USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Saugus > Town annual report of Saugus 1953 > Part 2
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Launch a widespread program of repair of unaccepted streets under the provisions of Chapter 386 of the Acts of 1953 whereby the Legislature for the first time made it legal for the town to undertake such work without assuming future responsi- bility by first accepting the streets.
Continue the program of putting the town's buildings, in- cluding schools, into repair, together with modernization of facilities, thereby reducing maintenance costs and providing bet- ter educational facilities.
Pick up with renewed emphasis the sidewalk and curbing program necessarily terminated by the advent of winter so that many additional streets will have these vital necessities.
Complete the conversion of the Bristow Street Playground into a modern recreational unit accommodating a large area.
Organize a new Department of Forestry and Parks, thereby consolidating the efforts of two departments to the end that ad- ditional efficiency may be obtained and duplication of effort abolished, with the result that the taxpayers will obtain more results at less cost.
Continue the program of "hot-topping" school playgrounds, with the Lynnhurst School receiving first priority on the list, thereby protecting small children while at play from hazards existing at several schools in addition to the rocks and mud de- structive to their clothing.
Organize a fund-raising campaign to enable Saugus to "sell itself" as an ideal location for new business and industry.
Strive unceasingly for a continuance of the present excellent employe relationship, work for even higher morale in all depart- ments of the town, seek to inculcate in all employes the realiza- tion that they are working for the welfare of the people, and
with this type of unity in the municipal government attempt to give the people of Saugus a "united team" in which economy and efficiency will be twin objectives.
Seek to build and not tear down, by an attitude of fairness and frankness inspire in the people of Saugus that inner unity without which none of the above can be attained. Maintain the "open door" policy, by which the Manager is constantly acces- sible to the people, and sympathetic to their problems.
Finally, by every possible expedient, work unceasingly for an efficient and economical administration of the municipal affairs of the Town of Saugus, providing the most at the least possible cost, and endeavoring constantly to keep the tax rate as low as is consistent with sound and progressive governmental policy.
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SAUGUS SHOPPING CENTER-HAVEN FOR NORTH SHORE HOUSEWIVES, and hope for its citizens confronted with mounting municipal costs and taxes. On the front land of the 164-acre tract of the so-called Town Farm, bounded by the Newburyport Turnpike, Essex and Main Streets, the Green Brothers will erect this modernistic shopping center, with parking for several thousand cars. By an almost unanimous vote of the Town Meeting, Town Manager Walter E. Lawrence was instructed to sell this land. Under the sales agreement, Saugus receives $100,000 upon passage of the deed, an additional $75,000 in five years. Most of all, however, it receives eventually taxes on proposed $5,500,000 Shopping Center, plus added taxation upon development of surrounding land. Good government pays dividends to its stockholders-the people.
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:&S SHOP
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E
PROPOSED
SHOPPING
CENTER SAUGUS. MANS
FUNCTIONAL! STARTLINGLY MODERN! BREATH-TAKING! THESE ARE A few of the ad- jectives architects use to describe this perspective of a section of Saugus' proposed new Shopping Center, plans for which are well on the way. Steel, concrete, and glass, blended in pleasing proportions, make this proposed development pleasing to the eye and with a high degree of flexibility of design. Typical reaction is that of the pretty Miss in the
foreground looking over the development with an approving eye. She and several hun- dred thousand others converging on the property by modern streamlined highways will soon find the last word, not alone in shopping centers, but also in merchandise. Saugus- blending the best of the old with the finest of the new-marches ahead to meet its destiny.
WHY SAUGUS WAS SELECTED FOR A SHOPPING CENTER!
(The following statement of the reasons which led the Green Brothers Development Corpora- tion of Brookline to select Saugus as the site of a multi-million dollar Shopping Center development has been authorized by the corporation.)
The Saugus Shopping Center now in the planning stage on property formerly owned by the Town of Saugus which the Town Meeting authorized the Town Manager to sell to us solely for a Shopping Center development will be one of the outstanding regional Shopping Centers on the Atlantic seaboard.
All of the latest and most scientific ideas concerning Shop- ping Centers will be incorporated into this project after being adjusted to the site conditions and New England climatic problems.
Before considering the Saugus site, we carefully surveyed the entire area north of Boston. We have chosen the location on the westerly side of the former Saugus Town Farm for the following reasons:
(1) The site contains 164 acres of centrally located land, all of which is easily accessible to an eight-lane high- way known as Route 1, or the Newburyport Turnpike.
(2) The site encompasses over one mile of highway frontage on three main roads.
(3) There are two existent cloverleaf overpasses lead- ing directly onto the property.
(4) The site is easily accessible to a tremendous con- centration of population within a radius of 10 miles, with a total population of over 1,000,000, not including the city of Boston. It is speedily accessible to such communities as Melrose, Malden, Revere, Everett, Chelsea, Lynn, Swamp- scott, Salem, Peabody, Danvers, Reading, Stoneham, Nahant, Lynnfield, and Wakefield, as well as the town of Saugus.
(5) These communities embrace a well-diversified in- come group from the heart of both Essex and Middlesex counties, covering the low, middle, and high income groups.
(6) The total estimated annual spendable income of the 1,000,000 potiential customers within this radius of 10 miles, and, again, excluding Boston, is well over one billion dollars.
(7) Present total retail sales in this potential customer area now are $700,000,000 annually, and the total is growing rapidly as additional homes are developed.
We believe that the Saugus Shopping Center project will fill a greatly needed demand in modern shopping life in the area north of Boston, affording speedy and accessible proximity to well-stocked stores for thousands of people who now find it neces- sary to do their shopping in Boston because of inadequate and inaccessible present shopping areas congested with auto traffic and with limited or non-existent parking facilities.
It is our firm determination to provide these 1,000,000 potential customers in Middlesex and Essex counties with a Shopping Center containing branches of the leading retail stores of New England, and, by locating them in a large and well integrated modern shopping area with parking for over 5,000 automobiles, provide them with the most modern shopping facilities in all New England.
It would be impossible for us to have achieved even the preliminary stages of this development had it not been for the foresight and complete co-operation of Walter E. Lawrence, Town Manager of Saugus; Vernon W. Evans, former executive secretary of the Saugus Development Commission; the Saugus Town Meeting, its officials, and many citizens, too numerous to mention, who have shared our faith in the benefits to be obtained by not only ourselves, as the developers of the property, but also every taxpayer of the Town of Saugus.
Green Brothers Development Corporation By Milton and Alan Green
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Town Manager Walter E. Lawrence, center, signing agreement with the Green Brothers for the purchase of land for the proposed new Shopping Center. Seated, left, Alan Green, right, Milton G. Green; standing, left, Thomas D. Morse, Director of Industrial Development and Town Counsel Albion L. Hogan.
9
BOARD OF SELECTMEN
C
LEADERSHIP FOR A RAPIDLY EXPANDING COMMUNITY is provided by the Board of Selectmen, shown here in a picture taken, unfor- tunately, during the illness of the popular fifth member of the 1953 governing body, Harry F. Wentworth. This exceptionally fine pose of the remaining members of Saugus' highest elected executive officers shows, left to right, Chairman Albion R. Rice, John J. Bucchiere, David J. Lucey, and Frank Evans, Jr. All four have been re-elected to serve for 1954-55, with J. Lowell Goding, former chairman of the Finance Committee, filling the shoes of the resigned Mr. Wentworth.
HARRY F. WENTWORTH
Re-elected as a member of the Board of Select- men last fall, ill health forced him to resign before qualifying by taking the oath of office. His universally regretted retirement brought resolutions of regret from his colleagues on the Board of Selectmen and town-wide sorrow that the town of Saugus had temporarily lost the services of an able, conscientious, com- pletely honest, and experienced leader. In a special election necessitated by Mr. Went- worth's retirement, J. Lowell Goding, a former chairman of the Finance Committee, was elected to fill his position for the ensuing two years.
TO THE CITIZENS OF SAUGUS
Your Board of Selectmen has completed another eventful year. Bi-weekly meetings have been held with Town Manager Walter E. Lawrence relative to his stewardship as your Town Manager.
We find his problems are many, and as your elected officials we have worked together in a spirit of progressive harmony for the best interests of your town.
The Board of Selectmen sold many parcels of tax title land to eager home builders. These lands and dwellings will now be- come taxable property.
During the year one of our beloved members, Harry F. Wentworth, was advised by his physician to retire because of illness. His presence and wise counsel was noticeably missed by the remaining members of the Board.
Your present board with the addition of the very capable J. Lowell Goding, Jr., have been elected to serve you for the ensuing two years. May we continue to enjoy your confidence. Albion R. Rice, Chairman David J. Lucey Frank Evans, Jr. John J. Bucchiere Board of Selectmen
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. PESAY JM
FIRST SUCCESSFUL IRON WORKS IN AMERICA 1646 CRADLE OF AMERICA'S INDUSTRY
State Salutes Saugus on its 325th Birthday
THE COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS
In the Year One Thousand Nine Hundred and Fifty-Four Resolutions Congratulating the Town of Saugus on its 325th Year as a Settled Community
Whereas, When the Puritans who founded the Massachu- setts Bay Colony landed in Salem Harbor on the ship "Arbella" in sixteen hundred and twenty-nine, several of their number ex- plored along the beautiful North Shore until they found the roll- ing meadows bordering upon the meandering river which the Pentucket Indians who inhabited this area called the "Saugus," meaning in their language, "long and extended"; and
Whereas, As former residents of the fens country of Old England, they were fascinated by this area of boundless marshes bordering the crystal-clear waters of the river teeming with edible fish, and the countless coveys of wild birds who feasted along its banks, and they determined there to make their homes in the land they christened "Newe England"; and
Whereas, The tiny settlement they built along the riverbank became one of the founding towns of the Bay Colony, and for the first eight years between sixteen hundred and twenty-nine and sixteen hundred and thirty-seven, it encompassed all of the area now constituting the great industrial city of Lynn and the charming residential towns of Swampscott, Nahant, Lynnfield, Saugus, Reading and Wakefield, and
Whereas, In tribute to their pastor, the Rev. Samuel Whit- ing, who had been a curate at St. Margaret's Church in King's Lynn, England, the citizens of Saugus petitioned the Great and General Court on November fifteenth, sixteen hundred and thirty-seven, to change their name in his honor, and the Legis- lature voting, "Saugus is called Lin," the ancient Indian name of the settlement was retained only in the river until February seventeenth, eighteen hundred and fifteen, when the Legislature set off the west parish of Lynn under the corporate name of "Saugus"; and
Whereas, With the formation of the first General Court in sixteen hundred and thirty-four, Saugus, under its original name, was one of the eight founding towns to form one of the first legislative assemblies on the North American continent, and had three of its citizens, Captain Nathaniel Turner, Edward Tomlins, and Thomas Willis numbered among the twenty-four original members of the House of Representatives from the founding communities of Boston, Charlestown, Roxbury, Dor- chester, Cambridge, Watertown, Salem and Saugus, as part of the first elected government of this great Commonwealth, and
Whereas, In sixteen hundred and forty-six that part of the town of Lynn which is now Saugus became the "Cradle of American Industry," with the foundation of the first successful Iron Works on the American continent, thereby founding our
great industrial system, which birthplace of free enterprise is now being restored as a national shrine by the First Iron Works Association and the American Iron and Steel Institute; and
Whereas, One of the founders of the First Iron Works sent to London to organize the "Company of Underwriters for the Iron Works in Saugus, the Honorable Robert Bridges, was one of two citizens of Saugus to be significantly honored by election as Speaker of the House of Representatives, the second being the Honorable Frederick Bancroft Willis; and
Whereas, Saugus, the second largest town in Essex County, with more than nineteen thousand God-fearing, well-governed, law-abiding, and patriotic citizens of the Commonwealth, has also been a pioneer in the field of education, giving to Harvard University one of its most illustrious presidents in Cornelius Con- way Felton, being the site of the First Female Seminary in America, and in keeping with its pioneering traditions is now engaged in the monumental task of erecting for the enrichment of its youth a new and beautiful Senior High School plant front- ing on our scenic Newburyport Tunrpike; and
Whereas, Saugus pays grateful tribute to its debt to its heroic founders of Puritan days, despite the fact that it is now a community of many races and creeds, all living happily and harmoniously in the American tradition, and all taking pride in the fact that there has never been a war on the North American continent, commencing with the colonial expedition against the Pequots in sixteen hundred and thirty-six in which Saugus sent a company of twenty-one men, in which the men and boys of Saugus have not willingly fought for their homes, their liberties and the ideals of the American way of life, even at the cost of life itself; and
Whereas, Saugus will fittingly pay tribute in this year of nineteen hundred and fifty-four to its three hundred and twenty- five years of life as a settled community, first of the Bay Colony, and then of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, for whom its sturdy farmers and their sons fought so valiantly on the re- treat from Concord and Lexington, at Bunker Hill, at Saratoga, and in the final victory at Yorktown; and
Whereas, This three hundred and twenty-fifth anniversary program of the patriotic citizens of Saugus is being arranged by the Board of Selectmen, Town Manager Walter E. Lawrence, and other officials and citizens as an inspiration to youth in these days when a Godless and materialistic philosophy seeks to un- dermine all that Saugus has stood for over the centuries, and as a guidepost to indicate the increasingly great role to be played in our Commonwealth by this Essex County town with its mem- ories of the past and its eyes focused upon an even greater fu- ture; now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the Great and General Court extends its congratulations and felicitations to the Town of Saugus upon
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this auspicious occasion, together with its sincere best wishes for its continued growth and prosperity; and be it further
Resolved, that in recognition of the fact that Saugus was one of the eight founding towns of the Massachusetts Bay Col- ony which in sixteen hundred and thirty-four joined to form one of the first legislative assemblies in America, thereby making possible representative government in Massachusetts, this Gen- eral Court authorizes the appointment of a committee of eight, of whom five shall be designated by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and three by the President of the Senate, to officially extend the congratulations of the Commonwealth at a civic celebration to be conducted by the citizens of Saugus in this three hundred and twenty-fifth anniversary year of their settle- ment; and be it further
Resolved, That the Secretary of State be instructed to send a suitably inscribed copy of these Joint Resolutions to the Town of Saugus to be preserved in its archives for the benefit of posterity.
Unanimously adopted in the House of Representatives, Jan. 28, 1954 (Signed) Charles Gibbons Speaker of the House of Representatives Unanimously adopted by the Massachusetts Senate in Concurrence, Feb. 1, 1954 (Signed) Richard I. Furbush President of the Senate
(Note: These significant resolutions were filed with the Legislature by Representatives Belden G. Bly, Jr., and Fred A. Hutchinson, at the unanimous request of the Board of Select- men.)
PLEASE N.DISTER OLD IRON WORKS HOUSE"
Ironmaster's House.
Miss M. Louise Hawkes descendant of Adam Hawkes one of the first settlers in the Town of Saugus in 1629. Miss Hawkes' untiring efforts are directly responsible for the great Saugus Iron Works restoration project to be dedicated in 1954.
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PUBLIC WORKS
1
TOWN - SAUGUS
CHARLES C. DEFRONZO
Saugus' able, sincere, and aggressive Superintendent of Public Works, seated under the maps of his far-flung jurisdiction of streets, sidewalks, sewers, and water mains, scans the detailed plans upon which he has scaled the improvements necessary to supply the.town with the services demanded by a rapidly-expanding community.
Walter E. Lawrence
Town Manager Saugus, Massachusetts
Dear Mr. Lawrence:
I hereby tender to you the annual report of the Public Works Department for the year ending December 31, 1953.
The complement of the Public Works Department for 1952, 1953 and requested for 1954 is listed below:
1952
1953
1954
Superintendent
1
1
1
Clerks (Principal and Junior)
2
2
2
General Foreman
1
1
1
Foremen
2
2
2
Mechanics
1
1
2
Highway - Sewer
9
10
17
Water and Meter Division - Sewer
6
9
12
Engineering
2
3
0
Ashes and Rubbish
3
0
0
27
29
37
My request for 10 additional men for 1954 will not ade- quately cover the requirements for personnel needed to perform the many services requested by the citizens of the town.
Expenditures for 1953
$103,242.34
Superintendent recommends for 1954
116,570.40
Manager recommends for 1954
100,547.60
Water
The total revenue in this department for 1953 was $87,003.73
broken down as follows:
Metered water rates
$66,027.58
Repairs, renewals, new services
17,525.75
Broken hydrants, and meter tests 2,866.75
$87,003.73
Expenditures for 1953, including money from bond issue
$41,415.75
Manager's recommendations for 1954
36,696.00
In 1953 The Water Division Accomplished the Following:
New service installations
142
Renewal of old services
80
Service repairs
82
New meters set 124
Replacement meters set
23
Meters repaired, tested, set
174
Number feet eight inch Cast Iron main laid.
32
number feet six inch Cast Iron main laid
5463
New hydrants installed
6
Replacement of hydrants
3
Resetting of hydrants 1
Main water breaks 25
14
...
Plus daily routine of meter leaks, turn ons, turn offs, blowouts, service measurements, curb box repairs, main gate repairs and anti-freezing hydrants.
Water Extensions
Upper Main Street 786 feet of six inch Cast Iron Class 150
Atlantic Avenue 425
DeSota Street 250 66
Greenwood Avenue 128 116
Broadway
McIntyre Road
107
Waban Street 1411/2
Riverbank Road 441/2
Fiske Road
246
66
66
66
66
66
¥
*Spring Lane
587
*Conrad Terrace 358
Marr Road 311
Lynn Fells Parkway 224
Stillings Road 96
66
66
66
66
66
66
66 Evergreen Street 318 66
Ferndale Avenue 147
¥
66
Winson Street 48
66
66
Sweetwater Street 32
8
60
66
*Installed by developer, supervised by town.
Water Main Replacements
Highland Avenue
60 feet of six inch Cast Iron Class 150
Vincent Street 220 feet of six inch Cast Iron Class 150 Ballard Street 109 feet of six inch Cast Iron Class 150 (Removed from river bed and installed in roadway)
The above accomplishments of the Water Department was due, namely, to the purchase of the one-half yard self-propelled power shovel.
At the 1953 Annual Town Meeting, a sum of money was appropriated, through a bond issue, for the replacement of the Vine Street 16-inch cement water main and to provide the water main with a complete grid tie-in for the new Saugus Senior High school to be erected on the Town Farm property. This program will be started and completed in 1954.
Recommendations
One important function of this division is the installation and upkeep of water meters for proper billing so that each water consumer will pay his fair and proportionate share for water. During the year 1953 our metering program, outside of repairs, remained at a standstill because no funds were available for the purchase of new meters to replace the old and obsolete meters. Under the rules and regulations of the Metropolitan District Commission we MUST BE 100 per cent metered. I hope that during 1954 sufficient funds will become available so that this part of the metering program can be accelerated to make up for the slack of 1953.
66 GRAVEL TO PROVIDE A BASE FOR YOUR STREET? It could be. At least it's headed for some road repair job. Shown in action is the town's new shovel loading a truck with gravel at the town-owned pit on Main Street, where Saugus by utilizing its own material and own equipment effects major economies in obtaining gravel for road construction work. Far-sighted policies of Town Manager Walter E. Lawrence made this scene possible.
Again I am going to recommend the replacement of all cement mains by establishing a definite planned program for yearly replacement by appropriating $25,000 annually. This would require better than 13 years to complete the replacement of these mains. Also in the program I propose that we tie-in all dead-ends so that our water system will then become a com- plete grid system that will enable the department, in times of emergency, to by-pass water to different areas and will guaran- tee sufficient water at all times for fire fighting purposes.
The claim that there was not sufficient water pressure to fight the fire at the Howard Johnson stand at the Felton Circle is not true. The truth is that we were trying to fight a fire drawing water from three six-inch hydrants and these hydrants are only fed by a dead-end six-inch pipe that is not tied in to any grid system. The water pressure during the fighting of this fire never dropped below 90 pounds. It was not a lack of pressure but the volume of water that the existing main could not supply that caused the trouble.
I further recommend that Article Eight, voted at the 1949 Annual Town Meeting, be amended and revised so that all property owners abutting a new water extension will pay their proportionate share instead of one individual paying the entire costs. When other users utilize this line it is impossible to reimburse the original investor.
15
66
60
66
60
60
66
66
Virginia Terrace 130
40
66 66
66
66
60
66
66
66
¥
66 ¥
66
66
Sewer
The total revenue in this department for 1953 was $9,029.90 broken down as follows:
Rental charges
$8,276.91
Assessments
423.63
New services-maintenance
329.36
$9,029.90
Expenditures for 1953
7,706.85
Manager's recommendations for 1954
9,361.00
Expenditures for 1953
$46,514.43
Manager's Recommendations for 1954 51,514.00
We now have 502 active sewer connections, which is an increase of 44 services over 1952.
The sewer pumping station, electrically and mechanically, is considered to be in good condition due to the able supervision, and maintenance of this station, of Byron Day. I consider that he has done a splendid job. He has saved the taxpayers large sums of money by turning out parts that were needed at a far less cost than they could have been purchased from the dist- tributors and as the repair work is done immediately, we avoid a waiting period of two or three months before parts can be shipped to us from the distributor.
During the past year the following major repairs have been made at our pumping station located on Lincoln Avenue in the East Saugus section of town:
New coin silver breaking points on master board installed. Replacement of new switch control rods and chain.
Installation of glass floats in place of the old copper floats that deteriorate every three months because of a salt water and acid condition.
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