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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1941-06-09Scott's pro- posed build- ing SELECTIVENIS MEETIlTG June 9, 1941 A regular meeting of the Board of Selectmen was held in the Selectmen's Room, Town Office Building on Monday evening, June 9, 1941 at 7:30 P. M. Chairman Giroux, Messrs. Rowse, Locke and Sarano were present. The Clerk was also present. Mr. Potter appeared at 8:10 P. TSI. At 7:30 P. M. the following persons appeared before the Board: Messrs. George Scott, E. T. Steffian, T. A. Custance, S. R. 'Nrightington, Clyde Steeves, Frederick Spencer, the Planning Board, Messrs. Russell and Spellman of the Appropriation Committee and Mr. Julius Seltzer. The Chairman informed the group that the purpose of the meeting was to get information from Mr. Scott rela- tive to the building vLlch he proposes to erect on the site of the Central Block. TlIr. Scott said that he desired to erect a building on the lot and that a Boston department store was in- terested in hiring one of the stores. The lot is not exactly straight. On the Merriam Street end, he would be willing to give the Town six feet provided the Town would give him eight feet on the Emery Park side. The Chairman asked Mr. Scott if he owned the property in the rear and he replied in the affirmative. The Chair- man said that he had heard that rlr. Scott would want the area in the rear now occupied by the Fire Station and the Mara buildings. Mr. Scott said that he would want all of that area, for parking. The Chairman asked him if he was interested in the land vdere the Fire Station is and he said that he was and that he could not go ahead with his project if he did not have it. The department store in- sists on having the area immediately in the rear for park- ing purposes. Mr. Steffian, Mr. Scott's architect, said the reason for making the request for the six feet on Merriam Street is that the block is eight degrees off and they want to square off the lot. He said that it was a minor point and the building could be built the other way just as easily, but for appearances it would look better squared off. Mr. Greeley asked if the frontage of 140 feet, which they proposed was a figure that was important for them to have, or if it could be something different. Mr. Steffian said that the stores seemed to lay out fairly well with that frontage, but that it would probably not make a great deal of difference if there was a variation of one or two feet. However, he said that it was a fact that a certain amount of front space in width is lost as you make an angle more acute. Mr. Scott said that he would like to • have the line straightened out. Mr. Greeley said he under- stood, then, that it would be very desirable to have the lines squared off to a 120 foot frontage, but not vital. The project would not be thrown out if they were unable to straighten the line and Mr. Steffian said that that was right. Mr. Wrightington said that the Town recently received a deed from the Boston & Maine Railroad conditioned upon the fact that the driveways to the depot were to be kept open for street purposes and without further deed from the Rail- road, the Town could not do anything that would do away with that right. If the land that Mr. Scott wants is within the street line, he will have to deal directly with the Rail- road. If it is included in our deed, we will have to get a further deed from the Railroad. The Chairman said that the Board would leave that problem to Mr. Wrightington and the Planning Board to straighten out. The Chairman asked Mr. Scott if he would hold up his plans if the Town felt that at this time it was not prepared to sell the Fire Station because of the expense of building a new one. Mr. Scott said that he could not go ahead as the department store was making its agreement contingent upon the fact that he acquires the Fire Station land. He said that in any case he was going to take back the land that he owns on which the Fire Station now has part of a shed. Mr. Steffian said that the department store insists on a parking space in the rear of the building. Mr. Rowse asked if it was Mr. Scott's intention to pre- sent a definite proposition to the Town and he replied in the affirmative. The Chairman asked if he was prepared to do that now. He said it was a question of what Mr. Scott would be prepared to offer the Town for the land the fire station is on. Mr. Scott said he did not expect to offer anything for it. He said the land in the rear is worth about 24 or 25/ per foot. He said he would have to demo- lish his block of stores fronting on Briery Park. The Chairman asked what the total estimated cost of this build- ing was and Mr. Steffian said somewhere around $65,000.00. Mr. Custance asked Mr. Scott if he was ready to make the same offer to the Town that was agreed on in 1928 or 1929 with the Stuart Marshall Realty Corp. and Mr. Scott said that he was not. Mr. Custance said that the proposi- tion then was that the Town would pay X30,000.00 and they would pay the Town W10,000.00 for the fire station property and remove the building. Mr. Wrightington said that that was the proposition in the last agreement and that the Corp- oration was to tear down the building within two years. Mr. Scott said that they had an option that they could take or leave and that further they were to give the Corporation two years' free taxes. The Chairman said that he understood that the proposition was as follows: Mr. Scott wants 300000.00 for the 25 foot setback; he wants the land the fire station is on, but will not 25 26 Glawson tax titles reimburse the Town for it, and he will not pay anything i for the land to square off the building. The Chairman asked if this was correct. Mr. Scott said that it was correct. Mr. Greeley asked if it was correct that Mr. Scott wished to erect the building on the building line wherever the Town had set it. Mr. Scott said that that teras true. Mr. Greeley asked how deep the building would be from front to rear and Mr. Scott said that Chandler & Co. wanted about 100 feet on Merriam Street. The building will be 100 feet for about 1/2 the frontage and 70 feet ddep for the balance. The Chairman asked Mr. Scott if this was something he was in a hurry about and he said that they would like to have the building completed by November lst. Mr. Steffian said that ht would take about four months to build the block. Messrs. Scott and Steffian and a few others retired at 8:15 P. M. Mr. Steeves said that the land in the rear of the Central Block was assessed at 74 per foot and there are 8,635 feet. The land where the Block is, consisting of 11,280 feet, is assessed at $2.00 per foot. The Chairman said that he had talked with Mr. Arthur N. Maddison and asked his opinion as to what 25 feet in front of the building would be worth today if it was worth $30,000.00 in 1929. Mr. Maddison felt that it would be worth $20,000.00 or $251,000.00. The group retired at 8:30 P. M. The Chairman said that no further action would be taken until a report was received from the Planning Board. Mr. INrightington remained at the meeting. The Chair- man read a letter from him saying that Paul L. Keenan had been examining Town records as a P.W.A. project and re- commended that suit be brought to cancel a deed from the Town to Ernest S. Glawson of sundry tax titles, for which Mr. 014wson never paid any consideratioh. He asked if the Board wanted him to bring suit. Mr. Wrightington said that tax titles were conveyed to Mr. Glawson for land in Meagherville and apparently he was given the deed before he paid for it. He recorded the deed, however. The assessors are carrying the land as though it was still owned by the Town and it is not assessed to anybody. Mr. Sarano moved th#t the matter be referred to the Town Counsel for clarification and action. Mr. Rowse sec- onded the motion, and it was so voted. The Board gave further consideration to the state- ments made to it by Mr. Albert H. Burnham at the meeting held on May 26, 1941 and to the opinion expressed to the Board by the Town Counsel that the Town was obligated to Mr. Oscar B. Kenrick to complete the first dam in Vine a 0 Brook, north of East Street, by raising the flash boards on it so as to produce a level of Vine Brook at Kenrick's land of 176 feet above mean sea level, between March 15th and November 15th in each year. Further consideration was also given to the advice of the Town Counsel that the Town had the right to complete that dam under its taking of the Vine Brook development, providing the Town employees in doing the work, remained within the lines of the permanent Ease- ment so taken. Mr. Locke moved that the Town proceed to do the work as above stated and to notify Mr. Burnham of the Board's decision before the work is undertaken. Mr. Sarano sec- onded the motion, and it was so voted. Mr. William A. Cann appeared before the Board at 9:10 P. M. The Chairman said that the Board would like to know if he felt that the building conditions in Town were as serious as Mr. Richards did and he replied in the affirma- tive. The Chairman told him that the Board wanted the building done in the right way and that it would back him up in his decisions. Mr. Cann retired at 9:20 P. M. Mr. Morse appeared before the Board to discuss welfare utters -at 9:25 P. M. and retired at 10:20 P. M. A letter was received from Mr. J. Millard Hayden re- questing the removal of a tree in Shade Street near Cary Avenue. Mr. Garrity reported that the tree was a large rock maple in very bad condition and it should be removed. He said that if the Board had no objections, he would re- move the tree as soon as the spraying season was over. He also recommended that three apple trees on the same street be removed at the same time. Mr. Potter moved that Mr. Garrity be informed that the Board has no objection to the removal of the trees. Mr. Locke seconded the motion, and it was so voted. A letter was received from the Building By-law Commi- ttee reporting the progress of the proposed 3uilding By-laws. Mr. Potter moved that Mr. C. E. Barnaby be granted a bowling license at 1804 Mass. Avenue. Mr. Locke seconded the motion, and it was so voted. The Clerk reported that Mr. Bidwell had informed Mr. Paxton that there was a certain amount of seepage coming into the Viano excavation on Massachusetts Avenue which Mr. Bidwell claims is coming from the Massachusetts Avenue Drain. This drain was laid with open joints and he feels that the Board of Selectmen should be familiar with the situation as there might be some difficulty in the future. Burnham Claim Removal of trees License Seepage in Viano exca- vation 128 Traffic Signals Dynamite .worker A letter was received from the State Department of Public Works relative to the traffic conditions at Har- rington Road and Bedford Street. The letter sAid that it would seem that conditions at this location should be no more serious than at any other intersections 6f lightly travelled side streets with main arteries in Lex- ington. Since the State's recent accident analysis did not reveal a poor record at this location, they hesitated to recommend signals. However, the State Department will issue a permit for signals but will not participate finan- cially. No action was taken on the matter. The Clerk reported that Mr. Gabriel Brucchi, a Water Department employee, was doing the blasting on the Oak Street sewer project. His rate of pay is 65� an hour and he has requested that if he is going to have charge of this work, that he be given the same rate of pay as the previous dynamite man which is $1.00 per hour. Mr. Potter moved that Mr. Brucchi be paid $1.00 per hour when he is doing the dynamite work. Mr. Sarano sec- onded the motion, and it was so voted. u 0 The Clerk reported that Mr. Edward B. O'Connor had re- quested ermission to rent the 5 ton tractor at the usual Equipment rate of 13.50 per hour plus the operator's time. Also, rental Gordon Slater had requested permission to bent the 2 ton gas roller at the rate of '1.00 per hour, plus the opera- tor's time. Mr. Sarano moved that both requests be denied if the equipment is to be used on private property. Mr. Locke seconded the motion, and it was so voted. The Clerk reported that Mr. Paxton had talked with Mr. David Rix relative to the drainage of his property, but Mr. Rix was not satisfied. However, he is going to Rix present the problem to the bank which holds the mortgage drainage and the Board will hear from him at a later date. The Clerk was instructed to tell Mr. Paxton to pur- chase as much coal as possible with the funds available Coal now before prices advance any more, and that if he has completed his obligation with the White Fuel Company to purchase the coal from Robert Fawcett & Son and the Lex- ington Coal Company. The Clerk informed the Board that Mr. Edwin B. Worthen would not serve on the salary committee but that Mr. A. Randall Soderberg would. Salary Mr. Sarano moved that Mr. Allen C. Smith of 5 Forest Committee Street be appointed to the committee. 1l1r. Rowse seconded the motion, and it was so voted. The Clerk said that Mr. Allen Galt of Robbins Road u 0 0 • 0 had requested that the To�rm do some more work on his pro- perty. Iie felt that the Town should continue a stone wall to his driveway and should fix the driveway. Mr. Paxton has done what he thinks the Town is responsible for and even more, but Mr. Galt is not satisfied. Both Mr. Paxton and Mr. Cosgrove feel that everything has been done for Mr. Galt that should be done. It was decided to take no action on the matter. A letter was received from Mr. Garrity saying that certain changes had to be made at the East Lexington play- ground. He recommended that Edna Smith and Spencer J. Johnson replace Forence Rhones and Lawrence Healey. Miss Smith will receive $18.00 per week and Mr. Johnson will receive v616.00 per week.. Mr. Potter moved that the changes be approved. Mr. Locke seconded the motion, and it was so voted. The Chairman informed the Board that the tree at the Munroe Tavern, to which Georr-e PJashington tied his horse, was blown down by the wind Sunday. he said that Mr. Clarke, the president of the Historical Society, had telephoned and said that they were short of funds. He wondered if the Town could cut up the tree and remove it. The Chairman said that the historical buildings were a part of the Town and he felt that the Board would be justified in having the power saw cut up the tree and having Town men remove the wood. Mr. Locke said that the Society had decided to leave the stump there. 1g1r. Potter moved that P:Zr. Garrity be instructed to take the power saw, down to Munroe Tavern, saw the wood, and re- move the pieces. Mr. Rowse seconded the motion, and it was so voted. Mr. Locke did not vote on this matter. Commitments of water and sewer house connections were signed. The meeting adjourned at 10:40 P.M. A true record, Attest: J29 Galt property E. Lex. playground instructor Tree at Munroe Tay. down