USA > Massachusetts > Plymouth County > Plymouth > Town annual report of Plymouth, MA 1951 > Part 9
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A total of 117 permanent concrete bounds were set under the supervision of the Town Engineer in the street lines of the following streets: South Park Avenue, 4 bounds; Water Street Extension, 10 bounds; Taylor Ave- nue, 26 bounds; White Horse Road, 6 bounds; Olmsted Terrace, 3 bounds; South Street, 15 bounds; Obery Street, 10 bounds; Billington Street, 4 bounds; Westerly Route, 6 bounds; Stafford Street, 9 bounds; Birch Avenue, 4 bounds; Ellisville Road, 15 bounds; Center Hill Road, 5 bounds.
Miscellaneous engineering work was done for the Board of Assessors, the Park Department, the School Depart- ment, the Cemetery Department, and the Planning Board.
Respectfully submitted,
EDWARD CHASE,
Town Engineer.
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REPORT OF PARK COMMISSIONERS
Parks and Gardens
All parks and gardens have been kept neat and clean during the year.
Morton Park, as usual, has been very popular for picnics and bathing, especially on Sundays. Much brush has been cut and burned. The hard surfaced road has had a seal coat applied. A new rustic bridge has been erected over Town Brook at Billington Sea. A sizeable area has been cleared, graded, and made into a parking place.
The property bought from the Morton Estate for Park purposes has been graded, loamed, and seeded. Approxi- mately 100 feet of stone wall has been laid along Town Brook at this point and 75 feet of Privet Hedge is growing nicely.
Brewster Garden has had its usual care. The bridge there has been re-enforced. Mr. Emond has made a fine entrance to Brewster Garden across his property. Town Brook has been cleaned from the Town line at Market Street to the bridge at Water Street. The brook has been narrowed and approximately 200 feet of stone wall has been relaid. This work could not have been done in the spring without disturbing the Herring Run, and not wish- ing to have the garden torn up during the summer, the work was put off until fall. About the same amount of work remains to be done. The balance of the $1,000 appropriation for this work will take care of this work nicely.
The work at Bang's Park has been completed with approximately 400 feet of rustic fence being erected around the pond.
The Training Green, Park Avenue, and Bates Park have had their usual care.
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Playgrounds
The playgrounds have been well patronized, and have been kept in a safe condition.
The Standish Avenue playground has been kept in good condition. The woodwork on the toilet building has had two coats of paint and the stadium seats have been painted. Approximately 400 feet of water pipe has been laid with five outlets, and two drinking fountains will be erected in the spring.
Veterans Field has had good care during the year. The band stand has been repaired, and has had two coats of paint. The toilet building has been painted inside and out, receiving two coats. The $200.00 voted for improve- ments has not been used, and we hope the Town will vote added funds to hard surface the tennis court.
The Nelson Street playground has been well patronized, especially in the evening by the children of the neighbor- hood; the Softball League playing its games at Stephens Field and Standish Avenue.
Stephens Field has been well patronized as usual. Holmes Field, South Street, and the Manomet playgrounds have been well attended. For supervised playground activities, see the Recreation Supervisor's Report.
Recreational Program
The summer recreational program included the follow- ing activities:
I. Regular Organized Activities:
Baseball League, 16 teams, 144 boys playing 61 games in three leagues.
Arts and Crafts program at the three playgrounds, 75 enrolled. Daily swimming classes, 91 enrolled.
II. Daily Supervised Activities:
Girls softball
Badminton
Tennis
Basketball
Archery
Volleyball
Croquet
Horseshoes
Play on playground apparatus
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III. Special Features:
Fourth of July Children's Sports Program
Boys Allstar baseball games
Girls Allstar softball games
Square dancing
Tennis tournament
Baseball League picnic at Nelson Grove
Children's picnic at Edaville
Arts and Crafts display at M & M store
Annual Playground Field Day
Bathing and Camping
The bathing beaches had large attendance, especially in the month of July. The weather conditions during August caused a slight decrease in attendance. Automo- bile parking space seems to be the great problem at the beaches.
The camping sites at Nelson Street and Indian Reserva- tion have been well utilized.
Receipts for Camping and Bathing
Beach Park
1950 $795.25
1951 $865.50
Beach Park Concession
1,050.00
725.00
Indian Reservation
2,196.50
2,171.00
Morton Park
53.00
90.95
Nelson Street
1,194.70
1,363.90
Stephens Field
32.50
30.50
Respectfully submitted,
BOARD OF PARK COMMISSIONERS John A. Siever Edward J. E. Hand Arthur M. Sirrico, Chairman By: CLIFTON C. WOOD, Supt.
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INSECT PEST CONTROL
To the Honorable Board of Selectmen:
I am very happy to report this year that again the Town is free from Gypsy Moths. For the past two years during the trapping season, we caught two male moths which again shows that Aerial Spraying was a success. We cannot forget that if we relax our efforts they can make a comeback.
The wood-tick has caused a lot of work but is now under our control. They call for a lot of dragging and spraying wherever we find them.
Elm Leaf Beetles were not very bad last year. Eastern tent caterpillars were very scarce along with Fall Web- worm. Japanese Beetles were very thick last year and gave us a great deal of work.
Mosquitoes before long will require some attention. There is talk that it may be up to the Department to look into this. I think that it may require more than drainage alone to fight them. I hope the townspeople will give this problem some attention.
Dutch Elm Disease is getting very close to us and will also require a lot of attention. In scouting, and taking samples, we had twenty returned to us from Amherst, which all came back sterile as far as Dutch Elm Disease is concerned. This was due to the extra spraying done this year. We will not be able to relax our efforts as the Town of Kingston had four cases and Duxbury had fifteen cases reported. The Town of Weymouth reported 373 cases last year and 198 this year. We certainly cannot let this happen to our Town.
The Blower does a very good job and has proven a valuable piece of equipment. I hope to replace this year
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our twenty-year-old (1932) Model B Ford Truck for a new one.
Respectfully submitted,
JOHN A. KENNEDY.
TOWN FOREST
To the Honorable Board of Selectmen:
The usual work was done in the Town Forest; fire lanes were harrowed and roads brushed.
This year we had a lot of cleaning of roadside to prevent fire hazards, as the choppers who cut the timbers left a lot of brush. The cutters did a very good job, as no damage was done to the small growth in the forest. All roads had brush burned at a distance of one hundred feet.
The fire tower suffered a great damage this year. The windows and frames had to be replaced as they were all broken. Now as a means of protection we have installed shutters on the tower.
Respectfully submitted,
JOHN A. KENNEDY JAMES A. WHITE GEORGE L. GOODING
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REPORT OF TREE WARDEN
To the Honorable Board of Selectmen:
This year most of our Street Trees in the southern part of Town were trimmed. We removed one tree by the Depot as this one was in very poor condition. On Alden Street we removed one also as this was in the driveway of the new school. We also removed two on Sandwich Road, one maple in unsafe condition and a small elm which was dying.
On new developments the Department planted some thirty-five new trees.
Roads which were trimmed included: Route 44, Billing- ton Sea Road, Micajah Pond Road, South Meadow Road, Federal Road, Bournedale Road, Obery Road, South Pond Road, Billington Street, and Summer Street and Carver Road. There is still a lot to be done along our outlying roads.
I want to thank the Selectmen for their cooperation in securing the Sickle Bar and Tractor from the Highway Department. This was a great help in cutting the brush along the roadside.
We planted some forty seedlings at the nursery which will need attention from time to time.
The chain saw has proven to be of great improvement over the cross cut saw. We have had very good luck with it and it has saved us many man hours.
This year I am in hopes of having our twelve-year-old Town car replaced.
Respectfully submitted,
JOHN A. KENNEDY.
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REPORT OF CEMETERY COMMISSIONERS
The Board of Cemetery Commissioners herewith pre- sent their report for the year 1951:
OAK GROVE AND VINE HILL CEMETERIES
In Vine Hills Cemetery about twenty-five lots were graded and seeded in 1951. It is our plan to grade as many lots as possible before they are sold, that we may insure a satisfactory terrain in our cemeteries.
This year approximately 4,000 cubic yards of fill was added to the Vine Hills Cemetery Addition. We anticipate that this addition will be needed in about ten years and in view of that fact we are adding this amount of fill each year. In this way the cost is carried over a period of years where otherwise it would be a burden on the taxpayers if the work was done in one year's time at a cost of thou- sands of dollars.
We have made further progress in our program for better drainage in these cemeteries by the addition of another dry well.
It was necessary to have several trees taken down and a large number of trees trimmed. Additional tree work is planned for the coming year.
The regular maintenance work was carried on as usual in these cemeteries.
BURIAL HILL
Burial Hill had a great many visitors, as usual, this past year, and we feel it was one of the biggest in its long history.
The house formerly situated on South Russell Street and adjacent to the Hill was purchased by the Town and
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has been razed, thus adding greatly to the appearance of Burial Hill.
THE OUTLYING CEMETERIES
The Outlying Cemeteries were maintained in the usual efficient manner in 1951.
The Chiltonville Cemetery was kept mowed and in good condition. Approximately thirty lots were graded and seeded in this cemetery. We feel that developing a section of lots in this manner results in easier and less expensive maintenance.
The Manomet Cemetery was cared for as usual with no special work having been done.
The road to the White Horse Cemetery was regraded and a new sign put up. This cemetery was mowed regu- larly during the year.
The Russell Mills and South Pond Cemeteries were kept mowed during the season.
Respectfully submitted,
ARTHUR E. BLACKMER, Chairman, RICHARD T. ELDRIDGE, JOHN B. FINNEY,
Board of Cemetery Commissioners.
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HOUSING AUTHORITY
The year 1951 revealed that, although a substantial housing shortage continued in the Town of Plymouth, the erection and occupancy of the 40-unit housing project in 1950 generally eased the shortage to such an extent that the local court was able, without creating hardships, to reduce the usual stays of execution in eviction cases to about two months. This reflected a great improvement in the situation over 1949 and early 1950. The fact that sur- rounding towns were no longer subject to rent control and that rents in those towns accordingly rose consid- erably, drove a certain number of tenants into Plymouth who would otherwise be occupying apartments in the contiguous areas, but in general there was not so great a shortage of apartments that the Housing Authority felt the need to construct an additional project, as many authorities did elsewhere in the state.
A constant turnover in the waiting list for apartments in the Plymouth Housing Project was another sign that the shortage in this area has been substantially overcome, and the present and future problems of the Housing Authority revolve more around the fact that much of the housing which exists in Plymouth is substandard. To explore the need and the possibilities of a re-development program, the Board of Selectmen in November passed a resolution approving application by the Housing Authority under Title I of the Housing Act of 1949 for preliminary advances of funds and a reservation of capital grant funds. This resolution was supported by the Plymouth Planning Board, and will be presented to the Town Meeting for ratification.
During the course of the year 1951 eight tenants left the Housing Project and were replaced by the families of eight other qualified veterans. Reasons for leaving were
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as follows: Active duty orders in the Air Force, 1; over income, 1; obtained employment in another town, 1; evicted by the Housing Authority for non-payment, 2; left to find lower rent, 2; moved back with in-laws, 1. This presents almost the whole range of success and failure in the achievements of the Authority. The tenant who left because of over income has now purchased a home, much to the gratification of the Authority, which encourages home owning among veterans who can afford to buy. On the other end of the scale, unfortunate economic circum- stances made it impossible for one family to pay any rent whatsoever, and they resumed doubled-up living with relatives. In cases of financial stress, the Authority stood ready to make temporary reductions of rent to the mini- mum allowable, but even these arrangements were not sufficient in this case where heavy medical expense created extreme stress.
During the year, the Authority adopted a new rent schedule, providing that tenants with one child would pay 18% of their income for rent, with two children, 16% of their income, with three or more children 14%, except that for each additional child over three $100 would be deducted from income before computing rent. At the same time a new schedule of admission limits was adopted, as follows: With one child, $3,250; with two children, $3,375; and with three or more children, $3,500. Applicants earn- ing in excess of these figures were considered ineligible, but tenants whose income rose over these figures after admission were allowed to remain as tenants if their in- comes did not exceed $3,750, $3,875 and $4,000 respectively. The purpose of the limitation is, of course, so that public housing would not compete with private enterprise in a field in which the veteran could afford to buy or build.
A payment in lieu of taxes was made by the Authority to the Town of Plymouth in the amount of $1,373.30 in January, 1952. Although this sum is of course much less than a standard tax upon the property of the Authority
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would be, it is considerably in excess of the amount which the Town was receiving from the same property prior to its purchase by the Housing Authority. The annual net tax at that time was not over $75.
A statement of assets and liabilities of the Housing Authority as of December 31, 1951, follows:
ASSETS
Development Fund
$8,862.25
Administration Fund
9,784.82
Accounts Receivable-Sundry
12.08
Accounts Receivable-Tenants
413.94
Debt Service Fund
$15,259.26
Debt Service Trust Fund
1,385.76
Investment-D. S. Trust Fund
4,000.00
Development Costs
447,000.00
Total Assets
$486,718.11
LIABILITIES
Accounts Payable-Development
$2,919.67
Contract Retentions
5,854.66
Accrued Insurance
$646.00
Accrued Pilot
1,373.30
2,019.30
Bonds Authorized
447,000.00
Matured Interest and Principal
$12,285.95
Working Capital
67.02
Unam. Bond Premium
5,372.68
Operating Reserve
5,919.00
23,644.65
Net Income
5,279.83
Total Liabilities
$486,718.11
Respectfully submitted,
PLYMOUTH HOUSING AUTHORITY.
20,645.02
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REPORT OF THE BOARD OF PUBLIC WELFARE
The Board of Public Welfare presents its Annual Report for the year 1951.
The members of the Board of Public Welfare on Janu- ary 1, 1951, were: Harold G. Roberts, Chairman, Gordon S. McCosh and Andrew Rae, Jr.
At the Annual Town Election held March 3, 1951, Dexter M. Brooks was elected a member of the Board for three years, Margaret E. McLean was elected for two years and John J. Magee was elected for one year.
At the organization meeting of the Board held on March 6, 1951, Harold G. Roberts was re-elected Chairman of the Board; Albert A. Saunders was appointed the Secretary of the Board and Supervisor of the Department of Public Welfare. Mrs. Natalie B. Burgess was appointed Acting Social Work Supervisor of the Old Age Assistance and Aid to Dependent Children Division.
The Board of Public Welfare as Directors of the Town Infirmary appointed for the 45th consecutive year Mr. Russell L. Dickson, Superintendent, and Sarah A. Dickson, Matron of the Plymouth Town Infirmary.
At the regular meeting of the Board held June 26, 1951, Albert A. Saunders was appointed the Agent for the Board to administer all categories of Public Assistance. Mr. Saunders' appointment to become effective July 1, 1951.
The Administration of Public Assistance during this past year has presented to your Board an unusual number of problems due to increases in the "State Standard Budget" resulting from Legislative Action and an inade- quate number of personnel to process the mandatory
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provisions of the various Acts passed by the General Court of the Commonwealth.
Chapter 475 of the Acts of 1951 which became effective July 3, 1951, "provides for the granting of Old Age Assist- ance to the chronically ill who are receiving medical or nursing treatment in public medical institutions other than tuberculosis sanatoria and mental hospitals."
Effective October 1, 1951, in accordance with instruc- tions from the State Department of Public Welfare, the "State Standard Budget" was increased in all categories from the 8.3% to 14.2%. This increase was brought about by an increase in the cost of living index as reported by the Division on the Necessaries of Life to the State Depart- ment of Public Welfare.
Chapter 489 of the Acts of 1951, effective October 1, 1951, increased the rate for Hospital care from $10 to $12 per diem.
Chapter 741 of the Acts of 1951 established a new cate- gory of public assistance entitled "Assistance to Persons who are Disabled." This law was enacted on October 30, 1951, and became effective November 1, 1951. Basically this new category provides for assistance to needy persons, eighteen years of age or over, who are permanently and totally disabled and who have resided in the Common- wealth for one year immediately preceding the date of application.
Chapter 801 of the Acts of 1951 provides that effective January 1, 1952, the Board of Public Welfare is required to take a lien on real estate owned by an applicant or recipient as a condition of granting Old Age Assistance and to enforce any lien upon the death of the recipient or his otherwise ceasing to receive Old Age Assistance. Lien provisions also apply to the "Disability Assistance" cate- gory. Chapter 801 further contains several other man- datory minimum budget allowances and provides for
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increases in the exemptions of legal liable children in con- nection with their contributions toward their parents who are receiving Old Age Assistance.
Chapter 390 of the Acts of 1951 changes the residence requirements in the Aid to Dependent Children category. This law makes a child under one year of age eligible as far as residence is concerned whether born in or outside the State, provided the parent who is requesting assistance for the child has resided in the Commonwealth for one year immediately preceding birth.
PUBLIC WELFARE
The year 1951 presented the usual demand for Public Social Services and Public Assistance. 210 were granted "outside" assistance during the year, representing 516 persons. 66 new applications were approved for assist- ance and an additional 86 cases were interviewed and referred to other private or public agencies or were denied Public Assistance for various reasons. 149 cases were closed during the year and 64 cases re-applied for assist- ance during the year. The peak load for the year was at the end of March and the low point was reached during the latter part of July. At the high point 160 cases were assisted with 389 persons and the low point, 100 cases with 183 persons.
35% of the applications were made necessary by the "loss of employment because of layoff or discharge"; 22% for "illness or disablement of the Recipient or Parent in the home"; 14% by the illness of other persons in the home"; 9% because of "Depletion of Resources"; 7% because of "Loss of Employment of other person in the home"; and the balance for other and various reasons.
The year 1951 closed with 111 cases receiving "outside" assistance, representing 247 persons. 87 of these cases were with a Plymouth settlement, 5 with settlements in other
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towns and cities, and 19 were without a settlement in this Commonwealth.
Increased employment during the year made it possible to decrease many cases to a small amount of supplemen- tary assistance and to close many others. At the close of the 1951 year $26,257.73 was returned to the Town's "Rev- enue" account, and although the 1951 appropriation was $120,557.33, the final cost to the Town of Plymouth for the entire year 1951 amounted to $41,753.91.
INFIRMARY
The services and facilities of the Town Infirmary were made available to 10 persons during the year, a total of 2425 patient days.
On the Sunday evening before Christmas, the Lion's Club gave the residents of the Infirmary a Christmas Party and it was sincerely appreciated.
On June 19, 1951, in accordance with Chapter 121, Sec- tion 7, of the General Laws of the Commonwealth, Miss Mary A. Keegan, R.N., Infirmary Inspector for the Com- monwealth, made her official inspection of the Infirmary. Miss Keegan's report was unusually complimentary to the Board, as the Directors of the Infirmary, for their methods of operation at the Town Infirmary, and to the Superin- tendent and Matron for their kindness and understanding of the problems necessary to "Inside Aid."
The total cost for the operation of the Infirmary for the year was: Salaries $3,577.95, and Other Expenses $6,302.91, a total expense of $9,880.86.
The 1951 Appropriation was Salaries $3,685.30, and Other Expenses $7,200. A total of $10,885.30. The Actual cost to the Town was Salaries $3,577.95 and Other Expenses $6,302.91, a total of $9,880.86. $2,434.42 was received from the State and Other Sources, making the
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Cost to the Town for the entire year $7,446.44, and $1,004.49 was returned to the "Revenue Account."
OLD AGE ASSISTANCE
In the Old Age Assistance category of assistance, the year opened with 510 persons receiving assistance during the month of January. The low-point of the case load came in May with 507 cases being assisted and the high- point of the year came in August with 519 persons receiv- ing this type of aid. The year closed with a case load of 516 cases with a monthly average of 513 cases for the year.
The total cost of Old Age Assistance for the year was $444,241.79. The Federal Government contributed $169,- 679.63, the State $198,150.18, and the cost to the Town of Plymouth was $76,411.98. $9,837.02 was returned to the Revenue Account and $33,187.81 of Federal Funds remain to be used during the 1952 year.
AID TO DEPENDENT CHILDREN
In the Aid to Dependent Children category of assistance, the year began with 95 cases composed of 79 parents and 191 children. The largest number of cases were assisted during the month of February when 97 cases received Aid, these cases contained 80 parents and 191 children. The low point came in September when 80 cases were assisted containing 68 parents and 164 children. The year closed with 82 cases composed of 70 parents and 166 children.
The cost of the A. D. C. program for the year was $114,946.53. $51,112.95 of Federal Funds were used during the year, the State reimbursed approximately $38,000.00 as their share, which made the approximate cost to the Town for the year $25,833.58. $16,166.42 was transferred to the "Revenue Account" at the end of the year and $1,086.03 of Federal Funds are on hand for use during the year 1952.
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DISABILITY ASSISTANCE
As mentioned previously in this report, the Disability Assistance program is new this year, having become effective on November 1st.
17 cases were aided, having been transferred from the General Relief category, and the funds from General Relief used for the balance of the 1951 year as provided by Chapter 741 of the Acts of 1951.
SUMMARY
The entire cost of the Public Assistance Program in Plymouth during 1951, including all Salaries and Adminis- tration and the Town Infirmary operation, was $682,556.11.
The Federal Government furnished $222,561.39 of that amount and the State Department of Public Welfare reimbursed the Town to the extent of $272,983.76, and $2,328.23 is still due from other Cities and Towns. This makes the cost to the Town of Plymouth, for the Public Assistance Program, for the year 1951, $184,682.73.
There is remaining to be spent during the 1952 year the sum of $34,745.98 in Federal Funds. $58,400.54 was trans- ferred to the "Revenue" Account at the end of the year, and this amount, with the $272,983.76 received from the "State," resulted in $333,384.30 being added to the "Rev- enue" Account of the Town by the Board of Public Welfare's Administration for 1951.
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