USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > Medfield > Town annual reports of Medfield 1890-1898 > Part 34
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ART. 6. To see what action the town will take in relation to hiring money for any purpose.
ART. 7. To determine in what manner the taxes shall be collected for the ensuing year; also determine what percentage shall be allowed the Collector for the ensuing year.
ART. 8. To see if the town will authorize the Collector to use all
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such means in the collection of taxes as the Treasurer might, if elected to that office.
ART. 9. To see if the town will accept the list of jurors as prepared by the Selectmen and posted according to law.
ART. IO. To see what compensation the town will allow the mem- bers of the Fire Department for ensuing year.
ART. II. To see how much per hour the town will allow for work on the highways for the ensuing year, or do or act anything relating thereto.
ART. 12. To hear and act on reports of committees.
ART. 13. To see what action the town will take in relation to the bill of F. M. Ballou & Co. for concreting gutters and crosswalks.
ART. 14. To see if the town will unite with other towns in the em- ployment of a Superintendent of Schools, and appropriate money neces- sary therefor, or do or act anything relating thereto.
ART. 15. To see if the town will adopt the provisions of Chapter 264 of the Acts passed by the General Court of Massachusetts in the year 1890, entitled " An Act relating to Public Cemeteries."
ART. 16. To see if the town will appoint a committee to confer with the officers of the Medfield Electric Light and Power Company, with view of obtaining the rates and terms upon which said company will light with electricity the streets of Medfield, or do or act anything relat- ing thereto.
ART. 17. To see if the town will contract with the Medfield Water Company for hydrant service or water supply, or do or act anything relating thereto.
And you are directed to serve this warrant by posting up an attested copy thereof in the usual place for posting warrants in said Medfield. ten days at least before the time of said meeting.
Hereof fail not, and make due return of this warrant, with your doings thereon, unto the Town Clerk at the time and place of meeting afore- said.
Given under our hands this twentieth day of February, A.D. eighteen hundred and ninety-nine.
BENJAMIN F. SHUMWAY, ) Selectmen WILLIAM F. GUILD, of
HERBERT W. WIGHT, Medfield.
A true copy.
Attest : M. HOWARD BLOOD, Constable of Medfield.
BY-LAWS OF THE TOWN OF MEDFIELD.
ANNUAL MEETING.
SECTION I. The annual meeting of the town shall be held on the first Monday in March.
TOWN MEETINGS.
SECT. 2. Town meetings shall be notified by posting an attested copy of the warrant calling the same in the usual place on the Town House seven days, at least, before the day appointed for the meeting.
DUTIES OF TOWN OFFICERS.
SECT. 3. The several boards of town officers shall, so far as prac- ticable, transact all business coming under their supervision at meetings of the several boards at which a majority of the members are present ; and they shall also keep a record of all contracts, payments of money, votes and appointments, and all other transactions had by them, includ- ing schedules of all town property under their care or control, and at the close of each fiscal year prepare a report of all their doings, with a statement in detail of all their payments and expenditures, and all lia- bilities incurred by them, including all outstanding orders and claims against the town, the valuation of all property of the town in their hands or under their care, and all debts due to the town, and submit an esti- mate of the probable expenses of the town for the ensuing year in their several departments.
SECT. 4. The Town Treasurer shall give bond to the town in such sum, not less than ten thousand dollars, as the Selectmen shall require and with sureties to their satisfaction, for the faithful discharge of the duties of his office.
SECT. 5. The Collector of Taxes shall give bond to the town in such sum, not less than six thousand dollars, as the Selectmen shall re- quire and with sureties to their satisfaction, for the faithful discharge of the duties of his office.
It shall be the duty of the Selectmen to take charge of the bonds of the Treasurer and Collector of Taxes, see that they are deposited in a safe place, and cause a record of the same to be made.
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SPECIAL APPROPRIATIONS.
SECT. 6. No appropriation for any special improvement, change, repair, or purchase of property not included in the usual or ordi- nary appropriations, exceeding three hundred dollars in amount or value, shall be made until some board of officers, officer. authorized committee, or agent of the town, shall have obtained and submitted to a meeting notified to act thereon proper plans, specifications and esti- mates of the probable expense or cost thereof, as near as can be reason- ably ascertained, considering the nature and character thereof.
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TOWN CLERK.
SECT. 7. It shall be the duty of the Town Clerk to safely keep all books, papers, and plans, and all records belonging to the town. He shall, when requested, furnish all boards and committees with copies of all votes affecting them.
He shall fold uniformly all papers and documents within his depart- ment, and shall indorse them in a manner to indicate the contents of each paper, and shall file and arrange them in a manner convenient for reference and examination.
He shall have the custody of the town seal.
SECT. 8. The Town Clerk shall publish in the annual printed report of the town a copy of his record of all town meetings that have been held during the preceding year.
SUPERINTENDENT OF STREETS.
SECT. 9. The Superintendent of Streets shall keep an accurate account of all moneys expended and all work done under his supervision upon the public ways and bridges of the town, and a daily record of the number of men and teams employed, the extent and nature of the work done, and the time spent in doing such work.
A pay-roll shall be kept of the employees of the street department and of the owners of teams employed therein, and a detailed account of all parties furnishing materials therefor, the time for which payment is to be made, the rate of wages, the amount and cost of materials fur- nished, and the amount done in each case.
FINANCES.
SECT. 10. The fiscal year shall begin with the first day of February and end with the thirty-first day of January, annually.
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SECT. II. The Town Treasurer shall have the custody of all funds belonging to the town, except funds for which other provision is made by law; and he shall pay no money from the treasury except upon a warrant signed by a majority of the Selectmen.
SECT. 12. All town officers, whether elected or appointed by the Selectmen, unless otherwise expressly ordered, shall on or before the fifth day of each month pay to the Town Treasurer all sums collected by them during the month previous, to the custody of which the Treas- urer is entitled.
SECT. 13. All bills, pay-rolls, vouchers, cancelled notes, and other evidences of indebtedness of the town which have been paid from the treasury, shall be filed and safely kept.
ASSESSORS.
SECT. 14. The Assessors shall publish with the Town Officers; Report for the year nineteen hundred, and at least on each succeeding fifth year thereafter, and whenever at other times the town shall instruct them so to do, the full valuations and tax lists, both property and polls, assessed within the town or upon which taxes are paid to the town ; and each year the usual summary thereof.
COLLECTOR OF TAXES.
SECT. 15. The Collector of Taxes shall append to his annual report, in the annual printed report of the town, a list of all unpaid tax levies, giving the names of the parties assessed, the amount due from each, and the year in which such assessments were laid.
OVERSEERS OF THE POOR.
SECT. 16. The Overseers of the Poor shall have the general charge and management of the Town Farm, and the property of the town con- nected therewith, and may employ a Superintendent and other neces- sary servants and agents, subject, however, to specific votes of the town in relation thereto.
SELECTMEN.
SECT. 17. The Selectmen shall have the general direction and man- agement of the property and affairs of the town in all cases not other- wise provided for by law.
SECT. 18. The Selectmen may appear either personally or by coun- sel before any Committee of the Legislature or Board or Commission,
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to protect the interests of the town, but are not authorized by this By- Law to commit the town to any course of action.
SECT. 19. The Selectmen shall, in their annual report, state in detail what action they have taken in the year preceding. They shall state specifically what town ways, county ways, and sewers have been laid out, altered, or ordered, what damages have been assessed and paid, what claims are outstanding and what claims are in suit against the town, and what assessments remain to be made and collected for sewers at any time previously constructed. They shall give full reports in regard to all suits commenced by or brought against the town, with all the circumstances relating thereto. They shall also make a detailed statement of the repairs made upon public buildings.
SECT. 20. The Selectmen may, in all cases not otherwise provided for by law, bring suit in the name of the town against the principal and sureties, or either or any of them named in any bond given to the town, by any officer, agent, contractor, or other person, for breach of the con- dition of such bond.
They shall cause the appearance and answer of the town to be entered and made in all suits brought against the town at law or in equity, and may employ counsel to defend the same. They may com- mence and prosecute suits at law and in equity, in the name and behalf of the town, in all cases not otherwise provided for by law, and may employ counsel therein. They shall consider all claims made against the town and may settle the same, provided that in no case shall a set- tlement be so made by a payment of more than three hundred dollars, without authority from the town.
TOWN TREASURER.
SECT. 21. It shall be the duty of the Treasurer to make, in the annual printed report of the town, a report which shall specifically state the objects, if any, for which the debt of the town may have been in- creased during the preceding year, and recite the votes under which the money was borrowed. The report shall give a classified statement of the indebtedness of the town and the objects for which it was incurred. Said report shall also include : -
First. A list of all notes issued during the year and the purposes for which the money was borrowed, giving the dates, amount, term, rate of interest, time of maturity, the premiums, if any, received thereon, and the names of the parties of whom the funds were borrowed.
Second. A list of all notes paid during the year, and a list of all out- standing notes with the dates on which they will mature.
Third. A full exhibit of all moneys, properties, and securities,
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which may be placed in his charge by virtue of any statute or by-law, or by virtue of any gift, devise, bequest, or deposit.
Fourth. A statement of the amount of money received by the town from other sources than taxation during the preceding year.
Fifth. A list of all insurance policies held by the town, which list shall include a statement of the property covered. the names of the companies, the amount and the date of expiration of every policy in his custody.
SECT. 22. The Treasurer shall keep separate accounts with each appropriation of money voted by the town, and no money shall be paid out except for the purpose for which it was appropriated. Nor shall any transfer be made from one account to another, except by vote of the town. All moneys received by the Treasurer, not specially appro- priated, shall be kept in an account of unappropriated funds, to be disposed of as the town may direct. All notes and obligations of the town, for money borrowed by authority of the town, shall be signed by the Treasurer and Selectmen.
CONTRACTS BY TOWN OFFICERS.
SECT. 23. No town officer or member of any committee chosen by the town, nor any agent of any such officer or committee, shall have any pecuniary interest in any contract or bargain made or approved in behalf of the town, by himself or any board or committee of which he is a member or for which he may act as agent.
PUBLIC DUMPING PLACE.
SECT. 24. On or before May 1, 1899, or as soon thereafter as may be, the Selectmen shall procure and thereafter maintain some suitable place, within a reasonable distance of the village, as a free public dump, upon which the inhabitants of the town shall have the right, under suitable regulations to be made from time to time by the Selectmen, to deposit ashes, cinders, papers, tin cans, and such other rubbish as may be permitted by the Selectmen with the approval of the Board of Health. Said dump shall be under the care and supervision of the Selectmen.
TRUANT CHILDREN.
SECT. 25. All children between the ages of seven and fifteen years residing in the town, who may be found wandering about in the streets or public places, having no lawful occupation or business, not attending school, and growing up in ignorance, shall, upon conviction thereof, be
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committed to Norfolk, Bristol, and Plymouth Truant School in Wal- pole, unless otherwise ordered by the court.
It shall be the duty of every Truant Officer, previous to making any complaint under these laws, to notify the truant or absentee from school, also his parent or guardian, of the offence committed and the penalty therefor ; and, if the Truant Officer can obtain satisfactory pledges for the restraint and reformation of the child, he may, at his own discretion, forbear to prosecute, so long as such pledges are faithfully kept.
It shall be the duty of the School Committee, the teachers of the public schools, and the citizens generally, to aid the Truant Officers as far as possible in the discharge of their duties.
Two or more Truant Officers shall be appointed annually, whose duty it shall be to inquire into all violations of the Truant Laws, and of the law relating to compulsory education, and to do all the acts required of them by the laws of the Commonwealth.
PENAL LAWS.
SECT. 26. No person shall drive or allow a horse under his control to go at an immoderate or unreasonable rate in any street or public place within the town, so as thereby to endanger the life, safety, or con- venience of any person properly using such street or public place.
SECT. 27. No person shall permit any horse, cattle, swine, or sheep under his care to go upon any sidewalk in the town, so as to interfere with the convenient use of the same by all passengers.
SECT. 28. No person shall suffer horses, or grazing beasts, or swine to run at large in the town,
SECT. 29. No person shall permit any team under his care or control to stand across any public highway or street in the town, in such a manner as to obstruct the travel over the same, for an unnecessary length of time ; no person shall stop with any team in any such public highway or street so near to another team as to obstruct public travel ; and no person shall stop with any team or carriage upon or across any crossing in any such highway or street.
SECT. 30. No person shall, by any noise, gesture, or other means, 1 wantonly and designedly frighten any horse in any street or other public place in the town.
SECT. 31. No person shall coast upon a sled or ride upon a bicycle upon any of the sidewalks in the town.
SECT. 32. No person shall coast or slide down any of the streets or highways of the town upon any hand-sled, board, jumper, or otherwise, except at such places and under such restrictions and regulations as the Selectmen shall designate and require.
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SECT. 33. No person shall be or remain upon any sidewalk, or upon any doorstep, portico, or other projection of any house or other building in the town, not his own, to the annoyance or disturbance of any person.
SECT. 34. No person shall use any indecent, profane, or insulting language in any public place in the town, or near any dwelling-house or other buildings therein.
SECT. 35. No person shall play at any game of ball, or football, or throw balls or stones or snowballs, within any of the streets or public places of the town.
SECT. 36. No person shall take hold of nor ride upon the hind part of any carriage in the town without leave of the owner or occupant thereof.
SECT. 37. No person shall deposit within any public street or way of the town, or by the side thereof, any ashes, cinders, papers, tin cans, offal, or rubbish, or any waste matter whatsoever.
SECT. 38. No person shall place in any street, roadway, or town way within the town any broken glass, nails, tacks, or other substances liable to injure the feet of persons or animals, or the tires of bicycles or carriages.
SECT. 39. No person shall drive any carriage or other vehicle upon or over any hose-pipe, when placed in any street or highway of the town by order of the Chief Engineer or any other officer of the Fire Depart- ment.
SECT. 40. No person shall fire or discharge any gun, fowling-piece, or fire-arm, or make any bonfire or other fire, in any street or public place in the town.
SECT. 41. No three or more persons shall collect, stand, or be to- gether in a group, or near to each other, on any sidewalk in the town in such a manner as to obstruct a free passage of foot passengers, nor after 1 a request to move on or disperse made by any Selectman, Constable, or police officer of the town.
SECT. 42. No person shall sit upon or occupy any fence or wall bordering upon any sidewalk in the town in such a manner as to obstruct such sidewalk or annoy or disturb any person.
SECT. 43. No person or persons shall obstruct any sidewalk or street or any other public place in the town by idling or lounging thereon, or remain about the doorways of places of business therein, when requested by the owners or occupants of such places to depart therefrom.
SECT. 44. No person shall deposit sputum upon, or spit or expec- torate upon the floor, platform, or steps of any street-car, or upon the floor of any room in any public building, or on the floor of any hall or entrance to any public building within the town.
SECT. 45. No person shall carry any spirituous or intoxicating liquors
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into the Town House, any school-house, the cemetery, or any public grounds within the town, to be drunk on the premises.
SECT. 46. No person shall post or paste or paint any advertisement or notice upon any shade-tree, bridge, fence, wall, guide-post, or poles used for the transmission of electricity in the town.
SECT. 47. No person shall bathe or swim in any public or exposed place in the town in an indecent or nude condition.
SECT. 48. No person shall foul any brook, stream, or other body of water in the town with any substance which shall kill the fish therein or create offensive odors therefrom, so as to injure the public health or annoy the inhabitants of the town.
SECT. 49. No person shall throw the carcass of any dead animal or any other animal substance liable to putrefy into any pond, stream, or other body of water in the town, or leave such carcass or animal sub- stance on the surface of the ground or insufficiently buried.
SECT. 50. No person shall cultivate, plan or plant any land within the limits of any public street or way in the town.
PENALTIES.
SECT. 51. Any person violating any of the provisions of the pre- ceding By-laws shall be punished by a fine of not less than one nor more than twenty dollars for each offence, to be recovered by complaint before. the District Court of Northern Norfolk, and forfeited and paid into the treasury of the town, unless when different provision is made by the laws of the Commonwealth.
ENACTMENT AND REPEAL.
SECT. 52. These By-laws shall take effect upon their approval by the Superior Court or, in vacation, by a justice of said court, and shall with such approval be entered and recorded in the office of the Clerk of the Courts in the County of Norfolk, as provided by law.
SECT. 53. All By-laws heretofore made by the Town of Medfield are hereby repealed.
WILLARD HARWOOD. JAMES HEWINS. -
HENRY M. PARKER.
STATEMENT OF THE MEDFIELD WATER COMPANY
FROM JAN. 1, 1898, TO JAN. 1, 1899.
TO THE SELECTMEN OF THE TOWN OF MEDFIELD:
Capital,
$50,000.00
CASH RECEIPTS.
Water rates, .
$96.08
Service-pipe, .
3.50
$99.58
CASH DISBURSEMENTS.
Maintenance, labor, and sundries, .
$162.88
Service-pipe, labor, and material, 6.49
$169.37
ASSETS.
Construction of plant, .
$24,040.45
Unpaid water rates,
1,882.72
Cash on hand,
621.43
$26,544.60
LIABILITIES.
Capital stock issued,
$24,000.00
H. M. PARKER, Treasurer.
MEDFIELD, MASS., Jan. 1, 1898.
FOR REFERENCE
NOT TO BE TAKEN FROM THIS ROOM
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