USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Saugus > Town annual report of Saugus 1953 > Part 3
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Many minor repairs too numerous to mention were also made.
Our sewer expansion program has been at a standstill for approximately 10 years but during the year 1953 we embarked on an extensive and expensive sewer expansion program. This sewerage program was installed under the supervision of our consulting engineering firm of Fay, Spofford & Thorndike.
The contract for the installation was given to Salah & Pecci, who were low bidders. Under this construction program, they have laid 6,169 feet of sewer line or 1.17 miles. We now have a total of 9.07 miles of sewer in the town of Saugus including two and two-fifths miles of pipe for the outfall sewer from our pumping station to the Lynn outfall sewer station located at the junction of Commercial and Broad Streets in Lynn.
Under the 1953 Contract the Following Sewer Mains Were Installed:
Guild Road 493 feet
Ballard Street 147 feet
Greenwood Avenue 686 feet
Wolcott Road
551 feet
Talbot Street 303 feet
Highland Avenue 125 feet
Central Street 1195 feet
Willow Court
109 feet
Foster Street 402 feet
Winter Street 513 feet
School Street 87 feet
494 feet
Maple Street
Easements through private property 894 feet
Stubs for future sewer connections to the following streets:
Centennial Avenue
31 feet
Vermont Avenue
32 feet
Horton Street
32 feet
East Denver Street
49 feet
Dudley Street
10 feet
Douglas Road
3 feet
Richard Street
8 feet
Lincoln Avenue
5 feet
6,169 feet
Recommendations
I recommend that during 1954 money be appropriated for the installation of a sewer line on Lincoln Avenue from Ballard Street to Atlantic Avenue to eliminate a serious problem along this road, not only from a sanitary standpoint but because of the hazardous conditions of the highway during the winter months caused by overflowing cesspools. The Board of Health has been asking for the past 10 years to have this condition remedied.
Fully realizing the many financial demands that will be made to carry on our local government, I wish again to call to your attention a recommendation that we establish a definite yearly program for the expansion of our sewer system. Instead of appropriating a large sum of money every 10 or 12 years and placing the extra burden of paying interest on bonds on our tax- payers, we should appropriate funds annually to carry on the sewer extension program.
I further recommend that either the Manager or the Board of Selectmen appoint a committee to make a study of sewer assessment rates. Under our present ordinance for sewer better- ment assessments, we have expended this year approximately $200,000 for sewers and the town will only realize about $15,000 in betterments
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Ashes and Rubbish
On May 1, 1953 the ash and rubbish collections were turned over to the Board of Health, who, in turn, let it out on contract. The Public Works Department still has the maintenance of the town-owned dump on Main Street with no funds with which to maintain it. I recommend that a sufficient amount of money be set up in the budget for dump maintenance instead of paying for this out of the highway account.
Highway
During 1953 the highway division received $426.34 for sale of materials, and gasoline tax refunds.
Expenditures for 1953 $46,514.43
Manager's Recommendations for 1954 51,514.00
During the year an extensive highway program was under- taken. The work was done by the department and through contract, one contract being a hold-over from 1952.
Our highway program consisted of the construction of streets, laying of six by 18 inch granite curbing, cement side- walks, drainage, plus the usual department maintenance, such as street and sidewalk patching, sweeping of square and highways, cleaning of catch basins, cleaning and rodding drain- age lines and culverts, supplying gravel to private ways, snow removal, plowing, sanding highways, erecting signs, mosquito control, painting of street lines, bridge repairs, erection of wire fences, hauling of gravel fill to cemetrey and playgrounds, re- moving tree stumps for the Tree Department, removing and set- ting up bleachers for Playground Commission at Stackpole's Field, three men for five weeks raking stones from the Veterans' Memorial School yard, and three men to the Cemetery De- partment for six weeks cleaning up for Memorial Day.
Work Accomplished During 1953 by Town and Contracts
ROAD CONSTRUCTION:
Eustis Street, from railroad tracks to Revere line. Centennial Avenue.
Tuttle Street, from Holden Avenue to Davis Street.
Intervale Avenue, from Stone Street to Veterans' Memorial School.
Stone Street, from Dreeme Street to Intervale Avenue. CURBING CONSTRUCTED-6632 FEET:
Jackson Street, 227 feet Main Street, 3854 feet Lincoln Avenue, 410 feet
Essex Street and Pleasant Avenue, 397 feet Walnut Street, 1646 feet Junction of Intervale Avenue and Stone Street, 98 feet.
SIDEWALK CONSTRUCTION-1957 SQUARE YARDS:
Main Street, starting at Monument Square to Newhall Ave- nue, both sides.
DRAINAGE:
Sunnyside Park area, started in 1952 and completed in 1953. Denver Street, from Pinehurst Road to Maple Road.
Intervale Avenue, from junction of Stone Street.
Drainage system on Fairmount Avenue.
Eustis Street. Tuttle Street.
Jasper and Auburn Street drain extended 245 feet.
Elm Street drain extended 120 feet to eliminate a bad water condition.
Winter Street project, started in 1953, will be completed in 1954.
The widening and straightening of Shute's Brook, under Chapter 91 has been approved by the State Department of Public Works, Waterways Division. They have al- lotted $15,000 to match our $10,000, which was ap- propriated at the Annual Town Meeting. Actual con- struction will be started in 1954.
All the above completed drainage projects are working successfully, eliminating the serious drainage conditions that existed previously.
NO MORE FLOODED CELLARS PERIL THE HEALTH AND COMFORT of residents of Winter Street, in the Springdale Avenue and Willis Street area, since the installation of a modern drainage system in 1953 as part of the Town Manager's "Build a Better Saugus" program. Modern machinery, progressive government, enlightened citizens, combine to make this ideal a reality.
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1
1
Chapter 90 Construction
The State Department of Public Works awarded the con- tract for the completion of Ballard Street to the Rev-Lyn Con- struction Company. This project was started in 1953 and will be completed in 1954. In the construction of this road, under Chapter 90, the old bridge was removed and in its place a 48- inch iron culvert has been installed with a tide gate and another tide gate to be installed at the junction of Bristow Street and the Lynn Marsh Road, or route 107, making that large tract of land between Ballard and Bristow Streets available for a very desirable industrial or business development, as this area will not be affected any more by the incoming or outgoing tides.
MODERN HIGHWAYS FOR A MODERN SAUGUS, Under the capable direction of the Public Works Department, a contractor widens treacherous Ballard Street, installs new utility lines, forges a vital link in our highway system, with the aid of State and County funds under the Chapter 90 program. With the completion of this East Saugus improve- meni-vainly sought for a generation-Town Manager Walter E. Lawrence proposes to move to Cliftondale this year, and streamline another vital artery, Essex Street, from Cliftondale Square to the Newburyport Turnpike. An expanding Saugus welcomes such improvements as indicative of its bid for additional homeowners, more business, and modern industries seeking well-paid workers.
ZESTFUL, HEALTHY PLAY, minus the mud, dirt and grime which previously ruined their clothes and aroused mothers is now possible for youngsters of East Saugus attending the Ballard School. This bituminous concrete paving was installed in the spacious school- yard this summer under the direction of the Pu'slic Works Department, It replaces the uneven gravel surface, with its numerous sinkholes into which youngsters tripped and fell. Now it's "Your It!" for the youngsters at the Ballard and the chase is on without the added hazards of tum'bling into a watery ditch or stumbling over protruding rocks. This type of school improvement program launched by Town Manager Walter E. Lawrence will eventually be found surrounding every one of the town's educational plants.
School Yards
The department this year took over the construction of school yards. The Ballard School was tied into the new sewer system and a drainage system was constructed in the school yard to take care of the rain leaders and surface drainage. This was tied into the Greenwood Avenue drainage system and the entire play yard was then resurfaced with bituminous concrete. We also reerected the fence. This work was done with a very small appropriation and the department feels that it worked wonders in completing the job with the amount appropriated.
We started the preliminary work for the resurfacing with B.C.I. of the Lynnhurst School play area, which we will com- plete in 1954, as this type of work cannot be done during the winter months. We feel that, at its completion, it will be an asset not only to the town but to the children in the Lynnhurst area who have no playground in their section of the town.
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New Equipment
During 1953 the Public Works Department received the following pieces of equipment:
1 Three to five ton sidewalk roller.
3 Ford three ton dump trucks to replace our three old ones.
1 Walters truck, which was obtained by a trade-in of two packer loaders.
Recommendations
I recommend that a definite highway rebuilding program be undertaken in the very near future. The least we can do during 1954 is to start an asphalt resurfacing program to hold in place what we now have. This will not improve the riding quality of the roads but it will help to preserve what we have until the town can undertake a road construction program on a definite annual basis. I also recommend that funds be set up to give some attention to the former private ways that have become public ways through the action of Town Meeting and are in a worse condition today than when they were accepted, due to the fact that no appropriations have been made to do work on these roads.
Under drainage, I recommend that we continue our yearly program of eliminating two or three bad drainage areas and this year may I stress the following locations: Central Street, from Fiske Brook up to Adams Avenue; Lincoln Avenue, between Lawndale Avenue and Dudley Street on the northerly side; and the junctions of Newhall and Wendell and Vincent Street.
I recommend that during the year 1954 that we complete the unfinished sidewalk program of 1953 at all locations where granite curbing has been installed, namely Lincoln Avenue, from Central to Birch; Walnut Street on the easterly side from the State Overpass to Spring Street; in front of the Armitage School property, Essex Street and Pleasant Avenue; Jackson Street, from Essex Street to Lot A-35 on Assessors plan 2011, or ap- proximately 230 feet.
Under Chapter 90 Roadwork, I recommend that the next construction program be the reconstruction of Essex Street, starting from Cliftondale Square to the State line. Under Chap- ter 91, I recommend that we continue the work of widening and straightening Shute's Brook and the construction of an adequate culvert under Central Street and the Boston & Maine Railroad property. When completed, this will eliminate our most serious drainage problem. Always keep in mind that Shute's Brook and its tributaries are the life line of the town's drainage system including the Newburyport Turnpike, which is State controlled.
Also under this chapter, I recommend the straightening out of the Saugus River in the rear of the Public Works Building, threreby making a large tract of valuable land available. This tract of land is located only a few hundred yards from Monu- ment Square. I also recommend that the wheels be set in motion to have the State Department of Public Works take over Water
Street, otherwise known as Route 129, as a State highway, and that part of Walnut Street from North Saugus Square to the Lynnfield line, because it is the only outlet from Route 129 to reach Route 128.
I recommend the purchase of two new jeeps so that equal snow plowing service can be rendered to all sections of the town. At the present time, this is one piece of equipment that we can- not hire from private individuals because of the rough territory involved. Under our present operations, some sections of the town have to wait until a route in another section is completed.
For equipment, I recommend the purchase of an eductor for the cleaning of our catch basins and drainage systems. The replacement of our present mechanical sweeper, which was purchased second hand, is also necessary. A tractor large enough to do the work and meet the requirements that the town needs is required. A rubber tired self-propelled front end loader is also needed.
This type of unit could be dispatched to any project in operation on its own power in a very short time and to several projects in any one given day. This unit would also be ideal for snow removal within our business areas.
May I state, at this time, that we do not have the proper housing facilities for equipment and materials at our present garage. Many units are out in the open weather 52 weeks of the year because of lack of space in the garage.
I recommend that a new public works garage be constructed to house all public works vehicles and units and vehicles of other town departments. Fully realizing that this would be a large undertaking in any one year, I recommend that this garage be constructed under the unit section plan whereby one section could be completed in one year and carried on annually until the whole unit is completed. I do not desire anything elaborate in the construction of this garage but suggest a building that is sound, practical, and very easy on the taxpayers' pocketbook.
My final recommendation is a program of erecting direc- tional signs at the different entrances to the town, in the squares, and at the town's main arteries.
In conclusion, I wish to thank all who in any way assisted the Public Works Department for their sincere co-operation throughout the year and also to the citizens of Saugus who were so kind and considerate in understanding the many problems that face this department.
Sincerely, CHARLES C. DeFRONZO, Supt. Public Works.
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Public Works
WHAT A DIFFERENCE IT MAKES IN BOTH COMFORT AND APPEARANCE when a street is lined with smooth granolithic sidewalks and granite curbing, Such a road as Saugus' heavily-travelled Main Street, which prior to 1953 had the rocky and muddy sidewalks laid out by the Puritans in 1629, a menace alike to children and aged folks. Now Main Street has a new distinction, It's the first street in Saugus to boast granite curbing, thanks to Manager Walter E. Lawrence's program of providing modern conveniences for a modern community.
PERIODIC FLOODED CONDITION OF THE AREA served by the Crystal Brook drainage system in Oaklandvale surrenders to scientific flood control methods, Grateful home- owners, and those planning home developments in this expanding section of Saugus, salute the completion of a project which has been vainly sought for 25 years, Under the able superintendence of Charles C. DeFronzo, head of the Public Works Department, the Bocon-Keyes Contracting Company is shown installing a vital culvert.
TAPPING THE HILLS BEHIND THE NEW VETERANS' Memorial School to provide a shorter route for school children, plus a short-cut from Cliftondale to the Winter Street section of Saugus Center, is this new Hurd Avenue Extension, shown in its early stages. Management provides more services for the people!
HELPING TO GUARD PUBLIC HEALTH AND CLEAN UP THE polluted waters of the winding Saugus River are such improvements as shown above, installation of a sewer line on Foster Street, accommodating the adjacent Fire and Police Station Building and Town Hall. For generations, Saugus has been dumping its live sewage from these municipal buildings directly, or through septic tanks, into the Saugus River, despite constant protests by the State Department of Public Health, Department of Conservation, and alert sportsmen, who sadly saw the effects on the once beautiful fish-filled river which the Pentucket Indians who lived upon its bounty when the Puritans arrived in 1629 called by the phonetically lovely name "Abousett." Saugus forges ahead, determined to provide modern facilities, and end a lurking peril to the health of its citizens by providing modern sewerage dis- posal facilities.
ENGINEERING
€
INTELLIGENT PLANNING IS THE BASIS of all well constructed public improvements. Re- deeming his pledge of a year ago, Town Manager Walter E. Lawrence established a competent engineering department in 1953 headed by young, aggressive, and superbly- trained Stanley B. Goldberg as Town Engineer. In his well-lighted office on the top floor of the Fire and Police Station Building, Engineer Goldberg, right, is shown laying out on paper the projects which will in 1954 be translated into well constructed public improvements. Across the draftsman's table from Engineer Goldberg are, left, George E. Robinson, and, right, Henry Seaver, his capable assistants.
During 1953, engineering services for the following projects were provided by this department:
Street construction of:
Intervale Avenue, Tuttle Street, Eustis Street, Centen- nial Avenue Street Reconstruction of : Stone Street, Part of Fairmount Avenue
Installation of drains at:
Fairmount Avenue, Eustis Street, Woodbury Avenue, Winter Street Enlargement of Riverside Cemetery Improvement of Town Landing Straightening of Shutes Brook and Saugus River
Surveying for:
New cemetery site, New High School site, V.F.W. land, Cliftondale Square parking area
Extension of Hurd Avenue
Improvement of Ballard School yard
Assessment of property along Melrose-Saugus boundary line. Work done in connection with these various projects included such tasks as surveying, making plans, profiles and topographic maps, giving lines and grades for construction, digging and ana- lyzing tests pits, and establishing water tables.
In addition, this office has corrected assessors' plans in ref- erence to sub-division of land and changing of lot lines. This work entailed the investigation of deeds and transactions, many of which had to be traced back for years, at the Registry of Deeds in Salem. Checking, recording and filing Land Court plans and providing the Town Counsel with information such as descrip- tions of land involved in street acceptance and descriptions and plans for easements and land takings have also been done by this
department. As requested by the Town Manager, the Public Works Department, and others, detailed reports on the status of sidewalk and drain construction were completed.
The Engineering Department worked in conjunction with, and supplied much valuable information to private engineers working in Saugus on the sewers, sidewalks, school yards and the new school and new cemetery projects.
Since it is advisable to have complete engineering informa- tion well in advance of the actual construction date in order to aid thoughtful consideration of the planning and engineering feasibility of the work to be done, this department has already begun to prepare for future projects. Preliminary sketches and cost estimates have been made for various drains, water exten- sions, memorials, sidewalks, sanitary sewers and street construc- tion and resurfacing. There are at present, requests for plans and profiles to be made for six unaccepted streets. These plans must be made and filed before the streets can be accepted by the Town Meeting.
A great deal of additional work must be done, such as the establishment of base lines, making elevation and topographic surveys, and plotting the location of the existing physical fea- tures and the existing underground utilities, before construction plans can be made for the above projects.
In 1954 the Engineering Department hopes to work on many projects which will improve and benefit the town of Saugus, such as the completion of the town boundary survey, which is expected to result in a substantial addition to the town's assessed valuation.
Because of the rapid growth of the town during the past few years, and the resultant increased demands upon the engineering department without the provisions for additional personnel to handle these demands, the following conditions are now beginning to affect the efficient operation of this and other departments:
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Location of houses on assessors' maps are about 10 years behind, locating and plotting main water gates are about six years be- hind, final plans for drain, catch basin, and manhole locations and the plotting of field water main notes are about four years behind minor engineering design work has had to be let out in contracts, and many of the older streets have never had the street line established and the work involved in establishing the line and profile and setting the proper monuments would take several years.
The following graph illustrates the number of engineers em- ployed by Saugus during 1953: (Private Engineers Not Included).
10
10
9
9
8
8
7
7
6
6
5
5
4
4
3
3
2
2
1
1
Jan. Feb. March Apr. May June July Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec.
The following personnel and expenditures have been re- quested by the department and recommended by the Manager as necessary for the engineering department to make reasonable progress in correcting the aforementioned conditions and still provide adequate town engineering services, which at the present time is costing the town more to do without than it will cost to have.
1954 ENGINEERING PERSONNEL
Title Town Engineer
Principle duties Working, directing and check- Approved ing on all Town engineering projects as head of the Engi- neering Department.
Senior Civil Engineer
Designing proposed projects. Working on sewerage prob- lems. Working with Water and Assessing Departments
Grade II Engineering Aide Grade III Junior Civil Engineer
Estimating and keeping cost Approved records. Surveying and High- way work.
Construction inspection. Sur- Approved veying and Highway work.
Grade II Engineering Surveying and Highway work. Approved Aide
Grade III Junior Civil Engineer
Drafting construction and Approved final Record plans.
Draftsman
Senior Clerk
(Engineering)
Doing clerical work and keep- Approved ing progress graphs, utility in- formation tables, and cost
charts.
Chief of Party (Part time)
Miscellaneous summer sur- Approved veying and street acceptance work.
Transit Man
Same as above
Approved
Part Time
Engineering Aide
Same as above
(Part Time)
1954 ENGINEERING EXPENDITURES
Purpose
Request
Manager's Recommendations
Regular personnel
$31,050.00
$21,443.75
Part time personnel
5,738.00
4,063.00
Ordinary maintenance
2,029.00
2,029.00
Extraordinary expenses
2,020.00
2,002.00
Equipment and Supplies in
Excess of $500.00
3,100.00
3,100.00
The personnel of this office wishes to thank all persons and departments who so willingly co-operated and aided them during the past year.
1953 was a year of remarkable growth for the town of Saugus, but the growth in 1954 will undoubtedly be greater. The Engineering Department will continue to do all it possibly can to aid, protect and stimulate the proper growth of the town.
Respectfully submitted, STANLEY B. GOLDBERG
Town Engineer
22
Working with Water and Approved Assessing Departments.
Grade II Engineering Aide (Construction Inspector)
Manager's Recom- mendations
PROPOSED CEMETERY FOR THE TOWN OF SAUGUS . MASS.
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