USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Melrose > City of Melrose annual report 1862-1879 > Part 46
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In conclusion your Commissioners congratulate the citizens of Melrose in the possession of Spot Pond water for domestic uses.
Respectfully submitted,
WINGATE P. SARGENT JEREMIAH MARTIN, DEXTER BRYANT, ELBRIDGE GREENE, JOEL SNOW, Water Commissioners.
MELROSE, March 20, 1871.
APPENDIX
A.
AN ACT
TO INCORPORATE THE SPOT POND WATER COMPANY.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives, in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows.
SECTION 1. Samuel E. Sewall, Daniel W. Gooch and George W. Heath, of Melrose, Elisha S. Converse, J. H. Abbott and George P. Cox, of Malden, and James O. Curtis, Charles V. Bemis and Benjamin F. Hayes, of Medford, their associates and successors, are hereby made a corpora- tion by the name of the Spot Pond Water Company, for the purpose of supplying the inhabitants of said Melrose, Malden and Medford with pure water; with all the powers and privileges, and subject to all the restrictions, duties and liabilities set forth in the general laws which are now or may hereafter be in force relating to such corporations, so far as they may be applicable.
SECTION 2. Said corporation may take, hold and convey through the town of Stoneham, so far as may be necessary, and to, into and through the said towns of Melrose, Malden and Medford, the waters of Spot Pond, so called, situate in the towns of Stoneham and Medford, and the waters which flow into and from the same.
SECTION 3. The capital stock of said company shall not exceed three hundred thousand dollars, to be divided into
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APPENDIX.
shares of one hundred dollars each ; and said company may hold real and personal estate not exceeding in amount one hundred thousand dollars, and may also take and hold, by purchase or otherwise, such land as may be necessary for erecting and maintaining dams and reservoirs, and for laying and maintaining conduits, pipes, drains, and such other works as may be necessary for the purity and preservation of said waters, and for collecting, conducting and distribut- ing the same as herein provided. But 'said company shall not enter upon or use, for the purpose herein specified, the land of any person, or take water from said pond, until thirty thousand dollars in cash have been paid in upon the capital stock of said corporation.
SECTION 4. Said company within sixty days after the taking of any of the land aforesaid, shall file in the registry of deeds for the county of Middlesex a description thereof, sufficiently accurate for identifying the same.
SECTION 5. Said company may make aqueducts, from the source above mentioned through any part of the towns aforesaid, and may maintain the same by suitable works, may make reservoirs and hydrants, and may distribute the water throughout said towns of Melrose, Malden and Medford by laying down pipes, and may establish the rents therefor. And the said company, for the purposes aforesaid, may enter upon and dig up any road, under the direction of the selectmen of said towns respectively, in such manner as to cause the least hindrance to the travel thereon.
SECTION 6. All claims for damages sustained by taking land, water or water-rights, or by making aqueducts, reser- voirs or other works, shall be ascertained, determined and recovered, in the manner now provided by law in case of land taken for highways, except that the complaint may be filed within three years after said taking.
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APPENDIX.
SECTION 7. Any person who shall maliciously divert the water, or any part thereof, of the sources which shall be taken by said corporation, pursuant to the provisions of this act, or who shall corrupt the same, or render it impure, or who shall maliciously destroy or injure any dam, reservoir, aqueduct, pipe or hydrant, or other property held, owned or used by the said company for the purposes of this act, shall pay three times the amount of actual damage to the said company, to be recovered by any proper action ; and every such person, on conviction of either of the malicious acts aforesaid, may be punished by fine not exceeding one hundred dollars, and imprisonment not exceeding six months.
SECTION 8. The said towns of Melrose, Malden and Medford, or any two of them, in case the remaining town declines to participate in said purchase, may, at any time within fifteen years from the time this act takes effect, pur- chase the franchise of said corporation and all its corporate property by paying therefor the amount expended for the construction, maintenance and repairs of said water works, and all necessary incidental expenses, together with interest thereon, at the rate of ten per centum per annum, less the amount derived therefrom, with interest thereon at the rate aforesaid. And in case the said towns cannot agree as to the portion of said amount to be paid by each, the supreme judicial court, or any justice thereof, upon application of either town, so purchasing, shall appoint three commission- ers to award the amount so to be paid by each, which award shall be final.
SECTION 9. For the purpose of defraying the cost of such franchise and corporate property as shall be purchased for the purposes aforesaid, cach of the towns, so purchasing shall have authority to issue, from time to time, notes, scrip or certificates of debt, to be denominated on the face thereof " Spot Pond Water Scrip, " to an amount not exceeding the
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APPENDIX.
proportion payable by each such town, hearing interest pay- able semi-annually, and the principal shall be payable at periods not more than twenty years from the issuing of the said scrip, notes or certificates respectively ; and such town may sell the same, or any part thereof, from time to time, at public or private sale, for the purpose aforesaid, on such terms and conditions as such town shall deem proper. And each of such towns, so purchasing, is further authorized to make appropriations and assess from time to time, such amounts, not exceeding in any one year the sum of five thousand dollars, towards paying the principal of the money so borrowed, and also a sum sufficient to pay the interest thereon, in the same manner as money is assessed and appropriated for other town purposes.
SECTION 10. In case the towns of Melrose, Malden and Medford, or any two of them, shall purchase the property, rights and privileges of said company, said towns so pur- chasing, shall exercise all the rights, powers and authority, and be subject to all the restrictions, duties and liabilities herein contained, in such manner, and by such officers, servants and agents as said towns shall, respectively, from time to time, ordain, appoint and direct. And said towns shall be liable to pay all damages occasioned by the diver- sion of any water, or the obstruction of any stream, or the flowing of any lands for the purposes of said aqueduct, for which said company might be legally liable ; the amount payable by each town to be determined in the same manner as provided in the eighth section of this act for determining the amount payable by such town for the purchase of the franchise and corporate property therein mentioned.
SECTION 11. Said company shall not at any time draw the waters of said pond below low-water mark of said pond, nor raise them above high-water mark.
SECTION 12. A commission of three persons shall be
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APPENDIX.
appointed by the supreme judicial court, or any justice thereof, on application of said company, or of any party in interest, who shall, at the cost and expense of said company, after public notice to the parties in interest, ascertain the points between which the waters of said pond and its out- let rise and fall, and shall erect permanent monuments showing the same, and shall make a full report of all their doings to the supreme judicial court.
SECTION 13. Nothing in this act contained shall be so construed as to prevent or interfere with the right of the town of Stoneham to take water from said Spot Pond for the use of the inhabitants of said town. And said company may furnish water to such inhabitants of said town as may desire the same, at the same rates as to the inhabitants of other towns.
Approved May 4, 1867.
B.
AN ACT
IN ADDITION TO AN ACT TO INCORPORATE THE SPOT POND WATER COMPANY.
Be it enacted etc., as follows :
SECTION 1. The purchase of the franchise, property, rights and privileges of the Spot Pond Water Company by the towns of Melrose, Malden and Medford, and the trans- fer and conveyance thereof by said corporation to said towns, is hereby ratified and confirmed; and said towns may take and hold the waters of Spot Pond, so called, sit- uated in the towns of Stoncham and Medford, and the waters which flow into and from the same, and may convey the same through the town of Stoneham, so far as may be
5
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APPENDIX.
necessary, and to, into and through the towns of Melrose, Malden and Medford. For this purpose, said towns may each construct an aqueduct, and any two, or all of them, if they so agree, may unite and jointly construct aqueducts, from the source above mentioned, through any part of the towns aforesaid, and may maintain the same by suitable works, may make reservoirs and hydrants, and may dis- tribute the water throughout said towns of Melrose, Mal- den and Medford by laying down pipes, and may each from time to time establish prices or rents for the supply or use of such water within its own limits ; and for this purpose shall, in addition to the rights already conferred upon said towns, and whether acting separately or in conjunction, have, exercise and enjoy all the powers, rights and au- thority conferred upon the Spot Pond Water Company by the act to which this act is in addition; subject to the limitations, obligations and restrictions in said act contained, except as is herein otherwise provided, and except the limitations contained in the third section of said act. But in case two separate aqueducts shall be con- structed from said pond, - one from the north-easterly side of the pond, through Melrose and Malden, and one from the southerly side of the pond to Medford, - said town of Medford shall lay down from its main a pipe of not less than eight inches in diameter, to the line of Malden, at the junction of Salem Street in said Medford and Pleasant Street in said Malden ; and said town of Malden shall lay down, from its main to the same point, a pipe of not less than eight inches in diameter, which two pipes shall there unite : provided, that in case it shall at any time appear to a com- mission appointed as provided in the fourth section of this act, that the supply of water to either of said towns is impaired by reason of such open connection, so that either town does not receive its full proportion of one-third of the
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APPENDIX.
water, said commission may make such orders as to closing such connection entirely or for a portion of the time, as may be required to secure to said town the supply and head of water unimpaired thereby.
SECTION 2. Said towns, and each of them, may, for the purpose of this act, and the act to which this act is in addi- tion, take by purchase or otherwise, and hold such land as may be necessary for erecting and maintaining dams and reservoirs, and for laying and maintaining conduits, pipes, drains and such other works as may be necessary for the purity and preservation of said waters, and for collecting, conducting and distributing the same as herein provided. And within sixty days after the taking of any of the land aforesaid, said town or towns taking the same shall file in the registry of deeds for the southern district of the county of Middlesex, a description thereof sufficiently accurate for identifying the same. All claims for damages sustained by taking land, water or water-rights, or by making aqueducts, reservoirs or other works, shall be ascertained, determined and recovered, in the manner now provided by law in case of land taken for highways, except that the complaint may be filed within three years after said taking. And the lia- bility of said towns for taking such water or water-rights shall be joint and equal, and for other acts in which they or any two of them shall join as provided in the first section of this act, shall be joint on the part of the towns participating, and each town shall be severally liable for its separate acts.
SECTION 3. For the purpose of defraying the cost of such franchises, property, lands, water and water-rights, as are taken, purchased or held for the purposes aforesaid, and of constructing works necessary and proper for the accomplish- ment of the purposes authorized by this act and by chapter two hundred and eight of the acts of the year eighteen hun- dred and sixty-seven, and paying all expenses incident
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APPENDIX.
thereto, cach of said towns may issue from time to time, scrip, notes or certificates of debt : the town of Melrose, to an amount not exceeding one hundred thousand dollars ; the town of Malden to an amount not exceeding two hundred thousand dollars, and the town of Medford to an amount not exceeding one hundred and fifty thousand dollars. Such scrip issued by the town of Melrose shall be denominated on its face, Melrose Water Fund Bonds ; that issued by the town of Malden shall be denominated on its face, Malden Water Fund Bonds, and that issued by the town of Medford shall be denominated Medford Water Fund Bonds. All such scrip shall bear interest, payable semi-annually, and the principal shall be payable at periods not more than twenty years from the issuing of the said scrip, notes or certificates respectively ; and cach such town may sell the same, or any part thereof, from time to time, at public or private sale, for the purpose aforesaid, on such terms and condition as such town shall deem proper. And cach of such towns is further authorized to make appropriations, and assess from time to time such amounts as it may from year to year decide, not exceeding in any one year prior to the year in which the bonds mature, the sum of five thousand dollars, towards paying the principal of the money so bor- rowed, and also a sum sufficient to pay the interest thercon, in the same manner as money is assessed and appropriated for other town purposes.
SECTION 4. The general regulation and control of the waters in said pond, and of the letting down of the same, shall be exercised and administered by a joint board, com- posed of the officers or agents of each town, who shall, from time to time, be appointed by said towns, under au- thority of the provisions of chapter two hundred and eight of the acts of the year eighteen hundred and sixty-seven and this act, in which board each town shall have an equal
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APPENDIX.
power and authority ; and, in case said towns so acting can- not agree in respect to the manner of securing, from time to time, an equal share of the water of said pond to each town, the supreme judicial court, or any justice thereof, upon application of either town by their agents or officers appointed as aforesaid, shall appoint three commissioners to award and determine the method in which such supply shall be secured and the share of the expense thercof to be borne by each town, and this award, when confirmed by said court, shall be conclusive upon said towns.
SECTION 5. The acts and proceedings of the town of Mel- rose, at its town meetings, held on the twenty-fourth day of September, in the year eighteen hundred and sixty-nine, and on the seventh day of October, in the year eighteen hundred and sixty-nine ; of the town of Malden, at its town meetings, held on the thirteenth day of September, in the year eighteen hundred and sixty-nine, and on the twenty-seventh day of September, in the year eighteen hundred and sixty-nine, and of the town of Medford, at its town meetings, held on the twentieth day of September, in the year eighteen hun- dred and sixty-nine, and on the twenty-eighth day of Jan- uary, in the year eighteen hundred and seventy, and, by adjournment, on the first day of February, and on the ninth day of February, each in said year of eighteen hundred and seventy, and the acts and doings of the officers and agents appointed at said meetings, or either of them, in pur- suance of the authority then given them, and in execution of the purposes of this act and the act to which this act is in addition, so far as the same may appear to be invalid from any want of authority on the part of said towns, are hereby authorized, ratified and confirmed.
SECTION 6. The commissioners already chosen by said towns, together with any successor chosen to fill a vacancy in the boards occasioned by resignation or otherwise, shall
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APPENDIX.
severally hold their office and exercise the powers conferred upon them by their respective towns, and the provisions of this act, and the act to which this is an addition, until their successors are regularly chosen and qualified. At the annual town meeting held in the year eighteen hundred and seventy- one there shall be elected in each of said towns, in the man- ner in which selectmen are by law required to be elected, a board of three water commissioners of the town, one of whom shall be elected to serve for the period of one, two and three years respectively. And annually, thereafter, there shall be elected in the same manner a number equal to the number whose term of service then expires. All such officers so chosen shall hold office until their successors are chosen and qualified in the manner required by law for se- lectmen of towns, and vacancies occurring in the board in any town shall be filled by the remaining member or mem- bers of the board and the selectmen of the town, in the man- ner now provided by law for filling vacancies occurring in the board of school committee of towns. The remaining member or members of the board shall in such case exer- cise the powers of the board till the vacancy is filled. The boards of water commissioners so chosen shall in each town have the general care and custody of the aqueduct and water-works of the town and the property connected there- with. They shall annually make a report to the town of their doings and the condition of the property under their control, with such recommendations as they shall judge the interests of the town require.
SECTION 7. The surplus of the net income derived from said water-works after payment of the semi-annual interest upon said scrip, and after deducting all charges of distribu- tion and repairs, and other expenses incident to the same, and all amounts appropriated from time to time by said towns for the payment of the principal sum thereof, under
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APPENDIX.
the provisions of this act, shall, in each town, be set apart as a sinking fund, which, with the accumulated interest upon the same, shall be devoted to the payment of said scrip of said town at maturity.
The rents received for the use of water shall, in the case of each town when collected, be paid over to the treasurer of the town, and all sums set apart as aforesaid, shall from time to time be invested and re-invested by him in the name of the town of Medford, town of Melrose, or town of Mal- den, as the case may be, in the scrip authorized by this act, at a price not exceeding its par value, or on such loans or in such securities as by law the funds of savings banks may be invested in, except that no portion of the same shall be loaned directly or indirectly to either of said towns, or upon mere personal security.
SECTION 8. The accounts of such sinking funds shall be kept apart from the other accounts of the town, and in each town shall at all times be open to the inspection of the . water commissioners of said town. The treasurer of each town shall annually make a written report to the town, at its annual meeting, of the condition of the fund of the town, and the changes of investment during the then pre- ceding year. The selectmen and water commissioners shall jointly, as often as once in each year, examine the accounts and securities of the fund, and shall report the result of their examination to the town, in connection with the report of the treasurer.
SECTION 9. This act shall take effect upon its passage.
Approved April 2, 1870.
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APPENDIX.
C.
AN ACT
RELATING TO DRAINAGE IN THE TOWNS OF MALDEN AND MELROSE.
Be it enacted, etc., as follows :
SECTION 1. The county commissioners of the county of Middlesex are hereby authorized and directed to take and lay out such land, water-courses and water rights, dams and other real estate, or interests, or easements, or rights therein, on or adjoining the streams or brooks running from Ell Pond in Melrose and Spot Pond in Stoneham, to the tide-water in Malden, as they shall deem necessary for the purposes of proper drainage and public health; and they are also authorized, for the same purposes, to control the damming up and letting off the waters of said ponds. And they may change, widen, straighten and deepen the channels of said brooks or streams, and remove all dams and other obstruc- tions therefrom, and use and appropriate said brooks or streams, in such manner as they shall deem necessary for the purposes aforesaid. And if any person shall sustain damages to his property by reason thereof, and shall fail to agree upon the amount of the same, and to affect a settlement therefor with said commissioners, which they are hereby authorized to make, the same shall be determined, assessed and collected in the same manner as now provided by law for the deter- mination, assessment and collection of damages in the laying out of highways.
SECTION 2. Every person holding real estate upon or near said brooks, which may be benefited by the acts of the com- missioners herein before authorized, shall pay to the treas- urer of the town in which said real estate shall be situated,
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APPENDIX.
such sum as said commissioners shall assess upon him as his proportionate share of the expenditure for the purposes aforesaid. And the sum so assessed upon him shall consti- tute a lien upon said real estate for two years from and after the time of such assessment. And if the amount so assessed shall not be paid within ninety days after notice thereof, the same may be levied by a sale of said real estate, to be con- ducted in the same manner as a sale of real estate for the non-payment of taxes.
SECTION 3. Said commissioners shall determine and award
1 what proportion of the whole expenses, incurred for the purposes aforesaid, shall be assessed upon the Boston and Maine Railroad Corporation, and what proportion upon the towns of Malden and Melrose respectively. And said towns are hereby authorized and directed to raise the amount so assessed in the same manner as money is now raised by law for highways. But said towns may borrow the amounts so assessed upon them, or any part thereof, on such terms and for such periods of time, as shall be determined by a majority of those voting at any town meeting legally held for that purpose.
SECTION 4. The said commissioners shall, immediately after they have determined the amount of expenses, as herein before provided, notify said towns and said railroad corporation of the amounts assessed upon them respectively. And if said towns and railroad corporation, respectively, shall not make payment as ordered by said commissioners within ninety days after service of said order, or notice, the said commissioners shall issue their warrant of distress against said corporations for the amount assessed thereon, together with interest upon the same from the time it was payable, and reasonable costs. And the same shall be enforced and collected in the same manner as orders by county commis sioners are now by law enforced.
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APPENDIX.
SECTION 5. Any person or corporation aggrieved by the doings of the commissioners, as herein before authorized, may, at any time within three months from the time of receiving notice of any assessment, apply for a jury to award the amount that shall be paid, in the manner pro- vided in the sixth section of the forty-eighth chapter of the General Statutes ; and the proceedings upon his said appli- cation shall be such as are therein provided.
SECTION 6. The powers conferred upon said commission- ers shall not be exercised unless the town of Malden or the town of Melrose shall, by a majority of those voting at a town meeting legally held for that purpose within one year from the passage of this act, approve the same. And if either of said towns shall fail to approve this act in manner aforesaid, then no greater sum shall be assessed upon such town for the expenses aforesaid than the amount assessed under the provisions of this act upon the real estate lying in such town, as being specially benefited by such improve- ments.
SECTION 7. This act shall take effect upon its passage .. Approved June 11, 1869.
D.
AN ACT
IN ADDITION TO AN ACT RELATING TO DRAINAGE IN THE TOWNS OF MALDEN AND MELROSE.
Be it enacted, etc., as follows :
SECTION 1. The time within which the towns of Malden and Melrose may approve the act relating to drainage in said
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