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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1984-07-09 Board of Selectmen Minutes - --- The Board of Selectmen held their regular meeting on this date with all members present except Chairman John W. Graham. Present were Christine M. Smith, Francis X. Dugan, Kenneth C. Crouch with Charles A. Salisbury, Acting Chairman. The minutes and warrant were approved. BOARD oF REGISTRARS The Board met with members of the Registrars to discuss Town Meeting procedures. Selectman Smith advised them that she had received some complaints that late comers to the Town Meeting could not be checked in because no one was at.the tables. Bill Lafond stated that the ch .eckers are friends and relatives who offer to help them and are not paid. When the big rush is over, . they go into Town Meeting themselves. Town Clerk stated that there were no stickers handed out last year but from now on stickers will be handed out to eligible voters. It was brought up that people could enter by the sidedoors and tl3at police should be hired to stand at those entrances. Id:conh-lusion, the Registrars stated they would submit a budget that includes pay- ment for the checkers at the Town Meetings.. Town Clerk was asked the procedure he took when complaints were filed. He stated that he sent copies to the Town Counsel. He gets · one:complaint about every two months., He was asked why a copy wasn,t sent to the Board of Appeals. He replied that they get certified copies from the complainant. It was unanimously voted to send a copy of the letter received from the Board of Appeals on the last complaint to the Town Clerk. It was also voted3-1 ..... Dugan against motion..to have Town Clerk send copies to the Selectmen when any.appeal s filed. SEALER OF WEIGHTS S MEASURES:: Ernest J. Roberts, Jr. met with the Board and 9ave them a capsule account of his during the yearv Selectman Smith told him that he had a very 9ood reputation with' the ' townspeople. Roberts said that the State requires a log of all businesses, that:.they must be checked once a year. Gasoline pumps are very rarely off~ that th'ay are checked'with a lead seal. He puts'in,about 25 houri a month, mostly on Saturdays. He also checks all shipping and receiving docks. .... PERSONNEL BOARD APPOINTMENTS: Upon recommendation of the Personnel Board Chairman, Ruth lannazzo, the Board app~ir~ted ~, the fo lowing persons to serve on the Board: W~liam V. Dolan, Fire Chief, Employee..Repre- sentative...No,man Belanger (3 yr. term) Bruce Butterfield (2 yr. term) and Nancy.Stevenson, (I yr. term) It was voted to check with Town Counsel to determine if Stevenson could continue to serve as Secretary to'the Personnel Board and stEI serve as-a:memb*e~.~. Dolan~s,ter~' t-~' also a'3 yr';, term. - SPECIAL LEGAL COUNSEL: '-',~:' *',' The Board discussed the appointment of Special Legal Counsel in the case of Ralph;and Mauree~ Joyce vs. the Board of 'Appeals. Letter from the Chairman of the Board of Appeals requested that Attorney Joseph Bo.ulanger be appointed. It was commented that an Attorney..not'llving in Town or connected with it in anyway would be more appropriate. The Board .~.n. ar~m0usly:. appointed the law firm of Lenord Koeplman F, Paige, 77 Franklin Street, Boston, ;vi~: .. BROWN COURT STREET LIGHT: "- '~ Letter from Police Chief stated that Brown Ct. was indeed dark and could use a street light. 'but the drawback was that it was Private Street. He stated at the meeting that Mr?McPhee could p{Jrchase a large light from Sears g Roebuck and place it at the proper place'on.the street which would give them the needed light. A letter will be sent to Im statmg.~the Town does not install street lights on Private Ways and to forward the ~hief~s suggestion; STOP SIGNS ' ~ Requests received for the installation of Stop signs at the intersection of Elm and Main Streets, intersection of Green and Main Streets, intersection of Dana and Marblehead Streets and the intersection of Winter and So. Bradford Streets. It was unanimously voted to send letter to Sherman Eidleman, District Highway Engineer, for approval of these installations... DOG OFFICER - JOB DESCRIPTION, POLICIES ~ PROCEDURES: The Board discussed with the Do9 Officer a proposed job description, policies a'nd. procedures he should 90 by. This policy was drawn up by Selectman Francis Dugan. T~ie~}permanent, part-time job entailed 6 days of service with Sundays off with the Police Dept, taking of any emergency calls on Sunday. Chief Sullivan stated that they were very short*of :' personnel now and didn,t want to incur any more special duties. The Dog Officer protested the 6 day duty, stating that was 96 hours a week, and if another job came up he wouldn,t be able to take it. Selectman Dugan stated that he had gone to the Police Dept. and counted the number of dog calls made in one month and they totalled 2~ calls which certainly didn,t add up to ~6 hours. Selectman Dugan added that if Northam wished to 9et a full time job he was perfectly free to 9ire up the Do9 Officer job, that there were many able retired persons who could d~ the job. Northam then said tho job description should be referred to Town Counsel for legality of the description. It was voted to adopt the job.* description and policies as presented with a review period of 90 days at which time the Police Chief, Dog Officer'and ~txecutive Secretary would meet for discussion. Vote 3-1 Selectman Smith abstaining. was also voted to refer the policy to Town Counsel for legality. 3-1 vote, Smith abstaining. ~Se. lectman Francis.Dugan was thanked for the excellent job he did drawin9 up the policy. ~(continued) DOG OFFICER GUN PURCHASE: 543 Gene Northam, Dog Officer, requested approval of a $300. bill he had incurred to purchase a gun he needed in his work. He said that now and tl~en he had to go into the woods for a wild dog and when a dog was injured beyond help, he would use the gun to destroy the dog. He also told the Board that he presently has a tranquilizer gun that could kill a dog or a human being for that matter if the dose was strong enough. After further discussion the Board voted approval of payment of the bill after the gun comes in with the stipulation that the gun would remain in the Police Dept. and only taken out by the Dog Officer when needed. COMPLAINT - TURNPIKE STREET: Letter received from Helen M. Kellner, 920 Turnpike Street, complained about the storage around the McGregor Fence Company..she said it looked like a "junk" yard. She also complained about the "pyramid" located across from McLay's Florist which She s.uggested should be enclosed by a fence. It was voted to refer the McGrege-~ence complaint to the Building Inspector and the pyramid complaint to the Public Works department. WEDDING - OLD COMMON: Fetter received from Dia~'e Arlequeeuw, 168 Howard Street, Lawrence, MA requesting permission to use the Old Common for a small wedding (hers) on September 16, 1984. She assured the Board she would leave the common in the same condition she found it. The Board voted to refer the request to Joseph Borgesi, Public Works Supt. and to request that she meet ~Vith the Board at their next meeting, July 23, 1984. SWENSON~COMPLAINT: Letter received from Chief Sullivan re the parking complaint of David Swenson, 21 MoOdy Street. He?reported that the O'Hearns parking that Swenson was complaining about was perfectly legal that: they had every right to park in front of their l~ome.rwhen.-there'wa§'no pa rkinglban.- So far, they have not caught the O'Hearns breaking any laws. Chief Sullivan en'close~'a "l~g" ' of all the incidents called in by Swenson and stated that they had given him as much attention a's it is possible to give anyone. The Board voted to send Swenson a copy of the Chief's letter. PETITION -WINTER & SO. BRADFORD STREET RESIDENTS: Letter received from several residents of Winter and So. Bradford Street containing ,pe~itio. n for~'Stt'eet signs, sidewalks and street drainage. They also requested speed'signs to be posted. They cited that they feared for their children's safety because of the increased traffic of cars, trucks, motorcycles and construction equipment: Because of lack of sidewaiks and drainage the children had to walk in the road and the roads became very icy causing skidding, etc. The Board voted to sand letter to the Highway Surveyor to install street signs, and to meet with John Bohenko to discuss the problem of the sidewalks and drainage. Request for Stop sig.n~ will 9° 't0~ Sherman Eidleman and the police dep--.rtment will make a spot check of the traffic and the speed of the vehicles. OI~D coMMON PARKING: It was voted unanimously to take the needed land for parking by eminent domain. SPECIAL,NEEDS CASE: Itwas voted unanimously to have Town Counsel take the necessary steps to have the Town of North~Andover reimbursed for The legal fees incurred in the Special Needs Case with Wakefield Which,North Andover won. 4th:~.o.~JulY Celebration: It ~S'~'oted unanimously to send a letter of thanks and appreciation to the Scot Pipe Band & Dar~cer group who performed on the 4th.' A letter of appreciation will also go to Frank Dushame and.his Committee for a job well done. LICENSING COMMISSIONERS: Application received from Nancy Breen and Marybeth Cosgrove d/b/a Top Of The Scales, 4 Johnson Street, for a Wine and Malt license to be drunk on the premises. Hearing set for July 23, 1984, at 7:30 p.m. Application will be advertised, abutters notified, letters sent to the Fire Chief, Police Chief, Building Inspector and Board of Health requesting their recommen- dations on the application.