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Board of Selectmen Minutes

Meeting date: 
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Board of Selectmen                 Present: Kenneth F. Troup
November 5, 2009                   Stanley Wysocki
                                                Curtis Plante
                                                Don Lowe, Town Administrator
                                                Linda L. Day, Town Secretary

 

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

 

POLE HEARING – WILDER ROAD
Present:  Iris Price and Paul Schneider, representatives of National Grid; Mark Caisse, Tree Warden

 

The Board of Selectmen held a public hearing at 7:00 p.m. on the petition of Verizon New England, Inc. and Massachusetts Electric Company to place three stub poles to support the main line poles on Wilder Road.  Mr. Caisse stated that there is no tree trimming required.

 

On a motion made by Plante and seconded by Wysocki, the Board of Selectmen voted to approve the petition.  (Plante – yes, Troup – yes, Wysocki – yes)

 

CONSERVATION TRUST
Mr. Ferry met with the Board of Selectmen to request approval of a conservation restriction of x acres on Berlin Road.  Mr. Ferry stated that the proposed settlement of a long standing lawsuit is expected to result in Lovers Leap Realty (LLR) owning property at the lower edge of Nancy Ela’s Morgan farm and their interest in using a portion of this land for a leach field for developing a lot off of Berlin Road.   The purpose of the conservation restriction is to protect LLR’s interest in a leach field and to protect existing horse and walking trails, as well as the forested environment. The signing of the conservation restriction is pro forma and there would not be any cost or obligation to the town.   On a motion made by Wysocki and seconded by Troup, the Board of Selectmen voted to approve this restriction. (Wysocki – yes, Troup – yes)  Mr. Plante recused himself from this discussion and approval.

 

ATLANTIC MICROWAVE
The Board of Selectmen reviewed a request from Atlantic Microwave of 58 Main Street for a work permit to operate their business on Veteran’s Day (Wednesday, November 11, 2009).  On a motion made by Plante and seconded by Wysocki, the Board of Selectmen voted to approve the requested work permit.  (Plante – yes, Wysocki– yes, Troup - yes)

 

TOWN ADMINISTRATOR
Capital Planning Committee:  Mr. Lowe reported that the Capital Planning Committee currently has 4 members and will be advertising to fill 2 vacancies.  The following capital expenditure requests for the next five years have been submitted to the Capital Planning Committee.  

 

  • Ambulance –defibrillators and accessories;
  • Council on Aging – a dedicated senior center;
  • DPW – a 1 ton truck and a 6-wheel snow plow sander, and a culvert on East End Road and Sugar Road;
  • Schools – New well for Emerson and Florence Sawyer School;
  • Town Administrator – document management software; and
  • Police Department - Chief Alfano did not submit any capital expenses but noted that if during the budget process the recommendation is that the cruiser be removed from the budget he would then be requesting a cruiser as a capital expenditure.
Mr. Plante stated that past history until the mid-1990s has been that the cruisers were always voted on separately.  Mr. Troup agreed and stated that the decision can still be made to vote on the cruiser separately since it is a separate budget line item; cruisers also could be discussed and voted on separately by the Capital Planning Committee.

 

Minuteman:  Mr. Lowe stated that the proposed renovations to the Minuteman Regional High School is to change the open classroom concept and 1974 physical plant and is not a result of increased growth.  Kileen Burgoyne, Bolton’s Minuteman representative has agreed to meet with the Advisory Committee on November 24, 2009.  

 

Mandatory Ethics Summary & Training:  Mr. Lowe encouraged everyone to complete the on-line ethics training mandated by the State Ethics Commission.
 
Clean Energy Choice Match Grants:  On a motion made by Wysocki and seconded by Plante, the Board of Selectmen voted to approve the Clean Energy Choice grant application requesting the amount of $19,405.06 to fund the installation of the solar voltaic system at Florence Sawyer School.  (Troup – yes, Wysocki – yes, Plante – yes)

 

Finance Team:  A finance team meeting has been scheduled for November 24, 2009 at 10:00 a.m.

 

Budgets:  Budgets packets have been distributed and budgets are due back to the Town Administrator on November 19, 2009.  

 

Election:  On a motion made by Plante and seconded by Wysocki, the Board of Selectmen voted to execute the warrant for the Special State Primary to be held on December 8, 2009.  (Troup – yes, Wysocki – yes, Plante – yes)

 

HOUGHTON REUSE
The Board of Selectmen discussed how to proceed with investigating municipal space needs.  After much discussion the Board agreed that they should look at the various municipal needs as a whole versus just looking at how the Houghton Building should be used after it is vacated by the Police Department.   Mr. Lowe stated that there is also a timing aspect that goes with the planning as well, noting that it is his recommendation to move the financial staff from the Emerson School to one of the meeting rooms on the 1st floor of the Town Hall, which would then create a need for additional meeting space in other buildings.  The Board of Selectmen would like input from the Library Trustees about the availability of meeting room space at the new library.  The Board of Selectmen agreed that the intent is not to spend money now but to do the planning to determine what the needs are.   Mr. Plante expressed his support of the senior center moving to the Houghton Building but was open to other suggestions as well.  As part of the planning for additional meeting space, the televising of meetings would have to be taken into consideration.

 

The Board of Selectmen will invite board members, staff and the public their meeting on December 17, 2009 for a discussion to review the town’s municipal space needs.   

 

Council on Aging interest in Houghton Building:   At their meeting on November 3, 2009, the Council on Aging took a vote and reconfirmed their vote taken in 2008 that they are not interested in exploring the option of using the Houghton building as a senior center.  Mr. Plante stated that the option of using the Houghton Building as a senior center would be in addition to the senior center located at the Bolton Country Manor.   Mr. Wysocki felt it was premature to decide one use over another when the town has potential needs to be explored and expressed his concern with allocating funds for anything during these economic times.  Mr. Troup stated that this is important input and can be discussed further at the municipal space needs meeting to be held on December 17, 2009.

 

SELECTMEN GOALS
The Board of Selectmen reviewed their goals of the past couple of years and made the following revisions for their goals for 2010: 
 
  • Maintain town services/budgets;
  • Improve communication among town employees and town committees;
  • Establish a schedule for EMS and ambulance;
  • Form task group/building committee to research municipal space utilization;
  • Streamline filing system and record storage;
  • Decrease amount of snow removal complaints;
  • Establish computer, email and internet use policy, and
  • Establish town cellular phone policy.
Meet was adjourned at 8:50 p.m.

 

Respectfully submitted by Linda L. Day