USA > Massachusetts > Hampden County > Wilbraham > Wilbraham annual report 1956-1960 > Part 15
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Based on the potential future development in the area of approximately 500 homes our additional income would be $27,000.00 after maintenance charges. This would more than offset any capital expenditures and provide water and give fire protection to this section during the growth period.
Water extensions from this main trunk line would be laid by private developers under present regulations, thus an additional
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HISTORY Wilbraham, Mass.
asset to the Town.
We must not delay in expanding our system wherever it can be done under our present system. Future planning is necessary in this department as well as all others. Too, this is planning that will effect increased revenue to the Town as our water receipts have indicated in the past few years.
During 1957 a total of 84 new service installations were com- pleted and three service renewals. Developers laid 3,340 feet of 6-inch pipeline and 4,700 feet of 8-inch.
It is interesting to note that 11,000,000 additional gallons of water were used over the previous year, with our largest con- sumption in June of 12,112,000 gallons, a total yearly con- sumption of 93,061,000 gallons.
At the end of 1957 a total of 1,250 services were in use.
The Commissioners appreciate the cooperation of the water users this past summer when restrictions had to be imposed for only necessary water usage during the drought period. It is hoped with the projected new pipeline construction this condi- tion will be eliminated in the future.
We anticipate another busy year for our department and feel confident we shall meet the challenge ahead.
WALTER L. WOODS JOHN F. BALDWIN EVERETT P. PICKENS
Water Bonds and Interest
1955 - ITEMIZED ACCOUNT
Appropriation
$6,942.50
Expenditures
6,942.50
Unexpended Balance $0.00
EXPENDITURES : (total, $6,942.50) Second Bank State Street Trust Co., principal and interest, $6,942.50.
1947 - ITEMIZED ACCOUNT
Appropriation
$2,514.07
Expenditures
2,514.07
Unexpended Balance $0.00 EXPENDITURES : (total, $2,514.07) Third National Bank & Trust Co., $2,514.07. 1953 - ITEMIZED ACCOUNT
Appropriation $11,462.50
Expenditures
11,462.50
Unexpended Balance $0.00 EXPENDITURES : (total, $11,462.50) Second Bank State Street Trust Co., $11,462.50.
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Water Department INSTALLATIONS - ITEMIZED ACCOUNT
Appropriation
Expenditures
$15,000.00 13,653.65
Unexpended Balance $1,346.35
EXPENDITURES: (total, $13,653.65) H. R. Prescott & Sons, Inc., $528.69; United Plumbing Supply, Inc., $3,807.76; George Keyes, $3.72; City of Springfield, $12.46; The Ford Meter Box Co., Inc., $163.89; Norman Ellis, $31.12; Pembroke Mfg. Co., $80.95; Cement Well & Drain Tile Co., $38.00; The Chapman Valve Mfg. Co., $327.69; Neptune Meter Co., $2,412.30; Ed. N. Christianson, Inc., $30.00; B & A RR Co., $12.57; Hilco Supply, Inc., $663.18; Joseph G. Pollard Co., Inc., $375.00; Asphalt Pavement Corp., $156.87; Howard Lumber Co., Inc., $0.78; Wm. W. Jurczyk Inc., $82.20; N. E. Concrete Pipe Corp., $19.64; Town of Lud- low, $19.42; W. L. Woods, Inc., $16.21; Hampden Color & Chemical Co., $12.60; Municipal Services, Inc., $353.97; Geo. A. Caldwell Co., $1,107.62; Robert Coolong, $188.00; Edward Lindsay, $991.50; George Keyes, $1,242.90; Leon Farnsworth, $603.00; Lloyd Richter, $371.61.
MAINTENANCE - ITEMIZED ACCOUNT
Appropriation Refund
$23,000.00 12.00
$23,012.00
Expenditures
18,480.12
Unexpended Balance
$4,519.88
EXPENDITURES: (total, $18,480.12) Doris G. Cochran, $528.54; Wallace & Tiernan, Inc., $0.79; George Keyes, $3.00; Wm. F. Richmond, Post- master, $90.00; Mary Chapman, $351.56; Geo. A. Caldwell Co., $2.53; The N. Y. Central RR, $10.00; Pat's Atlantic Station, $1.29; Northeast Fuel Corp., $3.37; The Bristol Co., $6.22; Brookmont Associates, $10.74; United Plumbing Supply Co., Inc., $8.79; A. R. Reid, $5.85; Gebeau's Garage, $11.85; Clifton King, $5.00; Carroll's Sport Shop, $33.35; Pitney- Bowes, Inc., $26.65; Hampden Color & Chemical Co., $117.00; J. A. Daigle, $99.00; City of Springfield, $554.19; The Chapman Valve Mfg. Co., $189.89; Howard Lumber Co., $9.18; Wilbraham Engineering Co., $78.16; The Rand Co., $27.50; Alexina Holdridge, $4.38; Minneapolis- Honeywell Regulator Co., $9.32; Westinghouse Electric Supply Co., $83.70; Western Mass. Electric Co., $106.93; Monson Repair Shop, $30.00; The Commonwealth of Mass., $6,241.19; M. J. Harrigan & Son, $3.65; Addressograph Multigraph Corp., $34.19; Municipal Services, $81.26; Lloyd M. Hoover, $97.50; Post Road Garage, $156.88; Louis E. Keyes, $135.56; W. J. Foss Co., $7.76; Eastern Equipment Sales, Inc., $19.58; Johns-Manville Corp., $50.66; Berselli Sales, Inc., $8.80; Reming- ton-Rand Co., $1.92; Skorupski Bros., $148.73; N. E. Meter Repair Co., Inc., $78.77; Worcester County Electric Co., $57.00; H. R. Prescott & Sons, Inc., $48.15; The Charles C. Lewis Co., $1.69; Robinson-Donovan- Campbell & Madden, $850.00; Petrometal Industries, $35.62; Larro's, $16.50; John the Jack Man & Co., $8.10; N. E. Metal Culvert Co., $19.81;
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Belcher Bros., $24.00; N. E. Blue Print Paper Co., $32.50; T. T. Herlihy & Sons, $8.00; Tighe & Bond, Inc., $2,125.35; George Keyes, $3,396.54; Lloyd Richter, $1,280.63; Leon Farnsworth, $938.25; John Lovejoy, $45.75; Richard Babineau, $42.00; Charles Ladd, $57.00; Edward Lind- say, $18.00.
14" MAIN EXTENSION - ITEMIZED ACCOUNT
Appropriation Refund
$80,000.00 2,611.18
$82,611.18
Expenditures
70,197.17
Unexpended Balance
$12,414.01
EXPENDITURES: (total, $70,197.17) Tighe & Bond, Inc., $4,239.71; City of Springfield, $34.11; Johns-Manville Corp., $46,502.45; Pembroke Mfg. Co., Inc., $7.35; F. W. Dodge Corp., $25.20; Hilco Supply, Inc., $2,839.25; Springfield Newspapers, $51.00; Gainey's, $18.90; The A. P. Smith Mfg. Co., $586.24; Lewis Boiler & Iron Works, Inc., $40.75; Bruschi Bros., $14,619.51; Johns Manville Corp., $195.30; H. R. Prescott & Sons, $348.92; George Keyes, $424.13; Leon Farnsworth, $160.50; Norman Farnsworth, $88.80; Carl North, $9.45; John Piscor, $5.60.
Town Library
One year ago the Trustees of the Wilbraham Public Library announced in the annual report that it was their aim for 1957 to enlarge and improve the children's and young adults' depart- ments of our library. The first step in this program was to add to the staff a children's librarian. The Library Board was for- tunate to be able to engage for this position Mrs. Abigail Rudge, a resident of Wilbraham who is a graduate of Vassar College, and who received professional training in the New York Public Library system with special courses at Columbia University. Mrs. Rudge was a member of the children's department of the New York Public Library at 45th Street, and is an expert story' teller.
In the six months that Mrs. Rudge has been with us, she has visited the several schools to learn about the projects being under' taken by teachers and by students, and to discover what material should be added to the library to supplement the school work. She has rearranged the children's book collection, and has added many new and attractive books for young people of all ages through high school. As soon as the new books began to appear on the shelves, the circulation as shown in the Librarian's statis- tics promptly increased, proving that a need for such material exists.
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In October a story hour was started and is being held on Sat- urday mornings at 11 o'clock. All children of the community are cordially invited to attend. The story-hour has been very popular, but it has brought into sharp focus our need for more space to accommodate those who wish to come to the library. It has also emphasized the fact that the town has grown away from the present library building, which was centrally located when it was dedicated in 1913, but is now in an area incon- venient for the majority of library users to reach.
In 1913 when the library began service from its present build- ing, there was a total collection of 2681 volumes. In the inter- vening years, a small children's room and a librarians' work room were added, and in 1951 when the town offices were moved to their present location, the entire first floor of the building was added to the library. Now the library is again crowded with its 12,000 volumes. If the library is obliged to remain within its present plant, it will be necessary to discard annually as many books as are added that same year, and there will be an insufficient book stock to serve our growing population.
It is clear that the time has come to make plans for a library building, which will provide the physical facilities needed to carry on the varied activities that are a vital part of today's effective public library service. Such a building would include, in addition to adequate book stacks and work room for the staff, space for reference work and study, facilities for appropriate exhibits, and a meeting room for story-hour and for the use of adult groups interested in discussions of current issues, film forums or book talks, with easy access to printed reference material and to audio-visual aids.
Back in the early 1900's the Wilbraham Library was far ahead of its times in serving as a center for community cultural activities. Wilbraham Library today must expand its facilities if it is to serve as such a cultural center now and in the future.
That Wilbraham people are library conscious is proved by the fact that popular demand has made it necessary this year to increase the number of hours the library is open to 34 hours a week. Since August 1 the library has been open from 2 p. m. to 6 p. m. and from 7 p. m. to 9 p. m. Mondays through Satur- days, and from 9 a. m. to 1 noon on Saturdays.
The Library Trustees are grateful to the members of Wilbra- ham Garden Clubs for their continued efforts to make the library
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attractive with flower arrangements. We especially commend the library staff for their efforts to serve properly an ever- growing number of library users and for their patience and cooperation in working together in crowded quarters.
BARBARA B. DICKEY
STANLEY O. SMITH MARGUERITE G. BRADY
Library Trustees
LIBRARY STATISTICS
Number of volumes in library, January 1, 1957
11,804
Number of volumes added by purchase
984
Number of volumes added by gift
66
Number of volumes discarded and lost
335
Number of volumes in library January 1, 1958
:- 12,500
Number of borrowers (in 547 families)
1,169
Circulation
From library
Adult
10,462
Juvenile
7,166
Periodicals
2,692
Borrowed on inter library loan
5
From Pines School
441
From Stony Hill School
155
Total circulation
20,921
Gain in circulation over 1956
1,420
RUTH T. ABBOTT, Librarian
ITEMIZED ACCOUNT
Appropriation
$9,171.27
Dog Tax
950.23
$10,121.50
Expenditures
9,845.78
Unexpended Balance $275.72
EXPENDITURES: (total, $9,845.78) Massachusetts Library Trustees Associa- tion, dues, $3.00; Town of Wilbraham, water, $22.60; The College Bindery, $56.30; R. R. Bowker Co., $40.25; Norman Ellis, heater, parts and labor, $219.69; Natural History Book Club, Inc., $46.95; Columbia University Bookstore, $26.28; International Library Association, $4.30; Americana Corp., $5.00; R. P. Childs Stamp Co., $3.40; Mata L. Edger- ton, $145.00; Life, $9.95; The H. W. Wilson Co., $47.00; Demco Sup- plies, Inc., $36.20; Gaylord Bros. Inc., $9.45; Art Treasures of the World, $22.50; John J. Lyons, Registrar of Probate Court, $3.00; John T. Austin, electrical work, $5.50; Harry S. Friedman, $1.00; New Eng. land Tel. & Tel. Co., $120.55; Remington Rand, $22.10; Penn Library Guild, $9.35; Vermes Typewriter Center, $16.45; Commonwealth of Mass. Commissioner of Public Service, $10.00; Poems In Folio, $10.00; Public
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Affairs Committee, $7.24; Wilbraham Engineering Co., $481.03; Bro-Dart Industries, $42.50; The Roemer House, $32.33; Skorupski Bros., oil, $352.07; Book of the Month Club, $58.14; The H. R. Huntting Co. Inc., $415.06; The Meyer Co., awning service, $121.90; Forest Press, Inc., $5.50; Scientific American, $6.00; World Affairs Council, $1.03; Worces- ter County Electric Co., $217.84; Book Find Club, $54.47; Doubleday & Co., Inc., $15.40; American Library Associates, $24.15; Publishers Central Bureau, $8.34; Robert Speller & Sons, $7.36; Library Book House, $1,533.19; The Reader's Digest Condensed Book Club, $9.76; William F. Logan, insurance, $134.62. PAYROLL - Ruth T. Abbott, $2,464.57; Mary G. Logan, $530.00; Inga Potter, $13.75; Priscilla C. Ide, $114.38; Ethel F. Musselman, $172.50; Vertene M. Kuehn, $475.63; Mildred H. Brooks, $759.70; Abigail Rudge, $687.50; Elizabeth R. Barnes, $7.50; Lena DePinto, $13.50; Milton R. Barnes, $138.50; Henry Herter, $16.00; Richard Cochran, $28.50.
Planning Board ITEMIZED ACCOUNT
Appropriation
$500.00
Expenditures 212.86
Unexpended Balance $287.14
EXPENDITURES: (total, $212.86) Springfield Newspapers, $35.36; Mass. Federation of Planning Boards, $20.00; C. E. Anderson, $157.00; Petty Cash, postals, $0.50.
William E. Cupper
Custodian in the Wilbraham Schools - 1950-1957
Mr. William E. Tupper was appointed custodian of The Pines School in 1950 and served the town in this position until he was named custodian of the Stony Hill School in 1956.
He supervised the opening of the Stony Hill School and readied the building for occupancy. His cooperation and assistance made possible the double session program at The Pines School and the successful transfer of materials and supplies to the Stony Hill School. The school lunch programs at The Pines and Springfield Street Schools were practical because of Mr. Tupper's willingness to transport all the meals.
For seven years Mr. Tupper cared for his schools in a superior manner and at no time was his building out of service because of failure to properly maintain the equipment and property entrusted to him. His relationship with the pupils, staff, and parents was one of full cooperation and careful insistence that the conditions and appearance of the schools be steadily improved. His expert craftsmanship, constant attention to minor details, interest in the children, and pride in his work are difficult to replace.
The members of the school staff greatly miss him.
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Reports of Special Committees
Report for 1957 Insurance Review Committee
The Insurance Review Committee, consisting of five members, . was appointed by the Selectmen early in 1957 to survey and review all types of insurance purchased by the Town departments, in order to determine its adequacy of coverage at minimum cost.
The initial efforts of the Committee, which required a con- siderable amount of time, were to determine the insurance now carried by the Town. An outline of this insurance is as follows: 1. Town Buildings and Contents
A. Six of the nine buildings owned by the Town, excluding the schools, the library and the building used by the American Legion at Main Street and Tinkham Road, are insured against damage by fire and lightning, plus ex- tended coverage, by three policies, each of three years duration, which are staggered so that one policy expires each year. Total coverage is $66,900.00 for buildings and $8,000.00 for their contents, with an annual premium of $352.82.
B. The Library is insured against damage by fire and light- ning, plus extended coverage, by three policies, each of three years duration, which are staggered so that one policy expires each year. Total coverage is $22,080.00 for the building and $7,920.00 for the contents, with an annual premium of $134.62.
C. The Legion Club House is insured against damage by fire and lightning, plus extended coverage, by a single one year policy. Coverage is $1,500.00 for the building, with an annual premium of $11.59.
D. The School Buildings are insured against damage by fire and lightning, plus extended coverage by three policies, each of three years duration, which are staggered so that one policy expires each year. Total coverage is $983,500.00 for the buildings and $92,500.00 for the con- tents, with an annual premium of $2,241.67. Coverage does not as yet include the addition to the Stony Hill School, still under construction.
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2. Town Vehicles
A. Two vehicles used by the Water Department have cover- age for bodily injury and property damage by a policy having an annual premium of $129.56. These vehicles also have coverage for comprehensive (including fire and theft) and for collision or upset by a separate policy with an annual premium of $47.00.
B. One vehicle used by the Police Department has coverage for bodily injury and property damage by a policy having an annual premium of $84.06. This vehicle also has cov- erage for comprehensive and for collision or upset by a separate policy having an annual premium of $53.00.
C. Three fire trucks used by the Fire Department have cov- erage for fire, lightning, transportation, theft and colli- sion or upset, by a separate policy for each vehicle. An ambulance used also by the Fire Department has cover- age for comprehensive loss or damage, collision or upset, for the vehicle and a separate floater form for its contents. The total premiums for these policies amount to $462.60 annually, for a total insurance coverage of $50,300.00 for the vehicles and $2,050.00 for the ambulance contents. These vehicles have no coverage for bodily injury or property damage.
D. Five trucks used by the Town have comprehensive cover- age, excepting collision or upset, by an annual policy, having an annual premium of $45.00, for an insurance coverage of $7,500.00. One of the five trucks has cover- age for bodily injury and property damage by a separate policy, having an annual premium of $50.50. None of these trucks have coverage for collision or upset. Three additional vehicles, a tractor, a grader and a loader, have no insurance coverage.
3. Workman's Compensation
An annual policy for workman's compensation and employ- er's liability is carried for statutory coverage at an annual premium determined by the experience. This coverage is for all Town employees.
4. Miscellaneous
Two annual policies cover respectively loss of money and securities, and a partial interest in civil defense communicators
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INSURANCE COMMITTEE: Mr. Mount; Mr. Shaw; Mr. Alberici; Mr. Marco; Mr. Brown, Chairman.
against loss. The premiums on these two policies annually are, respectively, $66.50 and $40.00. A three-year policy covers loss or damage to standard weights, measures and bal- ances for a premium of $75.00.
5. Hospitalization or Medical
No insurance of this category is carried by the Town at the present time.
6. Public Liability of Town Property
No insurance of this category is carried by the Town at the present time.
The procedure of the Insurance Review Committee with re- gard to these policies to date has been as follows:
1. Town Buildings and Contents
A survey is in progress on the valuations and coverage of the various buildings, as well as the effect of possible regrouping of certain buildings to provide segregation of risk.
On December 9, 1957, the Insurance Review Committee unanimously recommended to the Board of Selectmen that the insurance on the contents of the Town Library be in- creased from a total coverage of $7,920.00 to $24,198.00 in order to provide for adequate coverage of the library books. The number of volumes is 12,099, and the recommended valuation is computed by a method prescribed by the Ameri- can Library Association which is used by the Springfield Library for this purpose. After an initial premium cost of $127.12 to bring all library policies to this valuation for con- tents, the additional premium cost per year is estimated to be $84.23.
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2. Town Vehicles
An investigation is in progress to determine the cost and need of the extension of bodily injury and property damage cover- age to additional or all vehicles, as well as the desirable amounts to be carried. This involves a determination of the Town's legal and moral responsibility, as well as that of the operators of these vehicles.
A study is being made of the comprehensive coverage to determine possible elimination or segregation.
A study is being made of the desirability and cost of collision insurance to determine whether this coverage should be ex- tended or reduced.
3. Workman's Compensation
Inasmuch as this coverage is carried for all Town employees for statutory limits, no action is being taken by the Insurance Review Committee at the present time.
4. Miscellaneous
No action has yet been taken by the Insurance Review Com- mittee with regard to these policies.
5. Hospitalization or Medical
A study of the desirability and cost of this type of insurance is planned.
6. Public Liability of Town Property
The need for this category of insurance is being investigated, which includes a determination of the Town's legal and moral responsibility.
It should be mentioned that the Insurance Review Committee has no authority to make any changes in Town insurance and that its recommendations are submitted to the Board of Select- men for their information and action.
It is the opinion of the Insurance Review Committee that considerable work remains to be done on the study of insurance requirements for the Town.
ARTHUR R. BROWN, Chairman ALEXANDER W. MARCO, Secretary ALDO ALBERICI BERT MOUNT LELAND W. SHAW
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CIVIC SURVEY COMMITTEE: Mr. Hoover; Mr. Holdridge; Mr. Mount, Chairman; Mr. Jeffrey; Mr. Shea; Mr. Kilcourse; Mr. Burke, Secretary; Mr. Tiffany. Absent at time of picture, Mr. Kuehn, Mr. Gurney, Mr. Allen, Mr. Nelson, Mr. Shaw.
Stony Hill School Building Committee
Before our final statement on the original Stony Hill School was filed in Boston on March 1, 1957, it was evident that an addition of twelve rooms would be needed as soon as it could be built. On August 30, 1956, therefore, preliminary plans for this addition were submitted to and approved by the Massachu- setts School Building Assistance Commission. At a special Town Meeting on October 22, 1956, the Town voted $455,000.00 to build an addition to the Stony Hill School, and authorized the existing committee to plan and oversee the project.
Public discussion of the architectural design, particularly of the roof of the general purpose room, led to a public hearing on November 29, 1956.
On January 7, 1957, the Emergency Finance Board gave its approval of the Town's borrowing money necessary for the building, and final plans for it were approved on March 7, 1957. Bids were immediately advertised for. When they were opened April 10, 1957, the lowest bid was that of Mr. F. W. Madigan of Worcester, to whom the contract was awarded on May 6, 1957 for $321,774.00.
One change in the membership of the Committee occurred when Mr. Dorrance T. Green was appointed to fill the place of Mr. Marshall E. Roper who resigned.
During the building of the addition to the School the com- mittee has held weekly inspections of the progress of the work and monthly meetings.
ALBERT H. HOWES, Chairman
WESLEY H. HOLDRIDGE LEO R. KUEHN
HARRY R. JEFFREY DORRANCE T. GREEN
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Committee on Changing of Voting Laws
This report is prepared for submission to the Board of Select- men under whose authority we have convened.
RECOMMENDATIONS: That at the earliest possible date the following articles be presented to be voted upon by the towns- people of Wilbraham.
1. That the Town change the day upon which the town officials are elected to some time prior to the Annual Town Meeting.
2. That the Town change the place of voting for town offi- cials from one central location to three locations, one located in each of the three voting precincts.
3. That the Town accept the proposed changes in the location of precinct lines as shown on the accompanying map.
DISCOURSE: In order to investigate the three questions posed to this committee, three sources of information were tapped. A letter was sent to the Secretary of State of the Commonwealth requesting information on towns of a size comparable to Wilbra- ham as to their methods of voting for town officials and their precinct distribution. The answer to the letter came in the form of a book in which were indicated 27 towns in the 5,000-10,000 population class that were presently voting by precinct for town officials.
To each of these towns a letter was sent posing the three questions we were trying to answer. Twenty answers were received, all but one from towns using precinct voting for town elections. Most of the reasons given for changing from our pres- ent form of town elections to precinct voting were for the con- venience of voters. Equalization of precinct size was cited to decrease overloads at polling places and speed up counting of returns.
The cost of elections was also checked; the results of the last town meeting vote and that of precinct voting for State elections were compared. It appears that average cost of manning one polling place for one large election would be about $300.00. Thus, precinct voting for town elections should increase town expenditures by some $600.00 per year, an increase of about $0.07 on the tax rate. Compared with the convenience to be gained by voting at a local polling place, the added cost seems negligible. In fact, it would be less, for most, than they presently spend for gas to go to vote.
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