Board of Selectmen Minutes

Board of Selectmen                              Present:      Mark Sprague

November 5, 2015                                                   Stanley Wysocki

Town Hall                                                                 Thomas J. Frain

Don Lowe, Town Administrator

                                                                                 Linda L. Day, Town Secretary

Chairman Sprague called the Board of Selectmen’s meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.

NEWLY ELECTED SELECTMAN

The Board of Selectmen welcomed newly elected board member Thomas J. Frain.

POLE HEARING

Present:  Mark Caisse, Tree Warden, and Iris Price, Representative of National Grid

The Board of Selectmen held a public hearing at 7:00 p.m. on the petition of Massachusetts Electric Company (NGRID) to place one (1) new solely owned pole #69-50 between existing poles P69 and P70 on the south side of Wattaquadock Hill Road.  The pole will be approximately 442 feet southwest of the intersection of Sunset Ridge Lane and Wattaquadock Hill Road.  Ms. Price explained that the proposed single pole will serve as a mid-span pole to support the long span between Pole #69 and Pole #70.  The recommendation of resident Craig Lauer to move Pole #69 and #70 close to each other was not possible because Pole #69 is located on a corner and would create the same problem.  

The Board of Selectmen also took the opportunity to speak with Ms. Price regarding the double pole issue in Bolton.  Ms. Price indicated that in order to get rid of all double poles, the project to set new poles must be completed.  

Mr. Lowe will continue discussions with National Grid and will contact Verizon to address the double pole issue.

On a motion made by Wysocki and seconded by Frain, the Board of Selectmen voted to approve the petition of Massachusetts Electric Company (NGRID) to place one (1) new solely owned (SO) pole on Wattaquadock Hill Road.  (Sprague – yes, Wysocki – yes, Frain – yes)

SIGN REQUEST – THE QUILTED CROW, 626 MAIN STREET

Selectman Frain recused himself from this discussion due to a possible conflict and left the meeting room during this discussion.

Mr. Richard Loring requested approval from the Board of Selectmen to place a sign on the building located at 626 Main Street for their business that will open on December 1, 2015.  The sign will be approximately 9’11” by 2’2” and read “The Quilted Crow”.  The sign has been approved by property owner Frank Patterson and Building Inspector Mike Sauvageau pending approval from the Board of Selectmen.  On a motion made Wysocki and seconded by Sprague, the Board of Selectmen voted to approve the sign.  (Sprague – yes, Wysocki –yes)

SIGN REQUEST – HOUGHTON BUILDING, 697 MAIN STREET

This item was removed from the agenda because the applicant decided to alter the request and will use the bulletin board at the Houghton building to advertise the book sale on November 14and 15 and will place a sandwich board type sign in front of the Houghton building the days of the book sale.

POLICE CHIEF – POLICE DEPARTMENT

Process for the Appointment of new Police Chief:Mr. Sprague reported that as opposed to some previous police chief searches the town has a very good candidate within the department which was not the case in the past necessitating the above-mentioned police chief searches.  The feedback received by Mr. Lowe after speaking with a consultant was that the pool of people interested in being a chief in a town the size of Bolton is much smaller than it has been in the past and the consultant recommended going through an assessing process with the qualified person.   The cost of the search could range anywhere from a $1,000 to $20,000 depending on the approach taken.  

Mr. Wysocki was in favor of hiring a consultant to conduct an evaluation of Lieutenant Nelson and based on the consultant’s recommendation determine if an additional search is needed.  Mr. Lowe suggested that a meeting be scheduled for the consultant to meet with the Board of Selectmen to get his recommendations before a decision is made as to how to proceed.

 

As a newly elected member of the board, Mr. Frain has heard over and over again that residents of Bolton would like the board to be transparent.  He stated that the police chief position is one of the highest paid senior positions in town and the police department represents 13 percent of non-school spending in town and requires an open and transparent process.  Therefore, Mr. Frain stated that with no disrespect to Lt. Nelson he would like to conduct a search in the same manner in which it was done it 2005 and minimize the cost of the search.  

Residents present at the meeting requested a wider search be conducted and that they be given the opportunity to provide input and concerns as part of the search process.

When asked about the procedure for the residents to communicate with the Board of Selectmen the Selectmen stated that citizens are always welcome to attend a Selectmen’s meeting, and can call or email the Board of Selectmen or the Town Administrator at any time to discuss an issue.  Acting Police Chief Nelson stated that the Police Department takes calls 24/7 and if residents have a concern about anything they should contact the department and he will be glad to address any concerns immediately but noted if he is not made aware of a concern it can’t be addressed.  

On a motion made by Wysocki and seconded by Frain, the Board of Selectmen authorized Mr. Lowe to contact the consultant to schedule a meeting with the Board of Selectmen on November 19, 2015 for an open discussion to talk about various options in terms of searching for a new police chief or evaluating Lt. Nelson.  (Sprague – yes, Wysocki – yes, Frain –yes)

A citizen’s input meeting will be scheduled for the Board of Selectmen’s meeting on December 3, 2015.   

Out of Grade Pay for Acting Chief: Mr. Frain requested that this discussion be tabled to give him the opportunity to review and understand the compensation of the police officers.  He also questioned whether this discussion should take place in a public forum or executive session.  Mr. Lowe stated that it is within the structure of the open meeting law to discuss non-union compensation in executive session.  Mr. Lowe stated that any adjustment to the compensation for the Acting Chief would be retroactive.  

On a motion made by Frain and seconded by Wysocki, the Board of Selectmen voted to table the discussion.  (Sprague – yes, Wysocki –yes, Frain –yes)

Update on Minuteman:  Mr. Lowe attended the School Committee meeting on October 28, 2015 in Weston to discuss the building project and the proposed regional agreement.  The building project was discussed without debate.  Mr. Lowe reported that ten (10) communities have voted in favor of the regional agreement, five (5) passed over the agreement and one (1) community (Wayland) voted not to approve the agreement.  The Regional School Committee voted not to work on any additional efforts to push the regional agreement forward because it would be up to the sixteen (16) towns to work it out.  A Selectman from Boxborough came up with proposed language to supplement the original agreement which would inform town meeting of how many towns wish to withdraw from the district and how many students would be lost from the district.  For example, if there are 6 towns that chose to withdraw from the district and each town sent ten (10) students then the district would down sixty (60) students.  When Mr. Lowe pointed out procedurally this is not necessarily true because even though there are towns that would like to withdraw from the district they still want to send students to Minuteman it instigated a disagreement amongst some of the communities who wish to withdraw from the district.  Mr. Lowe will attend the next meeting scheduled for December 2, 2015.  Lexington held their special town meeting and denied the request for Wayland to withdraw from the district.

Update on Earnest Farm:  Mr. Lowe reported that the owner is current on payments.  The plan to remove the cattle from the farm was delayed due to a death in the family.  As of this evening the plan is to remove the cattle this weekend.  The remaining animals – goats, pigs and chickens – have all been moved to the barn.

Veterans Day Brunch:  The Board of Selectmen were invited to attend the Veterans Day Brunch on Wednesday, November 11, 2015 at 10:30 a.m.  Mr. Lowe will serve as Master of Ceremonies.  Employees and town residents are working hard on the event.  Local businesses will donate food.  

Budget Message:   The Board of Selectmen were provided with the budget message that will be distributed for the FY17 budget process.  The Advisory Committee Chairman has approved the message as written.  The message is that we are looking at another year of level funding the departments and if anyone is looking for anything more than that they should provide an explanation for their request.  Free cash is not certified yet but the preliminary indication is that the free cash will not replenished to historic levels.  The new growth number of $199,000 was submitted to the State this week to be approved which is lower than historic norms and we should be prepared for a tight budget year.  Mr. Wysocki reminded everyone that the Board of Selectmen voted to increase free cash slightly from what the Advisory Committee recommended and it is looking like we should have raised free cash a bit more given the situation anticipated.  

Opioid Forum:  Mr. Sprague reported that he attended a forum on the Opioid crisis hosted by Representative Kate Hogan and will be broadcast on Bolton Access Television.  Mr. Sprague stated that there was a lot of statistics shared and it is something that the Board of Selectmen will participate in to resolve the opioid issue.

Appointment:  On a motion made by Wysocki and seconded by Frain, the Board of Selectmen voted to appoint Gentry Ferrell to the Agricultural Commission.  (Sprague – yes, Wysocki –yes, Frain – yes) The term expiration is June 30, 2018.

Lease Agreement between the Town of Bolton and the Nashoba Regional School District: The Board of Selectmen reviewed an Addendum “A”to the Agreement between the Town of Bolton and the Nashoba Regional School District for use of the third floor (except for one locked storage room used by the Town of Bolton) at Emerson School. The third floor was previously occupied by the Town Accountant, Treasurer, Building Inspector and Conservation Trust.  

Currently the district pays for utilities and capital expenses of $10,000 or less for the town-owned building.  Mr. Frain recommended that the district be asked to pay all capital expenses since it is paying nothing for the space; he also suggested that this was an opportunity – generally - for consideration to be renegotiated.  Mr. Sprague and Mr. Wysocki were reluctant to give control of all capital changes to the district for property owned by the town.  

On a motion made by Wysocki and seconded by Frain, the Board of Selectmen voted to authorize Mr. Lowe to approach Superintendent Wood to enter into discussion to alter the lease agreement for the 1922 and 1952 section of Emerson School regarding the capital costs and expenditures.  (Sprague –yes, Wysocki – yes, Frain –yes)

Board of Selectmen’s meeting schedule:The Board of Selectmen set their meeting schedule as follows:  November 19, December 3 & 17, 2015 and January 14 & 28, February 11 & 25, March 10, 24 & 31, April 14 & 28, and May 12, 2016.  

Minutes:  On a motion made by Wysocki and seconded by Sprague, the Board of Selectmen voted to approve regular session minutes for January 22, April 9, July 9, August 13, September 3 & 17, October 1 and 15, 2015 and executive session minutes for July 9 and August 13, 2015.  (Sprague – yes, Wysocki –yes, Frain –abstained)

On a motion made by Wysocki and seconded by Frain, the Board of Selectmen voted to adjourn at 8:55 p.m.  (Sprague –yes, Wysocki –yes, Frain – yes)

Respectfully submitted by Linda L. Day