USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > Plainville > Plainville, Massachusetts annual reports 1951-1959 > Part 65
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Article 26. Motion by Robert Haseltine and unanimously voted that No Action be taken on this Article. (Sidewalk Plow.)
Article 27. Motion by Donald Colley that No Action be taken. Motion was amended by Samuel Robison that this be amended to read the Town raise and appropriate the sum of $2,000.00 to continue the construction of sidewalks. After some discussion Mr. Robison with- drew his motion. Vote on amendment was not carried. Vote on the original motion was unanimous-yes. No Action taken.
Article 28. Motion by Donald Colley and unanimously voted that No Action be taken. (Drainage.)
Article 30. Motion by Frank Keegan that the Town raise and appropriate the sum of $1,400.00 for the purchase of a station wagon type cruiser, four door, 8 cylinder, equipped with standard heater and all necessary identification for police cruiser. This was amended by LeRoy B. Wilson, by striking out the words "four door." It was so voted unanimously after amended.
Motion by Roland C. Campbell that Article 37 be taken up at this time, unanimously voted.
Article 37. Motion by Roland C. Campbell that the Town vote to rescind Amendment to Article III, Section 6 of the Town By-Laws. To Wit: "The School Committee shall have the care, custody and superintendence of the Town Hall. They may let the hall for lectures, concerts and exhibitions, and for such other purposes as they in their discretion may deem proper. No charge, however, for the use of the hall shall be made to any political party that may wish to hold political meetings or caucuses therein, or for school purposes, or whenever the Town by vote grants the free use to any organization" and give the custody of this building back to the Board of Selectmen. This requir- ed a 2/3 vote. Vote declared unanimous by the Moderator. (Amend- ment to original by-law was voted at a Special Town Meeting, June 24, 1946.)
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Article 31. Motion by Roland C. Campbell and unanimously voted to authorize the Selectmen to appoint a committee of seven members to determine what disposition should be made of the Town Hall Build- ing, and report its findings and recommendations to the Town at the next Town Meeting.
Article 32. Motion by Ray Underhill that the report of the Water Survey Committee be accepted-it was unanimously voted.
Article 33. Motion by Donald Colley that No Action be taken on this Article. This was amended by Jay Underhill to read: that the Town vote to authorize the Water Commissioners of the Town of Plainville to install water mains 12" in diameter in South Street from School to Berry Streets, about 6,900 feet, and to raise and appropriate for this purpose a sum of $85,800.00 and that $5,800.00 of this amount be raised by taxation and the Treasurer with the approval of the Selectment, be authorized to issue bonds and/or notes of the Town in the amount of $80,000.00 for this purpose, under the authority of and payable in accordance with provisions of Chapter 44 of the Gener- al Laws, so that the whole loan shall be paid in not more than fifteen years from the date of issue of the first bond or note.
Section 2. That the Town vote to authorize the Water Commis- sioners of the Town of Plainville to install water mains 12" in diameter in East Bacon Street and Messenger Street from the present standpipe to the junction of Routes 106 and 152, about 6,300 feet, and to raise and appropriate for this purpose the sum of $78,600.00 and that $8,600.00 of this amount be raised by taxation and the Treasurer, with the approval of the Selectmen, be authorized to issue bonds and/or notes of the Town in the amount of $70,000.00 for this purpose, under authority of and payable in accordance with the provisions of Chapter 44 of the General Laws, so that the whole loan shall be paid in not more than fifteen years from the date of issue of the first bond or note. (2/3 vote.) As this was a bond issue a standing vote was required. Results- Yes 14, No 110. Amendment was lost.
The original motion that No Action be taken was unanimously voted. Motion by Arthur W. Washburn, Jr. that the meeting be ad- journed until Monday evening, March 31, 1958, in th Elementary School Building, at 7:30 p. m. Unanimously carried.
Meeting adjourned at 11:25 p. m.
ARTHUR W. WASHBURN, Town Clerk.
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The Third part of the adjourned Town Meeting was held in the Elementary School Building, Monday evening, March 31, 1958. The voters were checked into the hall by use of voting lists; the check showed 86 men and 37 women. The Moderator called the meeting to order at 7:35 p. m. The following were appointed Counters by the Moderator: Everett Morris, Stillman Sprague, Daniel Malone and Robert Littleton. Ballot box, Arthur W. Washburn, Jr.
Article 34. Motion by Robert Haseltine and unanimously voted that we raise and appropriate the sum of $1,000.00 for the purchase of land, for the purpose of public water supply, as described in the warrant.
Article 35. Motion by Donald Colley and unanimously voted that the sum of $50.00 additional be raised and appropriated for the print- ing and binding of the Town By-Laws.
Article 36. Motion by Roland Campbell that we accept the Town By-Laws as printed in the Town Report and Annual Town Warrant, subject to typographical errors and amendments thereto.
BY-LAWS ARTICLE I
Town Officers
Section 1. The Town at its Annual Meeting shall when the term of office of any incumbent expires, except when other provision is made by law, choose by ballot from its registered voters the following Town Officers for the following terms of office:
For Terms of One Year - One Moderator, One Town Clerk, One Auditor, One Tree Warden, Three Constables.
For Terms of Three Years (one to be elected each year) - Three Selectmen, acting as Welfare Board and Board of Health, Three Water Commissioners, Three Trustees of the Public Library, Three Assessors, Three Park Commissioners.
For terms of Three Years (every year when the term office of any incumbent expires, and except when provision is made by law.)
Motion by Roland Campbell that Section 1 of Article 3 be amend- ed as follows: At the Annual Town Meeting the Moderator shall appoint a committee of five to bring in the names of at least eight (8) legal registered voters of the Town holding no elective or appointive Town Office and there shall be chosen under the last Article in the Warrant an Advisory Committee which shall consist of seven members and
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they shall serve for one (1) year and said committee shall have the power, with the Moderator and Selectmen present to fill any vacancy occurring in the committee ..
This amendment was amended by Arthur W. Washburn, Jr. to read:
At the Annual Town Meeting there shall be elected an Advisory Committee to consist of the Chairman of Selectmen and Town Treas- urer, together with seven other legal voters of the town, to serve, three for three years, two for two years, two for a term of one year, in the first elective year concerned and then for three years as the terms above mentioned expire. And said committee shall have the power to fill any vacancy occuring in the committee.
The vote on the amendment to the amendment was unanimous- Yes 83, No 0 The vote on the original amendment was defeated- No 72, Yes 3.
For Terms of Three Years (every year when the term of office of any incumbent expires, and except when provision is made by law)- Five Members of the School Committee, Two Members of the Regional School Committee, One Town Treasurer, One Tax Collector, 7 Members of Finance Committee.
For Terms of Five Years (one to be elected each year) - Five Members of the Town Planning Committee in accordance with Article 30 voted and passed at the Town Meeting of March 4, 1957.
Section 1-A. There shall be a Board of Appeals, as provided for under Section 81-Z of Chapter 41 of the General Laws, to consist of three members to be appointed by the Board of Selectmen, one for the terms of one year, one for the term of two years, one for the term of three years, and thereafter in accordance with the provision of statute.
Section 2. All Town officers and any committee not named in Section 1 of this Article shall be appointed by the Board of Selectmen, unless other provision is made by a vote of the Town, or unless other- wise provided for by statute.
Section 3. No members of any elected board or commission shall serve as Superintendent under the Board or Commission of which he is a member.
Section 4. The Annual Meeting for the election of officers re- quired by law, or by these by-laws, to be elected by ballot, shall be held on the first Monday in March of each year.
Section 5. All business except the election of such officers, and the determination of such matters as by law are required, to be elected
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or determined by ballot, shall be considered by adjournment to the third Monday in March at 7:30 o'clock P. M.
ARTICLE II Government of Town Meetings
Section 1. The number of voters necessary to constitute a quorum at any Town Meeting shall be Sixty (60), provided however that a number less than a quorum may from time to time adjourn the same.
This section shall not apply to such parts of meetings as are de- voted to the election of Town Officers.
Section 2. Warrants for the Town Meetings shall be directed to any Constable of the town or some other person, and it shall be the duty of said Constable or other person to warn the inhabitants of said meeting by posting attested copies of the warrant in not less than six public places seven days at least before the day of said meeting.
Section 3. The last day for filing of petitions with the Board of Selectmen for insertion of articles in the warrant for the annual town meeting shall be the second Tuesday in December in each year.
All petitioned articles calling for an appropriation of money to be inserted in the warrant shall be submitted to the Town Department in- volved by the petitioners on or before November 15. The department shall examine the request contained in the article and submit a recom- mendation as to the feasibility of the project requested and the reason- ableness of the price stated therein. Said recommendation, in writing, shall be attached to the petition and be returned to the sponsor within ten days for filing with the Board of Selectmen. Failure to obtain the recommendation of the department in question through no fault of the petitioner shall not constitute a bar to the filing of such petition with the Selectmen.
Section 4. The duties of the Moderator not especially provided for by law, or by these by-laws, shall be determined by the rules and practice contained in Cushing's Manuel of Parliamentary Practice, so far as they may be adapted to the circumstances and powers of the Town of Plainville.
Section 5. A motion to reconsider any vote must be made before the final adjournment of the meeting at which the vote was passed, and such motion to reconsider shall not be made at an adjourned meeting unless the voter has given notice of his intention to make such a mo- .tion, either at the session of the meeting at which the vote was passed,
1
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or by written notice to the Town Clerk within forty-eight hours after the adjournment of such session. There can be no reconsideration of a vote once reconsidered or after a vote not to reconsider.
Section 6. No article in the warrant shall again be taken under consideration after it has been disposed of by vote, unless ordered by a vote of two-thirds of the voters present and voting.
Section 7. No motion, the effect of which would be to dissolve a Town Meeting, shall be in order until every article in the warrant has been duly considered and acted upon, but this shall not preclude the postponement of action on or consideration of any article to an ad- journment of the meeting to a stated time.
Section 8. A vote to accept the report of a Special Committee shall place the report before the meeting, but shall not discharge the Committee. A vote to adopt or reject a report of a Special Committee with, or without amendment, shall discharge the Committee.
Section 9. At any Town Meeting held for the transaction of Town business, if the Moderator, or a vote of the meeting so orders, no person whose name is not on the list of voters shall be admitted to the floor of the hall, and such order may be enforced by the use of a check list, but the same shall not apply to the state election, primaries, or Town Meetings for the election of Town Officers, or be construed to prohibit press reporters from the meeting. The Moderator shall de- termine the bounds of the hall.
Section 10. No person shall speak for more than five minutes for the second time on any subject if there are any other citizens who de- sire to be, but have not been, heard on the same subject, without first obtaining leave of the meeting.
Section 11. Any report, resolution or motion shall be reduced to writing before being submitted to the meeting, if it is so requested by the Moderator.
ARTICLE III Town Finance and Administration
Section 1. At the Annual Town Meeting there shall be chosen an Advisory Committee to consist of the Chairmen of Selectmen, and Town Treasurer, together with five other legal voters of the town to serve for one year and said Committee shall have the power to fill any vacancy occurring in the Committee.
This section amended by unanimous vote to read: At the Annual Town Meeting there shall be elected an Advisory Committee to consist of the Chairman of the Selectment and Town Treasurer, together with
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seven other legal voters of the Town, to serve, three for a term of three years, two for a term of two years, two for a term of one year, in the first elective year concerned and then for three years as the terms above expire. And said committee shall have the power to fill any vacancy occuring in the Committee.
Section 2. The Chairman of Selectmen shall annually call the Committee together for organization within thirty days after the close of the Annual Town Meeting.
Section 3. It shall be the duty of the Finance Committee to con- sider all articles in any Warrant for a Town Meeting which call for the appropriation of money, and to recommend appropriate action to the voters of the Town. The Committee shall investigate the cost of main- tenance and the expenditures of the different departments of the Town service, and recommend in detail the amount to be appropriated for each department for the ensuing year.
Section 4. The Town Departments shall submit to the Selectmen on or before January first, each year, an estimate of the expenditures for the ensuing year which shall specify the amount estimated for (1) Salaries and wages, (2) Other department costs, (3) New equipment, if any, together with a tabulated expenditure of the past year.
Section 5. On or before January fifteenth of each year the Board of Selectmen shall present to the Committee an estimate of the expen- ditures of each department for the ensuing year, together with the tab- ulated expenditures of the two preceding years. Copies of all petitioned articles to be inserted in the warrant shall be transmitted to the Finance Committee on or before January first.
Section 6. The Finance Committee shall at least seven (7) days prior to the holding of the business session of an annual or special Town Meeting make public its recommendations regarding the articles to be considered at said meeting. In making its recommendations for the operation of all Town departments the Committee shall specify the amount recommended for (1) Salaries and wages, (2) Other department costs, (3) New equipment, if any.
Section 7. The Board of Selectmen shall within ten days of re- ceipt of the report of the State Audit of the municipal accounts trans- mit a copy thereof to the Finance Committee Chairman. Such report shall be available to all members of the Committee.
Section 8. Any transfer from the Reserve Fund shall be made by a majority vote of the Finance Committee, but only after due consid- eration of the request indicates that the transfer is for extraordinary or unforeseen expenditures.
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A motion by Donald Colley that Article 3, be amended by adding the following section 9 to these By-Laws. Voted, Yes 89, No. 6.
Section 9. All expenditures on budgets which are approved by the townspeople must be spent only on the items listed in the budget. Any unexpended amounts are to be returned to the Town Treasury. Over expenditures on items may be made only from the Reserve Fund as described in Section 8.
Motion by Gordon Proal and voted that Addendum to Section 1 be stricken from the records. Voted, Yes 82, No 1.
ARTICLE IV
Town Officers and Records
Section 1. All Town Officers shall turn over to their successors in office, at the expiration of their term of office, all books, papers, doc- uments, or other property in their custody belonging to the Town and not necessary for the immediate use of their respective departments; and these shall be deposited in the Town Clerk's vault, unless otherwise provided by law.
Section 2. Each officer, board or committee of the Town shall annually file with the Selectmen a full and comprehensive statement of all its acts, a review of its condition, a financial statement and estimate of the appropriation needed for the ensuing year.
Section 3. The Selectmen before the annual Town Meeting shall, at the expense of the Town, print the annual Town report for the use of the inhabitants, and in addition to the departmental reports for the municipal year and other reports and matters required by law, the book shall contain:
(A) A complete list of the Town Officers with expiring date of office, and showing the organization of the different boards.
(B) Copies of the warrant for the annual and special Town Meet- ings held during the year, together with the minutes of the Town Clerk, showing the action taken at each meeting, and a copy of the warrant for the annual Town Meeting for the ensuing year.
(C) A report of all claims that are outstanding and all suits of which the Town is a party.
(D) A list of what betterments have been assessed during the municipal year.
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(E) A report of what corporations have been granted franchises by the Town during the municipal year, with a copy of the franchise.
(F) A tabulated statement showing the object of each appropri- ation for the year, the amount appropriated, the amount expended, the balance unexpended or the amount overdrawn, if any, in each instance, and an itemized list of all unpaid bills and obligations.
(G) A classified statement of all expenditures and receipts of the Town in detail, so as to give a fair and full exhibit of the objects and methods of all expenditures.
Section 4. Officers, boards and committees submitting an annual report shall file the same with the Selectmen at least by January fif- teenth previous to the annual town meeting.
Section 5. All town officers, boards and committees shall notify the Town Clerk of their organization and of their office hours or times of stated meetings.
Section 6. No officer of the town shall, in his official capacity, make or pass upon or participate in making or passing upon, any sale, contract, or agreement or the amount or terms of any payment in which the Town is interested and in which such officer has any personal finan- cial interest, direct or indirect.
Section 7. No Town Officer and no salaried employee of the town or any agent of any such officer or employee, shall receive any com- pensation or commission for work done by him for the Town, except his official salary and fees allowed by law without the permission of the Selectmen expressed in a vote which shall appear on their records with the reason therefor.
Section 8. No contract involving an obligation of the Town ex- ceeding the sum of ($500.00) shall be binding upon the Town unless it is in writing and is signed by at least a majority of the board or com- mittee duly authorized or having control of the appropriation against which such obligation is incurred, and such board or committee shall make a record of every contract in a book which shall be the property of the Town. No contract or preliminary plans and specifications therefor shall be split or divided for the purpose of evading the pro- vision of this section.
Section 9. Every officer or board in charge of a department, and every committee of the Town, when authorized to purchase any sup- plies or property, or to do any public work, or erect, construct or re- pair any building, the cost of which exceeds Five Hundred ($500.00) Dollars, shall make a written contract therefor; and before executing
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any such contract, shall invite proposals therefor by advertising in one or more newspapers circulated in the Town of Plainville, such notice or proposals to state the time and place for opening proposals, and re- serving the right of such officer or board or committee to reject any or all bids or proposals.
Section 10. Every board or officer in charge of a department may, with the approval of the Selectmen, sell any personal property or ma- terial not required by such department not exceeding Three Hundred ($300.00) Dollars in value.
Section 11. Whenever any written contract is required by these by-laws it shall be approved by the Town Counsel and filed with the Town Treasurer.
Section 12. Except as otherwise provided by General Laws, whenever any contract with the Town is for One Thousand ($1,000.00) Dollars or more a bond or other security for the faithful performance of the provisions of such contract shall be required.
The amount of such bond or security shall be for an amount not less than the full contract price and all security shall be subject to the approval of the officer, agent, board or committee making such contract in behalf of the Town.
Section 13. No money shall be paid from the Town Treasury ex- cept the State and County Taxes, and notes and bonds and interest thereon, without a warrant therefor signed by the Selectmen or a ma- jority of them.
Section 14. All monies received by any department, or individual, from any source whatever, on account of the Town, shall be paid to the Town Treasurer who shall give a receipt therefor, and the same shall be credited to the account to which it belongs.
ARTICLE V
Selectmen
Section 1. The Selectmen shall have the general direction and management of the property and affairs of the Town in all matters not otherwise provided by law or by these by-laws.
Section 2. The Selectmen shall make, from time to time, such rules and regulations for the government, management and disposition of the police as they may deem expedient.
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Section 3. The Selectmen shall have full authority as agents of the Town, acting upon the advice of the Town Counsel, to settle any claims or suits against the Town which in their judgment cannot be successfully defended.
Section 4. The Selectmen may appear in the interest of the Town, either personally or by the Town Counsel or by special counsel, before any court, committee, or any State or County Board or Commis- sion; they shall have full authority as agents of the Town, acting upon the advice of Town Counsel or Special Counsel, to institute and prose- cute any and all necessary suits and proceedings in favor of the Town, and to appear and defend any and all suits and legal proceedings against or involving the Town's interest, except as it is otherwise pro- vided by law.
Section 5. All conveyances of land or interests in land or other Town property which may hereafter be authorized by a vote of the Town, or otherwise, shall be signed by a majority of the Board of Se- lectmen, unless otherwise provided by law or by vote of the Town, and shall be sealed with the Town seal.
Section 6. The Selectmen shall, immediately after every Town meeting at which any person is chosen or appointed to Town Office, file with the Town Clerk a list of such choice or appointment.
Section 7. The Selectmen shall designate one of its members as clerk who shall enter all its records, orders and proceedings in a bound book, which shall be placed in the custody of the Town Clerk, and shall be open to the inspection of any person at reasonable times.
ARTICLE VI Treasurer
Section 1. Before entering upon the duties of his office the Town Treasurer shall give bond to the Town, with good and sufficient surety, to be approved by the Selectmen. Said bond shall be upon condition that said Treasurer shall well and faithfully discharge the duties of his office during any and every period of his incumbency thereof.
Section 2. The Treasurer shall be the custodian of all fiduciary bonds except as hereafter provided, of all notes, bonds and coupons which have been paid, and all deeds, conveyances, releases and policies of insurance.
Section 3. The Treasurer shall keep a record of amounts and expirations of all policies of insurance and shall notify the Selectmen not less than ten days before such policies expire.
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