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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1955-01-03 JANUARY 3, 1955: .The Board of Selectmen met a~ 7:30 P.M. for their regular weekl~y meetin~g..Weekly bills and payrolls were approved. ~... APPOINTMENT- TO¥~N ACCOUNTANT: The Board voted unanimously to re-appoint Mary T. Finn, to~m accoun~an~ for~ three years, 171/1955 through 12/31/1957. BD. OF PUBLIC WOPJ~S: RE: FALLEN TRE~: A le~er was received from William B. Duffy, calling attention to the several large trees in the w0%ded area ~at the North Andovor High School in the rear of the houses on Tavern Road which were overturned by Hurricane "Carol". ~his matter had already been called to the attention of the tree warden, started that he will remove them as soon as he can get around to them. No further action was taken by the board. EASTERN MASS. ETHEET RAILWAY.~,~.. A letter was received from ~"~. ~. Withrow, Mgr. of this company ~nd: a time table was attached containing changes effective January 2, 195~. .The Board vo~ed to ask Mr. ¥~ithrow to meet with them on January 10, 1955 at 7:30 P.N. to dis.cuss this matter further. BOARD' OF HEALTH: A letter was received from Dr. Julius Kay, Chairman' of the Bo.smd o£ Health, relative to the Building Luspector issuing perm~its for bUilding on w0o'dstock Road. Tn accordauce with Chapter 674, Ac~s of 1933 the. Planning~ Board is .required to submit plans for all new subdivision of land prior ~o development to the Board~ of Health for its 4ppro~al. Preliminary investigation reveals that~ the Building inspector has issued thre~ P~er~i~s a~d Construction has star'ed and the'letter states that he is~ill~galty, premature and i~ defeating the ~purpose of the'ruling. Also he may involve the town in litigation if the Board of Health condemns the subdivision as unfit for ~wellings. The letter asks for the cooperation of this board in this extremely, important phase ~of th~ ~ow~ development. No action was taken as~ the Board of health is e~-ected ~o meet v~lth the Sea'ct- men on January l0 and it will be disc~'~sed at that tim~. AETNA CASULATY AND SURETY CO: RE: ACCIDENT 12/28/53 .A lett&r was received from this company re!~t.ive to the case of Fred J. Bonaccorsi who brings action for personal injuries and propertydamage in the sum of $~,000. They are referring this matter to their attorneys for' defense and they ~call atten- tion to the smount sued for in this case plus the previous suit of Stanley p. Fancher vs. Wm. B. Dully and the town in the sum of $50,O00 making a totsl of $55,000 for personal injury claims whereas, the limits of our policy for ~nJury for any one person involved in an accident is ~45,O00 and $40,000 for two or more. The board voted to refer this letter to Atty. Arthur A. Thomson who is handling the case. CIVIL' DEFENSE: Dewey Dyer s~nt a letter to the b~ard reques'ting that the L. C. Smith typewriter now in custody of the ~ent Control Board be assigned ~o .the office of Civil Defense upon termination of the P~n~ Control office activities on or ab~out The Board ~oted to accept this communication and place it on file. DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS, CHAPTER 90 , ~ letter received advising the board that the Commissioners at their meeting of 12/21/19~4 voted to approve, ~s of August 3~, 1954, the work done by~ .this board under the provisioms of Section 34, Chapter 90 of the G. L. in the main- tenance of Chapter 90 roads in this town under con~rac~ No. 15026, dated July 20, '1954, the engineer having reported that the work called for by s~id contract has been completed. No action taken. SUPT, OF SCHOOLS, FRANCIS J. O'E~IEN: A letter was received from ~r. O'Brieh, ~elative to the liability insurance on high school facilities ~hich might run to $350 a year. Mr. ~hipple has suggested that they revise t heir rules and call the rental a contribution toward the expense involved in the use of several facilities. ~he letter referred to various.concerts · ~o be held in January and he would like ~r School Committee ano/or the Selectmen to supp!~ the correct answers to ~is problems. ~his is a copy of the letter, the~ original having been sen~ to Charles ~?. Trombly, Chairman of the School Committee. Mr. Willis suggested t&ab nothing be done about this letter until they hear from' ~r. Trombly and the board members agreed to wait. WARRANT OPENED ~d to open the warrant at 9:35 P.M. on this day and it will be closed at eight o'clock on January 2h~ 1954. JANUARY 3, 1955- continued TOWN Atty. John A. ~{cNtff me~ with the board to discuss the ~own repor~ and the 'posmibility of the Tsxpayers Association taking over the compilation of same. hT. ~cNiff said he had no personal thoughts' as to howit might be changed but suggested having picu~res of the High School and each depar=men~ could furnish some kind of a picture, like the police cruisers or the fire truck. He said that in some places the Association has undertaken proJec=s of this kind. Mr. Fimoeran inquired if this could be done legally or if it should remain in the departments. A~l agreed that it was rather late to do anything this year but that it w~o~ld be a good idea to have a picture of the' new high school on theou~side cover and some mention of the Centennial Year. Mr. McNiff agreed to look over this years report thoroughly and have some suggestions for the next town report. TOWN H~S TORY: Mrs. Carolynn 2~cQues~en me~ with the board to discuss the progress made on the towu history. Mr. Kirk felt tha~ this should not be executive' session since it was Just a progress report. ~1~e board would like to know how near completion the history is. Mrs. McQues~en said she is no~ through but she is satisfied with the progress she has made and Mr. Buchanan ~harles is also satisfied. He edits her work. She said she was a~ least ~wo thirds through and had hoped ~o be through in December but it was impossible. She doesn't think she has cheated the ~o~n in any way and she hopes ~o have it completed in time. Mr. Willis inq~:ired if she would reimburse the ~o~n if the history is nbt completed in time for printing for the Centennial celebration. He reviewed the past nine mop,tbs. He had insisted that the work be in~ the Selectmen,s hands by July l, 19%4 and he said he would refuse ~o sigm the voucher for Mrs. ~cQuesten,s pay. He was laid up for four or five months and unable ~o do anything but he felt that this matter had been carried on in such a manner tha~ it is very ~nsatisfac~ory to him. Mr. Willis said the board asked for ~ completion date at least three times and she couldn,t give it ~o them. He asked ~na~ the result would be ~hen the Centennial comes and it isn't completed. He asked her if s~e felt tha~ she took the money under false premenses. There has been $4,000 spent and the board has not seen one completed chapter. ~rs. McQuesten said that there had been a final draft on ~wo chapters and the board members had looked it over. It was final and then ~r. Charles looked it over and changed certain par~s. She said she has an outline of the complete book ~and that there are ten chapters but she can't tell how many pages in the hobk. She said she had worked hard and had tried to do her best but it was physically ~impossible to do more than she is doing. Mm. Willis again asked what the ~electmen would say to the townspeople when 'it i~~ Centennial time and the history is not complete.' Ne mentioned that th~ board had asked if she needed assistance and the board would have been willing to ge~ some help. He said everything is so nebulous and Mrs. NcQues~en asked what he meant or what nebulous mean~. He explained that it mean~ "in the air" or "cloudy,,. Mr. Willis said ~this was the mos~ slipshod thing that has happened since he has 'been on the board. He asked why she took the work i~ she couldn't do it. IE she were under . conl~ract, she~would have had it completed and that is where the mistakewas made in the beginning. Over $4,000 has been spent and he said he would ask her again, ',What answer do we give ~o the people if this history is not completed~,, The Centennial chairman has asked about it and the board doesn't ~noW. He told Mrs. McQuesten tha~ she just doesn't want ~o coopera~e. Mr. Flnneran asked her ~o give them a completion date but she said she could do it and that the board has had the benefit of her training in this type of work. ~He felt the~ she should set a goal and he suggested that perhaps by the end of January would be sufficient time. Mrs. McQues~en wen~~ on ~o say that it has been difficult getting records from 1646 through 1§55 but after that.the records are easy ~o get into. Mr. ~illis then asked about 2/3 of the history being completed prior ~o 1853 and only 1/3 to the time we became North Andover. He wanted tom know if he made sense asking about this as a business proposition. hts. McQues~en said he did no~ make sense. She said there are many parts of the that many people know nomhing about.SHe told the board long ago that if theywere not satisfied that she would do the work for nothing. Nr. Willis said he.made the sta~emen~ that ~nere was an implied contrac~ and all the board members are unanimous tha~ this is for the~Ablic interest. Mr. Kirk then said he agreed that we must have a completion date and that she should try to give us some definite answer. .~.~rs. McQuesten said that she simply couldn't give a completion date ~ut that she hoped ~o have it done as soon as possible. ~.$r. Finneran then informed Mrs. McQuesten that she mus~ realize tham this history must be completed for the Centennial. Mr. ~illis asked if she wo~ld work from how until the work is completed and the board :rill hold her salary in escrow and then pay a lump sum when it is completed. Ne said it would be v~-ry embarrassing to the Selectmen and he would feel it dishonest ~o continue ~o pay Nrs. McQues~en unless' you give us a date of completion. 85 JANUARY 3, 1955-continued TOWN HISTORY: Mrs. McQuesten saidshe was'willing,to give a' contribution of service and that the to~n was getting the benefit of the material she had years ago. She said as far as she was concerned, if the board wanted to stop her pay she will continue on with her ~or~ without pay. She wants to do the best she can and that is all she ban do. Mr. Kirk made a motion that the board set a completion date o& set February 51, 1955 as the date and that they would expect an answer from Mrs. McQuesten at that time. He said this was a very drastic~ac,tion they had.to take but they had a d~ty to perform. .... ' Mr~ Finneran seconded the~ motiox~'and Mr~ Willis said he would'make itJunaAimous if an' amendment was-' accepted as' follow~ :' that the 'weekly reimb~s~m~nt ~pai~ to · ~ Mrs'. McQuesteh be held in abeyance until the wore is c0mpl~ted and that the money then be paid in a lump sum. Mr. Finneran said he would not agree to the amendment.. Mr. Ktr~ stated,that'he is determined that the historY shall be Published and if Mrs. McQuesten has not co~pletad the work then the board will take the material and have it published .by someone else. ~he board would then take' over the completion of the project. Mr. Willis didn,t feel that the board should enter into the new year by paying this ~eekly amount .and he would not vote on the motion unless it con~ains his amendment ~ , · Mr. ~illis then' stated that a motion was made and seconded that the Board Set February 21, 1955 as the completion date of the .to~n histo.ry with the understanding that if it is not com~leted,'the Selectmen would take ov~r the material ~and have it completed and published by someone else with Mr.. ~llis opposed .to the motion. ' ' POLICE DEPAR~T: e nt, eret~. Woo~ouse ~and~Jo~ ~anni appeared fore'the olice de' Department to discuss the ma~er of sick leave accumulating: Mr. Daw informed the board tha~ in 1941 the engineers made a pish whereby they would fire a man for the first ~o ~eeks of sick leave and pay him and .the second ~o weeks the men would double up for him. In 1949 they i'did ,~away with thi~ plan although the order of 19~1 has never'bee~ rescinded. Mr; Le,~s~,prasented a plan 'whereby eick':leav~ for~a erlo~ o~ 1 · grante~annuall~r to ull t~m~ ~ .... . p 5 days sha~ be ~ - f .......... s ox- the aepar~ment anti-shall ac , · · no~more than ninety da s with a : ~ . ~c~mul.ate to .~ · , .. Y medical repor~ to be re uirea at ~. ~.~3.astmfy the period of time 'off with ~av, r+. ~,~ ~:,- .-q .... · any~ ti~e to est of them allow up ~o ninety days. . . P, days, but Mr. Willis informed ~em that it' WOuld mean increasing their'budget to prdvlde for 15 days for each man but he did not wish to make a formal statement om the matter. Ail the board can do is endorse' the plan or not endows-it and then they would get~it o~ their e~n. He suggested :two~ p~oc~dUre~~ the fi~§t would be that Chief McKee would, set up a specific~budget item for sick leaves. When this em,~omes bef..ore_ ~tHe,.Sele?t.men they ~ then eithe~r approve disa v ~hte z~em come me,'ore the Ac ~v *~,~*,.a ~ +~ ~ ' , ppro e or 'let vzs__~ ...... ~nou~ any comment.. ~he Fire ~hief would follow the same procedure and if the Advisory Board did not approve this', then representatives of the 'various departments would hav~ the right~ to discuss~ this at the Annual Town Meeting before the budgets s~e adoptedj Mr..Willis' the4 informed them that they could insert an article in the to~n warrant. ~y meeting of the Board of Selectmen was held at 7.~30 P.M. with all members present. Weekly bills and payrolls were approved. REQUEST FOR STREET LIGHTS~ ~$~p:~an~ refer to, the Lawrence Electric ~ompany,. the request~s for street lights on Pole ~9-12~Ma~bleridge Road, by George Healey and on Parker. Street at Bradstreet Rd by Mrs. Barry and on Beacon Hill ~lvd. at the Mass. end by Mrs. Gtard, Mr. Paste~hak and Mrl Peterof~ for a recommendation from Mr. Frost. ACCIDENT REPORT~ A copy of an accident report was received from the High#ay Dept. George 4ams injured his back ~hile spreading gravel as the truck wheels struck .the shovel in his hand and it struck him in the,buck as he was knocked to the ground. No action required. REVOLVER PERMIT.. The Board unanimously approved the application of John F. Sullivan, 173 Pieasa~ Street for a license to carry a revolver for protection and hunting. Mr. Sullivan carries large sums of money in conducting his father,s business.