Board of Selectmen Minutes October 11, 2018

Board of Selectmen                                          Present:            Jonathan Keep

October 11, 2018                                                                    Robert Czekanski        

Town Hall                                                                                Stanley Wysocki

                                                                                                Don Lowe, Town Administrator

                                                                                                Linda L. Day, Town Secretary

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

TREE LIGHTING EVENT ON TOWN COMMON – DECEMBER 2, 2018

Meg O’Leary, member of the Bolton Conservation Trust informed the Board of Selectmen that the Parks and Recreation Commission approved the Tree Lighting event on the Town Common scheduled for December 2, 2018 and requested the town provide a police detail at no charge.

Mr. Wysocki and Mr. Czekanski’s opinion was that all nonprofits, whether they are from town or out of town should be treated equally, and therefore responsible for paying for the detail officer. Mr. Keep felt that the event being a joint effort of the Conservation Trust and Parks and Recreation Commission and was therefore in favor of the police detail at no charge. The Board of Selectmen suggested that Ms. O’Leary go back to the Parks and Recreation Commission to see if they had the funds in their budget to pay for the detail officer.

Mr. O’Leary appreciated the Board of Selectmen’s principle involved and will circle back with the Parks and Recreation Commission to see if they could pay for the detail officer as suggested. 

RELEASE OF CHAPTER 61a PROPERTY

On a motion made by Wysocki and seconded by Czekanski, the Board of Selectmen voted not to exercise the Town’s right of first refusal to purchase property owned by Mr. Paul Zayka on Green Road (Assessor’s Map as parcel 034.006.C-0000-0018.1) being released from Chapter 61A.   (Keep – yes, Czekanski – yes, Wysocki – yes)  The Board of Assessors, Conservation Commission and the Planning Board were not interested in the property.

REQUEST FOR SIGN AT TADMOR DEVELOPMENT ON MAIN STREET

Mr. George Gallagher requested approval for a 4 foot by 8 foot real estate marketing sign for the development at the corner of Main Street and Forbush Mill Road.  Mr. Gallagher confirmed that the sign would be placed far enough back so it will not interfer with the line of sight.  On a motion made by Wysocki and seconded by Czekanski, the Board of Selectmen voted to approve the sign.  (Keep – yes, Czekanski – yes, Wysocki – yes)

REQUEST FOR SIGN AT THE CORNER OF WEST BERLIN ROAD AND SAWYER ROAD

Mr. Joel Cote requested approval for a 12 inch by 24 inch real estate sign at the corner of West Berlin Road and Sawyer Road for a new house being sold at 280 Sawyer Road.  Mr. Cote stated that potential customers and contractors are having a hard time finding the house.  On a motion made by Wysocki and seconded by Czekanski, the Board of Selectmen voted to approve the sign until December 1, 2018.  (Keep – yes, Czekanski – yes, Wysocki –yes)

ONE-DAY LIQUOR LICENSE – SCHARTNER FARM, 279 WEST BERLIN ROAD

The Board of Selectmen reviewed the request of Mr. Eric Schartner for a one-day liquor license for the “Taste of the Maze” event to be held on Sunday, October 27, 2018 from 10:00 to 5:00 p.m. at the Schartner Farm, 279 West Berlin Road.  Chief Nelson didn’t have any concerns regarding this event.  On a motion made by Czekanski and seconded by Wysocki, the Board of Selectmen voted to approve the one-day liquor license.  (Keep – yes, Czekanski – yes, Wysocki – yes) 

TOWN ADMINISTRATOR REPORT

Update on Minuteman:  Mr. Lowe reported that Minuteman High School was named a 2018 National Blue Ribbon School by the U.S. Department of Education.  National Blue Ribbon Schools earn that designation by excelling in one of two performance categories – either as Exemplary High Performing Schools or Exemplary Achievement Gap Closing Schools, which are among their state’s highest performing schools in closing achievement gaps between a school’s student groups and all students over the past five years.  An awards ceremony will be held at the Omni Shoreham in Washington, DC on November 7 & 8, 2018.  

Minuteman High School is nine months away from moving into a new $145 million facility that has been designed to support a robust college and career academy model. 

Update on the Portico Project:  Mr. Lowe reported that a notice to proceed has been sent to the contractor for review.  Work will commence in no more than two weeks and notices will be published informing the public and employees that the area will be blocked off and there will be no parking in front of the town hall. 

Update on Fire Chief Screening Committee:  Mr. Lowe reported that the Fire Chief Screening Committee appointed Mr. John Petrin as Chairman at their first meeting last week.  The Committee will review and select the candidates to be interviewed at their next meeting on October 16, 2018.  The remainder of the meetings will be in executive session to protect the applicant’s confidentiality until they are considered a finalist. 

Update on Moving the Board of Selectmen’s meetings:   Mr. Lowe reviewed his findings thus far regarding his research of various issues that would need to be addressed in order to move the Board of Selectmen’s meetings to the Public Safety Building (PSB). 

The Training Room is used on Mondays for the Cadet/EMT Training, Tuesdays by the Fire Department for Training, and Thursdays by the Ambulance Squad for Training.  Mr. Lowe will be meeting with Margy Diaz, Ambulance Director to determine whether or not their trainings could be moved to another part of the building on the nights when there is a Board of Selectmen (BOS) Meeting.

An option could be to move the BOS Meetings to Wednesday nights.

The Training Room is not currently wired for cable broadcasting and Mr. Lowe has requested a rough estimate of the cost to support live broadcasts.

Access to the meeting room is not an issue. On a night when the BOS are meeting, the lock on the door to the lobby could be disabled and then enabled after the meeting is over.

Parking is a significant issue. The parking lot on the left side of the building has 15 spaces plus 3 handicapped spaces. The rear of the building is restricted to PSB personnel and all three PSB Department Heads stated that no parking should be allowed on the right side of the building in case of a fire or ambulance call.

Mr. Lowe has requested a rough estimate of the cost for creating a path from the Library parking lot to the PSB through the wooded area to the rear of the PSB. That path would also need to be maintained regularly during the winter and as needed during the warmer months.

Chief Nelson expressed some concern relative to the safety of people who would utilize a path from the Library. There are times that vehicles leave the parking lot at a high rate of speed.

Parking at the church across the street is another option to consider. Mr. Lowe hasn’t approached the church at this time but would be happy to do so if the board wishes.

Mr. Lowe hasn’t encountered any obstacles that can’t be addressed by money at this point other than a potential conflict with the Ambulance training nights. 

Mr. Czekanski stated that it is not just a Board of Selectmen’s issue and referenced a Zoning Board of Appeals meeting that took place recently in the Houghton Building when all seats were taken and people were standing in the hallway.  It is his opinion that the PSB training room is the best by far and the people of Bolton should have the opportunity to take advantage of the PSB training room.

Mr. Wysocki reserved his full comments for the next meeting but stated that he didn’t understand what the issue was and spending money to wire the public safety building for recording and creating a path for the few times a larger meeting room was needed when the meeting could be moved when a larger attendance was expected.   Mr. Lowe stated that it is totally legal to relocate a meeting after the agenda has been posted if a larger venue is needed.

Mr. Czekanski looks at the Board of Selectmen as a retail operation to some extent and if the Board of Selectmen want people to attend the meetings there needs to be an inviting space that is easy to get to and both the town hall and the Houghton building fall short in that area.  

Mr. Lowe will continue to gather information and report back to the Board of Selectmen at their next meeting

BOARD OF SELECTMEN BUSINESS

Appointments:  On a motion made by Wysocki and seconded by Czekanski, the Board of Selectmen voted to appoint Ed Basile to the Board of Appeals as an Associate Member.  (Keep – yes, Czekanski – yes, Wysocki – yes)

On a motion made by Wysocki and seconded by Czekanski, the Board of Selectmen voted to appoint Tina Higgins to the Economic Development Committee.  (Keep – yes, Czekanski – yes, Wysocki – yes)

Warrant for 2018 State Election:  On a motion made by Wysocki and seconded by Czekanski, the Board of Selectmen voted to execute the Warrant for the 2018 State Election.   (Keep – yes, Czekanski – yes, Wysocki – yes)

Bills/Payroll Warrant:  On a motion made by Wysocki and seconded by Czekanski, the Board of Selectmen voted to approve and execute the bills/payroll warrant W19-08 and W19-08A.   (Keep – yes, Czekanski – yes, Wysocki – yes)

On a motion made by Wysocki and seconded by Czekanski, the Board of Selectmen voted to adjourn at 7:50 p.m.  (Keep – yes, Czekanski – yes, Wysocki – yes)

Respectfully submitted by Linda L. Day