Annual Report of the Town of Middleborough, Massachusetts
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ANNUAL REPORT OF THE TOWN OFFICERS OF Middleboro, Mass. mi FOR THE Year Ending December 31, 1924. H. L. Thatcher & Company, Middleboro, Mass. ANNUAL REPORT OF THE TOWN OFFICERS OF Middleboro, Mass. FOR THE Year Ending December 31, 1924. 3 TOWN OFFICERS 1924 TREASURER AND COLLECTOR WILLIAM W. BRACKETT Term expires 1925 TOWN CLERK WILLIAM W. BRACKETT SELECTMEN LYMAN P. THOMAS Term expires 1926 THEODORE N. WOOD Term expires 1926 ERNEST L. MAXIM Term expires 1925 CHESTER E. WESTON Term expires 1927 ALTON G. PRATT Term expires 1927 TOWN MANAGER HARRY J. GOOD ALE ASSESSORS JAMES F. GARDNER Term expires 1926 ERNEST S. PRATT Term expires 1925 BENJAMIN C. SHAW Term expires 1927 OVERSEERS OF THE POOR ADELAIDE K. THATCHER Term expires 1926 CHARLES S. CUMMINGS Term expires 1925 WILLIAM M. HASKINS Term expires 1927 SCHOOL COMMITTEE ALLAN R. THATCHER Term expires 1926 FOREST E. THOMAS Term expires 1926 MRS. ADELIA C. RICHARDS Term expires 1925 KENDRICK H. WASHBURN Term expires 1925 GEORGE W. STETSON Term expires 1927 LORENZO WOOD Term expires 1927 4 SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS CHARLES H. BATES HEALTH OFFICER JOHN H. WHEELER SUPERINTENDENT OF STREETS ICHABOD B. THOMAS Resigned July 1 HERBERT B. RAMSDELL Appointed July 1 REGISTRARS OF VOTERS WALTER M. CHI PM AN Term expires 1926 WILLIAM J. COUGHLIN Term expires 1925 MICHAEL J. CRONAN Term expires 1927 TRUSTEES OF PUBLIC LIBRARY WALTER L. BEALS Term expires 1926 WALTER SAMPSON Term expires 1926 NATHAN-WASHBURN Term expires 1926 ALLAN R. THATCHER Term expires 1925 THEODORE N. WOOD Term expires 1925 MARION K. PRATT Term expires 1925 HENRY W. SEARS Term expires 1927 THOMAS H. KELLY Term expires 1927 H. JANE BENNETT Term expires 1927 CONSTABLES FRED C. SPARROW E. KIMBALL HARRISON ALDEN C. SISSON HARRY S. ALLEN TREE WARDEN HARRY J. GOOD ALE FOREST WARDEN HARRY J. GOOD ALE MOTH SUPERINTENDENT JESSE CARPENTER, JR. SEALER OF WEIGHTS AND MEASURES LOUIS C. LITTLEJOHN 5 REPORT OF TOWN MANAGER Board of Selectmen, Middleboro, Mass. Gentlemen: I have the honor to submit my fourth annual report and recommendations as Town Manager, this being the fourth year of this form of government in Middleboro. As detail reports of each department are submitted here¬ with, only the more important features of the activities of each department will be mentioned. STATE SYSTEM OF ACCOUNTING At the annual election in 1923 the Town voted to adopt the State System of Accounting, but owing to the large amount of work in the office of the State Director of Accounts, he was not able to provide the necessary men to make an audit of the accounts of the town and establish the system until July of this year. This work was finished the first of August, and Waldo S. Thomas was appointed Town Accountant Aug. 11, 1924. While this is an added expense to the town, it does es¬ tablish a system of accounting which is generally being adopt¬ ed by the cities and towns in the State, and provides a much desired check upon all the financial affairs of the town, as all financial transactions of the various officials of the town must be approved by the Town Accountant. FINANCIAL Jan. 1, 1921, the total bonded debt of the town was $94,400.00, made up of the following items:—School House 6 Loan $9,900.00, Fire Dept. Loan, $7,500.00, Water Dept. Loan $45,000.00, and Electric Light Dept. Loan, $32,000.00. In 1921 a loan of $16,000.00 was placed to take care of the town’s share of constructing the County Tuberculosis Hospital at So. Hanson, and a loan of $5,500.00 for the purchase of electri¬ cally driven pumps at the Water Works Pumping Station was made in 1922. On Jan. 1, 1925, the total bonded debt of the town is $67,800.00, showing a reduction of $26,600.00, notwithstand¬ ing additional pumping equipment was purchased for the Pumping Station, and the town’s share of the County Hospital has been paid. Of this amount, $15,000.00 is Electric Light Dept, debt, and $39,500.00 Water Dept. debt. These last two loans are paid from the income of the departments. Of the remaining amount the Hospital Loan of $10,000.00 and the School House Loan of $3,300.00 is paid from the tax levy. The $10,000.00 is a loan outside of the debt limit. GAS AND ELECTRIC DEPARTMENT As a result of the snow storm late in the winter, and an unusual wind and rain storm during the summer, a large a- mount of work was necessary to repair the damage. These troubles have all been eliminated, 23.8 miles of extensions have been built, and 6525 feet of 4" gas main has been laid. We therefore can feel that the results obtained in this de¬ partment this year are very satisfactory. There have been many complaints from the radio users, of the interference caused by tree grounds on the electric lines. These complaints have had senous attention by the depart¬ ment, and a large amount of time has been given to eliminate as far as possible these disturbances. The question of radio disturbances is one little understood by the ordinary user of the radio, and many of them can not be accounted for, even by the radio engineer. What appears to be caused by local condition may and usually does originate from some distance away, and is transmitted from its point of origin over all the wires in the adjacent territory. « 7 We still have interruptions in service on our high tension line, although not as frequently as last year, and shall, however, never have good service until a line connecting direct with New Bedford is built. This matter is being investigated and we hope to have a definite report to make in the near future. WATER DEPARTMENT • The policy adopted three years ago of paying particular attention to the main gates, hydrants and meters has been pursued this year, with the result that the general physical condition of the system is much improved, and the earnings of the plant increased. Due to the moving of the railroad transfer from Middleboro to Brockton, in the early summer, the revenue from this source has been reduced more than 50%, so that the earnings of the plant for this year are much less than were anticipated. HIGHWAYS The results obtained this year in this department have been very gratifying. The citizens were quite generous in making their appropriations, with the result that a few of the many needed improvements have been made; notably Plymp- ton Street from the Green toward Eddyville. The surface of this road was the old type of water bound macadam, fifteen feet wide, and as a result of long use was worn very thin. In building the new road, this old surfacing was utilized as a foundation, the road widened to a width of 20 feet, and a new hard surface road of the asphalt macadam type constructed. The money for constructing this road was provided, one-half, or $15,000. by the Town, and a like sum by the State. Another much needed improvement was the graveling and oiling of Plymouth St., from Murdock Street to Bedford Street in North Middleboro, a distance of two miles. This road has long been subjected to much automobile travel, and as it never had been protected with oil, the surface had be- 8 come so rough as to be almost impassable, but with the im¬ provements made this year, there is now a black surfaced road from the center to North Middleboro, and should be much appreciated by all who have occasion to use it. Through the generosity of the Peirce Trustees, who pro¬ vided $4,000.00 for the work, Cushman and Miller Streets from Wareham Street to Rock Station, a distance of 0.9 miles, has been regraveled and oiled, a much needed improvement. The policy instituted last year of building a certain amount of cement sidewalk each year has been pursued this year, with the result that a new walk has been constructed on So. Main St., from Nickerson Avenue to Center Street, and on the south¬ erly side of Center Street from So. Main Street to Oak Street. On the northerly side of Center Street the work begun last year was continued from Pearl Street to Oak Street, and from Forest Street to Everett .Street. If the citizens can see their way clear to continue making a like appropriation for a few years, our sidewalk problem in so far as it concerns the princi¬ pal streets, would be solved. The addition of a Buffalo-Pitts scarifying roller to the equipment of this department has been of great benefit, not only on new construction, but in the maintenance work. The results obtained by organizing two patrols employed in the southern section of the town, have proven satisfactory. STREET LIGHTING The street lighting system is anything but a credit to the town, especially to one which owns its own Electric Lighting Plant. The White Way system should be extended on Center Street to Everett Square, on Wareham Street to Benton Street, on South Main Street to Nickerson Avenue, and on North Main Street to Pierce Street. There should also be added fifty new 60 c. p. lights in the residential section, and the street lighting extended in the outlying districts. The department is perfect¬ ly willing to provide the fixtures, but it can not furnish the 1 9 electricity, as the State Law specifically states that all electri¬ city used by the town must be paid for at cost, and the law also provides the method by which that cost shall be figured.