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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1954-10-04 Board of Selectmen MinutesOCTOBER4, 19~h (continued) ACTS PASSED IN 1954 session of the General Court: 'The ~oard received a list of Acts in order of passage which affec~ cities and %owns which have been passed a~ the 19S4 session of the General Court, together with a table of changes in the General Laws that resulted from such passage; and an index. BOSTON & MAINE RAILROAD STATION: A letter was received by the Board from ~omas J. Lane assuring the Board that they have his support in regard to the matter of the closing of the B. & M.s~a- tion and-he .will communicate with the Commissioner of the Dept. of Public Utilities in the State House, Boston, urging that the Board.s request for a hearing be favorably considered. Letter received by the Board from Frank. D. Ashburn, He~mnster of Brooks School, stating that over a period of years, the statibn and service provided have meant a great deal to them and he hoped it would be possible for the Board to ask for a hearing in this matter. TOWN HALL-JOHNSON HIGH SCHOOL: The board met with John Cushing, janitor of the Johnson High School t6'discuss the problem presented by the abandonment of the Johnson High School. Mr. ~illis stated that it will be impossible for the Selectmen ~o usethe town hall and he understands that it is'to be heated only sufficiently ~o keep it from freezing. Mr. Cushing said they could close off the top andsecond floor and leave the'bottom ~loor'for use of the boys and girls as they plan to ~sethe gym. Mr. Kirk said he was Shinking in terms of no longer using thetown bali and if this is so, there will bono need to have a J~-~tor. · Mr. Willis said that if the school committee would give up the school, then the Select~ .men would.knowwhat to dowith it. ~,.~r.'Ftnneran inquired if the building could be shut off if they decided to heat only portions ~f it and ~r. Cushing replied that this could be done. ' · The board then vo~ed to consider. Mr. John Cushing as Janitor and custodian tuutil the school committee takes action. ~he board feels that someoneshould be' there"and be responsible for the place but he felt quite sure that when the budgets are made up for next year they will not includemoney for a janitor. ~.' _.. .Mr. ,cushing.was very agreeable~ ~o this arrangement. B& MRR. Mr. Gerald Cahill, general agent of the Boston & Maine Railroad came-~o the meeting ~ ~.to discuss the.matter of the North Andover ,stat£on being abolished. 1.,~ He .pre~ented figures from a study that had been made since 1946to date.- Mr. Kirk stated that the figures did not mean anything un~ess he wen~ back to pre- war time. He asked if Mr. Cahill had any objection to presenting these figures at ~the public ,hearing and. he said he wouldbe glad to. do this. He said there had been only ~wo ~aJor changes made under the. new,plan: 1, the elimination of freight and second the replacement of the station. He said this is not abolishing the station. He explained that they plan to erec~ a shelter at the end of the canopy of the station and thatthe service wiltbe ~xactly thc~ same. Mr. -'Cahill stated that' the word "prepayment,, should no~ have been included in the notice. He explained that there would be no change in the delivery of freight asM. T.~-Stevens and D & F Co. would do business with Mr. Cahill. ·-Mr. ~Willis said that the present methodof making this ~change is antagonistic and he felt that a public hearing would still be rsquired as there have been several requests for such a hearing. Mr. C~hill expressed a hope tha~ this wo~ld no~ be held over ~co long. TOWN BUILDING ROOF- PERFORMANCE BOND-RELEASED: ~A notice was received from~the Maryland Casuklty Co. requesting information-as to the date ofcompletion and amountpaid for'thi~ work on the town building roof, so that the bond~may be released. Notice will be sen~ in that the work has been completed and work completed 100% and that $S58 was paid to the contractor, Martin ~ay. ~ Letter received from Frank S. Giles, jr. stating that he will be happy to attend~any meeting that may be held in order mo registerhis disapprovaland exer~ his influence to keep the B&MStation open. Letter from Arthur A. Thomson, stating he is equally disturbed aboum the ma~er of closing the stateion and shall mos~ definitely do everything in his power to preven~ the closing of the station. REVOUrERPE~ITAPP~OVALS: ~he Board approved the renewals of revolver permits for the month of September and October. Ail persons who received licenses in the above months last.year have been approved for renewal of their licenses. OCTOBER h, 195h- continued .: CENT~I~iAL CELEBRATION MEETING: The board will meet with %~illian McAloon on Sunday October 17, 1954 a% 11:45 A.M. at Mr. McAloon,s home to discuss plans for this celebration. SCHOOL DEPARTMENT: The board received a letter from Mr. O,Brian, Sup~. of School Committee, with reference to a bill for repairing the Bradstree~ School Fence for $52.00 and a check from the insurance for $52.00. ~e board discussed this ma~ter and determined that the check must go into the treasury and the School Committee will have to pay the bill from their appropriation unless there is a special town meeting ~o have the money transferred ~o their account. DEPT.~OF CORPORATIONS & TAXATEON: A certification received that the 1954 amoun~ of indemnity for the bond for the Tax 'Collector is $2,000. This was approved by the board and one copy will' be re- turned to the Department, of Corporations and Taxation. ~his bond is for uncollected taxes for 1953. FIRE ENGINEERS: . . . A copy of letter sent to Harry J. Talmadge, Executive Secretary~ of the Hurricane .Relief Board was presented to the board. Mr. ¥~illis had signed the letter~anthoriz- ing payment of salary for their over-time services in restoring the fire alarm system during the extreme emergenc~existing during the recent hurricane. VETERANS DAY; NO~EMBER 11, 19~4. - ..... ~he Board received a letterfrom the V.F.%~. with respect to the- change made by President Eisenhower inI the designation of what was formerly, known as Armistice Day ~o Veterans Day ~nd the organization would like to have equal representation on any committee appointed to administer the public. observance of this Holiday. T~e Board vo~ed to inform.the Moderator, Arthur A. Thomson of this request and to inform him that the Board of Selectmen would- like to add their suppor: ~o the desire of this organization. · BOARD OF HEAL~: The Board received a letter from Dr. Julius Kay, chairman of the Board of Health in reply to our letter concerning the excavation on house lots #4,5, and 6 on Grosvenor Street, rear of 296 Sutton Street. Dr. Kay stated that he felt that this was no~ a matter for the Board of Hea&th and referred the board to the zoning laws. No action was tsken on the letter but Mr. Finneran has the letter and he will reply in the near future. WATER RIGHTS DISCUSSION, Ihe Board met with Walter Goddard, general manager~ John F. Matthews,' chief' engineer, Fred Kent, assistant Superintendent of'Stevens Mitl~ and -they had as counsel, George · M. Naylor to represent them. Also present were Mr. Worcester and Mr. ~homas from the firm of ~Torcester and Sullivan who had previously been r stained by the Board of Public ~orks. There was a lengthy discussion concerning the problem of the culvert which has collapsed or is blocked up and the question as towho will pay for the ~ work ~ to be done: Mr. ~illis said it was a harddecision to make and'he felt that'this was the time to determine once and for all Jusm who is responsible. After the discussion which lasted for more than two hours, the board voted to retain the services of ~Mr. Worcester ~o find out more details, ebuut the discussion and have some agreement so that in the future there would 'be norquestion about this matter.~ Mr. Worcester agreed to check thes~atu~etthoroughly and report bac~ Mr. Willis and-th~n go on from there. COMPLA!NT~ · A complaint was received from a Mrs. Calabrese, ~9 Mass. Ave. about a fence w~ich is to be erected close to her proper~y and she would like the board ~o go down and look at it. Her main complaint is that her taxes should be reduced if'this fence is erected. The Board voted to contact Mr. Johnson, 'fence viewer, and see what he can find out and report ~o the board.