USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Lincoln > Town Report on Lincoln 1930-1934 > Part 30
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Sec. 5. When a question is before the meeting, the follow- ing motions, to wit:
To fix the time to which to adjourn,
To lay on the table,
For the previous question, by 3 vote,
To postpone to a time certain,
To commit, recommit, or refer.
To amend,
To postpone indefinitely,
shall be received and shall have the precedence in the foregoing order; and the first three shall be decided without debate.
Sec. 6. On proposed amendments involving sums of money, the larger or largest amount shall be put to the ques- tion first, and an affirmative vote thereon shall be a negative vote on any smaller amount.
Sec. 7. When a report of a committee is placed in the hands of the Moderator, it shall be deemed to be properly before the meeting for its action thereon, and a vote to accept the same shall discharge the committee; for the adoption of the recommendations of the committee, however, a specific vote shall be required. No appropriation shall be made under the report of any committee of the town until the matter has been considered and reported upon by the Finance Committee.
ARTICLE II
Finances
Section 1. The town treasurer shall have the custody of all funds belonging to the town, including trust funds, except
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funds for which other provision is made by law. Except as provided in Section 4 in this Article, he shall pay no money from the treasury except upon a warrant signed by a majority of the Selectmen, stating the account to which the same is chargeable. Such warrant shall be sufficient authority to the treasurer to pay the same, and the payment thereof shall discharge him from all liability on account of the money so paid.
Sec. 2. The water commissioners and all other boards, committees and officers shall, on the first day of each month, pay to the town treasurer all sums collected by them the month previous to the custody of which the treasurer is entitled.
Sec. 3. A majority of the water commissioners, school committee, or of any board, or committee, and any officer having charge of the expenditure of an appropriation, shall approve in writing all accounts, claims, bills and pay-rolls properly chargeable to such appropriation, and shall transmit the same with his or their approval to the selectmen. All other accounts, claims, bills and pay-rolls shall be examined by the selectmen and, if proper, shall be approved by them. The selectmen shall label all accounts, claims, bills and pay- rolls which have been approved either by themselves or by the other officers before mentioned, and shall keep a record thereof in a book kept for the purpose, stating the persons to whom payable, the amounts and dates thereof, and the funds, or appropriations, from which the same are payable.
Sec. 4. No money except State and County taxes, and principal and interest of town notes or bonds, final judgments of courts and money payable to the commissioners of sinking funds, shall be paid from the town treasury except upon a warrant therefor signed by a majority of the selectmen.
Sec. 5. The treasurer shall file and safely keep all approved and receipted accounts, claims, bills, and pay-rolls, and all
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vouchers, cancelled bonds, notes, scrip and other evidences of indebtedness of the town which have been paid from the treasury, except as otherwise provided by law, the treasurer shall have the custody of deeds, bonds, contracts, insurance policies, and other similar documents owned by the town, except that the bond given by the treasurer to the town shall be in the custody of the selectmen.
Sec. 6. No warrant shall be issued by the Selectmen unless there is sufficient appropriation to pay the same, except for money payable to the commissioners of sinking funds.
Sec. 7. The selectmen and treasurer respectively shall make a record, in a book kept for the purpose, of each appro- priation, with a list of the drafts drawn against such appropriation, and shall make a record of all bonds, notes, scrip or other evidence of indebtedness of the town, signed or countersigned by them.
Sec. 8. When the bills contracted or approved by any board, committee, or officer have exhausted the entire appro- priation for such board, committee, or officer, they shall incur no further expenditure, except in such cases where such expenditure may be required by law; and it shall be the duty of each board, committee or officer before the close of the financial year to approve all accounts, claims, bills and pay- rolls chargeable to their appropriation. During the interval between the thirty-first day of December in each year and the time of making the next annual appropriations, town officers authorized to make expenditures may incur liability in carry- ing on the work intrusted to them and payments therefor shall be made from the town treasury from any available funds therein, and the same shall be charged against the next annual appropriation. Such liability and expenditure incurred for any purpose shall not exceed in any month the sums spent for similar purposes during any one month of the
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preceding year; and, provided, further, that said officers may expend in any one month for any new officer or board lawfully created an amount not exceeding one-twelfth of the estimated cost for the current year. All interest and debt falling due in said period shall be paid.
Sec. 9. Unless the town shall expressly otherwise vote, no extension of water pipes shall be made unless before the work of construction is begun one or more of the persons whom it is proposed to supply with water by means of such extension, shall file with the town clerk a bond with sureties satisfactory to the water commissioners, conditioned to pay to the town for five years next following the completion of such extension and the letting of water into the same, a sum sufficient, together with the net annual income from such extension, to amount annually to five per centum of the total cost thereof.
Sec. 10. There shall be a Finance Committee composed of three voters of the Town who shall serve without pay and shall not, while serving on said committee, hold any other town office. Within thirty days after the adjournment of the Town Meeting at which this By-Law is adopted, the Moderator shall appoint three persons to serve on said Com- mittee, one person for a term of three years, one person for a term of two years, and one person for a term of one year. Thereafter the Moderator shall appoint, within thirty days after the adjournment of every Annual Town Meeting, one person to serve on said Committee for a period of three years. The members of the Committee shall hold office until their successors are appointed and qualified, and any vacancy shall be filled by the remaining members of the committee and the Moderator. The Committee shall choose a chairman and a secretary and shall, prior to the Annual Town Meeting, con- fer with the Selectmen for consideration of the annual budget, and may hold public hearings. The Committee shall consider all questions that require the expenditures of money and shall
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consult with all boards, committees, or officers on their respec- tive annual or special requests for appropriations. The Committee shall make reports and recommendations in the Annual Town Report or by special report on any question brought before the Town at a Town Meeting other than the Annual Town Meeting.
Sec. 11. Within forty-eight hours after the dissolution or adjournment without day of any Town Meeting, the Town clerk shall transmit to the Selectmen, to the town treasurer, to the auditor, and to the assessors respectively, a certified copy of all votes appropriating money or authorizing the expenditure of money or otherwise affecting the finances of the Town, and within the same period the town clerk shall transmit to all other town officers or committees a certified copy of any vote of the Town affecting their respective powers or duties.
ARTICLE III Town Seal
Section 1. The design of the town seal shall be: a circle, in the border the words "Lincoln. Incorporated in 1746 as a precinct; in 1754 as a Town"; in the center, a shield, in the chief or upper part of which on a cross, gules, a fleur-de-lis, gold, from the old seal of Lincoln, England, and in the base of the shield a view of the present town hall; crest, the old chestnut tree standing upon the common in Lincoln; in saltire two shepherd's crooks; the device thereof being as follows:
Sec. 2. All deeds and other legal documents made, given or entered into by the Town requiring a seal shall be sealed with the Town seal, and signed in behalf of the Town by a majority of the Selectmen.
Sec. 3. The town clerk shall have the custody of the Town seal.
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ARTICLE IV Powers and Duties of Officers
Section 1. The Selectmen shall have general direction and management of the property and affairs of the Town in all matters not otherwise provided by the law of the Common- wealth or by these by-laws.
Sec. 2. The selectmen may compromise claims and suits to which the Town is a party, provided that they shall act upon the advice of counsel when the amount claimed by or against the Town exceeds $200.00.
Sec. 3. The selectmen shall have, unless it is otherwise voted by the Town, full authority as agents of the Town to institute and prosecute suits or other proceedings in the name of the Town before any tribunal, to appear and represent or defend the Town before any tribunal in all suits and other proceedings against the Town or in which the Town has an interest, to employ counsel for the purpose aforesaid, and for other purposes when it may be expedient to do so, and to take all necessary and proper measures for the protection of the interests and rights of the Town.
Sec. 4. If the Town shall, at any meeting called for the purpose, choose a committee on claims, such committee shall have and exercise exclusively all the powers and duties con- ferred upon the selectmen by the two preceding sections.
Sec. 5. The town clerk shall keep a file of all town reports, reports of all committees chosen by the Town, and all original documents relating to the affairs of the Town which may come into his possession. It shall be the duty of the town clerk to see that all conveyances of real estate to the town are properly recorded in the Registry of Deeds.
Sec. 6. The collector of taxes shall cause to be printed upon each tax bill a statement of the law relative to the date when taxes are payable, the rate of interest charged on unpaid
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taxes, and the valuation upon which such tax is based and, in case a tax bill covers two or more parcels of real estate, the tax bill shall be itemized by the assessors to show the tax on each parcel which shall be identified.
Sec. 7. No officer or board of the Town shall make any contract on behalf of the Town in which such officer or any member of such board is directly or indirectly financially interested, except competitive contracts.
Sec. 8. Except in cases of public calamity or extreme necessity, whenever any work is required to be done for the Town and a contract for labor or materials, or both is to be made in behalf of the Town, for an amount exceeding the sum of $500.00, the town officer, having the matter in charge, shall solicit proposals for the same from two or more reliable parties, regularly engaged or employed in such work or busi- ness, or shall publicly advertise for bids, but no contract shall be split, separated or divided for the purpose of reducing the amount thereof below said sum of $500.00.
Sec. 9. The Commissioners of trust funds shall act as the grammar school fund trustees.
ARTICLE V Records
Section 1. Books, records and laws received by the Town from the Commonwealth shall be deposited in the public library building.
Sec. 2. It shall be the duty of the Town officer by whom any book mentioned in the preceding section is received, to cause the same to be at once deposited in the public library building.
Sec. 3. Such books may be used by the inhabitants of the Town within such building, and may be taken therefrom upon written receipt to the librarian for a period not exceeding
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one day at any one time for use in any Town meeting, or by or before any committee or official of the Town.
ARTICLE VI Reports and Publications by the Town
Section 1. The annual reports of the Town officers, boards and committees shall be prepared and submitted to the select- men in form suitable for printing on or before the twentieth day of January in each year. The selectmen shall cause such reports to be printed and one copy to be distributed to each house in the Town seven days at least before the annual meeting.
Sec. 2. The selectmen shall cause to be printed and bound each year with the annual reports of the town officers, boards and committees, a copy of the records of the town meetings during the preceding year ; a statement of all devises, bequests and donations to the Town during the preceding year; a list of all laws of the Commonwealth accepted by the Town dur- ing the year; all by-laws adopted by the Town since the pre- ceding annual report; copies of the laying out, alteration, locating anew or discontinuance of any highway or townway within the limits of the Town during the preceding year; and a statement of all outstanding bonds, notes and obligations of the Town for the payment for money.
Sec. 3. The selectmen shall from time to time cause to be printed a sufficient number of copies of the by-laws of the Town and shall incorporate therewith a list of the laws of the Commonwealth which have been accepted by the Town.
ARTICLE VII Water Works
Section 1. The water commissioners may appoint a water registrar who, under the direction of said board, shall take
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and tabulate prior to June first of any year a complete census of the water fixtures connected with the water works which are then in use and report the same to the board, assess the rates, and perform any other duties required by the board.
Sec. 2. The board shall transmit the assessments for water rates to the collector of taxes, who shall collect the same and turn the proceeds over to the town treasurer the first of every month.
Sec. 3. Water taxes shall be payable to the collector in advance the first day of July in each year.
Sec. 4. No tap for a service shall be made until the board votes for it, and the board may demand a suitable deposit before allowing the tap.
Sec. 5. Upon the non-payment of the water rates by October fifteenth of the year in which they are due, the collec- tor shall serve a summons upon the delinquent; and, unless said rates are paid within ten days thereafter, together with twenty cents for said summons, the collector shall notify the superintendent, who shall shut off the water, and it then shall not be turned on until the amount due, together with the twenty cents for the summons and one dollar for the shutting off and one dollar for the turning on, is paid. Said summons may be served in any of the ways provided by law for the service of a summons for the non-payment of a tax.
Sec. 6. The said board may make abatements in the water rates in such cases as it may deem proper; and may tempo- rarily shut off the water from any street after giving notice of their intention so to do.
Sec. 7. Said board shall keep suitable books in which shall be entered the names of all water-takers and the amount charged; which books shall be open to inspection.
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ARTICLE VIII
Repeal
Section 1. All by-laws or parts of by-laws heretofore adopted, which are inconsistent with the provisions of the foregoing by-laws, except the zoning by-law, are hereby repealed and annulled; but the provisions of the foregoing by- laws, so far as they are the same as the provisions of by-laws heretofore adopted, shall be construed as a continuation of said by-laws, and not as new enactments.
Sec. 2. The repeal of a By-Law heretofore adopted shall not affect any act done, ratified or confirmed, or any right accrued or established, nor any action, suit or proceeding commenced or had, nor affect any punishment, penalty, or forfeiture incurred under such by-law.
A true copy attest: -
WILLIAM H. DAVIS, Town Clerk.
Boston, Mass., May 16, 1933.
The foregoing by-laws are hereby approved.
JOSEPH E. WARNER, Attorney General.
Laws of the Commonwealth Accepted by the Town of Lincoln
Chapter 244 of the Acts of 1911.
Sections 21-25, Chapter 78. Chapter 635 of the Acts of 1912.
Chapter 40. Section 23, Chapter 39.
Section 3, Chapter 143. Section 73, Chapter 41.
ANNUAL REPORT
OF THE
SCHOOL COMMITTEE
OF THE
TOWN OF LINCOLN
FOR THE
SCHOOL YEAR 1933
NCOL
S.A.PT
NEWTON GARDEN CITY PRESS, INC. 1934
140
SCHOOL COMMITTEE
ANTHONY J. DOHERTY GLADYS DE YONGH HERMAN
ROLAND C. MACKENZIE, M.D. (to fill vacancy)
HARRY M. CONDIT, JR., Deceased
Term expires 1934
Term expires 1936
Term expires 1934
Term expires 1935
Superintendent of Schools CARL F. HOLLORAN
Teachers Junior High School FLORENCE E. WHEELER BARBARA PRICE MARJORIE M. HOWARD
Grade Six ISABELLE McBREEN
Grade Five ETHEL J. BOYCE
Grade Four THELMA GODDARD
Grade Three FLORENCE JACKSON
Grade Two ESTHER R. COMER
Grade One JOSEPHINE C. DOHERTY
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Supervisor of Music
WILLIAM H. TAUNTON
Supervisor of Manual Training
School Nurse
E. W. BURCKES MRS. MARIAN OBER
School Physician
HENRY A. WOOD, M.D.
Janitor, Center School
WILLIAM HARRINGTON
Janitor, South School
Attendance Officer
PATRICK LENNON J. J. KELLIHER
CALENDAR OF THE SCHOOL YEAR
-
Mid-Winter Term, begins January 8, 1934, ends February 16: 6 weeks.
Spring Term, begins February 26, ends April 13: 7 weeks. Summer Term, begins April 23, ends June 15: 8 weeks.
Fall Term, begins September 5, ends December 21 : 16 weeks.
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REPORT OF SCHOOL COMMITTEE
-
To the Voters of Lincoln:
Although your Committee in carrying out a program of economy that was general throughout all departments of the Town was more or less handicapped in not being able to do all that was desired, it is happy to say that through the efforts of the Superintendent, teachers, and others connected with the School organization, the character of the work and the high standing of the Schools has been maintained. For this co- operation by teachers and others, the Committee wishes to express its fullest appreciation.
As officers of the Town entrusted with the expenditure of its largest single appropriation, your Committee are not un- mindful of its responsibilities to the tax-payers. Yet it must be admitted that the first responsibility resting on the Com- mittee is that of maintaining in its Schools the high standard and efficiency consistent with the needs-and they should also have in mind that the citizens of the Town would wish to give, without indulging in extravagance, every facility and oppor- tunity to acquire the best possible instruction for those attend- ing the Schools. This has always been the aim of the Com- mittee; and, from its experience in this endeavor, it has had brought forcibly to its attention the one fact; that to acquire the best necessarily incurs cost consistent with its quality. In other words, if the best is to be procured it will have to be paid for accordingly.
The Committee is in full realization of the fact that the whole country generally is still in an unsettled condition and that economy should still be the watchword. In preparing the budget, this fact is kept constantly before it, but it also real- izes that it owes a very positive duty to the citizens and to their children to maintain their Schools at the highest standard of efficiency, and when the choice comes between rigid economy
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and high standard of efficiency the Committee feel that to a certain reasonable degree, the former should give way to the latter. In this stand, the Committee feels that it will have the whole-hearted support of the citizens.
At this time your Committee would like to call the attention of the parents to certain matters that are deemed quite im- portant-in the judgment of the Committee a very important matter that it believes is not fully understood by parents whose children attend High Schools outside the Town, and also the pupils themselves, is that of jurisdiction and disci- plinary control. In order that there may be no misunder- standing as to this matter in the future, the Committee de- sires to state that all pupils attending such Schools and for whom tuition and transportation is furnished and paid for by the Town, are at all times under the charge and control of the Superintendent and School Committee of the Town of Lincoln.
It is one of the duties of the Superintendent to follow the work of these pupils and to satisfy himself and also the Com- mittee that they are doing the work required of them. While the Town is obligated to furnish tuition and transportation to these pupils, it is not required to continue in the Schools any pupil, who in the judgment of the Superintendent and the Committee, does not accomplish the work required of them, and whose only aim, apparently, is to do as little work as pos- sible in order to "get by," and in certain cases do not "get by." The cost of tuition and transportation to Concord High School per pupil each year is approximately $180.00, and to Waltham High School nearly the same amount; therefore, the Com- mittee feel that it would not be doing its full duty if it per- mitted the expenditure of such an amount when such expendi- ture was not justified by the results. We hope parents will have this matter in mind at all times and try to impress the same upon those who come under their charge.
Another matter in which the parent could give most valu- able assistance to the Superintendent comes in connection with the selection by the pupil of the course of study he or
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she is to pursue on entering the Junior High School and to follow through in the Senior High School. Very often the pupil is permitted to make his own selection and also some times, at the request of the parent, he takes a course of study for which he is not (or in the judgment of Superintendent may not be) equipped. The ultimate result in such cases is a floundering around by the pupil and the creation of a dislike for this particular course. He later changes to another course and finally after three years or more of this unsettled con- dition, and perhaps graduating, has very little to show for so many years of school attendance. We would urge that in this most important matter the parents confer with both teachers and Superintendent before such election is made. They will find them at all times very ready and willing to co-operate and advise as to the course that is best adapted in their judgment for this pupil. What has been said respect- ing the advice and co-operation of the Superintendent and teachers to those attending the higher schools also applies to those in the elementary classes. It is their desire and aim to at all times meet the parents and to accept and offer such suggestions as they may feel will be of assistance in accomplish- ing such results as may be specifically desired. It is noted that more parents are taking an interest in the work the schools are doing and it is sincerely hoped that this interest will continue to grow, for in no other way can it be better known what result is being attained and what the tax-payer is receiving for his contribution toward the support of the schools.
In the report of the Superintendent will be found references to the Chadwick Clinic, also the Posture Survey as conducted by Mr. Fradd. Both of these have contributed materially to the School Health Program and the Committee, on behalf of the Town, wishes to extend to those responsible for such serv- ices their thanks and appreciation.
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Transportation
The only change in transportation during the year came in connection with the need of additional facilities to transport more than the usual number of pupils to Concord. This was because of the fact that all of the graduating class of June elected to go to Concord, this making 38 pupils. Accom- modations were found to be inadequate, in that the bus then in use could not carry all. This was remedied by the purchase of a larger bus by Doherty's Garage, in which ample room is now provided for all.
School Buildings and Grounds
Both school buildings, outside of minor matters, are in very good condition. Occasional leaks have appeared in both buildings and have been repaired promptly. The tower on the Centre School, however, should have attention in the near future because of the action of water on part of the wooden structure. Upon examination made, it appears that the foundations or base of the pillars supporting the dome have become more or less rotted and if permitted to continue in this condition for any length of time may become dangerous. It is hoped that through the assistance of the Civil Works Adminis- tration Program, many of these minor repairs may be attended to in the near future. The Superintendent is preparing a list of such matters as should have immediate attention and it is hoped that this project will meet the approval of this admin- istration.
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