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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1940-01-25 28 SELECTMEN'S MEETING JAN. 25th, 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 . At 7 :30 P.M. the committee appointed on December 27, 1938, to study Fire Department accommodations appeared before the Board. The following members of the committee were present : Mr. J. Milton Brown, Chairman and Messrs. James Stuart Smith, C. E. Ferguson and F. K. Johnson. Mr. Brown said that the committee considered the Barnes property as the most desirable location for the Committee central fire station. Mr. Brown said the committee wanted on Fire to know if there were any definite plans for this property Dept . and if there was any known reason why it should not he accommoda- utilized for fire house purposes. He thought that the tions. frontage was wide enough for the fire station without moving the present building. Mr. Rowse asked if the committee had given any thought to bombining the police and fire departments so that the police department could be moved out of the base- ment of this building and Mr. Brown answered in the II s negative. The Chairman asked if it ever had been planned to place a building similar to the Town Office Building on the other side of the Cary Memorial Building. Mr. Smith said the original drawings planned a building similar to the Town Office Building on the other side of the Cary Memorial Building. Mr. Ferguson said that if a recommendation was made to put the fire station on the Barnes property, the recommenda- tion would include the taking of the Leary property. He said the feeling was not to recommend one central station, but to have one here in addition to the one in East Lex- ington. He said the committee was considering recommending the Adams School property and as far as the Town is concerned, all restrictions on thatproperty have been taken care of. Mr. Brown asked what the status of the bonded debt was. The Chairman said that the bonded debt would drop about $2. on the tax rate this year. We reached our peak in 1939 and beginning with 1940, the bonded debt will begin to go down. Mr. Brown said the committee wanted to make sure it stayed within the jurisdiction of the vote. They planned to make a report on present fire house conditions and per- haps make a recommendation as to location of the proposed buildings. He said he assumed that was all the voters instructed the committee to do. The Chairman said the committee had apparently given some study to possible future sites and Mr. Brown said that it had. The Committee retired at 7 :52 P.M. 29 Letter was received from Mr. Edward B. O'Connor of 2142 Mass. Avenue, in which he informed the Board that he had seen the plan of Lots 5, 6 and 7 on Waltham Street in the Town Engineer 's office and was satisfied with it . Mr. Purchase of O 'Connor said it was not necessary to meet with the Board Lots. on the matter and that he was willing to purchase the lots as shown on the plan in the Town Engineer's office. He en- closed $50.00 as down payment . Mr. Potter moved that the deposit be aocepted and that the Town Counsel be requested to prepare the deed, same to be delivered upon receipt of the balance of $1450.00. Mr. Locke seconded the motion and it was so voted. Letter was received from John W. Raymond, Jr. , Supt . of Public Works, in which he stated that he was obliged to resign from that office. Mr. Raymond said he was going to Supt . of work for Metcalf & Eddy and would like to begin his duties Public there on February lat . He requested that his resignation Works become effective on 5:00 P.M. , January 31st, 1940. The Chairman said it was Mr . Raymond's intention to do everything he could to help the town. He is meeting with the department heads tomorrow afternoon and if the Board retains him as consultant, he will be glad to work out some plan for carrying on supervision of the departments. $100. per month is satisfactory to Mr. Raymond for a period not to exceed six months and in that time (not including the first month) Mr. Raymond will agree to give not exeeeding four days per month or the equivalent in hours thereof, to town work, and in addition, he will attend such trials on suits as he is called on to attend. During the first month, Mr. Raymond will give as much time as possible to the town, coming out in the afternoon whenever possible. Mr. Potter moved that Mr. Raymond' s resignation be accepted with regret, to become effective on January 31st , 1940. Mr. Rowse seconded the motion and it was so voted. The Chairman read a letter from Mr . Raymond in which he assigned certain duties to each one of the superintendents under his jurisdiction. Mr. Rowse asked if Mr. Raymond would attend the Selectmen ' s meetings and the Chairman said that he would not unless he was sent for. Mr. Rowse said that Mr. Raymond would have to report to the Selectmen after consult- ing with the department heads. Upon motion of Mr. Rowse, seconded by Mr. Potter, it was voted to adopt the following votes : (1) VOTED: That John W. Raymond, Jr. be appointed P.Y .A. correspondent for the Board of Selectmen. (2) VOTED: That John W. Raymond, Jr. be retained by the Board of Selectmen as advisor on the subjects outlined in his letter of January 25th as follows : 1. All matters dealing with existing PWA projects. 2. New sewer and drainage projects after study by the Town Engineer. 3. Street construction projects after study by the Town Engineer and Mr. Paxton. 30 0.4 4. Water main construction projects after study by Mr. Ross . 5. Coal tests and reports. 6. Attendance at hearings re. Metropolitan and State affairs concerning Lexington. 7. Any other matters requiring special engineering consideration. FURTHER VOTED: That he shall be available for consulta- tion and advice to all town department heads as outlined in his letter of January 22, 1940. (3) VOTED: That John W. Raymond, Jr. be compensated in the amount of $100.00 per month for services rendered as advisor to the Board of Selectmen and as advisor and con- sultant to the Town department heads; also as services rendered as P.W.A. correspondent . This expense is to be charged to the P.W.A. Vine Brook and North Lexington Sewer accounts and the Supt . of Public Works Personal Services account in theproportion of time given to each during the month. It is understood that Mr. Raymond will give not exceeding four days per month or an equivalent in hours thereof to town departmental work or at meetings of the Board of Selectmen. He shall be available to town department heads in a manner agreed by the department heads and himself. He shall visit the town at least once a week. This arrangement as outlined in the foregoing votes is to extend for a period of six months from February 1st, 1940. The Clerk was instructed to request Mr. Raymond to ac- knowledge in writing his acceptance of the terms contained in these votes. Letter was received from Mr. Raymond stating that there were three matters being worked upon which could continue as Studies at present until completion when reports will be submitted, namely the sewer connection survey study, traffic accident study and sewer connections and services for dwellings on Fletcher Avenue. Mr. Potter moved that a notice be inserted in the local Ad. for paper, a Boston paper and the Engineering News Record early position. in March to the effect that a vacancy exists in the office of the Supt . of Public Works of Lexington and that applications for the position will be received at the end of the month. Mr. Locke seconded the motion and it was so voted. The Clerk was instructed to request Mr. Raymond to in- form the department heads of the Board's action with regard to retaining him as consultant. It was decided to meet on Friday afternoons at 4:30 P.M. beginning Feb. 2, 1940 , to discuss any emergencies whibh might arise. The Board considered the advisability of assigning a Selectman to supervise various departments. Mr. Rowse moved Selectmen that the Departments be assigned to the Selectmen as follows: to super- George W. Sarano - Highway Division vise de- A. R. Giroux - W.P.A. , Welfare Aid and Miss Corcoran partments William G. Potter . Parks and Playgrounds Errol H. Locke - Engineering Division A. Edward Rowse - Water and Sewer Division. Mr. Locke seconded the motion and it was so voted. 31 IIMr. Potter moved that Clayton F. Beach be appointed Beach - Temporary Sponsor 's Agent for the W.P.A. , effective February appointment 1st, 1940 . Mr. Locke seconded the motion, and it was so Sponsor 's voted. Agent. Letter was received from F. L. Fischer advising that the Library Trustees voted to request the Selectmen to Article re insert an article in the warrant for the next town meeting lot on to see if the Town will authorize the purchase of the lot Clarke St . on Clarke Street adjacent to the Library for $1500. Mr. Potter seconded the motion and it was so voted. Letter was received from the Chamber of Commerce re- questing that an article be inserted in the warrant for the Article aforementioned lot on Clarke Street, and requesting a second re Flag article to see if the Town will vote to accept the Shanandoah System Flag System now owned by the Chamber of Commerce. Mr. Potter moved that an article be inserted in the warrant for the acceptance of the Shenandoah System, and that the Chamber of Commerce be requested to sponsor the article. Mr. Locke seconded the motion and it was so voted. The Chairman asked the Board if it wished to have an article in this warrant for the demolition of the Old Adams Article re School. Mr. Rowse moved that an article be inserted in the Adams ' Warrant to see if the Town will vote to demolish the school School and appropriate the sum of $50. to pay for the same . Mr. Locke seconded the motion and it was so voted. The Clerk was instructed to call the low bidder just before Town Meeting and find out if his offer still held good. The Clerk was instructed to find out if the new Build- By-laws ing and Plumbing Laws were going to be ready for submission at this Town Meeting. Budgets were discussed and acted on as follows: Account Requested Approved Selectmen - Personal Services $3109.33 $3109.33 Budgets. Accountant - Personal Services 4173.00 4173.00 Assessors - Personal Services 5454.00 5454.00 ( In accordance with the request of the Assessors, one Clerk at $13 . per week for nine months was approved) . Assessors - Expenses 510.00 510.00 Town Offices & Cary Mem. Bldg. Personal Services 3452.00 3294.66 Engineering - Personal Services 12380.00 12291.91 (Litchenberg increased from $20. to $22. per week. Clerical services eliminated) . II Fire Dept . - Expenses 7485.00 7000.00 (The following items were reduced: Fire Fighting Equipment $350. to $300; Equipment for Men, $400. to $300; Repairs 1000. to $800; Furniture and Furnishings, $200. to $150; Office Equipment and Repair, $125. to $75; Stenographer, $35. eliminated. ) 32 Account Requested Approved. Building Dept . - Expenses $115.00 $115.00 'eights & Measures - Expenses 150.00 165.00 (The item for Automobile Allowance was increased from $60. to $100. Postage and Supplies reduced from $75. to 4150 . ) Sealer of Weights & Measures - Outlay 360.00 0.00 Insect Suppression - Personal Services 378.00 300.00 Forest Fires - Wages and Expenses 1200.00 1200.00 Mid.Co.T.B. Hosp.-Alterations and Additions - 622 .50 622.50 " " " " - Expenses 6248.11 6248.11 Plumbing Dept. - Expenses - 130.00 105.00 (Automobile Allobance reduced from $150. to $75. ) Sewer Maintenance - Personal Services-1362.81 1152.67 (One-half the salary of Ruth Hayes charged to this account. Increase of $1. from April 1st approved) . Sewer Maintenance - Wages & Expenses- 4700.00 4675.00 (Stationery & Postage and Other Office Expenses reduced from $100. to $75. ) Sewer Maintenance - Services 1550.00 1550.00 Sewer Construction - Sundry Streets 1000.00 1000.00 Budgets Highway Dept . - Drain Construction 19650.00 --- (All projects with the exception of the following to be submitted as W.P.A. projects : Marrett Road at Reservoir, eliminated; Wachusett Drive and Middleby Road to Vine Brook to be done okay if street is constructed under the Betterment Act) . Highway Maintenance - Personal Serv.- 5390.33 5508.34 (Increase of $2. for John O'Connor and $1.00 increase for Miss Sousa approved from April 1st) . Highway Maintenance - Wages & Exp. - 44500.00 36000.00 Highway Maintenance - Chapter 90 3000.00 2000.00 Snow Removal 20000.00 20000.00 (Subject to revision in March) . Traffic Reg. and Control 2050.00 1700.00 (Labor reduced from $800 to $700; Signs , $250 eliminated) Traffic Reg. & Control - Improvement to System - 1425.00 0.00 Street Lights 22018.00 22018.00 Street Signs 400.00 400.00 Sidewalk Con.- Sundry Streets 1000.00 1000.00 Highway Dept. - Curbing 1000.00 --- Public Works , Supt 's. Office - Personal Services 6008.00 4602.66 (The following was approved for the Supe rintendent 's salary: For month of January $383.33 For 6 months at $100. 600.00 )dor 9 months on basis of $3500 per year 2625.00 Total, 3608.33 Miss Corcoran' s salary 994.33 §4602.66) 33 Applications for a Peddler's License for Robert E. Licenses ' Piper of 118 Cedar Street and Robert F. Wayne of 618 Mass. Avenue were approved. It was decided to meet Saturday, January 27th, at 2 :00 P.M. The meeting adjourned at 11:10 P.M. A true record, Attest : 1 ,."144-22,L i2:44 Clerk.