HomeMy WebLinkAbout1940-01-1814
SELECTIVIEN' S MEETING
JAN. 18, 1940
A special 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.
Application for approval of a Peddler's License was
License received from Walter T. Jolin of 160 Lowell Street. Mr.
Potter moved that the license be approved. Mr. Rowse seconded
the motion and it was so voted.
Budgets were discussed and
acted on as
follows:
Amount
Amount
Account
Requested
Approved.
Registrars - Expenses
$700.00
$700.00
Town Offices - Outlay
225.00
40.00
Weights & Measures - Pers. Services
500.00
500.00
Insect Suppression -Wages & Exp.
3933.40
3933.40
Shade Trees -Wages & Expenses
2130.00
2130.00
Forest Fires - Personal Services
200.00
200.00
Dog Officer - Personal Services
100.00
100.00
Health Dept. -Personal Services
500.00
500.00
Health Dept. - Expenses
5000.00
5000.00
Dog Clinic - Expenses
350.00
350.00
Dental Clinic - Pers. Services
1750.00
1750.00
Dental Clinic - Expenses
100.00
100.00
Budgets Posture Clinic
6:5.00
625.00
(It was felt that the Posture
Clinic Committee
should
work more closely with the School
Dept.
and it was
decided to appoint a member
of the School
Committee
to the Posture Clinic Committee
when the
appoint-
ments are made.)
Vital Statistics
25.00
25.00
Animal Inspector
500.00
500.00
Slaughter Insp.- Pers. Services
800.00
800.00
Plumbing Dept. - Pers. Services
1100.00
800.00
Ashes and Dumps
1900.00
1900.00
Garbage Collection
5065.00
5065.00
Memorial Day
250.00
250.001
Patriots' Day
750.00
500.00
Pensions - Police
1098.00
1098.00
Pensions - Fire
1110.85
1110.85
Unclassified
300.00
300.00
At 9:15 P.M., Mr. Bingham of the Bingham Survey Assoc-
iates, Mr. John W. Raymond, Jr. and the Appropriation
Committee appeared before the Bonrd.
The Chairman told the group that the Board had invited
Mr. Bingham here this evening to secure a little information
from him relative to the making of a survey of the Town of
15.
Lexington and the cost of doing it. The Chairman stated
that like all communities, this community is anxious to
secure a lower tax rate and the Selectmen thought they
might give consideration to some outside survey. If the
idea is approved by the two groups present, it will be sub-
mitted to the Town Meeting members. The Chairman asked
Mr. Bingham to give some outline of his experience and the
scope of the organization.
Mr. Bingham said he started here in ;New England as
Town Manager in Norwood in 1915, then became City Engineer
in Waltham, then went to Watertown, N.Y. and then to West
Palm Beach, Florida for three years. He came back to Norwood
as Town Manager in 1928 and stayed there until 1933. He
then went to work for the C.W.A. as State Director. In
1934, the Public Administration Service of Chicago asked Bingham.
him to open up their New England office. During that time survey
he madea survey of the Welfare Departments in Boston and
Brookline. He did work for the Administration foV.'Tevpa'
orary Relief in New York city and also in Albany. He
came'.back to Boston and started business for himself. He
said the organization had made about forty surveys in
Massachusetts, Maine, and Connecticut. They have worked
in all sizes of cities and towns from towns the size of
Canton and Dracut to cities the size of Portland., Maine.
Surveys had been made in Quincy, Haverhill, Watertown,
Dedham, Whittensville, 1u2ilford, Fairhaven, and Troy, New
-York. Mr. Bingham said that for the past one and a half
years he has been with the State as a member of the
'
Legislative Recess Commission. He said the personnel of
his own organization runs from three of four persons to
fourteen or fifteen persons. Last year they made a survey
In Peabody. Their work covers all departments, but pri-
marilly Welfare Departments as it seems that most towns
are more interested'.in Welfaxn Departments now. They havd
done twenty-five or thirty welfare departments alone but
of course their work covers all departments. Mr. Bingham
said that the people he employs are not acedemically pre-
pared but practically all of them have had experience in
town or city government. His Chief Engineer is a member
of the American Society for Civil Engineers, a graduate
of M.I.T. and was with the T.V.A. He has an Ass't.
Engineer who is a graduate of Northeastern and has made
foursurveys for him. Mr. Bingham said that he himself
was a member of the American Society for Civil Engineers
and had been a Supt. of Public Works. For the welfare
surveys, they have two senior workers, one of whom is a
graduate of Wellesley College, attended the University of
.Chicago and is a graduate of Oxford University. The other
worker, who is Mr. Bingham's daughter, is a graduate of
Smith and has a Vaster's degree. She is now employed by
the Welfare Department in Stamfordp Conn. and is therefor
available only `,,,hen she is on leave. They have a registered
nurse and doctor on their staff so they are qualified to
'
investigate the matter of hospitals and Town Physicians.
They have a trained man who can go into the matter of
16
settlements, Federal assistance, etc. The Police and
Fire Departments, Mr. Bingham does himself because he has
had experience along those lines.
The Chairman asked how he arrived at his compensation.
'
Mr. Bingham said that that varied and that one could not
go by population. There are certain procedures that have
to be gone through in every municipality regardless of how
large or how small it may be. For a welfare survey they
have a sliding scale; if a townts population is under 5,000,
the cost is about $900.00, and the cost runs up to 13500.
for cities over 100,000. It would cost about $1800. to do
a town with a population of about 15,000. A welfare survey
covers one-half of the job and takes about seven weeks,
therefor it would take fourteen weeks to do a whole town.
The cost of complete survey would run from $3200. to $3600.
The Chairman asked Mr. Bingham if he made recommen-
dations in his report. He replied in the affirmative and
showed samples of reports made for other towns. He said
he tried in every case to give proof of what he claimed.
They usually find that they can show savings of from 10%
to 15%.
The Chairman asked if he generally found that their
recommendations were on the elimination of personnel.
Mr. Bingham said that he never recommended laying off .
employees. Mr. Bingham said that his firm made a private
survey for Mayor Burgin of Quincy and Mayor Burgin told
him that the departments took the survey in a spirit of
helpfulness rather than a spirit of criticism. Mayor
Burgin says that he has made a savings of over $12,000.
'
in one department alone and the Water Dept. has collected
about $67,000. worth of old bills.
The Chairman asked if they found_ that there was a
large possibility of saving in welfare departments. Mr.
Bingham said that that was where savings were most frequently
recommended.
Mr. Emery asked if Mr. Bingham had found any ratio
of the amount of saving as compared with the cost of the
survey. Mr. Bingham said that Taunton wanted him to tell
them how much.he could save so he :7 '. he would save five
or ten times the cost of the survey and he did save about
tv-Qnty times the cost. He finds that it runs from five
to ten times the cost of thesurvey. In Haverhill, his firm
thought the city should save $100,000. in the Welfare
Dept. The first year the survey was pigeon -holed, but the
second year a new commissioner came in. The new commissioner
put in over half of the recommendations and he told Mr.
Bingham that he had saved about $50,000. in Haverhill that
year eventhough they had an increase in the welfare r611s.
He said it was entirely up to the Town as to whether or
not they wanted to adopt the recommendations.
Mr. Merriam asked if'he found that towns usually
followed his recommendations. Mr. Bingham said that they
guarantee in their proposal that there will be nothing
unlawful, illegal, impossible to put in, or any suggestion
'
that has not been used elsewhere.
17
Mr. Rowse asked if the survey covered schools, and
he replied in the affirmative.
Mr. Emery asked if his firm had ever made a survey
'
where it could not make much of a saving, and he replied
in the affirmative. He said they had had some towns that
were very much pleased with the work even -though they could
not affect much of a saving. He said, however, in those
towns there were no criticisms to make so they could make
no recommendations.
Mr. Brask asked if such a survey were made in Lexi
ington it would be completed so that it might be put into
operation this year. Mr. Bingham said the survey would
take about fourteen weeks and if anything was found that
should be rectified right away, the town officials would
be told of it immediately. Many times surveys have been
paid for before they are completed.
Mr. Emery asked if there was any delay in getting
a survey started. Mr. Bingham said that his firm was
working on five jobs now and it had about a dozen that were
about to come any minute, but Lexington would not be held
up more than two or three weeks.
The Chairman asked him low long it would take for
him tosubmit a proposal if the Towh desired it, and he
said he could do it in a day or two.
The Chairman expressed the thanks of the Board and
the -Appropriation Committee to Mr. Bingham for coming
out and explaining his work and he retired at 9;45 P.M.
The Chairman asked the group if it was sufficiently
'
interested to write the towns in which Bingham had made
surveys to ask their opinion of his work, and everybody
felt that this would be interesting information. The
Clerk was instructed to write the various municipalities
to get theirimpressions of Mr. Bingham's work.
The Chairman stated that the Selectmen had been
giving some thought to a suggestion whereby laborers in
town departments might be given some fixed rate of pay with
the idea that they would benefit by having some stabilized
amount coming in each week. He said the Selectmen thought
the idea was worth looking into and some time ago asked
Mr. Raymond to give the matter some thought, to discuss
it with the Town Accountant and the Appropriation Committee,
and report to the Board. He asked Mr. Raymond if lie had
done this, and Mr. Raymond said that he had.
Mr. Raymond said that it was very difficult to
arrive at a normal operating year for the departments.
For instance, 1939 was one ,year in perhaps twenty where
there were almost 100 percent of the working days in the
construction period which were good working days. 1938
was one year in perhaps twenty when a very large percent-
age'of the year were not good working days. He studied
both years and had come to the conclusion that 1939 was
more nearly a normal year. He found that if $1761. more
had been paid to the regular employees of the Highway Dept.,
they would have received a minimum wage of $24. per week
Laborers
wages.
in 1939. Many of the men averaged more than $24. per week.
There were thirteen out of nineteen who averaged more than
the $24. per week. The Chairman asked if his figures
were based on fifty-two weeks or on the number of weeks
the men worked, and Mr. Raymond said they were based on
fifty-two weeks. The following amounts would have been
needed to pay the men a minimum of $24. per week: Park,
Moth and Shade Tree departments, 4536.00: Water and Sewer,
02339.00; Public Works Building, 250. a total of $4886.
would be needed if operations were exactly as they were
in 1939. If a minimum wage were established, Mr. Raymond
said he was sure that a smaller sum of money would suffice
to guarantee $24. a week except in cases of emergency.
Mr. Potter asked if the men were paid extra for over-
time, and P.Rr. Raymond replied in the negative. He said
that that was one of the objections to the proposal. The
Town Accountant submitted a letter giving figures in regard
to t'7e matter based on an average of $24, a week and the
Clerk was instructed to make copies of it for the Board.
The Chairman asked the group to give the matter
some thought and said that it would be discussed aiTain in
a couple of weeks.
The Chairman asked Mr. Raymond what the Department
reads thought of the idea, and he said that they had
different views on it. One Superintendent thinks it ib
an individual problem and in his department it takes care
of itself very well. He thinks his men are capable of
managing their own finances and that they get along all
right. In that department work is much more uniform than
in some of the others. He said that there are some men
who take time off of their own free will. Also, consid-
eration must be given as to how much time should be
allowed for sickness in addition to vacations.
The discussion terminated at 11: P.M.
The Clerk left the meeting at 11:05 P.M. and the
Selectmen and the Appropriation Committee remained.
A true record, Attest.
Clerk.
1
The Appropriatibn Committee and the Selectmen dis-
cussed salaries, and
the'following
increases were approved
by both bodies:
1939
Approved
Name
Department
Salary
Salary
Beach, Clayton M.
W.P.A.
$30. per wk.
435. per wk.
Chadwick, Ralph
Wgts. & Measures $450. yr.
500. yr.
Harvey, Isabelle M.
Water Dept.
418. per wk.
20. per wk.
115.
Hayes, Ruth
" "
1a. " "
" "
,
Litchenberg, John
f'
C
Engineers
Lowe, Eleanor M.
'
O'Connor, John
Sousa, Cidaliza
wk.
Hubley, Elinor
32.
Regs. of Voters
f'
C
Engineers
$20.
wk.
$22.
wk.
Selectmen
32.
"
34.
"
Highway
30.
°
32.
"
Highway
13.
!'
14.
Accountant
13.
"
15.
Personal Serv.
(Special for 1940)
100.
"
A true record, Attests
Chairman.
M
Salaries