HomeMy WebLinkAbout1951-04-09 Board of Selectmen MinutesAPRIL 9 1951 (continued)
JANI TOR-~OW~I HALL:
~-~'~-~-came before the 'board and stated that ~e has been receivin~
$8.00 whenever there was an affair at the Hall, regardless of what the occasion,
and that was the price Mr. Callahan (former Janitor) had always received. 'Mr.
Cushing stated that the amount of work involved depended on the occasion...that is,
there was more work involved for a banquet than for a rehearsal or recital.
Mr. Cushing feels that $8.00 is a little steep but wanted to find out what the
Board thought and how they felt about this. Mr. Thomson stated' that Mr. Cushing
is 'the one who should be primarily satisfied and if he is satisfied to accept ~6.00
rather than $8.00, that ought to be the important consideration. Mr. Cushing
felt that $6.00 would be a fair charge for a banque~ or similar affair and $3.00
would be sufficien~ fo~ a rehearsal. Mr. Thomson said he would be guided by
~hatever Mr. Cushing thought, and further stated that he felt Mr. Cushing should
be commended for bringing 'this matter to our attention. Mr. Coffin then told
Mr. Cushing that he thought his work for the Tarn and the School Depar~ment'has
been 'outstanding, honest and conscientious; and that sll reports Mr. Coffin
has heard about Mr. Cushing, have been good. Mr. Coffin then said to Mr. Cushing,
"If you are satisfied to accept $6.00, I think we ought to honor your claim and
say Godspeed to you." Mr~ Coffin made the motion that the charge for the use
of Stevens Hall after this' da~e shall be $3.00 or ~6.00, as.determined by the
custodian in the particular Ca~e. Unsnimous vote;.
Mr: Cushing also brought up the subject of the e~.rgency lights., saying he
nothing about them, but he did not believe, they were in working order and
they should be. The Board decided to suggest to the fire dept. that they test
these emergency lights to 'see if ~they are in working order and if .not, see wh. at .
has to be done. ' '
Mr. Cushing f~rther mentioned' about a plaster Job bein~ done and the Board,:a~k~d
him ~o ge~ .a price for.~his work and let the Selectmen know ~the app'roxima, te ~cost.
'~' ~.~ LAWRENCE GAS & ELECTEIC CO . ..
Com~,~cation received from the above requesting permission ~o excavate to
install gas service for J6h~i H. Campbell, Chestnut Street (exc§vate 37~,feet~n
street). The-Board voted .unanim~ously to. gra~t permission and Mr. Carty will
also'be notified of this. '
APPELLATE TAX BoARD'RE'LL0t~ CROCKETT vs. No'. Andover.'A~s~so~-s
A copy received from the Appellhte Tax B0drd notifyi~ us: Of An appeal which
has been set,d*.vn for trillion'Tuesday, Ma~8, 1951, 10:00 A.M.
'DEPT. OF CORPC~ATIoNS'AND TAXATION: ....
· Letter/rom Henry.F. Long suggesting that earnest consideration b,e graven to ..
...... the' apprbval of 0url accounting' officer to be in 'att~dance'~ ~t~..~he' 44th' Annual'
~ Conference of~the Municipal Finance Offmcers Assoc. ~to be held in Dallas, Texa
.'for the period from April 23 to April 26 inclusive. '
.~ DISCUSSION! ON CONVENTIONS'~
"Mr. Coffin asked what other national conventions there~we~e for other departm~
heads and it was stated that~there are national
police and fire' departments, welfare, tree warden, school and~public .works de
Mr. Coffin said, "Iwonde~ ~t the wisdom of sen ~d~.ng people tO .these. conventions.
· ~ I ~tro~gl~y ques~ion'~the.wisdom of" attending, natidn~E[:~ Convention~?' ' It'~ cbs'ts~ the~
T°wn money pius:!0ss'd~ Services during 'the time~'a person is 'away.~l~ Mrs. Fihneran.
was of the opinion th'at none' of' the' depsrtment heads ever attended national con-.
ventions but Mr. Coffin felt they did and /~rther said, "Whatever the ~own gets
"~ ' out of it, it does not warrant the expenditure." Mr. Coffin further stated that~
he thought if the police chief or fire chief were ~ermitted to~ attend national
conventions, then all municipal officers should be permitted to go to ar~r
~natiomal convention. No definite action taken on this matter~
~ ' NE~ ENGLAND '£rlL & TEL AND IAWRENC~. GAS & ~CTRIC'CO:'
The ~two companies (above) requested permission to relocate poles, *wires, cables
and fixtures along and across the following public way or ways:--One existing '
pole on'the northerl~ side-ofPleasan~ Street, at the easterly' line of Chickering
Rd~, to be relocated approximately 21 feet easterly. The Board ~o~ed unanimously
that~ permission be granted.
XTso the ',.aboVe]. twO"companies requested permission to relocate poles, wires, cables
~---'d'~'~i~, ~1~-~ and across the following public way or ways:-Middlesex Street,
at $~wyer Road, 1 pole. ' Remove 2 poles. ~he Board voted;~nanimously that per-
mission be granted.
iS6 APRILg, 1951 (continued)
DRUMMOND ATHLETIC FIELD:
,;,. ~. ~_evens & ons ,o. requested that permission be granted softball teams represent-
Stevens, Marland and the Central Office in No. Andover, to use the Drummond Athletic
field two nights for approximately one and one half hours each week. ~he Board decided
to chec~ with Mr. Duffy and the Recreational Council before anything definite was de-
cided in regard to this matter.
REQUEST FOR A STREET LIGHT:
.. : o£ in state_ that he had received a request for a street light from Mrs. Kittredge
on Academy Road for a light to be installed opposite her driveway. Mr. Coffin made a
motion'that the 'location for this proposed street light on. Academy Road be viewed by
the Selectmen and this was a unanimous vote of the Board. ~
CANDIDATE FOR POLICE APPOINTmeNT: '~'
e-ter receve_ .~rom'-~obert · anb0rn stated that as of 'May 1, 1951, he has been
recalled ~o active duty with the U.S. Air Force. He is a member of the No, Andover
Reserve Police Force and would like to be considered for any appaint~ent that may
· arise during his absence.
DEPT. OF PUBLIC UTILITIES:
oti-~cat on receive- t at 'there will be a public hearing 6n April 24, 1951 on the
petition of the New Englsnd Tel. & Tel. Co. to 'file schedule s making effective on
less than statutory notice certain rates and charges for telephone service in the
Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
DISCUSSION RE BUILDINGPE~MITS FOR LOTS AT STANLEYV~IZE:
Mr. ~Charles P. Sullivan, Mr. Kevin Sullivan and Mr. ~illism J. Burns cams before
the Board to find out if they knew why the Building Inspector refused to issue
building permits to them. Mr. Charles Sullivan stated that the Building Inspector
told him'he c6uldn't issue a building permit but gave no reason. ~In Mr. Burns'
"case, ~he'Building .Inspector gave his answer in writing but there was~mo reason
given as to why he would, not issue the permit. Mr. ~homson then told the gentlemen
that if anyone~is refused a permit from the Building Inspector, they~have the right
~ to,appeal to ~he Appeal Board. Taese three men finally decided it would be best for
th~m~to go before the Appeal Board.
~, BOARD OF HF~LTH:
I ~ from Board of Health in regard' to the matter of supnlementing fluoride
to the public water supply.- The Board voted to table this communication for two weeks.
JURY LIST:
~on brought up the matter of the Jdry List which is supposed.to be submitted
on July 1, 1~51. ~ais year it will contain ~a list of ~wome~ and the Secretary)of the
CommonWealth has approved a form to be sent to·prospective women Jurors.. Mr. ~homaen
stated that the purpose of this questionnaire was to determine ~'the~"eligibiIity of
proSpe~ti~'women ~urors and he felt it ~might be a good ~idea for the/Eokr~d~ to be
/ thinking about this list.~ .a~+~d We should probably start preparing i~ sometime~ in. May.
'.Mr.' Coffin made the susgestion that the School Department .might be willing to mime0-
about 100 copies of this form free of charge. ~Mr.~O,Brien wilLbe ~ontacted
this. ' ' i ....
SP~CIAL ~TOWN MEETING: ·
'Ape i ion, headed ~ ~ the name of Dean~Ross, and appearing to co~t~tn:lmore.~h~s:i 200
sig~a%mres, reqdested ,that a special town' meeting be'~a!led'..! The ,Bbkrd.'v6te~d~to
~all this special on April 30, 1951, at 8:00 P.M.' at the Town 'Halland'furth~r~voted
that there be contained in the Warrant for this same 'meeting the two articles wi'th
which the petitioner is concerned, in addition to any' 0therarti6les in the Town Report
con6erning water and sewerage.
'_/ . coMPLAINT-SPEEDiNG:
An anonymous comp aint was received about speeding in and ar6und the stre~{s At ~the
Veterans' Housing'~ProJect and the suggestion made that signs marked "S16~". or ,grive
$1owly"'be erected around that section. Mr. Coffin stated that he didn"t want to be
committed to putting up signs as that is ~articularly a residential sectionl He
further stated that again it is a mat~er of enforcement of speed laws and' that' the de-
mand for such signs is quite common around town. ~ne Board voted unanimously that the
matter be referred to the Police Dept. 'for investigat~on for the need of signs in the
neighborhool marked "Slow" or of that nature.
CO~. OF MASS.-GOVERNOR'S OFFICE:
Executive Order FI1 was.received from Governor Dover, establishing a Utilities ,Division
within the Civil Defense Agency of the Commonwealth.
APRIL 9- 1951 (continued
ACCIDENT REPORT:
~ received on ~ohn McDonald, Highway Dept., who fell ou~ of the
truck and sprained his left wrist.
MASS. SELECTMEN,S ASSOC.
~re Bill H-1557 (to provide for Bi-Partisan Count of
Bsllots in all Cities and Towns at State Elections and Bi~! H-1558 (To prevent
the opening of Ballot Boxes in Towns during Voting House.) No action taken.
REVOLVER PER~TRENEWALS:
'hefollowing renewas were approved: William Martin, John Cantlin, William
Hainsworth, John Donovan, Luther O'Meilia, FredReynolds, Curtis Bush, Alexander
Ness, Jr., Anthony Rogers, Davis Simpson, Frank Howard, and Stephen LoveJoy, Jr.
WOODBRIDGEANDSAWYERROADS: ~
Letter from Mr. Carry stating that if sewer and water are installed, a $2000
bond will cover %~oodbridge Road and a $3500 bond will cover Sawyer Road.
U.S. SENA~E-KEFAU~ER COMMITT~:
Letter stating that a survey '~f testimony given ~oes not indicate ~h~t there is
confirmation of the statements made in'the newspaper clipping about North Andover
being a "bookie center." However, further search of the Committee's files is
being made.
Y.M.C.A.
Communication from the Y.M.C.A. of Lawrence inquiring as to the possibilities
of procuring a camp site for the use of the Day Camp.. This was given to the.
reporter for publication, buy no action was taken by the Board.
COMPLAINT-Property Damage:. .
Letter from Steinberg & McNiff re ~heir client Daniel J. Nolanwhose car was
d=m~ged due ~o a sta~e of disrepair on Mass. Avenue (2/23/51)..-Mr. Nolamd
expects the town to pay for this damage. ~he Selectmen voted to advise Mr.
Nolandthat Mass. Avenue is a State Highway, maintained in control and con-
struction by the Commonwealth of Mass.
· LA?~ENCE GAS&~LEC~RIC CO.- Street Lights:
Board voted.to ~ave the following installations made (locations having been
viewed by the Board)':
#3533, 1000 lumen, Bay State Road, request of Mr. N. Wilson
#7 1000 ~' Academy Road, request of Mrs. Kittredge
~509 1000 " 858 Johnson St., request of Mr. A. Kent
#470 1000 " Johnson Street, request of Mr. Calzetta
#3106, change from 1000 to 2500 lumen, 15 Beech St., request of Mr.. Qlms.
APRIL16~ lPS1
The regu~r weekly meeting of the Board of Selectmen was held a~ 7:00 P.M.
with Member Arthur A. Thomson absent. ~eekly billsandpayrollswere ~proved.
STREET LIGHT REQDV~ST:
Ered Leach requested that the Selectmen approve the installation of a street
light at the corner of Mass. Ave. and Chickering Road. He said this was a
very~-wk section. THe board voted.to view this location.
E~ERGENCY LIGHTS-STEVENS HALL:
Chief James Hargreaves reported that he checked these lights at Stevens Hall
and there is a dead battery and i%will have to be replaced. The approximate
cost of a new one. is probably about $20.00. The board voted to have Mr.
Cushing purchase this new battery and install same in the Emergency lights.
They will then ask Chief Hargreaves %o check the lights later.
PU~IC SCHOOES-SODi'UMFLUORIDE CLINIC:
A communication received from the School Committee informing the board of
a recent ~onference~called by Dr. Fred Atkinsonwith the local dentists %o
discuss this matter. ~he Committee voted to have the Secretary communicate
with the Selectmen, Board of Public ?orks and Board of Health the following
information: That t~his committee listed to coments from D rs. Waddington,
Saville and McLayupon the efficacy of fluoride salts introduced in the
communal Wa~er supply as a measure to preserve the teeth of young children;
that it is the general feeling of this Committee that the possibility of
such introduction of fluoride~salts in the public water supply of this~ ~own
is worthy of serious and careful study~y the prope~ authorities; and that
if some such program is possible of implementation, it would be highly
beneficial to the. children of the town.
The board voted to hold this ma~ter over one week.