USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Swampscott > Town annual report of Swampscott 1908 > Part 2
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ART. 33. To see if the Town will appropriate the sum of one hundred and twenty-five dollars ($125) for heat, light and repairs on the Pine Street School building, said building being under the care and occupied by the General Bates Post 118, G. A. R., as petitioned for by John R. Merritt and others.
ART. 34. To see if the Town will accept a portion of Orient street as laid out by the Selectmen, and appropriate money for the same.
ART. 35. To see if the Town will grant a Saturday half holiday with pay to the employees of the Highway, Sewer, Water, and Health Departments, during the months of June, July, August and September, as petitioned for by Martin E. Nies and others.
ART. 36. To see if the Town will appropriate the sum of two thousand dollars ($2,000) for moth work, as required by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
ART. 37. To appoint a Committee on Ways and Means in accordance with Chapter V, Section I, of the revised By-Laws.
The polls to be closed at sunset.
29
RECORDS OF TOWN CLERK.
1908]
And you are directed to serve this Warrant by posting attested copies thereof at the Town Hall, Depot, Post Office, and three other public and conspicuous places in the Town, seven days at least before the time of holding said meeting.
HEREOF FAIL NOT, and make due return of this Warrant, with your doings thereon, to the Town Clerk at the time and place of meeting as aforesaid.
Given under our hands this fourth day of March, in the year nineteen hundred and seven.
ALLEN H. COLE, ARTHUR C. WIDGER, JOHN R. MERRITT,
Selectmen of Swampscott.
A true copy. Attest :
RICHARD G. GILLEY,
Constable.
Return on the Warrant:
Pursuant to the within Warrant to me directed, I have noti- fied the legal voters of Swampscott by posting attested copies of said Warrant at the Town Hall, depots, post offices and twenty- five other public and conspicuous places in said Swampscott, on Friday, the eighth day of March, nineteen hundred and seven, the posting of said notices being at least seven days before the time of said meeting.
RICHARD G. GILLEY,
Constable of Swampscott.
30
TOWN DOCUMENTS.
[Jan. 31
Meeting called to order at 6 o'clock A. M. by the Town Clerk. Daniel F. Knowlton was elected temporary Moderator. The following were qualified by the Clerk to act as election officers : Special, James H. Moulton ; Ballot Clerks, W. Herbert Webster, (Rep.), and Willis C. Paul (Dem.) ; Tellers, Frank V. Porter, Lyndon B. Jeffers, Francis S. Oliver, Freeman A. Baker, R. B. Wardwell, Jr., Alfred F. Pyne (Reps.) ; John T. McDermott, Albert A. Stone, Frank D. Thurston, Daniel J. Kain, William P. Bergen and John A. Finnegan (Dems.)
The polls closed at 5.57 P. M., 943 general and six special ballots having been cast.
At 6.58 P. M., the vote was declared as follows :
For Selectmen-James F. Caton, 427; Charles T. Jackson, 97 ; Fred C. Marsh, 477, elected ; John R. Merritt, 403, Martin L. Quinn, 444, elected ; Arthur C. Widger, 619, elected ; blanks, 371.
For Town Clerk-Milton D. Porter, 774, elected ; blanks, 169.
For Treasurer-Benjamin O. Honors, 768, elected ; blanks, 175.
For Collector of Taxes-William H. Otis, 215; George T. Till, 661, elected ; blanks, 67.
For Assessor for Three Years-Isaac H. Andrews, 420; Oscar G. Poor, 463, elected ; blanks, 60.
For School Committee for Three Years-Sidney E. Bailey, 391 ; Howard K. Glidden, 429, elected ; blanks, 129.
For Sewer Commissioner for Three Years-Aaron R. Bunt- ing, 724, elected ; blanks, 219.
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RECORDS OF TOWN CLERK.
1908]
For Park Commissioner for Three Years-Clarence B. Humphrey, 642, elected ; blanks, 301.
For Water Commissioner for Three Years-Charles A. Blanchard, 108; L. Frank Cahoon, 200; A. Wesley Clough, 126; I. Irving Edgerly, 473, elected ; blanks, 36.
For Board of Health for Three Years-Michael Haley, 285 ; George C. Webster, 612, elected ; blanks, 46.
For Overseer of Poor for Three Years-Joseph F. Crowell, 709, elected ; blanks, 234.
For Trustee of Public Library for Three Years-Frank F. Stanley, 670, elected ; blanks, 273.
For Surveyor of Highways-Michael J. Ryan, 719, elected ; blanks, 224.
For Auditors-Nathaniel F. Bartlett, 643, elected ; Harry E. Cahoon, 633, elected ; Stuart P. Ellis, 616, elected ; blanks, 937.
For Tree Warden-George Newhall, 639, elected ; David W. Nisbett, 248; scattering, I ; blanks, 55.
For Constables-William H. Carroll, 470, elected ; Richard G. Gilley, 602, elected ; Robert Leslie, 29, elected ; scattering, 50 ; blanks, 1,678.
For Moderator-Daniel F. Knowlton, 680, elected ; scatter- ing, I ; blanks, 262.
License Question-No, 674 ; yes, 148 ; blanks, 121.
At 7.03 P. M., adjourned to to-morrow, Tuesday evening, at 7.30 o'clock.
Attest : MILTON D. PORTER.
Town Clerk.
32
TOWN DOCUMENTS.
[Jan. 31
Adjourned Annual Town Meeting, March 19, 1907.
Meeting called to order at 7.30 P. M. by the Moderator. Records of last meeting read and declared approved.
ARTICLE 9 taken up. It was unanimously voted, that for the purpose of procuring a temporary loan to, and for the use of the Town, in anticipation of the taxes of the present year, the Town Treasurer is hereby authorized and directed to borrow from time to time, with the approval of the Board of Selectmen, a sum or sums in the aggregate not to exceed $75,000, and to execute and deliver the note or notes of the Town therefor, payable within one year from the time the loan is made and any debt or debts incurred by a loan or loans to the Town, under this vote shall be paid from the taxes of the present year.
ART. 5. Voted, On motion of W. A. Stubbs, that all reports in the 55th Annual Report of the Town be accepted, and those containing no recommendations be adopted, except the last clause in the Board of Health Report commencing with the word " owing "; those containing a recommedation be taken up for action.
Voted, That the recommendations of the Selectmen on page 105 of their report referring to improvement on Orient street be taken up with Art. 34.
W. W. Seymour, H. C. Bulfinch, James T. Lyons, Robert B. Wardwell, George A. Heath and John B. Earp were appointed a Committee to bring in names for a Finance Com- mittee of ten, to report upon the Town business referred to them.
Voted, That the Selectmen's report referring to the Cemetery, on page 104 - that referring to sidewalks, -also all recom- mendations in the reports of Departments calling for expendi- tures of money, be referred to the Finance Committee.
33
RECORDS OF TOWN CLERK.
1908]
Voted, To lay Art. 6 upon the table.
ART. 7. The following were accepted as a list of Jurors :
Ashton, Herman F.
Bain, Wellesley W.
Beckett, Daniel C.
Hutt, William D.
Blanchard, Horace W.
Iverson, William E.
Brackett, Samuel G.
Jackson, Charles T.
Buckley, Charles H.
Jeffers, Charles P. Johnson, Frank E.
Butcher, J. Watson
Knowlton, Daniel F.
Cahoon, L. Herbert
Kendrick, Seth C. Keefe, John F.
Caton, James F.
- Larkin, Arthur W. Melzard, George T.
Clay, George F.
Melzard, Ralph
Clough, A. Wesley
Melzard, Richard E.
Conner, George M.
Daniels, Frank W.
Nies, Martin Nisbett, David W.
Delano, Gilbert
Nisbett, J. E. O.
Douglass, Henry E.
Phippen, Charles H.
Douglass, Rodney A.
Phillips, James E.
Drew, John G.
Rich, Benjamin F.
Edgerly, I. Irving Ellis, Frank O.
Russell, Edmund Spaulding, Edwin G.
Finney, Winslow
Taylor, James L.
Galeucia, Nathaniel
Whitcomb, Otis A.
Hardy, Elmer A.
Wiley, Edwin F.
Haskell, Charles H.
Widger, James H.
ART. 8. Voted, That the' Town Treasurer's bond be $15,000.
ART. 10. Voted, That the Collector's bond be $10,000.
ART. II. Voted, To allow a discount of two per cent. on all taxes paid on or before Oct. I of the present year.
Heath, George A. Hodgkins, Elias G.
Burgess, Charles V.
Call, Edward E.
Chase, Charles A.
34
TOWN DOCUMENTS. [Jan. 31
Voted, To refer Articles 12 and 14 to the Finance Committee.
Voted, To lay Article 13 upon the table.
ART. 15. Voted, That the bonds of the Water Commission- ers be same as last year.
Voted, That Articles 16, 18, 19, 20 be referred to the Finance Committee.
Voted, To indefinitely postone Art. 17.
Voted, To refer Art. 21 to the Selectmen, to report at adjourned meeting.
Voted, To refer Art. 22 to the Sewer Commissioners to report thereon at adjourned meeting.
ART. 23. Voted, That the Moderator appoint a committee of five to bring in a list of salaries for town officials for the present year.
Voted, That Articles 24 and 25 be indefinitely postponed.
Voted, To refer Articles 26, 27 and 28 to the Finance Com- mittee.
Voted, That Articles 29 and 30 be referred to the Committee on Salaries.
ART. 31. Voted, To refer this article to the Selectmen and Highway Surveyor, to report at adjourned meeting.
ART. 32. Voted to refer this Article to the Water Commis- sioners, they to bring in to the adjourned meeting a definite statement of the needs of their department for the present year.
1
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RECORDS OF TOWN CLERK.
1908]
ARTS. 33, 34 and 36 were referred to the Finance Committee.
ART. 35 was referred to the Salary Committee.
ART. 37, Voted that the Moderator appoint the Committee on Ways and Means, in accordance with the By-Laws.
Voted, That the portion of the Fire Engineer's report relating to pay of the permanent men be referred to the Committee on Salaries. At 8.56 P. M., a recess of 15 minutes was voted to enable the Committee to name the Finance Committee.
At 9.20 P. M. the committee reported the following, which was adopted : Benjamin G. Ingalls, H. C. Bulfinch, William W. Seymour, Allen H. Cole, Frank H. Gage, Frank L. Homan,. J. Henry Welch, John J. Blaney, the Chairman of the Board of Selectmen, the Chairman of the Board of Assessors, Mr. Ingalls having declined to serve, Mr. John Albree was chosen in his stead.
The Modorator here named the following as the Committee on Salaries : Allen H. Cole, Willis E. Doughty, Alfred F. Frazier, Herman F. Ashton and Joseph M. Bassett.
Voted, That the Salary Committee report to the Finance Committee, two weeks from this date.
Voted, At 9.45 P. M., to adjourn to Monday, April 15, 1907, at 7.45 P. M.
Attest : MILTON D. PORTER,
Town Clerk.
36
TOWN DOCUMENTS.
[Jan. 31
Adjourned Annual Town Meeting, April 15, 1907.
Meeting called to order at 7.45 P. M., by the Moderator.
Records of last meeting read and declared approved.
Mr. John Albree, Chairman of the Finance Committee appointed at the previous meeting prefaced the reading of the Committee's report with some pertinent remarks and figures relating to the finances of the town, after which the following report was read and accepted :
Report of the Finance Committee.
The Vote of the Town, March 19th was that the Committee on Finance consider and report " at an adjourned meeting on all matters and recommendations of the several departments and all articles of the warrant calling for the expenditure of money."
If the work assigned this committee had been free from the embarrassing and complicating problems which had accumulated during a series of years, it would have been a comparatively simple matter to make a report satisfactory alike to ourselves and to the Town. But these problems presented themselves at the outset, and remained with us during our investigations and they must be passed on to the future. These problems, phrase them as we will, revolve around that short word of sinister meaning, debt. How shall the debts due this year be paid? How shall the present needs of the Town be met without adding to the accumulated debt already existing ?
There are certain items for which appropriations must be made but from which it is not practicable to deduct a dollar, for these amounts are fixed so far as a reduction is concerned . while they are liable to be increased. And these irreducible appropriations amount to $80,600 which amount is almost exactly the same as the total tax for all purposes raised by the Town of Swampscott in 1902, five years ago, and now this amount sufficies only for what may be termed the fixed charges and we still have to provide for schools, highways and the general expenses of the town many thousands more.
37
RECORDS OF TOWN CLERK.
1 908 ]
These irreducible amounts calling for appropriations are :
State tax
$16,000
County tax
12,000
Interest on notes
6,500
Interest on sewer bonds
7,500
Payment of sewer bonds
4,600
Gypsy moth work
2,000
Notes due in 1907
22,000
Street lighting .
10,000
$80,600
.
In addition to this irreducible amount there is now required $81, 100 more :-
Schools .
$32,000
Highways and all items connected there- with
18,550
Police and Fire Departments and items connected therewith
15,850
Selectmen's Department
.
4,500
Board of Health
·
4,000
Assessors Department
1,300
Poor Department
2,500
Soldiers' Relief
2,400
$81,100
and to this amount there must be added sundry lesser items of several thousand dollars more.
Why Not Cut Appropriations.
The first thought is that appropriations must be cut and that the Town must be compelled to live within the amounts so reduced. The action of the Town twelve months ago has a bearing on this, for then appropriations were reduced below the estimates and we have the results presented to us in the Town
·
·
.
.
38
TOWN DOCUMENTS.
[Jan. 31
Report of this year. The estimates submitted to the Town a year ago ask for $142,000. These amounts were changed by additions of $4,000 and deductions of $14,000 so that the net deduction was $10,000.
But in December last the Town was called upon to appropri- ate to make good deficits in the spring appropriations $10,650. The result of the business of the Town for 1906-7 as shown by the table on page 275 of the report was an addition to the amount of notes payable of $16,000. At the same time there was a reduction in the bonded debt of $4,600, so that the net increase in the Town debt for the year was $11,400. Of this amount $11,000 is for one note, a temporary loan, dated Decem- · ber 20, 1906, for five months and due June 20, 1907. This should have been included in and paid in the last year's business, but as it now stands it is charging this year's business with $11,000 of last year's running expenses.
This general situation has been constantly in the minds of the committee and as a result a plan is now proposed that it is believed will result in a reduction both in the notes payable and in the total debt of the Town because there will be paid both notes and bonds.
There are due this year and therefore must be paid $22,000 in notes, namely :
Proctor Lot Loan
$3,000
Town Park Loan
2,500
Permanent Improvement Loans
.
.
5,500
Temporary Loan Dec. last
11,000
$22,000
and there will also be due and payable $4,600 of sewer bonds, thus making a total payment on the Town debt of $26,600.
There are expenditures for which appropriations are herein recommended which are not in the nature of running expenses but which are for improvements covering a series of years and which come, therefore, under the general head of permanent improvements. We have, therefore, decided to recommend that
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RECORDS OF TOWN CLERK.
1908]
a loan of $20,000 for permanent improvements be obtained. This will permit the reduction in the Town debt, will keep the tax rate down, and if the departments keep within the allotted amounts and no unexpected or expensive event happens, we shall as a Town be in better condition a year hence than now.
To re-state the case we will pay this year $26,600 to reduce the Town's debt. We shall borrow $20,000 which is $6,600 less than we pay so that the debt will be reduced by that amount.
In making a recommendation that $20,000 be borrowed, it is to be understood that approval is not expressed of what has at times been urged upon and adopted by the Town as a policy, namely, borrowing money by means of a permanent loan for what is purely and simply a running and current expense which should have been paid out of the tax levy of the year. It is not necessary to specify particular instances. These can be found on an examination of the Town Reports.
The purpose of mentioning this phase of the Town's finances at this time is to call attention of the voters to the peril that attends a course of borrowing money for the payment of bills which bear to the general finances of the Town the same relation that rent or grocery bills do to the finances of an individual.
But we find the money has been borrowed, the notes given and arrangements must be made for their payment.
The attention of the Town should be called to errors on page 273 of the report, for if a committee of the Town is assigned work that depends upon facts and figures as given in the Town Report, such committee ought not to be expected to correct work that properly belongs to the compilers of the report.
The item "note due in 1916 $14,800" should be $12,000. In the item of notes " due yearly 1915 to 1924" it should be stated that in 1918 there are two notes due, not one only as it now reads. The item of " note due in 1924 $6,500" should be $9,300.
The errors in the Auditor's Report for February, 1906 on pages 217, 218 and 219 which result in three different footings for the notes payable of the Town, have been corrected, except as above, in the report for the present year.
40
TOWN DOCUMENTS.
[Jan. 31
It would have been a great aid to the committee if there had been given in the report a recapitulation showing the appropria- tions, receipts, expenditures, balances or over-drafts in each account. We recommend that such be included in the report for next year.
The following amounts are required either by law or by existing contracts and we therefore recommend that they be appropriated :
State Tax
$16,000
County Tax
12,000
Interest on Town Notes
6,500
Interest on Sewer Bonds
7,500
Payment of Sewer Bonds .
4,600
Gypsy Moth Work, Art. 36
2,000
Notes due in 1907
·
.
22,000
Street Lighting
.
10,000
$80,600
Selectmen's Report.
Cemetery Department. Page 104.
Additional lots are needed and they should be laid out with some system. We recommend that $500 be appropriated for plotting and addition to the cemetery and for preparing lots.
Beattie Memorial Ambulance. Page 105.
We recommend that $200 be appropriated for the care and maintenance of the ambulance, including the unpaid bill and the expense of a new harness.
Town Hall Yard. Page 106.
We do not recommend the erection of a new fence about the lot. We do recommend that a gravel walk be constructed by the Highway Department along the lines of the path across the
·
.
.
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RECORDS OF TOWN CLERK.
1908]
lot. It is Town land and the town's people show their need of a path. Such ought to be constructed for their use.
Humphrey Street Widening. Page 106.
We are told by the Chairman of the Metropolitan Park Com- mission that the work is completed as they cannot undertake to do anything beyond where the concrete' work now stops, as a continuance would involve the Commission's entering upon a traffic street and that they will not do, except in peculiar circum- stances and conditions which however do not exist in this connection. Humphrey street is a county road and the widen- ing should be done by the county as the work would be a bene- fit for the general public rather than for the Town. We recom- mend that the Selectmen be requested to see what can be done by the county.
Selectmen's Recommendations. Page 109.
We recommend the following appropriations which have been modified in some respects from the list as submitted by the Selectmen :-
Selectmen's Department
$4,500
Assessors Department
1,300
Police Department receipts and
6,000
Poor Department
2,500
Soldiers' Relief Department
2,400
Board of Health
4,000
Library, receipts, dog tax and
Soo
Cemetery, general .
1,000
Town Hall, receipts and
1,400
Monument lot, care of ·
30
Tree Warden's Department
250
Water rates
1,200
Park Department
1,200
Maintenance of sewers .
4,500
Sea wall, Orient street, near steps
50
$30, 130
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TOWN DOCUMENTS.
[Jan. 31
Corners at Humphrey, Redington Streets and at Burrill and Essex Streets; also Article 34, Orient Street and Widening.
In none of these matters has it been practicable to arrive at an understanding on which a satisfactory report could be made at this time. We recommend that these matters be referred to the Selectmen for further consideration and report at some subse- quent Town meeting.
School Department.
We recommend for the School Department an appropriation of $32,000. In making this recommendation for appropriation we are mindful that there are certain expensive and radical alter- ations that must soon be made in the matter of school buildings. We desire to call attention to the statement at the foot of page 147 of this year's report. It is stated that the "position of Swampscott in the list of 353 towns and cities of the State, graded according to appropriation based on each $1,000 of val- uation in 1905, was No. 321." This fact is found in the annual report of the Massachusetts State Board of Education and in this report is given also the position of Swampscott in the same list of 353 towns and cities when graded according to the compara- tive amount per pupil. In this particular Swampscott stood number 38. It appears therefore that according to the amounts appropriated per pupil Swampscott is near the head of the list of towns. It devolves there on all concerned, whether school committee or citizens to see that the results are of a quality to take equally high rank among the towns and cities of the State.
Highway Department.
Highways, general appropriation
$10,000
Snow, care of .
1,000
Gravel sidewalks
250
Crushing stone
1,200
Catch basins
600
Resetting curb, Humphrey street
100
Curbstone department
250
Street watering
3,000
$16,400
43
RECORDS OF TOWN CLERK.
1908]
Continuous Sidewalks. Page 165.
We recommend that $500 and the reimbursements from 1906 be appropriated for continuous sidewalks on the northerly side of Middlesex avenue from Burrill street to the Clarke School ; also on the northerly side of Monument avenue to the Church of the Holy Name; and that the work be continued on Humphrey street to the hay scales.
New Boiler for Stone Crusher. Page 166.
We recommend an appropriation of $900 for a new boiler. The present one is old and inefficient and the expense of mainte- nance is too great. A new one will prove an economy for the Town.
Road Machine. Page 166.
We recommend an appropriation of $300 for a road machine. This machine, designed to scrape dirt or snow from roads and gutters will prove to be an economical article for the Town to have.
Under Drains and Water Courses. Page 166.
It would seem under the Sewer act of 1902, Chapter 86, Section I, that the sewer commissioners are given charge of "any brook, stream or water course." If so then no action is necessary on this recommendation.
Fire Department.
We recommend a general appropriation of $9,000 and receipts for the Fire Department.
New Horses.
We recommend that $400 and receipts from the sale of the old ones be appropriated for two new horses to replace two now in use. One is nineteen years old and has passed his usefulness. The other is not adapted to the work.
44
TOWN DOCUMENTS.
[Jan. 31
New Hose.
We recommend an appropriation of $300 for new hose to replace some that is worn out.
ARTICLE XII.
We recommend that $200 be appropriated toward defraying the expenses of Memorial Day as petitioned for.
ARTICLE XVI.
Claim of A. O. Cahoon or His Assigns.
As there is no action the town ought to take on this matter we recommend the indefinite postponement of the article.
As an appeal for votes for this measure has been made to those who have become citizens in late years, it seems best to review the record. The claim originated eleven years ago and has been the subject of heated discussion ever since, until through appeals for sympathy for the claimant, combined with reflections on the courts and references to sundry scraps of evi- dence, it would appear that the Town was doing a grievious wrong in failing to vote to pay A. O. Cahoon or his assigns some $1,300. One does not like to be charged with "grinding the face of the poor" or with being one of those "who devour widow's houses." We are asked to believe that three officials of the Town, though in private life they bore and still bear the respect of the community, did in carrying out the will and wish of the Town act wantonly and in defiance of law, so that the Town can clear itself from the disgrace only by voting to pay the claimant or his assigns $764 and interest for some eleven years.
The details of an incident after eleven years have elapsed, must be indistinct and the relations between the relevant and the irrelevant, between the material and the immaterial, are under the circumstances difficult, if not impossible to determine. Fortunately in this instance we have the court record, for A. O. Cahoon brought suit. Now when a man brings suit, he files his declaration and in it he states his ground of action and
45
RECORDS OF TOWN CLERK.
1908]
his prayer for relief as strongly and as clearly as he can. We must conclude therefore that in his declaration, filed in Salem, March 20, 1897 (an authenticated copy of this and of the docket entries in this case is attached to and made a part of this report), A. O. Cahoon presented his case in such a way that, should we incorporate his statement in this report, we would be stating his case as he himself stated it ten years ago. From his declaration therefore it appears that he represented to the court that on March 31, 1896, he was'seized as of a leasehold estate of land and buildings on Blaney Beach ; that secondly, on March 31, 1896, the Park Commissioners took the land, premises and buildings thereon, and third, that the "petitioner prays that said Board of Park Commissioners has failed to award to your peti- tioner adequate damages therefor and that, being agrieved there- at, he hereby petitions that said damages may be assessed by a jury in this Honorable Court."
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