Board of Selectmen Minutes

Board of Selectmen                              Present:        Stan Wysocki

August 18, 2005                                                         Kenneth F. Troup

                                                                                   Panny Gerken

The Board of Selectmen met at the Town Hall at 6:00 p.m. The Board of Selectmen voted to go into executive session at 6:00 pm in accordance with MGL 39, Section 23B to consider the discipline or dismissal of, or to hear complaints or charges brought against a public officer, employee, staff member or individual.  They stated they would return to open session at 7:00.

WARRANT 

06-04           $  75,160.94

06-4A           $2,626,198.06

The following statement was read by Board of Selectmen Chairman, Stan Wysocki, with regard to Police Chief Celia Hyde.

“The Board of Selectmen and Police Chief Celia Hyde have reached an agreement concerning her employment with the Town and have agreed to issue this joint statement to avoid any confusion and rumors that regrettably occasionally accompany contract negotiations.

The Chief has informed the Board of Selectmen that she will resign effective December 31, 2005.  The Board has accepted her resignation and wishes the Chief and her family the best in the future.

The Board wants to thank the Chief for her more than 30 years of dedicated service to the Bolton Police Department and the citizens of this community.

The parties are pleased that they were able to conclude a mutually agreeable employment contract, which includes a reasonable transition period.  The Chief will remain on the payroll through the end of the year.  The Chief will have time to spend with her family and seek employment opportunities elsewhere.  This will also allow the Board time to examine a variety of options as it proceeds with a search for the Chief’s successor.”

Chief Hyde is on vacation and will be returning on August 22, 2005 and will be on paid administrative leave until her retirement on December 31, 2005.

The application of Not the Betty, Inc. to transfer their annual, all alcohol, restaurant license to Wattaquadock Realty, LLC.

Town Administrator advised the Board that she had received disapproval from the ABCC just today.  This issue surrounding the disapproval is separate and apart from the transfer.

The Board voted to approve the transfer.  Panny Gerken, move, Ken Troup second, voted to approve.

Present:  Francis Burke, Jr., Esq. and Mr. Charles White

Mr. White is the new owner of the Roadhouse, formerly Silvester’s.  This hearing is with regard to the transfer of Wattaquadock Realty, LLC to transfer their annual, all alcohol, restaurant license to Bolton Road House, Inc. d/b/a Bolton Road House Bar and Grill locate at 544 Wattaquadock Hill Road, Bolton.

Attorney Burke spoke on behalf of Mr. White stating that Mr. White has owned restaurants previously with no adverse record.  Panny Gerken asked Mr. White the reasoning behind opening this restaurant.  He stated he is from this area and is looking forward to returning.  

Motion, Panny Gerken, Second, Ken Troup, Voted and approved.

Present:  Doug Storey, Gary Manyak

Mr. Manyak met with the Board to discuss the potential of utilizing the original house at 148 Hudson Road as a 40B unit.

Mr. & Mrs. Manyak built a modular house on rear of their property.  The original house will be vacant shortly and scheduled to be demolished.  Mr. & Mrs. Manyak met with the Affordable Housing Committee to utilize the original house under 40B, affordable housing.

Selectman Gerken asked Mr. Manyak to refresh the Board on the proposal.  Doug Storey stated that Mr. Manyak is proposing to utilize the originally existing home as a 40B rental unit.  By Bolton By-Laws, one cannot have two houses on a single lot.  By converting the original existing house into an affordable unit, the house can remain and not be torn down.  The only way this can be accomplished is if the Board of Selectmen sponsors and supports the Local Initiative Program (LIP).

The Manyak’s will retain ownership of the originally existing house and rent the house in accordance with Affordable Housing Guidelines.  This would require going before the ZBA for a comprehensive permit.  Doug Storey stated that new regulations may be forthcoming on accessory apartments.  There is no current rule for a non attached apartment, hence the comprehensive permit process.

Selectman Gerken questioned whether Mr. Manyak would be responsible for the upkeep of the home and all maintenance on the home.  Mr. Manyak indicated that he would be responsible.

Basically it would be just like a 40B unit in a development.

The Board questioned what would happen if the present owner (Manyak) decided to move.  Mr. Storey stated that a new owner can utilize the house as an affordable housing unit or tear the house down.  The status of the affordable unit would be a restriction on the deed.

Stan Wysocki questioned if the drive would be converted into a common driveway under Town of Bolton By-laws.  This question will be researched.

Motion before the Board is to endorse the LIP.

Motion, Ken Troup, Second, Panny Gerken, voted and approved.

Attorney Arthur Bergeron met with the Board to discuss a proposed 40B Affordable Housing project to be located on Hudson Road.  As proposed, the project would include 12 one bedroom townhouse units, with 3 units being affordable.  The project would be structured as a condominium with common septic.  These are all for sale units, not rentals.  They are proposing to sell the affordable units at $150,000 and market units at middle $300,000.  The square footage is approximately 1,500 square feet and units include bedroom, study, living room, dining room, kitchen and bath.

As proposed, the lot is approximately 2.44 acres to house12 units, with a density of 4.9 units per acre.

The Board thanked Attorney Bergeron for providing the Board with their proposal.  Attorney Bergeron indicated that a 40B Comprehensive Permit Application will be filed with the Board of Appeals.

Before the Board is the final Agreement/Contract with BatCo.  Town Administrator Jodi Ross made minor changes to the agreement and attached the required exhibits.

Jodi Ross asked the members of BatCo to have their By-Laws conform to the agreement.  Rick Merrill stated that once they have a meeting to ratify the changes, they will be made a part of the agreement.

Motion, Panny, Second, Troup, voted and approved.

The agreement was executed but held until the amended By-Laws can be voted and approved.  Rick Merrill and Ed Favre signed on behalf of the corporation.  Ed Sterling arrived at the meeting and signed the document, which is now fully executed.  The funds will be held until the amended By-laws are voted and approved.

Town Administrator Jodi Ross stated that a letter would be drafted to Comcast.

Jeff Boudreau sent an email stating that he is not happy with the brightly colored signs on poles with regard to bike trails through town.  Mr. Boudreau does not like the bike riders passing his home and he has noise concerns.  Mr. Boudreau would like the Selectmen to have the DPW remove the signs, require the bikers ride single file and monitor the noise.

Ken Troup stated that it is nice to be notified when there will be a bicycle ride through the Town of Bolton; however, there is no approval required by the Selectmen to hold a bicycle ride.

Panny Gerken stated that the roadways in the Town are legal byways.  

After discussion, the Board decided that no action was necessary.

Present:  Joel Loitherstein, Bill St. Hillaire, Jonathan O’Brien

The above parties were present to report to the Board with regard to cleanup, costs, etc. associated with the Smith property on Main Street.

Bill St. Hillaire – Stated that the cost estimate that he has prepared is conservative.  His cost estimate does not include continued testing or monitoring wells on the property.  His estimate for cleanup of the property is $225,000.  If the site is cleaned up and closed out, it may not be necessary for monitoring wells to be in place.  Mr. St. Hillaire again stated that he feels that $225, 000 is a very conservative number.

When tested originally, the well on the Smith property was contaminated but now is not.  

The red house on the corner of Wattaquadock Hill Road and Main Street has a deep drilled well.  More assessment needs to be done.  They will continue to test the wells as well as the Drewicz property, which was not tested due to lack of electrical power.

Panny Gerken asked if it turned out that there was continued contamination after the clean up, would there be any liability on the owner of the land.  Bill St. Hillaire stated that any and all owners of the property would have liability.  Joel Loitherstein stated that the date of sale is the mark date for the new owner who would then have all liability.    He believes that the statue is for 6 years.

Jodi Ross asked about the presence of arsenic,  Bill St Hillaire stated there is arsenic out there but the background levels of arsenic are elevated.  He stated that those are the soils that would have to be removed.

Ken Troup asked how long Mr. Hillaire thought the clean up would take.  Mr. St. Hillaire stated that he felt that most of the work could be done within a year with monitoring for maybe two years.

Panny Gerken asked if the stream running through the property has been checked.  Jonathan O’Brien stated that they had not checked the stream.  Ms. Gerken feels that the stream should be monitored.  Mr. O’Brien stated that there is probably high iron.  They did to an ecological risk assessment in the stream bank.  Normally you do not remediate in a stream bank because it can cause more harm than good.  MBTE is soluble and moves the fastest.  The water is flowing from the Smith Property southeast and is headed toward the red house on the corner of Wattaquadock Hill Road and Main Street.  All the houses surrounding the red house have been tested and tested ok.

Joel Loitherstein stated that the information is limited.  Panny Gerken asked Mr. Loitherstein what further information he needs.  Mr. Loitherstein stated that he would rather start work on the cleanup of the site.  More study does not necessarily provide more information.  The town has spent as much money as they had budgeted to gather information.  Mr. St. Hillarie suggested that a third round of testing be accomplished through a third lab.

Ken Troup asked how long the owner’s has to clean up the property, with the answer given as five years to clean up from when it is designated or 6 years from when the contamination is found.

Ken Troup asked Francis Burke, attorney for the present owner, when clean up would occur if the Town was not involved.  Attorney Burke stated that he believes that the current owner would sell the property with escrow funds to cover the cost of the clean up and have the cleanup occur within a year.  The cleanup would be the responsibility of the purchaser.  The Smith family would like to look for buyer, agree on the price and then let the buyer coordinate the cleanup.  Attorney Burke indicated that he has received inquires stating interest in the property.  

Ken Troup asked Attorney Burke if it is his understanding that the Town and the Smith family have time to work out details.  Attorney Burke indicated that he would be interested in working with the Town through September 15^th and October 15^th so yes, we do have some time to work out the details.

Ken Swanton stated that the June meeting described a lot of the ideas that the Committee had around the subject of growth.  The town of Bolton might be the fastest growing town in the area.  Housing is important and open space is important.  They have started the drafting of the plan itself.  They hope to have it in a form that can be given out in the near future.

The Committee is trying to get the information out prior to Town Meeting.  They will be doing further mailings and will be having another open meeting.  Currently, they are going through the 2^nd draft of the plan.  The Committee is doing a mailing with the Conservation Trust, which goes to every home in the town.  The new mailing includes municipal issues including the Smith property.

Russ Karlstad stated that they want the plan done by the end of this year, 2005.  The committee is really pushing to get the plan done by the end of the year.  As a group, they have not discussed what parts of the plan will be presented at one time.  Conservation might be interested in working on the Community Preservation Act.  He feels that the Town is missing out on State money until this is implemented.

Housing is one of the most important issues within the Plan.  Although it was not completed in July as originally deadlined, it is moving forward but needs a lot more work.

David Lindsay - Who in Town has to accept the plan?  Essentially, no one has to approve it or accept it; however, the Planning Board oversees this committee and is responsibility for implementing the plan.

Stan Wysocki– short term things like the library, treatment facility, police station.  How do you factor in some of those already started projects into the Master Plan?  Future needs committee for the schools.  Smith property in the center of town is important.  It is in the center of town and important to be purchased if it can be cleaned up.

Library – everyone would like to see a bigger library; however, there is a debate on whether it should be a big as is now proposed.  Mr. Swanton does not feel that in the broad sense, the library is in the top 5 issues that need to be addressed.

The Committee is divided on the size that the library should be.  Russ Karlstad stated that  the sf price does not change based on the size.  There are two costs.  One to construct, one to operate and there are ways to redesign.

Ken Troup stated that with all that is on our plate, however, these issues must be addressed, collectively discussed and the answers found.

 

Panny Gerken stated that the town must be educated on what is before the board and the town, and the cost to the residents.  The town has to understand the pieces and the ways that all the pieces impact on one another.

David Bosselait stated that this year we barely squeaked by and it looks like an increase of 8%.  The town must be operating and the residents must understand what it takes.  Money should not be spent on “nice to haves”.  He does not want to end up in the position that Lancaster found themselves in.

Taggart Property – there is not enough gravel on the site to offset the cost; however, the Town would be hard-pressed to find another piece of property that could be used for municipal use at that price.

and recommendations as follows.     

                                                                                                                                                                                               

Article 1:  Unpaid bill for FY 2005 - necessary

Article 2:  Zoning Main Street - Went to meeting with planning board meeting last week.  This article is to include the property across the street from the skinner property to be consistent.  By including both properties it eliminates the issue of spot zoning.  Boards will work on the language and coordinate with other board and committees

ARTICLE 3:  Smith Property

Ken Troup asked that after the discussion tonight, what is the feeling on this Article?  He would caution the Town based on the history of previous projects.  Panny Gerken agreed.

Ken Swanton from Master Planning stated that if the Town does not buy the property, the town has no control over the property.

David Lindsay stated that he would like to keep the option alive.  

ARTICLE 4:  Taggart Property

There is an issue of whether the town can sell gravel off the site.  It was suggested that a change in an inconsistent town by law could be addressed at town meeting.

ARTICLE 5:  Library

The borrowing number would still have to stay but with the bulk of the grant money upfront, the amount could be reduced.  The language used in the article is boiler plate.

Robert Zak stated that fund raising has been ongoing, however, the effort to obtain grants has taken much of the committee’s time and they did receive the initial grant of $2.5 million as well as an additional $30,000 grant.  The dollar amount of the article could be reduced on the floor of the meeting.

Library committee would like to meet before town meeting.  Ken Troup advised Mr. Zak to contact Jodi Ross or Linda Day .

ARTICLE 6:  Creation of an Affordable Housing Trust Fund

Affordable housing is comfortable with the current wording.  Advisory did propose changes.  Town Counsel rendered an opinion.

Ken Troup suggested that the comments from Advisory and Town Counsel be incorporated into the documents.  Any that Town Counsel said no on, are a dead issue.  Town Administrator Jodi Ross will coordinate the rewording of this article.

ARTICLE 7: Local Emergency Planning Grant

All ok with this one

ARTICLE 8:  Drainage – This should be an article on the annual warrant, not a special meeting warrant.

ARTICLES 9 & 10:  Housekeeping

ARTICLE 11:  More information needed.  Jodi Ross will provide information to the Board.

Mike Slepetz  has 22 years as a police officer.  According to the Contract, on an annual basis, the Selectmen can award an additional $100 on longevity.  Panny Gerken requested time to consider the request.  

The Senior Picnic will be Tuesday, August 23^rd at 11:30 at the Cub Scout Camp.

A resident has made a request to make beach stickers free for seniors.  After discussion, the Selectmen felt that five dollars is not a lot to pay for the use of the beach.

Martha Remington  has advised the Board that residents have cut down dead trees in town easement areas.  She would like to know if the resident has to replace the trees.  The Board has requested time to consider this question.

Grant funds received.  Do you want to hold the grant funds so they can grow or would you like to spend them on suitable items.  After discussion, the Board voted to accumulate the funds.

The contract for Town Counsel has been awarded to Brackett & Lucas.  Brackett & Lucas has indicated that they would like to review their hourly rate after a period of three years.  Panny Gerken would like time to consider this.

At 10:35 p.m. the Board voted to enter executive session to discuss the deployment of the security personnel, strategy regarding negotiations with non union personnel.  They stated they will come out of executive session briefly.