Board of Selectmen Minutes

Board of Selectmen                 Present:  Curtis Plante

September 22, 2011                David Lindsay

                                                Stanley Wysocki

                                                Don Lowe, Town Administrator

                                                Linda L. Day, Town Secretary

The Board of Selectmen met at the Town Hall at 6:00 p.m.

INTERVIEWS FOR FIRE CHIEF

Mr. Plante was not present for the interviews to hire the Fire Chief because he is an active member of the Fire Department.  

The Interview Committee (Board of Selectmen David Lindsay, Stanley Wysocki; Town Administrator Don Lowe; Police Chief Vincent Alfano and Retired Ayer Fire Chief Paul Fillebrown) interviewed Wesley Durant, EMT and Firefighter; John Mentzer, Firefighter, Deputy Fire Chief and senior Fire Department officer; and David Farrell, Lieutenant and full time EMT and Firefighter for the Town of Bolton; for the Fire Chief position.  

After the interviews, each Committee member provided comment.   Overall, the Interview Committee was very pleased with the quality of candidates that interviewed for the position.  

The Board of Selectmen is responsible for appointing the Fire Chief.  Mr. Wysocki was comfortable voting on the selection of the Fire Chief this evening, while Mr. Lindsay asked for more time to consider.  Therefore, the decision was deferred until the Selectmen’s meeting on October 13, 2011.  

EXECUTIVE SESSION

On a motion made by Wysocki and seconded by Lindsay, the Board of Selectmen voted

3-0 by roll call (Plante – yes, Lindsay – yes, Wysocki - yes) to enter into executive session under the authority of Massachusetts General Law, Chapter 39B, Section 23B (3) at 7:15 p.m. to discuss collective bargaining.  The Board announced it would reconvene to open session at 8:00 p.m.  

HALLOWEEN PARADE AND PARTY

Present:  Karen Regan

On a motion made by Wysocki and seconded by Lindsay, the Board of Selectmen voted to approve the request of Parks and Recreation for a Halloween parade and party on Saturday, October 29 from 3 to 5 p.m.  (Plante – yes, Lindsay – yes, Wysocki – yes)  

The rain date is Sunday, October 30, 2011.  The parade will start at Memorial field on Wattaquadock Hill Road, proceed to Main Street and conclude at the Florence Sawyer School on Mechanic Street for refreshments in the cafeteria.  Main Street will be closed 15 minutes before and after the parade.  The road closure will be advertised in the newspaper, via neighbor notification and on the electronic sign board.  

BATCO

Present:  Ken Troup, BatCo President, Teresa Sauer, BatCo board member, Stephen Egnatz, Architect, and Jonathan Mechlin, Project Manager

Mr. Troup provided the Board of Selectmen with an update on the budget for the renovations of the Houghton Building and requested the release of $205,000 from the Comcast account.  The request for $205,000 includes $120,000 for the renovations of the Houghton building which includes the option to install spray insulation and $85,000 for equipment.

Mr. Troup stated that the majority of the work being done is for BatCo, with the only exception being the removal of a non-bearing wall for the area to be used by the Friends of the Library, and therefore he does not anticipate any concerns with spending Comcast funds on non-related expenses.     

Mr. Lindsay and Mr. Wysocki both attended the last BatCo meeting to review the renovation budget in detail and are both satisfied with the proposed budget and work being done.

The current balance in the Comcast fund is approximately $280,000.  Approximately $58,000 is received on a yearly basis which is roughly double the current rate of operating expenses.    Mr. Plante cautioned BatCo on drawing down the Comcast funds and not having enough to cover the operational costs.  

Mr. Troup stated that it is BatCo’s intention to also take control of Channel 8 so we will have the option of two channels for local programming.

Mr. Lindsay made a motion to release $205,000 from the Comcast fund to BatCo.

Mr. Wysocki raised the question as to whether all the funds should be released at one time or in increments.  Mr. Troup did not have a problem with releasing a portion of the funds at a time assuming the Board of Selectmen approved the entire project.

Mr. Plante recommended that the funds released for the renovation of the Houghton Building and purchase of equipment be capped at $205,000.  Mr. Troup stated that it is their intention to stay within the requested budget of $205,000, but that if they ran into a problem during the renovations, they would like the ability to come back to the Board of Selectmen.  

A motion made by Plante to amend Lindsay’s motion to place a cap on the release of $205,000 from the Comcast fund to BatCo was not seconded.

Mr. Wysocki seconded the motion made by Lindsay to approve the release of $205,000 from the Comcast fund to BatCo.    (Plante – no, Wysocki – yes, Lindsay – yes)

BatCo will provide the Board of Selectmen with an accounting of the funds on a monthly basis.  

TOWN ADMINISTRATOR REPORT

Tri-Town Meeting:  The Board of Selectmen accepted the offer from Superintendent Michael Wood to host a Tri-Town Meeting on Wednesday, October 5, 2011.  

Proposal to restore second Police Sergeant Position: This discussion was deferred to the October 13, 2011 Board of Selectmen’s meeting.  The Board of Selectmen will refer any questions they may have to Mr. Lowe for the discussion at the October 13, 2011 meeting.  

 

Friends For Tomorrow Charity Motorcycle Ride:  Mr. Lowe informed the Board of Selectmen that there will be a charity motorcycle ride on Sunday, October 2 with approximately 25 to 50 riders participating.  The riders will be escorted by the Middlesex Sheriff's Department and will depart from the Maynard Rod and Gun Club at 11:30 a.m. and pass through the Town of Bolton via Golden Run Road.  

Public Safety Building - Oil Leak:  Mr. Lowe reported that the soil and vapor testing from the oil spill at the Public Safety Building came back negative.   Mr. Lowe stated that if the round of testing to be done in October also comes back negative he expects to be able to close out the incident with the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) by December 2, 2011.  Mr. Lowe will provide the Board of Selectmen with the total cost related to this incident along with the costs for the Highway Department incident.

BOARD OF SELECTMEN BUSINESS

Appointment:  On a motion made by Lindsay and seconded by Wysocki, the Board of Selectmen voted to re-appoint James Owen to the Planning Board as an Associate member, term expiration June 30, 2013.  (Plante – yes, Lindsay – yes, Wysocki –yes)

SPECIAL TOWN MEETING

The Board of Selectmen reviewed the proposed articles for the Special Town Meeting.  

The articles included Article 1:  Unpaid bill for Fiscal Year 2011; Article 2:  Senior Tax Rebate Program; Article 3:  Appointment of a five member Conservation Commission; Article 4:  Purchase of the Smith Property for affordable housing and town green; Article 5:  Board of Selectmen – Strong Chief; Article 6:  Amendment to Section 2.5.9 Inclusionary Housing;

And Article 7:  Authorize Town Election.

Mr. Lowe will provide an analysis of costs associated with increasing the Senior Tax Rebate limit from $750 to $1,000.

Mr. Plante had reservations about the proposed article to change the fire chief reporting structure from strong chief to weak chief.  It was Mr. Lindsay’s opinion that the timing was good because of the town's being in the process of hiring a new Fire Chief.  

Mr. Plante recused himself from the discussion related to the Smith Property, turned the meeting over to Mr. Lindsay, and left the meeting at 9:25 p.m.

Mr. Lowe stated that when a town acquires real property it must do so in compliance with the state bid laws.  Therefore, the town is required to publish a declaration in the Central Register.  

Mr. Lowe is also reviewing the appropriateness and legality of asking the owners to accomplish 21E site assessment which would then require the purchase price to be adjusted.

 On a motion made by Lindsay and seconded by Wysocki, the Board of Selectmen voted to authorize Mr. Lowe to publish notice of the possible purchase of the Smith property in the Central Registry and to review for appropriateness and legality of including funding of the 21E site assessment in the article and to ask the owners to complete the survey that Town Counsel states is necessary and adjust the purchase price to include the cost of said survey.   (Lindsay – yes, Wysocki – yes)

On a motion made by Wysocki and seconded by Lindsay, the Board of Selectmen voted to change the Special Town Meeting date from November 14, 2011 to November 7, 2011.  (Lindsay – yes, Wysocki –yes)