Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout1955-02-28FEBRUARY 28, 1955: The regular weakly meeting of the Bo~rd of Selectmen w~s held at 7:30 P.N. with all members present. ~eeklybills and payrolls wore approved. N.E.T.& T. CO.-LAWRENCE ELECTRIC CO: A Hearing was held on the petition of these two companies for permission to locate poles, wires, cables and fixtures on Osgood Street, southwesterly from a point approx.. 8~3 feet southwest of Haverhill -No.Andover line, 5 poles and on Osgood Street, 2535 feet southwest of Haverhill-No.Andover line, 1 pole and (remove 1 pole). John Roche, an abutter, came mo the me,ting and his only concern wAs whether or no~ one light was to be removed. If so, he didn't feel that any light should be removed from this area and there is little enough light flow. Mr~ ~Vlanagan, representative of the telephone company informed the board and others present that they plan ~o eliminate one pole, but no light will be removed. The Board voted unanimously to grant permission ~o these ~wo companies to go along with this work. }~YRONLE~IS- POLICE OFFICER: Police Officer Myron Lewis came before the board at their reques~ and ChalrmanWillis informed him that the board had called him in so that they might make some'official recognition f6r his past services in the police department.. Mr. Willis stated that this is hi~ last official act as he is not planning to be a member of this board. He recalled that Officer Lewis and Mr. ~[illis had spent considerable time together in the police department and although they differe~ on some occasions they enj6yed work- lng in this department. ~r. Willis stated that this board could n~t allow him to retire after thirty years of service without some recognition and stated thatit was a distinct honor for him, as chairman of the Boar4 of'Selectmen, to pre~ent this Resolve to Nyron Lewis~ Police Officer extraordinary. Mr. Willis preceded to read the resolve and then handed it to Nr. Lewis. Officer Lewis acceoted the resolve and felt it was a great honor and thanked' the members of the board but was unable to express his feelings further. E~eryone present wished Mr. Lewis the very best of luck in his retirement. TOWN HISTORY~ Mrs. Carolynn McQuesten came before the board at their request with respect'to the completion of'the town history. ChairmafiWillis talked ~o her directly and informed her that a month or so ago, a majority of the'board members voted that you were to appear before this board on,February 21, with the completed historyor'the board would give it to someone else for completion. ~he meeting of February 21 was postponed until' tonight and you~re so notified. Mr. Willis stated that he hsd nothing f~rther to say as his S~and was made clear at the last meeting'with Mrs. McQuesten. Mr. Kirk stated that in his opinion the tov~ historyshould be ready at this time so that the board may have t~me to have it printed and bound. Mr. McQuesten informed the board that she wo~ld be~,able to tell them in' three weeks what the outcome'would be and went on to explain tna~ you wrtte something~ in the history and then find there is something more ~o be'added and all'this takes time. Mr. Kirk said that his particular concern is that the'Selectmen are in a seat'squirm- ingposition and they wan~ this history ~o be ready and in the hands of theater, s- :: people before the Centennial date if possible. Mrs. McQuesten proceeded to explain to the board that she has had many letters and calls from people who have written histories and you Just can't rush ~ thing like this. She has done s13 she can and she has had people read the history. About l~ chapters are completed and she is still working on the last 100 years~ and she hopes to include all of it in her history. Mr. Willis inquired of Mrs. McQuesten if she did not believe that it was the intent and purpose of this proJecm to have it complete and ready for the Centennial Cele- bretion and she again stated that many people Who have written histories have had to take extra time to complete them. It is something that cannot be rushed. Mr. Willis inquired if she woulddeliver the 15 chapters ~o the Selectmen t6 read and she replied that she would have ~o thinks bout t.his. She said that Member Finneran had been to h~r home ~nd looked over the fifteen chapters and John'Donovan, High school teacher had read the chapters over. Mr. Willis wanted to know why the Selectmen can,t see thes~ chapters if John Donovanwas allowed to see it. Mrs. McQuesten told the chairman that Mr. Donovanwas in a position to help her by reading this over but Mr. Willis could not as he was young and did not have enough experience. Mr. Finneran inquired of Mrs. McQues~en if she c~tldn't get help to work on this history ~o rush the completion but she has t~ied to figure out ho~ she could use help but'this .is s very complicated thing and you have to be sure that you have the right kind $f help. She suggested that the finished chap~ere be sent ~o the printer and get it star~ed but Mr. Kirk did not go along with this as he felt that the bbard should know Just ho~ many pages therefore to be. Mrs. McQGesten sta~ed again that she will know at the end of three or four weeks when she will be able ~o ,finish the work. She mentioned that she could use some h&lp in checking something at the Archives in Boston and that would save time, FEBRUARY 28, 1955: continued Mr. Kirk askc~ if she hsd any material ready for typing and she answered that all the typing is caught up. ~{r. ~i 'ikis~went on to say that over a month ago, two members of this board voted to set the completion date as February 21, 1955 and that if it is not completed at this time, the Selectmen would ta~e over the material and have it completed by someone else. He stated that he did not vote on this motion and his StAnd was the same now as it was at that time. He still feels that the people in the town are entitled to see something for the money that has been spent on this Mr. Willis stated that $5,447 has been spent on this project and $4170 has~been paid to Mrs. McQuesten since April 1952. He felt that she should present the board with something so that the tmvnspeople may know ¥:ho~ this money has been e~pended and for what purpose. He wanted ~o know how the other members felt and if they were willing~o go Along with the position they took in January last~ and if so what action they wanted to take at this time. He again stated that his position has not changed and he preceded to read the minutes of January 3~ 1955 at which time he would have gone along with the motion of the other ~wo members if an amendment were added, - "that weekly reimbursement paid t$ Mrs. McQues~en be held in abe.vance until the work is completed and that the money then be paid in a lump sum." Mrs. McQuesten told Mr. ~illis not to bl~me these two ',boys,, for everything that back in April 1954 he had said some pretty mean things and that she had been so upset that wee~s of'her work were spoiled and she bls~ed this on Mr. Willis's attitude and comments. Mr. Kirk. stated again that his only interest is ~that the ~o~n history should"be re~dy for Centennial Celebration in June and he has not changed his position~ with respect to the vote made in January. Mr. Finneran went along with this but felt that there must be some way th~t~Mrs. McQues~en could obtain help and rush this' project along. Mrs. McQuesten said she did not ~,'~ant to spend any more time here 'and started"to leave. She said she had given everything'she possibly could towards this proJec~ and it is something you can't rush along but she ~cou!d not .give any definite"date for completion. Mr. Kirk asked if the Selectmen could have the finished manuscript and Mrs. McQuesten replied in the negative. Mr. Willis went on to inform her of the motion made-by the two members and he inquired if they wished to lchange their position and both ~. Kirk and Mr. Finneran'stated that they were of the same opinion now as they ~ere on January 3, 1955, which'was jby majority vote of the board that the board set Februarz.~ 21, 1955 as the completion date of the teen history with the understanding that if it is not completed,~,the the Selectmen would take over the material, and have it completed and published by someone else. Mr.' Willis was opposed to this motion. He'further informed M~s. McQues~en that the motion is that she deliver the ma~eriat to this board, since the work has n6t been completed. Hrs. McQuesten again informed the board that she could not stay here' any lo&ger and she left the &eeting. No definite vote was taken by the board with reference ~o Mrs. McQues~en bein~ dismissed although both Mr. Finneran and ~. Kirk re-affirmed their position taken on janus?y 3, 1955. DUST CO~ITION: Robert Surette cam~before the B6ard to again complain about the dust condition at western E~ectrie plant site on Osgocd Street. He wanted to know what, if anything, had been done to correct this condition. Re. stated that he has storm wind~vs on which ire wind tight but the dust gets in Just the 'sams. The tools in his'~arage are c6vered with this dust and he is.particularly worried abont the health' of'his seven children. The Board voted to send e letter to the Western Ele6tric Company in New Yor~~ and also a letter'to the Board of Health suggesting that they also send a letter to this company to see if this situation can be cleared up. - Mr. 'Willis explained that he had vrritten to ~r. Ault and later had 'called him to find out what had been done. Mr. Ault said our letter had been sent to the New York Office and also a·letter from one~ of the neighbors. Mr. Surette is planning to move from this area but He believes that something should be done as soon as possibl~ to help.clear this matter up. COMPLAINT: Mrs.. Mildred ~ickory, 476 Great Pond Road called to c6mplain about a trench in front of Brooks Potter property which is one foot deep and ten to fifteen'~oet long and it is right in fron~ of the mail box. ~he Board voted unanimously to refer this matter to Mr. Carty and suggest that he do what he can to remedy this situation. PLANNING BOARD APPR0~AL: J Notice of epprocal received on the .petition 6f Paul Derosiers of 55 Mass. Ave.. zo change this 'location from General Residential to Business .and ~approval was given on February 21, 1955. F~RUARI~8, 1955-continued DEPT OF 6OPJ~OgATIONS & TAXA'lYON% Re-Police Department A letter was received from Herman B. Dine, Director of Accounts requesting undnr what authority the Board of Selectmen are granting this vacation pay, before ne can give his opinion on ~he matter. A letter wa~ sent back ~o ~r. Dine explaining that the Board acted under Ghapger 41, Section 97 of the G.L. which is the sec- tion under which our police departmen~ was established and is o~eratcd. The letter stated that this board foels that they have the authority under this section of the Statute since it spells our "The Selectmen may make suitable regulations governing the police department and the officers thereof. Mr. Willis had previously talked with Mr. Dine by telephone and he said a reply should come to the board v~ithin a very short time. DEPARtmENT OF PUBLIC'UTILITIES A letter and copy of an order of the Department, D.P.U. 11112 relative ~o the petition of the Selectmen for a public hearing on the discontinuance of its agency and modification of its station facilities ag North Andover, B&N Railroad. It has been ORDERED: That the petition of the Selectmen of North Andover protesting the discontinuance of the agency and modification of its station facilities at North Andover by the B & N Railroad is DISKrSSED. No further action taken by board. DA~I~GE CLAI~,~: A claim in the amount of $8.20 was presented to the board for repairing damage go the aatomobile of Alfred Briguglio, 183 Mass. Ave. on Feb. 23, .195~ when his car went do~n into a bad hole caus~ing the left wheel go practically fall off. The Board voted unanimously go pay this claim upon submission of a general release signed by Briguglio. STREET LIGHT REQUEST: Mr. Kirk made a requesg for a street light at the home of Mrs. West, Oak Ave. where it is very dark. There is only one light at the corner of Andover Street and Oak Ave. The Board voted to refer this matter ~o Mr. Frost for a sruvey and recommendation. COL~LAINT-RE: IkS'ESTIGATION OF FIRE: '~5-. Willis informed the board that he had received a complaint from Louis McAloon stating that he wa~ not satisfied with the investigation made last week when he had a fire in his barn. The' Fire Chief and State Fire Marshall made a complete investigation but Mr. }~cAloon felt that the police should check this matter and see if they can determine how the fire sgarted or who started it. T~e Board toted ~o refer this to the Police Department for investigation and ask that a report be sent to this board by noxt :londay evening. !&tRCH 3, 1955: At a special meeting the Board of Selectmen appointed Mrs. Rite ~{arkey) 38 Union S'treeg as Deputy Clerk in Precinct Three to fill the vacancy creaged by the illness of ~rs. Elizabeth Trombly. A notice wil~. be s cng to Mrs. ;?eeks, warden. ~hls was a majority vote of .Yr. ?~illis and Mr. Kirk with }~r. Fi~meran not voting. MARCH 7, 19%5, The regular meeting of the Board of Selectmen was held at 8:00 P.M. and payrolls were approved. ~e~ybi~s APPLICATION FOR REVOLVER PERMIT: The Board voted unanimously to approve an application for a license to carry a revolver by Alexander L. Taylor, Jr. 11 Richardson Ave. for protection and target practice. COMPLAINT: Mr. Rufus Lambert and Martin Lawlor met with the board to discuss the matter of ' a henhouse which a Mr. Louis Slrois had moved to within 10 feet of Mr. Lambert's land. He has not obtained a permit to do this and Mr. Lambert stated that if he builds a house he would have to go go the Board of Appeals for a variance. Mr. Sirois informed Nr. Lambert that he will remove the henhouse when he builds his house, Mr. Lawlor stated that if this is an accessory buildtng~ he can move it but only if he is planning to remove it at a later date~ but he should have a permit for moving it. The board voted unanimously to send a letter to Mr. Sirois advising him that he is in violation of the Zoning laws and that he should report to Mr. Lawlor at the earliest possible time.