Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1886-03-05

G. Severance wished Mr.. SHADES opinion
as to whether selectmen have a right to
expend more money than is appropriated
for given purpose. Mr.. Slade thought
they could do about as they pleased.
After some further general remarks Mr..
Slade introduced the following resolu-
ton, which was adopted:
WHEREAS: The town expenses of late years
ave been large, and are increasing; to the
end that economy may be exercised in the
management of the affairs of the town
Resoired, That when appropriations are
made by vote for expense that is to be incur
red in and about the interests of the town, the
respective officers are hereby directed not to
exceed the appropriations made tor specific
purposes; and if there is an apparent neccssi-
ty for larger outlay than the special appro-
priation, II town meeting shall be called to act
upon and direct as to incurring special ex-
penses and it is understood that this direc-
tion shall particularly apply to expenditures
on the highway beyond the money appropri-
ated therefor.
Mr.. Slade read the report of the select
men, as follows:
sELECTMENs REPORT.
To- the Legal J'oterS Of the Torn Of NiddleJUry:
The undersigned board of selectmen, here.
with submit their report, covering in the
main their doings during the past year, and
make some suggestions which in their opin
| ion will be for the benefit of the town in the
future And first, comm to the performance
! of the duties of said Office with no practical
experience OF the labors thereto pertaining,
we have proceeded cautiously and with no
little embarrassment in the performance OF
! the trust SO cordially entrusted to us.
Rodds and BridgeS.
Being called upon frequently to cXpend
money in different parts of the town on the
| roads, we early determined to examine the
same with reference to their condition. This
we did, passing over most of them. The re-
suit of our visit was that we determined to re-
pair the Moore HILL which was in very bad
condition. The contract for stoning and
| graveling the same for fifty rods was let to W.
c. Moore, for the sum of two hundred dollars.
The work was done well, and will be cndur-
ing. Later in the season, and when ii became
apparent that the heavy rains were washing
the roads badly, it was thought necessary to
repair to quite an extent the road leading to
East Middlebury, in order to save what had
fore, graveled that part of the road from the
village line to the foot of the Blind Baker hill
so-called. This portion of the road had not
been repaired since it first constructed
The easterly part OF said road had been fixed
n year two ago, and was in reasonable
shape, so we did not cXpend any money east
of the place aforesaid. At the foot of BLIND
Baker hill we stoned the road with stones
taken from the lot of l.. =. Boardman, II con
troversy having arisen between him and /
former board of selcctmcn in reference to the
condition in which the land was left. The sait
controversy was settled by the payment o
twenty dollars, and in full for the stone takeI
for said road. This is in main the extra WORK
that has been done on highways the past year
1t must he stated however, that the unusually
severe winter in regard to SHOWS ncccssitate,
II heavy expenditure on winter roads; in fact
in many instances almost the entire highway
tax was expended in some districts ON wintc
roads, and what was done therefore was nee
essary work, and paid for by orders ON tn,
treasury. The creek bridge in the village wa
; replanked during the past year
Torn HdH.
A larger sum of money than was voted ha
been expended in fixing the basement of th
town hall. The reason of this is that il wa
thought best to thoroughly put the entir
basement in good condition. The vote con
templated only doing offa room or two room
| for IL court room, whereas the repairs eNten,
beyond, and embrace the whole basement, Il
before stated. In the wintero \. ID. lss4-5, tn
steam pipes We're burst open oftentimes iron
the extreme cold and II large amount was ex
pended to repair the same. The basemen
now is in excellent order, the floors being coy
..s.l
, partitions being constructed so as to entirel
prevent the recurrence of frozen pipes an
other Inconvenience resulting from an in
: perfect basement. 1t is desired that ever
: taxpayer visit said basement, so as to vie,
for himself the work that has been done. .
large amount of dirt had to be removed fror
the basement before the work could be don
J., in order to obtain the necessary height {
f room. The total cost of repairing of town ha
is s773.l9.
The sum of s2G2 was paid for concrete wal
near to and around the town hall. The vi
o lage paid Onc-half of the expense for the wal
Il and the town the whole of the expense of tn
4 approaches.
. Poor House and To,rn Farm.
The expense of town farm shows genera
decrease over the former year, and yet the e,
4. pense of keeping the paupcrs per week seem
: to have increased. There have been II les
:, number of paupcrs kept on the farm than
former years, yet it has cost as much for on
" door help, and the cows and horses eat just Il
!. much. 1t costs nearly as much to maintain
= few as quite large number,for the number
p paupers does not affect the help necessaril
to be obtained to secure the crops and h
- salary of the main man remains the sam,
= No work of any amount is performed by IN
G paupers. Origi1 ally it was designed that
b., large portion OF the labor would be perfome
8 by the inmates, but practically this isnot tru,
=, The original idea was theoretical. At I'll
time of our taking control of the farm thel
: had been "A wonderful falling OF from the il
f ventory which had been taken about IA mont
~ before; we are unable to state the reason W
found no butter ON hand and no new mile
u cows, and after buying butter for awhile, tw
II new milch COWS were bought OF G.. c. Cady I
T. furnish milk and butter until the cows on III
i place should come in about the LIST of jun
About the same amount of produce has bee
70 raised on the farm as in former years, but II
IL prices realized for products sold has bee