USA > Massachusetts > Plymouth County > Plymouth > Town annual report of Plymouth, MA 1915-1916 > Part 18
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Article seven :
Mr. Elmer E. Avery moved, that the Town appropriate the sum of five hundred dollars in addition to the amount appro- priated March 25, 1916, for the proposed improvements at the Beach Park bath house, and that said sum of five hundred dollars be added to the tax levy of the current year and assessed upon the polls and estates of the inhabitants of the Town of Plymouth, sixty-seven voting in the affirmative and none in the negative, the necessary two-thirds having voted in the af- firmative, the motion was carried.
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Report of the Selectmen.
REPORT OF THE SELECTMEN FOR THE YEAR ENDING DECEMBER 31, 1916.
We herewith present our annual report for the year ending Dec. 31st, 1916. The conduct of the different departments has been of a very satisfactory nature. In the Road Department the rains of last spring caused a great deal of trouble in wash- ing the newly repaired gravel roads, causing much of this work to require doing over. This, while unavoidable, was an ex- pensive proposition. There seems, however, no other method of handling the side streets with their excessive grades than repairing with gravel. The outlying districts have received the usual amount of attention and the roads generally are in good condition. There are one or two exceptions to this state- ment. On the old Sandwich road a saw mill has been estab- lished and the teaming of logs from there to the State High- way has made the road actually impassible for automobiles. This has caused a great inconvenience to the people living on that road in that locality as it has been found that delivery teams are reluctant to drive in there. This condition, it is hoped, will be cured as soon as the weather permits of laboring on the roads. The condition of the Nook Road (so called) leading from Sandwich Street to the South Pond Road also calls for some improvement as that also gets nearly impassible at times. A small expenditure will cure this.
Plymouth two
.
Le d ed of in af-
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Samoset Street.
The work of macadamizing Samoset Street was commenced quite late in the season. 'The work has gone forward, however, very satisfactorily and another week or two of warm weather would have completed it. It is possible, however, to go through to the Darby Road at all times, and a little work in the spring will finish this. The road is built as a bituminous macadam and is well shaped and we think will prove to be an exceedingly serviceable road as we have built somewhat heavier than usual. The stone used was all local stone thus keeping the money in town as well as furnishing work to teams that would otherwise have been idle. With a suitable amount of yearly supervision this road should last an indefinite period. With a resurfacing of the Darby road we shall have one of the best approaches that any town can have.
Warren Avenue.
This street has at last been surfaced by the Highway Com- mission and the necessary work of clearing up and rebuilding sidewalks has progressed as fast as the weather would permit. There has been a number of damage claims by parties who were not just satisfied with conditions. These have mostly been settled amicably. There are some, however, that we have been unable to reach any agreement with and these cases are still pending. The awards in some cases have been slightly in- creased as it appeared that more land was taken than the plan on which the Selectmen figured called for. The road bed is a great improvement over the old one and with the added width should make this highway much safer than before. It
remains now to keep the automobile travel down to a reasonable rate of speed and it is the duty of all the dwellers on the avenue to cooperate with the officers and report any cases of undue speeding that they notice.
The matter of the outlying roads is one that the town will
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have to take up at no distant day. These roads are now re- paired every year and made fairly passible. But the general condition of these roads from year to year is one of deteriora- tion. And some time they will have to be entirely rebuilt. It would seem to the Seelctmen that a section of the more impor- tant roads should be made each year of some more permanent material. We would advise putting in a short section on the Long Pond road, of bituminous material. This would result eventually in surfacing this road with a pavement that would stand the usual travel of that road and would not have to be done over again every year. We recommend an appropriation for this purpose.
The Highway from Jabez Corner to the Bourne line at Saga- more is now a State Highway and the Town is relieved of the maintenance of this. The State is also surfacing the road from the bank of the Canal to the State Highway at Swift's Corner. This will relieve us from any further expenditure there for a long time. But with the approach of 1920 it would seem that the policy of the Town should be to get all of its incom- ing arteries of travel in as good condition as possible so that visitors from whatever direction may receive as good an im- pression of Plymouth as may be.
There is a serious condition at the foot of Cherry Street on Standish Avenue. There is a tremendous collection of sur- face water there that comes from the hills in all directions. Some method of carrying this water off must be devised as the street at times, especially in the winter, is impassible for the school children. It may be that by raising the grade of the adjoining lots that the water may be carried down Standish Avenue to the northwest and disposed of. The situation at the junction of Russell Street and Court has been partially re- lieved. The water that formerly came down Russell Street and went north on Court Street has now been carried across under Court Street and sent down Brewster Street. This has made the street much better. It was also proposed to surface the
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westerly side of Court Street across the car track, including the gutter, but the Department was unable to get to this in time to finish it this season. This will probably be done as soon as the weather will permit and will add a very considerable area to the usable part of the street.
The Board last year recommended that Sandwich Street from the foot of Market Street to the head of Water Street be sur- faced. This was not sanctioned by the committee of fifteen. We still think, however, that this is a very necessary piece of work. The road is a sort of gutter for the foot of Spring Hill and Pleasant Street and is in a muddy and disreputable con- dition most of the time. If the road was macadamized it would be possible to maintain a proper grade to carry off the water and would remove an eyesore from the very center of the town. We recommend an appropriation for this purpose.
It will be noticed that in making the recommendations for the Road Department we have gone into detail more than be- fore. It has seemed to the Board that in certain things, like cleaning the streets, the care of catch basins, and drains, etc., that if a specific appropriation is made that they will be much more likely to get attention than if they are included in a gen- eral appropriation. The amounts called for, for these purposes, are estimated from what we find has been used for these mat- ters in the past and in some cases adding what we think is a reasonable amount to insure the proper care of these objects. Also it has been thought best to make a specific allotment for the care of the outlying districts. The past year we have had to make extensive repairs to the bridge over the Middleboro R. R. on Standish Avenue. This called for an unexpected outlay of over three thousand dollars. We shall have much the same con- dition at the head of the Beach over Eel River. The bridge there needs immediate attention and should be relaid at once. It does not seem to the Board advisable to relay any plank bridges and we are at present considering plans for a concrete surface over this bridge. This will be in the nature of perma-
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nency, and the cement will protect the iron girders of the bridge from the action of the salt air.
The bridge over Halfway Pond river has been rebuilt this season and in place of the old unsightly wooden structure, we now have a solid iron girdered cement surfaced bridge. The curve in the road at the northerly approach to the bridge has also been straightened and the whole situation much improved.
Carters River bridge at the head of Herring Pond caved in this past season and this has also been rebuilt as a cement bridge and canal.
There remains one more bridge, that across the brook on the Beaver Dam road. This, when the road is straightened at that point, will be made of cement. These bridges will then be of a permanent nature and the annual repairs will have been done away with.
The sidewalks of the town have received the usual amount of attention. Considerable granolithic walk has been laid and many hundred feet of cement curb put in in places where the wash of surface water made the streets sandy. It is the ex- perience of the Department that without a curb it is impossi- ble to maintain any kind of a sidewalk. The approach of cold weather prevented the amount of granolithic walk contemplated being put in.
Police.
The Police Department has performed its duties in a very creditable manner. There have been less than the usual amount of complaints. And perhaps in this connection it may be well to say to the public generally, that letters or complaints against any department of the town will be of very little avail unless signed with the name of the complainant. We receive numbers of letters finding fault with different things but not signed. All such letters go into the waste basket. We will always give prompt attention to any legitimate complaint but the complain- ant must be man enough to sign his name.
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We would request the public to help the Police Department in enforcing the traffic laws. If every one who sees an infrac- tion of the speed laws will inform the police or the Board of Selectmen giving the number of the car the matter will be at- tended to.
Brewster Fountain.
The Brewster Fountain which was mentioned in the 1915 report as being nearly completed has been finished and has been a much appreciated convenience since. Reference to the finan- cial report will show a draft on the reserve fund for the final payment on this. The Board was given to understand that certain funds raised by private subscription were available for the completion of this fountain. In fact some correspond- ence was had with the custodian of these funds, and the delay in delivering them was attributed to ordinary routine matters. At the last, however, when the funds were again requested for some unknown reason they were not forthcoming and the Se- lectmen were obliged to draw on the Reserve Fund for the final payment. The grounds around the fountain have been seeded with grass and it is the intention to set out some suitable shrubs and other ornamental plants in the spring and it is ex- pected that the coming season will see this spot as an orna- ment to the town as well as one of the greatest of public con- veniences.
Public Sanitaries.
The Sanitaries have been as in the past one of the most com- plimented conveniences of the town. It has been almost impos- sible to keep them in the condition that they should be in. Some few of the public with little regard for decency have caused an immense amount of labor in keeping the rooms at all usable. It seems to the board that the only solution is for the
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town to maintain a man and woman on duty there all the time. This will involve considerable expense. More than the Selectmen would consider themselves justified in assuming with- out a direct vote of the town. But it is the experience in this as well as other places having this public necessity that that is the only way to keep them in that condition they should be in.
One of the most discussed problems of the town has been to provide suitable approaches to the shore that might be used by the citizens generally. The town has acquired several land- ings notably at White Horse through the generosity of Mr. Geo. Pierce, at the southerly end of the town where the town purchased a landing, and at Nelson Street, and the Stephens Meadow. We now have the pleasure of announcing that Mr. Elijah Keith of the Ardmore Inn has very kindly offered the town a frontage of over 100 feet on the land back of the beach at Manomet to be placed under the care of the Park Commis- sioners for the use of the public. Mr. Taylor of Manomet has also offered to the town a suitable location at White Horse Beach for a public park.
Mr. Hawley, a summer resident of Manomet, has also presented to the town a small lot at the junction of the State Highway and Strand Avenue. This makes the approach to the highway from the avenue much safer and affords a clear view of any approaching vehicle, all of which will be much appreciated by the travelling public.
These voluntary offerings are very acceptable at the present time when the shore is being closed so much to the public and the thanks of the town are due to all these gentlemen who have so generously made these gifts.
It would be a very desirable thing for the town to acquire land at the foot of every street that runs to the water south of
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Town Brook as the time is fast approaching when it will be difficult to reach the shore without encroaching on private prop- erty.
The departure of the local troops for the Mexican border was the cause of considerable uneasiness as to the support and com- fort of those families of the soldiers who were dependent on the salaries of the departing wage earners. A very generous movement was started by private parties to raise funds to re- lieve this situation. It was, however, felt by the Selectmen that the town should care for the dependents of our soldiers and as far as we were able to ascertain every soldiers' family has been taken care of properly. The expense of this was charged to the reserve account.
In conclusion we wish to direct the attention of every citi- zen to the approaching 1920 celebration and ask each and every one to make all possible effort to improve the appearance of the town. Little things such as not throwing letters and waste paper in the streets, peanut shells, orange peels and other like debris. Cans for the reception of this waste will be found at frequent intervals on the streets, and it is not much trouble to put the waste in them. Especially is this condition notice- able on Sunday morning after the crowds of Saturday night. Attention to the private grounds of citizens will materially im- prove the appearance of things. A little cleaning up and paint- ing which can be done with little expense will add much to the neat look of the town. And this habit once formed will be persisted in for its own sake, the difference will be so notice- able. We want to make our town so attractive that every
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visitor in the future will be pleased with the appearance and impressed with the public spirit that should animate all good citizens.
WILLIAM T. ELDRIDGE, EPHRAIM D. BARTLETT, HENRY O. WHITING, GEORGE W. BRADFORD.
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APPROPRIATIONS RECOMMENDED BY THE SEVERAL DEPARTMENTS.
Selectmen's Department, $1,800 00
Accounting Department,
1,400 00
Treasury Department,
1,200 00
Tax Collector's Department,
1,500 00
Assessors' Department,
2,800 00
Assessors' Plans,
1,000 00
Law Department,
600 00
Town Clerk's Department,
500 00
Engineering Department,
900 00
Planning Board,
100 00
Election and Registration,
1,000 00
Maintenance of Town House,
1,200 00
Police Department,
9,000 00
Fire Department, maintenance,
16,985 00
Fire Department, improvements at station,
500 00
Sealing Weights and Measurers,
800 00
Moth Suppression,
5,000 00
Tree Warden's Department,
1,200 00
Forest Warden's Department,
2,500 00
Shell Fish,
700 00
Inland Fisheries,
300 00
Health Department,
8,500 00
Sewer Maintenance,
2,000 00
Public Sanitaries,
450 00
Roads and Bridges, to be allotted by the Selectmen as follows-
Overhead charges,
$5,000 00
Central District,
15,700 00
Chiltonville District,
1,500 00
Manomet District,
1,200 00
Cedarville District,
1,200 00
Long Pond District,
1,500 00
South Pond District,
300 00
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Repairs to Court street,
1,800 00
Carters River Road,
100 00
Ellisville Road,
200 00
Street cleaning,
1,500 00
$30,000 00
Increase in wages, 16 2-3%
2,000 00
Total Roads and Bridges,
$32,000 00
Beaver Dam Road,
500 00
Main Street Extension,
2,000 00
Warren Avenue, additional damages,
2,200 00
Warren Avenue, additional construction,
1,000 00
Sandwich Street, Bradford to Lincoln streets,
additional damages, 2,000 00
Sandwich and Market streets,
1,000 00
Highland Terrace, Manomet,
200 00
Sandwich street, Howes Lane North, construction,
900 00
Sandwich street, Lincoln street south, construction, 1,400 00
Survey of street lines,
400 00
Sidewalks,
6,000 00
Snow removal,
2,000 00
Street sprinkling,
5,000 00
Street lighting,
13,000 00
Harbor Master,
150 00
Poor Department,
14,500 00
Mothers' Aid,
4,000 00
Military Aid,
156 00
Soldiers' Relief,
4,395 20
School Department,
100,000 00
Public Library,
including dog tax of
$1,093 96
4,000 00
Manomet Public Library,
250 00
Park Department,
1,900 00
Training Green,
200 00
Training Green Walks,
1,000 00
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Sexton, 125 00
Memorial Day,
225 00
Miscellaneous,
2,500 00
Reserve Account,
7,000 00
Water Department, maintenance,
17.000 00
Water Department, construction,
5,500 00
Oak Grove and Vine Hills Cemeteries,
5,000 00
Burial Hill Cemetery,
1,000 00
Burial Hill Cemetery, repairing stones,
300 00
Chiltonville, Manomet, Cedarville and South Pond Cemeteries, 150 00
Addition to Manomet Cemetery,
300 00
Town Debt and Interest,
52,000 00
Total, $353,186 20
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REPORT OF SUPERINTENDENT OF STREETS
To the Honorable Board of Selectmen :-
I herewith submit the report of the Street Department for the year 1916.
ROADS AND BRIDGES.
Maintenance
Under this heading is included the care of the roads in the outlying districts and the general repairs and cleaning of the streets in the center of the town.
Court Street, from Shirley Square to the Armory, has been re-dressed with Tarvia A and No. 2 stone and the results have proved satisfactory. This work should be extended as far as Lothrop Street during the coming season.
The Darby Road has been re-surfaced with Tarvia B. Quite an amount of gravel surfacing has been done on the Beaver Dam Road.
The old bridge at Carter's River at the head of Great Her- ring Pond has been replaced with a reinforced concrete bridge with steel girders. The bridge over Halfway Pond River near the Martin Douglas place, has also been replaced by a reinforced concrete bridge.
Standish Avenue bridge has been deteriorating quite rapidly in the past few years due, in part at least, to the locomotive gases from the trains on the Plymouth and Middleboro Rail-
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road. The Selectmen requested Mr. Fay of the firm of Fay, Spofford & Thorndike to make an examination of this bridge and report to them. In their report they stated that the bridge at that time would not be satisfactory for a load in excess of 12,000 lbs. and pointed out a weakness in some of the connec- tions of the floor beams and sidewalk brackets. They recom- mend strengthening these beams, replacing some of the brackets and scraping and repainting the whole bridge.
Negotiations were accordingly entered into with the Boston Bridge Works. When they began the work of repairing, and after the old wooden floor was removed, it was possible to see that deterioration had proceeded to a considerable extent in the 6" stringers under the floor. Accordingly, upon recom- mendation of the engineer of the Boston Bridge Works, these 6" stringers were removed and 8" stringers were substituted for them. The sidewalk beams were strengthened and also the
trusses and the bracketed connections to them. The whole bridge was thoroughly scraped and repainted and its "safe load- ing" was increased from the 12,000 pounds indicated in the report of Fay, Spofford & Thorndike, prior to making the repairs, to 18,000 pounds after these repairs were completed.
In order that a record might be had of the date and exact character of this work, the following letter to Mr. A. E. Black- mer, Town Engineer, from Mr. J. C. Moses, Engineer of the Boston Bridge Works, is appended.
From the Boston Bridge Works, Boston, Massachusetts.
September 7, 1916.
Mr. A. E. Blackmer, Town Engineer, Plymouth, Massachusetts.
Dear Sir: Standish Avenue Bridge Repairs,-J No. 4186.
Yours of the 5th inst. regarding the above bridge is at hand. The repairs made by us were as follows :
(1) New eight inch (8") stringers for roadway in place of the old six inch (6'') beams.
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(2) Old floor beams strengthened with additional rivets at ends and with flange plates on top. Two of the floor beams also have their connections to the trusses strengthened where they had rusted.
(3) Sidewalk bracket connections to truss strengthened with new batten plates.
(4) Trusses strengthened at all bearings by new gussets and by knees at top of columns. Truss diagonals patched where they had badly rusted. Two new uprights supplied.
(5) Supports provided for water pipe.
(6) All the old steel scraped and given two coats of paint. The new steel also had two coats of paint applied.
As to the future painting it is impossible to predict how often it should be done. The condition of the old paint should be ex- amined from time to time, especially under the floor and in all places that are hard to get at whenever repairs to planking give you the opportunity.
It is not likely that anything will need attending, to next year and probably only here and there the following year. But iron that has once rusted badly is apt to start again under the paint in spots and so needs watching.
These changes make the bridge safe in our opinion for loads of 18,000 pounds if not more than one such load is on a span at a time.
Yours very truly, THE BOSTON BRIDGE WORKS, .John C. Moses, Eng'r of Construction.
Construction.
7,920 feet of 6" tarviated macadam, 18 feet wide, has been laid on Samoset Street, beginning near the entrance to the Oak Grove cemetery and extending to the junction of Samoset Street
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and Summer Street. A short section of this work is unfinished as yet.
Strand Avenue and Samoset Avenue in Manomet have been worked.
The Warren Avenue widening has been completed.
A large catch-basin was built at the corner of Russell and Court Streets and a twelve-inch Akron pipe was laid from this catch-basin across Court Street to take the surface water down Brewster Street; thus relieving the gutter on the west side of Court Street which has caused a great deal of trouble in past years.
STREET SPRINKLING
Very little water has been used for street sprinkling this year, except in the center of the town. 8,500 gallons of non- asphaltic oil have been used with very satisfactory results.
SIDEWALKS
In addition to the general repairs on sidewalks, the following construction work has been done :
Granolithic walk, one-half the expense borne by the abutters :
Main Street Extension,
20 square yards
Main St. Extension and Market St.,
116.12
"
"
Pleasant Street,
48.66
"
Allerton Street,
33.33
Clyfton Street,
36.3
"
h
Russell Street,
144.25
"
Court Street, north of Knapp School,
283.76
"
"
Total,
682.42
"
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Concrete curbing set :
Clyfton Street,
53.5 feet
Russell Street,
347
"
Standish Avenue,
525
Court Street,
629
Cherry Street,
682
"
Total,
2236.5
Granite edgestone laid :
Allerton Street, near monument,
183 feet
Main Street Extension, west side,
444
"
Pleasant Street,
144
"
Total,
771
The old edgestone on both sides of Pleasant Street has been relaid from Robinson Street to Jefferson Street.
SEWERS.
The sewer on Water Street Extension has been completed, 2070 feet of pipe having been laid this year.
The Standish Avenue sewer has been extended 500 feet and 510 feet of sewer main has been laid on Brookside Avenue to the house of Mrs. Emma F. Weston.
REMOVAL OF SNOW.
The expense for removal of snow for this year has been very heavy, owing to the severe storms of last winter.
Respectfully submitted, STILLMAN R. SAMPSON, Superintendent of Streets.
Plymouth three
Fifth Annual Report
OF THE
Town Accountant
OF THE
TOWN OF PLYMOUTH
MASSACHUSETTS
For the Year Ending Dec. 31 1916
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Plymouth, Mass., February 1, 1917.
To the Board of Selectmen,
Plymouth, Mass.
Gentlemen :
I herewith submit my report of the financial transactions of the Town of Plymouth for the year ending December 30, 1916.
Schedule A, shows the receipts and payments for the year, classified as required by the Bureau of Statistics of the Com- monwealth.
Schedule B, is a detailed statement of each appropriation, showing the amount appropriated, the additions to, and the payments from the same.
Schedule C, is a statement of the Estimated Receipts and Actual Receipts, the charges being the amounts estimated and deducted from the total of the appropriations, by the Assessors in making up the Tax Warrant, and the credits being the amounts actually received.
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