USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Swampscott > Town annual report of Swampscott 1897 > Part 7
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TOWN DOCUMENTS.
[Feb 27
pleasure resort. Thanks to the suggestions of the fishermen themselves, and to the good taste of Mr. Rogers, we think that we have secured both these ends.
We deem ourselves fortunate in the man whom we have secured for the care of the Park property, Horace W. Blanchard, whose title will be Park Superintendent.
Respectfully submitted,
GEORGE A. JACKSON, Park Commissioners.
BENJAMIN POTTER, ROBERT B. WARDWELL,
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REPORT ON FUTURE WATER SUPPLY.
1897]
Report of Committee on Future Water Supply.
TO THE CITIZENS OF SWAMPSCOTT :
Only once in the history of mankind has the univer- sal demand for water been fully met. The question of a " future water supply " has agitated the mind of man since the time when the children of Israel murmured and became greatly discontented because of their inability to obtain a sufficient supply of pure water for themselves and their flocks and herds. The people of to-day are murmuring from the same cause, not only in our own Town, but throughout the State, and the ingenuity of man is being severely taxed to meet the people's wants and stop their murmurings.
Your Committee, appointed at the adjourned Annual Town Meeting, held March 22, 1894, to investigate the matter of a Future Water Supply, have performed their duty, and herewith respectfully submit the result of their investigations.
We will first consider the relations of the Town with the Marblehead Water Company, so called. This Company was chartered by an Act of the Legislature of Massachusetts, of the year of 1883, to supply the Town of Marblehead, or other towns and cities of the Commonwealth, with water. Pursuant to its charter, this Company without solicitation or any encouragement from our Town, erected a standpipe, pumping station, sank tubular wells within the Town's terri- tory, and proceeded to supply the Town of Marblehead with
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water. Your Committee, sustained by good legal counsel, desire to assure the citizens of Swampscott that this charter, sweeping as it is, does not in any part or degree obligate the Town to this Company.
September 27, 1886, by vote of our Town at a special meeting, a contract was made with this Company to supply the Town of Swampscott and its inhabitants with water for one year, with option of renewal for one or more years. We herewith present a copy of said contract :
[COPY.]
CONTRACT WITH MARBLEHEAD WATER CO.
"This agreement made this 27th day of September, A.D.,. 1886, by and between the Town of Swampscott, a municipal cor- poration, located in the County of Essex, Massachusetts, and the Marblehead Water Company, a corporation duly established under the laws of the State of Massachusetts.
"Witnesseth, That, whereas the said Town, at a meeting duly called and held on the 25th day of September, A.D., 1886,
"Voted, That the Selectmen be authorized and instructed to- make a contract with the Marblehead Water Company, within thirty days, for a supply of water for all purposes, for a term of one year, in accordance with the proposition submitted by said Company, with the privilege of renewing the said contract at the option of said Town, at the expiration of said contract for one or more years, and, provided, that the rates charged by said Marblehead Water Company shall not exceed those of its sched- ule of 1885, and
" Whereas, Said proposal was as follows, viz. :
September 23, 1886.
To J. H. FARWELL, EsQ., Chairman Selectmen of Town of Swampscott :
Dear Sir, -In answer to your request for what terms the Marblehead Water Company would supply water to the Town of
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Swampscott, I am authorized to say, in behalf of the Company, that they will furnish water for fire purposes and sprinkling streets on Town line of pipe already laid, free of charge, provid- ing, that the Company shall have the use of said pipes for domestic service and the right to connect with them to make further extension. They will further agree to lay service pipe to the line of the sidewalk without charge for material, and to keep in repair the Town pipe.
Yours truly,
W. C. McCLALLAN."
"Now, therefore, in pursuance of said vote and proposal, the Marblehead Water Company agrees to furnish to said Town for one year, from the 1st day of October, 1886, on the Town's line of pipe already laid, water free of charge for fire purposes and sprinkling streets.
"And said Company further agrees to furnish during the term of this contract, the said Town and its inhabitants water for all other purposes, at rates not exceeding those charged in its schedule for the year 1885, a copy whereof is hereto annexed marked 'A,' and made a part of this contract.
"Said Company further agrees to lay service pipe to the line of sidewalk without charge for material, and agrees to keep in repair the Town's pipes.
"The said Town agrees that the said Company shall have the right to use, during the continuance of this contract, the pipes already laid by said Town, and the right to connect with them to make further extensions.
"The said Company agrees to hold the Town harmless from all damages which may be suffered by reason of any defect in the highways caused by the construction, repair, or operation of the said Company's works, or the pipes laid in the streets of said Town, and any extension thereof.
" Nothing herein contained shall be construed so as to im- pose any obligation upon said Town to pay for the water which
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may be furnished by said Company to or used by its inhabitants, for their private supplies, or for any expense for labor done, or material furnished by it under this contract, in laying service pipe for the accommodation of such inhabitants, but such Com- pany shall collect its compensation therefor, from such individual takers, at its own expense.
" This contract may be renewed for one year or more at the option of said Town.
" In witness whereof, on the day and date first above men- tioned, the Town of Swampscott has caused its corporate seal to be hereto affixed, and these presents to be executed in its name and behalf, by its Selectmen, and the Marblehead Water Com- pany has caused these presents to be executed in its name and behalf, and its corporate seal hereto affixed by its President, Thomas Appleton.
[SEAL.]
MARBLEHEAD WATER COMPANY, By THOMAS APPLETON, President.
TOWN OF SWAMPSCOTT,
[SEAL.]
By J. H. FARWELL,
EDWARD H. THOMAS, Its
J. R. WIDGER, Selectmen."
" Whereas, in a certain agreement made the 27th day of September, A.D., 1886, by and between the Town of Swampscott, and the Marblehead Water Company, it is provided as follows: that ' The said Town agrees that the said Company shall have the right to use during the continuance of this contract the pipes al- ready laid by said Town and the right to connect with them to make further extension.'
"And, Whereas, contrary to the intention and true meaning of said agreement, it has been by some persons erroneously sup- posed and suggested that said Company by the terms of said agreement were given, had or claimed to have an exclusive right
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to connect with said pipes to make further extensions as against the right of said Town so to connect therewith.
"Now, therefore, that there may be no doubt as to the mean- ing and construction of said agreement, the said Company here- by declares that said agreement shall be construed as only to give said Company permission so to connect with said pipes whenever said Town shall not have already connected therewith for such purposes, or when said Town shall not desire so to connect there- with for such purposes.
"And said Company hereby expressly waives all exclusive right, if any it has, but which it has not heretofore and does not claim to have, under said agreement, to connect with said pipes for such purposes.
"In witness whereof, the Marblehead Water Company has caused these presents to be executed in its name and behalf, and its corporate seal hereto affixed by its Treasurer, Thomas H. Bacon, this 2d day of April, A.D., 1887.
SIGNED, MARBLEHEAD WATER COMPANY,
[SEAL.]
By THOMAS H. BACON.
" This agreement, made this 27th day of September, A.D., 1887, by and between the Town of Swampscott, a municipal cor- poration located in the County of Essex, in Massachusetts, and the Marblehead Water Company, a coporation duly established under the laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts,
"Witnesseth, That whereas, on the 27th day of September, A.D., 1886, the parties hereto entered into an agreement for a water supply all as therein provided, and whereas, it is therein stipulated as follows, viz. : 'This contract may be renewed for one year, or more, at the option of said Town.'
"And, whereas, at a legal meeting of the inhabitants of said Town, held on the 24th day of September, current, it was ' voted, That the Selectmen be authorized and instructed to renew the
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contract now existing with the Marblehead Water Company, for a term of ten (10) years from October 1st, 1887.'
"Now, therefore, in accordance with the foregoing, it is here- by agreed that said contract, or agreement, for a water supply, dated September 27th, A.D., 1886, and all the provisions thereof, are hereby renewed and extended for the term of ten (10) years, from the 1st day of October, A.D., 1887.
" In witness whereof, on the day and date first above written, the Town of Swampscott has caused its corporate seal to be here- to affixed, and these presents to be executed in its name and behalf, and its corporate seal hereto affixed by its President, Thomas Appleton.
MARBLEHEAD WATER COMPANY,
[SEAL.]
By THOS. APPLETON, President.
WITNESS,
B. J. BERRY.
TOWN OF SWAMPSCOTT,
[SEAL.]
By J. H. FARWELL, Its EDWARD H. THOMAS, J. R. WIDGER, Selectmen.
WITNESS,
GEO. A. BLANEY."
It will be seen by a clause in this contract, that the Marblehead Water Company did expressly waive all exclusive right to connect with the Town's pipe, to make extensions, but it seems, by the consent of the Town, miles of pipe has been laid by this Company in our private and public streets, and which pipes the said Company now own and control. It must be apparent to all that the pipe situation is somewhat complicated and unfortunate, but the advantage is not, in the opinion of your Committee, more with the Company than
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with the Town, and this opinion is also backed by legal authority. For while the Town would have no right to flow water through the pipes, owned by the Company, the Company could not flow its water through the Town's pipes in order to reach any of its patrons. This could only be done by mutual consent. It would seem therefore very important that if the Town desires to obtain a supply of water from any other source, than that from which it is now being supplied, that it should own and control the entire pipe system. This could only be done by either buying the pipes of the Marblehead Water Company, or laying parallel lines. We are informed that the Company do not care to sell its pipes alone, but will, and is anxious to sell its entire plant to the Town.
FUTURE SUPPLY.
In conducting our investigations along this line, we first waited upon the gentlemen of the Salem Water Board, with a hope born of encouragement from citizens of both Beverly and Salem, that the supply owned and controlled jointly by these cities, viz : - Wenham Lake, might be available to our Town; but we were met with a positive assurance that, while they would be willing to supply the Town of Swampscott temporarily in case of emergency, the matter of a permanent supply was entirely out of the question, and could not be entertained by them.
We then turned our attention to the possibility of an independent supply, by the construction of storage basins, among the natural water sheds, within and adjoining the Town. We were quite sanguine, from our own observation, that this plan was entirely feasible, but when we consulted with men of experience, who had made this question a life study, we were forced to conclude that this plan was not practicable without an enormous outlay, one that we believe
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the Town would not care to make, and that, with the possi- bility of ultimate failure of such a source to meet the ever increasing demand.
We would call the attention of the Town to Chapter 488, of the Acts of 1895 : An Act to provide for a Metropolitan Water Supply, to supply with water cities and towns within a radius of ten miles of Boston. By special Act of the Legislature, cities and towns outside of the prescribed limits, may be admitted into said Metropolitan district. It would seem that here is offered the prospect of a future supply that should receive careful consideration in our future action. Your Committee are not in possession of sufficient data to give accurate figures and facts. As this source will not be available for one or two years to come, the Town must of necessity look to either the Marblehead Water Company, or to the City of Lynn for a supply for the next two years at least. Our present supply now taken from the Thompson Meadow, while analyzing much better than any water yet supplied by the Marblehead Company, does not appear to be held by the State Board as a permanent supply. The report of the State Board of Health, relative to this supply, is here- with appended :
SWAMPSCOTT. The Marblehead Water Company applied to the Board, Aug. 1, 1896, for its advice relative to an increase of their water supply by taking water from the ground in the neighborhood of Thompson's Meadow in the north part of Salem, near the boundary line between Salem and Swampscott. The Board replied to this application as follows : -
BOSTON, Sept. 3, 1896.
The State Board of Health has considered your application for advice with reference to an additional water supply for Swampscott and Nahant, to be taken from the ground in the
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vicinity of Thompson's Meadow, so called, situated in the south- erly portion of Salem, very close to the boundary line between Salem and Swampscott, and has caused an examination of the proposed source of supply to be made, and samples of the water from test wells in the meadow to be analyzed. The analyses show that the water is somewhat hard, but is otherwise of excel- lent quality for the purposes of a public water supply. Whether it will remain so if water is pumped continuously from the ground here for a long time cannot be foretold with certainty from a single examination.
Information furnished by you as to the character of the soil found in driving the test wells indicates that a layer of gravel from 18 to 24 feet in thickness was found in all of the wells, at. a considerable depth beneath the surface, from which water could be pumped with freedom by a hand pump. These conditions are favorable to obtaining water freely from the ground here by means of wells. On the other hand, the extent of the meadow is limited, and the land surrounding it contains a large amount of ledge. With these conditions, and in the absence of a suit- able pumping test from wells in the meadow, it is not practicable to advise you definitely with regard to the quantity of water to be obtained from this source.
In view of the poor quality of the water now drawn from the wells in the valley of Stacy's Brook, and the need of an ad- ditional water supply, the Board regards the proposed locality as a suitable place in which to seek an additional supply of water. The Board would advise, however, that, before building all of the works for taking a supply from this source, you put in the necessary wells and connect them to a temporary pump, and test them by pumping continuously for a period of at least two weeks, during dry weather, in order to obtain more definite in- formation as to the probable yield of the wells than is possible at present. It would also be well to have samples of the water collected at various times during the test, to determine what change, if any, takes place in its quality.
The Board will assist you by making such further analyses
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of water as may be necessary, and will give you further advice with reference to this matter, if you desire, when you have ad- ditional information to present.
Another application was received from this Company, Oct. 24, 1896, after trials had been made relative to the capacity of the proposed wells for supplying water. The Board replied to this application as follows : - . .
BOSTON, Nov. 5, 1896.
The State Board of Health received from you, on October 24, a second application with reference to a proposed water supply to be taken from the ground in Thompson's Meadow, in which you state that additional wells have been driven in this locality, and a pumping test made by pumping from the wells for a period of twelve days continuously, except for short intermissions, aggre- gating in all about one and a half hours, at a rate of nearly 200,000 gallons per day.
Samples of water collected and sent in by you during this test have been analyzed by the Board, with the result that the quality of the water shows no material change from the quality of samples taken from test wells in August, and in its present state is excellent for the purposes of a public water supply.
With regard to the quantity of water to be derived from wells in this locality, the tests thus far made are not conclusive ; but, considering the character of the land about the meadow and of the meadow itself, it seems to be very doubtful whether this source can be depended upon to furnish enough water for the needs of Swampscott and Nahant at all times. Taking into ac- count, however, the favorable results of the tests thus far made as to the quality of the water, the comparative economy of this source on account of its nearness to the present distributing sys- tem, as compared with any other source from which it is at all probable that a satisfactory supply can be obtained, and the desirability of avoiding, so far as possible, the use of water from your present wells in the vicinity of Stacy's Brook, the Board is
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1897]
of the opinion that this source is a proper one from which to take water for Swampscott and Nahant, at the present time.
In locating works for collecting ground water, it is desirable that they be extended through the meadow sufficiently to secure as great a quantity of water as possible from the ground. If, upon actual trial, it shall be found that the yield of this source is likely to be too small for the towns of Swampscott and Nahant at all times, it is very desirable that you continue your investi- gations, with the object of securing a permanent supply of water of good quality and in sufficient quantity to make it possible to discontinue the use of water from your present wells, which are not satisfactory for a domestic water supply, being located in territory containing a large and rapidly growing population, and a portion of them being apparently affected to a considerable de- gree by the presence of sea water.
It will be now seen that the Board is in doubt, owing to its recent introduction. On the other hand your Com- mittee have been advised by water experts that the Thomp- son Meadow would, if properly guardcd, furnish the Town a supply for some years. Your Committee incline to the opinion of the State Board, in view of the fact that Nahant is also being supplied from this source. The Marblehead Company is prepared to renew its contract for a supply of the Thompson Meadow Water, for any time, at present rates.
So far as a supply from the City of Lynn is concerned, your Committee have the assurance of the Lynn Water Board that they can furnish the water, and that the Town would receive favorable action from the Board if an applica- tion for a supply was made; and it is the opinion of the Committee that the Town would be accorded as favorable terms as that now enjoyed by the Town of Saugus.
The Town of Marblehead has practically no surplus that could be depended upon, even if the quality of its
10
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supply was free from the objectionable elements so peculiar to ground waters.
The fact that all of the cities and a large majority of the towns of the Commonwealth now own and control their water supply, or are conducting negotiations to secure that control, even at the expense of a heavy tax rate, would seem to imply that municipal control was both profitable and desirable. Your Committee are of the opinion that this is the objective point at which the Town should aim, especially if the Town expects to maintain its present status as an in- dependent municipality.
At the last Annual Meeting, the Town made an appro- priation to enable your Committee to bond territory, if in their judgment it was thought advisable, to make practical tests as to the possibility of a good ground supply, in terri- tory near the Town limits. After due consideration, it was deemed unwise to spend the money of the Town for this purpose. Therefore, the appropriation remains intact.
It has become apparent to your Committee in following the above lines of investigations that there exists a very general impression among our citizens that the Committee has neg- lected its duties. The impression is owing, perhaps, to a very elastic interpretation of the authority with which the Com- mittee is clothed. This existing order of affairs prompts your Committee to call to the attention of our citizens the exact powers vested in the Committee. The commission under which we have labored is plain and must become clear to any one taking the trouble to inform himself by a refer- ence to the Town record, which reads as follows : "Voted, to appoint a Committee of five members to investigate the mat- ter of a future water supply."
Your Committee in rendering its report are unanimous in the opinion that any action on the part of the Committee that would in any degree commit the Town to any liability
1897]
REPORT ON FUTURE WATER SUPPLY.
133
whatever is clearly beyond its province, and that its sole duty manifests itself in an exhaustive inquiry as to a future water supply. To this end your Committee has shaped its investigations, the results of which are now before you for your consideration.
ELDRIDGE F. SMALL, MILTON D. PORTER, PELEG GARDNER, MARTIN E. NIES,
ARTHUR F. FOSTER,
Committee on Water Supply
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Report of Committee on Assessors' Map of Town.
TO THE CITIZENS OF SWAMPSCOTT :
The Committee appointed at the Annual Meeting of 1894, to procure a survey of the Town, with maps for the use of the Assessors, would report :
That the second year's work has been completed to the satisfaction of the Committee, and the third and last year's work so well advanced that, in the Surveyor's judgment, the entire work will be finished the present summer.
We therefore recommend that the sum of sixteen hun- dred and ten dollars be appropriated for the payment thereof.
Respectfully submitted,
D. P. STIMPSON, JOHN CHAPMAN, D. HOLMAN MILLETT.
SWAMPSCOTT, Feb. 15, 1897.
135
REPORT OF STREET LIGHT COMMITTEE.
1897]
Report of Street Light Committee.
TO THE CITIZENS OF SWAMPSCOTT :
. Your Committee have attended to their duties the past year and submit the following report. There seems but little to be said. Our streets have been well lighted, although many complaints of "lights out" from time to time have been reported to your Committee by the Police, and due notice has been given the Lynn Gas & Electric Company, who appear in each instance to have had it remedied at once; and it would appear to your Committee that the response in each instance has been prompt to remedy the recurrence of the same could the cause be traced to other than that of a freak of the electric current.
Your Committee feel that, with all the imperfections of the lights, they are giving general satisfaction. Your Committee have made a number of trips over the entire cir- cuit during the past year, taking notes of complaints and . observing what changes in their opinion could be made to give better results. The outcome of this investigation has been the relocation of some fifteen arc and four incandes- cent lights. With these changes many of the lamps were taken from the poles and craned out, and report from citi- zens in many of these localities has been that the service was much improved.
There has been no additional cost or expense to the
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Town in making any of these changes. The Company alone . standing that, and ever ready to comply with any reasonable demand by the Committee for relocating of poles. The lights continue to burn on what is called the common sense system, every dark hour during the year until 2 A.M., in place of a specified number of hours, not to exceed in all two hundred and forty nights per year. New lights that have been added during the year : eight arc and three incan- descent. Whole number of lights now in our circuit : arc, one hundred and two (102), incandescent, twenty-three (23).
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