USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Saugus > Town annual report of the officers and committees of the town of Scituate 1955-1957 > Part 26
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50. Will Town raise $1,200 to buy new car for Chief of Fire Dept.
48. To see if Town will instruct Moderator to appoint a committee of 5 to carry out intention of land taking and building plans of Police and Fire Stations.
38. Will Town authorize Sewerage Investigating Committee to petition legislature to authorize Town to initiate con- struction of sewage system.
58. Will Town raise $1,250 for use of Sewerage Investigating Committee.
13. Will Town raise $8,850 for South Shore Mosquito Control Project.
EDUCATION
56. Will Town raise funds to build and equip 4 additional classrooms for Jenkins School.
57. Will Town raise funds to build and equip a 16 room ele- mentary school (Wampatuck) .
15. Will Town transfer proceeds of Dog Fund from County to the two libraries equally.
PUBLIC WORKS (Highways, Parks, Waterfront)
30. Will Town raise funds to buy land in Humarock for a highway turnaround.
31. Will Town raise funds to buy land near Hatherly Road (10 acres) for bathing and parking.
32. Will Town raise $13,800 to construct a sidewalk on Branch St. from Country Way to Central Elementary School.
27. Will Town raise $6.000 to be used with funds from State and County for construction as provided in Chap. 90.
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REPORT OF THE TOWN MEETING BY-LAW COMMITTEE
40. Will Town assume liability as provided in General Laws to cover work by Mass. Dept. Public Works.
54. Will Town raise $2,000 for a new pick-up truck for the Highway Dept.
55. Will Town raise $6,000 for a new power digger for the Highway Dept.
59 Will Town instruct moderator to appoint a committee of 3 to consider changing conflicting street names.
53. Will Town raise $2,466 for a stump boring and removing machine for the Tree Dept.
41. Will Town raise $1,500 to complete improvement of Cudworth Field.
12. Will Town raise $500 for playground equipment.
51. Will Town raise $4,000 to repair Town pier.
52. Will Town appoint present Harbor Committee as perma- nent committee to plan for further development.
TOWN PLANNING (Planning. Zoning, Building Codes, Etc.)
26. Will the Town accept that portion of the layout by County Commissioner re: Beaver Dam Road, etc. and raise $150.50 for land damages.
65. Will Town repeal present Building By-Laws re: altera- tions etc. and substitute new ones (listed).
66. Will Town amend Zoning By-Laws (as listed).
67. Will Town (further) amend Zoning By-Laws (as listed).
68. Will Town amend Zoning By-Laws by inserting a para- graph (as specified) .
69. Will Town amend Zoning By-Laws by striking out Sec. 4 and inserting a new Sec. 4 (as specified).
70. Will the Town amend Zoning laws by inserting a new Sec. 5 (as specified).
71. Will Town amend Zoning Laws by a new insertion in Sec. 6 (as specified).
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REPORT OF THE TOWN MEETING BY-LAW COMMITTEE
GENERAL
63. Will the Town raise funds to hire a professional appraisal firm to reappraise all taxable property.
60. Will the Town amend the By-Laws so that the Annual Town Meeting shall be held at 2 P.M. on the first Saturday in March.
62. Will Town amend By-Laws so Treasurer can act as col- lector.
39. Will the Town eliminate the need to publish notice of Town Meeting in the Town newspaper.
64. Will the Town raise money for municipal advertising.
14. Will the Town authorize the Selectmen to control the taking of eels, shellfish, etc.
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SPECIAL COMMITTEE TO CONSIDER FORM OF TOWN MEETING
REPORT OF THE SPECIAL COMMITTEE TO CONSIDER THE ADVISABILITY OF THE LIMITED FORM OF TOWN MEETING FOR SCITUATE
To the voters of the Town of Scituate:
The undersigned, having been appointed by Moderator, John Barnard, Jr., as a committee of five to consider the advisability of the limited form of town meeting for the Town of Scituate in accordance with the resolution adopted at the final session of the 1956 Annual Town Meeting, hereby respectfully submit this report of our activities, findings and recommendations, as directed by such resolution.
I. INVESTIGATIONS:
Your Committee has met frequently and reviewed in detail the various forms of limited or representative town meetings now in existence in Massachusetts, and has compiled a complete sum- mary of the available statistical information on all towns in the Commonwealth eligible to adopt the limited or representative form of town meeting and reviewed such data as to the experience of other towns bearing on the question. In addition, Committee mem- bers have personally interviewed reliable sources in other towns as to the experience of such towns relative to the matter and have held two public hearings to permit interested Scituate voters to make their views on the matter known to your Committee.
A brief summary of the information compiled through these investigations is set forth below. The original minutes of your Committee's activities, together with the detailed information sup- porting the following summaries have been submitted to the Board of Selectmen for such possible future use as may be merited.
(a) Summary of Existing Forms of Limited Town Meeting:
At the outset of its investigations, it became obvious to your Committee that the so-called "limited or representative" form of town meeting is not in fact a fixed form of town government at all. Rather, it is more accurately described as an approach to town government which has been adopted in a wide range of differing
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SPECIAL COMMITTEE TO CONSIDER FORM OF TOWN MEETING
forms authorized by special act of the State Legislature and ap- proved by the voters of the towns in question by secret ballot.
The only generally applicable legislative provisions are those appearing in Article LXX of the Constitution of the Common- wealth which authorize the establishment of "a Town Meeting limited to such inhabitants of the town as may be elected to meet, deliberate, act and vote in the exercise of the corporate powers of the town. . . " The Article is applicable only to towns with a population in excess of 6,000 residents, and provides that the estab- lishment of this form of town government must be in accordance with such restrictions and regulations as may be established by the legislature and must be with the consent of the voters of the town.
The legislature has never passed any general legislation estab- lishing a fixed form of limited town meeting for towns desiring to establish that form. A so-called "Standard Form" of limited town meeting is set forth in Chapter 43A of the Massachusetts Gen- eral Laws, but this is applicable only to towns which have previously adopted a limited form of town meeting by special act of the legis- lature. This Act, adopted in 1931, has had little influence on the development of the limited form of town meeting. Only two towns (Arlington and Brookline) have seen fit to adopt it.
Your Committee's task of reviewing the wide variety of legis- lative provisions contained in the special legislative acts relative to the forty towns which have previously adopted a form of limited town meeting has been simplified considerably by an excellent report prepared by the Massachusetts Federation of Taxpayers Associations in 1943 which analyzes objectively the varying pro- visions in the special acts enacted up to that time. Your Committee has independently reviewed the special acts relative to the twelve towns which have adopted the limited form of town meeting since the 1943 study.
The major areas in which the existing town meetings differ are the following:
1. Provisions relative to the number of representatives consti- tuting the limited town meeting and the proportion of elected representatives to registered voters.
2. Provisions relative to the number and size of precincts (in- cluding provisions requiring relative equality of voting strength among precincts) .
3. Provisions relative to nomination and election of town meet- ing members and the filling of vacancies.
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SPECIAL COMMITTEE TO CONSIDER FORM OF TOWN MEETING
4. Provisions as to town officials being made members-at-large entitled to vote at the town meeting without having been elected as town meeting members (including provisions mak- ing elected or appointed town officials ineligible for election as town meeting members) .
5. Provisions relative to the number of members required to constitute a quorum.
6. Provisions relative to power of voters to rescind action of town meeting by secret ballot referendum on petition of specified number of voters within specified period after action taken.
In general, each town has handled each of these areas in the manner which seemed to it in the best interest of the particular town. Valid arguments can be advanced for most of the particular provisions on each item. The best form of special act for each town can be determined only after careful and intelligent con- sideration of the factors involved in the light of the objectives which the town seeks to achieve in the adoption of the limited form of town meeting; and this, in turn, can be accomplished only with the active assistance of the voters at large. In the opinion of your Committee, these questions should be determined after the Town has decided to submit the question of adopting the limited form of Town meeting to the voters at large, by means of adequate public hearings directed specifically to the drafting of the form of special legislative act best adapted to the particular requirements of the Town of Scituate.
(b) Summary of Statistical Data:
Review of the 1955 census figures reveals the following informa- tion as to the 100 towns in the Commonwealth with populations in excess of 6,000, as to the proportion having limited town meet- ings:
Towns With
Towns Without
% of Class With
6,000 - 8,000
0
21
0
8,000 - 10,000
2
18
10%
10,000 - 12,000
4
10
28.5%
12,000 - 15,000
11
7
61%
15,000 and over
22
5
81%
In of i to adv chro
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n
SPECIAL COMMITTEE TO CONSIDER FORM OF TOWN MEETING
Analysis of the population level of the 40 towns which have adopted limited town meeting acts, according to the census nearest date of adoption of act, reveals the following information:
No.
% Total
6,000 - 8,000
3
7.5%
8,000 - 10,000
5
12.5%
10,000 - 12,000
5
12.5%2
50%
12,000 - 15,000
15
37.5%S
15,000 and over
12
30.0%
40
100.0%
(c) Summary of Interviews with Reliable Sources in Other Towns
Committee members personally interviewed reliable sources in the towns listed below which were selected as typical towns having the limited form of town meeting:
Town
Date of Acceptance
Population Nearest Acceptance
1955 Population
Agawam
1955
13,177
13,177
Plymouth
1952
13,608
13,892
Stoughton
1950
11,146
13,754
Shrewsbury
1953
13,103
13,103
Wellesley
1936
13,376
21,759
Weymouth
1921
15,057
41,747
Subjects of investigation, in addition to the experience of the towns with the particular provisions of their Act relating to the matters referred to in paragraph (a) above, were the following:
1. Principal reasons for adoption of act.
2. Attendance over past 5 years.
3. Average length (number of sessions) of annual meetings.
4. Has there been any disposition to amend or revoke the act.
As to (1), the reasons for adoption of the acts were mixed. In some towns interviewed, the reason given was the expected one of increasing population taxing physical facilities for open meetings to the breaking point. However, surprisingly, some of these towns advised us that the reason for adoption was the opposite one of chronic inability to secure a quorum at open meetings, particularly
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SPECIAL COMMITTEE TO CONSIDER FORM OF TOWN MEETING
in the case of special meetings, due to voter apathy. Additionally, domination of open meetings by minority interests was cited as a principal reason for adoption of the limited form.
As to (2), all of the towns interviewed advised us that attend- ance under the limited form of town meeting was excellent, - running between 80 and 90 per cent of total membership. This was true even in the case of towns in which poor attendance at open meetings was a principal reason for adoption of the act. It was also noted that none of the towns interviewed had encountered any marked difficulty in securing sufficient candidates for election as town meeting members.
As to (3), there does not appear to be any marked difference in length of annual meetings under the limited form of town meeting as opposed to the open form. The towns interviewed felt that the length of meeting in either case was determined primarily by the length of warrant and the magnitude of the issues involved.
As to (4) , there has been no disposition to revoke the act in any of the towns interviewed, but amendments have been adopted relative to the areas discussed under (a) above.
Committee members also interviewed reliable sources in the towns listed below which were selected as typical of towns having the open town meeting:
Town
1955 Population 9,407
Abington
Hingham
13,418
Stoneham
Whitman
15,817 9,345
In general, these towns were all satisfied with their present form of town meeting with the exception of Hingham where a committee similar to this Committee has been appointed to con- sider adoption of the limited form of town meeting. The report of the Hingham committee is not yet published, but your Com- mittee understands that there is a substantial group in Hingham which feels adoption of the limited form to be inevitable within a few years notwithstanding the fact that Hingham has not had more than two sessions in an annual meeting in recent years. The other towns interviewed also had relatively short annual meetings and had encountered difficulties of various sorts such as main- taining a quorum and domination of the meetings by factions. The Town of Stoneham, while the largest town in this group inter- viewed, appears to have avoided the program of space limitations
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SPECIAL COMMITTEE TO CONSIDER FORM OF TOWN MEETING
only because attendance at its annual meetings is substantially lower than towns of comparable size; in fact, we are advised that average attendance is in the order of 750 (as compared with more than 1200 in the Scituate 1956 Annual Meeting, first session) .
(d) Summary of Public Hearings:
Your Committee held a public hearing on January 10, 1957 after published notice in all local newspapers. This hearing was atttended by only eleven persons due to a storm and, for this reason, an adjourned hearing was held, after published notice, on January 22, 1957 which was attended by twenty-four persons.
After extensive discussion of the foregoing information, it was the expressed opinion of the voters present at both hearings that the adoption of the limited form of town meeting for Scituate was not advisable at this time or likely to become so within the next few years. Several persons addressed your Committee at length in in opposition to adoption of the limited form of town meeting at this tinie. In contrast, no one appeared in support of adoption. The con- sensus of the public hearings seemed clearly to be that the adoption of the limited form of town meeting was inevitable eventually, but that it should be deferred until such time as continuation of the present open meetings was demonstrated to be no longer feasible.
A number of persons at both hearings were of the opinion that the effect of changes in the Town by-laws relating to town meeting procedure (which are currently under consideration by another committee) should be awaited before further consideration is given to adoption of the limited form.
Several persons who felt adoption in the near future to be premature suggested that the Committee be continued for further consideration of the matter because of the fact that considerable tinie would be required to draft and adopt a special act, if future developments proved this to be necessary.
As an aid to discussion at both public hearings, your Com- mittee prepared and made available a copy of a form of Limited Town Meeting Act recommended by the Massachusetts Federation of Taxpayers Association with the hope that such act might elicit comments from voters present at the hearings as to the various problems of legislative draftsmanship discussed in paragraph (a) above which were reviewed orally at the hearing by your Com- mittee. Because of the consensus of those present at the hearings that the adoption of limited town meetings in any form is pre- mature at this time, your Committee was unable to ascertain any public sentiment as to these detailed points.
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SPECIAL COMMITTEE TO CONSIDER FORM OF TOWN MEETING
II. FINDINGS:
Your Committee is of the opinion that, ideally, the open form of town meeting is the preferred form of town government. When properly conducted by informed citizens, it is clearly the most truly democratic method. The problem is, however, that the passage of time and the growth of population has proven this traditional form of government to be far less than ideal in actual practice.
Town after town has found it necessary to abandon it in favor of one of the limited forms because, for one reason or another, it has ceased to represent effectively the true wishes of a majority of the voters of the town. This condition has arisen for many reasons, of which that of lack of physical capacity to care for a growing population is only one. Any situation which defeats the purpose of town government, -- that of having town decisions determined in accordance with the wishes of a majority of the voters of the town, - will destroy confidence in open town meetings; whether it be lack of physical capacity for open meetings, voter apathy, unruly and/or unnecessarily extended open town meetings or domination of open meetings by packing by minority interests.
On the other hand, your Committee has been impressed by the fact that the limited forms of town meeting now in existence have proven very satisfactory and have remedied the defects in the open form of town meeting which lead to their adoption with- out any appreciable impairment of the direct control of town affairs by the citizens at large. The limited form of town meeting has generally produced a more truly representative attendance at town meetings than the open form which it replaced, and, in so doing, has aided in preventing control of town affairs by minority interests - at least where citizens and civic organizations have worked to produce qualified candidates; it has produced more intelligent discussion and determination of important issues, - and all this without any significant impairment of individual voter control of town affairs due to the availability of direct referenda. There is, further, impressive testimony in the fact that no town has abandoned the limited form of town meeting after having adopted it.
It will readily be seen, however, that these "advantages" of the limited form of town meeting are, in actuality, merely corrective of deficiencies which had been allowed to develop in the conduct of town affairs through the open town meeting. Subject only to the problem of inadequate physical capacity for continued open meetings because of population growth, these "advantages" should
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SPECIAL COMMITTEE TO CONSIDER FORM OF TOWN MEETING
all be attainable through improvements in the conduct of the open form of town meeting. Accordingly, if the voters of Scituate inform themselves of town affairs and attend town meetings, and if the town adopts procedural safeguards to regulate its open meetings to prevent domination of town affairs by minorities through the process of attrition due to unreasonably late and numerous sessions, - there is, in your Committee's opinion, no reason why Scituate should not be able to continue its traditional open town meeting until such time as its population growth reaches the level at which such continuation is no longer feasible, either because of limitation of physical capacity or because of meetings so large as to be un- wieldy.
As the physical capacity for open meetings in Scituate has not proven inadequate in recent years, and as Scituate's present popu- lation is only approximately 9500, the adoption of a limited form of town meeting at this time cannot be said to be dictated by reason of population growth alone. As will be seen from the statistical data set forth in (b) above, the population level at which the majority of towns have found the limited form of town meeting necessary is that of 12,000-15,000.
Your Committee is also of the opinion that, although previous open meetings have been the subject of justifiable criticism as to some of the aspects discussed above, it would be premature to con- clude at this time that Scituate is incapable of conducting open town meetings in a truly representative manner. In this connection, the effect of the activities of the committee headed by Representa- tive Tilden considering changes in town by-laws relative to town meetings and the similarly orientated activities of local civic groups designed to acquaint voters with town affairs and procedure at town meetings cannot now be forseen, and, in your Committee's opinion, merit a fair trial. Your Committee is of the further opinion, based on the public hearings described in (d) above, that there is no evidence of any substantial interest in adoption of the limited form of town meeting for Scituate at this time. For this reason, any attempt to formulate legislation for possible adoption would lack the benefit of interested voter comment, which your Committee feels is essential to that end.
In the light of the foregoing, it is the considered and unanimous conclusion of your Committee that the adoption of the limited or representative form of town meeting is not advisable for Scituate at this time.
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STATE AUDIT REPORT
III. RECOMMENDATIONS:
Your Committee respectfully recommends that the foregoing report be accepted and the Committee discharged.
Respectfully submitted, DAVID BARRIE, Secretary MRS. ARTHUR WIEGAND, JR. EVAN F. BAILEY WILLIAM H. MULLER JOHN J. DELANEY, JR., Chairman
REPORT OF THE STATE AUDIT
January 3, 1957
To the Board of Selectmen Mr. Robert H. Tilden, Chairman Scituate, Massachusetts
Gentlemen:
I submit herewith my report of an audit of the books and accounts of the town of Scituate for the period from March 20, 1955 to August 31, 1956, made in accordance with the provisions of Chapter 44, General Laws. This is in the form of a report made to me by Mr. William Schwartz, Assistant Director of Accounts.
Very truly yours, HERMAN B. DINE, Director of Accounts.
HBD:MMH
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STATE AUDIT REPORT
Mr. Herman B. Dine
Director of Accounts Department of Corporations and Taxation State House, Boston
Sir:
As directed by you, I have made an audit of the books and accounts of the town of Scituate for the period from March 20, 1955, the date of the previous examination, to August 31, 1956, and report thereon as follows:
An examination and verification was made of the financial transactions as recorded on the books of the several departments receiving or disbursing money for the town or committing bills for collection.
An analysis was made of the town accountant's ledgers for the period covered by the audit. The receipts were checked with the treasurer's books and the records of the departments making pay- ments to the treasurer, and the payments were compared with the warrants authorizing them and with the treasurer's records of pay- ments. The appropriation accounts were checked with the town clerk's records of town meeting proceedings, and the recorded transfers from the reserve fund were verified by comparison with the records of the advisory board. The necessary adjusting entries resulting from the audit of the several departments were made, and a balance sheet, which is appended to this report, was prepared showing the financial condition of the town on August 31, 1956.
The books and accounts of the town treasurer were examined and checked. The recorded receipts were analyzed and compared with the several departmental records of payments to the treasurer, with other sources from which the town received money, and with the accountant's books. The recorded payments were checked with the approved warrants authorizing the disbursement of town funds and with the accountant's books.
The cash book footings were verified, and the cash balance on August 31, 1956 was proved by listing the cash memoranda in the office, by reconciliation of the balances in the checking accounts with statements received from the depositories, and by verification of the U. S. Treasury Bills.
The payments made on account of maturing debt and interest were compared with the amounts falling due and with the cancelled securities and coupons on file.
201
STATE AUDIT REPORT
The savings bank books representing the investment of the trust and investment funds in the custody of the town treasurer were examined and checked. The investments were listed, the in- come was proved, and all transactions were verified and compared with the treasurer's and the accountant's books.
The records of employees' payroll deductions for Federal taxes and county retirement system membership were examined and reconciled with the controlling ledger accounts.
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