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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1951-11-26 Board of Selectmen Minutes NOVE}~ER 26', 1951 The regular weekly of the Board of Selectmen was held at 7:00 P.M. with all members present. Weekly bills and payrolls were approved. S TRE~T LIGHTS: The Board discussed the street light situation on Trunpike Street and had recently met with George Frost of th~ Lawrence G & E Co. and he will write to the Board in the near future. Mr. Coffin said that he felt that only nominal residentia2 lights should he installed at this location. Mr. ~homson suggested tha~ the board hold a discussion and have all the people interested come in and give their viewpoint on the ma~er and alsb have a representative from the Gas Company and Fr. McQuade. The board voted to have a hearing on December 3, 1951 at 8:00 P.M. and notify all residents of this area also Fr. Mc~u'ade and Mr. Frost. OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY: Fern received relative to the application of a group of persons for a corporation to be formed and Mr. Joseph Hogan, 126 Johnson Street is the only member who lives in North Andover. Since none of the members knew this person it was vo~ed to refer this to Chief McKee' for investigation and report to this board at the next weeks, meeting. R~ERVE FUND TRANSFERS: Approval was received for the transfer of $200 ~rom the Reserve Fund. to the Contingent Fund for the remainder of the years expenses. Request for the transfer of $50 fro~ the Reserve Fund to the Forest Fire Appropriation w~s received from Chief James Hargreaves and the approved it and referred it to the Advisory Board for their approval. ~ , P~quest for the transfer of $2000 from the Reserve ,Fund to the Outside Relief and R~pairs appropriation was approved by the board and referred to the Advisory Board for their approval. Reasons for the amount required were given on the form sen~ to the Advisory Board. DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC UTILITZES: : ' Notice received that a hearing is to be held on December 17, 1951 at 10:15 in the foremoon in room 166 State House, Boston with respect to the propriety of the rates and charges stated therein and. that the operation of the rates and charges stated therein be suspended and .the use thereof deferred until October 20, 19~2 ~mless other~rise ~rdered by the department~? Mr. Thomson said he was opposed to any increase a= least until the ma=ter is straightened and Mr. Finneran agreed with him. Mr. Coffin said that the bulletin was not addressed to the'Selectmen and no information was given in' this notice. He could not take any stand on something he did not know'.about. He thought we should write in and ask if there is any proposed increase. CHAPTER .90 Contract. Contract No. 13394 covering work to be done-in this ~own, this year under Chapter 90, Section 34, was 'received, signed by. the Commissioners and by Board. Zt stated that if the wor~ has not already been started~ District C. A. Fritz, 244 Cabot Street, Beverly should be notified when they will be ready to begin work. EASTEPJ~ )~S. HEARING: The Board discussed the hearing being held Nov. 26 and 27 and they contacted Rep. j. Everett Collins to see if he would presen~ the feeling of this board at the hearing. Mr. CoLlins stated that h~ did not intend to appear for the town of Andover as they had written a letter but would be willing to represent this board as a representative if the board wished him to. However, the Board decided they would not ask him to make a special trip and no further action was taken; POLICE CHIEF: Mr. Thomson brought up the matter of the Monfet murder case and s rated that the trial is now ccmpleted as far as the murder element and it's occurrence is concerned in North Andover. He stated, that Chief McKee was called back from his vana~ion and in talking in general with the D£strict Attorney, the D. A. stated that the local chief had done an excellen~ Job and gave plenty of time to this case. Personally, said Mr. ~homson~ he felt tha~ this board should be liberal in it's comments for good police work as we have in other matters. Mr. Fianeran felt that the chief did a good Job and a word of commendation was in order. He felt that the vacation should be made up to the chief. Mr. Coffin agreed that any time lost should be made up but perhaps ~he chief has already made it up. He said he was willing to give a word of commendation tc all officials who helped in this case and not single out the chief. '186 NOVEMBER 26, 1951-confined. CHIEF MCEEE Mr. Finneran s~ated that the chief is the only one under our Jurisdiction and he felt the board should commend him for his work. Hr. Thomson then inquired if the other members feel that having the chief make up his vacation time is sufficient commendation ~o him after the district attorney's express'ion. ~% Coffin then stated that he would llke to have the district a.ttorney's statement in writing as he has heard so many stories. He feels that we should express our thoughts to all officials and not any particular one. Mr. Thomson said he didn't thin there was any question of our appreciation to anyone person. Out department (police) is a little cl'oser to home. %Fo have been critical at times and Mr. Thomson said he thought it just. as impzrtsnt to commend the chief for good police work'. Mr. Finneran made a motion that the board go on record as commending ou~,' Chief of Police and other members 'of the Police Department of North Andover who participated' in the so-called Monfet murder case with respect to the performance of their duties. Mr. Coffin· felt that this was 'an 'ambiguous statement and stated that he would not vote on the motion. Mr. Thomson seconded the motion and the vote was a majority vote. Chief McKee will be notified in writing of the commendation of the board. DOG OFFICERS REPORT. John Delan presented his annual report for the year of dogs, destroyed, licensed, dog bites, livestobk killed by. dogs, lost dogs returned and dogs sent to the MSPCA. DECEMBER 3, 1951: The regular~ weekly meeting of the Board of Selectmen was held at .7:00 P.M. with all members present. Weekly bills and payrolls w *re approved. LAWRENCE GAS & ELECTRIC CO: Notificati.on received that a 1000 lumen light was installed on pole 3409 · Foster Streetwhich was turned on 11/10/1951. Notification received that a 1000 lu~.en light was installed on on Sutton Street. Light turned on 11/10/1951,.~, HEARING 8:00 P.M. on street lights on Turnpike Street. Mr. thomson bpened the meeting and explained that it was held vrtth respect to street lighting from Wilson's corner to the by-pass and thatit was the considered, thought that everyone in this area should be heard. He said there were lights on the north side of T~rnpike Street and none on the college side. -The requested lights are for the benefit of the students and pedestrian travel. This board has asked the Lawrence G & E .Co. to cooper, ate with us and they visited the scene with 'res~ec% to t~to or three proposalsl 1. Lights to be installed on the north sid~ and overhang the highway; 2. lights on the college side and overhang the hi,way, and third, center way lighting, the latter being very expensive. Mr; Frost of the Gas Company stated that if poles are ·used on either side they must be ten feet back from the hard surface. He said we must also take into consideration the amount of money to be spent by the tow~. He ' said middle lane lighting would be 150 feet apart and that it would take considerable time to get the standards and permission from the s~ato. It would take at least a year. Second, he stated that overhead poles must be 10 feet back on paved surface. He mentioned that thc four poles on ~rrimack college side would also be back ten feet. He felt that four lights would have a wide spread. In answer to Mr. Thomson,s question as to any alternative of putting the poles on either side, he said he understood that the people on the other side of the road are no% fussy about having street .lights. Mr. Leo Hickey asked" Where did you get that?,, Mr. Frost said it was hearsay but he knew there ~as at least one' person but he was not familiar with the name. Mr. F. icky hhen asked if Mr. Frost represented the Lawrence G & E Co. and whe. n he replied that he was, .Mr. Hickey asked if what he said was on the record. Mr. Humphrey mentioned a turnout there which he considered very dangerous ~t the end of the building and he felt that there should be a' ].ight there. Mrs. Humphreys said she thought that speeders would slo~ down a little if the highway were well lighted. She said she lived in the last house and they are always hearing the screeching of breaks. She also thought that if there were s ores safety signs along this way, that it would help some. Her children have to ~valk on the highway and she is always worried about them. Father McQuade informed Mr. Thomson that they hoped to have a sidewalk up there and they didn,t mind if thepeles had to be on the collcge 'side. He felt that they needed lights for pedestrians and for students and there is · a dangerous situation there. Mr. Thomson inquired what the normal illumination ~ould be in this area and Mr. Frost explained that for 1st class lighting there should bo a light · every hundred feet. Father McQuade then said that he hoped to be able ~o get some ground lights on the property and this would help the illumination also.