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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1943-12-20December 13, 19~3- Continued Chief McKee made s recommendation that Harold Wood be taken on ss a militnry substitute to rep!sc~ Daniel Sh~ne. Ur. Thomson made a motion thet th~ Chief's recommendation be laid on the table for one week. Th~s w~s seconded by Mr. Finncren and vote was unanimous. Mr. GeorMe Emery asked the Roard what cot~ld be done in s case where a ~enan~ of his, who does no~ s~ay a~ home and has non l~e~t a fire in the house, bnt who pays her rent regularly, refuses to moveL He is afraid the pipes will ~eezo and th* expens, will be great. Mr, Thomson suggested tb~t his only recourse wo,,ld be to contact th~ OPA and ask for permission to evict the nennnt. This matter does not come within the province of t~e Board of Selectmen. The fol!owin~ sumM, as set ,)n by th, Commissioner of Corporation and Texat~on~ere..approv~dyby,~the~oard. J~mes J. ~n~r, ~ee~urer ~38,700 Irvins Hinton, Tax Collector- ~38,400/- Form returned ~o the Commissioner. A notice was received from the Aetna Casualty end ~ns~r~ce Co..~rega~d~ng 0ver~ime Endorsement. Re: Wartime Emergency R,~!es. Filed with poli~y. Appropriation balances throush November 31, 1943 were received.. l~eetin:~ Adjourned. The regular weekly meeting of the Board of Selectmen was' held at..7~0OP.M. with all members present. The weekly bills and payrolls were approved. James Daw came before the Boar~ to ask if they would purchase a service flag. The old one is torn and of'no use. Mr. Thomson made a motion purchase a flag, the money to be taken from the Contingent Fund~ motion was seconded by Mr. Finneran and the vote was unanimous. Fire Chief James Hargreaves came before the Board ~o request an increase in pay for the firemen. Mr. Thomson asked if the. Board of Engineers'ha~ taken any action and Mr. Hargreaves s~ated that they had 'not. MrL' Hargreaves said he had figured the budget formers spare men in~case.~they rett~rn from the service. Ail men have been figured at the same~ ra~e. . He feels that Hector Lefebvre is very valuable to the Dept. and has saved them a great deal of coney. Mr. Hargreaves felt ~hnt it wouldbe unfair to startle man at $35 weekly if the others were getting Mr. Thomson asked if he would expect a new man to receive the same as a man who has been in the Dept. for ten years. Mr. Hargreaves-said; he did not t~ink so. No action was taken~ Mr..John Cos~ello, Merrimac St., said he wanted to talkon the increase for Police. He presented figures prepared by the Division of Accounts, State Dept.. of Corp. and Taxation. He didn't think it was fair;to ass only surrounding to~ns as they varied too much in size and population. He compared 46 towns of 5~000 to 10,000 population, stating that regular patrolmen were receiving $1744 in 19~O and $1845 in 1942. He said.that our force received a $1.00 step rate increase which was permanent and~he · felt that a 10 per cent temporary increase should be sufflcien~* at:this time. The important thing at this time is war ~onditions. If patrolmen are increased, the whole.'town should receive.~ increase. TheL. propcsed increase would bring regular patrolcen's salaryeto $184~ yearI~.. Mr. Costello said that he felt that the Selectmen' should wait. dntil..~'the Town Meeting and see what the rest of~the ecployeesreceive.~.The police have already benefited by $4.00 as of'~January 1944. Mr. Foster a~ked Mr. Costello if he felt that men~who~ere on call at all hoursof.the day should not receive more than laborers. Mr..~ostello said that laborers. are not taking home the money that policememt ~re. "Ithink the 'Board will do well to go very carefully over this matter before making a decision; and take hereof the salaries of school teachers who are trained and educated." Mr. Costello feels the taxpayers are not getting a fair break. 'Such an increase on a permanent basis is go~ngtoo far. "I'm going to suggest ~hat the Selectmen defer action on this increase until the Town Meeting'and see what other departments receive and that it be granted on a temporary basis." December 2~, 1943- Continued Mr. Costello said he was speaking as a ~axpayer and did not represent any grcup.~ Mr; Costello said he would like to know Just how many hours the police worked and if they actually worked 62 hours. Mr. Thomson asked Mr~ Costello~if his point was based on police protection or hours worked. Mr. Costello said ~he was comparing salaries nbt hours. Mr. Thomson asked if~he felt the assumption is correct that all towns work only ZB hours~per week, .Mr. C~stello discussed school teachers' salaries and he felt the~ were~under-paid. Mr. Pillionasked if the patrolmenlreceived suits each year. It was explained by Sergeant Hilton that they received one suit and it'~asted about 4years. Mr. Costello said he was interested in clerks and,their.salaries as well'as schoolteachers. Mr. Oostello said if 'you~recognize the fact that there is a differencein the "takehome", you'll find that' clerks and laborers are under-paid. "2 feel a 50% increase should be,sufficient for Police and on a temporary basis." Mr. Pillion spoke of mechanics, pay and'the holidays and vacations showing that in a year they do not'reBeive as much as patrolmen. He felt that if a bonus were-paid once a year i% would be a. better idea. Mr. Hilton again discussed suits for the men and said after each one was taken care of, the ,actual cost per year would only he about $15 or $20. Mr. Thomson and Mr. Pillion felt this · was ~very, reasonable. Mr. Costellc asked~ how many men were on duty between 2~and8 A~.M. Mr. Hilton explained that there is no patroling after 2.30 A.M. .... b~t~ on special occasions they'may patrol from. 2.30 until 6 A.M. Up ~o ~.M.~!~. Hi!to~ iscontacted; after 4 A.M. the Chief is called. "~e gran~ , that~the~'e0verage ispoor," said Mr. Hilton, "but ~wculd rather not have ~ thin,advertised at this time. Mr. Thomson said, "Evenwithlack of coverage,~ they work 62. hours weekly." Mr. Hilton told about the Depart- ~,men~,zas~£txsta~ted, the manyhandicaps--andthey feel theyare entitled ~. to ,this~increase. Mr. Ccstello said that after the war, patrolmen will he' pa£d. much'higher than theordinary ~roup and there isroom for'criticism. · · ~Mr~' ~i~to~[said he would be,willing to~t~ke $1.OOyearly increase until ~ ,', ~/~ax~mu~ i~ reached. Leo~Murphy'~s~id hefelt the whole,thing hingedon the ..~-~To~ Meeting~Heliked~theidea~ofa~bonus as it would he temporary. Mr~ Thomson said ~the discussion was very'interesting but hewould like to '~'~ ~kJn~w~i~'tbe ~en 'in the~various'towns~work. Z8 hours or62 hours. He is still · $f ~he o~i~onthat po!iceshotttd~receive an increase but would' like to %loc~'into~the~ matter more thoroughly. Mr. Pillion asked if rules were ~'eB~a~lish~dlthatPolicesh0uld not do other work. Mr. Thomson said there ~i~re~ru!~s,~to' that effect hut due to conditions, permission was received ~from~OivillSe~vicetoallow'themto do o~her work for the. duration~ ~Mr.?Murphy~said there must be some advantages over laborers as no one had ~resigned.'~'f~0m the'De~t..to gninto Defense Work. Mr. Oostello read .... ,Chapter,~44~ection 31--regarding increases and appropriations. He s~id .!~,an increased appropriation is not sufficient to warrant an increase in ' salarY..~,The Salectmen can'-set the rate for cer~ainlsalaries; No action on Police increase. ~.,~:.Ietterwas received from Mr. Sughrue, Chief Engineerof the Heston & ~.Maine:iBailroad, regarding the'c~nditicn on grade crossing st Dooley's ~'~Ooal~0ffice. We will:he 'advised'later upon completion~o£investigation. -.~ThereYwas a'complaint from'Eva, Calthrope regarding injuriesrecei~ed in"a '.'fa~l:'on~OlarendonSt. Zt was askedthat:charges' be paid. This was i.~!referred',~o¢. J;'Mahoney for his decision. "~·:A.,~letter~and,a ~hart·were received from Governor Sattonstall ~referring to ,?;,iW0rl~:W~r~ Veterans. ~t was~.voted to send the chart and letter to ''~;Mr.~lankgAn, Commissioner of'Soldier's Relief. (One copy filed under 'S~l~Ctmen's~matters.) · ~ Joh~"DJ~Mc~secf 880Turnpike St. was appointed a Special Constable. ~r~' Thomgun made ,the motion.~to appoint him, and it was seconded by ::Mr; ~inneran; vote was unanimous. evised~copies of amendments on Elm and Water Streets', Marblehead and Middlesex~Streets were signed'andsent into the Dept.. of, Public Works. A~le~t~.'was received from Mr. John F. Stoker, Dept~:cfPublic~afety, also two. copies of Form A - containing provisions cf Chapter 143- as amended hy :chapte~s~:544-546- Acts of 1943. Two copies were given to' "- Filed under Public Safety. Meeting Adjourned. 53'