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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1953-05-11 Board of Selectmen MinutesMAY 11, 1953~ continued TREE WARDEE: Mr. Conners informed the board that his sprayer broke down and it is 25 yrs .old and can't be repaired. ~hey have a motor from an old sprayer and if this could be traded in they may be able to get a small spr.ayor to do private work. ~his motor has been idle for five years but he has someone interested in it but has no figure available as yet. Mr. Willis inquired about the budget and. Mr. Conners couldn't say whether or not his budjet would stand the additional expense but he ~ill ge% a figure and report back to the board next week. CIVIL DEFENSE DIRECTOR: ~he board received a 'letter from Forbes Rockwell, Director, relative %0 an' old Packard Car or truck purchased during '~Vorld War II, which is in the Fire Deportment. T~e Civil Defense 'can ~ee no use for this apparatus in the foreseeable future and t~bey, would like to turn it over to the Selectmen for disposal in anyway they see fit. The Board voted unanimously to authorize the Civil Defense Director to dispose of the truck. SCHO~r, BUILDING COMMITTEE: A communication was received relative to an application to be signed .by the Board of Selectmen for permission to grade thc land between Chickering Road and the site of the new High School and.to filed with the Mass. Dept. of Public Works. The Board signed the application and the copies will be sent to the Schoo2 Department. DOG OFFZCER WAPJ~ANT: The Chairman of the Board of Selectmen signed the dog officer's warrant :~for the'' ensuing :year. CONGRESS 'OF THE U.S. 'FLUORIDA~rON OF ;'lATER: A letter was received from A.L. Mtller~ Fourth District, Nebraska relative to the' fluoridation of wa~er. ~he letter states that there are many unanswered questions about the effects of fluoridated water on the health of children and adults .and the committee was unanimous in suggesting that it was too early to. evaluate the effects of this program. A report of Mr. Miller in the House, of representatives-was included with. the ,letter. No action taken. ." · C0~TTHE FOR CONSU~ PRO~CTION: A::copy.0f a l~tter, sent to two Senators and fourteen Representatives fr6m Mass'., - was~ received by the.board. So that the board may fully understand the impact of the proposed legislation, this .i~.formation was sent ko this board. No actionwas taken. POLICE DEPT~R~ENT BrL~.-RADIO:, .~,Representatives of/the Harvey. Radio Laboratories were to have. been'present at to- nights meeting but Mr. Lanning informed Mr..~mllis that, they could not make it. Mr. ~]~is stated that the meeting is postponed indefinitely. DE~AR~",,5~T OF EDUCATION: · ' lhe board received a copy of the names ofp~rsons attending school in Lawrence for vocational training. No action. ~ · FIRE 'TRUCK ~ CO~,~I T'vF, E: ~/~, ~he ~Fire Truck committee, met with the Board of Selectmen at this time. Mr.~ Willis informed those ~present that he' had not received a written opinion from ~lw~n, King on' who should ser~e on this committee (Mr. Broderlck or Mr. Snell). However, he stated that he talked with Mr. Eing by telephone at his. Boston 'office and the opinion of Mr. King is 'that the new member has the authority to serve on this committee and the old member is no longer considered a member of the committee. He will send a ~ written o~inion, mto-night. ~r. 1~t~1is inquired if'this was agreeable to ali present. Mr. Tnemsonstated that it was agreeable to him on the Basis of what Mr. Willis has to · say pending receipt of a report from Mr. King. Mr. Willis contacted Chief Hargreaves and Mr. Perkins and asked if they would come to the meeting and they, agreed. MrJ willis, read a letter from the American LaFrance Co~peration ~hich amended their bid,to include.a 750 GPM Pump with a Class A rating. It is further amended to include a 1500' Watt A.C. portable Generator. Chief Hargreaves did not feel that this was a fair thing to do since the bids were opened and the LaFrance did bid on a 500 gal. pump end a lighting unit. He said he diduot ]enow if it was illegal :o do .such ~a thing. Mr. Willis said he did not think there was any prohibition to accepting an amendment. Mr, Thomson inquired what would happen if the other companies adjusted their bids to-day or tomorrow. Mr. Willis said he felt that the committee could accept them. Mr. Perkins said there was one other company involved and as a matter of ethics, he thought the ~ther company should be notified. Mr. Hargreaves said he had no objection ~o the LaFrance truck but he did not want to be mixed up in any kind of a deal and he did not think that thiswas the fair way to do business. NAY 11, 1953- continued FIRE TRUCK CO}~TTEE: Mr. Thomson said he felt that the chairman's s:atement was out of order. He felt that ." .' every company should be notified, in all fairmess. Mr. Perkins said that the actual value is involved and the ~alesman had said that there was a difference of $1,000. Mr. Hargreaves said that someone must have notified the AaFrance people of the offer of Seagrade and that here it is two or three weeks after the bids are in and the com- mittee is accepting a change. Mr. Thomson inquired if the letter from LaFrance people was Just opened to-night and Mr. Willis said it was. However, Leo Kane knew the con~en~s, of the letter before it was opened. Mr. Kane said that the salesman had called him and he told them to put this information in writing. Mm. Willis said he could see no particular objection as :o the lighting unit and the town is saving money. Leo Kane then made a motion that we buy the LaFrance truck. Mr. Thomson w~mhed ~o recorded as not voting, nom because of buying a AaFrance truck but because of the unethical procedure. He felt the Selectmen were setting a precedent by doing this. Just a short time ago, an insurance company sent 'in. an anendment to their proposal and ~r. Willis did no~ feel that it could be considered.. Arthur Kirk went on record as not voting because of the ethics involved. Richard Heider sent in his vo:e bymail and he voted for the Aa.~ance truck~ as did ~eo Kame, Calvin Snell, Edwin Koenig and John Willis .and vo%e was unanimous. Chief Hargreaves, Lester Perkins, Arthur Kirk and Arthur A~ Thomson recorded as no~ voting. Mr. Kirk said further that as far as the truck goes, he is in favor of the LaFrance . but in view of the objections to the procedure he prefers not ~o. vo~e~ Mr. Willis then stated that the committee had voted for the purchase of a' AaFrance fire truck with a 750 GPM pump and a"t~00 Watt A.C. portable generator b)r~.a maJori'ty vo~e. DUMP SITE Mr. ,Willis informed those present that the purpose of this meeting of the;Dump Site Committee was to discuss with Mr. ,Anthony Rogers the price of the land.~o be considered for a dump site. Mr. Willis said he was elected chairman of. this committee and he .said he would like to ask some questions of Mr. Rogers and any other member of the committee could ask any questions they wished. He inquired of Mr. Rogers how much he Wanted for his land and how much land he would offer. Mr..Rogers said he had previously asked for. $8,060 for 15 acres of land 'but he .would now give 10 acres for $5,000 and they could have any ten, acres, whichever is best. for .the town.. 'Mr. Willis brought up the matter of the expense of operating for the remainder of the year if this land should be purchased. Mr. carry saidhhe has no~ enough money to pay. a man~a regular,salary_for ~the balance ~- of the year and the article he had inserted in~he~ warrant had beeh stricken f~m the warrant. i Dewey Dyer was present and he informed those present that if set up properly with a two level system they could ge~ from. 12 to 1% years out of 1% acres. He said that to cperate:~in the winter, they must have proper stock and dig ditches ahead and then putup snow fences around one side of the ditch. Mr. Willis brought up the matter of expense to the :o~n and felt that,this size of a ~cwn'could well use a regular dumping method and save.the town$5,0OO.','~He said he didn't interpret the vo~e of the to~n to mean that we must haVe Dumpand Fill. That applies,only if they spend the $5,000 appropriation. Mr. DYer said that the big cost of aldump .and fill method is ~the initial expenditure. After that the~cost should be about 50%1 and then there is the matter of the syete'm cs reclaiming, land. He saidwith an open d~mp they don't.have the compaction and~ decom2 position. · Mr.~ Kirk said he believed that~ the dump and fill method is the ~est and that-the Health measure is the most. important. Sometime the land is resaleable and 'the 'total investment might be recovered. He felt that the purchase of this land is an~ investment. George Caron of the Board of Health stated that he feels that all ~angles should, be considered. If a dump is in ~he outlying district, the.expense will be greater as~ there will be need of a mew truck and Mr. Carty agreed~that this was so. Mr. Willis mentioned that the-tax rate will probably~ increase to $48.00 this year and there should be no additional expenses unless absolutely necessary. Ne said that if we could get some land for $500 the town would save money. After further discussion it was agreed that the 'committee would view the Rogers property on Friday evening, Ma~ 15, at 6:30 P.M. ARTICLES-DRAINAGE: Ralph Brasseur and Richard Whipple came before the board and ~r. Brasseur discussed a plan which had been set up at request of the Planning Board and as a result an article was inserted in the ~own ~'mrrant. lhe Article was checked by the Pla~uing Board and recommended by the Advisory Board but Mr. Brasseur understood that Mr; Duff~ had said that the a~..tic~le was ng~ necessary as. .the s.t.ate .wou~d allow.us ~o eh:er into their drain. ~r.orasseur nad a consulta:zon'w1121 s~x s~ame engmneers MAY il, 1953- continued AND Mr. Fritz advised him that we could no~ enter the state' drai~on I~ass. Ave. There are other articles which cannot be worked out now as there's no place to drain into. Mr. Whipple said that the Planning Board paid ~Mr. Brasseur to draw these plans and now they are no good. Mr. Wil~%~sat~ there is nothing that can be done now on the other articles and they would have to be clarified and taken up at another town meeting. SUTTON HILL DEVELOP~ENT: The board discussed Sutton Hill Road and ~. Catty said it is now in condition for acceptance but when the water is pu~ in there the 'Water Dept. will dig up the s tree~ and then he will have ~o put it back in condition. Mr. Whipple explained that the Planning Board insisted that the grade must be met and the street a certain width but they could refuse to approve a plan until the water is in, if it is so voted. In this location if you insist on services being put in befbre approval, the cost would be between $30,000 or $40,000 and the little person couldn,t'do this. Mr. Brasseur said that if the water was put in under contract, then the con- ~ractor would be obligated to put the road back in condition. He said he would get the figure for the Selectmen relative to the posting of a bond before June 1, as voted in the article. INSURANCE-FIREDEPAR~ENT: Mr. Richard Whipple informed the board that there is nothing ~hat can be done about the policy on the firemen. If a person dies, the company shall'decide whether or no~ it was accidental death and each case would have ~o fig~red individually. ~here was further discussion on insurance and Mrs. Love talked about a case which came to her attention(she is active on the '~orkmen's Compensation plan in Davis & Furber Co.). Mr. ~illis said the firemen were disturbed because they say that most firemen die from heart conditions and although covered'under this policy for accident, they would not collect if heart ailment was.the actual cause of death even though they died while engaged in firefighting. Mr. ~hipple said there was nothing 'that could be done. MAY 18, 1953 ~weekly meeting of the Board of Selebtmen was held at 7:00 P.M. · with all members present. Weekly bills and payrolls were approved. OFFER OF LAND TO TOWN: George Broadhead, ll Robinson Court, came before the board and' presented k plan showing a small piece of land which he would like to give to the town. He said it iB used as a public way and he has been paying taxes on it for many years. ~he Board discussed this mat~er at length and agreed to check the land with the assess- ors and see how much Nr. ~roadhead is being taxes for this piece of property and advise him ~hat he should do about it. The town could not accept it unless there was an article in the tow~ warrant and the people voted on it. ~his will' be checked with the Assessors to determine if the right of way on Robinson Cour~ is also being tsmed. RECREATIONAL COUNCIL: Carl Thomas and eight other members of the council came before the board to discuss the salaries to be paid to the instructors at the playgrmAnds for the summer months. Mr. Kirk had questioned the amoun~ of money to be paid to the instructors and asked Mr~ Thomas to enlighten the board as to the number of hours worked during the eight week period. Mr. Thomas stated that they work an average of four hours per day and one full week before the playgrounds open, in order to prepare their work. He also stated that they spend some time planning their work for the following day. He ssid that in 1949 they paid more for salaries than they plan to pay this year. He said there were about 300 persons who could apply for this wo~k and they received only 16 applications. T~oofthemwere from girls who live out of town and they could not be considered. There will be.six instructors and one supervisor. ~e applicants were picked according to the ratings 'on their applications and it ~vas a unanimous vo~e of the board to choose the list submitted. They voted by Australianball~. Mr. Thomson made a motion that the board approwe the names submitted in their effective capacity at the salaries listed. Vote was declared to be unanimous. Mr.$irk was satisfied ~ith the explenatinn and stated that he had been informed that the instructors had worked only three hours daily. BOOSTER CLUB: Thomas McEvoy invited the Board of Selectmen to participate in the parade to be held on May 31, 1953 in the afternoon. They hope to have all the boys who are in the service, and the boys in ~o~n, as ~ell as a band. Mr. Thomas made amtion that the Board accep~ the invitation and make an effort to participate. Vote was declared to be unanimous.