Board of Selectmen Minutes
Meeting date:
Thursday, February 16, 2006
Board of Selectmen Present: Stanley Wysocki
February 16, 2006 Kenneth F. Troup
Panny Gerken
The Board of Selectmen met at the Town Hall at 7:00 p.m. Minutes of January 26, 2006 and February 2, 2006 were read and approved.
WARRANT
#06-17 $72,409.14
#06-17a $2,398,276.97
APPOINTMENT OF VINCENT ALFANO
On a motion made by Wysocki and seconded by Gerken, the Board of Selectmen voted to appoint Vincent Alfano as Police Chief for the Town of Bolton.
Chief Alfano was sworn in by Board of Selectmen Chairman Wysocki and will be ratified by the Town Clerk prior to his starting on February 27, 2006.
A pinning ceremony took place for newly appointed Chief Alfano. Family, friends, public officials, townspeople and co-workers from Framingham attended the ceremony. Refreshments were served.
Chief Alfano made a speech thanking the Police Chief Search Committee, the Board of Selectmen, Town Administrator Jodi Ross, Police Department and his family and friends for their support.
AMBULANCE
Present for all or a portion of the meeting: Ambulance Squad members Margy Diaz, Eileen Burgoyne, Jack Holbrook, Ethan Caless, Greg Caless, Frank Smith, David Farrell, Gery Wilson, Barbara Brown; Fire Chief John Stephenson; Interim Police Chief George; Police Officers Kim Denaro and Chris Harrington; Advisory Committee members Scott Powell, Chris Slade, Burt Shnitzler, David Lindsay, Wendy Rogers; Library Trustees Bob Zak and Chris Sterling.
Members of the Ambulance Squad met with the Board of Selectmen to continue discussions regarding the structure and procedures of the Ambulance Department. Ms. Diaz stated that they have been meeting every week for the last month to discuss daytime coverage solutions.
The Board was provided with a document outlining 4 options, and the pros and cons of each option, in solving the day time coverage issue.
Option #1 outlined one person being scheduled during the day – 7:30 to 5:00 p.m., or the hours of the operation of the NRHS Cadet Program. This person would be expected to be within a 5 minute response to the fire station. At first they felt this was a great idea as it would provide coverage and good response time but agreed that there may be a drop in the night time coverage because of EMTs getting paid to stand by during the day. They felt the best approach was to schedule all shifts but discovered there were too many shifts to cover, it would be tedious to maintain a schedule, the administrative work to be done would not be consistent and they were concerned about liability if a shift was not covered. Overall they felt that scheduling shifts was not a viable option.
Option #2 outlined a two person crew on 24/7 and the cost for this option would amount to tens of thousands of dollars for wages with benefits being an added cost. They did not feel that the call volume would be enough to keep the 2 person crew working 24/7. A part-time EMT would also be required for coverage of sick and vacation time.
Option #3 outlined hiring a two person crew for a 40 hour work week – days only. The crew would be expected to be in town during their shift to drive the ambulance and respond with the Cadets from the high school, and would be responsible for administrative duties at the fire station. This would allow for call coverage, good response time, the station being manned during business hours, and administrative work done at the fire station. The anticipated cost for this option would be under a hundred thousand dollars annually and benefits would be needed for the two full-time EMTs. The billing could bring in some of the cost for this option.
Option #4 outlined going out to bid for an outside service to provide full coverage to the town. This option could be costly to the town.
The squad felt that Option #3 was the best solution.
The squad provided a list of administrative duties that could be assigned to the full time EMTs that included billing, responding to correspondence, inventory, purchasing, payroll, personnel records, secretarial duties, grants, maintenance, monthly newsletter, community activities, and supporting the NRHS Cadet Program.
Ms. Diaz stated that the squad fully expected that the Board of Selectmen would need time to look over their proposal. She stated that as a group they have pulled together even more, although frustrating at times, it has been very productive.
Ms. Diaz stated that the squad did not see a problem with a drop in night time coverage with option #3 as proposed. She stated that once the details are worked out there may be people within the squad interested in the position.
The department could also consider taking on self-billing as an administrative duty if they found that the EMT’s were not busy enough while on call. Ms. Diaz stated that there are also additional projects such as updating the policies and procedures, and working on the required emergency disaster plan that could be done by the full time EMTs.
Ms. Diaz stated that they did discuss the idea of a joint firefighter/EMT position but have not formally discussed this with the fire department.
Advisory Committee member Mr. Slade urged the Board of Selectmen to give this careful thought before making a decision one way or the other and recommended that the firefighter/EMT position approach be looked at also.
Ethan Caless stated that not all views of the squad members were presented and he thinks there should be greater emphasis on recruiting. Many favored the idea of recruiting but did not feel it was the answer to the day time response issue. An estimated 4-6 months was needed for a new person to become an EMT.
The Selectmen thanked the squad for their efforts and will take the time to review and get back to them with any questions or comments.
LIBRARY
Present: Advisory Committee Scott Powell, Burt Shnitzler, David Lindsay, Chris Slade and Wendy Rogers
Library trustees Bob Zak and Chris Sterling, and Library Director Kelly Collins met with the Board of Selectmen to discuss the Library expansion.
Mr. Zak stated that after meeting with the Advisory Committee last week to discuss their budget and articles they have decided to pull the repair article submitted for the Annual Town Meeting and focus on the library expansion article. If the expansion article fails the library will be faced with long overdue repairs to the roof and windows, requirements of additional storage space, additional climate management, and ADA compliance. The Trustees talked with DPW Director Harold Brown who has indicated they could wait another 6-12 months before repairs to the library need to be done.
The capital campaign fundraising continues and a consultant has been hired to assess what the town can provide as private support. The report has not been submitted yet but as soon as it has a press release will be issued and the goal for the capital campaign will be publicized.
The Committee continues to look at the current design to accomplish two things: 1. reducing the footprint on the current lot, and 2. reducing the interior space as much as possible. The Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners (MBLC) has guidelines by which they evaluate any changes made, and would look favorably at a 5-10% reduction in the useable area.
MBLC does not require that you have the entire budget at the time of signing the contract. They would like to go to MBLC and ask for an extension in order to raise more money for the capital campaign.
The Trustees would like to go to town meeting and request less than half of the $7 million.
The Selectmen agreed to ask the engineers to determine what it would cost to hook the Library septic into the treatment plant.
HIGHWAY DEPARTMENT
Present: Advisory Committee members Scott Powell, David Lindsay and Wendy Rogers, and Barbara Brown.
DPW Director Harold Brown and Administrative Assistant Shelly O’Toole met with the Board of Selectmen to discuss their budget and articles for FY07.
Mr. Brown confirmed that the invoices for salt in the amount of $12,000 and sand in the amount of $16,000 was for deliveries made in November 2005.
Gas Spill Cleanup: Mr. Brown provided the Board of Selectmen with an update on the gas spill cleanup at the highway department on Forbush Mill Road.
Mr. Brown informed the Board that the remediation approach has been extremely effective in the clean up but there is currently one well that continues to exceed regulatory standards. Well MW34 continues to show an organic substance and could be another several years to meet the closure requirements. The spill site can not be closed until all wells meet applicable standards for a minimum of one year.
With a decline of MTBE in the supply wells, Mr. Brown would like to propose the removal of the carbon treatment system for the non-community public water supply well serving the restaurant and the apartment complex. Mr. Brown will discuss this with DEP and if they agree he will discuss with the owners.
Mr. Troup asked if a budget could be laid out to the end of the closure for the clean up. Mr. Brown stated that even when MW-34 comes clean, it will have to stay below regulatory standards for one year and then at least one more year of testing will have to take place. According to the trend it looks like at least two years before it meets regulatory standards and then two years of testing to confirm it is clean. Mr. Brown estimated it would cost approximately $30,000 per year for the cleanup; He has a balance of $20,000 in his budget for FY06 and has placed an article on the Annual Town Meeting is for an additional $30,000 that will get be for FY07.
Mr. Brown explained the heating system in the town hall which is a two pipe system. Mr. Brown has made some improvements to this system which has improved the heating problems at the town hall. Based on this the $6,000 originally budgeted for the heating system was removed from the budget. The Board of Selectmen requested that the heat temperature at the town hall be programmed differently for the weekend when no one is in the building versus during the week when staff is present.
The Board was provided with revised budgets for accounts 190: Buildings; 421: Highway Department; 422: Construction/Maintenance; 423: Snow/Sand/Overtime and 433: Transfer Station. These revisions reflect discussions that Town Administrator Jodi Ross and Selectman Panny Gerken had with Mr. Brown.
Reduction in the highway department 421: wage line item included the hours of the EMT being reduced. One new full-time position is being dropped and one new full time maintenance custodian position remained. Mr. Brown stated that this position will help to resolve the situation at the Library. The mowing of the fields is also covered in the budget.
Mr. Brown stated that he is 90% done with the requests from the Public Ways Safety Committee for signs along Bolton roads. The Board of Selectmen authorized Mr. Brown to proceed with the request of the Public Ways Safety Committee to place signs at the intersection of Wattaquadock Hill Road, Old Lancaster Road and Water Street (Clinton). The Board of Selectmen asked Mr. Brown to follow up with the Public Safety Committee regarding the signs and any outstanding issues.
Mr. Brown provided a summary of repair costs per vehicle.
TOWN ADMINISTRATOR
Retiree health insurance: Town Administrator Jodi Ross provided additional information to the Board of Selectmen that included a comparison of towns/retiree health insurance coverage along with a survey of towns to determine why they have not adopted 32B, Section 18.
Town Administrator Ms. Ross stated that it is an option for people to go on Medicare D plan which is the drug benefit. She also stated that this plan can be adopted without bargaining with the unions, but Ms. Ross would have to impact bargain.
Advisory Committee member David Lindsay reiterated his opinion that the retiree health insurance plan should be adopted and was prepared to seek the required signatures for a citizen’s petition if the Board of Selectmen did not vote to place the article on the annual town meeting.
The Board of Selectmen was agreeable to put the article on the warrant.
Nicewicz and Schartner Agricultural Preservation Restriction (APR):
Present for the meeting: Nellie Aikenhead, TPL project manager, David James, Al Ferry, Ken Nicewicz, Ken Swanton, Tom Parker, Bob Roemer and Advisory Committee members Scott Powell and David Lindsay.
Mr. Troup provided a summary of the status of the APR stating that the State was not satisfied with the deed language for Nicewicz property and therefore requested a survey which showed 10 less acres. The question was then raised as to whether this was a significant enough change that would require a re-vote, or a problem with borrowing the funds. It also raised the question as to whether or not the Scharnter property should be surveyed. The idea of doing a walk with a GPS unit using the data available to calculate the acreage was recommended. If this could be done in the next few days the process would remain on schedule. The surveyor did not think that this would be accurate and proposed a cost of $5,000 to do a calculation.
The State, Bond Counsel and Town Counsel were comfortable with moving forward as is.
Selectman Gerken stated that the legal documents for the APRs refer to approximately 181 acres and her feeling is that 15% is far more than approximately. She was not satisfied with the lack of professionalism of the TPL and their representatives who demonstrated an obvious lack of due diligence. It was not a transparent process and finding things out the last minute were unacceptable. Ms. Gerken hopes that in the future this will not happen. The flip side is the Schartner and Nicewicz families have been incredible stewards of the land. Ms. Gerken stated that going forward the State will be requiring surveys and she hopes that the Town of Bolton has learned a lesson. Ms. Gerken stated that she voted for the APR, but what makes her upset is that due diligence wasn’t done and should have been. She does not like to be pushed into a corner by a consultant the last minute when they should have been made aware of this information weeks ago. Ms. Gerken stated that she would abstain from the vote as she does not feel it was done properly. Mr. Wysocki echoed Ms. Gerken’s concerned but felt it was important to save the farms.
On a motion made by Wysocki and seconded by Troup, the Selectmen voted to accept and sign the APR~Agreement and the Co-Holders Agreement for the Nicewicz and Grala/Shartner agricultural land and to accept and sign the Purchase and Sales Agreement with Trust for Public Lands.~ (Wysocki – yes, Troup – yes, Gerken – abstained).
Mr. Nicewicz stated that the parcels presented at town meeting are exactly what are being protected and he thanked the Board of Selectmen for accepting the APRs.
Lease Agreement between NRSD and the Town of Bolton: The Board of Selectmen was provided with a draft copy of the lease agreement which showed revisions suggested by Supt. Wood, the District Attorney, Bolton Town Counsel and Town Administrator Ms. Ross. Ms. Ross reviewed the revisions with the Board of Selectmen. Ms. Ross stated that it was her opinion that the document should be signed by the Board of Selectmen versus the Town Administrator. Stow Town Administrator Bill Wrigley also agreed with this opinion.
Minimum Aid Proposal formerly known as the Acton Proposal: The Board of Selectmen agreed that they were not in support of this proposal. Mr. Troup will draft a letter.
Addendum to Employee Agreement dated April 1, 1999 between the Town of Bolton and Harold Brown: On a motion made by Gerken and seconded by Wysocki, the Board of Selectmen voted to approve the addendum regarding accumulated compensatory time for Mr. Brown, DPW Director.
Open House for Police Chief: The Police Department will hold an open house on Saturday, March 4th, 2006 from 12-2 p.m. at the Police Station to welcome newly appointed Police Chief Vincent Alfano.
Regional dispatch meeting: Ms. Ross informed the Board of Selectmen of a regional dispatch meeting to be held on March 9th, 2006.
Resignation: Ms. Ross informed the Board of Selectmen of the resignation of Bob Zailckas as Civil Defense Director. Mr. Donald Baum has expressed interest in serving as the Civil Defense Director.
Police Chief Contract: On a motion made by Gerken and seconded by Troup, the Board of Selectmen voted to execute the contract between the town of Bolton and Police Chief Vincent C. Alfano. (Wysocki – yes, Troup – yes, Gerken – yes)
Appointments: On a motion made by Gerken and seconded by Troup, the Board of Selectmen voted to appoint Mickie Simpson and Doug Storey, term expiration June 30, 2007 to the Affordable Housing Trust. (Wysocki – yes, Troup – yes, Gerken – yes) Ms. Ross informed the Board of Selectmen that the Trust Fund document is being revised by the State and therefore should not be executed at this time.
Master Plan: The Master Planning Committee will review the lastest draft on February 27th, 2006. Shortly thereafter copies will be distributed to the Board of Selectmen and Planning Board for review.
Housing related 40R and 40S State programs: The Kane and Smith property might be good candidates for the overlay zoning that would allow higher density housing and mixed use. The Planning Board will take the action of applying for State grants to explore the options. Mr. Troup agreed to contact the Smith’s to see if they would be interested.
Tri-Town Meeting: Next Tri-Town meeting is Wednesday, March 1, 2006 in Bolton.
Meeting adjourned.