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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1941-06-02 x_17 SELECTMEN'S MEETING June 2, 1941. A regular meeting of the Board of Selectmen was held in the Selectmen's Room, Town Office Building on Monday evening, June 2, 1941 at 7:25 P. M. Chairman Giroux, Messrs . Potter, Rowse, Locke and Sarano were present. The Clerk was also present. The Town Clerk appeared before the Board for the draw- ing of one juror to serve on Civil Business, first session, Juror at Cambridge beginning June 16, 1941. Mr. Edward B. Nolan, paper, 21 Fern Street was the juror drawn. At 7 :30 P M. hearing on the petition of David A. Rix for approval of a plan of Rix Court, running off the westerly side of Waltham Street approximately 150 feet south of Marrett Road, was declared open, pursuant to notice duly published on May 22, 1941 in the Lexington Minute-Man. Notice of the hearing was read by the Chairman. Mr. Rix, Hearing on his engineer, Albert A. Miller, Messrs Paxton and Cosgrove Rix Court were present at the hearing. Mr. Rix said he intended to extend a street which would 1110 serve six lots . A brook runs through the land and he said that he felt that the Town should pipe the brook. He said it had always been a menace to health. Mr. Miller presented a plan and explained the proposed development. Mr. Rowse asked what Mr. Rix proposed to do with reference to the brook and the Chairman said as he understood it , Mr. Rix would do the excavating and back filling and wanted the Town to supply and lay the pipe . The Chairman asked Mr . Cosgrove if he approved the general layout and he replied in the affirma- tive. No other persons wishing to be heard, the hearing was declared closed at 7:45 P. M Mr. Rix retired. The Chairman read a letter from the Town Engineer ad- vising that the development, as shown on a a plan by Albert A. Miller, dated May 28, 1941, had been checked and was satisfactory according to engineering and lotting require- ments . The design for disposal of storm water drainage is substantially the same as that which is recommended by Metcalf & Eddy. The lots cannot be served by sanitary sewers until main outlets are constructed in the valley of Clematis Brook and along the valley of Brown's Brook to the relief sewer at the East Lexington railroad station. Mr. Paxton said the estimated cost of putting in an 8 inch drain was 825.00. There will be a balance of about 400.00 after doing Percy Road but it would be a gamble to use this money as it is not known whether the Bow Street drainage job will exceed the estimate on it. 1148 Mr. Rowse said he believed the proper thing to do was 4111 to finish the Bow Street job and if there were enough funds left, to do this one. It was decided to have Mr. Paxton talk with Mr. Rix and tell him that if he was in a hurry, the Town would spend the $400.00 available and do as much work as possible with it and then he could finish the job. Otherwise, he will have to wait until the end of the year to see if there is any more money available. Mr. Miller and Mr. Cosgrove retired. At 8:05 P. M. Mr. Joseph Trani and Mr. Morse ap- peared before the Board. Mr. Trani said he was the administrator of his father 's estate and last year Mr. Morse asked him to rent the house to David Kirkbright at the rate of 620. per month. He did this and last January Mr. Kirkbright disappeared. Mr. Morse told him that the man had gone, but did not say that the Town would not pay any more Joseph rent. He did say that he did not know if the Town would Trani-rent pay any more rent or not . Last Saturday Mr. Kirkbright showed up and paid $20.00 for one month's rent and the Town paid the rent for the month of January. At the pre- sent time he is out of pocket $60.00. Mr. Morse said he did not give Mr. Trani any wiitten notice that the Town would not pay any more rent but told him that he was holding up the January rent because KirkIli/ - bright had disappeared. He told him that as far as he was concerned, Kirkbright was off relief. Mr. Rowse asked why Mr. Trani hadn't brought up the matter before and he replied that he had been ill for two weeks and had to go away for three more. The Board tol him that the matter would be considered further and he retired at 8:15 P. M. The Board discussed the matter with Mr. Morse. Mr. Sarano moved that the claim be compromised in the sum of 630.00. Mr. Potter seconded the motion, and it was so voted. Mr. Morse retired. At 8:20 P. M. Mr . Wrightington appeared before the Board to discuss Mr. Burnham's claim of last week. Mr. Burnham Wrightington said that the Kenrick agreement holds the claim Town to raising the level of the water to 176 feet above mean sea level. The Town has an easement there and Mr. Higgins contends that we do not have to drive over Mr. Burnham's land but could carry the materials by hand over East Street to put in the flash boards. Mr. Wright- ington read the wording of the easement . It was left that Mr. Potter would talk with Mr. Burnham on the matter. Mr. Wrightington advised the Board to go along the shore of the brook within the easement and to do the necessary work. 4 • 119 110 A letter was received from Mr. Wrightington relative to Metcalf & Eddy's letter of May 23, 1941 inviting the Town to pay for the time of Mr . Whitman in connection with the DeCristofaro suit. Mr. Wrightington said that Mr. Whitman had been of service in connection with the litiga- Metcalf & tion but he did not think that Metcalf & Eddy should make Eddy chgs. a charge for his services in this case. The case is based upon a claim that Metcalf & Eddy improperly performed their duties as engineers . Mr. Wrightington retired at 8:55 P. M. Messrs. William S. Hunt, Dom F. Ross , Leon H. Bateman, William C. Paxton and John T. Cosgrove appeared before the Board to discuss the matter of curbing in front of the Hunt Block. The Chairman read a letter from Mr. Ernest Martin say- ing that he felt that the curbing could be reset at least 4 inches higher than it is at present without creating too much of a pitch to the sidewalk. The Chairman said that he understood that some of the storekeepers felt that the Board did not want to cooperate with them, but he assured them that this was not so. He said that Mass. Ave . was not engineered at all and if the Sidewalk at sidewalk on their side of the street was raised, the curb- Hunt Block ing would stick out above the street . Mr. Paxton said 4111 that the grade of Mass . Avenue was .5 of 1%, so that in 100 feet the street drops one-half a foot . The curbing should conform to the street grade. The Chairman asked what harm would result if a curbing was set, based on the way it should be when, as and if Mass . Avenue is engineered and reconstructed. Mr. Cosgrove said that at the present time, the curbing on the Hunt Block side is higher than that on the other side and if Mass. Avenue was engineered, the curbing undoubtedly would be lowered rather than raised. The Chairman asked if there was any solution to relieve the situation and Mr. Cosgrove said if there was, he didn't know what it was . Mr. Paxton said he didn't know of any solution but if the Board wished to put in a granolithic sidewalk, the existing curbing could be straightened out . However, the sidewalk would still have the same pitch. Mr. Bateman said that a seven inch curb was acceptable and the present one varies from 32 inches to 4 inches . He thought that if the curbing could be raised 4 inches above the present level, it would take care of the worst of the pitch . Mr. Ross said that raising the curbing 2 or 3 inches would help a lot. Mr. Potter asked how much it would be necessary to raise the curbing in order to have a level sidewalk and Mr. Paxton said that at Cuild's end it would have to be raised about a foot. The Chairman asked Mr. Hunt if he would be willing to pay any part of the cost of raising the curbing He said 120 411/ that the owner of the building had paid for the curbing and brick sidewalk in the first place and that he would now be willing to pay his share of the cost of the gran- olithic sidewalk, but didn't feel that he should pay for the curbing. The group retired at 9 :20 P. M. The Board requested Mr. Paxton and Mr. Cosgrove to figure out what it would cost to raise the curbing and build a granolithic sidewalk and to submit the figures to the Board. Mr. Cosgrove retired. Mr. Paxton said that the Chamber of Commerce had re- quested the use of a conference room and Estabrook Hall on June 18th rather than on June 6th. Uses of Mr. Rowse moved that the request be granted. Mr. Halls Sarano seconded the motion, and it was so voted. Mr. Paxton said that the Red Cross had requested the use of a conference room on June 10th. Mr. Potter moved that the use of the conference room be granted free of charge. Mr. Locke seconded the motion, and it was so voted. The Chairman said that the Auxiliary Police had re- • quested the use of Estabrook Hall every Thursday evening. Mr. Locke moved that the use of the hall be granted free of charge. Mr. Sarano seconded the motion, and it was so voted. Mr. Paxton informed the Boa 'd that the sum of 08,189.21 had been received from the Federal Government on the Vine Brook project. This excluded the V6,000.00 bid bond. Mr. Paxton said that Mr. Garrity told him that he thought it would cost between 000.00 and 050.00 to cover Mosquito the main brooks in Lexington with oil on a Mosquito Con- Control trol Project. It was decided to request Er. Garrity to submit to the Board next year some program he would re- commend for Mosquito Control and to have the cost included in the Insect Suppression budget . Mr. Paxton said he understood that Mr. Wrightington and Mr . Bidwell had come to some agreement on the Viano drain project. Mr. Paxton said that he had written to some companies Sidewalk for descriptive literature on sidewalk tractors . He had tractor three replies -- from the H G. Davis Company, Clark Wilcox Co. and Ernest Systrom Co. 121 411/ Ir. Paxton said that he wanted to get a wheel tractor realizing that it would be sacrificing some amount of snow removal efficiency in the winter in order to have the use of the tractor in the summer Mr. Paxton said that the H. G. Davis Co. had an International tractor which they received in a trade-in which he understood was in very fine condition. The company wants 4400.00 for it. They also have a tractor that was used in and about the shop, a model "E" tractor that they will sell for 41855 .00. He said he would like to purchase this one and also the x;400.00 job . Mr. Rowse moved that Mr Paxton be authorized to offer the company the sum of $2,000.00for the two pieces of equip- ment . Mr. Sarano seconded the motion, and it was so voted. The Board of Selectmen, acting as the Board of Survey, gave further consideration to the application of D. Grosso for the approval of a private way off Woburn Street, less than 40 feet wide. After further consideration of the D. Grosso evidence, upon motion by Mr . Rowse, seconded by Mr. Locke, application it was voted that the application be denied. denied The Chairman told the Board that a conference was held this afternoon at the Common with reference to lighting the statue of the Minute Man. It was decided to recommend the installation of a thousand watt light. . A five thousand watt light uses about $65.00 worth of Lighting of electricity per year. Mr. Bills figured it would cost Minute Man $85.00 for the light itself, c25. 00 for a time clock, and Statue about $15.00 for labor or a total of $125.00 . The cost of lighting the statue is included in the Park Department budget and therefore if this work was done now, the appropriation would be short that much money. Mr. Rowse moved that the matter be taken up at the next town meeting. Mr Locke seconded the motion, and it was so voted. The matter of having a skeleton crew on in the Town Offices on Saturday mornings during the months of June, Skeleton July and August was discussed. It was decided to allow crew Sat . the female clerks to have every other Saturday morning during off. summer Mr. Morse appeared before the Board to discuss welfare matters at 10:00 P.M. and retired at 10:25 P.M. Mr. Rowse said that Frank Canessa had spoken to him outside and requested recondideration of his application Second-class for a Second-class license at the corner of Marrett Road license and Lincoln Street. The Clerk was instructed to write Mr. Canessa and tell him that the Board had no authority to act on his application and that it would be necessary for him to have a Board of Appeals permit. 122 Mr. Rowse moved that the resignation of Mr. Gordon • Gordon D. Richards as Acting Building Inspector to be effective Richards on June 14, 1941, be accepted with regret. Mr . Sarano resigns seconded the motion, and it was so voted. Mr . Sarano said that he had talked with Mr. William A. Cann about the position of Building Inspector and Mr. Cann would be interested in a full-time job. He left the meeting and telephoned Mr. Cann. When he returned to the meeting he said he told Mr. Cann the Board had no authority to put him on full time. The best it could do would be to put him on part time at the present rate of pay, but no doubt there would be a Town Meeting in the fall. At that time Mr. Cann would know what the volume of work Mr . Cann was and he could sit down with the Board and tell it what appointed he thought the salary should be. Then the Board, if necessary, could recommend to the Town Meeting that a full- time Inspector be put on. He asked him if he would be in- terested on this basis and he said he would be. Mr. Sarano moved that Mr. William A. Cann of 9 Summit Road be appointed Acting Building Inspector, said appoint- ment to take effect on June 16, 1941, at the present salary of $1100.00 per year. Mr. Potter seconded the motion, and it was so voted. The Clerk was requested to suggest to Mr. Cann that he take advantage of Mr. Richard' s knowledge of the work while Mr. Richards was still here. • A letter was received from Mr. W. D. McCarron com- plaining of the conditions at 847 Mass . Avenue . Mr. McCarron claimed that the keeping and selling of dogs was Complaint a business and that the premises did not conform to the health regulations. The Clerk reported that the Health Inspector had investigated and reported that there was no health menace . It was decided to refer the matter to the Dog Officer for investigation by him. Mr. Potter moved that the Chairman be authorized to Dog issue the Dog Warrant . Mr. Locke seconded the motion, and wVarrant it was so voted. An application was received from W. S. Couwtte for permission to maintain the existing overhanging sign at Sign 1785 Mass. Avenue . Mr. Sarano moved that the permit be granted. Mr. Locke seconded the motion, and it was so voted. It was decided to meet on Monday, June 9, 1941 and to meet every other week after that . The matter of funds for the Committee on Public Safety was discussed. The Chairman said he felt that $125.00 already requested would not be sufficient . 1110I 123 Mr. Rowse moved that the Appropriation Committee be Funds for requested to transfer the sum of 0200.00 rather than the Comm. on sum of 0125. 00. Mr. Potter seconded the motion, and it Public was so voted. Safety The Chairman said that he had ordered six copies of a book on Civilian Defense which is now at the library. Commitments on water rates, water miscellaneous, water liens, water services and sewer services were signed. The meeting adjourned at 11 :00 P M. A true record, Attest : Clerk