Board of Selectmen Minutes

Present:        

Panny Gerken

Curt Plante

Kenneth F. Troup

Jodi Ross, Town Administrator

Linda Day, Town Secretary       

        

The Board of Selectmen met at the Town Hall at 7:00 p.m.

Present:  Conservation Commission Administrator Carol Gumbart, Town Clerk Pam Powell, Assistant Town Clerk Susan Miles, Advisory Committee members Stan Wysocki and David Lindsay, Assistant Superintendent George King (for 1^st half of meeting), Superintendent Michael Wood (for 2^nd half of meeting), Capital Planning Committee members Bob Minardi, Kerry Hoffman, Anita Scheipers, and Paul Scheipers

A discussion took place regarding space needs and options for solving the problem.

Town Hall employees, new and present

Financial offices (presently located at Emerson)

Building Inspector (presently located at Emerson)

Boards & Committees (for meetings)

Seniors

Youth and teenagers

BatCo

Friends of Library

Students (K-8) (as student population increases)

Town Hall

Houghton Building (after police leave)

Emerson/Florence Sawyer School/Nashoba Regional High School

Meeting Rooms at Library & Public Safety (when project completed 2009+)

Florence Sawyer School (auditorium, cafeteria, library, rooms)

Emerson (rooms)

Nashoba Regional High School

Fire Station training room

Person’s Park

Carol Gumbart, Conservation Administrator outlined the discussion of the meeting with staff from the Town Hall, and Treasurer and Accountant’s office regarding space needs and options for the town offices.  (Planning, Conservation, Health and Permitting, Building & Asst. Building, Town Secretary, Town Administrator, Asst. Town Admin, Assessor, Asst. Assessor, Town Clerk, Asst. Town Clerk, Tax Collector, Town Treasurer, Asst. Treasurer & Collector, and Town Accountant.)

The buildings discussed included Town Hall, Houghton Building and Emerson School (1922 and 1952).  

Town Hall considerations and issues included the office space and layout, handicap accessibility, parking, storage space, lack of meeting rooms, privacy and security.  

Digitizing and consolidating files could create some additional space.  The idea of storing files offset is also an option to free up space.  Lack of meeting rooms is an issue.  Tuesday and Thursday evenings are already very busy with night meetings and the Town Planner’s office is often needed for meetings.  The need for a small meeting room for private discussions by employees during the day was also suggested.    Options were discussed to take some space from the big meeting room, space from the front hall and/or space from the closets in the kitchen area to make additional office space.   Wall petitions could be used to divide the large meeting room into office space leaving some space for a meeting room.   

Houghton building considerations and issues included the use of the 2^nd floor, handicap accessibility to the 2^nd floor, parking, accessibility to meeting rooms and cost of renovations.  There was a desire to have the meeting space near the town offices instead of in another building.

Emerson School considerations and issues included parking and traffic.  There is only one way in and out of Mechanic Street to get to Emerson.  There was a problem with being delayed because of the school buses.  Parking is limited and many times not available at all during the day.  The possibility of additional parking where the relocatable is would be helpful.  Access to the offices versus the school would need to be addressed for security reasons.

All of the options being considered would require funds to relocate, renovate and create offices downstairs.

The employees first thought was to come up with a layout for the town hall that would provide for space for the Health and Permitting Assistant and the assistant position for the Town Administrator.  Another consideration was the location of each office to provide for a better flow of availability to improve upon customer service. Several sketches of various layouts of the town hall were available for review.   Use of the Houghton Building was an interim solution for the land use and financial offices.   The long term solution was to get all the offices together in one building.    

Ms. Ross stated the idea of an addition on the back of the town hall for meeting rooms was a solution that was brought up several years ago.  This would allow for the present meeting space on the 1^st floor to be used for office space.  

Mr. Plante proposed dividing the town offices up into 5 categories as follows:

Finance – Advisory, Assessors, Tax Collector, Town Administrator, Town Secretary, Town Treasurer, Assistant Town Treasurer and Town Accountant.  

Public Safety – Police, Fire, Ambulance, Communications, Animal Control

Planning – Town Planner, Board of Health, Conservation Commission, building Inspector, Plumbing & Gas Inspector, Electrical Inspector, Affordable Housing and the Historical Commission

DPW – Cemetery, Transfer Station, Tree Warden and Parks/Recreation

Others – Council on Aging, Nursing, Veterans Services, BatCo and Youth Services

Mr. Plante stated that in the 1990s the School Building Assistant Bureau would not fund renovations to Emerson because the 1922 and 1952 didn’t meet the criteria.  Therefore, it was his opinion that we could use the school anyway we would like.   

 

He recommended that the Town Hall be used for the Planning Department.  He recommended an article be placed on the town meeting warrant for a chair lift for the 2^nd floor to meet ADA requirements.  The office space would not interfere with the meeting room space.

Once the Police Department vacates the Houghton Building it was his recommendation that the space be used by the DPW offices and senior center.  An elevator in the Houghton Building would solve any handicap accessibility issues for utilizing the 2^nd floor.  The Houghton Building would also be an appropriate space for town records.

Mr. Plante stated that there is a lot of potential use at the Emerson School when it is vacated by the District’s administrative offices.  He proposed that BatCo make use of the basement level of the 1952,  a vault be put in the basement of the 1922 section adjacent to the elevator, and the middle floor of the 1952 section be renovated to create walk up windows to accommodate the finance department.    The Pre-K, 3 & 4^th grades in the 1972 section or the occupational therapy rooms 1952 section would not be disturbed.    Superintendent Wood anticipated using the 1952 for two additional classrooms for FY09 and possibly a third classroom the following year.   He was willing to give up the 1922 section but wanted to be able to keep the science lab/room in this section.  

Mr. & Mrs. Scheipers both suggested that an inventory is taken to determine the square footage of the existing buildings and the square footage needed for the office space.  It was agreed that all alternatives and costs associated with the alternatives be examined carefully.   Both the town and Supt. Wood will contact Kaffee Kang to get previous plans she prepared for the Town and Emerson School.  

TOWN ADMINISTRATOR REPORT

Force Main:  Ms. Ross reported that the RFQ for the force main will be available Monday, February 4, 2008 and due back on Thursday, February 21, 2008.  Mr. Plante has recommended that soil borings be done every 100 feet to see if there is any ledge.  This is an additional cost of approximately $1,300 per day and will take 3-4 days.  The board approved of this recommendation.  A site walk regarding the force main is scheduled for February 13, 2008.

Ambulance Bid:  Ms. Ross reported that two ambulance proposals were received in response to the Invitation to Bid for the 2008 ambulance.  

Gas Spill clean up project:  The funds being requested for the cleanup of the gasoline contamination on town and private land which resulted from the leaking underground gasoline storage tank has been reduced from $60,000 to $45,000.   

Proposed septic system upgrade:  Mr. Plante stated that the proposed septic system upgrade for the DPW should be reviewed in relation to any future expansion of the DPW facility.  Mr. Lindsay questioned whether it would be more sensible for the DPW to be hooked into the NRHS treatment plant rather than upgrading the system.  This can be discussed with Mr. Brown at his FY09 budget meeting with Advisory Committee and Board of Selectmen.  Mr. Brown will also be asked about his space needs in the next five year.

 

Meetings:  The Board of Selectmen’s meeting for Thursday, February 7, 2008 has been cancelled.  The Board of Selectmen’s meeting scheduled for Thursday, March 6, 2008 will be rescheduled for March 13, 2008.

On a motion made by Plante and seconded by Troup, the Board of Selectmen adjourned at 9:00 p.m.

Respectfully submitted, Linda L. Day