Board of Selectmen Minutes

Board of Selectmen                 Present: David Lindsay

November 1, 2012                   Stanley Wysocki                                                                                 

                                                Lawrence Delaney

                                                Don Lowe, Town Administrator

                                                Linda L. Day, Town Secretary

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

MINUTES

On a motion made by Wysocki and seconded by Delaney, the Board of Selectmen voted to approve the minutes of October 2 and October 4, 2012.  (Lindsay – yes, Delaney –yes, Wysocki –yes)

PROPERTY TAX CLASSIFICATION

Present:    Jeff Nichols and Susan Mason, Board of Assessors, and David Manzello, Principal Assessor

Mr. Manzello presented the Selectmen an analysis of how a split tax rate could potentially affect the residential tax rate. It was noted that a split rate would result in a large increase for commercial and industrial taxpayers (a group that includes farmers) while providing very small savings for residential taxpayers. On a motion made by Wysocki and seconded by Delaney, the Board of Selectmen voted to approve a single tax rate in Bolton for the upcoming fiscal year.  (Lindsay – yes, Wysocki – yes, Delaney – yes)

PUBLIC SAFETY CENTER CONSTRUCTION COMMITTEE

Present:  Susan Mason, Chairman of the Public Safety Center Construction Committee

Ms. Mason stated that the Public Safety Center Construction Committee has addressed the final invoice for the construction of the new public safety center and therefore recommended that the Committee be dissolved.  Out of a budget of approximately $6 million, the amount of $3,903.85 was returned to the general fund.

On a motion made by Delaney and seconded by Wysocki, the Board of Selectmen voted to dissolve the Public Safety Center Construction Committee.  The Committee was thanked for their excellent work.  (Lindsay – yes, Delaney –yes, Wysocki –yes)

PARAGON, 41 MAIN STREET – SIGN REQUEST

Mr. David Yered, President, Asset Management and Ms. Tracey Kohout, Human Resources Manager met with the Board of Selectmen to request approval for the following temporary and permanent signs and one banner on the Paragon property located at 41 Main Street.

On a motion made by Delaney and seconded by Wysocki, the Board of Selectmen voted to approve the request for two temporary “help wanted” signs and one “help wanted” banner, at the entrance of 41 Main Street, through January 31, 2013.  (Lindsay – yes, Wysocki – yes, Delaney – yes)   The two signs will be approximately 2 feet X 3 feet and the banner will be approximately 7 feet X 3 feet.  

On a motion made by Wysocki and seconded by Delaney, the Board of Selectmen voted to approve the request to replace the current Future Electronics sign at the entrance of the property with a Paragon sign and that the new sign include the 41 Main Street address.  (Lindsay – yes, Wysocki – yes, Delaney – yes)  The sign will be approximately 83 inches X 48 inches and will be lit with floodlights.  The sign will be designed to include space for Paragon’s three companies and tenants.  

On a motion made by Lindsay and seconded by Wysocki, the Board of Selectmen voted to approve the request for three permanent signs to be placed over the entrance of the Paragon building to designate the three Paragon Companies – PARAGON, PARAGON R3 and ntsdirect.  (Lindsay – yes, Wysocki – yes, Delaney – yes)  These signs are intended to welcome visitors and customers and are not visible from Rt. 117.   

SIGN REQUESTS

According to Section 250-18 the zoning bylaws (formerly Section 2.4.2 ), most signs in the Town of Bolton require written permission of the Board of Selectmen.  

The following sign requests are a result of the building inspector enforcing the bylaw and requesting that the Business Owner seek approval from the Board of Selectmen for the signs located on their property.  

Bolton Corners, 563 Main Street:  Mr. Bill David, Property Owner, met with the Board of Selectmen to request approval for two permanent signs and one temporary sign.  

On a motion made by Lindsay and seconded by Wysocki, the Board of Selectmen voted to approve the two permanent signs - “Therapeutic Massage of Bolton”, 36 inches X 28 inches, and “Business Office Suites Available”, 24 inches X 28 inches – to be placed on side arms of the existing sign at the entrance of 563 Main Street.  (Lindsay – yes, Wysocki – yes, Delaney – yes)  

Mr. David also requested permission to post a temporary sign, 3 feet X 5 feet, on the premises at 563 Main Street for a company that did renovations on his building.  Mr. David explained that in order to obtain a discounted price he made a previous commitment to the owner of Lifetyme Exteriors to post a temporary sign on his premises for a period of time after the completion of the renovations.  

Mr. Delaney expressed concern with setting a precedent and suggested that the Board of Selectmen develop some regulations to address situations such as this.

On a motion made by Lindsay and seconded by Wysocki, the Board of Selectmen voted to approve the temporary sign “Lifetyme Exteriors”, to be placed at the entrance of 563 Main Street, through December 31, 2012.  (Lindsay – yes, Wysocki – yes, Delaney – yes)  

B&F Services, 1108 Main Street:  Mr. Steven Lamontagne, Business Owner, met with the Board of Selectmen to request approval for two permanent signs.  One sign is 2 feet X 32 inches and displays “lawnmower blade and chain saw sharpening” and the second sign is 2.7 feet X 3 feet and will be used to advertise various specials or promotions.  There is a third larger sign on the premises that was previously approved by the Board of Selectmen.

On a motion made by Wysocki and seconded by Delaney, the Board of Selectmen voted to approve two permanent signs to be placed on his property at 1108 Main Street.  (Lindsay – yes, Wysocki – yes, Delaney – yes)

Country Dogs DayCare, 626 Main Street:  Ms. Sifleet, Business Owner, meet with the Board of Selectmen to request permission for an additional permanent sign.  Ms. Sifleet stated that she was led to believe by the landlord that they had approval for the hanging sign.  Ms. Sifleet stated that the sign is important to their business because the building looks empty and noted that their business has already dropped by 20% since the sign was taken down.  

Although the Selectmen did not find the sign to be attractive they understand the importance of the sign and suggested as a longer term solution to improve the main sign located at the roadside in front of 626 Main Street.

On a motion made by Wysocki and seconded by Delaney, the Board of Selectmen voted to approve the request to re-hang the sign on the side arm of the existing sign at the entrance of 626 Main Street.  (Lindsay – yes, Wysocki – yes, Delaney – yes).  

BOLTON PROPERTY MANAGEMENT, 579 MAIN STREET

Present:  Marc Stec, Manager, Steve Dillon, Operations Manager and Andrew Adams General Contractor and John Mentzer, Fire Chief

The Board of Selectmen reviewed the application of Bolton Property Management for a license to store three 1,000 gallon propane tanks underground to fuel the HVAC system of the renovated barn at 579 Main Street.  

Mr. Mentzer conducted a site visit of the property and recommended that each of the three tanks be placed on a cement pad with tie down straps.  

On a motion made by Wysocki and seconded by Delaney, the Board of Selectmen voted to approve the request with the understanding that the tanks will be placed on a cement pad with tie down straps as recommended by Mr. Mentzer. (Delaney – yes, Lindsay – yes, Wysocki – yes)

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE

Helene Demmer, Vice Chairman and Bruce Slater, member of the Economic Development Committee met with the Board of Selectmen to discuss the charge of the Economic Development Committee (EDC).  

Ms. Demmer stated that the failure of the Village Overlay District article at the May town meeting was disheartening.   Chairman Chris Nelson resigned and the Committee voted to appoint Bharat Nair Chairman, Helene Demmer, Vice Chairman and Erik Neyland, Secretary.   

The EDC met to examine and discuss their goals and missions for the coming year.  They decided to reach out to the boards, businesses and interest groups to get their feedback on what they thought about the EDC, what they could do differently and what types of economic development was wanted in Bolton.  

Mr. Lindsay suggested that the EDC participate on the Village Overlay Subcommittee working group.  Mr. Wysocki recommended that the Board of Selectmen attend the next EDC meeting to be held in December.

FY14 BUDGET PROCESS

Advisory Committee Chairman Randy Dinjian and members Bob Czekanski, Mike Zelenkov and Brad Cote met with the Board of Selectmen to discuss the FY14 budget process and the use of free cash and the overlay account.   

Town Administrator Don Lowe and Advisory Committee Chairman Randy Dinjian will meet with the Capital Planning Committee to reinforce their role which is valuable in the budget process.  The recommendation was made to include a report of the Capital Planning Committee in the Annual Town Meeting warrant.

Mr. Lindsay stood by his comment made at the Special Town Meeting about the Town's government hoarding cash.  He believed that the science labs could have been renovated without the tax increase that would have been the result of a debt exclusion requirement.

Mr. Wysocki, Mr. Delaney, Mr. Dinjian and Mr. Czekanski all disagreed with Mr. Lindsay on both points.  The Town’s various cash accounts contain far less than they did several years ago and the inclusion of the science lab project without a debt exclusion would potentially place the Town in a precarious financial situation in the coming years.

TOWN ADMINISTRATOR REPORT

Sipowicz Court Hearing:  Mr. Lowe reported that the Clerk Magistrate has determined that the appeal filed by Mr. Sipowicz with the Clinton Court was not submitted in a timely manner and has therefore been dismissed.  On a motion made by Delaney and seconded by Wysocki, the Board of Selectmen voted to execute a letter to be sent to the Sipowicz family reinforcing the Board of Selectmen’s order of June 6 and 27, 2012.  (Lindsay – yes, Wysocki – yes, Delaney – yes).  The Board of Selectmen will request a detailed plan containing the means and methods by which they will comply with the order by November 15, 2012 and the Board will require that the work be completed by December 19, 2012 for inspection by the Building Inspector Mike Sauvageau and Animal Control Officer Susan Latham.  

BOARD OF SELECTMEN BUSINESS

Hurricane Sandy:  Mr. Lowe reported that Tom Moses, Emergency Management Co-Director and John Mentzer, Fire Chief did an excellent job running the Emergency Operation Center (EOC) which opened on Monday, October 29, 2012 at 7:00 a.m. and closed at 10:00 p.m.  National Grid provided the town with a liaison.  The Emergency Management Departments will be scheduled to meet with the Selectmen on November 29, 2012 for a recap of Hurricane Sandy.

Minuteman – OPM Hiring Committee:  Mr. Lowe reported that the Minuteman Selection Sub-Committee interviewed four firms in response to the request for services of a qualified Owner’s Project Manager (OPM) for the renovations of Minuteman.   The Sub-Committee’s recommendation will be given to the Building Committee and then forwarded to the Massachusetts School Building Authority School Committee (MSBA) for final approval.  

Municipal Hearing Officer:  Building Inspector Mike Sauvageau and Fire Chief John Mentzer supported the recommendation that Mr. Lowe, Town Administrator be appointed the Code Enforcement Hearing Officer for the Town of Bolton.  On a motion made by Wysocki and seconded by Delaney, the Board of Selectmen voted to appoint Mr. Lowe as Code Enforcement Hearing Officer for the Town of Bolton pursuant to Massachusetts General Laws, Chapter 148A, Section 2c.  The Code Enforcement Hearing Officer shall conduct informal hearings to handle appeals from all enforcement orders, including those from the fire, building and wiring inspectors.  Any person aggrieved by the decision of the Code Enforcement Hearing Officer may appeal to the Worcester County Housing Court.  (Lindsay – yes, Wysocki – yes, Delaney – yes)  There is a $2,500 stipend for this position.  

Sprint Spectrum, 570 Main Street:  Sprint Spectrum submitted an Eligible Facilities request to modify the wireless tower located at 570 Main Street.  The modification does not change the physical dimension of the facility.  According to Section 6409 of the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012, enacted on February 22, 2012, the Town is required to grant the modification if it does not substantially change the physical dimensions of such facility or base station.  Building Inspector Mike Sauvageau reviewed the application and confirmed that the modification did not change the dimensions of the tower.  On a motion made by Delaney and seconded by Wysocki, the Board of Selectmen voted not to hold a site plan review hearing for Sprint to modify its existing wireless facility, as the proposed modifications do not substantially change the dimensions of the tower.  The selectmen stated that this did not set a precedent and that they will review all requests for facility modifications submitted by wireless companies.  (Lindsay – yes, Wysocki – yes, Delaney – yes)

Lease between the Town of Bolton and the Conservation Trust:  The Board of Selectmen executed the lease between the Town of Bolton and The Conservation Trust that was approved by the Board at their meeting on September 20, 2012.  

Dispatch Memorandum of Agreement:  On a motion made by Delaney and seconded by Wysocki, the Board of Selectmen voted to ratify the Memorandum of Agreement to be incorporated into the Dispatchers Union Local 286A contract.  ((Lindsay – yes, Wysocki – yes, Delaney – yes)

Syncarpha Agreement:  On a motion made by Wysocki and seconded by Delaney, the Board of Selectmen voted to authorize Mr. Lindsay, Chairman of the Board of Selectmen to execute the property tax agreement between Syncarpha Solar, LLC and the town of Bolton.  (Lindsay – yes, Wysocki – yes, Delaney – yes)

Update on Emergency Management:  The Board of Selectmen decided to hold off on the appointment of an Emergency Management Co-Director to replace Andy Bagdonas who resigned.  The Selectmen will revisit this at their next meeting on November 29, 2012.

On a motion made by Wysocki and seconded by Delaney, the Board of Selectmen voted to adjourn at 9:45 p.m.  (Lindsay – yes, Wysocki – yes, Delaney – yes)

Respectfully submitted by Linda L. Day