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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1954-04-26 Board of Selectmen MinutesAPRIL 26, 1954 ~ekly meeting of the Board of Selectmen was held at 7:30 P.M. with all members present. Weekly bills and payrolls were approved. TREE REI~OVAL HEARING:. A hearing was held a~ 7:30 P.M. on the pemition of Frank Trombly, Sawyer Road for the removal of a tree. Mr. Connors informed the.board that the tree would eventually fall down as it~as undermined and it constitutes a hazard, the Board voted unanimously ~o instruct the tree warden ~o remove the mree. POLICE CHIEF SCHEDULE: Chief McKee me~ ~i~h the board at the suggestion of the chairman ~o discuss the ~wo schedules on hand with respec~ ~o the new officers who commence their duties on April 29,1954. Mr~ Willis said he wanted ~o make clear one point and that was that on the schedule he presented he had three men on every early and late night shift. He felt that this° was impor~anm. Chief McKee said his schedule covered every shift ,late and early, with the ex- ception of Monday and Wednesday nights. He said he didn't think itwas necessary for Bo men to ride around in the cruiser on the early night shift particularly in the su~r when it is ligh~ for such a long time. He said the men leave reports to be checked by the day men and Myron Lewis is out on patrol at the schools and he felt it necessary %o use a man during the day. Mr. Willis again said that he thought it extremel~yi$ortant that we cb'9~er the men on the night shifts.He said he would not want to be responsible for anything that might happen to an off~o, er if he were riding alone in the cruiser.. Chief McKee said he thinks he has a right ~o put these men on any shift'that he feels is necessary and that when he put the article in the warrant hestated that they would be used as he deemed necessary. Mr. Finneran inquired as to the length of time Mr. McKee has been police ~chief and he replied that it was 27 yrs. He, Mr. Finneran,'then said that he thinks the chief has the right mo run his department and that the Selectmen should not butt into his department. He made a motion that the schedule as submitted by the chief be accepted. ~r. Kirk said he wouldn't second that motion as he didn't think that one was necessary that the schedules were before the board for their convenience. Mr. ~illis then said he felt that since there were two schedules before the board, there should be a motion %o accept one. Mr..Kirk seconded Mr. Finneran,s mOmion and the vo~e was declared to be a.maJority vote with Mr~ Willis recorded as opposed to accepting the schedule presented by the · chief. ~.C~ING GREAT POND ROAD: Chief McKee inquired about closing Great Pond Road and he felt that it would cause a great deal of inconvenience in case of fire. He said that Barker Stree~ was a very narrow street and the school bus would have ~o go on this street and if a car were -- to meet the bus, one of them would have to go offthe road. Mr. Willis said that it would only last three weeks a~ the most and that the engineer had stated that it would be pretty nsarly impossible to let trucks or cars go by. He has checked with Campion Hsll and they have no objections, the fire department will know that the road is closed and it will only be for a short time, otherWise, if one part' were ~o be left open, the Job would last more than six weeks 'and that would use up considerable money. -Mr. Firn~eran inquired if a letter from the board to check on this matter mign~ no~ · be of some importance. Mr. Kirk said he was going to ask if there were a fire, if the bridge would be passable and still keep it closed ~o general traffic . He was concerned only with fire · Mr. Willis eaid the board could check and see if the road will be open to any traffic, particularly fire trucks, in case of fire. !~EO MURPHY: Zeo M~rphy came before the board relative to the zoning of the ~own beyond the part shown on the zoning map. He said he had asked a quest~ on the las~ time he was in and he would like an answer; if the chairman had one. Mr. Willis said he had talked with the assessors and Mr. Brasseur and that the land in question is agriculture~ according to the large map upstairs. Mr. Murphy said tha~ that map isn't the law and that he was basing his opi:~ion on the vo~e of the mown in 1943 ~o accepn the map and laws as presented. Tae map is not in the town clerks office and Mr. Murphy asked why the board couldn't get an opi~tion from town counsel. No action was taken by the board. DRAINAGE- WAVERLEY ROAD AND MASS. AVE. Mr. john P Musumarra, 46 Marsden Street, Lawrence came before the board to say that he had owned the land a~ the above corner for 13 yrs. and that there is a brook along ~ne road Just inside the fence. He asked if they can open up the drain and let more wa~er drain on his land without his permission. APPEL 26, 1954: continued DRAINAGE- WAVERLEY ROAD AI~D MASS. AVE. Continued Mr. Willis informed him that he needed some legal advice and that he would no~ like ~o answer this question. He said he was asking the town ~o correct a situation to improve his 'l~nd4even though this situation has existed for years. He again suggested legal advice. Mr. ~sumarra said that there are three drains there now and that the town built a small wall there last Saturday. ~. Willis said that they probably obtained rights there many yea¥~ ago by adverse possession. He said the town is presently working on another drainage problem and when they ge~ that straightened out the selectmen will probably have an answer. Mr. Masumarra said he lived at 46 Marsden St. Lawrence and would app~e- 6late hearing from the selectmen at a later date. JOSEPH A S~ITH AND ASSoCIATES-t{E: JOB SURVEy: ~{r. Charm me~ with the Selectmen and members of the Advisory Board ~o discuss a survey to be made in the to~n. He explained the various procedures to be followed and said there were only four me'thods to be followed in this work. Several persons asked questions as to cost of such a project and Mr. Charm said it would cost about $1100 for the point system and about $900 for the Job ranking eur~ey. Mr. Willis thanked Mr. Charm for coming to the meeting and explained that the Selectmen and Advisory Board have to sell this to the town and that it would then be ne'cessary to have a to~n ~eeting to raise a sufficient sum of money to take care of this expenditure. He said the Selectmen would let him know their decision at a later date. ADVISORY BOARD. EXECUTIVE SESSION: Mr. Willis informed the members that theywere asked to meet with the Selectmen relative to their request for a transfer from the Reserve Fund. He said the inquiry originally started when the legal fee disturbed him. He was of the opinion that up zo the day before the town meeting that he was advised no legal opinion had been given. John Hanson told him that. Mr. Wilkinson explained that the opinion had been given free and that the present bill was not connected with the original opinion given. Mr. Willis said he didn't think it wise for the Advisory Board ~o go out and hire counsel without consulting the Selectmen. He said he thought it was a good policy that they ask the Selectmen about counsel and the selectmen would engage counsel. It may well be that the Selectmen could give the answer. Mr. Coughlin said he felt it better to g~t a lawyer not interested in town sf£airs. Mr. Willis said he would like to have some assurance that the Advisory Board let the Selectmen know ahead of time that they plan to have legal advice. Mr. Wilkinson assured him that they would do everything possible ~o keep the board posted. He then told the board that. the members of his board were harrassed by trying to get information as quickly as possible. Mr. Willis said he would like to take the matter up with Herman Dine:to see if the bills could be paid and Mr. Wilkinson asked if he wished to.complicate things as much as this. Mr. Willis said t~ey can't go to the Chief of Police and give him "Hell" and then tell the Advisory Board ~o go ahead and pay these bills. There was much discussion as to the legality of the bills presented and Mr. ~illis was still of the opinion that these bills were illegal in accordance with the town by-law. Mr. Coughlin said he felt that the bLlls were legal and should be paid without question but if they had ~o, they would r~turn the steel cabinet bu~ thst the mime- ograph paper had been used. He said that Mr. Hanson is a paid employee of the Nc- Quasten company and that he would &~ain nothing by payment of these two bills. On the bill submitted by Mr. Hanson, they agreed to break it down and have the persons who actually did the work submit separate bills. Mr. Kirk and Mr. Finn~ran said they.would have no objection ~o signing the bills since it was a case of emergency in trying to get the advisory board report out to the people of the town before the meeting. Mr. Kirk said he would go along with any letter sent by Mr. Willis and suggested that the letter be .checked by Mr. Wilkinson before it is mailed. APPOINTMENTS: The follo~-ing appointments were made by unanimous vo~e of the board: BU]],DING INSPECTOR- Martin Lawlor, 290 Stevens Street DOG20~'£CER: Stanley Buturlia,3~6Salem Street FIRE ENGINEER: Edwin Koenig 105 Main Street FIRE ENGINEER Calvin R. Snell 26 Pleasant Street GRAVES REGZSTRATION OFFICER William Lafond- 88 Pleasant Street BURIAL AGENT Bernard Bingham, Faulkner Road(Also Veterans Agent) WiLliam Lafond had previously been appointed Burial Agent but upon suggestion of ~yron Lewis who pointed out that according to Section 7 of the Veterans Laws, ~h~e burial ~ag~e~n~ sho~l.d be the Veterans Agenm ~a~d that in April of each year the e.e~tmen snaz, appomnt a Graves Registra~mon oZficer in accordance v~ith section 9. APRIL 26, 1954: continued BURIAL AG~T- GRAVES REGISTRATION OFFICER At the suggestion of Myron Lewis, the board voted unanimously to appoint Bernard Bingham,(Ve~erans Agent) as Burial agent in accordance with Section 7 of the Veterans laws. The Board then appointed William Lafond as Graves Registration Officer in accordance with Section 9 of the Veterans laws. Mr. Lafond had previous'ly been appointed Burial agent. LAWRENCE GAS CO: The Board voted unanimously to gr,-t permiss~un ~o this company for the purpose of excavating ~o install gas main-h8 feet on Mass. Ave. and 452 feet on Gl'enwood Ave. The Board also voted unanimously to grant permission to excavate to install four gas services (95 feet on Glenwood Ave.) Mr. Carty nobified om 4/27/54. HEW'iTT AVENUE. Mr. Willis informed the board that Nr. Bendrott of the Lawrence Gas Company informed him that he has instructed Mr. Carty to put oil on this street an~d the cost will be paid by the Lawrence Gas Co. DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS A letter received from Charles A. Fritz, District Highway Engineer advising that the waste to be excavated on Great Pond Road will be dumped at th'e dis- continued dump site a~ the end of Union Street as requested by the board and that the cost of hauling this material will be $.12 per cubic yard. Mr. Fritz ~requested that the board submit an agreement mo the effect tham the town agrees to pay this amount. The Board voted unanimously to send ~chis agreement. The Board also received a copy of a letter sen~ ~o H. Gordon Gray, Chief Engineer, from Mr. Fritz relative to the proposed Chapter 90 work on Gr~at Pond Road~ DAMAGE CLAIM:. Tae Board received a letter from Mrs. Henry ~. Fallon,asking that the board consider the claim made by her in the amount of $27~30, for the cost of the damage caused by an alleged defective catch basin on Waverley ~Eoad. After due consideramion the board voted unanimously to offer $15.00 as a settlement of the claim taking into consideration the depreciation factor. A letter will be sent to Mrs. Fallon to this effect. ~OLVER PEPJ~IT APPLICATIO~: Applications were approved by unanimous vote for a license to carry a pistol or revolver for Paul Dymr, 67 Prospect Street, regular police office~. BOARD OF PU~IC WORKS: A letter was received from William B. Duffy on the action taken on Article' 82 at the annual town meeting. The second condition of this article was not rescinded by the action of the special to~n meeting on April 14, 1954 even though $4615 was appropriated under Article 3 to improve the road and extend the drainage system on Putnam Road. Mr. Duffy asked that the selectmen give him a statement on this condition promptly so that they may proceed with the water extension. Mr. Willis will send a letter to Mr. Dully stating that all conditions have been satis- fied and that they may proceed with the work. A]{TICLE FOR SPECIAL TO~'~N MEETING: An article to be inserted in the next special town meeting was received from Mr. Duffy relative to modifying the action taken at the annual mown meeting under Article 81 and 83 so as to permit the Board of Public ~orks to allow the petitioners to make wa~er extensions requested at their own expense under the direction of the · Board of Public l~orks. DIVISION OF CIVIL SERVICE APPROVAL: Approval of the appointment of Charles n. McCubbin, Paul G. Dyer and John .J. Lanni was received from Civil Service and their duties will commence on April 29, 1954. The Board voted unanimousl~ to request an eligible list for the Reserve Police Officers. REVOLVER PER3~ITS APPROVED: ?he Board unanimously approved the permits to be issued during the months of May and June as listed with the exception of Milton Dew-itt Howard who is now living in Lawrence. ATTORNEY C 'HA~ES A MCCARTHY-CLAIM AGAINST IOWN: The Board received a letter from Atty. Charles McCarthy informing them that Mr. & Mrs. Steve Helbick, o~ners of the proper~y at th.e southe.ast co. rnsr. of P19asant' Street and Chickering Road have filed a claim agaznst the mown ~-or ~amage to their re~l es~a~e. This letter will be placed on file for the present.