Board of Selectmen Minutes September 13, 2018

Board of Selectmen                                        Present:           Jonathan Keep

September 13, 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.

STOW GOBBLER

Mr. Michael Sabourin and his son Joey, organizers of the 12th annual Stow Gobbler 5K requested approval to hold the event on November 22, 2018.  Last year the event raised $20,000 and the Habitat for Humanity and the Stow Community Chest were the main benefactors of the funds raised.   The race is fully insured.  The event has been approved by the Police Department and detail officers have been scheduled.  The 5K will start at the Stow Community Park, cross a portion of Route 117 in Bolton and finish at Bose in Stow.  On a motion made by Wysocki and seconded by Czekanski, the Board of Selectmen voted to approve the event.  (Keep – yes, Czekanski – yes, Wysocki - yes)

REQUEST FOR SIGNS – BOLTON AND HARVARD OPEN STUDIOS

Ms. Ann Gillespie requested approval to place signs in Bolton and on private property for the Bolton and Harvard Open Studios being held on September 15 & 16, 2018.  On a motion made by Wysocki and seconded by Czekanski, the Board of Selectmen voted to approve the above-mentioned request.  (Keep – yes, Czekanski – yes, Wysocki – yes)

APPOINTMENT OF THE AUDIT ADVISORY COMMITTEE REPRESENTATIVE

The Board of Selectmen received a letter of interest from David Yesue and Burt Shnitzler in response to the advertisement seeking a representative from the Town of Bolton to serve on the Audit Advisory Committee. The Audit Advisory Committee is charged with making recommendations to the School Committee for selection of an independent outside auditor and overseeing the work of the auditor including review of the audit report, findings and recommendations. Mr. Yesue who was present for the meeting provided a brief summary of his background and interest in serving on the Committee.   Mr. Shnitzler couldn’t be at the meeting this evening and his letter of interest was read aloud.  In a joint meeting with the Advisory Committee, on a motion made by Boyle and seconded by Keep, the Board of Selectmen and Advisory Committee voted to appoint David Yesue as the Bolton representative to serve on the Audit Advisory Committee.  (Keep – yes, Czekanski – yes, Wysocki – no, Boyle – yes, Myerson – yes, Kirchner – yes, Lauer – yes)

APPOINTMENT OF THE FIRE CHIEF SCREENING COMMITTEE

The Board of Selectmen received a letter of interest from Peter Casello, John Petrin and Ken Troup in response to the advertisement seeking a citizen-at-large to serve on the Fire Chief Screening Committee and from Michael Murphy in response to the advertisement seeking a member of the business community to serve on the Fire Chief Screening Committee.

Peter Casello, Kenneth Troup and John Petrin were all present at the meeting and gave a brief summary of their background and interest for serving on the Committee. 

On a motion made by Wysocki and seconded by Czekanski, the Board of Selectmen voted to appoint John Petrin as the citizen-at-large representative to serve on the Fire Chief Screening Committee. (Keep – yes, Czekanski – yes, Wysocki – yes)

On a motion made by Czekanski and seconded by Wysocki, the Board of Selectmen voted to appoint Michael Murphy as the business community representative to serve on the Fire Chief Screening Committee.  (Keep – yes, Czekanski – yes, Wysocki – yes)

On a motion made by Czekanski and seconded by Wysocki, the Board of Selectmen voted to request that the Fire Chief Screening Committee submit a minimum of 2 and maximum of 5 candidates to the Board of Selectmen for consideration.  (Keep – yes, Czekanski – yes, Wysocki –yes

Mr. Keep and Mr. Wysocki both expressed interest in serving on the Fire Chief Screening Committee and gave a brief summary of their background and interest and serving on the Committee.

On a motion made by Czekanski and seconded by Keep, the Board of Selectmen voted to appoint Mr. Wysocki to serve on the Fire Chief Screening Committee.  (Keep – yes, Czekanski – yes, Wysocki – yes)

On a motion made by Wysocki and seconded by Czekanski, the Board of Selectmen voted to appoint Stanley Wysocki, Selectman; Don Lowe, Town Administrator; Warren Nelson, Police Chief; Margy Diaz, Ambulance Director; Kevin Lamb, Retired Fire Chief; John Petrin, citizen-at-large; and Michael Murphy, business manager to serve on the 7 member Fire Chief Screening Committee.  (Keep – yes, Czekanski – yes, Wysocki – yes)

The Board agreed that the Selectman and Town Administrator representation on the Fire Chief Screening Committee should not be appointed as the chairman of said Committee. 

CONDITION OF EQUIPMENT, QUALITY AND OVERALL GENERAL REDINESS OF THE FIRE DEPARTMENT

Acting Fire Chief Jeff Legendre informed the Board of Selectmen that a crew from his department has been deployed as part of the district taskforce to the City of Lawrence to help with the disaster where over 55 gas fed fires took place in homes between Andover and Lawrence.  Fire Chief Legendre expects updates throughout his crew’s 12 hour deployment.

State of Readiness

The primary pump of Engine 1 (1995 Pump Truck) requires some repairs.  The vehicle is fully operation at this time and is currently in Lawrence. 

The Engine 2 (2004 Fire Truck) had major complications this week after losing a strap that holds the gas tank in place.  Upon further inspection additional repairs were needed as well. All repairs have been completed and the vehicle is fully operational at this time.  The cost of $4,000 for repairs to Engine 2 was a big hit to the budget. 

Engine 3 is in good shape and has been used for a large scale training event in Boylston. 

Engine 4 (1986 brush truck) has limited use because it is a standard.  

Engine 5 is running well.  The 40 item punch list when delivered has been reduced to 10 items.  Fire Chief Legendre is reviewing the warranty at this time to see what is still covered.

The ladders and fire hoses have been tested and passed.  The jaws-of-life have been serviced and up-to-date.  The breathing apparatus is scheduled to be tested tomorrow. 

The Department is working toward OSHA compliance.  Items that need to be addressed include the ventilation system, personal protection equipment, and the replacement of the air compressor which doesn’t conform to OSHA requirements.  

Fire Chief Legendre confirmed that according to the OSHA standards being implemented the two in, two out procedure for interior structure firefighting is not required during an emergency life situation.

The department is working with the mutual aid community.  The department has a couple of new members and two more a month away from completing probation and graduating from the fire academy. 

USE OF TOWN COMMON PROPERTY FOR WORK BEING DONE AT 725 MAIN STREET

Mr. Sullivan met with the Board of Selectmen to request approval to set up a drilling truck on the corner of town property and park a water truck in the parking lane/sidewalk area at the Town Common for drilling of the well at 725 Main Street.

The Parks and Recreation Commission is aware of the request and provided a schedule of activities at the Town Common so that there wouldn’t be any interference.

The Board of Selectmen expressed concern with the weight of the equipment damaging the asphalt.

On a motion made by Wysocki and seconded by Czekanski, the Board of Selectmen approved the request contingent on receiving some form of surety or cash for the proposed project.  (Keep – yes, Czekanski – yes, Wysocki –yes)  The project will be coordinated with the Parks and Recreation Commission.

INCREASE IN RESERVE OFFICERS

Police Chief Nelson is looking for another resource to help reduce the over-time budget and requested that he receive approval to bring on a couple more reserve officers to help do this. The Police Department currently has 12 full-time positions and 8 part-time positions and currently has one officer deployed, one officer in the academy, one officer out on injured on duty and one officer out on injured off duty.   A year ago the Board of Selectmen granted approval to go from 6 to 8 reserve officers, and Police Chief Nelson is now requesting approval to increase the reserve officers from 8 to 10.   The start-up cost would be approximately $1,000 for medical review and $1,000 for uniforms, but in the long run is better than hiring another full-time officer.

On a motion made by Wysocki and seconded by Czekanski, the Board of Selectmen voted to approve the addition of 2 more reserve officers.  (Keep – yes, Czekanski – yes, Wysocki – yes)

SURVEY FOR CHANGES TO ANNUAL TOWN MEETING

The Board of Selectmen had the opportunity to review the draft survey prepared by Kate Buyuk and Erik Neyland regarding changes to the Annual Town Meeting. 

Mr. Keep stated that he read through the survey, the questions seemed straight forward and he didn’t have any objections to the survey.

Mr. Czekanski stated that after the last meeting Ms. Powell, Town Clerk sent out a request to the Town Clerk list serve asking about participation at town meetings in their town. 

The data compiled showed that Bolton was 8 out of 30 with 8.32% for attendance. Of the 7 towns higher than Bolton, 3 towns have meetings on Monday, 2 towns have meetings on Tuesday and 2 towns have meetings on Saturday.  If sorted by county, Sturbridge was the only town that had a turnout higher than Bolton.  If sorted by per capita income there is only 1 town with a higher capita income but they have a lower turn out.  If sorted by equalized valuation per capita Bolton and once again Bolton is near the top.  Based on 30 towns from regional school districts there is no correlation between turnout, day of the week or time.  

Ms. Buyuk didn’t think the results of Mr. Czekanski’s survey had anything to do with the Board of Selectmen deciding on whether to distribute the survey to the citizens of the town to see what the townspeople would like.  She didn’t feel that the results of the survey obligated the Board of Selectmen to do anything other than have a conversation.

Mr. Keep referenced the letter sent in by Lynda King that mentioned the 2 parent households, senior citizens and retirees trying to get to the meetings and it was his opinion that the survey would provide a first baseline on the issue and how the Board of Selectmen react to it was  a further conversation.

Mr. Wysocki didn’t see a need for the survey and noted that the Board of Selectmen haven’t received any calls about there being a problem. 

A motion made by Keep to go forward with the survey drafted by Kate Buyuk and Erik Neyland was not seconded.  Mr. Keep thanked everyone for their efforts.

TOWN ADMINISTRATOR REPORT

Update on Minuteman:  Mr. Lowe stated that the project is progressing very well and all news has been positive.

Update on the Town Hall Portico:  Mr. Lowe reported that one bid was received for the Town Hall Portico project, references checked out extremely well and the contractor was concerned with one sentence in the contract that has been sorted out.  Mr. Lowe hopes to sign the contract next week.

Accept American Flag for Town Hall donated by Grace Publicover:  At the Annual Ride for Rob, a fundraiser for Robert Publicover, who was a call firefighter for the Town of Bolton and tragically killed in accident in Florida, Mr. Lowe was honored to receive a gift of the American Flag from Grace Publicover to be flown at the town hall in Rob’s memory.  On a motion made by Wysocki and seconded by Czekanski, the Board of Selectmen voted to accept the American Flag as a gift to be flown at the town hall.   (Keep – yes, Czekanski – yes, Wysocki –yes)

BOARD OF SELECTMEN BUSINESS

Public Service Announcement

Transfer Station:  Mr. Wysocki reported that he will be attending a meeting with Town Administrator Don Lowe, Police Chief Nelson and DPW Director Joseph Nelson to discuss short and long term solutions to the misuse of getting rid of household trash at the transfer station.

Motor Oil:  Mr. Czekanski reminded everyone that the DPW barn accepts used motor oil which they use to heat the DPW building during the winter.  Anyone interested should contact the DPW for the new process for dropping off the used motor oil.

Accept Happiness sign as a gift of art:  Mr. Wysocki expressed his concern with the agreement noting that the Town of Bolton shouldn’t be responsible for repairing or replacing the sign and setting a precedent related to the site specific location of the gift accepted.  A motion made by Czekanski and seconded by Keep, to accept the Happiness sign as a gift of art from Suzy Becker to the Town of Bolton was amended by Czekanski and seconded by Keep to include the “Town of Bolton assumes no liability to repair or replace the sign in the event of damage or theft and authorize the chairman to sign the agreement when modified.”   (Keep – yes, Czekanski – yes, Wysocki –yes)   Mr. Lowe and Ms. Day will coordinate the installation with Ms. Becker.

Bolton Access Television Funds:  Ms. Sauer and Mr. Troup met with the Board of Selectmen to request the release of $27,547.98 from the Comcast funds to Bolton Access Television.  Ms. Sauer confirmed that this amount represents a slight decrease because Comcast has reconfigured their calculations for providing funds to the Access Stations across Massachusetts.   All stations are working with the state government to determine why the revenue has dropped.  On a motion made by Wysocki and seconded by Czekanski, the Board of Selectmen voted to release $27,547.98 from the Comcast fund to Bolton Access Television for their operating expenses as requested.  (Keep – yes, Czekanski – yes, Wysocki – yes)

Bolton Access Television is cutting back on the live recording of meetings to allow time to do some original programming.  The meetings being recorded live are the Advisory Committee, Board of Selectmen and the School Committee.   The title they have come up with for the original programming is “Know Your Town Government”.  They plan to work with Rebecca Longvall, Conversation Agent and Erica Uriarte, Town Planner to provide information to the public and then continue with others such as the Fire Chief, DPW Director, Board of Health and Superintendent Clenchy.  The will also work with Roger Breeze about the town history and local organizations.

Bills/Payroll Warrants:  On a motion made by Wysocki and seconded by Czekanski, the Board of Selectmen voted to approve the bills and payroll warrant W19-05, W19-05A, W19-06 and W19-06A.  (Keep – yes, Czekanski – yes, Wysocki – yes) 

Minutes:  On a motion made by Wysocki and seconded by Czekanski, the Board of Selectmen voted to approve the regular session and executive session minutes of April 12, May 10 & 24 and July 26, 2018.  (Keep – yes, Czekanski – yes, Wysocki – yes) 

On a motion made by Wysocki and seconded by Czekanski, the Board of Selectmen voted 3-0 by roll call (Wysocki – yes, Keep – yes, Czekanski - yes) to enter into executive session at 9:45 p.m. pursuant to MGL c. 30A, §21(a) 3 to discuss strategy with respect to collective bargaining for the Police Union, as the Chair finds that an open meeting may have a detrimental effect on the Board’s bargaining position. 

The Board announced it will not reconvene to open session.    (Keep – yes, Czekanski – yes, Wysocki – yes) 

Respectfully submitted by Linda L. Day