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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1954-09-27 Board of Selectmen Minutes SEPTEMBER 27, 1954: continued DEPAR'D~ENT OF PUBLIC UTILITIES: RE R.R. STATION BOSTON & MAIN RAILROAD: Mr. Willis read a letter that he had written to the Depar~men~ of Public Utilities relative to the report that the railroad station in North Andover was to be closed on or' before October 22, 1954. Mr. Willis wished to object to this action without first providing the tow~ and its residents with an opportunity ~o be heard. A letter objected to closing or curtailing of facilities a~ the North Andover Station was received from the Davis & Furber Machine Cc. A letter objecting to this action was received from James R. Dooley, prop. of the North Andover Coal Company, and suggesting that a hearing be held before action is taken by the Boston and Maine Railroad. ~he Board decided to wait until a reply is received fr~m the Department of Public Utilities relative ~o this ma~:er~ before any other action is tsken. HURRICANE RELIEF BOARD: A communication giving supplementary rates for which the Hurricane Relief Board will gran~ reimbursement . No action required. Town treausrer has a copy of this memorandum. · AUCT~OMEER' S LICE~E: ~he Board voted unanimously ~o grant an auc~ioneer.s license ~o Dewey A. Dyer 69 Prospect Street, ~o be used when the present auctioneer is no~ available. JANITOR- TOWN H~LL: ~he Board discussed the ma~er of continuing to pay the salary ~o John Cushing as Janitor of the Town Hall. There was a general discussion and the board voted to ask Mr. C~shing to meet with them on October 4, 1954 a~ ?:45 P.M. to discuss this maturer further. BOARD OF HEALTH: A copy of a letter sen~ to the Board of Heslth relative to complaints concerning an excavation on house lots ~ 4, 5 and 6 on Grosvenor,Street, rear of 296 Sutton Street. No,reply has been received to date and this will be checked again after a reply has been received from the Board of Health. PLANNING BOARD VACANCY: Nicholas Nicetta, Frank Driscoll Jr., Ralph Finck and Howard Gilman met ~ith the Board of Selectmen to fill the vacancy in the Planning Board caused by the resig- hatio~ of Peter Ritchie, until the election in ~nrch, 1955. Mr. ~Lllis called for nominations and Ralph Finck nominated John J. Lynch; Frank Driscoll nominated Raymond Broadhead and Arthur Kirk nominated James McClung. ~he members then preceded to vote by secret ballot and Mrs. Dearden counted the vo~es: Raymond Broadhead, 4- John J. Lynch, 2 and James McClung received 1. Mr. ¥~illis then made a motion that Raymond Broadhead be appointed ~o the Planning Board until the next election in ~rch, 1955. BOARD OF APPEALS: The Board voted unanimously to appoint Ralph Finck as a member of the Board of Appeals for the unexpired term caused by the resignation of Peter Ritchie. Mr. Finck will serve un~il 1959. ' HI ~WAy DEPARTMENT: Ralph Brasseur came before the board to discuss several articles which were vo~ed on favorably a~ the last town meeting. Mr. Catty h~d p~t ou~ bids for storm drains but there is no~ sufficient money ~o do all the work required. Mr. Brasseur said that they would have ~o leave out sidewalks and catch basins on Mifflin Drive and Putnam Road but that Woodbridge Road would be O.E. On West Brad- s~r. eet, article #64, there is no~ enough money to pu~ black topping on. · He also statsd that the figures used were set up about five years ago and that materials and labor have increased. ~hey would need 20 per cen~ more in order to do all the work required. Mr. Brasseur stated that he had informed the Advisory Board that the money listed wosld not be sufficient to take care of all the requirements. Mr. Kirk said he felt that the town official responsible should get up a~ the to~n meeting and give the facts. Mr. Brasseur said that ~est Bredstree~ road would be shaped but no gravel or side- walks would be put in. Mr. Willis said he wondered if a portion of the road could be done a~ a cost of the $3,000 appropriated and assess the o~ners as farss the work goes and then do more work later on. He asked Ralph Brasseur to check ~o see how it will ~o if wor~ed out this way and Mr. Willis will check to see Jus~ ~hat can be done. DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS: Mr. Willis informed the members of the Board of Public ;~orks and the Supt. William B. Duffy that he Was happy to have them meet with the board and pro- ceeded ~o bring them up to date. The mat~er principally :o be discussed is the sewerage problem. People are complaining :o the Selectmen and sewerage is not within the province of the Selectmen and although the board has no objection to helping people Mr. Willis said he didn,t wan~ it dumped in his lap. For instance, the residents of Sutton Street complained about the sewerage which had backed up into their kitchen. They came up and discussed this with Mr. Duffy and he said the only thing ~rong was that the people were taking the caps off. Mr. Willis tried $os traighten ou: this person and informed him that the trouble was due. to the flooding of the meadow amd swamp. He wondered if there might be somee~hing wrong with the trunk line sewer. Mr. Joseph Sullivan stated that as long as we have poor surface drains we will continue ~o have this troubles. William Reidy was presen~ and inquired about opening up the drain at the Park Sewer at Main Street. He couldn't understand how it was that the house next ~o him didn't have any ~a%er in their cellar. Mr. Dully explained the route of the east trunk line sewer. He said that people should be made to connect with the surface drain. The major part of the water comes from ground and surface wa~er. Mr. Willis asked Mr. Duffy if he would talk with Mr. Casale and see what can be done for them. Mr. Duffy informed Mr. Reidy that he had root trouble and that he should have a new service put in. The copper sulphate has not proved effective and the roots will grow in again. .Mr. Willis informed the members present that the bill for Sullivan amd Worcester' had beelm held up last week on vote ot Mr. Kirk and }~r. Willis. Since that time the Selectmen have been presented with a problem which has to do with the' wate~v~7. He said there has been considerable difficnl%y with the culvert at Stevens St. and they are faced with the problem of not getting water. Mr. Fred Kent is disturbed that someone did no= go up and fix the culvert but it is not as simple as that. Mr. Carry had a Frogman go up there and clean out the culvert and it seemed to be o.k. but Mr. Willis went up at 8:00 A.M. to-day and the culvert is not working. He said that the time has come when something must be done %o learn~who o~ns the Lake, and the waterway. Stevens St. has been an accepted s~ree~ since 1880. A new dam was put in and it is gradually deteriorating. Mr. Green, the Frogman, came in to the meeting and he explained hOW he went into the Culvert and what he found there. Mr. Willis said that the board would like to know who should be rcspousible if the pondis made bigger and who should build ~his culvert and he felt that if this company of SuLlivan and Worcester were further engaged and paid extra, they could probably give the Selectmen the answers they are looking for. Mr. Willis then inquired why the Board went to Boston to hire counsel. Mr. Kittredge explained that they had given this mat~er considerable thought and felt that there might be an indirect influence if a locul lawyer were engaged. Mr. Willis said he had checked with every department and no% one of them has had amy work done which was paid by the town. The board is faced with the problem of resolving who has the responsibility o~ building this culvert. He then discussed the contract 'for rebuilding the culvert at Flats bridge and said the plans had been revised to take care of water at ll3'. He thbught that the water should be down ~o 107' but Mr. Duffy said that the ~ater has only been down once in ten y~ars ~o 107' Mr. Willis discussed letting some of the water out now while there is plenty of water rather than wait until the Western Electric Company is calling for extra water. Mr. Kittredge said he was extremely hesitant to let three feet of water out of the lake but if it is to be done, of course, he would rather 'have it let out now while there is plenty ~o spare. He thought that the Selectmen should make some check with the contractor and Mr. Willis felt that an adjustment could be made in oontract if necessary. DISCUSSION- RE AVAILABLE OFFICE SPACE. James Maker, treasurer, Board of 'Assessors, Board of Public i~orks and'Nm. B. Duffy met with the board ~o discuss possible r e-assignment of offices in the b??~l ding. There were various suggestions and the Assessors insisted that they need a vault for their maps and records. Mr. Maker felt that he should have the school d epar~- men~ offices and that in time he could purchase a portable safe or small vaul~ for his records. At presen~ he uses the vault in the Board of Public Wor~s office. Mr. Wtl.~ is said he would prefer to keep the court room intact, if possible, for vario~s meetings when there are ~oo many ~eople ~o fit into the Selectmen's office. Mr. Duffy said he has only enough office space a~ the present time amd tha~ the office upstairs is used for a drafting room amd that he uses his offices all the time. After a lengthy discussion the board took the matter under advisement and will give the matter more thought before any changes are made. CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION: William McAloon came before the board to inquire if they had any plans about the celebration and said he would like to' ge~ started with his committees. The board suggested that they meet with Mr..McAioen some evening, preferably not on Monday to go over this ma,:er thoroughly and appoint the various committees from the representatives of the various organizations contacted by the Selectmen. John Lyons came ~efore the board and suggested .that~ Joseph A. Duncan, be named Honorary Chairman of the Centennial Committee. He felt that he had a wide know- ledge of .the towns history and he would be glsd.to help out in any way possible. Mr. ~¥illis said,.he had no objections and that it woaldlbe up to Mr~ McAloon. REQUEST FOR REMOVAL OF TREE: Hugh S~ewart talked ~ith Mr. Kirk about a large elm tree a% the corner of Cross and Elm Street whichwas split and crea%es a hazardous condition. He had talked with Mr. Connors about this but Mr. Connors is hospitalized and the board referred the matter to Mr. Hegarty. Mr. Hegarty has been informed about the ~ree and will take care of it as'soon as possible. SPECIAL TOWN MEETING: The planning Board requested the Board of Select~en to hold a special %own meeting 1~o insert an article relative to a sur~ey to be made and to raise and appropriate $5~000 for the purpose of this article'. The Board of Public Welfare, at the request of the agen%, Ltllian B. Dearden, voted ~o insert 'two other articles~ in this warrant %o %ransfer %wo sums of money from the Aid to Depend~nt Childre and Old Age Assistance accounts to Se Outside Relief'and Repairs Account to take c~re ofe~.censes for the.remainder' of this' year. ~e Board voted to hold a special ~o~n meeting on October 18, 1954 ~t~ 8:~O P.M. and on motion of Mr. Kirk, the warrant was declared to be open a~ 1~:45 ~P.M~ and three articles accepted for insertion. The board voted ~o close~ the warrant a~ 10:46 P.M. The place of the ~o~n meeting will.be decided a~ a later date. Mr. W~l~is info,mod Mrs.'Dearden t~at the meeting would ~e held in the Bradstreet Shhool Auditorium. OCTOBER 4, 19~4: ~he regular weekly meeting of the Board of Selectmen was.held ~t~ 7:00 'P.M. with a~l members present. Weekly bills and payrolls were approved. JUROR DRAWN: . _ .~de~'~'.§9'-'~hion.~streeT6~..~was..~ c~rawn as a~ Juror to serve at the Superior Civil Court at Salem on November 1~ 1954. . DOG OFFICER'S REPORT g~anley Buturlia, '~og Officer, submitted his report t~ the Board. for ~he period covering %pril 1 to October 1, 1954 .... REPRESENTATIVES FOR CENTENNIAL C~.~BRATION: A letter was received from the Eclectic Clubsub~itting the name of Mr~ David. Brown, 135 Academy Road as the representative of the Eclectic Club for the Can- tennial Celebration Committee. . A letter was received from the'American Legion stating that. William Lafon~, .newly elected commander, has been selected as the representative of the post in the coming centennial committee. PETITION'OFNE~ENGLAND TEL. & TEL. & LA~?. ELECT. 00. A Petition for Join~ pole relocation was received from the New England Tel. &.Tel. Co. and the. Lawrence Electric Co.~Main Street, app. 133 feet northwest of Water Street, 1 pole (remove 1 pole). The Board Voted unanimously to grant .this. LAWRENCE ELECTEIC COMPA~: ~tter received from the ~aw. Electric Co. stating that a survey had been made of the street lighting in the vicinity of the new High School and several recom- mendations were made by the company. The Board voted to accept these recommenda- tions and the net azmual increase in cost will be $330. Letter received from the Law. Elcctric Co. stati~ that a survey has been made of .street lighting requirements on Linden Ave., PembrookRoad and Adams Avenue and recommendations were made by the company. ~he Board voted unanimoualy to accept the recom~ndations of the company. Letter of appreciation received from the Lawrence Electric Company for the cooperation given them by a~l the Town departments during the recent hurricane~ emergency.