USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > Weymouth > Town annual report of Weymouth 1926 > Part 11
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Engineer
Drinkwater, Rotheus
90
Main
Merchant
Ewell, Andrew V.
36 Water
Commercial
Salesman
Hobson, Joseph L.
398
174
Pearl Draughtsman
Kidder, Carl B.
17 off Putnam
Clerk
113
Lothrop, Robert W.
Oakden Ave.
Draughtsman
Lukeman, William H.
391 391 Summer
Farmer Iceman
MacDonald, John J.
772 Pleasant
MacFaun, Herbert T.
731 Pleasant
Shoeworekr
Marr, Sidney F.
397
Bridge
Laborer Elevator Worker Retired
Martin, Josiah F.
76
Park Ave.
McGonigal, James
20
Richmond
Quarterman
McNamara, Edward P.
169
Neck
Prop. Gas Station
McPhee, William P.
479
Pleasant
Carpenter
Melville, James L.
268
Main
Laborer
Melcher, Nathanial E.
146
Central
Fireman
Melville, Thomas H.
268
Main
Shoeworker
Merrick, Charles T.
134
West
Shoeworker
Merrill, Frederick T.
370
Main Salesman
Metcalf, Byrd
80 Neck
Fore River
Metcalf, Charles H.
2 Shore Drive
Retired
Millette, Elie
Narragansett Ave. Shoeworker
Moore, James
68
Kensington Road
Carpenter
Moore, William K.
999
Front
Machinist
Nightingale, Irving R.
35
Laurel
Salesman
Niles, Thornton F.
179
Washington
Agent
Noonan, Edward P.
19
Washington
Chauffeur
O'Connell, Cornelius
371
Front
Leatherworker
Our, Ellsworth J.
32
Cain Ave.
Carpenter
Parker, Edward W.
9
King Cove
Shoeworker
Parker, Murray G.
18
Pierce Ct. Machinist
Perry, George E.
497 Pond Ice Cream Mfg.
Pratt, Harold C.
23 Lafayette Ave. Electrician 32 Mechanic
93
Front
Manufacturer
Price, John F.
701
Front
Manufacturer
Randall, Horace M.
574
Broad
Real Estate
Rapperport, Harry
86
Washington
Merchant
Reed, Albert H.
593
Main
Shoeworker
Reidy, Daniel Jr.
1060
Pleasant
Druggist
Remick, Joseph E.
215
Washington
Machinist
Rideout, Cyrus B.
46 Summer
Fore River
Ripley, Winfred F.
Off Union
Painter
Rix, William J.
22
Cottage
Salesman
Rogers, Chester H.
60 Commercial Superintendent
Rounds, Clarence P.
8 Sherwood Road
Manager
Ryerson, Walter F.
53 Cain Ave.
Machinist
Salzgerber, John H.
37 Grand View Rd. Auto. Agent
Santry, John P.
87 Union
Laborer
Saunders, Ernest L.
234 Pilgrim Road Main
Inspector
Seabury, John W.
298
Retired
Seabury, William T.
141 Northı
Merchant
Shaw, Charles E.
237
Middle
Manager
Shaw, Albert W.
240
Union
Farmer
Shea, Thomas E.
21
Granite
Chauffeur
Smith, Ernest A.
753 Commercial
Salesman
Sowden, James C. B.
67 Pleasant
Salesman
Spear, Theodore F.
330 Main
Salesman
Sproule, Matthew C.
333 Columbian Artesan Well Borer
Sprague, Marshall P.
1 Liberty Square Laborer
Pray, Roger E.
Philips
Pray, William E.
208
Winter
McLeod, John R.
114
Printer
Stackpole, Lester C.
201
Randolph
Salesman
Stiles, Clifford E.
24 Pierce Ct.
Salesman
Stone, Charles W.
478
Main Contract Agent
Sturtevant, Charles E.
11
Rosemont Elec. Engineer
Sweeney, Thomas
12
Shaw
Carpenter
Tegg, John H.
450
Main
Shoeworker
Thayer, Elmer W.
233
Randolph
Operator
Tirrell, Alfred S.
284
Main
Merchant
Tirrell, Charles Q.
836
Washington Farmer
Tirrell, Marcus L.
10
Hollis
Shoeworker
Tolman, Fred P.
218
Main
Machinist
Tonry, James H.
79
Chard
Printer
Trainor, James L.
19
Sterling
Manufacturer
Trudell, Joseph A.
11
Kensington Road
Clerk
Turner, Charles N.
933
Pleasant
Shoeworker
Vallas, Louis
84
Broad Newsdealer
Waberton, Henry B.
32
Granite
Painter
Wagner, William A.
266
Pleasant
Claim Agent
Walsh, John D.
129
Central
Shoeworker
Welch, Emery E.
483
Pond
Machinist
Welch, Phillip M.
14
Reed Ave.
Shoeworker
White, John F.
7
Worcester Ter.
Shoeworker
White, Walter
162
Front
Shoeworker
White, William H.
21 Baker Ave.
Fore River
Whitmarsh, George L.
359
Pond
Salesman
Whyte, William F.
548
Union
Harness Maker
Wilder, William W.
24
Cedar
Motorman
Williams, Charles R.
25 Lincoln
Shoeworker
Wright, Edwin C.
104
Front
Clerk
FRED E. WAITE,
WINSLOW M. TIRRELL,
WILLIAM B. DASHA,
H. FRANKLIN PERRY,
THERON L. TIRRELL,
Selectmen of Weymouth, Mass.
A true copy attest :
CLAYTON B. MERCHANT Town Clerk
36 Highland Place
Lumber Mill
Sullivan, Herbert I.
12
Franklin Janitor
Taylor, John
319
Pond
Clerk
Thomas, John F.
24 Pierce Ct.
Stiles, Charles E.
115
, 1
JURORS DRAWN DURING THE YEAR
William E. Beach George W. Beane George E. Bicknell Grant B. Chase
Roy H. Cushing
Timothy L. Gannon
William H. Goodwin
Arthur M. Hiatt
Willard H. Holbrook
Minot E. Hollis
Charles H. Leary
Henry S. Litchfield Wallace W. Lyon
Warren Menchen
John J. Norton John F. Poole Lawrence E. Pray Harry Rapperport Chester F. Rogers James C. B. Sowden Rupert L. Stone Elmer W. Thayer Alfred S. Tirrell Marcus L. Tirrell Timothy White William H. White Fred L. Whittemore Percy O. Miller
116
TOWN CLERK'S FINANCIAL REPORT Hunting and Fishing Licenses for 1926
Number of Licenses Issued
488
445 Resident Sporting
@
$ 2.25
$1001.25
1 Non-Res. Sporting
a
15.25
15.25
1 Alien Sporting
a
15.25
15.25
24 Minor Trapping
a
.75
18.00
8 Res. Cit. Trapping
2.25
18.00
5 Res. Lobster
1.00
5.00
4 Duplicate Licenses
@
.50
2.00
448
$1074.75
Less fees retained under provisions Chapter 295, Sec. 9.
120.50
Paid Division of Fisheries and Game
$ 954.25
DOG LICENSES 1926
Jan. 1, 1926 Cash on hand from 1925 licenses
2 Male
@ $ 2.00
4.00
1 Female @ 5.00
5.00
Number of licenses issued during 1926
771 Males
@ 2.00
1542.00
164
Females
@ 5.00
820.00
108 Spayed Females
@ 2.00
216.00
1 Breeders
@ 25.00
25.00
4 Breeders @ 50.00
200.00
1051
$2812.00
Less fees retained
210.20
Paid County Treasurer
$2601.80
MISCELLANEOUS LICENSES 1926
6 Auctioneer Licenses
@
$ 2.00
12.00
23 Fish, Fruit and Vegetable
@
10.00
230.00
43 Gas Reregistration
@
.50
21.50
10 Junk
@
25.00
250.00
9 Oleogarmarine
@
.50
4.50
5 Pool
@
5.00
25.00
$ 543.00
543.00
Paid to Town Treasurer
117
REPORT OF THE TOWN ENGINEER
To the Honorable Board of Selectmen of the Town of Weymouth
Gentlemen :-
I submit herewith my twentieth annual report on the town survey work, so called, and no other surveying or engineering work done during 1926.
Under the head of town survey work is entered all the la- bor and expense appurtenant to the maintenance of a system of Assessors sheets covering the entire town which involves a com- plete revision each year of 65 sheets, each full sheet embracing about 200 acres, and includes the location and addition of all new buildings, obtaining all transfers of ownership and changes in property lines, and in general making the many alterations ne- cessary to furnish the Assessors with maps correct as of April 1st, the date of assessment, each year.
Included in the revision which must be made on the sheets each year are the addition of new streets, the widening or change in line of others, the rounding of street corners, the addition of land company developments from which lots have been sold and are taxable to grantees, the elimination of buildings destroyed by fire or otherwise, or removed to other locations, and other chang- es of yearly occurrence.
The most important change in streets during the year, as regards to cost and extent, was the widening, by the State, of Bridge street between Quincy Bridge and Hingham Bridge, it new being 70 feet in. width from Quincy Bridge nearly to Bick- nell Square and in general 60 feet in width the remainder of the distance.
The State also installed a drainage system for the entire length. As this widening was on both sides of the street and eliminated the whole or part of many of the rounded corners of the intersecting streets on either side of Bridge street, it will probably be necessary or desirable to relocate the ends of all such intersecting streets as already contemplated by your Board.
In 1926 there were about 1265 transfers or an increase of approximately 15 per cent over 1925 showing a further continu- ance of the yearly increase. The number of transfers or deeds does not show the number of changes as many deeds contain sev- eral different parcels.
About 275 dwellings, approximately 249 other taxable build- ings, and the new brick school building at North Weymouth were added to the sheets for 1926. This also shows a marked in- crease over 1925.
I hoped last year to replace, from the appropriation, one or two of the original tracings, some of which have been revised 16 or more times, but with the increase in transfers, etc., there was nothing left for this purpose. Several of these tracings are al- most completely worn out, contain many holes and are in such shape that a proper negative or print cannot be obtained; these should be replaced, one or two each year if possible.
I would recommend an appropriation of $2000 for the town survey work the coming year.
118
I would again call the attention of all land owners to the importance of property recording deeds in order that the correct name may appear on the sheets and the property be taxed to the proper person.
Many unrecorded plans are of value and might be of great assistance in determining some obscure or doubtful line and I would be very glad to have any such brought to my attention; and I take this opportunity to thank those who have thus assisted me in the past.
During the past year there have been 92 town survey sheets sold showing a slight profit ($16.45) to the town. The above includes a complete set of prints with index map sold to the Land Court.
An appropriation of $500 to be used in setting stone bounds on town streets was expended as follows :-
65 stone bounds were purchased in addition to a few on hand and bounds were set at the following places: Pierce Road (11,) Idlewell Street (5,) Great Pond Road and Pine Circle (9,) Fisk Avenue (10,) May Terrace (8,) Broad Street, near Central Square (1,) Lovell's Corner Playground (2,) Narragansett Ave. (7,) Delorey Ave. (10,) and Parnell Street (11.) In addition a stone bound was set to mark a town point on Sea Street at pri- vate expense to replace one dug out in excavation for a cellar; 1 and 4 stone bounds were set to mark the corners of the layout of Idlewell Street over the railroad, these latter being charged to the Country.
It is needless to say that this work should be continued.
I would once more call the attention of your Board to the desirability of a system of bench levels throughout the town for use by different departments on various town work, and to which all topography, street profiles, levels for drainage and similar work could be referred.
At the last annual town meeting an appropriation of $1000 was made for the purpose of preparing a complete set of street numbering plans covering the entire town including the unaccept- ed streets and private ways as far as possible.
On account of marked changes in many parts of the town in the character of the development since the original numbering was done nearly 25 years ago, it has been a somewhat difficult task to do this work without making more changes in the exist- ing numbers than it was hoped would be necessary, but it has been the aim to fit all present numbers whereever practicable. In certain districts however this was impossible. For example in Washington Square it was necessary to allot numbers every 12 1-2 feet for some distance and a like condition prevails in many of the business centers so that in some instances the original scheme for the entire street had to be modified. Conditions re- mained more nearly the same in the residential districts and in most cases it was possible to adopt the present numbers.
At this writing the work is nearly completed and I hope to send the sheets to the binder during January, 1927.
119
General routine work in Weymouth during 1926 was as fol- lows:
Precinct maps, surveys, plans for hearings, record plans and descriptions of streets recommended to the town for acceptance, taking profiles of various streets, staking streets, establishing and giving grades for street construction, taking profiles, staking and giving grades for drains, giving street lines when so instruct- ed by your Board, testing street lines as shown on plans of land filed for registration in the Land Court, staking, giving grades for, and measurement of permanent sidewalk and curb construc- tion, with schedule in each case for the Superintendent of streets and for the Assessors; gutter profiles and grades, street widen- ings, descriptions for takings, and other incidental work for vari- ous departments of the town, together with work on the street layout over the railroad to Idelwell, and work at Washington Square the last two being charged to the Country.
To your Board, to other town officials, and to the citizens of the town I wish, in closing, to extend my thanks for any and all assistance rendered or courtesy shown to me or my assistants in the work throughout and for the town.
Respectfully submitted, RUSSELL H. WHITING, Civil Engineer
REPORT OF THE ELECTRIC LIGHTING COMMITTEE
To the Honorable Board of Selectmen of the Town of Weymouth:
Gentlemen :-
Your committee signed a contract with the Weymouth Light & Power Co. to light the streets of the town until April 1st, 1927, the contract being similar to that of last year, with the excep- tion of a few changes made necessary by the abolishment of the moonlight schedule, the town now being lighted all night every night, this being the only change of importance during the year.
We have discontinued two large lights and installed eighty- eight new lights, mostly forty candle-power, bringing our total number up to eleven hundred ten.
The company has replaced about one hundred worn fixtures and expects during the coming year to add a third circuit to the street lighting system, thereby giving the town an improved and steadier service.
At the special Town Meeting of June 7th, 1926, $2000 was raised and appropriated toward improving the lighting condi- tions of Washington Square and this matter was referred by your board to this committee and Mr. J. E. Mulligan, subject to your approval.
The above appropriation was sponsored by the Business As- sociation of Weymouth and East Braintree and we have had sev- eral meetings with their committee, whose proposition is to in- stall nineteen large lights at an approximate cost of $4600, the town having already appropriated $2000 and they to raise the balance, which having been only partly done and the widening of
120
the Square being as yet incomplete, no work of installation has been started. If this program is carried out, the cost of opera- tion alone will be about $2000 per year.
Owing to the improvement and . widening of Bridge St., we consider it advisable to increase the lighting and recommend $500 for this purpose.
$22,215.84 will be required to maintain the present number of lights for the coming year and we recommend $1000 additional which will install about 100 new lights.
Respectfully submitted, MATTHEW O'DOWD
ALFRED S. TIRRELL JOSEPH A. FERN J. HERBERT LIBBEY
REPORT OF THE PLANNING BOARD
To the Citizens of Weymouth:
In submitting our first annual report we wish to say that we have met each month since elected to consider the most urgent present and future needs of the town.
Some of our several recommendations to the Board of Se- lectmen have been favorably acted upon, among them being the rounding of the corners of streets leading into Bridge Street since the State finished widening the same; and the abandonment of the triangle at Fountain Square and the installing of catch basins to take care of the surface water, which we felt was very much needed.
Other recommendations included zoning, abandonment of squares and triangles in different parts of the town, and the wid- ening and elimination of hedges and ledges at various street cor- ners.
Next to our water supply we feel sewerage is a matter which must in the near future be considered by the town.
The Superintendent of Schools appeared before our Board to tell us of the needs of the schools. We are unanimously in favor of his plans as presented, which included the building of a Junior High School at the High School building; the necessary addition to the Pratt School building at Lovell's corner, and a new six room building at Pond Plain section of South Weymouth.
After several conferences with reference to conserving our water supply, we arranged a joint meeting with the Water Board and as a result of that meeting we unanimously recommended the taking of the land which forms the watershed of Great Pond. In taking such action we feel that the land around the Pond can be purchased for much less value now than if in
purchased years to come. This is the most vital question confronting our town today and one which every citizen of the town of Weymouth should be interested.
Representatives of the Planning Board attended the State Conference of Planning Boards at Salem, Mass., on October 19 and 20, which proved to be most interesting and instructive.
121
We had as our guest at our December meeting, Mr. Edward T. Hartman, State Consultant on Housing and Planning. About forty citizens of the town were present, including town officials, as well as members of both the Quincy and Braintree Planning Boards.
Respectfully submitted,
FRANK A. PRAY, Chairman. ARTHUR I NEGUS, RUSSELL H. WHITING, ALLAN C. EMERY THOMAS J. KELLY, LEWIS W. CALLAHAN. RALPH H. HASKINS,
Clerk.
REPORT OF SUPERINTENDENT ALEWIVE FISHERY
42 High Street, East Weymouth, Mass., January 5, 1927 To the Honorable Board of Selectmen of the Town of Weymouth: Gentlemen :-
I herewith submit my second annual report as Superinten- dent of the Alewive Fisheries in the Town of Weymouth for the year ending December 31, 1926.
Work was started on April 20th, and continued until approxi- mately seventy thousand (70,000) alewives were deposited in Whitman's Pond for spawning.
The results from stocking the pond this year proved very successful, as an endless number of young fish came down to the salt water in the latter part of the sesaon.
The run this year did not prove to be as successful as was ex- pected, owing to the fact that the first and third runs were very small, as compared to the previous year, but this will be over- come by properly stocking the pond.
The building is in fairly good condition at the present time, with the exception of the floor which, after another year, may need to be relaid.
In closing my report, I wish to say that in my opinion all the citizens were courteously served during the season.
Respectfully submitted, FRANCIS H. MAGUIRE, Superintendent of the Alewive Fisheries.
At the last annual Town Meeting a Committee was directed to investigate and report on the needs of the Town for office space to handle the various Town Departments.
The Committee herewith offer the result of its investiga- tions :-
The Town now rents offices from the East Weymouth Sav-
122
ings Bank, consisting of two small offices and two large offices. There is a vault connected with the large office.
The two smaller offices are occupied by the Water Depart-
ment. One of the large offices is used by the Selectmen as an office and hearing room and also contains the desk of the Town Clerk and the desk of the Superintendent of Streets. The other large office is used by the Town Accountant and assistants and the Assessors and Tax Collector.
The records of all the Departments are kept in the vault off the Selectmen's room and in so-called fireproof portable safes.
The Committee is of the opinion that the quarters are entirely inadequate for the number of people working in the various of- fices, together with their various books and records, that the business of no one department can be conducted without inter- fering with other departments and that the records of the Town are in grave danger of being destroyed by fire or lost, or taken by unauthorized persons.
No provision is made for many officers of the Town, whom we believe should be located at the Town's offices or at least their record kept there, such as Tax Collector, Building and Plumbing Inspector, Tree Warden Board of Health, Sealer of Weights and Measures, Town Treasurer, School Committee etc.
Some departments have urgent need of a hearing room where the full board can act on Town affairs. It is necessary that some of these hearings be held in private, such as request for abatement of taxes, questions concerning the poor of the Town, etc. There is no place at present where such hearings can be held unless it so happens that other Town officials are not in at the time such hearings are held and even in that case other citizens waiting to be heard are forced to wait in the hall.
The Tax Collector's relations with the Tax Payer are more or less of a confidential nature and he should have an office sep- arate from the other officials for himself, his assistant and his records. This is not possible with the present arrangement.
The same thing is true, to a certain extent, with the Town Clerk and also the Town Accountant, not so much perhaps from a question of privacy but due to the difficulty of doing their work efficiently with several other departments operating in the same room simultaneously.
The toilet facilities are not adequate and there is a question whether or not they comply fully with State laws regulating them.
One of the most serious objections to the present quarters in the minds of the Committee is the question of vault space. All Town records have to be kept in a vault 6 feet by 15 feet. There is insufficient room to keep all records and as a result many records are kept out or in temprary safes. If the present build- ing should burn there is no doubt but what records of great value would be lost.
Records are also open to the public for inspection in a way that is not proper. This is especially true in the case of the As- sessor's records which, of course, are of a semi-private nature.
For the above reasons, your Committee is satisfied and hereby reports that in their opinion the office facilities afforded
123
the officials of the Town in their present quarters are entirely inadequate, have been outgrown and should as soon as possible be materially improved.
This can be accomplished in any one of three ways;
1st-By renting more space in the present building.
2nd-By purchasing the present building, building an addition thereto and renting the downstairs portion now occupied by them to the present owners, the East Weymouth Savings Bank.
3rd-Build a new building on a suitable location, de- signed to best serve the requirements of the Town.
In the opinion of your Committee, the first solution will not prove satisfactory. It is a temporary expedient as it is only a question of a few years when the enlarged quarters will prove as inadequate as the present quarters now are. It does not provide enough additional space to warrant the expenditure which would be required to make the necessary building alterations. It would be difficult and expensive to enlarge the vault space.
The second solution, while it is open to some criticism, will undoubtedly prove the most economical method of getting addi- tional space, provided arrangements could be made to purchase the present building at a reasonable figure. The total cost of present building, plus an addition to be built at the side, would be less than the cost of a new building large enough, and in addi- tion the Town would be assured of a rental from present owners sufficient to carry the part now occupied by them. The price paid for the building would naturally influence the rent to be re- ceived by the Town.
The third solution, of course, will fully satisfy the present and future requirements of the Town for office facilities but will probably prove the most expensive both in first cost and operating cost in the future.
Your Committee therefore desires to report that after inves- tigation it finds the present quarters of the offices of the Town entirely inadequate for the purpose for which they are used and recommends (that a Committee be appointed with authority to employ a competent architect, with whose assistance they shall prepare plans and specifications for a new Town office building to be located preferably within a quarter of a mile of Weymouth Centre, and also plans and specifications for an addition to the building a part of which is now occupied by the Town and which is owned by the East Weymouth Savings Bank and that such Com- mittee be directed to secure, if possible, written option on the Savings Bank building. We further advise that if a new site is selected for a Town office building that effort should be made to procure a large enough lot to provide ample parking space and room for the erection of other buildings in case the Town should later desire to develop the same as a civic centre, and that a written option be obtained, if possible, on any property so select- ed.
We advise that the sum of $2,500 be placed at the disposal of said Committee to enable them to carry out the above recom- mendations.
124
We recommend that the aforesaid Committe shall consist of the Planning Board and one citizen from each ward to be appoint- ed by the Moderator, said Committee to report as soon as the plan and cost of each of the recommendations is determined.
Respectfully submitted,
COMMITTEE
BRADFORD HAWES 1 FRANK E. LOUD
GEORGE W. PERRY
REPORT OF THE SEALER OF WEIGHTS AND MEASURES
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