USA > Massachusetts > Plymouth County > Duxbury > Town annual report for the town of Duxbury for the year ending 1946-1950 > Part 23
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Section 8. ADMINISTRATION. (a) Enforcement.
"This By-Law shall be enforced by the Board of Select- men, either directly or by an inspector appointed by them ; and upon any well founded information as to a violation, the said Board shall take immediate steps to enforce this
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By-Law in any manner provided by law." No person shall erect or externally alter a building or other structure in this town without a permit from the selectmen granted upon application made to them upon a form prescribed by them. If the selectmen find that the construction, location and proposed use of the building or structure to which the application relates in the place specified in the application are authorized by this by-law, they shall grant such per- mit; otherwise they shall refuse it.
Under Article 34, Voted, that no action be taken at this time for the purpose of putting a tarvia surface on Vine and Cross Streets, but that the Selectmen be instructed to include Vine Street in the Chapter 90 program for 1949.
Under Article 35, Voted, to instruct the Selectmen to lay out that portion of Priscilla Avenue, so called, between White and Brewster Street.
Under Article 36, Voted, that no action be taken at this time to build the road known as Autumn Avenue from Summer Street through to Winter Street, but that the Selectmen be instructed to include Autumn Avenue in the Chapter 90 program for 1949.
Under Article 37, Voted, to raise and appropriate the sum of $104.00 to pay contributions to Contributory Re- tirements Systems on account of members thereof in the Military or Naval service, as provided in Chapter 708 of the Acts of 1941, as amended.
Under Article 38, Voted, to raise and appropriate the sum of $400.00 for the purpose of providing signs and markers to regulate traffic on town ways.
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Under Article 39, Which reads; "To see if the Town will raise and appropriate a sum of money for the con- struction of a sidewalk on Tremont Street in the Island Creek Section, or take any other action thereon. ... . "
This Article was defeated.
Under Article 40, which reads; "Will the Town vote to accept the street known as Wadsworth Road running be- tween Tremont Street and Bay Road through the property known as Wadsworth Longfellow Terrace, as laid out by the Selectmen and raise and appropriate a sum of money for its improvement, or take any other action relative thereto."
Voted, that this Article be deferred until the next Town Meeting.
A vote of thanks was extended to the Moderator for his gracious, courteous and efficient conduct of the meeting.
At 3:00 o'clock P.M. voted to adjourn.
JOSEPH T. C. JONES,
Town Clerk.
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ANNUAL TOWN ELECTION, MARCH 13, 1948
The polls were opened at 8 o'clock A.M. and closed at 7:30 P.M.
The ballot-box, after the absent ballots were deposited, indicated 231, 3 being absentee ballots, and 231 ballots were taken from the ballot-box.
Following is the result of the balloting for Town Officers :
SELECTMAN-for Three years :
Votes
Philip W. Delano
202
Kenneth Garside
8
Howard Clark
1
Pierce Murphy
1
Ralph Haller
1
Blanks 18
And Philip W. Delano was declared elected by the Moderator.
ASSESSOR-for Three years :
Votes
Philip W. Delano
202
Howard Clark
4
Kenneth Garside
4
Ralph Haller
1
Blanks
20
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And Philip W. Delano was declared elected by the Moderator.
MODERATOR-for One year : Votes
Harry B. Bradley 210
Harold Humphrey
1
Blanks 20
And Harry B. Bradley was declared elected.
MEMBER of the BOARD OF PUBLIC WELFARE
for Three years : Votes
Barbara S. Mullowney
188
Kenneth Garside
1
Howard Clark
1
Blanks 41
And Barbara S. Mullowney was declared elected by the Moderator.
CONSTABLES-for One year : Votes
Earl W. Chandler 201
Lawrence C. Doyle
214
James T. O'Neil 210
Blanks 68
And Earl W. Chandler, Lawrence C. Doyle and James T. O'Neil were declared elected by the Moderator.
SCHOOL COMMITTEE-for Three years Votes
George C. Scott 183
J. Newton Shirley 174
Oliver Barker 1
127
John Burns Virginia Craig Hector Holmes Blanks 101
1
1
1
And George C. Scott and J. Newton Shirley were de- clared elected by the Moderator.
CEMETERY TRUSTEE-for Five years : Votes
Ernest H. Bailey Blanks 27
204
And Ernest H. Bailey was declared elected by the Moderator.
CEMETERY TRUSTEE-for Three years: (Un-
expired Term) Votes
Stanley V. Johnson 204
Blanks 27
And Stanley V. Johnson was declared elected by the Moderator.
TREE WARDEN-for One year : Votes
Roy E. Parks
217
Blanks 14
And Roy E. Parks was declared elected by the Moderator.
MEMBER OF PLANNING BOARD-for Five years :
Votes
Kenneth G. Garside 189
Benjamin O. Dawes 1 Blanks 41
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And Kenneth G. Garside was declared elected by the Moderator.
Voted to adjourn.
JOSEPH T. C. JONES, Town Clerk.
Under Article 3, the following committee was appointed by the Moderator :
Harold P. Carver, William H. Couch and Roy F. Moody. Committee on Investigating Welfare Board.
Under Article 17, the following committee was appoint- ed by the Moderator :
Hector Holmes, Mrs. Kenneth Bunten and John Mar- shall.
Elementary School Committee.
Under Article 32, the folowing committee was appoint- ed by the Moderator :
Ralph T. Haller, Mrs. Arthur T. Chase and Benjamin F. Goodrich, Jr.
Regional High School Committee.
In compliance with Article 6, Section 1 of the Town By-Laws, the Moderator, Mr. Harry B. Bradley has appointed the following persons to act as a Finance Committee of the Town of Duxbury.
Francis W. Perry, William W. McCarthy and Clarence W. Walker. for 3 years.
Harry F. Swift, Paul C. Peterson and Howard M. Clark.
for 2 years.
Carlton H. Schaffer, Stephen A. Reed and Charles L. Eckersley. for 1 year.
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SPECIAL TOWN MEETING, JULY 9, 1948
At 8 o'clock P.M. the meeting was called to order by the Moderator Harry B. Bradley. The Warrant was read by the Town Clerk. The Tellers, Gilbert F. Redlon, John A. Borgeson, Clarence Snider, Helen Dawes, Philip G. Chand- ler, John E. Lucey, Harry McNaught and Frank H. Wil- liams were previously sworn in by the Town Clerk.
It was voted that a rule for this meeting would be that : No Motion to lay on the table or otherwise cut off debate will be in order until the proponents of an article have had an opportunity to be heard.
Under Article 1, Voted, to appropriate from available funds the sum of Fifty ($50.00) Dollars for the use of the Finance Committee.
Under Article 2, Voted, to appropriate from available funds the sum of $8.75 to pay unpaid bills of 1947.
(227 yes-0 no)
Under Article 3, Voted, that the report of the Com- mittee be accepted, that the committee be retained in office and that the Town accepts the responsibility and liability of all case and other records being made available to the committee in order to carry out their recommenda- tions, and that the Welfare Board be increased from three to five members at the earliest possible moment.
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REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE APPOINTED AT THE ANNUAL MEETING OF THE TOWN OF DUXBURY TO INVESTIGATE THE WELFARE DEPARTMENT
The committee reports its findings as follows :
1. The present method for advancing funds from the State and Federal authorities is, we believe, cumbersome. These funds are paid to the Town after expenditure re- ports are signed by the Welfare Department. These funds are paid to the Town's surplus and deficiency funds and cannot be returned to the Welfare Department, thus be- coming part of the Town's general collections. On the other hand, the Town must estimate each year its welfare requirements and raise in its general tax levy this esti- mated amount of money for the Welfare Department. This results in two inequities :
(a) That the estimate is usually high, so that a heavier tax burden than is necessary is levied upon the Town.
(b) The Town in reality advances funds which are later reimbursed, but there is a real difficulty in that the welfare budget is so swollen by this type of accounting . that it is difficult to explain the matter to the townspeople and, as a matter of fact, to estimate accurately-or even budget carefully.
We would, therefore, recommend that this accounting matter be studied carefully in company with the proper State Officials, with the idea that some proper adjustment could be made where the budgeting could be more accurate and the total funds to be raised at the Town's expense be reduced.
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2. A study of the State and Federal standard of living budget indicates that it is possible for families to obtain as high as $3,200.00 a year through the aid to dependent children clauses. However, the Welfare Department has no means of protecting themselves against such budgets, since they are standard and must be met. In our opinion, we would recommend a protest to the proper authorities with regard to these figures, in the hopes that a more real- istic cost of living budget might be developed.
3. A careful review of the current situation with the State authorities and our own Welfare Department in- dicated that a number of matters could be handled more expeditiously under the so-called "Policy Clause." To this end, it was suggested we develop a medical policy which, when placed on file with the State Department, would per- mit our obtaining, we believe, a more satisfactory medical result, both as to efficiency and cost. There is no implica- tion in this comment that the present situation is un- satisfactory ; we simply believe that money could be saved by following certain definite policies instead of relying en- tirely on the statutes-which is the method used by the Welfare Department at the present time.
4. We have had little or no opportunity to study indi- vidual cases, for the Town Counsel informs us that we have not been vested with the proper authority to obtain the welfare records. From what little we have heard of individual welfare cases, we are of the opinion that such records are necessary if we are to complete our work. We cannot proceed, however, any further without either more complete instructions from the Town or a revision of the opinion of the Town Counsel, since the Welfare Depart- ment would be in jeopardy if they delivered to us the records in view of the Town Counsel's opinion.
5. We would also recommend that the Welfare De-
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partment at this time be increased to five, with two of the members representing what might be called "the business approach", in order to ease the problem of the ladies in weighing certain specific problems.
In all our work, we have found the utmost co-operation from the Welfare Department and the State authorities and from Miss Deans. We have found nothing in our search that would indicate that the Welfare Department has been handled other than in good faith or with other than strict interpretation of the statutes under which the Welfare Department must operate.
We are appreciative of the courtesy extended, and while our work has not been completed to our own satisfaction due to our failure to obtain the individual welfare reports held by the Welfare Committee, we trust that our find- ings will be of some benefit. In view of this inability, and since we have, we believe, covered the ground as thorough- ly as possible with the amount of information available, we respectfully request our discharge from this appoint- ment.
HAROLD P. CARVER, WILLIAM H. COUCH, ROY F. MOODY,
Under Article 4, Voted to accept the road known as Wadsworth Longfellow Terrace as laid out by the Select- men from Bay Road extending westerly 1,000 feet and that the sum of $2.000.00 be appropriated from available funds, to make necessary improvements.
Under Article 5, Voted to appropriate from available funds the sum of One Hundred Fifty ($150.00) dollars to defray legal expenses incurred by an employee of the Town in the defense of a claim against him for bodily in-
!
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juries arising out of the operation of a motor vehicle owned by the Town while said employee was acting in the scope of his official duties or employment, as provided by Sec. 100-A of Ch. 41, of the General Laws, which the Town accepted under Article 28 of the Town Meeting held March 5, 1944.
Under Article 6, a substitute motion that no action be taken on this Article was voted down and it was Voted to appropriate from available funds the following amounts for the following purposes :
AID TO DEPENDENT CHILDREN $4,763.31
OLD AGE ASSISTANCE 10,388.75
SELECTMEN'S DEPARTMENT 300.00
Voted, that Article 12, 13, and 14 be taken up before Article 7.
Under Article 12, Voted that the report given by Mr. Haller be accepted and the "Door kept open" for further consideration.
REPORT OF THE REGIONAL HIGH SCHOOL
COMMITTEE, DUXBURY, MASSACHUSETTS
To All Voters :
July 7, 1948
At the last annual Town Meeting, as directed by the voters of Duxbury, a committee to explore the possibili- ties of a regional high school was appointed by the Moderator.
This committee has held a series of meetings, many of
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them with similar committees from the other towns in the Old Colony Regional High School District. This has resulted in our belief that regional planning has decided merits. Now that the General Court has passed legisla- tion which removes regional planning from the wishful stage to the immediate present, we feel that Duxbury should and must continue to explore and investigate fully the potentials of the regional high school question.
EDUCATIONAL ADVANTAGES OF A REGIONAL HIGH SCHOOL
1. Broader program of studies more economically pro- vided.
This is especially true in the field of the sciences, the manual arts, and extra-curricular activities. Larger and better equipped laboratories will be available. More shop space and facilities will be developed so that there may be offerings in fields other than wood-working; and for girls a broader program in home-making and home manage- ment. The program in music, art and physical education will be greatly enriched.
For the student preparing for college or study in a higher institution, the course in itself probably would not be so different in content since the colleges more or less dictate the courses to be followed, but it would be broadened by the increase in the number and variety of minds engaging in it.
2. Greater and keener competition among pupils where- by good students may be stimulated to greater effort.
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3. Development of broader community interests and morale through a study of inter-community problems. This experience becomes a form of world-living in miniature.
4. Creation of a broader social environment which is especially desirable for students not going to college.
5. Better teaching. Better salaries could be paid to more experienced and better trained teachers. Although some of the classes might be larger, the number of subjects assigned to a teacher would be fewer, thus permitting concentration in special fields without assignments in scattered subject matter areas.
The disadvantages urged against a regional high school are :
1. The loss of local identity. All small towns that have local high schools are proud that they can offer such education to their young people. If, on the other hand, education is designed to provide the greatest good for the largest number, how can this be better accomplished for the small towns than through a regional high school?
2. A lessening of teacher-pupil contacts and interests. This is not necessarily true, for both contacts and interests are largely the result of personality.
STATE ACTION
In the opinion of your committee, the recent enactment by the state legislature of two bills is perhaps the most important event that has taken place to date in the course of regional high school planning in this district. This state action has served three purposes :
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1. It outlines a definite procedure whereby the towns in- terested may pursue a careful and complete study of the regional high school question.
2. It sets up a time Schedule for this work so that all towns participating may receive the results of the study with reasonable dispatch.
3. It provides very generous state aid, both financial and technical to encourage and facilitate regional high school planning and, in the event the towns ultimately decide to build, financial aid in meeting the costs of construction. These two legislative acts are Chapter 280 and Chapter 645 of the Acts of 1948.
CHAPTER 280
Chapter 280 provides for the creation of the Old Colony High School District Planning Committee to consist of one member appointed by the finance committee, one by the school committee and one by the board of selectmen of each town which votes to accept the provisions of the act. This committee is instructed to study :
1. The advisability of forming a regional high school district.
2. All phases of the organization, operation and control of such a district.
3. Estimated costs of constructing a regional high school.
4. Estimated costs of operating such a school.
5. Methods of apportioning these costs among the sev- eral towns.
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6. All other matters pertaining to the organization and operation of a regional high school district as the committee deems necessary.
As regards the element of time, a schedule is set up whereby the first report by the joint committee will be made to the selectmen of each town on or before January 1, 1949. All proposed legislation dealing with the opera- tion of the district must be filed with the General Court not later than December 1. 1949. Finally. this time sched- ule is further carried out by Chapter 645 which ceases to be operative on June 13, 1951, thereby making it neces- sary that construction be started on a regional high school by that date if it is to become eligible for financial aid from the State.
Chapter 280 further provides that a special town meet- ing shall be called in the current year for the purpose of voting upon the acceptance of this act in each of the towns of Duxbury, Halifax, Hanson, Hanover, Kingston, Marsh- field, Norwell, Pembroke and Plympton. The act be- comes effective if thus accepted by four or more of the said towns.
Chapter 645 is an act to encourage the establishment of regional and consolidated public schools. Duxbury's proposed elementary building or elementary addition would be classified as a "consolidated" school and under the provisions of the act would be eligible if approved by the state for a construction grant. The regional high school building being considered in this area would obviously be classified as a "regional" high school and under the formula set up by the act would be eligible if approved by the state for a construction grant amounting to approximately 33% of its approved cost. This per- centage could vary somewhat, depending upon which final combination of towns was involved. In the judge-
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ment of your committee, the figure given above would in all probability be very nearly correct. However, at the Special Town Meeting on July 9, an analysis of the possible combinations of the participating towns will be presented.
The provisions of Chapter 645, however, which are of more immediate interest to us at this time, are those which provide financial aid for making surveys, studies, preliminary plans and estimates of costs. Section 4 of the act states : "The powers and duties of the commission shall be, generally, to encourage and foster the establish- ment and building of consolidated and regional or union public schools in and among the cities and towns of the Commonwealth, to conduct surveys and studies relative thereto, and to administer the provisions of this act relative to grants to cities and towns for the planning and construction of school buildings. The commission is hereby specifically authorized to make contracts for sur- veys or other technical services within the scope of its duties, to provide legal, architectural or other technical advice and assistance to cities and towns or to joint com- mittees thereof in the planning and establishment of re- gional or consolidated schools.
Section 6 of the act further states: "Any city, town. or regional school building committee, may apply to the com- mission for reimbursement, in whole or in part, of any expenses incurred on or after January first, nineteen hun- dred and forty-six, in the preparation of preliminary studies, plans, drawings, and estimates for a consolidated or regional school. Such application shall be accompanied by copies of such plans, drawings, and estimates, together with such additional information as the commission may require. The said commission may, if it is satisfied that the plans so submitted are satisfactory with respect to site, type, and adequacy of the proposed construction for
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an approved school project and in the best interests of the respective towns, and that the expenses so incurred are reasonable, certify to the comptroller for payment to such city, town, or regional committee such amount, not exceeding such expenses, as it may deem proper, and the treasurer shall forthwith make the payment so certified from any funds appropriated therefor."
It is the opinion of your committee that what Chapter 645 does in effect, is to underwrite the expenses of Chapter 280. We base our opinion upon the passages underlined in the Sections quoted above. We feel further that it is our duty to point out to the town that Chapter 280 by itself provides only that the joint committee may incur expense not exceeding, in the aggregate, fifty thousand dollars, that it shall avail itself of state and federal funds and that it shall determine by vote the amount neces- sary to be raised by the towns accepting the act. Thus, if our interpretation of Chapter 645 is incorrect, or if funds are not made available, it is then left to the discretion of the joint committee formed under Chapter 280 to set the amount (within the limit of fifty thousand dollars) which shall be spent in aggregate by the four or more towns accepting the act.
It is the considered opinion of your committee that both of these acts of legislation were written and passed with the intent of implementing regional high school planning and construction and that they reflect the desire of the Department of Education to encourage the same. We feel that the town will be taking no risk whatever if it accepts the provisions of Chapter 280, and that by so doing it will at last make available to the town complete and accurate data and figures on all phases of this important matter.
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We strongly recommend that under Article 14 the town vote to accept the provisions of Chapter 280 of the Acts of 1948.
Respectfully submitted,
RALPH T. HALLER, Chairman MRS. ARTHUR T. CHASE BENJAMIN F. GOODRICH, Jr. Regional High School Committee.
Under Article 13, Voted to accept Chapter 280 of the Acts of 1948, which provides as follows: 222 yes-67 no.
"An Act Providing for the Creation of an Old Colony High School District Planning Committee.
"Section 1. A special unpaid committee, to be known as the Old Colony High School District Planning Com- mittee, hereinafter called the committee, is hereby created, to consist of one member appointed by the finance or advisory committee, one by the school committee, and one by the board of selectmen of each town which votes to accept the provisions of this act as provided by section nine. Any vacancy in the committee shall be filled by the authority which appointed the member whose service has been terminated.
"Section 2. The committee shall study the advisability of forming a union high school district, to be known as the Old Colony High School District, its organization, opera- tion and control, and the construction of a high school building to serve the needs of the district, with the es- timated construction and operation cost and the financial arrangements therefor, and all other matters pertaining to the organization and operation of a union high school
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district as the committee considers necessary and proper and shall make a report of its findings and recommenda- tions to the selectmen of the several towns which accept this act not later than January first, nineteen hundred and forty-nine.
"Section 3. The committee shall prepare and submit to the general court, and to the selectmen of the several towns, not later than December first, nineteen hundred and forty-nine, such drafts of legislation as it may deem necessary to carry out its recommendations.
"Section 4. The committee is authorized to employ such experts, architects, consultants and clerical assistants, and to incur such other expense not exceeding in the ag- gregate, fifty thousand dollars, as it may deem necessary. To meet such expenses the committee may accept and use for the purposes of this act sums of money received as gifts or contributions from any source and funds from the commonwealth or federal government which may be available, and shall by vote determine an amount neces- sary for the purposes of this act to be raised by the four or more towns which accept this act in accordance with the provisions of section nine.
"Section 5. The committee shall apportion the amount which it determines to be necessary as provided in the preceding section among the several towns which accept this act on the basis of the taxable valuation of said municipalities as last established by the general court as a basis of apportionment of state and county taxes; and shall promptly thereafter notify in writting the treasurer of each of said towns of the amount of such apportion- ment. Upon the receipt of such notice, for the purpose of providing the necessary funds to meet the amount of the apportionment, unless the amount due is provided by a special town meeting called for the purpose held within
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