USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > Weymouth > Town annual report of Weymouth 1920 > Part 13
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The following is the text of the proposed act:
COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS
IN THE YEAR ONE THOUSAND NINE HUNDRED AND TWENTY
AN ACT
Whereas, it appears to the general court that the town of Weymouth contains more than twelve thousand inhabitants, and that the majority of the inhabitants of the town, present and vot- ing in a town meeting, duly warned and holden for the purpose, on the twelfth day of November, nineteen hundred and twenty, voted to instruct the selectmen of the town to petition the general court for the enactment of the legislation herein contained, in ac- cordance with Article II of the amendments to the constitution; therefore
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
Section 1. Upon the acceptance of this act by the town of Weymouth, the voters in every precinct shall, at the first annual election thereafter, elect by ballot thirty voters in each precinct, other than the officers designated in Section II of this act as town meeting members at large, such elected voters to be town meeting members of the town, one-third of whom shall be elected for the term of one year, one-third for the term of two years and one-third for the term of three years from the day of the annual town meeting; and thereafter, except as otherwise provided herein, at each annual town election the voters of each precinct in the town shall, in like manner, elect ten of their number to be town meeting members of the town for the term of three years, and shall at such
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election fill for the unexpired term or terms any vacancies then existing in the number of town meeting members in their respec- tive precincts. Upon every revision of the precincts, or of any of them, the terms of office of all town meeting members from every such revised precinct shall cease upon the election of their suc- cessors, and at the first ensuing annual town election there shall be an entirely new election of town meeting members in every pre- cinct so revised, as well as in any new precinct or precincts estab- lished. The town clerk shall, after every election of the town meeting members, forthwith notify each member by mail of his election.
Section 2. Any town meeting held under the provisions of this act, except as otherwise provided herein, shall, at and after the first annual election held under this act, be limited to the voters elected under section one together with the following, des- ignated as town meeting members at large; namely, any member of the general court of the Commonwealth from the town, the mod- erator, the town clerk, the selectmen, the town treasurer, the town counsel, the town collector of taxes, the town accountant, the chair- man of the school committee, the chairman of the trustees of Tufts Library, the chairman of the board of health, the chairman of the park commission, the chairman of the water commissioners, the tree warden, the chairman of the planning board, the chairman of the overseers of the poor, members of the appropriation committee and chairman of any board of town officers hereafter constituted by law or by the acts of the town. The town clerk shall notify the town meeting members of the time and place at which town meetings are to be held, the notices to be sent by mail at least seven days before the meeting. The town meeting members, as aforesaid, shall be the judges of the election and qualification of their members. A majority of the town meeting members shall constitute a quorum for doing business; but a less number may organize temporarily and may adjourn from time to time. Notice of every adjourned town meeting shall be posted by the town clerk in ten or more public places in the town, and he shall notify by mail, the members of the town meeting of the adjournment at least twenty-four hours before the time of the adjourned town meeting. The notices shall state briefly the business to be acted upon at the meeting, and shall include notice of any proposed . reconsideration. All town meetings shall be public. The town meet- ing members as such shall receive no compensation. Subject to such conditions as may be determined from time to time by the members of the limited town meeting, any voter of the town who is not a town meeting member may speak, but he shall not vote. A town meeting member may resign by filing a written resignation with the town clerk, and his resignation shall take effect on the date of such filing. A town meeting member who removes from the town or from the precinct from which he was elected shall cease to be a town meeting member.
Section 3. Nomination of candidates for town meeting mem- bers to be elected under this act shall be made by nomination pa- pers, which shall bear no political designation, and signed by not less than ten voters of the precinct in which the candidate resides, and filed with the town clerk at least ten days before the election. No nomination papers shall be valid in respect to any candidate whose written acceptance is not thereon or attached thereto.
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Section 4. The articles in the warrant for every town meet- ing, so far as they relate to the election of town officers, and town meeting members, as hereinbefore provided, to grant licenses for the sale of intoxicating liquors, referenda, and all matters to be acted upon and determined by ballot, shall be so acted upon, and de- termined by the voters of the town in their respective precincts. All other articles in the warrant for any town meeting shall be acted upon and determined exclusively by town meeting members at a meeting to be held at such time and place as shall be set forth by the selectmen in the warrant for the meeting, subject to the referendum provided for by section seven.
Section 5. A moderator shall be elected by ballot, by the town meeting members, at each annual town meeting and shall serve as moderator of all town meetings, except as otherwise provided by law, until his successor is elected and qualified. If a moderator is absent, a moderator pro tempore may be elected by the town meet- ing members.
Section 6. Any vacancy in the full number of town meeting members from any precinct may be filled until the next annual election by the remaining members of the precinct from among the voters thereof. Upon petition therefor, signed by not less than ten town meeting members from the precinct, notices of the vacancy shall be promptly given by the town clerk to the remain- ing members from the precinct in which the vacancy or vacancies exist, and he shall call a special meeting of such members for the purpose of filling any vacancy. He shall cause to be mailed to each of such members, not less than four days before the time set for the meeting, a notice specifying the object and the time and place of the meeting. At the said meeting a majority of the mem- bers shall constitute a quorum, and they shall elect from their own number a chairman and a clerk. The choice to fill any vacancy shall be by ballot, and a majority of the votes cast shall be required for a choice. The chairman and clerk shall make a certificate of the choice and forthwith file the same with the town clerk, together with a written acceptance by the member or members so chosen, who shall thereupon be deemed elected and qualified a town meet- ing member or members, subject to the right of all the town meet- ing members to judge of the election and qualification of members as set forth in section two.
Section 7. Any vote, except a vote to adjourn, and except votes authorizing the borrowing of money for immediate town needs, which fact to be specified in the vote, passed at any l'mited town meeting, shall not become operative until after the expiration of five days, exclusive of Sundays and holidays, from the dissolution of the meeting. If, within said five days a petition, signed by not less than one hundred voters of the town, containing their Christian names together with their street addresses, is filed with the select- men asking that the question or questions involved in such vote be submitted to the voters of the town at large, then the selectmen, after the expiration of five days, shall forthwith call a special meeting for the sole purpose of presenting to the voters at large, the question or questions so involved. The polls shall be opened at two o'clock in the afternoon and shall be closed not earlier than eight o'clock in the evening and all votes upon any questions submit- ted shall be taken by ballot, and a check list shall be used in the
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several precincts in the same manner as in the election of town officers. The questions submitted at the said town meeting shall be determined by vote of a majority of the voters at large voting thereon. The questions so submitted shall be stated upon the ballot in the same language and form in which they were stated when presented to said limited town meeting by the moderator, and as they appear upon the records of said limited town meeting. If such petition be not filed within the said period of five days, the vote in the limited town meeting shall become operative and effect- ive upon the expiration of said period.
Section 8. The town of Weymouth, after the acceptance of this act, shall have the capacity to act through and to be bound by its said town meeting members who shall, when convened from time to time as herein provided, constitute limited town meetings; and such limited town meetings shall exercise exclusively, so far as will conform to the provisions of this act, all powers vested in the municipal corporation. Action in conformity with all provisions of law now or hereafter applicable to the transaction of town af- fairs in town meetings shall, when taken by any limited town meet- ing in accordance with the provisions of this act, have the same force and effect as if such action had been taken in a town meeting, open to all the voters of the town as heretofore organized and con ducted.
Section 9. This act shall not abridge the right of the people of Weymouth to hold general meetings; nor shall this act confer upon any limited town meeting in Weymouth the power finally to commit the town to any measure affecting its municipal existence or changing its government, without action thereon by the voters of the town at large, using the ballot and check lists therefor.
Section 10. The question of the acceptance of this act by the town of Weymouth shall be submitted to the registered voters of the town at the annual town election in the year nineteen hundred and twenty-one. The vote shall be taken by ballot, in accordance with the provisions of chapter eight hundred and thirty-five of the acts of nineteen hundred and thirteen and any amendments thereof, so far as the same shall be applicable, in answer to the question: "Shall an Act passed by the general court in the year nineteen hun- dred and twenty-one, entitled 'An Act to provide for limited town meetings, town meeting members, a referendum and an annual moderator in the town of Weymouth,' be accepted by this town?" and the affirmative votes of a majority of the registered voters of the town present and voting thereon shall be required for and shall determine its acceptance. The acceptance of this act as herein provided, shall repeal all acts, parts of acts and any town by-law inconsistent herewith. So much of this act as authorizes its sub- mission to the registered voters of the town shall take effect upon its passage, but the act shall not take further effect unless and until accepted by the town as herein provided.
BRADFORD HAWES, FREDERICK HUMPHREY, WILLIAM H. COWING, ALFRED W. HASTINGS,
Selectmen of Weymouth.
F
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FIRE HAZARD
The New England Insurance Exchange has during the past season made an exhaustive investigation of all matters relating to Fire Hazard in our town and we are now in receipt of a report of its findings. To print this report in full would require about twenty pages, and while it contains much that is worthy of careful con- sideration we do not feel justified in devoting that amount of space to it, but consider it important that the public should be made ac- quainted with the recommendations made.
The report treats of the water supply, mains, hydrants, and general equipment and management of the water department; the organization of the fire department, the condition of the fire houses and apparatus, and the degree of efficiency which under the present organization may be expected. The report also treats of the fire alarm system and points out its defects. The letter accompanying the report states that the recommendations are very complete and are submitted with the idea in mind that they can be used as a guide by the town in planning improvements from year to year, working toward a definite end, so that ultimately the town will be in a position for a better insurance classification.
The report is on file for the benefit of any person interested therein.
RECOMMENDATIONS I WATER SUPPLY
Records :
1. (a) That the original and important records and plans be kept in fireproof cabinets or vaults.
Pumping Station:
2. That interior hazards be safeguarded as follows:
(a) By replacing combustible materials in floor and roofs with fireproof construction.
(b) By installing small hose, hand chemical extinguishers and sand pails.
Distribution System:
3. That the distribution system be strengthened by the early installation of mains as shown on the accompanying plan and such other mains as are necessary to furnish fire supply as follows:
(a) In the principal mercantile and manufacturing districts 2,500 G. P. M.
(b) In closely built residential and minor mercantile dis- tricts, 1,500 G. P. M.
(c) In outlying residential districts, 750 to 1,000 G. P. M. Mains:
4. That the following be adopted as the standard minimum size of mains used for hydrant supply for all future construction : (a) In residential districts, 6-inch and 8-inch, the former to be used only where they complete a good gridiron and in no case in blocks 600 feet or more in length.
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(b) In mercantile and manufacturing districts, 8-inch and 12-inch, the former to be used in sections. where they complete a good gridiron and the latter for long lines not cross connected.
5. (c) That all 4-inch pipe supplying hydrants be replaced in accordance with the foregoing recommendations and a well defined plan adopted whereby a definite amount will be replaced each year.
6. (d) That dead ends be eliminated wherever practicable and long unsupported lines of pipe cross connected at suitable in- tervals.
Note: The Exchange believes that it is essentially the business of each municipality to lay out its system of distributing mains as it is best able to judge of present and future consumption in each district and other local conditions involving paving, topography, pressures, size and type of hydrants, etc .; but practical experience has shown that the above quantities are required for good fire pro- tection in districts such as are found in this locality, and that a gridiron system of mains of the sizes recommended above is satis- factory only when cross connected at all intersections, free from dead ends, and with large secondary cross feeder mains at frequent intervals.
Gate Valves:
7. That the distribution system be equipped with a sufficient number of gate valves so located that no single case of accident, breakage or repair to the pipe system in important districts will necessitate the shutting off from service a length of pipe greater than the side of a single block or a maximum of 500 feet or in other districts greater than two sides of a single block or a maximum of 800 feet.
Hydrants :
8. (a) That a sufficient number of hydrants be installed so all important buildings in outlying sparsely built sections will be within 250 feet of a hydrant, and in built-up districts the distance between adjacent hydrants will in no case exceed 350 feet.
(b) That new installations of hydrants be in accordance with the following specifications:
Hydrants to be capable of delivering 600 G. P. M. with a fric- tion loss of not more than 21/2 pounds in the hydrant and a total loss of not more than 5 pounds between the street main and hy- drant outlet.
(c) Hydrants to have not less than two 21/2-inch outlets and engine connection where engine service is necessary. Street con- nection and hydrant barrel to be not less than 6 inches in diameter and branch line to be equipped with gate valve.
(d) That the thread of hydrant outlets conform to the Na- tional Standard, which is as follows:
Nominal Size Conn. Inches 2 1% 4 1%
Outside Diam. of Threads
Male Thread Per Inch
3 1-16 5 34 4
7 1/2
FIRE DEPARTMENT
Organization :
9. (a) That at least nine additional full paid men be added to the department immediately and that meal periods be assigned
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so that at least one man shall be on duty in each station for each piece of apparatus, at all times.
(b) That the appointment and promotion of officers be based on examination, seniority and record, under civil service rules, with tenure of office provisions.
(c) That the requirements for appointment to the service be under suitable civil service regulations, with proper require- ments for height, weight and age limits.
(d) That substitutes be employed, preferably those eligible for appointment, to fill vacancies caused by vacations or extended periods of disability.
Companies and Apparatus :
10. That service be improved as follows:
(a) By providing hose No. 1 with an automobile combined pump, chemical and hose wagon. Pump to have a rated capacity of 750 gallons per minute.
(b) By providing Ladder No. 2 with a modern automobile 55-foot city service ladder truck and the present tractorized ladder at these stations be transferred to North Weymouth station.
Note: (c) Specifications for automobile pumping engines to require pumps to deliver their full rated capacity at 120 lbs. net pump pressure for a period of two hours, 50% of rated capacity at 200 lbs. net pump pressure for one-half hour and 33% of rated capacity at 250 lbs. net pump pressure for one-half hour; to have divided body, with carrying capacity of at least 1,000 feet of hose and to be equipped with 40-gallon chemical tank or 60-gallon water tank.
(d) Gasolene motors to be capable of propelling the apparatus at a speed of 30 miles per hour and of covering 20 consecutive miles in one hour over any roads the apparatus is likely to en- counter in actual service when carrying full load, without showing loss of power or overheating when propelling the apparatus.
Minor Equipment :
11. That the following equipment be furnished where not al- ready provided :
(a) To each hose wagon or pumping engine: siamese and." double male and female connections, hydrant gates, wire cutters; : rubber gloves, door opener, playpipe holder, smoke masks, distrib- uting nozzle, burst hose jacket, axes, crowbar, rope, plaster hook, 24-foot extension and 12-foot roof ladders, two shut-off nozzles with smooth bore tips ranging from 34-inch to 11/4 inches in diameter 21/2-gallon soda and acid and 21/2-gallon foam type ex- tinguishers and two water-proof covers.
(b) To ladder trucks: modern cellar pipe, wire cutters, rub- ber gloves, tin roof cutter, saw, auger, maul, sledge, forks, shovels, picks, bale hooks, life net, smoke masks, crowbars, plaster hooks, door opener, hose hoist, deluge set, burst hose jacket, lumber nozzles, wrecking hook and chain, first aid kit, 21/2-gallon foam type extinguishers, rope gun, and salvage appliances including four water-proof covers.
Hose :
12. (a) That all hose purchased in the future bear the label of the Underwriters' Laboratories, Inc., for fire department use.
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(b) That all hose be tested at least annually to a pressure of 200 lbs. and defective sections discarded.
(c) That all hose, if not used at fires, be shifted on appa- ratus monthly.
Stations :
13. (a) That the stations now occupied by Hose Companies No. 4 and No. 7 be discontinued, apparatus abandoned and men and equipment distributed among the remaining companies.
(b) That a suitable tower or steeply inclined rack be pro- vided at all stations for the proper drying of hose.
(c) That each station having motor apparatus be provided with approved underground or portable gasolene tanks and that tanks on apparatus be filled through hose.
Operation :
14. (a) That complete fire department regulations be adopted covering discipline, house rules and other fire department matters printed in a form for individual distribution and that they be rig- idly enforced.
(b) That suitable drilling facilities be provided and all mem- bers be regularly drilled in the use of all appliances, quick hand- ling of hose, salvage work and in life saving.
(c) That a competent officer be in charge of such drills and that he be sent to at least two cities which maintain drill schools to obtain experience in modern fire methods.
(d) That the response to telephone or verbal alarms be the same as for box alarms in the same district.
(e) That a member of the department who shall be a compe- tent automobile mechanic act as chief mechanician and be held responsible for the condition of all apparatus and the training of engineers and chauffeurs.
(f) That candidates for appointments as chauffeurs be given thorough training in their duties and be required to demonstrate their ability in caring for and operating apparatus, and that only those fully competent be appointed or retained.
(g) That engines be tested at least annually and after any extensive repairs following methods published by the National Board of Fire Underwriters. Reciprocating pumps showing more than 7% slip should be overhauled, and any pump developing less than 90% of its reasonable rated capacity should be overhauled or crews drilled or both.
(h) That members make systematic monthly inspections for the accumulation of rubbish and inflammable materials inside and in the rear of buildings other than dwellings, and the chief be given power to cause arrests for the violation of the building, explosive and inflammable laws, and members be required to make a detailed report of all such inspections on approved forms, these to be prop- erly filed.
(i) That complete records be kept including a journal at each fire station, giving time and particulars of all events, and at headquarters reports of all fires, losses and inspections on approved forms, regular reports from company officers and detailed records of all apparatus and hose.
(j) That an ordinance prohibiting the parking of automo- biles or other vehicles within 10 feet of a hydrant or 15 feet of a street corner or fire station be adopted and enforced.
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FIRE ALARM SYSTEM
Organization:
15. (a) That the Superintendent of Fire Alarm be appointed for an indefinite term under proper qualifications, and that he shall also act as Inspector of Wires.
Headquarters :
16. (a) That fire alarm headquarters be located in a building of fire resistive construction especially constructed to reduce as far as possible all liability to interruption of service. All apparatus and equipment to be placed on incombustible mountings, and no unnecessary combustible material permitted within the fire alarm rooms; the batteries to be installed in a separate well ventilated room.
(b) That the protection in the fire alarm rooms include suf- ficient extinguishers of the soda, acid and tetrachloride type, sand pails and waterproof covers.
Apparatus :
17. That the system include :
At Headquarters :
(a) A slate terminal board equipped with the necessary pro- tection to circuits.
(b) The present 6-circuit slate charging and controlling board.
(c) The present 5-circuit non-interfering automatic repeater. (d) A punch register and time stamp for the recording of all signals. (e) Storage batteries of the chloride accumulator type in duplicate sets, mounted on porcelain knobs, on glass strips, on metallic rack, properly protected to prevent corrosion. Each set to be capable of operating the system for a period of 60 hours with- out recharging.
At Fire Stations :
(f) A gong, lighting switch, punch register and tapper con- nected to box circuits.
(g) Where two box circuits pass or are in close proximity to a fire station, a punch register and tapper connected to one and a tapper to the other box circuit.
Elsewhere :
(h) A gong in the water office and tapper in residence of water superintendent.
(i) A gong at the pumping station.
(j) Tappers in residences and places of business of respon- sible members of the call force to connect through relay to box circuit.
Circuits :
18. (a) That overhead circuits be of No. 10 galvanized iron or copper having triple braid weatherproof insulation.
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19. That conditions be improved by :
(b) Installing circuits underground where ducts are avail- able, using No. 14 rubber covered copper wire in lead sheathing, and providing lightning arresters and heavy current fuses at the junction of overhead and underground work, and grounding light- ning arresters and outer cases of boxes.
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