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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1954-06-21 Board of Selectmen Minutes REC:~,A~Ot,~ COI~C'm ~ Mrs. Elizabeth Ellio~ met with the board to discuss a bill of $14.50 for a large slab step which was purchased from Philip DiGloria to be used at the Drummond Playground. Mrs. Elliot felt that the bill should be paid from the Council ,s appropriation but stated that Philip Sutcliffe, president did not agree-with her. She had discussed this with Mr. ~illis some time ago and he felt that it w6uld be taken care of from some source and would be discussed later. Mr. Kirk and Mr. Ffnneran both agreed that they felt that it ~as a matter for the Recreational Council and that Mrs. ~lliot should take it hack and have the council vote on it. Later Mr. Kirk tulked with Mr. Sutcliffe and Mr. ,Bonnano about ti~is bill and stated that the two selectmen felt that the matter should be vo~ed on by the Council and their decision would be final. Mr. Sutoliffe £elt that it was not a supply and should be paid by the Board of Public Works. He said Mrs. Eiliot buys everything and .he told her not ~o buy ,any o~ $~ese things that are not approved by the council. Mr. Kirk said this is a mat~er .for the council to vote enand that the Selectmen do not want to set a policy for the council. He said he didn,t want to listen to ,Mr. Suteliffe unless he discusses'this with the council and get their opinion and not Justthe opinion of one man. He also informed Mr. Sutcliffe,that he thefeltchairman.that all bills should be approved by a majority of the members and not Just ~REE .REMOVAL ~E~UEST~ John Calzetta would like to have three ~rees removed on Johnson Street near Rea Street,where he plans to build a house an~ these trees ame in the way. Mr. ~Onnors stated ~mt these are not desirable trees a=i he felt that they should be removed. A hearir~ was set for Ju~r 2~ 1954 at 1~15 P.M. The ~rees will be posted by Mr. Connors. S~EET LIC~HT REQUE~T~ John Calzetta has requestcc~the ins tallaticn of two street lights on Johnson Street-- one hOer,his father.s property and the other at the corner ,of Johnson and Rea Streerm. He is building, a house,and it is very.dark. ~e Board voted unanimously to refer this,,te the ~aWrence Electric Company for a recommendation. OLD 0EN~R SCHOOL~ Philip .DiGloria came to',the office and stated.that he has completed,the work af demolishing the old Center School and that he would like to have the approval of the board an~ also the release, of his of his bond. Mr.' Filliam B; Dully had stated that he thought Mr. DiGloria did a very good Job up there and that he is anxious to put some loam there and finish it up before the'celebration of July 4. The board members had looked at the location and Were satisfied that it was a -very good Job and .that if it was satisfactory ~o Mr.-Duffy, they-would -vote to release the bond. Vote.was unanimous. 3. ANONYMOU~ LET~:R ..... '' An anonymous post card was received by the board relative to police officers 'having extra Jobs and the board vo~ed unanimously to receive the 'card 'but to take no action since it was not signed. P~VOLVER PERMIT RENE~AL~ APPROVED: The Board approved the following renewals for revolver permits for the month of July and August. Carl E. Lager, Roland B. Hammond, AnthorF j. Szelest, Jr. ;John E. Leary and ~lwood E. Foarster. AMERICAN-KOREAN FOUNDATION, INC. Tus board received a letter from Frank Fisher, Director requesting that an active chairman be appointed for this foundation. Mr. Kirk suggested that William A. Finneran take en this appointment, which he agreed to do and his name .will be sent in at once. Massachusetts ,s quota .is $5,000,000. LAWRENCE AIRPORT COMMISSION~- A letter received informing the board that the matter referred to in our letter May 29, 1954 has been turned over to the City ~ngineer for study as to the beet way to correct this condition. The board voted te accept the letter and follow up on it in a,week or two. ,Mr. Kirk suggested that we notify Mr. Gearhart of C~lennie,s Inc. Clark Street of this information and .~fcrm him that we will follow it up and let him know wha: we find out. DIVISION 0 F CIVIL SERVICE~ POLICE RESERVES Approval was received on the appointments of Leo J. Galleazzl, ~4 Sawyer Rd., Philip T. Miller, 242 Dale St. and Ernest A. Roberts, 400 ~inter St. effective June 1, 1954. BOARD OF ASSESSORS: A letter was received from the Assessors informing the Selectmen that they have searched their files and other records for the maps owned by Leo Murphy. They have no maps ami their records show no reason why such maps would have been turned over to their office. ?he board took no action on this letter. SENATORS SALTONS TALL-KENNEDY: Letters were received from Senators ~.everett Saltenstull and John F. Kennedy in reply ~o our letter with respect to appropriating money for the improvemen~ of the Merrimac River. D~partment cf Public Works R~ply from John A. Volpe, .Commissioner to our letter o~ June 3, thanking the board for the sentiments of the townspeople who definitely favor a westerly route for the relocation of Route 28. DAMAGE C~IA~ I~; T: '. A c~aSm'~foz reimbursement for the cost of repairing damage to his car was received from John~'~. Praetz, 54 Exeter St. Lawrence in the amount of$4~.90. The North And~ver fire depar~msnt truck came in centact with his car and a considerable amount of damage was caused. After careful consideration, the board agreed to pay $25.00 ~c Mr. P~aetz and he will be so notified. A general,release will be sent to him and if he returns it, a check will be mailed for $25.00. LAWRENCE ELECTRIC CO: A petition to erect ~wo poles on the westerly and easterly sides of Berry Street, at points approximately ?10 feet and 846 feet southerly from Ash Street, was re- ceived by the board. A hearing was set for j,,ly~ 2, .1954 at i:OO.P.M, in the ~Belectmen's Office. · A letter was received from Atty. Arnold Salisbury suggesting that the board in- struct the building inspector ~o observe any requests made of him.by.either the Planning Board or the Board of Health with reference to the Stanleyville area. A reference is also made in connection with the new statute referred to in ~is letter to the .Planning board. ~he letter states that unles the town adopts a new by-law authorizing the creation of a planning board cf appeals, the select- men must perform the duties of such a board. G.L. c 41, s alZ as added by St. 1953,c.674 s.7. The letter further states that these duties might become unduly burd~usom~ and he suggests that the board sponsor an article at the nex~ meeting which would -~ ~ ow the board to establish a~ independent board .to perform these duties. A tentative draft of such an article was enclosed. ~e board held this correspondence over for further study. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE: .'A memorandum received relative to a bill recently passed allowing ~owns and aities ~o establish commission to promot~ business and industry and to appropriate money therefor. C~pies of the two ac~s .were received with suggested articles for special town meeting warrants. This was also held over for further study. MASS. SELECTMEN,S A$SO: Letter received informing the board that it is possible for every County to participate in the income from the sale of ads .in the Massachusetts Selectman. Prices were given for various sizes of ads . No action was taken on this letter. DUMP SITE INQUIRY: An inquli-Z as to the condition of the towns present dumping method was received from Wilbur,S. Cobb and the board sugges~ad that the secretary take care of having it filled out and returned ~o Mr. Cobb who is the Secretary of Denvers Dump Survey Committee, 3~ Ash St. Danvers. STATE HOUSING RENT CO *ORDINATOR: A reques~ for a copy of the vote of the town to -tend the ~ent Contrul was re- ceived and also forms ~to be made cut by the mreasurer. ~he board voted to refer this to the town treasurer who has the payrolls, vouch~ers, etc. required. Tae town clerk will ~ake out a certified copy of the vote of the town as voted at the special town m~eting on June 15. HEARING TREE REMOVAL: A hearing was held on the petition of Gezrge Caren, for the removal of a tree at 28 Main Street which interferes with his undertaking business. Mr. Counors stated that the tree should be removed and the board voted unanimously to instruct the tree warden te remove the tree. HEARING-LAWRENCE ELEC~IC CO~ A hearing was held on the petition of this company to erect %we poles on the westerly side of Linden Ave. at points approximately 96~ feet and 106~ feet southerly from Greene Street, 2 poles. ~he board vo~ed unanimously to grant this petition. IAWRENCE ELEC~2I¢ CO: A hearing was held on the pe,tition of this company for permission to erect four poles on the easterly and westerly sides of Berry Street, Srom a point apprex. §5 feet northerly from Turnpike Street, northerly, 4 poles. VOTED unanimously to grant this petition. OPEN AIR THEATER: HEARING: Mr. Kirk opened the hearing and informed those present that this hearing was brought about by the .application of ,John and Kaston Shay'Zor'a permit to have an open air theater on ROute ~114. Attorney Edward Cregg stated that this ~ract of lafid is a 45 acres tract and that twelve acres have been carved in the middle to prepare for the theater; .It fronrm on Turnpike ~ Street and there is no zoning problem there. · He asked .those present to bear in mind that these 12 acres are zoned for business and that. any kind of a business could go in there without getting a permit from the Selectmen. Because a Drive-in theater is a from of amusement it is necessary to ge~tA peb~it from the Board of Selectmen. He said ,teat he had spen~ some time with the,Shay Brothers and he feels that this is ideally located. ~he area is almosz entirely surrounded · by trees and he doubts if there is any spot on Waverley.Road where you could see this area, ~ha. land here is 'below grade and is swampk and could not be, used for house lots. He said that the assessment of the lahd will double ~ith greater revenue coming into the town. William H. Dewhirst, 697 Waverley Road felt that this would decrease the surrouna~ lng property in value and he said he got this 'Statement. from Mr...Pothier who spoke at a recent meeting in the town hall,~ ..... Ja,~e Ii. Bingham, Jr. ~01 Waverley ~oad said that. the Shay Brothers ' 4a~d informed him .that he ha~ planed a 1 story building for textile storage uses, and :that he had no ou~door, theater in mind. He mentioned .the traffic hazards at this~location where two. or three people have been killed ~ that the tanker.trucks roll~do#a there every day. The State wont put lights at this location because of the hazard. He said there would be plenty cf noise and the residents can all see~ and hear. Mr. Shay said he had intended to use this land for ~xtile storage and he had entered preliminary negotions with. two te~tLle f~rms but. that with .the textile conditions in this area during the past few years, the' negotiotions felI through. Mr. Dewhirst mentioned that there is 'not too much of a problem with petting in this area but there could be. a more serious problem. That is one reason thatit~ms accepted in South Lawrence. Ne said the ~raffic problem would be increased and there is enough of that now. ., Mr. Kirk said at this point that it was the feeling of the board that this was a great decision"for them to make. He said they are not required to,hold:a.hearing but ~ecause of the gravity of the decision, they wanted the views of the t~--uspeople. He said that the chairman is not avaLlable but that it w~l probably~.be~hel~ up until ha is available ~o give his views in the matter. ROger B. Merriman, Great Pond Roadasked Mr. Shay how many people':they ~lanned to employ and was answered that twelve to fourteen people would be employed. ,. Mr. Merrimsn asked wh~ ,it wouldn't be better business prudence to-postpone the pro posed project and perhaps have some manufacturing concern go in here and this would be of grea~er benefit, mo the town in the way of providing employmen~ to many more people. Mr. Cregg answered this inquiry by stating that t~s area is zoned'for business and that an imdnstrial concern; couldn. ~ go in,tbere unless it~mre rezoned. Mr.. Sha~ stated that the tbea~er will.be, operatsd by the owners themselves through an independent booking agent and that it will be conducted in such a manner that families who attend will find no~hing objectionable from the, traffic safety · moral considerations. He said they would employ police officers'~frem. North Andover ~and.,also from Lawrence .because the highway is in Lawrence. Other people who voiced opposition were~Charles M. Kaslow, 4~3 Waverley Rd;::Horatio Rogers, M.D.. 580 Osgood St. Mrs. Walter Mulo Whitehill, ~ Andover~St. Mrs. Helen S. Coolidge 137 Andover St. Mr. & Mrs. Frencis-Driscoll, Sr. 78 Turnpike St. Charles Finocchiaro, 219 ~,,s. Ave. and Mr. & Mrs. James Bingham, 701 Waverley Rd. They objected on moral grounds, alleged depreciation of property values and traffic hazards. ~hoae who spoke in favor of, the theater war'e~Anthony Giglio,. 222~ ~ddlesex St. Leo Galeazzi, 44 SaWyer l~d. -Vincent ~. Pellerin, 222 Mass. Ave. JohnShay.and Mr. & Mrs. Eastant Shay. Mr. Kirk thanked all presen~ for coming in and asked for a show of hands. T~enty-one were in favor of the theater and 19 were opposed. Mr. Finneran made a~motion that ,. the matter be taken under advisement and the vote was unanimous. Mr. Cregg presented a petition with 256 signatures who were in favor of it.