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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1950-11-27 Board of Selectmen MinutesNOVEMBER 20, 1950 (continued) This combined meeting of the three boards lasted about two and oneJhalf hours and the. following conclusions were drawn and it was agreed that the boards should discuss and perhaps presen~ something in regard to these matters in writing ~o the Selectmen: (1) That broad discretionary power should be given to the Board of Appeals and this broad power would cover set-back lines, side lines, etc$ (2) That the building inspector will be required to file with the Planning Board mud the Board of Appeals duplicate plans and application of permits (it was agreed that Selectmen should write a letter to Building Inspec- tor advising him about this); (3) That something be written up with respect to old streets Of which there is no record of whether or not they have ever been accepted; and (4) That there was a necessity of putting something about trailers in the Zoning By-Laws. ~Vith reference to the fourth general conclusion, Mr. Thomson stated that this matter would have ~o be handled very carefully. Meeting adjourned. Regular weekly meeting of the Board of Selectmen was held at 7:00 P.M. with all members present. Weekly bills and payrolls were approved. COMPLAINT - Power Failure Mr. James &eane, of 'Hewitt Avenue came before the board and stated that they' had been without power since 9:30 P.M. Sat. night. He said there have been several power breaks and these failures usually last quite a long time. He said~ some of the homes in that section are without heat and many of them can"t cook in those houseB where there are electric ranges. He said he thinks the trouble started on Chestnut St. and Andover Street and the street lights in that section are ou~ a great deal. He said some wires were down and they were afraid they might be live wires. An attempt was made to reach the Lawrence Gas & Electric Company but' there was no answer. The Selectmen then refer'red this matter to thc police and asked them to coa~act the gas Company since they have an emergency number which they call. (A Mr. Deloge accompanied Mr. Keane) .W.~YLROAD AW~NUE: ~ommu~ica{i'~n received by the board that the 223 residents who signed .the petition to retain the name of Railroad Avenue have today (November 27, 1950) fmled an appeal with the State Department of Public Works, as is their right under Section 3 of Chapter 85 of the General Laws. ~he letter stated thatI they have asked for a hearing in order that they may present their case ~ud hope that the Department will reverse the Selectmen's action. SALE OF SCHOOL BONDS: Treasurer presented paper, which was signed by the Selectmen, which read as follows: "Voted that the sale of'15,000 1% School Bonds #1 ~o 15, dated December 15, 1950, payable December 15, 1950, 5000 in 1951 and 1953, and reciting' that they are issued persuant to Chapter 44 of the General Laws as amended ~ud a vote of the Town duly passed to Arlington Trust Company at the price of $100.10 And accrued interest is hereby approved." Trois was a unanimous vote of the Board. REQUEST FOR TRANSFER FROM RESEEVE FL~): ~r. 'Hargreaves requested a transfer of $60 from Reserve Fund to Forest Fire Appro- priation. By a unanimous vo~e, the Beard voted ~hat the request of Forest Fire Warden for. a transfer ef $60 from Reserve Fund to Forest Fire Appropriation be forwarded to Advisory' Board for their approval. DISCUSSION OF WAGE INCREASE FOR POLICE & FIRE DEPTS.: ~he 'Board met tonight with Chief McKee and ~i'ef Hargreaves and Mr. Murphy (who came as an individual not as A member of the Advisory Board). Mr. Maker was also present. The purpose of the meeting (Mr. Thomson stated) was~to discuss the wage increase in the Fire and Police Depts. He also stated that Mr. Maker had called to their attention Sect. 13 of Chapt. 44 amended by Sect. 17 of Chapt. 358 of the Acts of 1946~ Mr. Thomson further stated that under the existing statutes, the head of a department may grant a raise to their employees for the current year providing there is sufficient money in the departmental appropriation to take care of it. If there is not sufficient money, it would have ~o go to the town meeting or a transfer would have to be made from the Reserve Fund. As far as 1951 is concerned:' No department shall expend an amount which is greater than the greatest amount expended in any one month of the previous year and that amount shall not be greater than the average ~mount of payments during the last three months of the past year. He stated it was impossible under the present set-up to grant a r~se for the balance of 1950 which could be continued for the first three months of 1951 without action by the town meeting in March. He further stated that it was perfectly proper for a 'raiSe to be agreed upon depending upon action of 1951 town meeting and that a raise could be made retroactive to ~am. 1951. Mr. Thomson said that what is to be done depends primarily upon how ~uch money is l~ft and it should be kept in mind wha% the affe. ct will be im 1951. He said that increases have been granted in three departments over which ~e ha~ no control. The Selectmen hsd planned to have a meeting of all department heads but that meeting was made inpractical by the granting of raises in those three department~. NOVEMBER 27~ 1950 (continued) Mr. McKee informed the board that he had enough money ~o grant a 12% raise. It was brought up at this meeting that what the chief of police received was much lower than what they pay in other towns. Mr. McKee said he thought his salary should be fixed up so that it would.be comparable ~o what the chiefs. in other ~owns receive. Mr. Murphy said he was probably under misapprehension but he was under the impression tham once the town mooting votes a specific sum for wages, that there can be no ~ransfers between accounts un~il the next town meeting or unless there is extreme hardship. Mr. Thomson.said this was absolutely right. Mr. Thomson asked if there ~would be any occasion to u~e reserve .police and Mr. McKee said he did no~ know of any except around New Year's Eve. Mr. Hargreaves stated they had a balance of $165. and if they~were granted an increase, he couldn't start until the 10th of December. There was a discuss, ion about whether or not the call men would be considered regular employees and it was decided they wnuld be considered regular, employees. Mr. Thomson stated that with respect ~o the police department, the ~own has nonhing to do with setting salary (S~.me as with the school department). He thinks the head of the police department and hesd of fire dept. set salaries of the 'individual police and firemen, subject, of course, to the provision of the money by the t~vn. He said there was nothing that prohibits the changing of a salary. Mr. Maker said they can't pay any more in January than they did for the average of the last three months (he' to6k this matter up in'Boston). Mr. Coffin recommended tha~ salaries should be increased at the town meeting, doing so on exchange for an agreement that employees do not seek some higher amount. · Mr. Murphy stated that he thought the budgets for salaries should include enough money to make it repro-active ~o January. Mr. Coffin stated that :~ankly he is in favor of an increase of some sor~. Mr. Murphy asked ~if the three departments who have received a raise, would have~ their raise wiped off as of January 19517 Mr. Thomson replied this would happen.only if they employ~less men. He said those departments were more flexible. Mr. Thomson sta~ed that he thought it was the hope of the Selectmen that all departments would proceed on the same basis so that there would be no inequality. Some departments have a-raise, some have not received one~· Mr. Thomson felt that in regard to the pSlice and fire departments, there should be a greater~diff~r- ential between the officers of a particular department. Mr. H~'~greaves 'stated~ he would rather get his raise from the people of the town. Mr. Murphy s~ated it was his own personal feeling but he would much rather see this~, thin~ acted on by the ~own, retro-active to 'Jan. 1. He said .the only thing ~to be said was to urge the police and fire department ~o' use al'! self-restraint possible and then write their salary budge~ so as to be retro-active. He .said~ he didn't pretend this was the best solution b~t it s~ands as the only s61ution. Mr. Hargreaves mede it known that he would not gq along with anything the Selectmen did not recommend and the two chiefs, Mr. Tncmson~and.%{r./Coffin thought it would be bes~ to ~wait until the town meeting. Mr.' Finneran also agreed with this. Mr. Willis and Mr. Thompson were then cantac~ed as re~resenta~iv~es of the police and fire departments. Mr. Thomson stated that ~if increase Were granted now, it would continue only for balance of year. If raise were considered for i~51, it wo,~l~ have ~6 be considered a~ the town meeting 4nd made retro-active ~o Jan. 1951. As we fi~ure it out, it means $15 or a little less to you fellows and l~he question is whether we should undertake~ ~o grant i-t when it is l~SO.,tittle or whethcr~ as suggested by Mr. Murphy, wherel there has been no cooperation ' between departments~ we wouldn't grant raise and~.this would be our way'of~ not confirming the sort of precedent set by other departments. Mr. Coffin stated that the Selectmen would recommend to the town meeting that an increase be granted retroactive to January 1 if they had the assurance that the employees would not ask s further raise at the town meeting. He further stated, ~"If we rec6mmend'it, we would assume that would be it." Mr. Willis s'tated that the precedent has already been set and there should be no discrimination between the men. He stated, "These men will have ~o wait until the town 'meeting and it Will be uncertain as we have no assurance that we will get the raise regardless of'whether you men recommend it or otherwise., Mr. Willis stated he did not think this was fair. After a short discussion, it was decided that the police and fire depts, wa~ted ~o go along together (that .is they should both start 'to give the raise at the same time~) Mr. Willis samd he would not consider a raise less than what the"laborers had received. Mr. Finneran said the police had more security than a laborer would and Mr. Willis disagreed. 'Mr. Finneran reminded .Mr. :'~illis that civil service alone is protection and Mr. Willis stated that some of these laborers never got laid off anyway...mentioned Hegarty and Garneau, stating they had been working in the same department for years. Mr. Thomson stated the Selectmen would support them on an increase and get them a lump sum (retroactive to Jan. 1st.) Ail the men would lose would be three weeks in 1~50. Mr. Willis thought 'it strange that a certain department haad had had a surplus balance for the last three years. He thought in all fairness, the police and 'fire 'departments should be given the same consideration as other dcpartments, stating that "we need the money." Mr. Murphy then spoke: "Once these varzous moves come to the attention of the public, it will raise a certain amount of resen~menn and I think myself, the police and fire dep~rtmsnt v~ou.d NOVEMBER 27~ 1950' (continued) s~and a better chance of getting the %own behind them through a budget presented for salaries at the Town Meeting instead of this business of a continual rush to see who will get ahead. I'm here tonight as an individual, not as an Advisory Board member and I very much feel that the more cooperation between departments the better off the %own will be. I feel that by being here tonight and hearing what is going on, I can better appreciate the situation. The only thing I can urge is that if it is at all possible, you men should use whatever self-restraint you can muster between now and the first of the year when .your budgets are made up and I sincerely hope you will do it because I think you will benefit in the long run." -Mr. Maker said' his department had no extra money, then there was the Tax Collectors office to be considered and the Assessors Office. Mr. Murphy said he would~ like to see a much heartier feeling of cooperation exist and if it could start here, he would like to see it start here. He said further, "You men probably have more .to lose than to gain. It may not be as mu6h of a long shot as you think-it might be. I can't promise how the other six members of the Advisory Board will react...there are ~wo new members. . .I don't kno~ them very well.'; .but I would be surprised if there was any concerted action within the Advisory Board to knock down a budget that might be submitted in January.,, Mr. Willis' said he had reason ~o be a little doabtful of putting too much de- pendence on how the Advisory Board will act. He further stating: "~fe had a Iittie' difficulty with them last year. Never can tell ho~ they will ac~." He said as far as cooperation is concerned, "it is all personality and one guy doesn't like another and they bang each others heads all the time;" Mr. Thomson furhter stated that there would still be inequality even if the police and fire departments got a raise. Mr. Willis .stated he thought there should be a distinc; tion between the laborers and the police and firemen and stated "he would not he satisfied with anything less than what the laborers got. Mr. Thomson asked "~ Mr. Willis and Donald ~hompson if they felt they should report back to the other men and they replied that they did. Mr. Thomson then s~ated that the - board ' of Selecmmen would like the expression of the employees as to whether or not the wage increase, should be forgotten for the time being with the suggestion that the Selectmen'would go along on a wage increase at the town meeting, retroactive to January'lst. . . PROPOSED :DUMP LOCATION: ,Mr. ':Thomson-.said that Mr. George Rea had:S6' acr&s of land between Boston and · Turnpike Street that he would 'like. t9 sell to the town at a moderate price to"be-Used'~ fo~' dumping~ Mr. ' ThOmSon "further stated that' he has'not seei the ,site but was,. told'that,there were only'mwo or three houses near .the place and they Would' be considerable distance away. ' It was proposed toI view' this 'site on'Sat, afternoon, 12/2/S0, at 1:30 P.M. with Mr. 'Rea, Mr'~ :Carty~ 'a member of the Board of Health and the Board of Selectmen. REQUESTS- FOE-STREET LIGHTS~ .~2ronLewis, police officer~ suggested a larger light in ~ronm._of the' Thomson · School~ Robert Dowe 11 , f2 ~ncover m. requests a s~e~ghtY-uMr. Olms re- quests a street light on pole ~3106, Beech.Avenue. The board voted to view these locations, along with the request for a light on Cross Street (A, Xirk). REQUEST FOR, WATER SUPPLY AND REPAIR WORX 'ON FO~T~ STREET: ~r. Lavcie representing citizens on Foster S~rmet read a letter to the Selectmen re~uestimg water supply and improvement of the road on Foster Streot. Mr. Thomson stated:that the.Select,~en appreciate their difficulty but'they have no control as the Board of Selectmen over the problem of improving a street such as Foster Street. Mr. Thomson told Mr. Lavoie they would have to submit an article, to the tows meeting, otherwise, simply apply to the highway survnycr and the Select- men 'cannot control ~his activttims~as he is an elected ~official~ Mr.' Thomson stated no~ far as wa~er is concerned; the Selectmen have nc control of that but this problem is entirely within the Jurisdiction of the town meeting and the Board of Public ~gcrks. Mr. Thomson stated the board waslin sympathy but the two projects are entirely beyond :the con~rcl of the ~ Selectmen and lie entirel~ with the T~wn Meeting.~ Mr.'Flnneran suggested the communication be referred to Mr. Car~y and Mr~ Thomson added that we ask Mr. Carmy to give this letter consideration. Letter received from residentson~he Railroad Ave.-bus line requesting an earlier bus on this line so that passengers would arrive at their offices at eight o'clock. It was voted to refer this to the Eastern Nass~ and suggest that they make a study of it and suggest wha~ can be done. Meeting adjourned.