Board of Selectmen

Board of Selectmen                                        Present:           Thomas J. Frain

July 13, 2017                                                                           Jonathan Keep

Town Hall                                                                               Stanley Wysocki

                                                                                                Don Lowe, Town Administrator

                                                                                                Linda L. Day, Town Secretary

BOLTON CORNERS, 563 MAIN STREET

Mr. Frain recused himself from this discussion and left the meeting room.

Mr. Paul Conger, representative of UMass Memorial Medical Group met with the Board of Selectmen to request approval to upgrade the existing sign out by the Street for 563 Main Street.  Mr. Conger stated that UMass Medical will be occupying the space vacated by the Clinton Savings Bank.  The width and height of the sign will not change.  During the renovation of the sign they would like to wrap a vinyl banner around the existing poles announcing “UMass Bolton Family Practice Coming Soon”.

On a motion made by Wysocki and seconded by Keep, the Board of Selectmen voted to approve the sign and banner request.  (Keep – yes, Wysocki – yes)

RELEASE OF CHAPTER 61a

Mr. Joseph Kovac met with the Board of Selectmen to request that 9.31 acres at 23 Harris Farm Road be released from Chapter 61A.  The Board of Assessors and the Planning Board provided notification to the Board of Selectmen stating that they didn’t recommend the Town exercise its right of first refusal. The Conservation Commission didn’t have the opportunity to vote due to a lack of a quorum but a poll vote did provide a consensus that they were not interested as well.

On a motion made by Wysocki and seconded by Keep, the Board of Selectmen voted not to exercise the right of first refusal for the above-mentioned property owned my Mr. Joseph Kovac (Frain – yes, Keep – yes, Wysocki –yes)

HOMETOWN HEROES BANNER PROGRAM

Ms. Karen Regan met with the Board of Selectmen to request approval of the proposed Hometown Heroes Banner being sponsored by Bolton Loco, with the support of the Town of Bolton and the Parks and Recreation.  The objective of the Hometown Heroes is to create banners honoring Bolton Veterans and Active Duty Military men and women that will be hung along Main Street in Bolton’s center.  The banners will be placed beneath the American flags currently installed on the 22 electric poles on Main Street.  The Bolton Economic Development Committee (EDC) will purchase the brackets for the banners.  Ms. Regan has talked to Leslie Caisse, Administrator Assistant for the DPW about the program.

On a motion made by Wysocki and seconded by Keep, the Board of Selectmen voted to approve the program.  (Frain – yes, Keep – yes, Wysocki –yes

TOWN ADMIMISTRATOR REPORT

Update on Minuteman:  No update

BOARD OF SELECTMEN BUSINESS

Longevity:  On a motion made by Wysocki and seconded by Keep, the Board of Selectmen voted to approve an additional $100 in longevity pay for services of employees who have accumulated over 20 years of service.  (Wysocki – yes, Frain – yes, Keep - yes)

Budget Transfer Recommendation:  On a motion made Wysocki and seconded by Keep, the Board of Selectmen voted to approve the transfer of funds for snow and ice as follows:

$136,287.66 from Police Department (210) to Snow and Ice (423) and $80,000 from DPW (421) to Snow and Ice (423) for a total of $216,287.66.

Brad Cote, Chairman of the Advisory Committee agreed with Mr. Lowe that snow and ice is in relatively good shape and nothing will be on the recap sheet, but believes we will be impacted by the lack of turn backs next year.  Mr. Cote stated that he didn’t see anything out of the norm for transfer requests.  There Advisory Committee tried to determine a formula that could be applied across all departments for the National Grid bills and will revisit this again next budget process.

Discussion and possible vote on formation of Town Roads Strategic Planning Committee: 

Mr. Frain proposed the formation of a Town Roads Strategic Planning Committee as a result of prior discussions to better manage traffic and preserve property values and make the town a calmer, better place, given the proximity to Interstation 495.

Mr. Frain read aloud the mission of the Committee as follows. 

The purpose of the Town Roads Strategic Planning Committee (“Committee”) is to draft initial and subsequent recommendations to the Town of Bolton Board of Selectmen (“Board”) regarding the redesign of Main Street, especially regarding traffic calming, traffic speeds, paving, marking, sidewalks, ADA access, etc.  The Committee shall also consider the affect that any redesign will have on all roads which “feed” Main Street.

Ideally, Committee members should be familiar with road design, grant writing, road architecture, financing, engineering, construction and town planning.  The initial goal of the Committee will be to have a budget recommendation delivered to the Board by January 15, 2018 for the appropriation of initial monies necessary for the initial design and engineering phases of any project(s).

The Committee will have the authority to consider all prior reports and recommendations concerning Main Street and other Town roads.

The Committee’s overarching goal shall be to better manage and calm traffic in the Town and to ensure that the Town’s roads and streets are designed to be as hospitable as possible to human activity and interaction and to thwart the Town’s separation because of traffic.

The Committee shall give strong consideration to sidewalks on Main Street and elsewhere, to provide for ADA compliance and also to allow for as much pedestrian, bike and non-automobile use as possible.

The Director of the Department of Public Works and the Chief of Police, or their designees, shall sit on the Committee ex officio.

As Town Administrator Mr. Lowe is open to new ideas and encouraged people to come forward to volunteer to serve on the Committee.

When Mr. Cote questioned how this Committee is different than the Route 117 Study Committee, Mr. Frain stated that there has been three groups since 1972 attempting to achieve some or all of this.  The last Committee was restricted to review of the two existing reports while this Committee will not be restricted to the reports and documents reviewed.  It will be up to the Committee to determine if a budget is needed.  Mr. Lowe stated that if there is a need for engineering work to be done, it could be appropriate to use Chapter 90 money.

Mr. Wysocki reminded everyone that the one thing we need to remember is that the Town of Bolton does not have free rein to decide what we want to do with Route 117 because it is a state owned road and a good portion will have to be approved by Massachusetts Department of Transportation.  Mr. Wysocki stated that the voters will have to decide, if, when and where they want to spend the money. 

Mr. Keep stated that the Mass DOT wants to see that the Town is committed and that we have done some percentage of the engineering work.

Mr. Christopher Lineberry, 133 Nashaway Road and a member of Economic Development Committee stated that bringing businesses and tax base into town is a huge issue and the business need to see that the Economic Development Committee is working on it. Mr. Lineberry volunteered to be on the Committee.   

Mr. Frain stated that he forwarded the draft mission statement to Ms. Ciummo, Chairman of the Public Ways Safety Committee and she didn’t express any objections.

On a motion made by Wysocki and seconded my Keep, the Board of Selectmen voted to adopt the charge of the Town Roads Strategic Planning Committee and advertise for volunteers to serve on the Committee.   (Frain – yes, Keep – yes, Wysocki –yes)

Update on Community Preservation Act:  Mr. Keep would like to start the dialogue about creating an account to fund projects that meet the criteria of the CPA and what percentage of funds the town would contribute to the account.   The State provides matching funds.

Mr. Keep feels this is important because we have a lot of old buildings and will be doing work on them such as the portico at the Town Hall.  Mr. Keep stated that surrounding towns are very happy with the CPA. 

Mr. Lowe stated that the Senate and House have submitted a budget to the Governor and Representative Hogan has reached out to him to attend an upcoming Selectmen’s meeting to give a presentation. 

The CPA has been brought forward at Town Meeting twice; the first time it was passed over because of issues introduced by Town Counsel and the second time it passed at town meeting but didn’t pass at the ballot. 

Appointment of the Board of Registrars:  Appointment of the Board of Registrars:  Mr. Lowe received opinion from Town Counsel and his opinion is that the Selectmen “may” choose to make the appointment to the Board of Registrars from a list of the Democratic or Republican Town Committee but they are not required to do so.  Therefore, the Board of Selectmen can take of the Town Clerk to appoint Assistant Town Clerk Jennifer Marquis to the Board of Registrars.

Mr. Frain stated that upon further review it is his understanding that the Board of Registrars has unilateral authority by Statute to appoint an Assistant Registrar regardless of the actions of the Board of Selectmen.

Mr. Frain continues to read the Statute differently, disagrees with Town Counsel on their interpretation and believes the Board of Selectmen are bound by the list that was submitted by the Democratic Town Committee. 

Mr. Wysocki stated that he values the opinion of Town Counsel and supports the recommendation of the Town Clerk. 

On a motion made by Keep and seconded by Frain, the Board of Selectmen voted to appoint Vaughn Maki to the Board of Registrars.  (Frain – yes, Keep – yes, Wysocki – yes)

Mr. Maki was present for the meeting and willing to serve on the Board of Registrars.

Hiring Process for the DPW:  Mr. Lowe previously recommended and continues to recommend that the Board of Selectmen delegate the full authority to him for the hiring of the DPW Director.  Mr. Lowe proposed bringing the candidate he recommends for hire to the Board of Selectmen for any final questions and ratification of Mr. Lowe’s recommendation.  This process is pretty much echoed by the Town Administrator in Harvard.    Mr. Lowe stated that he didn’t have any objection to a member of the Board of Selectmen being on the Interview Committee.  He also noted that we don’t normally have two rounds of interviews.

Mr. Lowe stated that we have received 11 resumes so far and are accepting applications for the DPW Director position through July 14, 2017.

Mr. Lowe stated that this is a contracted position and a probationary period clause would be included in the contract.

On a motion made by Wysocki and seconded by Keep, the Board of Selectmen voted to approve the hiring process as outlined, with Donald Lowe, Town Administrator; Jonathan Keep, member of the Board of Selectmen; Donna Madden, Human Resource Director, Erica Uriarte, Town Planner and a DPW Director from a neighboring town serving on the Interview Committee.  (Frain – yes, Keep – yes, Wysocki – yes)

Hiring Process for the Tax Collector/Treasurer:  Mr. Lowe stated that we have received several applications for the Tax Collector/Treasurer position, with one very intriguing prospect.  Recognizing the need to move quickly, the applicant was interviewed by Mr. Lowe, Ms. Donna Madden, Tax Collector/Treasurer/Human Resources Director and Ms. Ninotchka Rogers, Town Accountant.  Everyone was very impressed with the applicant.  Mr. Lowe recommended that the Board of Selectmen vote to have a special meeting on Tuesday, July 18, 2017 to meet the applicant and ratify the hiring.  He would also like to be authorized to offer the applicant the position contingent on a favorable vote of the Board of Selectmen at the meeting on July 18, 2017.

On a motion made by Wysocki and seconded Keep, the Board of Selectmen voted to meet on Tuesday, July 18 at 5:00 p.m. to interview the applicant for the Tax Collector/Treasurer position and authorize Mr. Lowe to make an offer to the candidate contingent on a standard reference check, CORI check and the Board of Selectmen’s approval at the meeting on July 18, 2017.   (Frain – yes, Keep – yes, Wysocki – yes)

On a motion made by Wysocki and seconded by Keep, the Board of Selectmen voted to adjourn at 8:15 p.m.  (Frain – yes, Keep – yes, Wysocki – yes)

Respectfully submitted by Linda L. Day