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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1953-06-01 Board of Selectmen MinutesThe Board of Selectmen met at 7:00 P.M. with all members present. Weekly bills and payrolls were approved. CENTER'SCHOOL: Mr. Willis reported that he had contacted Mr. Dully relative ko the work to be done after the school is disposed of and Mr. Duffy said that he would only expect that the cellar be filled in and covered over properly so that a lawn could be made. The Board voted to call for bids for the removal of the school and Mr. Willis will prepare the form of bid. Bids will be expected to be in the Select- men's office not later than June 29 at eight o'clock P.M. BOND FOR SUT'iDN'S HILL CO: Mr. Willis said he and.Mr. Thomson have not prepared the bond to da~e but hope get together on this before~ the next meeting. NE~'ENGLAND TEL. & TEL.CO-LA~RENCEELECTRIC CO: Apetttionwas received requesting permission ko relocate poles, wires, cables and fixtures, on Great Pond Road, southeasterly from a point approximately 3042' south- east of Osgood Street, 6 poles. 8 poles will be removed~ ~r. Flanagan came before the board as a representative of the New Engtand T & T Co. and explained.that this change was necessary in order to go alongwith the widening of the road. Mr. Tho~son made a motion that the petition be granted, seconded by Mr. Kirk and the vote to grant the petition for the relocation of 6 poles, and remove 8'poles, was de- clared to be a unanimous vote byMr. Willis. STEVENS HALL: Mrs. J. ~mund ELliot requested permission to use Stevens Hall on June ll for a dance ~o be given to the Grammar School graduates by the P. T.A. The hell is available . Mr. Thomson made a motion that the request be granted, seconded .by Mr. Kirk. Mr. Willis mentione~ the.recent condition adopted by the board relative to the necessity of having a police officer at allfunctions in the Stevens Hall. Mr. Thomson felt that this was one occasion where a police office could give his services free for such a cause. Mr. ~Willis then declared the vote to grant permission to the P.~T.A. for thee. use of Stevens Hall on June il, for a dance for the graduates of the Grammar Schools, ~e be unanimous with the condition as adopted previously bythe Selectmen that a police officer be inattendance. DISPOSAL SI~ -George Geron, Frank Driscoll, John Gaudette, and the Board of Selectmen diScussed thenewproposal made by George Caren. Mr. Caren informed the board that he and Dr.-Kay hadlooked at a location which is owned by the town and in wt~ich there are 87 acres cf l&nd available.'. This land is at the ~o~n infirmary. Mr. D~yer who was present had drawn a rough sketch Of this location showing where the road could be laid out and where there is now a failry good road which might have to be widened. Hesaid the area is clean and very adaptable. The brush could be cleared away and he would suggest hiring a bull dozer and haveall the heav~work done thereby saving the present equipment belonging to Mr. Carty. He said that this location is about 4/lOth of a m~le from the Center of Population(New High SchOOl) ' further than it is to the Perry Street Dump. Dr. Kay and Mr. Caren viewed the location and both agree that it appears to be ideal. Mr. Willis said he is famil,iarwith the area and wondered if there is any great amoun~ of ledge there and this would have to be checked. He felt ~:at the~first stepwould be Zo test the soil. Mr. ~homson suggested that since Mr~ Dyer has taken such.an interest in this project that.he felt it only fair that the committee ask him to do the work so Set the ih~orm- ation as to the ledge and.he would be paid ak a later date. He was very grateful for this sugges$ian and he said he could and would do the work. Ail those present were in agreement that Mr. Dyer should do this work unless the Board of Heelth' can make arrange- merits for a State ~ngineer to come out and do the work f:'ee. The 0om~ttee will meem again on June 15. Mr.~Thomson inquired how long it would take t~ make the tests andMr. Dyersaid about one week. Mr. ~homson suggested that he notify the chsiYman and then a public hearing could be held on June 1~ and thereby save some time~ Ail present agreed that this was a good suggestion and Mr. Dyer will contac: Mr. Willis as scan as his tests are completed. APPROVAL BY ADVISORY BOARD: ~ Approval for the transfer of $300 from the Reserve Fun~ to the Tree Department for the purchase of a new spraying machine was received by the Board. SCHOOL COMMI~u'~'.: A letter was received from t he School Department relative to the meeting scheduled ko be held on June 8 and since the Selectmen are now on their summer schedule, Mr. O'Brien will take this matter of a postponement up with his committee on June4 and will notify this board of their action. POLICE CHIEF'S REPORT: Chief McKee submitted four reports on mac,ers which the Selectmen had referred to him. The rspor~ was read by Mr. Willis and he said he thought the report was very thorough and very constructive. Chief McKee reported that the whi~e line on Sutton St. should be broken in certain places but solid on the curve and the "Slow-Dangcrous-Intersec%ian,. sign will be .installed in the near future. He reported about Msagan's D~ug Store and Val's Restaurant and stated that the two places are checked regularly by the officers. He said that .no complaint has been received from Mr. Meagan but the officers will continue to check. ~he si~s for the Railroad Crossings are ordered and will be installed as soon as they are available. The "Stop Signs,, on Water Street will be completely installed this week. T~o of the signs are installed and the third will be put in when the equipment is avail- able from Mr. Duffy. PETITION-HEAVY TRUCKS: A' petition signed by the residents of Faulknsr Road was received and they object ~o the heavy duty trucks of the Rich Cons truc~ion Company and the J.J. Cronin Co. usi.ng Faulkner Road. There are thirteen children az play, only one oil topping on this road and the dus~ and dirt creates a problem. Mr. Willis informed the board that he knew abou~ this condition last week and he talked with the engineer and the trucks are to be re-rou:ed~ down Parker Stree:, around and up Green Street and back onzo Main. ' Mr?. Thomson suggested that the trucks go up Parker St, oflto Green andonte Mass. Ave. through one of the smaller streets onto Mass. Ave; to Chickering Road. Mr. Willis said they are taking the fill out of the back and moving it up to the fron: but hethought that Beech or %Falnut Street were not ~oo heavy and it would cause damage to them. After further discussion it was decided to hold the matter over and see if there ars any fhrther complaints. Mr. %~illis felt tha:-'it will resolve itself as t~e~-y have probably completed this pa~t of the work. REVOLVER PERMIT RENEWALS: ~he board approved the renewals of revolver permits for the month o f July and August. These permits have been approved each year and it is a routine ma:ter. Authority has .been delegated to Mrs. Dearden, previously, by this board, .1~ make .ou: the:perrmtt or license and sign the chairman,s name. C~; TENNIAL PARADE: Each member of the Board received a letter relative to the parade to be 'held on June 7 and asking that the Selectmen notify them if they plan to march with the North Andover del egation and also that if they do, that they appoint %~.lliam McAlo0n as Assistant Chief M~shall so that'he may receive the recognition he rightly1 deserves. The board-has agreed to march with the North Andover division and will appoint Mr. McAloan as Assistant Chief Marshall; BO~h~D OF FIRE ENGINEENS ~ ;i letter was received from the Board of Fire Engineers, by calvin. Shed.l, Clerk advising that Er. Hargreaves said he will check the sprinkler system in .the :o~n building Jus: as soon as he can get in tou=h with Mr..Duffy.- CHIEF HARGREAVES: A letter wss received from Chief Hargreaves advising the board tha~ the ~fire equipment is recharged each year and is the duty of the Janitors and is marked a date as ~o the refilling. The schools are checked for fire hazards 'and fire drills by the Chief and an assistant. All public affairs are po£iced and firemen are on du~y. The sprinkler in the Town building has been checked and is apparently working. The warming bell on She wall .of the building is not working properly and it is be- lieved to be plugged with bird nests. The bell in the fire station ~eeds adjusting by someone doing that work. Mr. Willis said he thought that the~e should be something further done to correct the above condition but no ac~ton was taken. INSURANCE BINDERS: ~HREE BINDERS were received on May 15, showing that liability csmmences on this date. The Hartford Eire Insurance Company, amoun~ $252,824, Thomas Bevington & Sons, Inc. and the Berkshire Mutual Fire Lusurance Company, $197,370, Thomas Beving~on & Sons, Inc. (no reinsurance). These binders will be filed with the insurance policies. LAWRENCE ELECTRIC CO~PANY: Petition for permission to erect and maintain poles and wires on the easterly and westerly sides of Winter Street, from a poiat approximately 16~5 feet southerly from Dale Street, southerly, l0 poles. The board accepted the petition and set it down for a hearing on June 15, 1953 at 7:4~ P.M. Abutters will be no~ified. JUNE 1, 1953- continued NORTH Ahl)OVER BOO~TER,S CEUB: The Board received an invitation to attend a meeting on June 10, in the Court Room to meet with this Club to discuss ideas and plans ~o see what can 'be done on the youth movement of our town. SPECIAL POLICE OFFICER: The North Andover Booster's Club requested tha~ Thomas Mc~voy be appointed a special police officer. Mr. McEvoy is the manager of the ~eam and they feel,that some of the home games would go along better if there was a .person ~ith a little authority present. Mr. Kirk suggested that the matter be tabled un:il he has a chance zo talk with the manager. He felt that if some other person other than the manager were a special police officer, the children would pay more attention. ~o him. The board agreed to hold this over until ~the next meeting. DAMAGE C~AIM: A letter was received from Thomas Reagan, P.O. Box 293, Chepachet, ~hode Island, informing the board that on May 3, he broke a spring onhis car on Clerk Street, North Andover. It was repaired by the J; W. Robinson Co;1 Lawrence, and the bill was attached in the amoun~ of $24.60; The Board voted to hold this over for one week before taking any action; BOARD OF FIRE ENGINEERS: At the-request of the Selectmen, the Board of Fire Engineers met with them at 8:00 P.M. Mr. Willis informed, those, present that this meeting grew, out of a'discusston a~ the last'meeting of ,the selectmen, '. ralatire to equipment andwe,want,,to. see if anybody is particularly responsible for this and if no~, see' if someone canbe held responsible.. He said we should work-out an amicable situaticn~and have no 'further recurrences of this nature. ,He then ~urned the matter; ~ver to~ the other members while he read a letter given to him by Chief'Hargreaves; Mr. Kirk asked the chief if he had been designated as the person in charge of equipment and the ~chief said he had not. Mr. Willis said that by virtue 'of being in charge what initiative had~,he taken. He inquired-what happened to the truck' l~st Saturday and asked how 'long it has been since two pieces of' equipment had-been greased. Mr. Har&~eaves said he can't take any initiative as he gets no cooperation and he Said it 'has been ~wo yoars since the equipment has been greased. Mr. Kirk said he would like to make a statement. He said;he'feels that the admin- istration of the department is .in'the 'hands of, the Board- ~f ,Engineers. who'S'are capable.~of administering this department. ~he engineers' should, take .car~ :'of placing responsibility,. ~There is an emergency and ~a piece of 'equip~ent' missing makes~ a serious condition. He said that grappling irons~are not'importAht in · saving lives but the 'engineers should take it upon themselves to' appoint some person to be responsible. . ~ Mr. SneLl said he has done that and has written cub orders for the men. Mr. Hargreaves said if there is a~yone capable of taking care of~ apparatus it is him. ~He has~.always ~done~ that and ~he has'had sufficient experience.'~ .Mr. Willis said~,,yoM~claim you have the ability tod0 this but you have failed to cooperate so why not get together and give the town a~good.fire department that we can be proud cfa Mr. Willis brought up the matter of the leaky valve and said the American LaFrance has' never checked this but Mr. ~Hargreaves said they had. Mr. Willis then said"Don't lie to me, Jim, and Mr'. Hargreaves said, Don,t call me a liar, John~ Mr. Willis said the chief had talked witha fireman about'the valve and had said ~that they could get a new valve for $100. Mr.-Willis inquired · of Edwin Koenig how long he had been mn the Fire Department and he said 9 years b~t he didn,t know about repairs. Mr. Willis, 'talking to the Chief, said that apparently, he did no~ hold himself responsible'for care and equip- mont. Mr. Willis said.his understanding of administrative is approving bills, payrolls, etc. and that is for the engineers. Mr. Willis ,asked Mr. Hargreaves if he thought these engineers are unfair and the chief asked Mr. Willis if he felt it 'fair that his car mhould be taken away from him. Mr. Koenig said the other firemen have to ride on the trucks and the chief can do it. Mr. Hargreaves brought uR an 'incident in which Mr. Koeuig asked Arthur Broderick to go .along with him so .that the chief would no~ be able to .do a thing. ~his happened in 1946 when Mr. Broderick was first appointed to the board and he w~ll-come in and back upthe statement. Mr. ~homson Suggested that if the chairman wished to make a-s~amemen~ that he first look a~ the engineer,s records before making such a statement that Brodarick wnn~ along with the chief on everything. He asked what he based his statement on. Mr. Willis said on ~the word of the chi&f and Brodorick that ~verything was O.K. ~$. ~homsson, said, Youare assuming ~at Broderick went along with the chief and yet you haven,t seen the records. Mr. Willis said he felt he had sufficient information to make the statement that the chief and Broderick agreed on everything and Koenig was left out of everything. JUNE 1, 19~3- continued. Mr. Thomson said that these accusations come wholly from the board, resuscitator or valve did not work at Campion Hall. Apparently Mr. Xoenig admits there were ive operations of certain valves. This is precipated by the lack of grappling irons and both of them know that the boat is up a~ the ceiling and has ~o be dropped down. It should immediately be apparen~ to anyone whether or not the car-locks oars, or grappling irons were available. If ~wo men were present when the boat was dropped and it it roached the lake, they could have been contacted at the lake by radio. The board of engineers are charged with the administration and the ~wo part time engineers are politicians. I have heard that a~ least one of them said, on his · ~ appointment, I am in the Driver,s seat and the chief can do nothing, and immed- iately comes the question of relieving the chief of his car. Sometime a go Chief McKee was relieved of his car. For about three cents on the tax rate, the town could be protected but by majority vote of two boards, the people of the town are deprived of this protection. Zf my memory serves me right, 9 years~ ago, the Board of Engineers conferred with the Selectm~n and it was the consensus of thought that the chief should be allowed to use his car and that the town would pay the expense and the request of the engineers was permitted. For nine years, there has been an appropriation of which one item was for the expense of this car. This expense i~em has been in the budge~ every year, including 1953 and there has been approbation tha~ the chief be permitted ~o use his car. ~hen the 'BOld of Engineers vote ~o deprive the chief of this use of his car. According to the Statutes, the engineers have no' control cfi'any privately owned vehicle. They have assumed the authority to relieve the chief of his car. This is.'a direct violation of the s tatut~, a direct violation' of t~he~ peopl~ of'the town. I realize that if you have majority you will harrnss the chief as much as possible. Ail these matters brought up tonight were prior to-this time. ~If there should be a .fire in town of big proportion, I would llke to'have a. chief there to view the situation and have him there to direct the firemen~ It wsuld take only one fire on life and property to do a great deal or'harm, rt can't ~be much more than $300 per year, the same as the Police chief~,s car and the~taxpayors are willing to pay five cents to have protection over many years .as approve~ in · 1944. Nine years ago the Sele6tmen in conjunction with the fire engineers, 'voted · in' favor of this expenditure' and this board Of engineers did not' even have the courtesy of asking the selectmen to rescind their previous rome. ~his matter is entirely ou~ of the Jurisdiction of 'the' Board of Engineers. Mr. Snell said the only reason is that $5 or $6 would'be spent for other equipment. ~..They could .buy a lot of'"Stuff,, for that money. Mr. Thomson said he hoped he was no~ sitting in as a member of this board if a serious 'fire occurs in town. Mr~ Snell then asked wha% the chief could do if he did ge% there first..Mr. Thomson said he. could direct th~ fire, find out the safes~ way of getting into a' building etco There was further discussion as to the chief getting to' the fire first, the manner. in which the men leave the station during a fire and Mr.'Willis~said he remembers and.has been withthe chief when he didn't know where the fire was. Mr. Thomson,'-l~lking to the chief, said you did have'a radio in your car and Your procedure was to ~o to the box a~d if a small fire, you could radio'the station anti-still be able to get there first, is.that correct? Chief said sometimes he couldn'.~ get to the fire first. Mr. Willis then asked that the meeting of last Tuesday evenf~g be discussed~ Mr.' Snell said he thought'they could buy a lot of "things" for the' $5.00 a week ~ and so 'they decided to discontinue to pay expenses for' the chief,s car. Mr..Kceni§i~ said he went along with that. ~he other firemen have to ride on the trucks and no reason why the chief couldn,t ride on the trucks ~oo Chief Hargreaves stated that he uses his car on ambulatory cases and the ambulance ~ is left in the station. Mr. Hargreaves said that most of these cases~are welfare cases and Mrs. Dearden could verify this. He said he used an average of 10 to 12 gallons of gas oline weekly which he purchased from Mr.' Carry and it runs about $3.00.a week although there are times when he doesn't use that much. Mr. Thomson asked Mr. Snell if he' could send the ambulance out on th~se cases for less than $5.00 a week and have two men in it and if anything happened there would be no~ ambulance available. He felt that the engineers should let the people in the town know what they are doing. ~hey have had this service for nine years and know that it has been discontinued. Mr. Snell ma~e no reply ~o Nr. Thomson,s quest~ion. There was further discussion relative to grappling irons with respect to being used to save a life.' The 'boat was discussed and Mr. Willis made a suggestion that they have a buckle Joint on theback of each truck and trailer or even on the police car. He said he understood that the grappling irons had been let out to another departmen~ and Chief Hard, eaves said he doesn't remember ever having pole grappling irons, whereupon Mr. ~gillis asked if he didn't'call Chief McKee and ask about grappling pole. Mr. Hargreaves said he did not but that someone said they had one. JUNE 1, 19535 continued. Nr. Thomeon made a motion that the Selectmen direct theEngineers to rescind their attempted vote to relieve the Chief of his car and the illegal assumption cf authority. Mr. Willis said the engineers were just administering authority on finances~ Mr. Thomson said that the chief's duty is to bring the budgem to the Advisory Boar~ and since these Advisory Boards agree to the submitted budgets with this item of expense included and if in each Town Meeting, an appropriation predicated on the request of the Board of Selectmen and Board of Engineers, publication at that time and acmuuli~y of experience known to the people, it does seem that where the Statute provides that the Engineers have Jurisdiction of public vehicles but not private cars, and where the money has been appropriated, I do feel that there, has been an approbation ~o the engineers. He said further that the previous engineers were a~ least considerate enough mo come in mo discuss the matter of expense with the Selectmen_some nine years ago. He feels that the Engineers have absolutely no authority mo control the use of a private car used in the Fire Department. Mr. Willis said he is opposed to any privately owned car being used for Town business. Mr. Thomson said there are other department who use private cars for town .business. He asked if Mr. Willis felt~ there' 'was a distinction in emergency and other mac,ers. Mr. Willis said he felt this situation should be brought to a head nad should be brought before the people. He discussed the Chief's position and how he came to be listed as Chief Engineer. He felt the town should be operated.under one chief and the present situation could~be corrected when the present chxef retires. If we correct this situation and do nothing farther, we have gone a long ways to making a good fire department~ Mr. Thomson said he had a chance to correcm this situation recently when the board of engineers was appointed.. He thinks this is a silly situation as it ~tands~now. Mr. Willis said we have a preference. We Could'create a full time fire chief with no engineers and he would be accountable to theSelectmen the same as the Chief of Police. This would resolve the situation. Mr. Thomson said he had suggested this over a period of years but could never get a majorit~ of the board to so vote. Mr. Willis said he thought.the engineers had done a good Job up until now and he was interested in the continuance of this good work as he is armious to have a crackerjack of a fire department. There was further discussion between Mr. W~llis and Chief Hargreaves wit~ reference to an incident which happened some time ago relative to the use of the resuscitator. Mr. Willis said if a man,s life is in ~eopardy he would hurt anyone's feelings and he would do it again. Mr. Hargreaves had~ mentioned that at the time of this.incident, Officer Willis told his men that they didn't know how ~o operate a resuscitator: Mr. Willis, (then ~a polic~ officer) said he was on his hands and knees trying mc save'a man's life. Mr~ Thomson then stated that he would renew his motion. Mr. Willis said he didn't think the Selectmen had the power to take such action as the motion sgueested but he felt this board could reco~end. He said he would like to hear from the Engineers before action on the ~ motion. The~ discussed the expense of r~uming,the chief's car and the radio which had been removed fro~ the car. Mr. ~oenig said the radio could be put in one' of the trucks. Mr. Thomson asked if the engineers though.tit, less .expensive ~to buy a ~own car which -would have operating and replacement costs and how this mxpense would compare with the present cost of r~nning the chief's car. ~Ar. Taomson then said t~at his motion is intended tc be a direction since previous discussion was relative to the legal authority of the Selectmen to direct the engineers and for that reason the momion is in the form of a direction or recommendation whichever is appropriate in view of the dispute as mo the legal smthority of the Selectmen mo take this authority. Mr. ~homeon then made ~'a motion that the Board of Selectmen direct the. Board of Fire Engineers to rescind the.apparent authority it~as assumed in an attempt to ~wect the Chief of'the ~Fire Department to discontinue to use his persoma~y owned car at town maintenance ~and if there is any dispute as to the legal authority of the Selectmen to take such a~ vome, then this board recommend to the Board of Fire'Engineers that they revoke their assumed authority and direct the Chief to resume the use Sf his own car am Town maintenance. Mr. Kirk seconded this motion with Mr. W&llis not voting for the ~eason that he does not substantially understand the motion and that it is ambiguous. Votewas a majority vote of'the board. Mr.Kirk said he would like mo make himself ~lear. The Board of EngineerS acLminis~rate the Department and if they designate a person to be responsible for a'certain thing they should see' that that person takes the responsibility. The board has voted to place the responsibility of the department on the chief. Mr. Hargreaves said if that is so, he will do it. He then mentioned several incidents where he was not consulted by the Wo engineers. Mr. Willis said he voted £or the t~o present engineers in that they would create a system and take steps to improve the department. Mr. Kirk said that wrangling is out of the question. Three men can sit down and discuss matters which is their responsibilimy. He is interested in getting these three men to sit down at regular meetings and see that the department is run properly. 337" JUNE ~', 1953- continued He said if they each use their o~n Judgment, that is all he would ask. Mr.. Willis thanked the Board of Fire Engineers for meeting with the Selectmen. C~NTER SCHOOL: The Board voted to call for bids for the removal of the Center School and request that they be opened on June 29, 1953 at' 8~O0 P.M. Mr. Willis will prepare the form of bid for ~ns paper. SPECIAL POLICE OFFICER~ A request from the North Andover Boosters Club to appoint Thomas McAvey a special police officer was received by the Board. Mr. Kirk ssi d he thought it might be more effective if some other person were appoimted as a special officer. Ne said Mr. McAvoy is the manager and perhaps the children: w~uldn,t pay too much attention to him as they are with him all the time. Mr. ¥~irk will discuss this with Harold Trembly and refer the informa- tion hack to the.board a: their hex: meeting. BOOSTERS CLUB ~EETING: An invitation to the Selec:men to meet with this Club on June 10, in the Court Room at 8:45 P.M. %o discuss ideas and plans on youth movemen~ in the town. The Board voted unanimously zo accept the invitation. JUNE 8, 1953- ~ne Board members came in :o sign the weekly payrolls and approve the bills. No meeting was held on this day. B~R~TARY OF THE CO~O~EALTH: The Board received a notice that Brooks Potter, Great Pond Road', North Andover and others (not residents of North Andover have filed an application for a certificate of incorporation, as provided for in ~.hapter 180 of the ~eneral Laws, Ter. Ed. under the name of "Pamily Service Association of Greater Boston to be 15cared in the City of Boston, Mess. The purpose is to;provide services in Boston and other communities in Mass. chiefly in the area. To aid families and individuals in meeting problems of living by providing. family case work service and providing other related'services, including financial and material assistance and ~o engage in' such activities, incidental or related ~o any of the foregoing, as the Board of Trustees'shall from time to time determine. The Board referred this to the Police chief for a' report and if favorable, the form will be returned to the Office of the Secretery. Chief McKee reported t6 Mrs. Dearden that there is no record of any'kind on Brooks Potter. From ~ be mailed to-day. LA~ENCE GAS COMPANy: The Board approved a petition for permission to excavame to install gas service for Abbott S. Gallagher, ll? Milk Street, (18 feet in s~reet). Mr. Carry will .be notified of this excavating: CERTIFICATE OF CHARACTER: ~he board certified that Stanley B. T~ombly, ~2 Prescott Street, North Andover is of good repute ~for mor~ls and integrity and is a citizen of the U.S.~ Form will-he mailed ~o ~r. /Wcmbly to-day. No other action ~aken by the board. ~ monthly meeting of the Board of Selectmen was held at $:00 P.M. with all members present. Weekly bills and payrolls were approved. SCHOOL CO4~ITT~E: A communication~ms received from Franc~s O'Brien 'informin$ the b~erd that the conference between the School Committee and the Board of Public Works has been postponed until Mr. Francis B. Xittredge is able to attend the meeting. A copy of a letter of writtenby Mr. Herman Dine, Director of Accounts was enclosed. ~he letter suggested s tentative agreement between t~e Board of Public ;~orks and the School Committee for the care and maintenance of school grounds on such basis asthat on whi~h the Board of Public ~orks now provides the schools ¥~ith water-the board to do the work and the Committee to pay the bill. This will be discussed at a later conference.