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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1951-05-14 Board of Selectmen MinutesNAY lb, 1951- contined; SCHOOL BUILDING CO~TTEE: A letter received from Mr. O'Brien with respect~to the purchase of the land for the High School, now o~ned by Dr. Thomas Ceplikas. Mr. o,Brien.felt that the price asked is not too high but that was his personal opinion and he would be glad to get the opinion of the co~mmittee at their meeting on May 16. The board voted to ta~e no action until after the meeting of the School Building Committee on May 16. LAWRENCE G & E CO: Notice received ~tH'at a 1000 lumen street light has been instaLLed on pole 2928, Boxford St. as requested in our letter of November 3, 1950. POST 219- AMERICAN LEGION: · Invitation ~o the board ~o participate in the MemOrial Day Parade which Bill take place am 8:30 A.M. at the Town Building. The board voted to accept the invitation with pleasure and will endeavor to take part in this parade. CLAIM: A letter received from Clayton Towler, to the effect that one of his ~axis struck a hole on Great Pond Road and one of the springs was broke~. Mr. Carry advised him to have the car repaired and report this to the selecumen. The board voted-to 'reques~ Mr. Curry ~o ~ive them a report on this condition before taking an~ action on this matter. DEPARtmENT OF EDUCATZON: Notice received that Eob~t J. Ennis, ~§ Sutton st., Marlo Ranfone, 47 Riverview St. and Edward P;~Walsh, 41 Main St. are attendint the Lawrence purr-time App. School in Lawrence for a course in Molding., STEVENS HALL: The Board of'Trade have asked for permission to use Stevens Hall on June 1, 19%1 - to repeat their show for the Elementary School Athletic Fund, the' da~e having been changed from May 25. The hall is available and the board granted permission. REVOLVER PERMIT: Lloyd Crockett requested that his revolver permit be replaced· as he had had his wallet stolen and his permit was in the w~llet. Renewal doesn't come up until September. 'Tne board voted .to grant this request. BOA~-OF PUBLIC WORKS: Estter received from Willian B. Dully in reply to our letter, of April 25, relative to complaints made from residents of the Vets~ans, Housing Area and the suggestion that a backstop might help the situation. -~e Board of P blic ~iorks vie'wed the area and an estimate of $450 was secured on a woven wir~ ~ackstop ~hirty-two feet long and sixteen feet high' similar to ~those customarily used in such locations. Since no money, was provided in the Playground appropriation for such a purpose the money would have ~o be secured from some other source. The board also considered, thee~pense and time involved in developing a satisfactory baseball~ diamond in another par~ of Grogans Field and relocating the bleachers.' No action will be taken but this will be kept in mind for the annual -town .meeting of 1952. SODIUM FLUORIDE: Dr. Fred Atkinson, Dr. Julius Kay, Zrving Howes, Francis Kittredge, Joseph Sullivan, William B. Duffy, Dr. Meyers and Mr. Joseph McCarthy met with the board to discuss the introduction of diuoride salts in bhe public wa~er supply in this town. Mr.~ Thomson:opened the meeting and asked Dr. Atkinson if he wou~d start the meeting off. Dr. Atkinson stated that since they had the State Department of Public Health in the town last fall, there has been considerable discussion about this matter and the 'committee met with the local dentists and it was the general opinion that fluoride in the water would be better and less expensive than the work required to cover a large number of children. One thing de~ermined was that fluoridation would protect the' enamel of the ~eeth and was helpful to cavities and the genera& condition of the teeth.' He said medical clinics ~ave made extensive research and mentioned the danger of this, since many people would neglect to have the proper medicai care required for their.~ +~eeth. ~he sm~ total of the report favored dluoridation. Water supply impregnation rather than ~opical. The investigation of cost is estimated but the board of health will supply an estimate of cost and a survey when necessary. It is estimated that it would cost $.lh to $.16 per person and the installation at $700. Mr. Joseph McCarthy then stated that as of tomorrow, only one town has undertaken to do this and that is Danvers which starts t o-morrow. He said there have been many discussions about ~luoride. CO MAY lh~ 1951-contined SODIUM FLUORIDE: l~r. McCarthy stated that there are only 63 in the whole United States who have done this work. He said there is a lack of apparatus to test the water but there is a definite feels by dental authorities that this work should be done. Most people are waiting for the other fellow to do it first. Mr. Duffy mentioned that this has been under discussion Tor five years and there is one place, Newburg which started this in 1945. Mr.' Thomson mentioned that the cos% of doing the project is considered to be $.lh ~o $.16 per person per annum. Mr. McCarthy i~dicated that the cost in Danvers would be less than $3,000, and there would .be about 7~ pounds of fluorine per million g~ll~ons. Mr. Dully said that North Andove.r ordinarily pumps approximately 200,000,000 gallons of water per year but th~s year it was 2~ millions and the coost would be approximately $5,000. ~&r. McCarthy s tared that the apparatus ~ would be similar ~o Danvers and periodic tests would have to' be made. Mr. Kittredge inquired if any moves had been made by the 'Metropolitan Water System andS'Mr. McCarthy stated tha~ they had done nothing as yet. Dr. Kay discussed this 'matter and stated that as far as later injury to children, one would have ~o drink h,O00 qyarts of water in 12 hours to become affected. Mr. Kittredge inquired if %he medical men here would go .on record to say that no harm.would result from this fluoride. Dr. Kay, said 'there is no question that they wilI accep~ it and it is w~it~en in all th'e medical Journals and thousands of dollars 'have been spent on this research. Dr. Kay thought that N6~th'Ando~er could go ahead with this since' there are enough facts on %ho'matter to go ahead' and he felt that if~we,.Eeep postponihg this :we will be the last of the line. He said the dental profession has approved this and the Public ~orks can't make the de6ision. Mr. McCarthy stated that 'the dental profession has no responsibility, that'~that lies with 'the Board of Public ~orks. He said his department will approve this if properly'~administered, and teeth are tested befnre and' after: However, it would be ',the very natural tendency for' people to throw away toothbrushes. He said it 'is not a difficult task but must .be done properly. He' Said that therehas been somstalk that this water'would'be effective on rayon and this ~ould have'to be'checked but Mr. McCarthy s~ated that~there would be no affect.~ Mr. Thomson stated that the Board of Health is ver~ much interested in this thing and the next step would be a recommendation by the Board of Public ,orks~ ' He felt that'a'lcommittee should be appointed to stud~ this and if it is~ then it ~ould be brought before the ~owmspeople a% an'annual to~n meetihg. ~ 'v Joseph Sullivan said they would like to 'discUSs 'it 'furthe~ and they~will then gm ·. a report to the Selectmen. Mr. Kittredge felt 'that all angles should be checked and if Dr. Kay would be wiliing to give 'an 'official statement 'that no bad results would come from tkis&"equipmen~ and personnel W~o~ld be checked before a recommendation' is made .by the Board of Public "o~ks. Mr. Dully then wondered if the dentists would also give S'omething i~ ~riting. Dr. Kay said he would be very willing to do this and he feat that the dentists would also. Mr. Thom~on~then stated that th~ Board of Health recommends the use of sodium fluoride' and is~ 100% behind it; the' Board' of Public Works will send a recommendation and then' a. committee will be appointed~' to study this further from all angles. WAVERLE~ PLAYGROUND: C~mplaints w~e received from several msmbers of the board about dust 'at ~is pIayground ink':also the location of the s~ings. ~he'board voted to ask Mr&~' Duffy if anything could be 'done about it. Mr. Coffin also mentioned the sand bank which has a very's~eep grade and should be taken care of. RATS~ MIFFLIN PARK AREA: Complaints have been received about rats which are ~believed to come up the storm drain on Lyman road and the board voted to ask Mr. Carry if he'could put some kind of a closely woven 'wire at the entrance to this drain. MAY 21, 1951: ~he regular weekly meeting of the Board of Selectmen was held at 7:00 P.M. with ~1~ members present~ ~feekly bills and .payroll- ~re approved. ~AFFIC CONDITION: Norman Scott, Sutton Street, and Arthur Mulcahey of SuttonSt. camebbefo~e the board to discuss the traffic condition which exists At the Howard Food Products Compan~ directly opposite Mr. Scott's residence. Mr. Scott stated that the trailor trucks park cleanacross the street and on several occasions he was unable to get his car out of his garage because of this. Scmti~s they park there for more than four hours.