USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Wilmington > Town of Wilmington Annual Report 1951 > Part 1
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WILMINGTON MEMORIAL LIBRARY
3 2136 00281 5516
For Reference Not to be taken from this room
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ANNUAL REPORT. of the TOWN OF WILMINGTON For the Financial Year Ending December 31 1951
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
Messages from Town Manager 1
Directory of Officials . . 4
In Memoriam
7
Highlights of the past year
8
Recommendations for the future
9
The Citizen's part in go vemment. 10
Board of Selectmen
11
Town Clerk
12
Town Treasurer 13
Board of Assessors 14
Town
Collector
.
17
Town Counsel .
19
Public Library .
22
Police Department
24
Fire Department .
27
High ways 29
Water Commissioners 32
Tree Warden .
36
Sealer of weights and measures
37
Board of Health
38
Inspector of Slaughtering
41
Public Health Nurse .
42
Inspector of Animals
43
Middlesex County Extension Service 44
Building Inspector . 46
Veterans Agent 47
Board of Public Welfare 49
Planning Board and Park Commissioners 50
Cemetery Commissioners 52
Housing Authority 53
Jury List . 56
State Audit 57
Town Accountant 61
School Committee .
77
Warrant for Annual Town Meeting
107
DIRECTORY OF OFFICIALS Officers and Department Heads
telephone*
Accountant
.Robert H. Peters
.2526
Animal Inspector
Ralph B. Odiorne
3524
Building Inspector .Ernest B. Rice Sr. 2947
Cemetery Superintendent
Ernest W. Eames
3639
Clerk
Mary E. Gilligan
3014
Collector
.Miriam H. Ware
3014
Harry J. Ainsworth
3468
Constable
.Philip B. Buzzell
2026
Counsel
Dog Officer
.Leo E. LeBlanc
.3374
Dump Custodian
.David Brabant
2863
Extension Service Director
.. John R. Evans
3474
Fire Chief
.Arthur J. Boudreau.
$
fire
421
Forest Fire Warden?
Health Agent
.Dr. Gerald A. Fagin
.. 3444
Highway Superintendent
... James H. White
.3481
Librarian
.Esther Hall
Moderator, Town
. David I. Elfman
3520
Esther Nichols, R.N.
3744
Nurse, Town
.Ann E. Butters, R.N.
2211
Police Chief
Paul J. Lynch
3331
School Superintendent
Clifford J. Good
2052
Sealer Weights and Meas.
.Samuel Pike
Slaughtering Inspector Herbert Thrush 2264
Treasurer .Grace Tilley .3081
Tree Warden .John William Babine 3321
Veterans' Agent
.Frederick Horton
2994
Water Superintendent
Edmund H. Sargent
3711
Welfare Agent
.. Walter G. Buckle
2211
*telephone numbers are shown as to be changed March 4, 1952.
Boards and Commissions
Appeal, Board of
3126
Winston S. Chamberlin Carl Heldman, Sec'y Joseph A. Maynard Howard Woolaver, Chmn.
Assessors, Board of
3081
Louis T. Doucette Olive M. Sheldon Frank F. Walters, Principal Assessor
Carter Lecture Fund Com.
3677
Alice M. Allen
Anna R. Barry Helen Hayward Mildred E. Neilson Guy E. Nichols, Chmn.
Cemetery Commissioners
3744
William S. Cavanaugh
Guy E. Nichols, Chmn.
Finance Committee
.. 3496
Minot J. Anderson
Herbert C. Barrows, Chmn.
William P. Curtin, Sec'y
Alden S. Eames
Frank J. Hadley
John G. Hayward
Alvin W. Richardson
Hobart W. Spring
Frank P. Stevens
Health, Board of
2211
Charles A. Baldwin
Gaius E. Harmon, M.D., Chmn.
Ralph B. Odiorne
Housing Authority .3323
William A. Anderson E. Hayward Bliss Ralph R. Currier, Sec'y Joseph M. Grimes, Chmn. Joseph F. McManus
Library Trustees
.3817
Frankline E. Allen, Sec'y Philip B. Buzzell, Chmn. Mervin J. Curl Alona S. Delaney May Hadley
Planning Board 3839
Edward C. Manning, Chmn. Norman W: Perry John A. Ritchie Elmer H. Woller, Sec'y
5
4
) other 3346
Manager
.Dean C. Cushing
3311
Nurse, School
Registrars, Board of .. 3014
William I. Coffin F. Talbot Emery Mary E. Gilligan, ex officio Joseph P. Ring
School Committee
2052
Closson K. Blaisdell, Chmn. Ernest M. Crispo Eleanor F. Grimes, Sec'y John F. Hartnett Arthur V. Lynch John J. Nitchie
Selectmen, Board of
.3081
Charles H. Black Henry James Lawler Kenneth M. Lyons, Chmn.
Frederic P. Melzar Joseph H. Woods
Trustees of Trust Funds
2026
Philip B. Buzzell, Chmn. Caleb S. Harriman Edward M. Neilson
Water Commissioners
3711
Alden N. Eames Caleb S. Harriman, Chmn. William M. Shaughnessey
Welfare, Board of
2211
Florence Balkus Maurice D. O'Neil Andres P .. Ring
BILLERICA
WILMINGTON
IN MEMORIAM
1893
JAMES J. GILLIGAN 1951
Board of Registrars 1932 - 1945 Selectman 1945 - 1948
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE PAST YEAR:
. .. adoption of the selectmen-manager plan and the appoint- ment of Dean C. Cushing as Wilmington's first manager on April 16th.
construction of private dwellings and industrial plants . reached an all time high.
. .. inducement of diversified industry brought the J. W. Greer Co. from Cambridge and Raffi and Swanson from Chelsea.
... all administrative offices of the town were relocated to the renovated town hall for convenience to the public and con- trol of the operations,
-
. . . park and cemetery department were combined for closer coordination and efficiency.
. . . by vote of the regular town meeting a new police cruiser, a tree department truck and winch and mist blower were purchased to partially solve our equipment needs.
. .. uniforms were purchased for the police department.
. . . undeveloped tracts of land were rezoned for industrial purposes.
. . . state legislature approved funds for the reclamation of swamp lands and mosquito control in the town.
. .. old and dormant tax title property was foreclosed and steered through the courts - some as far back as 1928.
. .. ended the year with. a larger percentage of taxes collected, plus a bigger excess and deficiency account which is avail- able for capital expenditures in 1952.
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE FUTURE
.
. continue to strengthen our financial structure through more militant collection of taxes and water bills, the clearing of our unusually large tax title accounts and the adoption of newer methods of operation in all departments to reduce unit costs.
. continue our policy of inducing first class diversified in- dustry to locate and build in the town.
. . . with an improved financial condition and industrial con- struction, the town can begin its major capital improve- ment needs: a combined police-fire station for greater efficiency, safety and economy ; an elementary school or con- tinued construction of the units of the junior-senior high school; the addition of adequate snow-fighting equipment and road machinery as well as other major equipment items in the several departments.
. . establishment of a public works department to coordinate these activities and eliminate duplication of work.
. . centralization of all equipment repairs and maintenance to reduce costs.
. . establishment of complete by-laws and health regulations and their objective, careful and fair enforcement.
tightening of the requirements of subdivisions to eliminate the burden of water main extension, road surfacing and drainage construction costs on the general property tax.
rezoning of the entire town to fit present day economic conditions.
FRONT ELEVATION OF PROPOSED NEW QUARTERS FOR THE FIRE & POLICE DEPARTMENTS IN THE TOWN OF WIL MINGTON
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(
8
BOARD OF SELECTMEN
An Inspiration
THE CITIZEN'S PART IN GOVERNMENT
"We ought to regard the interests of the state as of far greater moment than all else; in order that they may be administered well; and we ought not to engage in eager rivalry in despite of equity, nor arrogate to ourselves any power contrary to the common welfare. For a state well administrated is our greatest safe- guard. In this all is summed up: When the state is in a healthy condition all things prosper ; when it is corrupt, all this go to ruin." Democritus, about 420 B.C.
-
The Board of Selectmen is the governing body of the town. Its five members, all of whom are elected at large, adopt town ordinances, act as the town's licensing board, establish town pol- icy and see that the town manager, who is their appointee, con- ducts the affairs of the town in the best interests of the citizens.
The selectmen meet regularly at 8:00 PM each Monday night during the winter and every other Monday night during the summer. Special meetings are called by the chairman for the consideration of urgent business.
Under the new charter the selectmen appointed Harry R. Deming as temporary town manager until the appointment of Dean C. Cushing on April 16th. The board of selectmen must approve or disapprove any transfers of funds requested by the town manager in the reorganization of the departments or func- tions of town government. This was done on two occasions in 1951, once to ease the accounting problems in the Tree and Moth Departments caused by the separate appropriations for these similar activities and again near the end of the year in com- bining the Cemetery and Park Departments.
The board also held public hearings on various licenses and applications for construction on public ways.
The board of selectmen, acting as a board of survey must lay out all streets prior to their acceptance at the regular town meeting. In addition these lay-outs, signed by the selectmen, must be filed with the town clerk and also posted for the public.
Probably the most important single action of the board in 1951 was the policy taken toward inviting qualified business to locate in Wilmington.
11
TOWN CLERK
Under the reorganization of the administrative offices of the town which located these functions at the town hall, the town clerk became a full time employee with additional duties as assistant town collector. Due to the increased amount of record keeping necessary to bring all files up to date, the town clerk will be relieved of these above mentioned additional duties with the advent of a new clerk in the town hall, if so voted at the 1952 regular town meeting.
At the time of the reorganization the town clerk's salary was increased from $1,300.00 to $2,500 but certain fees which for- merly went to the person holding the town clerk's position are now turned over to the town treasury and it is estimated that these fees will absorb nearly all the cost of the salary increase.
The functions of the town clerk's office include those which relate to the conduct of town meetings, the recording of vital · statistics, mortgages and conditional sales, the conduct of elec- tions, the collection of certain licenses and fees and the keeping of important documents.
-
VITAL STATISTICS
Births recorded in 1951 184
Marriages recorded in 1951 97
Deaths recorded in 1951 69
The Town Clerk will furnish to parents, householders and physicians and midwives applying therefor, blanks for return of births as required by law.
COMPILED RECORDS OF BIRTHS, MARRIAGES AND DEATHS
From 1730 to 1898
On hand January 1, 1951
78
Sold
1
On hand January 1, 1952 77
These records are on sale by a vote of the Selectmen at $1.00 each, Bookstores are allowed to purchase these copies at 60c each and may be ob- tained from the town clerk.
Number of Dogs Licensed 662
Kennel Licenses 17
Licenses-Fishing, Hunting, Sporting 383
12
TOWN TREASURER
savings
The treasurer is responsible for the custody and disburse- ment of all town funds, including general, water, bond and trust funds. In addition the tax titles held by the town are under the care of the treasurer who also holds low value land sales to put this land onto the tax rolls again by sale to private individuals or put them into the town's tax possessions. At the present time the town is selling no land to private individuals but is taking all land held in low value until the actual worth of this land can be determined by the town manager. The town is now buying sand, gravel and loam taken from land formerly held by the town on two separate occasions. In addition, past low value sales ended with large sections held by speculative buyers who got as much money as possible from quick sales and threw the remains back to the town by non-payment of taxes. This type of land is now being held until a satisfactory building tract comes about through the pooling of several small lots.
Cash in Treasury January 1, 1951
$308,998.75
Receipts Sundries
664,172.14
Receipts Collector
469,653.45
$1,442,824.34
Less Treasury Warrants
1,145,770.10
Cash in Treasury January 1, 1952
$297,054.24
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ACCOUNTANT
DIPLOMAT
DETECTIVE
SALESMAN
BLAWYER
TJUDGE
The tax assessor-collector's wardrobe.
After placing a valuation on all real estate and personal property including stock in trade, machinery and live stock, it is the duty of the assessors to compute the tax rate as set by the various appropriations voted in town meeting.
The new town charter requires that there shall be three as- sessors appointed by the town manager, one to be the principal assessor and a full-time employee. This represents a marked departure from the former procedure of electing assessors at the polls.
Due to the impossibility of completely and accurately listing and evaluating over 20,000 pieces of property in the town on a part time basis which had been the system previously, Frank F. Wal- ters, a former assistant attorney general, was appointed in the fall of 1951 as principal assessor to begin the long task of cor- recting our listings, straightening legal tangles and equalize assess- ments with the aid of the other two appointees, Louis T. Doucette, a member of the former board and Mrs. Olive M. Sheldon, clerk of the former board.
Plans for the future include a tax equalization survey based upon unit costs and the location and assessment of all property not now listed. Important though these items may seem, they can not possibly be started until 1953 due to the huge job that must be done before any unit tax system can be started.
Valuation of Taxable Property as of January 1, 1951
Real Estate Personal Property
$7,749,805.00 544,988.00
RECAPITULATION
Real Estate Tax
418,489.47 29,429.35
Poll Tax
Excise Tax (Estimated)
Total Appropriation
Middlesex County Pension Fund
State Audit
State Parks and Reservations
County Tax
Tuberculosis Hospital
Amount of Overlay
Gross Amount to be Raised
10,439.94 4,587.15 17,407.51 756,627.69
Total Estimated Receipts and Available Funds 304,228.87
Total Amount Levied on Polls and Property and committed to the Collector in 1951
452,398.82
Tax Rate per $1,000. for 1951 - $54.00
TABLE OF AGGREGATES FOR WILMINGTON OF POLLS, PROPERTY AND TAXES, AS ASSESSED January 1, 1951
Compiled from the figures entered in the Valuation List not including figures relating to Exempted Property or to the Motor Vehicle and Trailer Excise.
Number of Persons Assessed
Individuals All Others Total
On Personal Estate Only
17
18
35
On Real Estate Only
3159
37
3196
On Both Personal and Real Estate
109
9
118
Total number of Persons Assessed
3349
Total number of Polls Assessed
2240
Value of Assessed Personal Estate
Stock in Trade
$ 69,890.00
Machinery
45,165.00
Live Stock
50,953.00
All Other Tangible Personal Property
378,980.00
Total Assessed Value of Personal Estate
$ 544,988.00
Value of Assessed Real Estate
Land exclusive of buildings
$1,534,545.00
Buildings exclusive of Land 6,215,260.00
Total Value of Assessed Real Estate
7,749,805.00
Total Valuation of Assessed Estate
8,294,793.00
Taxes for State, County and City or Town Purposes, includ- ing Overlay:
On Personal Estate
29,429.35
On Real Estate
418,489.47
On Polls
4,480.00
Total Taxes Assessed
452,398.82
15
1
Personal Property Tax
14
4,480.00 25,000.00 714,841.83 3,939.40 71.98 902.49
BOARD OF ASSESSORS
-
..
Number of Live Stock Assessed
Horses (1 year old, or over)
Neat Cattle: (1 year old, or over)
102
Cows (Milch)
Bulls 3 Oxen 0 Yearlings: steers 0 heifers 39 12
Swine (6 months old, or over)
549
Sheep (6 months old, or over)
11123
Fowł
803
All Other
10043
Number of Acres of Land Assessed
2299
Number of Dwellings Assessed
TOWN OWNED PROPERTY - REAL ESTATE
Water Department - 150 acres of land and buildings
629,800.00
Schools - Approx. 29 acres of land and buildings
4,500.00
Town Park - 93 acres of land
500.00
Silver Lake Beach
8,000.00
Town Hall - % acre of land and building
23,000.00
Cemetery - Land and Building
2,000.00
Library - 1/16 acre of land and building
2,750.00
Firehouse -18 acre of land and building
700.00
Moth House - 6,694 sq. ft. of land and building
5,000.00
Common & Flag Staff - 2 acres of land
TOWN OWNED PROPERTY
Item
Land and Buildings 8,000
Furniture and other property
Total
Town Hall
$
$ 2,500
$ 10,500
Police Department
2,750
28,000
30,750
Sealer of Weights and Measurers
700
4,600
5,300
Highway Department
5,000
18,000
23,000
Welfare Department
629,800
90,000
719,800
Libraries
2,000
2,000
Parks, Playgrounds, Gymnasia, Bathhouse
7,650
850
8,500
Water Supply Systems
416,000
7,100
423,100
Cemeteries
23,000
2,000
25,000
Airport
2,300
-
2,300
$1,097,200
$156,950
$1,252,150
You Pay Your Money
TOWN COLLECTOR
To the Town Collector is assigned the responsibility for col- lecting all money due the Town. There are legal restrictions to which the Collector must adhere. With real estate taxes most all taxpayers send their money in on time. Those who do not, or can- not, pay before November first are by state law charged interest from October first. If these people are still unable to pay at the end of the current fiscal year, demands for payment are sent to them as prescribed by law. With interest continually piling up, it is good business for the taxpayer to pay all his taxes on time. For those people who still have not paid their taxes, the Collector should make a tax taking early in the Spring of the land and buildings assessed.
Due to the large number of uncollected taxes in the Town of Wilmington, it has been impossible for the Collector to catalogue, check and correct all taxes, interest and demands until late in the year so that the town's business operation of clearing the taxes has been running considerably behind schedule each fiscal year. When one stops to realize that all taxes are assessed as of payers of Wilmington nearly two years to raise the money to run the government of the town. Towns do not have any surplus profit accounts as do businesses with which they can operate from one year to the next so that actually all taxes that are not collected in the year assessed means just that amount of money is unavailable to spend for the goods and services that the people voted at that year's town meeting.
With the consolidation of town offices and the expected addi- tion of clerical help for the Town Collector, it is planned that 1952 will see two tax takings, one for unpaid 1950 Real Estate taxes which will be held in April and one for unpaid 1951 Real Estate taxes which will be held in the Fall. It is then planned the 1952 uncollected Real Estate taxes will be cleared up by a tax taking in the Spring of 1953 so that the town will be running as near as possible on a current fiscal year basis.
The problem of excise taxes in the town is most disheartening. The Assessors receive a tabulation of motor vehicle excise taxes
17
16
2,500
2,500
Fire Department
300
300
Tree Warden's Department
1,100
1,100
Schools
Highway Building - 15,500 sq. ft. of land and building
2,500.00
40
2
$416,000.00
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to be assessed and committed to the collector. These tabulations run from one to eleven months behind time due to the method of collection prescribed by State Law. In 1951, three commitments were given to the collector in December, some individual assess- ments running back to January first of that year. If it is difficult to find and collect from an owner of real estate, it is impossible for the collector to find all motor vehicle owners who may be summer residents or persons who live in town for a short period of time. Therefore, it is imperative that the collector turn over all delin- quent taxes to a deputy collector (who has the right of arrest) as soon as possible after the legal deadline which is fourteen days after the sending of the demand for payment. The history of the collection of excise taxes in the Town of Wilmington has not been good, due mainly to the large number of transient citizens to whom such taxes have been assessed. To clear these up, the collector must take a militant and forthright stand so that the honest taxpayer who meets his obligations completely and quickly will not be forced to share the burden of those who attempt to shirk the responsibility of paying their taxes.
.
The more nearly we complete collection of our taxes the better will be our financial rating. This means lower interest rates for temporary loans which are borrowed each year and especially lower interest rates on bonds which would be floated for any capi- tal expenditure such as a school building.
The tax collection picture for 1951 over 1950 shows much improvement in that the figures outlined in the Accountant's re- port show that with a greater commitment than 1950, tax collec- tions for 1951 for real estate and polls were $6,000 to the good. With the increase in our excess and deficiency account from $132,000 to $187,000 and this decrease in uncollected taxes gives us a free cash situation of $86,000; three times better than it was at the time of the audit at the end of March 1951.
Personal property taxes are a difficult problem in that a large proportion of the people who are assessed Personal Property taxes do not file a list stating that they do not have a valuation sufficient for them to pay a tax on same. The assessors and collector are ordered by law to collect any amount committed so that the collec- tor is duty bound to turn over to the deputy collector to force col- lection all amounts committed so that the person named on the tax bill is legally liable for same until he proves that his property was not of sufficient value to be assessed under the personal property statute.
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TOWN COUNSEL
The Town of Wilmington acquired a new basic law for the government of its municipal affairs in 1951. The new charter is a brief document in which legal terminology has been reduced to a minimum so that it can easily be understood by the layman.
Although the charter attained clarity, it did not dispense with the need for legal interpretation in applying its requirements, to the conduct of town government. The body of ordinance law, enacted over the years, has to be reviewed to determine what parts must be revoked.
A large number of ordinances require revision to bring them into line with the selectmen-manager form of government. At the same time many cases pending for the town had to be acted upon as the following report shows :
A. On January 1, 1951, there were pending the following actions by or against the Town (exclusive of actions in which the Town was merely summoned as trustee, and in which it had no interest, and of tax lien foreclosure proceedings in the Land Court) :
City of Lowell v. Town of Wilmington, District Court of Lowell. (Action of contract by City of Lowell to recover the sum of $275.96 for special voca- tional training of certain pupils.)
City of Lowell v. Town of Wilmington, District Court of Lowell. (Action of contract by City of Lowell to recover $657.77 plus interest for aid furnished in a public welfare case.)
City of Lowell v. Town of Wilmington, District Court of Lowell. (Action of contract by City of Lowell to recover $721.90 for aid furnished in a public welfare case.)
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Town of Wilmington v. A Certain Defendant, Fourth District Court of Eastern Middlesex. (Action of contract under G.L. Chap. 117, Sec. 5.)
Jacob Levine & Sons v. Town of Wilmington, Fourth District Court of Eastern Middlesex. (Action of contract to recover burial expense.)
Chester T. Horton, Inspector of Buildings v. Ann Briguglio and Ann's Duck Farm, Inc. Middlesex Superior Court. (Bill in equity to restrain viola- tions of building and zoning by-laws.)
Town of Wilmington v. Edward N. Gadsby et als, Commissioners of Department of Public Utilities and Boston and Maine Railroad Company, Supreme Judicial Court, Suffolk County. (Petition to review certain rulings and orders of the Department of Public Utilities in connection with protection at the Middlesex Avenue Grade Crossing of the Boston and Maine Railroad.)
Town of Wilmington v. Arthur S. Flint, Middlesex Superior Court. (Bill in equity to restrain defendant from further prosecuting an action against the Town to recover for flooding of his land.)
Arthur S. Flint v. Town of Wilmington, Middlesex Superior Court. (Action at law to recover for flooding of plaintiff's land.)
Leo E. VanSteensburg, Inspector of Bldgs. Town of Wilmington vs. Robert J. Moran et al. Middlesex Superior Court. (Bill in equity to restrain violations of the building and zoning by-laws.)
Blanche E. McQuaid v. Ernest Rice, Sr. Building Inspector and Joseph L. Cunningham et al, Members of the Board of Appeal of the Town of Wilmington, Middlesex Superior Court. (Bill in equity to review action of Board of Appeal denying permit for lunchroom on Grove Avenue.)
Ernest B. Rice, Inspector of Bldgs. of the Town of Wilmington v. Myer Weinberg, Middlesex Superior Court. (Bill in equity to enjoin certain erections and alterations of the building at the corner of Main and Church Streets without a building permit.
Town of Wilmington v. Refrigerator Truck Body Inc. and Harold T. Stanton, Middlesex Superior Court. (Action of tort to recover damages to police car resulting from collision with truck.)
City of Boston v. Town of Wilmington, Suffolk Superior Court. (Action of contract to recover for aid rendered various persons whose legal settlement is supposed to be in Wilmington.)
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