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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1953-05-18 Board of Selectmen Minutes MAY 18, 1953: continued A meeting was held at 7:30 P.M. relative to the complaint received by the Board on trailers parked on Dufton Court on the property of Mr. & Mrs.. NcMur~ay. 1~. Willis opened the hearing by informing those presen~ that the meeting .was called as the result of a complaint made relative to a trailer parked on Dufton Cour~ on ~. McMurray's property. T~e ma~er came to a head last week whence group of citizens came in to complain about the trailer and the board instructed l~rttn Lawlor, building inspector to investigate this matter and m~ke a reper~ to this board of any violation of any nature. Mr. Lawlor reported that he had checked the trailer and that it was 29'. x 8' x 8'. One end is 14.~ ' from the side line and the other is 14.2' and ~he zoning by-law c~lls for 15~' from the~ side lines. ~ey have an oil barrel set up, an auxiliary pole and this is 3' closer to the line. Mr.. Kirk inquired if the building inspector had issued a permit and Mr. Lawlor s~a~ed that he had and that he had a right ~o issue such a~rmit. He checked it and gave the permit and they were ~o move the trailer back so many inches so that it would be the required distance. He said he issued the permit conditionally. Mr. Robert Nelb stated that th~ first traildr is only five feet from his land. Mr. Lawlor said he had no complaint about the other trailer. George Schru~nder had a trailer there ~t one time and it has been there about four years. Mr. Thomson asked if the other trailer was in tho process of .being set up and he was informed that it was. Mr. Nelb is disturbed about the cesspool which drains on his proper~y. He said the people have dug a trench on his proper~y. Mr. Shapcot~ said he had discussed this with Mr. Kirk and he talked with M~..~.awlor ' but in the meantime the people go~ a utility pole put in, not om'his line but it is close to it. He wanted to know if'a ~erson could carry on a business in a.residential area. ~A-. NcMurray said heis not running a business, he is simply renting a' piece of his land. Mrs. ~c4~rra~r asked for permission ~o talk and she said that when they bought their house the first trailer was there and as far as boundaries ~he didn't know. anything about them. She said that Mrs. Sullivan who lives in the trailer lost her husband and her Son was in the service and she wanted ~o be near her sister who lives in the other trailer. She said she didn,t think these people were objecting to the trailers but · that two years ago they had a~out thirty turkeys and Mrs. McMnrray asked them if they could clean up theplace 'a little as they couldn't have their windows or doors open on account of the sSench from the turkeys. ~hey agreed ~o clean up theplace.but they have not spoken to them since. 8he said they definitely would no~ allow any more trailers on their proper~y but she felt that these people had a right to live. Mrsl Bhapco~t stated that they did have turkeys but when asked to clean them up they .got rid of them. Mr. Willis inquired if the trailer was there when the McMurrays purchased the land and she said that it was and that they had no objection to the trailo~. They purchased the property from Mr. & ~rs. Nitchell. There was further discussion'about being proper to carr~ on a business in this ar~a and Mr. Willis asked if it was a business. He said if a person had a three family house they would rent three tenements but you couldn't call' that a business. M2. Nelb said he objected to their taking thepos~ on the boundary line and was asked by Mrs. NcNurra~ if he didn't give them permission ~o go in on his land. He said, "No, only. to trip'the ;roes. ". Mr. Willis said that despite the fact that 15 people object to these trailers, the rights of Mr. & Mrs. Mc~rray are Jus~ as impor~an~ as the objections. He said the last thing he would wan~ was ~o have this thing become a political football. He said if there is no violation of the law there is nothing that give the board, the right to ~ake any action. Mr. Thomson said if one ~ere conducting a trailor park, there would be a violation but if they are not trailers, there is. no prohibition. He said as he understands it, if you have a piece of land you have the right ~o build as m~4ay' buildings as you wish, providing you stay within the zoning laws. It would not be considered;a business wit~im a 'residential district to obtain ren~s. If it is 'a trailer park, then it.would be a business. If a trailer is considered a building, it loses the character of a troller and the whold thing depends on what is considered a trailer. I£ a so&called trailer is no longer moveable then'it is a building, according mo the zoning laws. One of the trailers is apparently in violation and Mr. Thomson said he would like to look at the location. He thinks that Mr. Lawlor should refuse the permit until a plan is filed with him and he will place the buildings on the plan and determine if there is a violation of the zoning 1..dws. One of the residents inquired if the trailers are assessed as real estate or personal 'property and if they determine this. Mr. Thomson said that the assesscrs have no right to determine this, they may assume such a thing but it would have to be determined by a court. Mr. Lawlor will report back to the board with the plan and the opponents will be notif~'~d in writing as to the outcome. ~.~r. Willis said it resolves itself hack to the board, if they comply with the sidelines. Nr. Thomson also felt that if the occupants intend to remain there should be considered in the final analysis. BO~D TO T0~: AP~T~OLE ~ 80. Ira D. Catty, Highway surveyor, informed the board in ~vriting that after examinatiun of tho conditions at Heath Road extension and Sutton Hill Road in the Sutton Hill development a bond of $1,000 will be necessary to cover the work necessary to put these roads in.the required condition after the Public .~orks Department has completed the installation of the water mains. Additional gravel and/or fill will be necessary and s tone bounds will have to be set. The board voted ~o inform Roland Sherman of this requirement so that the bond may be posted before June 1. GROUP INSURANCE: Mr. Willis read a letter received from the Department of Corporations and Taxation relative ~o an interpretation of the meaning of the word "permanent,, as used in Chapter 239 of the Ac~s of 1952 which inserted Clause (44) in 'Section 5, of Chapter 40 of the General Laws. Mr. Williams was presen~ and said he hoped that his compan~ will accept this meaning. He mentioned the men who are on provisional appointmen~ which has to be renewed every six months and these men are not ~ermanent. Mr. Schorman stated that the legal department of his company are checking Mr. Dine's interpretation and they hope ~o have the answer in a day or so. He also asked how the premium is to be paid. If it is paid semi-annually, it will save the money. He also said that if the legal department says that the call fire are added on, the ex~ra rate will apply ~o everyone. There was some discussion on this matter. Mr. Thomson finally made a motion that the Board of Selectmen authorize the chairman ~o sign the application and also to pay onemonth,s premium in advance so that they can get started on the work. Vote was declared to be unanimous. Mr. Schorman srmted that they must sign up 75% of the ~mployees in order to go with this policy. Mr. Schormun brought up another ma~er to be discussed. He said that as the Selectmen awarded the proposal, the commissions would be split equally with the men from North Andover as well as the credits. He would like thetSelectmen ~o change these conditions so that the credits will go ~o the mwo men who submitted the bids, namely David Long and ~.~r. Schorman. Mr. Williams explained that these ~wo men submitted the bids and one other agent sent a letter. The company works on a merit basis and the~credit should go to the two men who did the work on the proposals. Under the present condition, three men are fnom one staff and the credit basis would go to a man who lives in New Hampshire. At this point, Mr. Kirk said he had objected to the changing of the wording of the letter because he understood about the credits and didn't agree tha~ they should be split up ~rlth all men in ~own. No action was ta~.en on changing the condition of the letter but the premium will be paid for one month .and if the insurance should not go through it will be returned to the town. INVITATION-ME~3RIAL DAY PARADE: V.F.~. a AMERICAN LEGION V. F. %?. ~n invitation was received from ~he American Legion/~nectiun with the observance .of Memorial Day and inviting the board ~o participate in thc parade. The board voted unanimously to take part in the ~rade as is the usual custom~ and to accept the invitation with thanks. BOARD OF PUBLZC WCSXS: The board received a letter from William B. Dully calling attention ~o the need of considerable quantities of loan on our parks, playgrounds and other municipal areas. If the town purchases a plot of land for sanitary ~land fill purposes and there is loam available they feel that the best interests of the ~own will be served if the Selectmen will reserve any such loam for strictly municipal use as stated above. .The board voted to file this letter. PC~ICE DEPARtmENT: The Board received a letter from Alfred H. McKee, chief, petitioning this board to make it mandatory that a police officer be in attendance at ~ll social functions 'held in Stevens' Hall. This is sponsored by the North .Andover Police Relief Assoc and also has the approval of the chief. At present the fee for a police officer is $7.00 for high school .functions and $10.00 for any other. Mr. Thomson felt that we should ask the police ~o serve on charitable' functions at no fee. He asked Mr. Willis if ~e recommended that each function should p~yr$7 and $10. He said there were many heated debates in the past about this same matter. Mr. Willis s~id that the same condittions exist in other communities and they are required ~o have a police officer. He doesn't t.hink that in this uown, $10.00 is too much for a police officer. He said there have .been difficulties at the H, gh School when people come over here from Lawrence and they would have aracus. Mr. Thomson asked if tl~is protection should be paid for a~ a higher price than the regular police officer is paid. He said they don't have to work extra if they don't wane ~o. He knows of some instances ~ere school teachers a~end these ~ctions but they don't ge~ paid. NAY 18, 1953- continued: OL CE DEPART.~ENT: Mr. Willis said they have had a janitor who received $4"-00 per day. He said we checked with Mr. O'Brion and he had no objection. Nr. Thomson said that his point is that teachers go up there ~nd do not get paid and he thinks t~e responsibility of an officer is the same. He thinks that $7.00 should be satisfactory. If salary is to be set, he would say $7.00 is sufficient. He would be in favor~ of having an officer but not at $10.00 and $7.00. Nr. Kirk said he thought they should have .an officer at all functions. He then made a motion that the Board of Selectmen make it mandatory to have a police officer in attend~:ce at all social functions and the vote was unanimous. OPINION-ATTOPJ~EY ~2~WY~! KING: The Board received an opinion from Elwyn A. King on the fire truck pu=chase ~ committee as requested by the Board of Selectmen. The conclusion is, ~therefore, that on the expiration of his te~m as a member of the Board~ of Fire Engineers and failure to receive a renewal of his appointment as a member of th'at board the old member ceased to have po~er to serve asa member of the committee to. purchase the fare a!~paratus voted by the tc~n. And it is further concluded that upon his being appointed to the Board of Fire Engineers the new member of that Board became eligible ~o serve upon the fire purchase committee and to continue as a member of such committee while duties of the committee stil~ remained unperformed. REPORT OF EL~ZN KING: Mr. ~King sent a report upon his examination of the title ~o the land purchased from ~John J. and Anna Cyr under Article 35 of the annual to~m meeting for 1953, also on articles 33 mud 34 of the annual town meeting. Filed under f~l~ of E!voyn A. King. REQUEST FOR ~ATER: A ~letter was received ~ from James J. NcGovern, 158 South St. Jamaica Plain, Boston 30, relative ~o having the town wa~er line brought up ~o his land .on Boston Street, about 100 feet from the Andover-North Andover line. ~he board voted ~to refer this matter ~o William B. Duffy, Sup~. of Public Works. TOWN C~EI~-ARTICLES AND VOTES: John Lyons, town clerk, submitted articles 18,69, 72 ~.ud 77 together with the votes · of said articles which were acted upon ~on March 13, 1953 at the annual town meeting. DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS: ' The board received a contract in duplicate for the improvement of a section of road in this ~o~rn under the provisions of Section 34, Chapter 90 of the General Laws, between St4te and to~n. The board signed both copies and they will be returned to the Department of Public Works and when signed by the commissioners, one of the signed copies will be returned to this office for the fit, s. DEPAR~ENT OF PUBLIC WORKS: Notice was received of the list ofbids submitted covering the work to be done on Great Pond Road and Martin ~ailet Construction Cc, 18 Beach Road, Salisbury was the lowest bidder on the amount of $13,706.50 and was awarded the contracl:. DEPAR~Ek~ OF PUBLTC WORKS: CHAPTER 90: Three copies of a contract, dated May 5, 1953 was received which is between the to~n of North Andover and Martin Mailer Construction Co. for reconstructing a section of highway on Great Pond Road in ~he town of North Andover. The board signed the three copies and ~wo will be returned to the Depar~men~ of Public Norks, 100 Nashua Street, Boston 14. The other copy is for our file. · DUMP SITE CO}P.~ITTEE: T~o members of the Board of Health (Dump Committee) me~ with the selectmen to discuss a dump site. Dewey Dyer was presented and Mr. Willis mentioned that he had nora been included as a member ex officio. Mr. Thomaon said he had no objection .to having ~r. Dyer pres&hr but did not feel that they hsd the right to include him as a member since the committee wa~ appointed, by vo~e of the ~n meeting. It was then voted ~o have Mr. Dyer as am advisor on an official invitation without power to vo=e. Mr. Willis said that the committee looked at the Rogers site last Friday and were given =wo alternatives. One section of the field is a square, .half of which is not of ~oo much value for a dump and' fill site. ~he ~ther half is good ~and ~r. Rogers said the =~wn could .have 15 acres parallel ~o Clark St. for $5,000 or 10 acres for $5,000 if the section which is perpendicular ~o Clark Street is taken. Mr. Willis said he checked the tax bill with .Mrs. McCubbin and he felt that the price he asked is exorbitant. Mr. Dyer said his only comment between the two choices is that tho Sen acres is the best lob of land and to purchase this would be spending the money to better advantage. Mr. Willis said that if we spend $5,000 for land we must ge~ more money for roads and money for manpower for the remainder of the year.' GROUP INSURANCE NAY 18, 1953- continued. DUMP SITE ~r. Thomson suggested that we could ~ake an option pending the action of a special to~ meeting. Mr. Kirk said that his interpretation of the article is that the money can be used onl~ for thepurchase of the land. Mr. Willis asked if those present felt that we were ready for a public meeting. He inquired if any of those presen~ had any objection =o the price. Mr. Ca~on said that no one was really pleased but that the location 'was ideal and he felt we should go along with the hearing. Dr. Julius Kay also felt that we should do this. Mr. Rogers agreed to have the land surveyed and give a plan to the to~n and he will stand this expense. Itvas th~n agreed that a public hearing should be held on May 25, 1953 a% P.M. in the Court Room and that the petitioners should be notified so that all who signed the petition as opposed to this location would be notified and have an opportunity 3o appear a~ the hearing. Dr. Kay will arrange to have a State engineer presen~ and they will show movies of the dump and fill method so that all will know Just what the system is. ---- 5/1~/53: Mr. Kirk made a motion to have the commission divided among the five men listed below and the credits to go ~o David Long and Fx~ward Schorman. Motion was seconded by Mr. ~?illis and vote was a majority vote. See no,es below. O0~.~LAINTS: Mr. Kirk received a complaint about noise and boys and girls congregating at.Val's restaurant on Friday nights, from Mr. Fleldhouse. He also had com.mlaints from %we women about the mrowds congregating at Meagan'e Drug stor, and they have to go out in the road to ge~ by. Mr. Willis said that Mr. Meagan could get rid of these gangs if he ~anted to but he very seldom complains and there is nothing the police can do except move them away. As soon as the officer leaves the scene, they are back again and you can't arrest them as they are not doing anything whichwarran~s this. He said the chief assigns a man on Friday and Saturday nighms ~o patrol these areas and there isn't much more can be done unless we have the chief con.tact ' the parents of the children. The board voted to refer this to the chief and see if they can do something to alleviate this situation and ~f not, have him con~act their parents. John Conners came before the board and informed them that he will have to ge~ a new sprayer as the company will not take the old one in to' repair. It is 25' years old and no psrts can be obtained. He uses this sprayer for 'private work add each year they collect between $250 and $300 for this work which is turned in to ~he %reasury. Mr. Thomson made a motion that the ~ree warden reques~ $300 from the Reserve Fund for the purchase of the sprayer and the vo~e was unsnimous. Forms will be seat to the Advis.ory Board members for their approval. JUNIOR LEAGUE BASEBALL T~: The board received an invitation to participate in the opening game of the North Andover Junior League Baseball team on Thursday evening, May 21, at 6:00 P.M. at Grogan,s Field. Mr. Willis -',nd Mr. Thomson will be unable to attend but Mr. Kirk will mak~ an effort to attend this game. MAY 25, 1953: ~e]cly meeting of the Board of Selectmen was held at 7:00 P.M. ~_th all members present. Weekly bills and. payrolls ,were approved. SPECIAL POLICE OFFICER: John C. Farnum, 426 Farnum Street, was appointed a special police officer on his application for this appointment by unanimous ~ote of the board. GROUP ~SURANCE: 'Mr. Willis brought up the matter of the vo%e on Group Insurance and informed the members that the vo~e had been made on Mr. Kirk's motion, seconded by Mr. Willis %hat the commission will be split five ways among the five North Andover workers, Mr. Williams, David Long, Edward Schorman, William Smith and Earl Warwick and that the credit will go to David Long and Edward Schorman. Mr. ~homson said he would no~ change his vote .made prior %o 5/19/1953. He inquired when the new vote was made and Mr. W~llis said the vo%e was changed on 5/19/1953 by telephone and he then signed the voucher for' the paymen% of the premium. Mr. Kirk then informed :Jr..~homson that he had changed the vo%e in a letter to which Mr. Kirk was opposed. :.~r. Thomson then stated that Mr. Williams is a salaried man and receives commission on all insurance and will get double commission on this premium so he will no% go along with the vo~e.