USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > Brookline > Town records of Brookline, Massachusetts, 1872-1884, v. 3 > Part 14
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And the owners of the lands abutting on said way and of the fee of the land over which said way is laid out, in consideration of the town laying out and making said way, agree to waive all claims for land or grade damages.
There being no structures, buildings, trees, walls, fences, or hedges standing upon the land taken for said way, the same may be entered upon at once by the town for the purpose of constructing the same, and the estimated cost of making said way, with curbstones and gravel sidewalks on both sides, will be about $3840.00.
And said way so laid out, located, and described, is hereby reported to the town for acceptance, and when so accepted, allowed, and recorded, is forever to be known as a public town way.
And we would recommend that said way be named and known as " Perry street."
Brookline, Mass., March 9, 1874.
CHARLES D. HEAD, CHARLES K. KIRBY, HORACE JAMES, JAMES W. EDGERLY, DAN'L D. BRODHEAD, Selectmen of the Town of Brookline.
BROOKLINE, Mass., March 9, 1874. - Received and entered in the office of the Town Clerk.
Attest : B. F. BAKER, Town Clerk.
Voted, To accept and allow the foregoing report. Eleventh Article taken up :
To see if the town will accept and allow a new town way leading from Aspinwall avenue to the Brookline Branch Railroad, and from said new town way to Aspinwall avenue, as laid out and located by the Selectmen.
On motion of Mr. William Aspinwall, it was -
Voted, To not accept the report of the Selectmen on the laying out and locating of said way.
Twelfth Article taken up :
To see if the town will accept and allow a new town way leading from Harvard to Winchester street, as laid out and located by the Selectmen.
Voted, To indefinitely postpone the Twelfth Article.
Twenty-seventh Article taken up :
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Brookline Town Records.
To see if the town will accept and allow the change and relocation of Irving street as made and located by the Selectmen.
The Selectmen presented the following report on the change and relocation of said way ; to wit, -
The Selectmen of the town of Brookline, after giving legal notice to all persons and interests known to them of their intention to alter the location of Irving street between High street and Pond avenue, did, in pursuance of said notice, meet at the Town Hall, on Wednesday, the eleventh day of June A.D. 1873, at quarter of four o'clock in the after- noon, and proceeded to hear all parties and interests present and desiring to be heard in relation thereto, and to examine said route ; and all persons and interests which had appeared having been heard and examined in relation thereto, they proceeded to alter and change the location of said way as follows, describing it by its centre line; to wit, -
Commencing at a point on the westerly side of Pond avenue 121.1 feet southerly from the northern boundary of the property of the Brookline Land Company, and running with a true bearing North 65° 56' W. 489.5 feet to a point tangent to the centre line of the curve marked D.E. on the plan of the former location of said street; meaning hereby that the above-described line shall be at right angles with a part of High street, between the church edifice now standing on said High street and Ward street, taking equal widths of 20 feet on each side of the above-described line, also by rounding the corners of said way where the side line inter- sects the westerly line of Pond avenue with a radius of 20 feet on each corner.
The location of said way is in accordance with a plan and profile of the same as drawn by George Tyler, civil engineer, dated March 16, 1874, and accepted and allowed by the Selectmen, and filed in the office of the Town Clerk the same day.
And so much of said way called Irving street, laid out by the Select- men and accepted by the town March 28, 1870, as by the present laying out falls without the limits of said way as herein described is hereby discontinued.
The relocation of said way is in conformity with the request of the Brookline Land Company, through whose land it passes, said company agreeing to waive all claims for land and grade damages caused by said relocation, and to make the relocated street, with sidewalks and gutters, as before.
There being no structures, buildings, trees, walls, fences, or hedges standing on the land taken for said relocation, no time will be given for their removal, and said way as relocated and laid out is hereby reported to the town for acceptance, and when so accepted, allowed, and recorded, is to be known as a public town way. CHARLES D. HEAD,
CHARLES K. KIRBY, HORACE JAMES, JAMES W. EDGERLY, DANIEL D. BRODHEAD,
Selectmen of the Town of Brookline.
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Adjourned Annual Meeting, April 22, 1874.
BROOKLINE, Mass., March 16, 1874. - Received and entered in the office of the Town Clerk.
Attest : B. F. BAKER, Town Clerk.
Voted, To accept and allow the foregoing report.
Third Article taken up :
To hear and act upon the reports of town officers and committees.
Mr. Thomas Parsons presented the following reports of town officers and committees, which had been printed and distributed through the town, which were read by their titles and accepted ; to wit, -
Treasurer's report of the receipts and expenditures of the town of Brookline ; also report of the Selectmen, and reports of the Trustees of the Public Library, and the board of School Committee ; with a list of taxes and the names of the tax-payers for the year ending February 1, 1874.
Voted, To take up the reports of town officers and com- mittees, under the several articles in the warrant for the annual town meeting, which had been printed and distributed in accordance with the vote of the town.
The Fifth Article in the printed report was then taken up :
To see if the town will accept Chapter 38 of the Acts of the year 1873, entitled "An Act to establish a grade in the town of Brookline."
The following is the chapter referred to in the foregoing article ; to wit, -
[Chapter 38 of the Acts of the year 1873.] "An Act to establish a grade in the Town of Brookline.
" Be it enacted, &c., as follows : -
"Sect. 1. The Selectmen of the town of Brookline, when authorized by a vote of said town at a meeting called for the purpose, shall establish in said town a grade of not less than twelve feet above mean low water; and no person, after such grade is established, shall construct in said town any cellar or basement cellar of any building below such grade, or use or occupy any cellar or basement cellar so constructed : provided, that the Selectmen may license, subject to revocation at any time by them, authorize cellars to be constructed in buildings used exclusively for storage or business purposes, so much below said grade as they shall designate in each license.
" Sect. 2. If any person constructs or uses any cellar or basement cellar in violation of this Act, said Selectmen shall order the owner or occupant of such cellar or basement cellar to so alter and construct it as to conform to the requirements of this Act; and if such owner or occu-
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Brookline Town Records.
pant fails to comply with such order within ten days after service thercof, as provided by the following section, said Selectmen shall so alter such cellar or basement cellar, and all necessary expenses incurred thereby shall constitute a lien upon the land wherein such cellar or base- ment cellar is constructed, and upon the buildings upon such land, and may be collected in the manner provided by law for the collection of taxes upon real estate ; and the Town Treasurer, in behalf of said town, may purchase such land or land and buildings at any sale thereof for the enforcement of such lien.
"Sect. 3. All orders under the preceding section shall be made in writing, and served upon said owners or occupants, or their authorized agents, as prescribed by section nine of Chapter twenty-six of the Gen- eral Statutes, for the service of orders of boards of health, and the Supreme Judicial Court, or any justice thereof, in terni time or vacation, may by injunction or other suitable process in equity restrain any person or corporation from constructing or using any cellar or basement cellar in violation of the provision of this Act, and may enforce such pro- visions, and may order and enforce the abatement or alteration of any cellar or basement cellar constructed or used in violation thereof, so as to comply with said provisions.
" Sect. 4. This Act shall take effect upon its passage.
"Approved February 24, 1873."
Voted, To accept the foregoing Act.
The Sixth Article in said printed report taken up :
To see if the town will make an appropriation for a bank wall on Prospect street, against the Pierce Grammar and High schoolhouse lots.
The Selectmen, to whom the foregoing Article was re- ferred, reported that, in their opinion, it is inexpedient to build such a wall at the present time.
Voted, To accept and adopt the report of the Selectmen.
The Thirteenth Article, which was in said report, taken up :
To see if the town will accept and allow a main drain or common sewer, as laid out and located by the Selectmen, from Park street to Harvard street.
Voted, That the Thirteenth Article be referred to the Selectmen, with instructions to investigate, by public hear- ings or otherwise, some plan by which a main drain or com- mon sewer may be laid out and located, to provide an outlet for the sewage matter at the terminus of the present sewer at Park or Harvard streets ; also to see if a system of sewer- age may not be established without contaminating the natural
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Adjourned Annual Meeting, April 22, 1874.
water-courses in the town; and that the Selectmen be in- structed to employ three engineers, two of whom shall not be residents of the town ; and that the sum of five thousand dollars be appropriated to carry this vote into effect; and that the Treasurer be authorized to borrow such sum, or so much thereof as may be necessary.
Fourteenth Article taken up, which was in said report :
To see if the town will accept and allow a main drain or common sewer from the present sewer by the Brookline Branch Railroad to Charles river, as laid out and located by the Selectmen.
Voted, That the Fourteenth Article be referred to the Selectmen, under the same instructions as the Thirteenth Article.
Fifteenth Article taken up, which was in said printed re- port :
To consider and act upon the subject of a by-law concerning the re- ports of the several boards, committees, or officers, annually made to the town.
Voted, To take up the Twenty-third and Twenty-fourth Articles (which are reported upon as above) with the Fif- teenth Article.
Mr. Edward Atkinson presented several amendments and substitutes to and for the reports on the foregoing articles, upon which it was -
Voted, That the reports of the several Committees on the Fifteenth, Seventeenth, Twenty-third, and Twenty-fourth Articles, with the proposition to amend the same, be com- mitted to a committee composed of the members of the several committees on those articles and Mr. Edward At- kinson, with instructions to report in print as soon as may be.
Voted, That the Town Clerk notify said committees.
Sixteenth Article taken up :
To act upon the subject of amending or repealing any votes or ordi- nances concerning a supply of water to the town.
On motion of Mr. George Griggs -
Voted, That the subject of the town raising and appropri- ating and assessing, from time to time, such amounts, not
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Brookline Town Records.
exceeding in one year the sum of twenty thousand dollars, towards payment of the principal of the money borrowed for supplying the town with water, and also a sum sufficient to pay the interest thereon, in the same manner as money is assessed and appropriated as provided in Section 5, Chapter 343, of the Acts of the Legislature for the year 1872, entitled " An Act to authorize the town of Brookline to take water from Charles river," be referred to the Committee on the Fifteenth, Seventeenth, Twenty-third, and Twenty-fourth Articles.
Voted, That the Selectmen shall, on the first day of each month, cause to be prepared an exhibit of the objects of each appropriation made by the town, the sum therefor, the amounts of the warrants drawn against the same, and the balance on hand, to be kept in a book open to inspection of the citizens ; and within ten days of the first day of May in each year, and quarterly thereafter, shall cause the same to be printed in the manner of the monthly exhibit of the auditor of the city of Boston.
Voted, That the ordinances for the government of the Water Commissioners of the town of Brookline, adopted by the town October 28, 1873, be amended as follows; viz., in the sixth section of said ordinance, upon the fourth page of the printed edition, the clause now reading, "and the con- tents of any proposal shall not be made known to any person not a member of the commission until a contract shall have been made," shall be amended by being made to read thus : " and the contents of any proposal shall not be made known to any person not a member of the commission, except the Chief Engineer, until a final decision shall be made."
Mr. Edward Atkinson presented an amendment to the ordinances for the government of the Water Commissioners, which was referred to the Committee on the Fifteenth, Seven- teenth, Twenty-third, and Twenty-fourth Articles.
Voted, That when this meeting adjourns, it be to meet in this place on Monday, the twenty-seventh instant, at half- past four o'clock in the afternoon.
On motion of Mr. Edward S. Philbrick, it was -
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Adjourned Annual Meeting, April 27, 1874.
Voted, That the town hereby declares its intention to take from Charles river a million and a half gallons of water in all, daily, being three fourths of a million gallons in addition to the amount declared by vote of the town March 19, 1873, under Chapter 343 of the Acts of the year 1872, entitled " An Act to authorize the town of Brookline to take water from Charles river," and accepted May 7, 1872, and Feb- ruary 27, 1873.
Adjourned.
Attest : B. F. BAKER,
Town Clerk.
ADJOURNED ANNUAL MEETING, APRIL 27, 1874.
Pursuant to adjournment, the inhabitants of the town of Brookline, qualified to vote in elections, met at the Town Hall in said town, on Monday, the twenty-seventh day of April in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, and were called to order at ten minutes before six of the clock in the afternoon by the Moderator, Charles H. Drew.
Twenty-second Article taken up :
To consider a by-law forbidding town officers from bidding for town work and contracting therefor.
The by-law reported by the Committee on the Twenty- second Article, which had been printed and distributed among the inhabitants, was then considered and amended, and was adopted, as follows ; to wit, -
No member of the Board of Selectmen or any officer appointed by the legal voters of the town, authorized to make any contract or agreement in behalf of the town for labor, materials, goods, wares, or merchandise furnished to the town, or for a loan of money, shall be interested in a private capacity, either directly or indirectly, in such contract, agree- ment, or loan; nor shall either directly or indirectly for himself or for any other person, receive any commission, discount, bonus, present, or reward from the persons making such sale, loan, contract, or agreement, or furnishing such materials, goods, wares, and merchandise.
No contract so made shall be binding upon the town.
All calls for contracts shall be advertised in not less than two Boston
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Brookline Town Records.
daily newspapers, and shall have not less than three insertions in each, at intervals of two days; the last publication to be at least two days before the day of opening the bids.
The advertisement shall require each proposal to be sealed, the name of the bidder to be in a separate envelope, properly designated, and shall announce the place, day, and hour at which they will be opened. The bids, as received, shall be deposited in a box securely locked, and at the time and place named shall be publicly opened in the presence of a majority of the Board of Selectmen or committee authorized by the town to make the contract. No bids shall be deposited after the time adver- tised for opening.
Nineteenth Article taken up :
To consider the subject of indexing, copying, and printing the town records, and publishing the proceedings of the boards of town officers.
The report of the Committee on the Nineteenth Article having been printed and distributed amongst the citizens of the town, it was -
Voted, To accept the report of the Committee on the Nine- teenth Article, and that the report be placed on file.
The committee having recommended that the records be fully indexed, and that they be copied and printed up to the year 1838, it was -
Voted, That the Town Clerk and a committee of three, to be appointed by the Moderator, who shall be authorized to cause to be made a complete index to the records of the town.
Voted, That said committee be further authorized to have made a fair copy of the records of births, deaths, and mar- riages, and to take such measures as may be found available to supply any defects or omissions of said records of births, deaths, and marriages.
Voted, That said committee be further authorized to have the records of the hamlet of Muddy River and of the town of Brookline, down to the year 1837, printed for the use of the town and placed in the hands of the Town Clerk, to be sold at a price to be fixed by the committee, the proceeds to be accounted for to the town.
The Moderator appointed as said committee, in addition to the Town Clerk, on the foregoing matters, Messrs. N. C. Towle, James W. Edgerly, J. Emory Hoar.
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Adjourned Annual Meeting, April 27, 1874.
Voted, To take the Fifteenth, Seventeenth, Twenty-third, and Twenty-fourth Articles from the table.
The following amendments were then made to the rules and ordinances of the Water Commissioners ; to wit, -
Amendment to Water Commissioners' Ordinances.
First. The Treasurer shall keep a separate set of accounts of the cost of the Brookline Water Works in special books established for the pur- pose.
All money raised by the sale of bonds for the purpose of constructing said works shall be entered in said books, and said money shall be kept separate and distinct from other funds of the town; provided, that the Treasurer may borrow from said fund, when duly authorized, for other town purposes, any surplus that may be on hand, paying interest there- for, such loan to be refunded when required.
The cost of said works shall be kept in detail upon said books, so that the cost of each department shall be clearly stated.
The Water Commissioners may make such an appropriation from the funds raised for the cost of the water works as may be needed to pay for the clerical assistance required by the Treasurer for the purpose of keep- ing such separate accounts.
Second. In Section six of the Ordinances of the Water Commissioners, strike out the words -
" And the contents of any proposal shall not be made known to any person not a member of the Commission, except the Chief Engineer, until a final decision shall be made."
And insert in place thereof the words -
" And all such proposals shall be publicly opened and read aloud at the time and place designated for such opening by the Water Commis- sioners."
Third. Voted, That the money received for coupons attached to water bonds, for the interest from the date of said bonds to the date of sale, the premium on the sale of said bonds, and the interest upon the use or de- posit of any money raised by the sale of water bonds, shall be appro- priated to the payment of the interest coupons on said bonds that shall mature and become payable before the next annual town meeting.
Twenty-fourth Article taken up :
To see if the town will take any measures for perfecting the methods of preparing business for the action of the town, or establish any new rules for the guidance of the Auditors or other town officers in reference to such preparation of business.
Under the foregoing article the meeting passed the follow- ing by-laws ; to wit, -
By-Law Concerning Appropriations.
It shall be the duty of the Auditors to prepare and print in the annual
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Brookline Town Records.
town report a table of estimates of all the regular appropriations proposed to be made at the annual meeting. In order that they may make such a table, each board or standing committee shall make out an estimate for each respective regular appropriation needed, and cause the same to be handed to the Auditors in writing in season for such publica- tion, with the reasons therefor.
Any board or standing committee, or officer of the town, or any per- son or persons intending to ask an appropriation at any meeting of the town, other than the regular annual appropriations before named, shall file a written notice in the office of the Town Clerk of such intention, at. least ten days before such meeting, stating the object and sum of the appropriation intended to be asked. The Town Clerk shall thereupon record such notice, and inform the Selectmen thereof. It shall thereupon be the duty of the Selectmen to examine into the subject and be prepared to inform the town thereon.
If the sum of the appropriation so proposed to be asked shall exceed one thousand dollars, a statement of the proposition shall be printed and circulated with the warrant for the meeting, or at least four days before such meeting.
Provided, that an appropriation may be asked without such notice at any meeting of the town, but in the absence of such previous notice the subject shall not be acted upon except at an adjournment of said meeting, or at another meeting, in either case not less than one week from the date thereof ; and during said interim the Selectmen shall cause a printed notice of the sum and object of said proposed appropriation to be dis- tributed among the voters at least three days before such adjourned or other meeting, and shall also fully inform themselves upon the subject, and report thereon when it comes before the town for action.
The Selectmen, whenever it is possible, shall, before calling any town meeting, post notices of their intention so to do in at least ten places in the town, at least fifteen days before the time of such meeting.
Fifteenth Article, which had been reported upon in print, taken up :
To consider and act upon the subject of a by-law concerning the re- ports of the several boards, committees, or officers, annually made to the town.
Under the Fifteenth Article the meeting adopted the fol- lowing by-law ; to wit, -
By-Law Concerning Reports.
The Town Clerk shall make an annual report upon the vital statistics of the town. The Selectmen, acting in their function of a Board of Health, shall report such statistics, recommendations, and suggestions as they shall deem suitable, in order to give to the town full information upon the subject of the public health and sanitary welfare of the inhabitants of the town.
The Selectmen shall, in their annual report, state in detail what action
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Adjourned Annual Meeting, April 27, 1874.
they have taken in the year preceding, whether as Selectmen, Overseers of the Poor, Surveyors of Highways, or Board of Health. In regard to town ways, county ways, and sewers, they shall state specificially what have been laid out and constructed, what have been altered, what dam- ages have been assessed and paid, what claims are outstanding, and what claims are in suit against the town. They shall also state what ways or sewers that have been ordered, laid out, or accepted, remain to be con- structed.
The Selectmen shall, on the first day of each month, cause an exhibit to be prepared of the sum and object of each appropriation made by the town, the amount of the warrants drawn against the same, and the bal- › ance unexpended. Said exhibit shall be recorded in a book kept for the purpose, subject to the inspection of the citizens.
The Treasurer shall, in his annual report, state specifically the objects for which the debt of the town was increased during the year preceding, and recite the votes under which the money was borrowed. He shall at the close of each year render a classified statement of all expenditures and receipts of the town in such detail as to give a fair and full exhibit of the objects and methods of all expenditures.
The Assessors shall append to their annual report a table of the valua- tion, real, personal, and total, the rate of taxation, amount of money raised, amount of money received as taxes from other sources than taxa- tion by the town, and the expenditures and town debt for each year since the year 1847, including the year last ended.
The School Committee shall append to their annual report a statement of the total number of children who have attended the public schools during the year.
The Trustees of the Public Library shall append to their annual report an account of the amounts received, and of the sum and object of their expenditures for the support of the Town Library during the year prc- ceding.
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