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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1953-03-09 Board of Selectmen MinutesMARCH 9: 1953: BOARD ORGANIZED: The regular weekly meeting of the Board of Selectmen was hold at 7:00 P.M. I~embers present were Arthur A. Thomson and. the two newly elected members, John J. Willis and A~thur P. Kirk. Mr. Thomson, being the senior member, cs!led the meeting to order and informed the members tha~ the first action was ~o organize. Mr. Kirk made a motion that John J. Willis be appointed Chairman of the Board of Selectmen and this motion was seconded by Arthur A. Thomson, with Mr. Willis making the vote unanimous. Mr. Willis then made e motion .that Arthu~ P.~irk be appoi~nted chairman o~ the Board of Public. Welfare, seconded by Mr. Thomson and made unanimous by Mr. Kirk. Mr. Kirk made~a mo~ion that Arthur A; Thomeon'be appointed chairman of the License Board, seconded by Mr. Willis, with Mr._ Thomson not voting and it was declared a majority vote. Mr. Thomson made a motion' that all matters pertaining to the License Board be held in abeyance at this time. Mr. Kirk seconded the motion and vote w~s unanimous. Mr. Willis made a motion thatMrs. Dearden be appointed secretary ~o the selectmen temporarily et this time so that the minu~es of this meeting may be taken. Mr. Kirk seconded the motion, that Mrs. Dearden be appointed secretary to the Selectmen, pro tern and the vote w~s made unanimous' by }~. Thomson. Mr. Willis made 'a motion that all appointments be held in abeyance until later so that the board may have an opportunity to check aL1 these matters a~d motion wes seconded by Mr. Kirk and made unanimous by Mr. Thomson. James Maker came before the board and he informed them that he had beeh 'in Boston about the $1,400,O00 which is to be. borrowed. He plans to waitl until 'April or May. and then the board ~ill sign the notes necessary for this loan. Mr. %'~illis stated that~ he felt that the Board of Seleclt~en could trust Mr". Maker tO do the.right'thing. and no actionwas required at this time. BONDS'; TAX COLLECTOR AND TREASURER: ~The bonds for the above men were received~by ~he board and approved ~n the amounts listed, as voted unanimously by the board. The amounts of the bonds were $45,700 Tot the Treasurer ~nd $47,700 for the Tam ~0tlector. Bonds were given to the Town Clerk. POLICE DEPARtmENT: Chief McKee request the continued provisional emp!oyme~t for four men whose appointment expires On ~rch 22, 1953.~ As Mr. ~illis ~ad previously stated in his motion, all appo.intments ~ill be held over.. GAS & ELECTRIC COMPANY: , " that it be ~granted locations for and permission ~nd consent to: erect, construct, maintain, and operate such transmission' lines; that wires, be 'strUng gc~css's~aid~ public highways, betWeen t0We~ or poles located on p~ivate property, Was received and accepted.by the: board. A hearing was set for i~r~h 23,. 19~3 at ~.45 P.M. in the Selectmen,s Office~l.by. unanimous vote: of the Board. *The,highways involved are Sutton Street, Elm Street, Chickering Road;and Os~go6d.st~eet.'. Notices to abutters were also received and will be mailed Out ~t~ the abutters .with the date Of hea~ing: · JUROE DRAWN: Chairman John J. ~illis drew the name of Clara J. Harris, ~14 Pleasant Street, Housewife, to serve as a Juror at civil session of Superior Court, Salem on. April. 6. , . . . ~ ANIMAL INSPECTOR: Application for the position of' animal inspector was received from Dr. Ed~rd C. Bulger giving his qualifications. Similarly, Chairman Willis made a motion that th'is also be held over. Voted unanimously. . RESIGNATION-POLICE OFFICER: A letter ~ddressed to the Board of Selectmen was received from John .1'. ~?illis advising them that he wished to resign as a member of'the N~rth Andover Police Department'. Mr. Willis thanked the appointing authorities for providing him by their appointment, a means to an end. He also extended good wishes to his successor. ' The board later voted to accept the resignation, to become effective al~ once. CIVIL SERVICE-PC~ICE DEPARBENT: ' ' The Board voted unanimouslyto request a list from the Director of Civil ~ervice of eligible men for the position of patrolman to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of John J. Willis~ so thatanappointment may be made as soon as possible. ~&%RCH 9, 1953: OFFICE OF TH~ SECRETARY: Notice received that Louis H. Mc;loon, 17 Third Street, Andrew E.Alvino 125~Mifflin Drive, and others, have filed an applicstion in the secretary,s office for a certifica~ of incorporation, as provided for in Chapterl§O of the General 4aws, T. E. under the name of The Greater La~rence Contractors, ~ssocietion, !nc., ~o be located in Lmvrence, Mass. ;~. Thomson made a motion that this be referred to the Police Deear~ment for inwstigation of the above persons and a report made ~o this off~ce. Er. Kirk seconded the motion and the vote ~as unanimous. POLICE DE?ART..~.NT: Sgt. Richard 'Hilton came before the board and informed them ~nat he was planning ~o take his vacation early this year, perhaps next week, and he. would like to have the boards.approval for four weeks as he has had in the pass. He said that last year the chief made it clear that anyone wanting extra vacati 9n should apply early so that is the reason he came to the board. ~. ~'~illie inquired if he had talked this over with the chief,and the .sergean5 stated that he has not had a chance ~e see him. ~r. '~i!lis then said that he ~zas not in favor of grant- ing this time, off until the serge.~nt talks the matter over with the chief. He said that the chief should know about it before action is taken. Er. Thomaon then made a m~tion that the board grant this reques$ of Sergeant Hilton'e, sub~ec~ to the chief,s approval. }~r. Kirk seconded this motion and the vote Nas made unanimous by the chairman of the board. Later, Chief ~cKee contact Er. Willis by telephone and said that Sgt. Hilton had. called at the house and discussed this time off and it was agreeable to him. The board then granted approval, ' CIVIL SERVICE ~PPROVAL: Notice was received of the a~proval of the' Division of Civil Service for the reinstatemen~ of Robert L. Sanborn as a Reserve Patrolman in the Police Depart- : merit, effective February 12, 1953. COMPLAINT: Ers. Joseph Reardon, 208 ~ltddlesex Street se~t a communication ~o the beard informing them that on March 2, last, she had slipped on a piece of wood en the stairs of the Thompson School and had been injured. She required the services~ of a doctor and is unable to wait onherself or do her house~ork. Clarence Hayes · witnessed the accident and helped Mrs. Reardon to get to her home. No request was ~ade for reimbursement for doctor,s services. The board voted ' unanimously to refer this to the police department for investigation and report. Mrs. Dearden informed the board that Mrs. Reardon had previously called this office and asked if she would get reimbursemen~ for her. expenses and she.~was advised to notify t~e board in ~riting. No action taken pending a reoort from the Police Department. - - MASSACHUSETTS S~-~C~N,S ASSOCIATION: D~o memorandmms were received relative to various house 9ills ~o be heard in the near future at the State House, Boston. ~here was some discussion.about the action to be taken. Mr. Thomson then made a motion that the mat~er be left to the discretion of the chairman and .the vote was unanimous. ALL OTHER CO~33NICATIONS REQUIRING NO ACTION: Er. Arthur Kirk made a motion ~ha~ all remaining communications which require no action by %he board, be received and placed on file. Mr. Thomson seconded the motion and the vo%e was unanimous. D~PTARTMENT OF CO~.:ORATIONS AND TAXATIONS: A communication Nas received informing the board that the bonds of the treasurer, James j. Maker and of ~ank E. Wallwork, ~ax collector for the current year had been received and are satisfactory as to form but before the bonds can be approved the To~n Clerk mus~ re~urn the cer:ificate that was sent to him sometime ago to be filled ou% ~vit~ respec~ to the term of office for the ~reasurer and the tax collector for the year 1953. This letter was under da~e of March 4, but ~r. Thomson informed the board that since the bonds are now before them for approval, the ~o~n clerk has apnarently sent in the rsquired certificate. - MET. CASUALTY INSURANCE CO: A letter ~as received re: Joseph L. Bisson in'reply ~o an inquiry from the Board of Selectmen as t~ ~he s%atus of the claim of the late Joseph L. Bisson. The letter ad,,ised that an investigation surrounding the circumstances of Bisson's death has indica~ed that his death ~as due ~o natural causes and in noway the result of~ccidental bodily injury. For this reason no payment can be made on this case. No action ~as taken b~ the board a~ this time. TO%'~ WARRANT ARTICLE: SPECIAL TO,~ ~ETING: Mr. Willis read the article in this warran~ and stated that he would like ~o presen~ a motion suggesting that the three persons ~o bo appointed to the committee in addition ~o the Board of Selec~msn and the Engineers,. be appointed from the Advisory Board. He thinks it would be more definite if the committee is set in this way, rather than one member of the Advisory board to appoint three persons.. Mr. Thomson stated that it was the feeling of the previous board that such.a committee should be formed and the terminology in the article refers no the full Advisory Board, not one member. Mr. ~illis said he felt that three members of the board would be willing to serve on this cormmittee and he thinks that the Board of Selectmen should take a stand and advise the Town Meeting. He said that the Chairman should advise the town meeting tha~ the Selectmen want three members of the Advisor~ Board to serve on this committee. Mr. Willis then made a motion, seo~nded by Mr. Kirk, nnan the chairman of the Board of Selectmen be advised to present to the ~own meeting that it is the desire of the board that three members of the Advisory Board be appointed as part of the nine member co~m~ittee ~o purchase the fire truck, if the article is passed favorably. Mr. Kirk seconded this motion with Mr. ~homsun ~oting~nogon the theory 'that the matter should be left ~o the to~n meeting. ARTICLE 28- ANNUAL TOWN MEETIMG WARP~NT: Mr. Willis stated that there was one other, article that should be reconsidered and that was article 28. He felt that the chairman of the Board of Selectmen .should be advised to instruct the town ~eeting, that if the 'article is passed, that this.suture be paid under the supervision of the Board of Selectmen. He said he is not familiar with this bill and he would like to know what itis for and he would like to talk with a representative of the' company. Mr. Thomson said that no bill of the town is paid without supervision of this board even though preciously approved by the Department Head. Nothing incurred can be paid unless on a voucher approved by the selectmen. Mr. Willis wondered if the to~vn meeting is not the ~overning body. Mr. Thomson said he didn.t think that you could ask the ~own meeting to give the money ~o the selectmen. Mr. Willis said there is still some cmufusion withreference as to the amount of the bill, and whether a new radio, ~ld radio or.parts of such were purchased. Mr. Thomson said he felt that explanations an the town mseting would certainly be in order. He felt that the matter should be checked and the 'chairman.'s feelings e~pressed at the town meeting. Mr. Kirk inquired if the selectmen could disprove the voucher even if the town meeting approved the article. Mr. Willis said his question is whether the ma~er should come before the town meeting by John Willis or by the chairman of the board of selectmen. Nr. Kirk theh asked if the selectmen are compelled ~o insert an article regardless of who presents it. ~r. Thomson explained that an article properly submitted must be signed by the heed of a department or by ~en registered voters and submitted to the selectmen- , within the time that the ~arrant is open, for insertion in the warrantof the annual town meeting. Mr. Willis said this is very definitely a matuer before this b~ard. He said he would go on record that this article be stricken from the ~arrant and this was in the form of a motioh. He said the bill could then be presented again before this board if it has been legally contracted. M~. Thomson said there may be other arnicles submitted by previous officials and the time foraction is at the town meeting. Mr. Willis then withdrew his motion. ALL NIGHT PARKING BAN LIFTED: ~r. Thomson brought up the matter of all night parking and felt that the ban should be lifted an this time. The board agreed that the ban should~be lifted as of this date with the understanding that should there be a storm, the ban could be put into effect during that time. Theboard voted unanimously on this. The board adjourned.