have hereunto subscribed our names this third day of January, 1940. Archibald R. Giroux SELECTMEN A. Edward Rowse Geo. W. Sarano OF Errol H. Locke William G. Potter LEXINGTON COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS Middlesex, ss. Jan. 3, 1940. Then personally appeared the above named Archibald R. Giroux, William G. Potter, A. Edward Rowse, Errol H. Locke and George g W.' Sarano, and severally acknowledged the foregoing instrument by them subscribed to be their free act and deed and the free act and deed of the Board of Selectmen of the Town of Lexington, before me, James J. Carroll Notary Public Mar. 14, 1945. SCHEDULE OF ESTIMATED BETTERMENTS REFERRED TQ IN THE FOREGOING ORDER COLONY ROAD (From the present end a distance of approxi- mately 400 feet northeasterly) . 581 Ow ner as of Jan. 1st, 1939 Lot No. Assessment Lulu M. Blake 14 $67.71 Lulu M. Blake 24 89.27 Lulu M. Blake 108.00 Elizabeth M. Burton 270.00 Mr. Potter moved that the following licenses be granted: Frank R. it'icCarthy, 50 Edgemoor Road, Belmont, Trans. of Garbage James Philips, 1803 Mass. Ave. Common Victualler Charles M. Pierson, 807 Mass. Ave. " Ce-Lect Ice Cream, Inc. , 1781 Mass. Ave. " " Hattie E.A. Peckham, 37 Hancock Street " " Licenses Harriet L. Child, 1775 Mass. Ave. tv Edson A. Pero, 1786 Mass. Ave. " " Martha Dinsmore, 1698 Mass. Ave. " ft Mohawk Spa, 314 Marrett Road " " Faulkingham Sc Craig, 3 Bow Street Motof Vehicle" W.H. White Motor Co. , 7 Mass. Ave. ft Peter McDonough, 301 Mass. Ave. Methyl Alcohol Frank Cole, 318 Marrett Road " ft Mr. Locke seconded the motion and it was so voted. Letter was received from Mr. Wrightington advising that Judge Greenhalge had entered a decree dismissing the Cataldo plaintiffts bill of complaint in the case of Cataldo v. case. Lexington. Letter was received from the Appropriation Committee stating that at various times they have requests for trans- fers from the Reserve Fund for extra clerical hire. The Clerical Committee felt that in many cases, this extra expense could hire. be avoided by the temporary loan of a &Jerk from some other department which happened to be slack at the moment. The Committee felt that if the various departments were instructed to confer with Mr. Raymond when in urgent need of extra clerical help and he would make every effort to obtain this assistance from some other department, worth while savings would result. The Committee also felt that a survey should be made cf the office records detail of the various departments to see whether any non-essential work was being carried on. Th's Clerk was instructed to give Mr. Raymond a copy of the letter and request him to study the situation and report his recommendation to the Board. 2 Upon motion of Mr. Rowse, seconded by Mr. Sarano, it Pole was voted to grant the petition of the Boston Edison Co. location. and the New England Tel. and Tel. Company for a joint location of fourteen poles on Bloomfield Street. It was decided to meet at 8:00 P.M. on Thursday, January Meeting 11th, to discuss budgets. Mr. Raymond appeared before the Board at 9 :40 P.M. He stated the fire insurance under blanket schedule in the amount of $11,000. expired on Jan. 5th through the office Insurance of George W. Taylor & Son. Mr. Potter moved that the policy be renewed through the same office. Mr. Sarano seconded the motion and it was so voted. •Mr. Raymond stated that his staff had given a lot of study to the matter of betterment assessments in Liberty Heights to see how they could make the assessments come out Liberty fairest . Many of the lots are ninety feet deep and approx- Heights imately 25% are 80 feet deep. However, for the whole length sewer of Oak Street between Mass. Ave. and Ellis Street, the lots Assess- are 125 feet deep. It seems fairest to compute the area ments. up to a depth of 90 feet. Mr. Raymond read part of the Betterment Assessment Act which says that assessments cannot be levied for a depth of more than 125 feet. He said that if they went 125 feet deep on the Nichols land, the assessment for 100 feet of frontage would be 30% more than it would be with the 90 foot depth. He recommended that the Board determine that the benefit to any lot be computed to a depth of not more than ninety feet. Mr. Rowse moved that Mr. Raymond's recommen- dation be approved. Mr. Potter seconded the motion and it was so voted. The Chairman asked if the net result of this would be that the Town was out of pocket. Mr. Raymond said that it would not be out of pocket unless abatements were made, excepting for assessments levied on tax title lots. Mr. Raymond said there was a clause in the insurance Insurance.contract under "Exclusions" which says that the policy does not cover injuries or death at the place of an accident when such accident occurred after the completion of the work. The Chairman said that he had been talking to Mr. W. S. Caouette who felt that something should be done about sloping the shoulders of Follen Road. Caouette said he Follen thought it would be a definite benefit to the town if the Road. shoulders were sloped and the road widened. Follen Road has a sixty foot layout. Caouette asked if the Board would consider doing the work and the Chairman gave the opinion that the Board would not want to approve it this year, but if the Board and Mr. Raymond agreed, it might be submitted as a W.P.A. project. He asked Mr. Raymond if he thought it 583 was a good W.P.A. job and Mr. Raymond replied in the negative. He said that this was an equipment job. He said he had thought of having the Highway Dept. crew go in on the street at a slack period but he decided it was too late to do it . The Chairman requested Mr. Raymond to talk to Mr. Caouette on the matter. Mr. Caouette criticised the general town policy of building streets of such high quality. He thought that the side streets should not have the same type of construction as the main streets as they did not have as much travel. Highways. Caouette' s argument is that the town does too good a job and if the burden on the abutters was not so great, there would be more streets built. The Chairman told him that there would be higher maintenance costs and quicker re- construction. The Chairman said that the suggestions had been made to him that the town not assess 100% on these streets but to take over some part of the work such as drainage and pay for it. The Chairman said thatthis would mean larger appropriations and that there would be an increasing shortage in highway receipts. Mr. Raymond agreed with him. He said that this would be partly offset by cheaper snow removal, He suggested that it might be possible to levy a maintenance charge on second class street construction. The Chairman said he was interested in getting an Act of the Legislature passed so as to give authority to appropriate money up to a certain figure and after that the receipts go toward a rotating fund so that the interest could be used for maintenance. There was no further discussion. The Chairman said that the Baptist Church wanted a couple of no parking signs placed in frontof the church Parking. on Sundays. Mr. Potter suggested that the area in front of the church be painted "no parking" for a length off' two cars. Mr. Raymond said he would look into the matter . Mr. Potter said he wished to bring up the matter of supplying water to the Bayliss house on Shade Street. He moved that the water main be extended In Concord Ave. from the present end a distance of approximately 100 feet under the Betterment Act and subject to Thomas Bayliss depositing the estimated cost of his service in advance. Mr. Sarano seconded the motion and it was so voted. The following commitments were signed: Water Miscellaneous Charges; Water Rates; Water Liens. U The meeting adjourned at 11 :30 A true record, Attest: Clerk.