USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Reading > Town of Reading Massachusetts annual report 1961 > Part 13
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65
476
4
541
10
Hartshorn Street
Lowell St. to No. 58
184
862
5
1046
16
Hartshorn St. Ext.
Bancroft Ave. to Longfellow Rd.
314
2
314
2
Longfellow Road
Hartshorn St. Ext. to Dead End
191
1386
9
1577
29
Highland Street
Bancroft Ave. to No. 21
68
1237
8
1305
28
Highland Street
Lowell St. to No. 20
382
3
382
6
Forest Glen Road
Main St. to No. 32
581
5
581
8
Wells Road
Forest Glen Rd. to No. 18
279
1
279
6
Main St. (West Side)
Forest Glen Rd. to Irving St.
316
1
316
2
Main St. (East Side)
No .1067 to Willard Rd.
115
281
3
396
4
Irving St.
Main St. to Pearl St.
500
2
500
10
Willard Road
Main St. to Pearl St.
480
2
480
9
Salem Street
Wilson St. to No. 124
588
3
588
12
2086
9914
70
12000
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General Resume' and Recommendations
The general over-all problem of the Board of Public Works is to provide reasonable service to an expanding Town. Naturally many problems arise and many requests for service are received. In this report only a few are specifically treated.
Bids were taken and a contract let to construct a Water Purifica- tion Plant at Hundred Acre Meadow. Bond issues in the amount of $560,000.00 were floated to pay for this improvement. The bonded debt of the Water Division is now very substantial in relation to income. For the next four or five years it will be necessary to practice strict economy in the Water Division. It will not be possible for the Division to institute any major improvements until bonded debt is greatly re- duced.
For many months the Engineering Division has been gathering information and data about the Water System and reducing it to plan form so that a real look can be taken at the Water System. Arrange- ments have been made to rent time on a large fluid analyzer and many tests are proposed. When these tests are completed and results analyzed, the Board will be in a much better position to decide what improvements should be made to the system and in what order.
The Engineering Division is functioning well. It does, however, need additional manpower. It is suggested that an Engineer-Inspector classification be established and an employee obtained for the position. It is believed that expansion of this Division is well warranted and would be of great value to the Town as a whole and this Department in particular.
A new system of job and employee evaluation has been proposed together with a proposal for new minimum and maximum salaries. It is proposed that all future salary increases be based solely on merit. Broadly speaking, the system seems good and if proper salary limits are established, should work well. It should be noted, however, that unless salary limits are kept competitive, this system or in fact any system, will not produce the desired results, i.e. good, efficient employees.
Considerable effort has been given to reorganizing many functions of the Board of Public Works. New addressing and billing machines were purchased and are now in use. Meter routes have been revised, new account numbers assigned to all consumers, new billing practices installed, unnecessary records eliminated and new forms designed, so that water billing and accounting have been simplified and up-dated.
The operations of the meter room have been remodelled, work- loads organized and a general routine installed so that work is done faster and all backlog has been eliminated.
Plans are now underway to place budgetary controls and payroll preparation on a machine basis.
A large amount of time and effort has gone into a study of the various requests for services, the existing known problems and fore- seeable future problems. From this, an attempt has been made to draft practical programs to accomplish the work entailed. It is felt that constant annual appropriations for various items of work will, in the long run, accomplish more than so-called "crash" programs.
Respectfully submitted,
PHILIP WELCH, Superintendent
153
REPORT OF THE CONSERVATION COMMISSION
To the Honorable Board of Selectmen:
The report of the Conservation Commission is herewith submitted.
The Conservation Commission has held ten meetings in the year 1961.
The Commission's main project this year has been the working towards the purchase of land adjacent to or abutting Town Forest land. There are various plots which the Commission feels need to be acquired for the Town Forest to aid in conserving this area for pro- tection of our water shed and for future recreational and park areas.
Four of our members toured the areas abutting the Town Forest, which we desire to acquire, with Mr. John Lambert and Mr. Evans Hawes, members of the State Department of Natural Resources. The areas are:
Parcel No. 1. Nichols, 5 acres more or less
Parcel No. 2. Wellington, 4 acres more or less
Parcel No. 3. no record of it
Parcel No. 4. Pierce (now Drinkwater) 12 acres more or less
Parcel No. 5. Fieneman, 4 acres
In the opinion of Mr. Lambert and Mr. Hawes all parcels are de- sirable for acquisition for the purpose of protecting our water shed and for recreational and park purposes. We would also, in their opinion, be eligible for state reimbursement under the self-help plan.
The Commission has submitted an article in the Town Warrant for 1962 Town Meeting asking that the Commission be allowed to pur- chase land owned by Miss Nichols for the Town Forest.
The Commission also has requested that the Town Forest Com- mittee submit an article asking for the addition of the Ordway pit and the Loring land, both now owned by the Town, to the Town Forest.
Various of our members have attended Conservation Commission Workshops at the Essex County Agricultural School in Danvers and have been able to become more fully informed in various Conservation areas.
The Conservation Commission feels that it has been in a period of learning and discovering areas to be conserved and it is hopeful that we may now operate to the fullest extent.
The Conservation Commission also is of the opinion that this work will be of great value to the Town, now and in future years. We would like the citizens of the Town of Reading to become more interested in our desire to protect our water shed, marsh lands, and open lands.
Respectfully submitted, JAMES S. PERRY, Chairman LOUISE M. RICHARDSON J. ALDEN LORING EDMUND M. COLLINS W. FRANKLIN BURNHAM LINDA T. BISHOP
154
SIXTY-SEVENTH ANNUAL REPORT of
THE MUNICIPAL LIGHT BOARD
for the year ended December 31, 1961
13800 Volt Switching Structure and Aerial Cable for New Guild Plastics Line
156
Lynnfield Center 7500 KVA Substation
MUNICIPAL LIGHT BOARD
WINFRED F. SPURR, Chairman Term expires 1964 PHILLIP G. WILLCOX, Secretary PHILIP O. AHLIN, Jr. Term expires 1962 Term expires 1963
HECTOR L. GIANASCOL, Manager
25 Haven Street Reading, Mass.
MANAGER'S REPORT
To the Municipal Light Board Gentlemen:
Growth and gains typical of the steadily expanding electric indus- try made 1961 outstanding in many respects as previous highs were topped and expenses substantially lowered. The year's accomplish- ments contributed substantially to the Light Department's sixty- seventh year.
Highlights of the year are presented below, followed by comments, financial summaries and statements. Photographs of the Lynnfield Center Sub-station landscaped last year, and of a new 13,800 volt line, the first to be installed by our crews, appear on other pages.
PEAK LOAD: 24, 768 kilowatts. This occurred on December 19th between 5-5:30 P. M. increasing less percentagewise than kilowatt hour sales-a factor contributing to a significant drop in unit cost per kilo- watt hour purchased.
Up 2.9 percent
KILOWATT HOUR SALES: 101,209,966. Sales volume went over the hundred million mark for the first time with only a 2.3 percent increase of new customers.
Up 7.7 percent
PURCHASED POWER: 108,344,002 kilowatt hours. Power pur- chased for system distribution averaged 1.4208 cents per unit, the low- est since 1.327 cents paid in 1946. In the process of distribution 6.5 per- cent was consumed, the lowest on record. 7.7 percent, the previous low, was noted in 1956.
Up 6.1 percent
OPERATING REVENUES: $2,678,588.67. Of this amount 38.7 percent was derived from industrial and commercial customers. Ten years ago this group totalled only 20.4 percent of operating revenue.
Up 7.3 percent
OPERATING EXPENSE: $2,274,709.00. Expenses were 85.5 percent of revenue, a decrease from an 86.5 percent ratio recorded in 1960.
Up 5.2 percent
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PAYMENT TO TOWN TREASURY: $145,103.74. Total payments since the first cash transfer in 1934 amounts to $1,619,087.61. Another benefit to the Town is a saving of over $46,700 on its street lighting bill, with reference to actual rates paid elsewhere.
Up 4.7 per cent
MERCHANDISE & APPLIANCE SERVICE INCOME: $4,132.30. Es- timated annual income from kilowatt hours used by appliances sold amounts to $4,483.25 based on a 2.5 cent rate.
TOTAL COST OF PLANT: $4,640,828.51. Nearly half of the addi- tions during the year were for increasing 13,800 volt circuit facilities by installing 21,600 feet of cable lines to substations.
Up 6.2 percent
On January 1st a revised system of accounts for electric companies and municipal lighting plants became effective in compliance with an order issued in September by the Department of Public Utilities, replac- ing the system which had been in use since its inception forty yars ago. Except for modifications required by Massachusetts law and the rules and regulations of the Department of Public Utilities, this system is consistent with that recommended by the National Association of Railroad and Utility Commissioners and a revision adopted January 1, 1961 by the Federal Power Commission.
After thirty-five years of service, a cutover procedure was com- pleted on November 9th that transferred connection of our system from the original Boston Edison underground power transmission entry on South Main Street at the Stoneham-Reading town line to a new entry into West Street at the Woburn-Reading town line close to Boston Edi- son's new power station at Dragon Court in Woburn. Last Fall when construction of some 7200 feet of underground conduits was in progress, the Department enlarged 10,000 circuit feet of 13,800 volt cables from the junction of South Main Street and Summer Avenue to the Ash Street station, having the same capacity as cables installed by the Boston Edison Company in the new conduit line. Negotiations are pending for the Department's acquisition of four of their new ducts and 32,800 circuit feet of cables they installed therein, in exchange for our underground facilities in South Main Street extending southerly near its junction with Summer Avenue to the Reading-Stoneham town line. Two spare ducts in the new route will be purchased from them on a cost basis.
As a sequel to grievances expressed last Spring by certain Light Department employees, a request for an election made by a Union rep- resentative in their behalf was agreed upon on July 27th in the office of the Massachusetts Labor Relations Commission. At this meeting it was made known that it was the sense of those representing the inter- ests of Reading that the Municipal Light Board wanted its employees to have some method of expressing choice on the question of Union representation. By virtue of a two vote margin in an election on September 6th in which thirty eligible employees participated, The
159
Brotherhood of Electrical Workers CIO-AFL was chosen to represent those employees.
Another first was recorded in August when construction of an overhead circuit was started, the first 13,800 volt cable ever installed by our Department crews, extending from the juction of Lowell and Woburn Streets, Wilmington to the new Guild Plastics plant near the Wilmington Center railroad station. In 1952 and in 1959 cables of this type were installed by outside contractors. The final phase of a system expansion program initiated in 1950 occurred on September 27th with the purchase of an additional 7500 KVA unit for our Lynnfield Center substation. In mid-December an additional long range program was adopted projecting a six-year Capital Expenditure over the period ahead.
A new seven day Trouble Coverage arrangement became effective on December 12 which established a five night active duty shift for a first class lineman plus a call man to assure that qualified personnel can be obtained at all times to minimize duration of outages. With re- spect to safety considerations, this arrangement conforms with oper- ating practices stated in National Electric Safety Code.
Nineteen sixty-one was the first full year when certain changes in Chapter 164 were effective as enacted in 1960. A requirement therein applying to purchases of equipment, supplies, or material, costing $1000 or more compelled many time consuming changes. Purchases of various items previously bought in occasional lots at intervals, were procured through competitive bids by firm price contracts for a year's needs with options on delivery terms. Frequently net savings were realized thereby, that substantially exceeded the extra costs incurred to achieve the results.
Plant additions not previously mentioned included a rearrangement of cable junctions involving nine circuit segments and two 13,800 volt underground switches in the two largest manholes in our system at the intersection of Lowell and Woburn Streets in Wilmington. In the course of this work taps were provided for risers connecting to the new Guild Plastics aerial cable line, and circuit relations were changed to elimi- nate involvement of two supply circuits under certain fault situations. To lessen congestion and also reduce hazards to vital 13,800 volt under- ground circuits supplying outlying substations, four distribution trans- formers in various manholes in Reading were relocated in transclosures on slabs. Service to the Tambone building and to new apartment build- ings on Green Street were facilitated through use of this type of in- stallation.
Approximately $37,000 was spent on street lighting at 479 locations. Recent cost reductions of controls more fully justify conversion of series street lighting circuits to multiple systems. With current street lighting rates to outside towns unchanged since 1938-at levels averaging 30 percent below typical prevailing rates elsewhere-promotion of further improvements could be mutually beneficial.
In October, landscaping at the Lynnfield Center substation site was completed by erection of a ten foot chain link enclosure, arbor vitae
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and euonymus vine plantings, grading, loaming, grass seeding and surfacing of parking areas with bituminous concrete. The latter was extended to a large portion of the private way entrance from Main Street which had been subjected to hard usage during construction of Department underground conduits. By late fall our Haven Street prem- ises were also improved by a new bituminous concrete surface, replace- ment of pole bumpers with reinforced cement concrete curbs, and parking space markings.
With the addition of the substation unit purchased in September, the 7500 KVA unit in Lynnfield Center will become a complete automat- ic 13,800 volt substation. A 4160 volt feeder will then become available for service in Reading. This will be the sixth such feeder originally used to supply outside towns to become available for service to Read- ing areas since this procedure was initiated about ten years ago. Total worth of feeders so retrieved amounts to approximately $200,000. The Lynnfield Center substation will be functionally equivalent to that in- stalled at Ash Street to supply our entire system.
Additions to general equipment included the purchase of a utility sedan for the meter department, two new cabs and chassis-one for mounting of the 24 foot aerial ladder, another for use wtih a new cable splicer's truck body.
The outlook for 1962 and beyond prompts various stimulating topics. Expenditures of nearly one half million dollars are planned for 1962. Amounts totaling nearly one and three quarter million dollars are scheduled for the following five years to provide system needs to carry minimal expansion as projected in plans completed last Novem- ber. Expenditures for extending service to a large industry such as was done to connect Avco in 1958 and Guild Plastics last year would be considered individually. If growth should parallel the quadrupling of energy sales in a decade as actually was realized from 1951 to the end of last year, expenditure levels could exceed the projected estimates. Funds for construction projects will be financed from earning.
Due attention also has been accorded to residential underground distribution. Data developed by the Department has been on hand since last August. An underground distribution layout for a typical develop- ment tract was evaluated relative to the cost of an equivalent overhead installation upon which rates are commonly based. Most authentic as a guide and reference on the feasibility of placing wires underground and all its implications, is a report issued in 1956 by the Department of Public Utilities based on a state-wide survey occasioned by an ava- lanche of legislative bills relating to underground installations. Em- phasis therein pointed to rate and cost considerations. By apportion- ment of cost differential in development tracts wires can be placed underground with varying degrees of practicability.
Seldom has the cooperation of our personnel been more evident in fulfilling the Department's problems and obligations to the Town and to other communities it serves than in the past year with its succession of exceptional problems. At this time gratitude is conveyed for their loyalty and accomplishment. Acknowledgement and appreciation is
161
accorded to members of the Municipal Light Board for the consider- able time, interest and efforts they have devoted to the conduct and guidance of this Department's activities.
In accordance with the provisions of Section 57, Chapter 164 of the General Laws, I submit herewith my estimate of income and expense of the plant for the year ending December 31, 1962.
ESTIMATED INCOME AND EXPENSES FOR 1962
INCOME.
From Consumers
$2,975,600.09
From Tax Levy-for Street Lights
29,000.00
for Municipal Buildings 38,878.14
From Miscellaneous Income
500.00
From Merchandise and Jobbing
5,000.00
Total Income $3,048,978.23
EXPENSES:
Production
$1,764,151.68
Transmission
10,000.00
Distribution
235,489.56
Customer Accounts
29,970.78
Administrative and General
189,715.30
Depreciation
231,914.32
Bond and Note Payments
62,000.00
Interest on Bonds and Notes
17,016.25
Taxes - Outside Towns
66,500.00
Interest on Consumers' Deposits
500.00
Total Expenses
$2,607,257.89
Excess - Income over Expenses
$ 441,720.34
K.W.H. Purchased
124,148,605
K.W.H. Sold
115,458,203
K.W.H. for Reading Street Lights
1,288,460
Expense per K.W.H. Sold
2.2582c
Cost of Reading Street Lights
$ 29,096.00
Appropriation for Street Lights
$ 29,000.00
A summary of Income and Expenses, Total Cost of Plant, together with the statement of Assets and Liabilities, the Profit and Loss Ac- count, and the Auditor's Certificate is appended herewith.
Respectfully submitted, HECTOR L. GIANASCOL, Manager
REPORT OF THE MUNICIPAL LIGHT BOARD
The Report of the Manager as submitted by him with certificate of the auditor is hereby approved by the Municipal Light Board and constitutes its report to the Town.
WINFRED F. SPURR, Chairman
PHILLIP G. WILLCOX
PHILIP O. AHLIN, JR.
Municipal Light Board
162
CHARLES E. STANWOOD & COMPANY
Accountants and Auditors 16 Court Street Boston, Massachusetts
February 2, 1962
To the Municipal Light Board Town of Reading
Reading, Massachusetts
We have examined the accompanying balance sheet of the Munici- pal Light Department of the Town of Reading, Massachusetts as at December 31, 1961 and the related statements of income and profit and loss for the year then ended. Our examination was made in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards and included such tests of the accounting records and other auditing procedures as we considered necessary in the circumstances.
In our opinion, the accompanying balance sheet, and statements of income and profit and loss present fairly the financial position of the Municipal Light Department as at December 31, 1961 and the results of its operations for the year then ended, in conformity with the "Uni- form System of Accounts for Municipal Lighting Plants" as prescribed by the Department of Public Utilities of Massachusetts.
(Signed) CHARLES E. STANWOOD & COMPANY
TOTAL COST OF PLANT as of December 31, 1961
Cost of Land-226 Ash Street $ 859.58
Garage and Stockroom
1,716.22
25 Haven Street 6,609.46
Wildwood Street, Wilmington
700.00
Haverhill Street, North Reading
3,219.19
Main Street, Lynnfield Center 5,000.00
Cost of Structures-226 Ash Street
36,870.84
25 Haven Street
32,174.96
Garage and Stockroom
39,531.25
Station Equipment-Reading
357,098.95
Lynnfield Center
101,470.82
North Reading
166,572.03
Wilmington 151,245.96
Cost of Poles, Fixtures & Overhead Conductor-Trans.
220,007.65
Cost of Underground Conduits Trans.
210,674.90
Cost of Underground Conductors-Trans.
473,152.88
Cost of Poles, Fixtures & Overhead Conductors-Dist.
1,226,029.11
Cost of Underground Conduits-Dist.
124,222.62
Cost of Underground Conductors-Dist.
189,837.69
Line Transformers
363,690.71
Services
289,884.87
163
304,566.80
Meters
Street Lights and Signal Systems
335,692.02
Total Cost of Electric Plant $4,640,828.51
Cost of General Equipment 107,636.49
Total Cost of Plant and General Equipment $4,748,465.00
SUMMARY OF INCOME AND EXPENSES for the year Ending December 31, 1961
REVENUES:
Residence Service-Schedule A
$1,546,121.80
Commercial Service-Schedule B
156,620.85
Commercial and Industrial Service-Schedule C
769,401.48
Welding Service
899.65
Flat Rate Sales
348.80
Municipal Service-Schedule B
14,329.31
Municipal Service-Schedule C
97,061.19
Street Lighting Service
60,599.59
Sales to Private Companies and Municipal Plants
14,267.48
Municipal Water Department
18,938.52
Miscellaneous Income
4,583.04
Total Revenue
$2,683,171.71
EXPENSES:
Production
$1,539,313.03
Transmission
2,998.00
Distribution
217,645.55
Street Lighting 28,231.36
217,506.00
General and Miscellaneous
115,122.05
Interest on Bonds and Notes
18,074.18
Bonds and Notes Payable Redeemed
63,000.00
Taxes-Personal Property Outside Towns
64,592.64
Uncollectible Operating Revenue
4,739.97
Interest on Consumers' Deposit 507.07
Retirement Pensions
17,302.48
Total Expenses $2,289,032.33
Excess of Revenue over Expenses
394,139.38
Transfer to Town Treasurer
145,103.74
Net Increase of Profit and Loss Surplus
$ 249,035.64
STATEMENT OF ASSETS AND LIABILITIES as of December 31, 1961
FIXED ASSETS:
Land
$ 18,104.45
Structures
45,252.35
Station Equipment
418,182.88
Poles, Fixtures, and Overhead Cond. and Devices-Transm. 166,832.79
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Depreciation Expense
Poles, Fixtures, and Overhead Cond. and Devices-Dist.
483,449.75
Underground Conductors-Transm.
373,868.73
Underground Conductors-Dist. 74,282.88
Underground Conduits-Dist.
57,153.78
Underground Conduits-Transm.
168,898.68
Line Transformers
226,395.48
Services 116,957.17
Consumers Meters
155,420.00
Street Lighting Equipment
138,414.51
General Equipment
107,636.49
Total Fixed Assets
$2,550,859.94
CURRENT ASSETS:
Construction Fund
$ 298,687.70
Depreciation Fund
90,086.20
Petty Cash
500.00
Consumers Deposit Fund
13,441.00
Accounts Receivable
406,580.22
Materials and Supplies
88,403.43
Misc. Current Assets
153.93
Total Current Assets
897,852.48
Prepaid Insurance
2,996.33
Other Adjusted Debits
33,346.13
Totals
$3,485,054.88
LIABILITIES:
Bonds Payable
640,000.00
Accounts Payable 134,503.80
Consumers Deposits 13,441.00
Interest Accrued
5,137.91
Loans Repayment
1,116,578.26
Total Liabilities
$1,909,660.97
Profit and Loss
1,575,393.91
Totals
$3,458,054.88
NOTE: A contingent liability in the amount of $4,494.31 existed as of December 31, 1961 on account of leases received from installment sales of electrical appliances which were discounted with the Middlesex County National Bank of Reading.
PROFIT AND LOSS ACCOUNT-as of Deember 31, 1961
Balance January 1, 1961
$1,326,358.27
Net Income-Before Bond Payments 457,139.38
Total Credits 1,783,497.65
Bonds and Notes Paid 63,000.00
Transferred to General Funds of the Town 145,103.74
Total Debits 208,103.74
Balance December 31, 1961
$1,575,393.91
165
REPORT OF TOWN COUNSEL
January 2, 1962
To the Law Committee of the Town of Reading: I submit my report as Town Counsel for the year 1961
as follows:
The suit brought against the Town by the Massachusetts General Hospital for the hospital care of one Evelyn Aktinson, a resident of the town of Reading and a recipient of Old Age Assistance from the State of Maine was, at the insistence of the State Department of Public Welfare, tried in the Third District Court of Eastern Middlesex in Cambridge. This trial resulted in a judgment for the Mass. General Hospital in the amount of $400.27, was paid by the Town, and has been submitted by the Welfare Department to the State Department for reinbursement.
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