USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Tewksbury > Town of Tewksbury annual report 1933-1938 > Part 45
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47
2,131.83
Pleasant Street Chapter 90
1,222.24
North Street, Chapter 90
4,196.43
Highway Emergency, Chapter 498, Acts 1938
448.72
Trull Road
000.00
Schools
57,547.15
Vocational Schools
751.50
Public Welfare
16,394.54
Aid to Dependent Children
4,718.00
Aid, State and Military
1,800.26
Old Age Assistance
18,504.78
Stationery and Printing
945.52
Salaries:
Town Auditor
500.00
Town Treasurer
700.00
Selectmen
800.00
Town Clerk
457.20
Collector of Taxes
1,375.00
School Committee
225.00
166
Road Commissioners
200.00
Board of Registrars
150.00
Election of Officers
121.00
Incidentals
905.48
Board of Health
1,438.67
Memorial Day
298.00
Street Lighting
5,507.62
Library
1,785.97
Town Hall
4,632.73
General
144,911.04
Moth Department
997.26
Tree Warden
1,187.09
Interest
334.14
Police and Equipment
5,996.29
Parks and Commons
133.75
Fire Department
4,889.48
Assessors
2,280.12
Board of Registrars Expenses
108.74
Inspection of Meat and Animals
600.00
Collection of Taxes
947.30
W. P. A. Fund
18,984.24
Municipal Insurance Fund
1,500.00
High School Building Loan
6,333.75
Motor Excise Refund
45.46
Maintenance of Legion Hall
63.28
Real Estate Refund
213.88
Committee on Telephone Rates
22.45
Tax Title Foreclosure Account
276.50
Dog Officer Account
95.22
Remodeling Legion Hall
350.00
Sealer of Weights and Measures
221.00
Cemetery Trust Funds
26.25
Total Expenditures
$352,314.05
Cash on hand
$ 43.68
Cash in bank
40,919.32
$ 40,963.00
$393,277.05
Treasurer's receipts
$393,277.05
RESERVED FUND ACCOUNT
Appropriation
.... $ 1,500.00
167
Transfers
Board of Regstrars
$ 150.00
W. P. A. Account
736.27
Board of Health
250.00
Town Hall
332.73
Salaries, Election Officers
31.00 $ 1,500.00
TRUST FUNDS
Condition of funds, December 31, 1938 .:
Foster School Fund
$ 1,108.77
Municipal Building Insurance Fund
13,060.55
Peter Clark Cemetery Fund 104.36
Martha Shedd Cemetery Fund 637.70
Ebenezer Page Cemetery Fund
395.21
William Prindle Cemetery Fund
100.68
Jeremiah Kittredge Cemetery Fund
122.89
Samuel Jacques Cemetery Fund
122.88
Louisa Bridges Cemetery Fund 168.55
I hereby certify that I have examined the accounts of all Town Officials who were authorized to receive and expend money, for the fiscal year ending December 31, 1938, and to the best of my knowledge they are correct, with proper vouchers on file, and $40,963.00 in the Treasury.
ROBERT E. GAY
Town Auditor.
Personally appeared before me on this 20th Day of January, 1939, Robert E. Gay, Town Auditor, and made oath that the foregoing state- ments are correct.
THOMAS F. FLYNN
Justice of the Peace.
168
TOWN OF TEWKSBURY
Committee on AUTO INSURANCE RATES-FIRE INSURANCE RATES TELEPHONE RATES
To the Voters of the Town of Tewksbury:
We are pleased to be able to report that our efforts to have the Telephone Rate situation improved was successful. While we did not get all we asked for we did succeed in having the monthly charges low- ered for many of our Townspeople. Following is the report and de- cision that we received from the Department of Public Utilities.
February 4, 1938. (D.P.U. 5318)
Petition of Town Committee of the Town of Tewks- bury et al relative to telephone rates and charges of the New England Telephone and Telegraph Company.
This petition, filed by more than twenty customers of the New England Telephone and Telegraph Company residing in the town of Tewksbury and by the Town Committee of said town, complains of the mileage charges and toll charges applicable to the telephone cus- tomers having stations in the town of Tewksbury. This is the second case heard by the Department in the matter of the telephone charges of Tewksbury residents, the first case having been disposed of January 15, 1936 (D.P.U. 4987). Four public hearings have been held in this second case, and our engineering division has made a valuation of the property of the New England Telephone and Telegraph Company in the town of Tewksbury served by the Lowell exchange outside the base rate area as of May 1, 1937.
The telephone exchange situated in the city of Lowell furnishes service to the city of Lowell and parts of the towns of Chelmsford,
169
Dracut and Tewksbury. The territory served by this exchange is called the base rate area. The town of Tewksbury does not have a separate exchange, but the greater portion of the town is served by the Lowell exchange. The territory of Tewksbury lying outside the base rate area as far as the Shawsheen River, and served by the Lowell exchange, is divided into bands one-quarter mile wide. The part of Tewksbury lying southeast of the Shawsheen River and adjacent to Wilmington is included in the Wilmington exchange. The first band of the Tewks- bury territory is adjacent to the Lowell base rate area, and the four- teenth band abuts the Wilmington exchange territory and is furthest from the city limits of Lowell.
Before 1925 these bands, by which the mileage charges of the tele- phone company are computed, were concentric, but it appeared rea- sonable at about this time that the base rate area of an exchange should be made irregular when the territory adjacent to this base rate area was filled in and the number of subscribers materially increased. In accordance with this practice of the telephone company the Lowell exchange, therefore, serves parts of the towns of Tewksbury, Dracut and Chelmsford, and the subscribers living in these towns do not pay a mileage charge providing they are included within the irregular base rate area. The company furnishes Tewksbury subscribers in the Lowell exchange with 1-party, 2-party or 4-party lines, for which the base rate is charged, and for those subscribers living outside the base rate area in addition to the base rate charge a mileage charge is made for each one-quarter mile, as follows:
Per 1/4 mile or fraction
1-Party Line. Auxiliary Line, Private Branch Exchange or Order Turret .70
2-Party Line, each main station .40
4-Party Line, each main station .20
There is also a rural line (15 or more party) about which there was no complaint as no mileage charge is made for this service.
The telephone company was willing to set up in the town of Tewks- bury a separate exchange which would give service to all subscribers within the town of Tewksbury, and a toll charge would be made for these subscribers calling stations in the Lowell exchange territory. It appeared at the hearings that this plan was unanimously disapproved, because, generally speaking, Tewksbury people do most of their bus- iness in the city of Lowell and there appeared to be no sentiment in having a separate exchange in Tewksbury with a toll charge for calls to the city of Lowell.
170
The complaint about the present toll charges to adjoining towns was that the charge should be 5 cents and not 10 cents. It appeared that all calls made to adjoining towns were put through the Lowell exchange and, although the two stations might be near each other by air line, the message actually was transmitted into and out of the exchange in the city of Lowell. Under these circumstanmes it seems reasonable that the charge for this operation should be 10 cents.
On January 15, 1936, in accordance with the views of this Depart- ment, the company extended or pushed the base rate area for the Lowell exchange one mile into the town of Tewksbury. Before this time all Tewksbury party-line subscribers paid mileage charges. There was no evidence at the hearings in the present case that a periodic survey was made by the company to find out if base areas should be irregularly extended or pushed out further from exchanges, which would result in reduced mileage charges. It seems to us that it might be helpful to all interested parties if such a survey was made at cer- tain and definite periods, and we so recommend.
At the hearings it also appeared that some of the land on both sides of the main artery running from the city of Lowell to the center of Tewksbury is swamp land and that it is not practicable or healthful to build residences on this "unprofitable land." This naturally prevents a growth in the number of subscribers in this Tewksbury territory adjacent to the Lowell base rate area and precludes probably a further extension of the irregular base rate territory. The town of Tewksbury is about six miles long and a little less than four miles wide, practically bisected by Main Street. The center of the town, about a mile and a half from the Lowell base rate area, is at the junction of Main, Pleas- ant, North and East streets, and it appears that a majority of the tele- phone subscribers in the town of Tewksbury live in the neighborhood of the center of the town. The town center or square is in the sixth band outside the base rate area, as drawn up by the telephone com- pany, and the map shows that the greatest concentration of telephones now paying a mileage charge in the town of Tewksbury exists at the present time in proximity to this section of the town.
A valuation was made by the Department of the property of the company in Tewksbury outside the base rate area in order to establish, if possible, a rate base for the mileage charges in this territory. The company claimed that the services set up for the base rate and mileage rate areas overlapped and that the rates for the base rate and mileage rate areas included a charge for the relative value of the services, among other items. It was also stated that this relative value of the services ran through the entire rate structure of the telephone com- pany. We are not satisfied that any such intangible charge can be
171
successfully defended by a company in any rate case. In the instant case, however, we have not found it necessary to attempt to establish how much weight should be given to such a charge.
We are of the opinion that, under all the circumstances of this case and having in mind the concentration of telephones in and around the center of the town's square in Tewksbury and also having in mind the elongated shape of the town, it is reasonable to consolidate the 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th bands into one band, so that the bands that are now numbered 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14 will be numbered 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11. This recognition of the concentration of existing telephones in the center of the town of Tewksbury will give a reduction in rates to approximately 45 per cent of the present subscribers of the telephone company now paying mileage charges in the town of Tewksbury.
Accordingly it is
ORDERED, That the territory of the town of Tewksbury now lying within the 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th bands of the New England Telephone and Telegraph Company for the Lowell exchange be and hereby is consolidated into and included in one band, and that this area, one mile wide, shall be considered the 5th band for the purpose of making mileage charge for the Lowell exchange, and that the territory of the town of Tewksbury now included in the bands numbered 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14 be and hereby is included in bands numbered 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11, respectively, and said change shall become effective on and after March 15, 1938.
By order of the Department,
Signed,
ALLAN BROOKS, Administrative Secretary.
A true copy Attest : ALLEN BROOKS,
Administrative Secretary.
172
Your committee wishes to state that a case of this nature is far more complicated that one might think it would be. We do not feel that the Telephone Rate situation is settled for all time for Tewks- bury. We still have the ten cent toll to South Tewksbury. We still have mileage charges on 4, 2 and 1 party service beyond the one mile boundary line. However progress was made and we hope our fellow Towns People profit from the benefits thereof.
In closing up the affairs of this committee we wish to thank the Department of Public Utilities, the The New England Telephone Co. and Citizens that helped develop our case. Without their aid this com- mittee would not have gone far.
Respectfully submitted,
WILLIAM B. CARTER HAROLD F. SMITH
173
WARRANT FOR ANNUAL TOWN MEETING
Middlesex, ss :
To either of the Constables of the Town of Tewksbury in said County :
Greeting :
In the name of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, you are hereby directed to notify and warn the inhabitants of the Town of Tewksbury, qualified to vote in Town affairs, to meet and assemble at Town Hall in said Tewksbury, on Wednesday the 1st day of February, 1939 at 12 o'clock noon to act on the following articles :
ART. 1. To choose all necessary Town Officers, to choose by ballot a Moderator, a Town Clerk, three Selectmen, three members of the Board of Public Welfare, three members of the Board of Health, a Town Treasurer, an Auditor, a Collector of Taxes, a Tree Warden and Con- stables, (Three), all to serve one year ; one Highway Com- missioner to serve three years; one School Committee to serve three years; two Trustees of the Public Library to serve three years; one Park Commissioner to serve three years; one Assessor to serve three years; one Commis- sioner of Trust Funds to serve three years. The polls for the election of Town Officers to be opened at 12 noon and close at 8 P. M. And to act on the following articles, com- mencing at 7 P. M.
ART. 2. To hear reports of Town Officers and Committees and act thereon.
ART. 3. To see what sums of money the Town will vote to raise by taxation to defray necessary expenses for the current year, and make appropriations for the same.
ART. 4. To see if the Town willl vote the money arising from licensing dogs, for the ensuing year to aid in sup- port of the Public Library.
174
ART. 5. To see if the Town will vote to authorize the town treasurer, with the approval of the selectmen, to borrow money from time to time in anticipation of the revenue of the financial year beginning January 1, 1939 and to issue a note or notes therefor, payable within one year, and to renew any note or notes as may be given for a period of less than one year in accordance with Sec- tion 17, Chapter 444, General Laws.
VOTED: That the town treasurer, with the approval of the selectmen, be and hereby is authorized to borrow money from time to time in anticipation of the revenue of the financial year beginning January 1, 1939 and to issue a note or notes therefor, payable within one year, and to renew any note or notes as may be given for a period of less than one year in accordance with Section 17, Chapter 44, General Laws.
ART. 6. To see what compensation the Town will vote for the collection of taxes, and what rate and from what date interest will be charged on taxes of 1939 unpaid after Nov. 1, 1939 or any other action relative thereto.
ART. 7. To see if the Town will vote to raise and appro- priate the sum of $350.00 for the proper observance of Memorial Day, and appoint a committee to expend the money. Said committee to be taken from members of Spanish War Veterans, American Legion, or Sons of Veterans.
ART. 8. To see if the Town will authorize the Selectmen to institute suits on behalf of the Town or defend any suits that are, or may be brought against the Town, and to sign any contracts or agreements in behalf of the Town.
ART. 9. To see if the Town will vote to appropriate a sum sufficient to pay the County of Middlesex, as required by law, the Town's share of the net cost of the care, main- tenance, and repair of the Middlesex County Tuberculosis Hospital, as assessed in accordance with the provisions of Chapter 111 of the General Laws and Acts in amend- ment thereof and in addition thereto including Chapter 400, Section 25 G (6) (a) of the Acts of 1936 or take any action in relation thereto.
175
ART. 10. To see if the Town will vote to authorize the Selectmen to sell, after first giving notice of the time and place of sale by posting such notice of sale in some con- venient and public place in the town fourteen days at least before the sale, property taken by the town under tax title procedure provided that the selectmen or whom- soever they may authorize to hold such public auction may reject any bid which they deem inadequate, or take any action relative thereto.
ART. 11. To see if the Town will authorize the Selectmen and Treasurer to petition the land court for a foreclosure of tax titles held by the Town for more than two years, as provided in Section 65 of Chapter 60, and to see what sum of money the Town will raise and appropriate there- for.
ART. 12. To see what regulations the Town will make for the possession, management and sale of land sold for un- paid taxes and for the assignment of tax titles not in- consistent with law or with the right of redemption as provided in Section 52 of Chapter 60 of the General Laws as amended by Section 3 of Chapter 126 of the Acts of 1927.
ART. 13 To see if the Town will vote to authorize the Board of Public Welfare to set aside a part of their ap- propriation to be used in conjunction with either Federal, State or County funds whenever in their opinion the pledging of such a sum of money will add to the total amount available for Welfare purposes.
ART. 14. To see what sum of money the Town will vote to raise and appropriate for W.P.A. works for 1939, or take any action relative to the same.
ART. 15. To see if the Town will vote to raise and appro- priate the sum of $2,500.00 or any other sum for the im- provement of North Street ; said money to be used in con- junction with any money which may be allotted by the State or County, or both, for this purpose, or take any other action relative thereto.
ART. 16. To see if the Town will vote to raise and appro- priate the sum of $1,000.00 or any other sum for the im- provement of River Road; said money to be used in con- junction with any money which may be allotted by the State or County, or both, for this purpose, or take any other action relative thereto.
176
ART. 17. To see if the Town will vote to raise and appro- priate the sum of $3,000.00 for the Maintenance of Chap- ter 90, highways; said money to be used in conjunction with any money which may be allotted by the State or County, or both, for this purpose, or take any other ac- tion relative thereto.
ART. 18. To see if the Town will vote to raise and appro- priate a sum not to exceed $4,500.00. to purchase the prop- erty now owned by the Lowell Co-operative Bank. Said property is now rented by the Highway Department for storage of trucks and equipment. Property consists of dwelling, a heated ten stall garage, with repair shop, and approximately one acre of land, or take any other action relative thereto.
ART. 19. To see if the Town will vote to appropriate a sum of money to establish a Road Machinery Fund for the purpose of purchasing, repairing, and operating road me- chinery, or take any other action relative thereto.
ART. 20. To see if the Town will vote to establish a Road Machinery Account, to which shall be accredited all re- ceipts received for the use of rental of road machinery, the proceeds to be appropriated as voted by the Town for road machinery purposes, or take any action relative thereto.
ART. 21. To see if the Town will vote to accept Myrtle Street, as laid out by the Road Commissioners, with the boundaries and measurements as shown on the plan on file with the Town Clerk.
ART. 22. To see if the Town will vote to accept White Street, as laid out by the Road Commissioners, with the boundaries and measurements as shown on the plan on file with the Town Clerk.
ART. 23. To see if the Town will vote to accept Laite Road, as laid out by the Road Commissioners, with the bound- aries and measurements as shown on the plan on file with the Town Clerk.
177
ART. 24. To see if the Town will vote to accept an exten- tion on Sunnyslope Avenue, as laid out by the Road Com- missioners, with the boundaries and measurements as shown on the plan on file with the Town Clerk.
ART. 25. To see if the Town will vote to accept an exten- tion on Highlandview Avenue, as laid out by the Road Commissioners, with the boundaries and measurements as shown on the plan on file with the Town Clerk.
ART. 26. To see if the Town will vote to accept an exten- tion on School Street, as laid out by the Road Commis- sioners, with the boundaries and measurements as shown on the plan on file with the Town Clerk.
ART. 27. To see if the Town will pass a by-law to provide periodical audits of the Town's accounts annually under the supervision of the Director of Accounts of the Depart- ment of Corporations and Taxation in accordance with the provisions of Section 35, Chapter 44, General Laws, or take any action relative thereto.
VOTED. To adopt the following By-law: There shall be an annual audit of the Town's accounts under the super- vision of the Director of Accounts of the Department of Corporations and Taxation in accordance with the pro- visions of Section 35, Chapter 44, General Laws.
ART. 28. To see if the Town will permit the use of the play- ing fields in the Tewksbury Stadium free of charge to all athletic teams sponsored by any organization in the town, or take any other action relative thereto.
ART. 29. To see if the Town will appropriate the sum of three hundred ($300.00), the same to be used for the up- keep of the playing fields in the Tewksbury Stadium, or take any other action relative thereto.
ART. 30. To see if the Town will vote to raise and appro- priate the sum of $1500.00 for the purchase of hose and other equipment, or take any action relative thereto.
ART. 31. To see if the Town will vote that all Motor Vehicles, owned by the Town of Tewksbury, shall be lettered with the name of Department to which the vehicle belongs, or to take any action relative to same.
178
ART. 32. To see if the Town will vote to choose by ballot at the Annual Town Meeting in February, 1939 three Selectmen, three members of the Board of Public Wel- fare, and three members of the Board of Health, one to serve three years, one to serve two years, and one to serve one year, and each succeeding year to choose by ballot one Selectman, one member of the Board of Public Welfare, and one member of the Board of Health, to serve for the period of three years or to take any action relative to same.
ART. 33. To see if the Town will vote that the Highway Department, cut all brush on the highways of Tewksbury, or take any action relative to same.
ART. 34. To see what sum the town will vote to pay the Town Treasurer as a salary for the year 1939.
ART. 35. To see if the Town will adopt the following by- law :
The annual election of Town Officers shall be held on the first Wednesday in February. Polls shall be open from 12 noon to 8:00 P. M. All other business shall be transacted on the second Wednesday in February, or take any other action relative thereto.
ART. 36. To see what instructions, if any, the town will give to the school committee for the transportation of high school pupils, and of pupils attending the other public schools, beyond the requirements of section 68 of Chapter 71 of the General Laws, as amended by Chapter 97 of the Acts of 1934, and to see what sum the town will appro- priate for transportation furnished beyond such require- ments.
ART. 37. To see if the town will vote to locate a light on Lee street near the residence of Mr. Ryonne, and appropriate money for same, or take any action thereon.
ART. 38. To see if the town will vote to locate a light at Highland View and Sunny Slope Ave., and appropriate money for same, or take any action relative to same.
ART. 39. To see if the town will vote to locate a light on Main street, between Fosters' corner and Bischoffs' Store, and appropriate money for same, or take any action rela- tive to same.
179
ART. 40. To see what sum the Town will raise by taxation the current year to pay the cost of the re-registration of voters provided in the Statute, and to recompense the Board of Registrars for the extra work caused by the new method of assessing polls, or take any other action rela- tive thereto.
And you are directed to serve this warrant by posting up attested copies thereof, one at each of the Public Meeting Houses, one at the Town Hall, one at each of the Post Offices and leave one hundred copies for the use of the citizens at the Post Office in said town, 8 days at least and over two Sundays, before the time of holding said meeting.
Hereof fail not and make due returns of this Warrant with your doings thereon, to the Town Clerk at the time and place of Meeting as aforesaid :
Given under our hands, this fifteenth day of January, in the year of our Lord, one thousand nine hundred and thirty- nine.
IRVING F. FRENCH EVERETT H. KING HERBERT L. TRULL
Selectmen of Tewksbury.
180
ANNUAL REPORT
OF THE
SCHOOL COMMITTEE
OF THE
TOWN of TEWKSBURY
OF TEWK
S
B
TOWN
U
RY
IN
3.
CORP
1734.
7
RATED
Also Report of Superintendent of Schools
For the Year Ending Dec. 31,
1938
REPORT OF THE SCHOOL COMMITTEE
With more pupils enrolled in our schools than ever before, it has been necessary to engage an extra teacher for the Foster and Shaw- sheen schools. Classes are now being held in Pickering Hall at the Foster school and in a corridor at the Shawsheen School. If the enroll- ment continues to increase an addition to our school buildings will have to be made in the very near future.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.