Board of Selectmen Minutes
Board of Selectmen
March 20, 2008
Present:
Panny Gerken
Curt Plante
Kenneth F. Troup
Linda Day, Town Secretary
The Board of Selectmen met at the Town Hall at 7:00 p.m.
Mr. Lindsay, Advisory Committee chairman was present.
NATURAL HAZARD MITIGATION PLAN
Present: Christine Wallace and Martin Pillsbury of Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC)
Ms. Wallace and Mr. Pillsbury met with the Board of Selectmen to discuss the
Metro Boston North/West Regional Multi-Hazard Mitigation Plan. The plan is part of the Federal Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000 and is designed to help communities be more proactive about looking at risks they may have to natural hazards and caring for them before disasters strike. There are three grant programs available to the communities but a plan must be in place to be eligible for the grants. FEMA is paying 75% of the cost for MAPC to help communities develop a plan that will address mitigation of natural hazards, including flood hazards, winter storms hazards, wind hazards, fire and geologic hazards. Ms. Wallace stated that Bolton’s draft plan was developed by meeting with Bolton representatives from the Police (Chief Alfano), Fire (John Stephenson), Emergency Management (Don Baum), Public Works (Harold Brown), Conservation Commission (Carol Gumbart), Planning Board (Nat Tipton) and Board of Health (Andrea Gilbert).
Potential future mitigation measures of high priority for Bolton were upgrades to the fire, police and emergency operations facilities. The Board of Selectmen stated that town meeting had recently approved the construction of a public safety center. Upgraded public shelter facilities with generators, communications repeater for backup, equipment for fire department to better respond to brush fires (i.e. brush trucks) and tree maintenance program funding are also potential future mitigation measures. Ms. Wallace will forward the Bolton’s draft plan to the Board of Selectmen for their review and comments. Once the plan has been reviewed by FEMA and MEMA the Board of Selectmen must vote to adopt the plan. The timeframe for grant approval is a 6-9 month range. One of the three grants is available on a regular annual basis and the other two grants are only available after disasters have been declared. Reimbursement is for pre-disaster mitigation and not for damages sustained as a result of disaster. Mr. Pillsbury stated that a project is not reimbursable if it has already been funded by the town. If you are in the study phase of a project you can be reimbursed if approved for the grant.
BOARD OF ASSESSORS UPDATE ON MARKET CONIDTIONS AND NEW GROWTH
Present: Jeff Nichols and David Manzella
The Assessors provided data that showed the majority of permits issued were for additions and small projects with some new construction as a result of the Pondside development. Mr. Manzella stated he expected new construction for single family homes at the Northwoods development. Century Mill Road Estates is not coming through with new construction as anticipated. Based on this information the Assessors estimated new growth at $216,097 and recommended $200,000 for the FY09 budget. The Board of Assessors voted the 2009 overlay reserve at $175,000.
Ms. Bensetler, resident of Main Street asked if market conditions affect the appraised values of our homes. Mr. Nichols stated that our valuations don’t quite affect market value versus present market value as we are two years behind on the values. It is important to note that your taxes will not necessarily come down because taxes are a reflection of spending as opposed to value. The Assessors are in the middle of a three year revaluation this year.
AMBULANCE
Present: Margy Diaz, Ambulance Director, John Mentzer member of the Fire Department and David Lindsay, Advisory Committee Chairman
Ms. Diaz proposed additions to the FY09 ambulance budget that included training compensation for emts at $15 per training class. Ms. Diaz feels the compensation for training would be an incentive for emt’s to train together as a team. She also recommended stipends for the Director ($4,000), two Assistant Directors ($1,000 each) the Scheduling Officer ($500) and the Training Officer ($500) for a total of $7,000. The total cost for training compensation and the stipend for officers would be a $19,390 increase. Mr. Plante abstained from the discussion because of his involvement with the Fire Department. Mr. Troup stated that originally he had concerns with paying for training but understands the reasoning and understands that it needs to apply to both Fire and Ambulance Departments. The EMT’s do have to make a certain amount of calls. Some of the training is mandated and counts towards recertification and some of it is just personnel meetings to work on policies and procedures. In response to Mr. Plante’s question about how to regulate people going to the training and going over budget, Ms. Diaz stated that the training stipend is based on 12 EMT’s attending two training classes per month at $15 per training class. Mr. Lindsay also stated that the Advisory Committee was in favor of trained personnel and would be willing to approve a transfer if necessary. Ms. Diaz also confirmed it is her understanding that the recertification for first responders regardless of the number of hours is $15 per training versus $15 per hour. This will be evaluated for FY10 budget. On a motion made by Troup and seconded by Gerken, the Board of Selectmen voted to approve the proposed ambulance and fire departments budgets to include the stipends and training. (Gerken – yes, Plante – abstained, Troup – approved)
ATM WARRANT REVIEW
Present: Advisory Committee members David Lindsay, Randy Dinjian and Graham Slieker
Articles:
Article 1: Unpaid Bills for Fiscal Year 2007 – On a motion made by Troup and seconded by Plante, the Board of Selectmen voted to approve this article. (Gerken – yes, Plante – yes, Troup – yes)
Article 2: Accept Annual Reports - On a motion made by Troup and seconded by Plante, the Board of Selectmen voted to approve this article. (Gerken – yes, Plante – yes, Troup – yes)
Article 3: Fiscal Year 2008 Budget Transfers – Deferred to next meeting.
Article 4: Fiscal Year 2009 Operating Budget – Deferred to next meeting.
Article 5: Acceptance of Massachusetts General Law, Chapter 32B, Section 3 - On a motion made by Troup and seconded by Plante, the Board of Selectmen voted to approve this article. (Gerken – yes, Plante – yes, Troup – yes)
Article 6: Tax title Transfer - On a motion made by Troup and seconded by Plante, the Board of Selectmen voted to approve this article. (Gerken – yes, Plante – yes, Troup – yes)
Article 7: Amend the Personnel Bylaw – Deferred to next meeting. It was noted a new summary had been written.
Article 8: Tax Collector to Become an Appointed Position and Article 9: Town Clerk to become an Appointed Position – Deferred to next meeting.
Article 10: Amendment to the Administrative Bylaws, Section 1.9.1 Dog and Kennel Bylaw - On a motion made by Troup and seconded by Plante, the Board of Selectmen voted to approve this article. (Gerken – yes, Plante – yes, Troup – yes)
Article 11: Amendment to the Zoning Bylaws, Section 2.5.7 Wireless Communication Bylaw - On a motion made by Troup and seconded by Plante, the Board of Selectmen voted to approve this article. (Gerken – yes, Plante – yes, Troup – yes)
Article 12: Acceptance of Oak Trail – Hearing will be held on April 17, 2008. Recommendation to be made on Town Meeting floor.
Article 13: Town Easement for Installation of Dry Hydrant at 626 Main Street - On a motion made by Troup and seconded by Plante, the Board of Selectmen voted to approve this article. (Gerken – yes, Plante – yes, Troup – yes)
Article 14: Town Easement for Drainage at 155 Nourse Road - On a motion made by Troup and seconded by Plante, the Board of Selectmen voted to approve this article. (Gerken – yes, Plante – yes, Troup – yes)
Article 15: Transfer of Borrowed Funds to Construct a Sewer Force Main – Deferred to next meeting.
Article 16: Purchase of Two Used 6 Wheeler Minimum 35,000 GVW Trucks for the Department of Public Works – Mr. Lindsay stated that the Advisory Committee was comfortable with spending the funds for 2 used trucks but it needs to be bonded and excluded. Mr. Slieker questioned if an analysis on ownership versus lease has been done on the trucks. Mr. Troup stated he was not aware of a recent analysis but that over the years leasing has not been the best option. Mr. Slieker will speak with Mr. Brown regarding this matter. On a motion made by Plante and seconded by Troup, the Board of Selectmen voted to approve this article. (Gerken – yes, Plante – yes, Troup – yes)
Article 17: Purchase of Skid-Steer Loader – Mr. Lindsay stated that the Advisory Committee was not too enthusiastic about this article but they had not voted at this time. On a motion made by Plante and seconded by Gerken, the Board of Selectmen voted to disapprove this article. (Gerken – yes, Plante – yes, Troup – yes) Mr. Brown will be asked if he would like to pull this article based on the Board of Selectmen’s recommendation or if he would like to meet with the Board of Selectmen to defend the article being left in the warrant.
Article 18: Continuation of Cleanup of Gasoline Contamination - On a motion made by Troup and seconded by Plante, the Board of Selectmen voted to approve this article. (Gerken – yes, Plante – yes, Troup – yes)
Article 19: Intersection of Golden Run Road and Quail Run Road Engineering Study -
On a motion made by Troup and seconded by Plante, the Board of Selectmen voted to approve this article. (Gerken – no, Plante – yes, Troup – yes)
Article 20: Purchase and Installation of a Vehicle Exhaust Emissions System at Fire Station - On a motion made by Troup and seconded by Plante, the Board of Selectmen voted to approve this article. (Gerken – yes, Plante – yes, Troup – yes)
Article 21: Funding for July 4th Celebration - On a motion made by Troup and seconded by Plante, the Board of Selectmen voted to approve this article. (Gerken – yes, Plante – yes, Troup – yes)
Article 22: Acquire Bonazzoli Land - On a motion made by Gerken and seconded by Plante, the Board of Selectmen voted to disapprove this article. (Gerken – yes, Plante – yes, Troup – yes)
Budget:
Mr. Lindsay stated that when the budget process started it looked like we would be using $126,000 of free cash which was too much and would not leave enough for next year. Since then the Advisory Committee was able to reduce the town budget by approximately $100,000 and the NRSD reduction of approximately $100,000 it reduced the total budget to approximately $200,000. The budget does include the cost of living adjustment, the impact of the DPW contract and approximately $20,000 in the Town Administrator’s wage line item for a benefited 20 hour position for the administrative assistant at Grade 6 of the salary schedule.
Mr. Plante stated that although the Board of Selectmen approved the recommendations of the study recently completed by a consultant who included the administrative assistant position it was his opinion that the workload will not be increasing over the next fiscal year and therefore had reservations about the administrative assistant position. Mr. Lindsay noted that the position has been cut back quite a bit as it was originally recommended as a full time position at a grade 8 and in retrospect the workload was too high in the last couple of years. A recommendation was made to schedule a special meeting to discuss this position or schedule time for discussion with Ms. Ross present. The Board of Selectmen will schedule this meeting for Thursday, March 27 at 7:00 p.m.
POLICE DEPARTMENT BUDGET
Mr. Lindsay stated that the biggest change was the ambulance and police budgets. He stated that Chief Alfano proposed adding an extra officer but he is offsetting it with a reduced overtime budget.
Mr. Plante raised some questions regarding Chief Alfano’s budget related to spending his overtime budget as of January and the possibility of having to use communications funds to cover the rest of FY08. Mr. Plante stated that the idea behind reserve officers was to save the town money and now Chief Alfano is saying he can not fill the shifts with reserve offices and he needs a full time officer. Chief Alfano will be invited to the meeting of March 27, 2008 to discuss this further.
CAPITAL PLANNING COMMITTEE
The Chairman of the Capital Planning Committee will be asked to send the Board of selectmen a list of their recommendations.
SCHOOL COMMITTEE BUDGET
Mr. Lindsay reported that the $120,000 was taken out of the school budget for a lease for administrative space. Fundraising is being done for the replacement of the turf field at the Nashoba Regional High School.
BOND ISSUES
Mr. Lindsay stated that if more than $425,000 is spent on the public safety center we will have to issue some BANs or State House notes. If there is any interest payable in FY09 that will raise the debt service by that much but it will not affect free cash or the operating budget.
FORCE MAIN
Mr. Troup reported that an issue has arisen regarding the preferred option for the force main to run along Memorial field requires an act of of the legislature to allow work on parkland. An article to allow the town to seek special legislation under Article 97 is required. An article will be inserted after Article 15 requesting this approval.
COPY MACHINE FOR TOWN HALL OFFICES
Ms. Day noted that the funds for a new copy machine were not included in the budget. She will try to confirm numbers related to a purchase versus lease of a copy machine. Ms. Day is not sure our present copy machine will last through another fiscal year. It will be up to the Board of Selectmen and Advisory Committee as to whether this will be in the budget or an article.
Meeting adjourned.
Minutes respectfully submitted, Linda L. Day