HomeMy WebLinkAbout1953-05-25 Board of Selectmen Minutes NAY 25, 1953- continued
CAMP TIME_1953:
The Board received a request for permission to conduct a "T~g Day ,, in North
Andover on any Friday and /or Saturday. This request was from the International
VolUnteer Social Service Center, to raise funds for it's Children's Programs,
which consist of Feeding, Clothing and sending underprivileged Children to
Summer Camps.
The Boa~d vo~ed to accept the request and place it on file. No action t~ken as
to granting permission to hold a "Tag Day",
CONTRAcT-FIRE TRUCK: ~'
The Contract for the new Fire Truck was received from the American LaFrance
Foamite Corporation. Mr. Kirk made amo~ion to accept the contract, sec6nded
by'Mr. Willis with Mr. Thomson no~ voting.
Mr. 2homson called attention t o the fact that the contract did not mention
the 750 gallon pump and he felt' that it should be in the contract, particularly
f6r the records. - - ~
)Ir. Willis agreed and it Was voted tha~ a letter would bosen~ to the LaFrance
Company requesting a supplementary page to include in the contract.
SCHOG~ C01~ITTEE:
A letter was received from the School Building Committee in appreciation of
the 'long task of the Board' of Selectmen in signing 1400 $1,000 bonds for the
.new High School building.
A continuation certificate from the Phoenix Indemnity Company on Band No.. t6041
in the amount of SI,O00 on behalf of James J. Maker, and in favsr of North Andover
andBoxford district, Dept. of ~eterans Services to be continued ~rom April 8,
1953 to April 8, 1954..Bate of the bond is 4/8/19~3 'and Bond No. 16041-E~
Serial No. FP2-229. This Bo_nd will be filed wlt, h the' Town Clerk. ' ~ .~ ·
BOARD OF FIRE ENGINEERS: '
~he Selectmen sen~ a~ letter t~ the Board of Fire Engine'ers under· date. of May %,
relative ~o sugges'bions from the Lumbermens Casualty Company and askin'g that
they comply with the suggestions and report to the Select, men, who, in turn will
~omplete the report of,.the Lumbermen,s Ms,ual Casualty Company.
The request was that some 'designated 'officer be made. responsible, for ch~cking '
all 'fire fighting equipment in ~all public buildings, a. ~.m~.i.ni. mum of once yearly
and that a cH~ck he, made of the Operation of the ~utoma~mc sprinkler system in
the town b~ilding as 'soon as is convenient~in the near future.
'Mr. Willis sta~ed that he had been informed that the Chief said he'Would take
care of it but' he felt that in matte~:s~, of this kind, the Board of Fire Engineers
should reply to-the Selectmen as requ~stedA ' '
Mr..%~illis' s~ated further that 'the chief is prob~oly checking anti,we iwitl check
later With him for the outcome of the Suggestions being complied, with.
OFFICE 'OF THE SECRETAP~:
A .copy of the list' of the selectmen of the towns of Massachusetts' as, required
under Ch~apter 41, Section 15, was r~ceived from ~w~rd j. Crontn~ Secretary .of
~he- comm04~ealth. List Will be flied, ~under 'sei'e~tm~n of towms Of Mass.
BOARD OF FIRE ENGINm-~RS: " ~ I '
'Mri' Willis brought'~ um the very seriOUs' m~t{er, made very pointed by th~* tr~ e · '
Which ocCUrred an"Sa~urday* last. 'He said tha~ -~:-'~' ~-' '- .,_ . . ,g dy, ,' r
~ -~n uno ~'zr.e .Depar~men~ unloase~
their boat they had no grappling irons or equipment, of any .natUre. ' He said he
doesn't feel that~ a piece of,emergency equipment sh6uld be.a/lowed to sit in the .
Fire Stati0n~ and not have it checked and have everything in readiness fo~ such
an emergency. '
Mr. -:~illis further stated that Engi~,eer Koemig should be commended ~o~ his prompt
thinking in calling in 'the Lawrence Fir& D~Partment. In this particular case
the boy was probably already dead but' thenossibility of saving his life was
Jeopardized by not having th% proper equipment. Ne said tha~ Chief Hargreaves
'a full time chief and he should 'be convinced that this-equipment is important
enough ~o Nave it checked and available when needed. He mentioned another drowni~
somg. ,time 'ago when a resuscitator was brough= up to the pond and was ou~ of order.
He sai~ that the American LaFrance pu~p is in such condition that the men do not
know When itis operative or not. He said that when carrying two lines Dff~ the
pump the pressure is cut off. If a 'relief valve is not working all the pressure
goes into one line and could knock a man down. The ¥~ite truck is not in working
order. Someone is responsible and we should see to it that the equipment is ready.
Mr. %Villis said' that as far as he is concerned, our chief should be .held respon-
'sible and he would like.to hear from the other members and amy recommendations
they would care ~o make.
Mr. Kirk said he ~ould like to talk this over with the complete Board of' Fire
· Engineers and it is their responsibility as well as the chiefs. If the men
are aware of the ,cohdition or, the trucks not being in working order, it is
a very serious .thing.
MAY 25, 1953; continued.
BOAI~ OF FIP~ ENGINEERS:
~r. Kirk said he had received numerous calls over the week end and there is a
very strong feeling ~mong the people about this matter, tie would like to have
the complete Board of Fire Engineers in on the matter of equipment. Mr. Kirk
felt that ~if this is the chief's responsibility, the Board of Fire Engineers
should instruct him dS his responsibility and he should also realize this.
~r. Thomson said he was not familiar with the circumstances and there is nothing
that he would want to say except to see that the responsibility of the equipment
and maintenance be delegated to 'the proper persons. He said the Chief only has
complete control at a fire but the full Board of Engineers are to be condemned
if ~here is laxity in the Deparmment.
Mr. Willis said there is heglect somewhere and it is encumbant upon the Select-
men to check this and it should be handled very strictly and all three engineers
should be dealt with. The fact ?emains ~hat we have one engineer whd is on full
time and receives $4200. He is very definitely working full time and is 'there
all day. If it is not his responsibility then it should be in the future.
~;r. :~illis said he had reliable information that the American LaF~ance Company
would send a service man to check equipment but because of a disagreement with
the chief he hasn't been in the department for some time. ?he pump could be
reconditioned and probably last ~en more years. He said he doesn't believe that
the Selectmen should condone the chief's personal feelings. He said he would
accep~ any suggestion ~o meet ~ith the Engineers.
Rt. Taomson made a motion that the Selectmen meet with the Board of Engineers
on June l, a~ 8:00 P.M.. Motion seccnded by Mr. Ki~'k and declared to be auunahimous
vote.
The Board then voted to s end letters of thanks ~o Chief. Buchan, Andover, Chief
Obden, Tewksbury and Chief Dineen of Lawrence for their assisthnce a~ the drowning
accident last Saturday. This was a request.of Chief Mar&~eaves.
DEPARTMENT OF CONS~VATION: DIV. OF FISHERIES:
The Board approved a bill in ~he amount of $233.O3 as the proportion for the town
of North Andover which is 1.1 per cent of the totkl cost of opera,ion for the year
1~52. This amount is payable to the City of Newburyport.
GREAT POND ROAD-SLOP~:
~. Willis informed the board that Mr. McWilliams of the State Depar~men~ of Public
Works contacted him and said there were ~wo spots where the grade comes down ~o
a steep angle and the grass and sods will wash down. There is money enough left
over from the last appropriation and they will contact theabutters and ge~ their
reaction. ~. McWilliams recommends this and Mr. Willis feels that the board
should go along on his recommendation.
Mr. Thomson sa~d that the taking was taken on plans and he feels that the .matter
should be referred to Attorney Elwyn Kingwho~has charge of this~ Mr...Wi3/lis
will contact Mr. King in regard to this mat~er.
Later Mr. ~?illis decidedthat a letter should be sent to Mr. King with respect
to this matter.
PERMIT-GREAT POND ROAD:
A permit #~-4066 d~ted 5/1§/1953 was received by the Board Of Selectmen~'.g~ng
them permission to proceed with the work described in the permit, to cut and grade
thee t~m property adjacent to the S~a%e Highway in the ~own of North Andover, locally
known as Chickering Road, from sra. 10% O Lt. to S{a. 791 95 Lt. The State Bo~m~i
at sra. 73 % 26 Lt. shall be removed and reset by the ~rAnSee under the 'suparv~szon
of the Engineer.
No work im to be done under this permit until the Gran~ee shall have communicated
with and received instructions from the District Highway Enginee~_of_~he Department
of Public Works at 2h2 Eahot St. Beverly, Mass. dated'at Beverly 5/19/53. Charles A.
Fri~z · -
The Board voted ~o refer this matter to the School Building who originally made
the request to the Board'of Selectmen. The form will be re~ained by the Selectmen
and signed by them aftcr the work is completed.
NORTH ANDOVER BOCSTER'S CLUB:
A list of signs ~o be used on the Little League Fence at ~averley Park was received
by the Board. ~hey approved Longbottom's Market, Arlington Trust Co. Community
Bavings Bank, Hainsworth Insurance, Joseph Finneran, Glennies Ice Cream, Henry
Je~kins Transportation Co. One sign with fi~e personal names and one wignwith
Bonelli & Corridino, William McAloon and Frank Lordon. The only name not approved
was that of Registrar of Probate, John J. Costello and the board had made a ruling
that there would be no political signs allowed on the board.
GREAT POND ROAD: ~AILET CONIRACT:
Mr. McWilliams called ~rom Boston ~o inform the board that the Mallet contract has
been held up pending further information from their insurance company. ?~r. Mailet
claim, s that they have lost ~wc weeks already but Mr. McWilliams wanted the board
~o ~now that they allow from ten ~y~wto two weeks for processing when they are
figuring on the ~ime for a Job to be done. No action %aken.
329,'
MAY 25, 1953- continued
SUMMER SCHEDULE FOR SELECD~EN'S MEETINGS:
The board agreed to start their summer schedule on Juno i and meet everysecond
Monday thereafter for the summer months, June through August.
DISPOSAL SITE ~ETING:
~ group of citizens, the disposal site committee and Dewey Dyer met in the
Court room and Mr. Balitzer of the State Department of Public Health was present
to show movies of thedump and fill method as well as answer any questions.
He stated that the film is old but it explains the method and the principal behind
the method is disposing of material and compacting it so that we get rid of fires,
rodents, e~c.
Mr. Willis, after the movie, asked about re-opening the land after a period of
years and asked if i~ could 'be re-used. He was informed thaz it would take some
time as the material decomposes slowly but it could be used if you had additional
cover material. '
Mr. Balitzer said that 10 acres would last abou~ 10 year~. Tho average is one acre
per 10,000 population.per year~ He said that lowland when properly run is an ex-
cellentway of dumping. He felt that one one bull dozer would be needed and in
answer to Mr. Willis' question as to whether or not garbage could Se put in, he
said it could but no~ un~il after the plan has been operating for about three months.
Dr. Julius Kay said tha~ the people here are interested in the method of dump
and. fill and that he felt that they wanted ~o protest about the disposal site
in the Roger,s site area and we would like to know Just what their objections ar~.~
He said that at the moment the cost could be ruled out.
Mr. Morrill said his objections would be the same as shown in the pictures,
rodents, fish, flies, e~c. and Mr. Balitza exolained that the refuse would be
all covered a~ the close of each day. He said' that one or two men could handle
this work. He went on to s~ that it this town wants sanitary fill or an open dUmp.',
his department can't say a thing about it.butthe local board would have the power
to a c~ on such a matter. He mentioned various places where this method is in use
and all work .out very well. He said in New Bedford they got rid of billions of
mosquitoes.
Dr. Kay explained that the town meeting had appropriated money and the cost
to the committee. He asked those present ifthey would accept the dump and fill
method as Shown in the 'picture and if there is strict policing by the Board of.
Health and the High~ay Department and if not, what were their specific objectionS.~
He said the Rogers site was picked because it w~s the one which would be most. ad-
vantageous.
Mr. Willis said he did not agree ~ith Dr. Eay vrith respect ~o the cost.'He felt
that the cost is a problem of the taxpayers butss yet he h~s been unable to get' ~
a definite figure for the cos~. He does no~ believe that wears committed ~to
have a dump and fill method, .u~less we spend the $5,000 as appropriatedumderthe
article.
Dr. Kay saidthe p~rpese of this meeting was to find out if these people are willing,I
to accep~this dump'and fill method. He would like to hear any prote~ts other than
~xpense.
~. Morrill said he objected because he did not think they would go through With ~
the dump and fill method.
Mr. Hartley Calvert representing the Eawrence Airport Commission opposed the dump
site from a safety angle. He said they have plansfor extending four runwaysand
one of them'would go over near the land chosen for the dum~. If there. ~s a dump
there it will be difficult to ge~ aid from the Federal government. He said the
airpor~ has helped Eawrence and put North Andover on the map.
Mr. Sinclair said one of the main objections is the burning of any matter to be put~'~
inthere. Maybe the present selectmen want dump and fill but what about a new board
coming in? He said the main thing is smoke on aoproaches and this would be a p~oblem.
Hesaid that Mr. Calvert has been notified by the Mass. Airport Commission and the
0ivil Commission that a new road is ~o be put in on the airport and there are plans
for e~tensinus of the runways. He said that if there was to be no smoke he did not~
feel that there would be any obJections~ but they would want a guarantee that 'there
would be no smoke.
Chairman~l~illis'then asked for the names of all who have objections to this location
and the following persons objected: Mr. Thomas Morrell,Antonio Forgetta, Mrs.
Kitchen, and Mrs. Greenwood.
Dewey Dyer said he~s curious as to what the objectors will suggestas an alternate.
~he local Board of Health will no~ allow an ~m.dump. The objections are that
the people won~ believe that the g~oup will carry out their plans. He then asked
if there would be any objections if the plan is conducted properly.
~Er. Morrill discussed his land which goes through there and asked if thc co~mittee
would conduct the project properly.
There was further discussion and Mr. Kirk said that it was his motion that the
board instigate this meeting andhe believes that the committee has accomplished
its purpose. ~he objections are very plain and'we should tell these people that
MAY 25, 1953- DUMP SITE-continued.
if we e~'A~er into negotiations we will have another public hearing.
Mr. Willis then said that the site is ideally set up with no cleaning
out %o be done and it is easily accessible. Clerk Street is to he
ex%ended 500 feetl He said that the con%er of population is near the
new high school and the grearms% population can be best served by
using this site~ ,.
}~r. Dyer said that it might lend to the confidence of the people to
know that there were :we sites %o choose from and this :Ch acre site
is more preferable and it can be operated properly and economically.
He said if we do purchase the Rogers property there is no question
· but that the dump and fill method will be used and operated according
to terms.
Mr. Willis said that the purcahse price seems large at present but ~it
is cleared and prepared and with one regular man , one bull dozer and
a fence there it could work ou~ well. · He felt that Mr. Carry might
be able to re-asign his men and sue the same number of personnel.
Miss Forgetta sakd it was a good pein% to consider the health 'of the
people. She asked 'which was more important .the setting up of a dump
or the health of the peopIe. She said it was s till. a dump no matter how
you put it.
Mr.'Willisinformed those present that another public hearing would be
heldat.a later date when .the committee decided on a definite location.
MAY 25, 1953 (Continued)
RESOLUT~0N:
33]{
Arthur A. Thomson informed the Board tha~ he would like %0 make a suggestion for their
approval. He said he had prepared a resolution requesting a commemorative s~amp for
Samuel Osgood,, who was born in North Andover on February 15, 1748. He was .the first
Postmaster ueneral under, the Constitution of the United States of America. He was
Captain of a Company of Minute Men at the Battle of Lexington and he was the first
Senator elected from Essex Coun%y. The purpose in presenting this resolution is ~o
attempt to 'recognize fame and service in this community with the thought in mind that
we may have a s~amp issued in recognition of the valiant service rendered by Samuel
OSgood and having in mind that North Andover will shortly have a Centennial.
Mr.'}?tllis said he thought Mr. Thomson should be commended for this generous gesture
to have this special Stamp issued and he will be very happy to 'endorse the thought and
~have it spread on the records that we have taken this action.
Mr. Kirk agreed vr~th this and it was voted unanimously to insert the;.resolution in the
records~
RESOLUTION REQUESTZNG ISSUANCE OF A
CO~EMORATIVE STAMP FOR SA~EL OSGOOD
,WHE~: Samuel Osgood, born on February-15, 1748' in the North Parish of~Andoverr in
that area now North Andover~ in the County of Essex, Commonwealth of Massachu-
.., -. setts, brought grea~ fame and honor'to his native community,~ to ~his County,
State and Nation by virtue of being the first Pos:master General under~mhe
Constitution of ~the United Sta~es of America; and
*~TEREAS:' .He was Captain~of a Company of Minute Men ~at'J the Battle o£,~Lexin' t~. i
to General Artemus 'Nard who g '
, turned command of the Continental.,~Arn~v~'oger~to
~ pointed first Commissioner of the Treasury under said Confederation; and'
¥~H ,E~EAS: He was a great personal friend.to General. George ~,~ashington,,who spent,the
~: .:, period before and after his ~rst-inauguration as President ,of the U~i~ed
States of America as guest in the home.of, the'said Samuel. Osgood; therefore
be it now ~
.~ES~LV~D: ~hat the Board of Selectmen for and in behalf of the people of the Town ~f
North Andover, in recognition of the great service .rendered to his. Town,
his County,: and his Country,: by-the said ~Samuel Osgood~ .hereby resolve ~that
a petition shall be filed by them to the Great~ami General.,.Court,of-~the
Commonwealth of Massachusetts requesting said Honorable Body that it adopt,
and cause ~o be enacted, a similar resolution.
the United States of America, to the end that a commemorative or memorial
-~"~ ~'.. stamp may be issued in recognition of the'.valiant' service.rendered, by~ ~he
' · . said Samuel, 0sgood. . : , ,
'Adopted~ this twenty-ftfthday of May~ 1~53, at N~rth An~over, Massach~etts~ by ~anlmous
· , ';accord~o£ the Selectmen thereof.,
~' " '~JOHN J. ~TILLIS
' - ARTHUR A..THO~ON :
:V;~.W. CARNIVAL:
- · ~-~'~nformed the Board that no definite date has been set for the annual
Carnival' and Mms~er but they have a tentative date for the week of July 6 orl3th and
~the~:site ~is Grogan's Field. ,They plan to close ~the Carnival at ~en o'clock evary.night:.
and'they have received~permission from Davis &.~Furber for the use of this site.
!M~..~WLllis made ,a motion.tha~ the request be granbed, subject ,to the correc~ date and
J.1Mr-~irk seconded .the motion..
-'~?., Thomson~said that he had always understood that ,the money received from.these
l~uarnivals is ~used for the children of the town to take them toBenson's .Animal ~arm,
~ Christmas parties, etc. He said he was personally very much interested in the youth
of;the~,town and would go along with this motion, making the.vote unanimous. Mr. Kirk
then added that Davis & Furb'er is very pleased with the way ithas been handled before
and this is the reason why they are letting out the land.
General G~orge W. ashing~on at Cambridge, Massadhusetts;. was named~to the
Provincial Congress of Massachusetts Bay Colony at the age of twenty-six
years; was a delegate ~o the Massachusetts Constitutional Convention, .was
.elected.first Senator from Essex County under the Constitution of ~the ·
Commonwealth of Massachusetts, which Constitution ~as framed, by that Con- '
vention and later;adopted; was appointed Chairman of & Committee~to procure
and forward weekly supplies from Massachusetts to the Conttnen~al~Army; was
the delegate f~omHassachusetts ~o the 3ongress.of the Confederation; was a~-