Board of Selectmen
April 1, 2009
Minutes
Members present: William Cavanaugh, Doug Walter, John Murray
Others Present: Colleen O’Connor, Bill Brownhill, David Bonney, Alice Briggs, Bill & Maddy Elovirta, Lynn Pease
7:00 PM Meeting opened. Reviewed minutes. Doug motioned to accept the minutes of March 18, 2009, John seconded. All in favor.
Doug motioned to appoint Colleen Cox as a member of the Registrar of Voters term to expire March 31, 2012, John seconded. All in favor.
Doug motioned to sign the letters to the State Republican Committee and the Democratic State Committee requesting a list from both parties of members who desire appointment as Election Workers, John seconded. All in favor.
The Selectmen reviewed letter from the Wahconah Refurbishing Auditorium Seat Project requesting a donation of $1,000. Doug motioned to refer this to the Finance Committee, John seconded. All in favor.
The Selectmen reviewed letter from the CBRSD regarding lease between the Town of Becket and the CBRSD involving premises referred to in the lease as “Becket Consolidated School”. The CBRSD has elected to extend for 20 years the lease dated September 2, 1969 between the Town of Becket and the CBRSD involving certain premises generally referred to in the said lease as “Becket Consolidated School”.
Public Input: Maddy Elovirta addressed the Board regarding some issues that were brought up at the last Selectmen’s meeting. There was some question about why she was being paid $2,000 to write the grant for a new ambulance. She advised that she has volunteered for many different committees in town for about forty years. She also advised the Board that she has written three grants, free of charge, for the fire department and two grants were denied but one was granted for the new tanker. The amount of this grant was $180,500. At a special town meeting in the fall her name came up for writing a grant for a new ambulance. She asked Richard Furlong what was the expectation and she would help in any way she could. Richard stated that he would be happy if she would write the
grant. She then went to the Finance Committee for direction and the committee agreed that she would not do this for nothing and an amount of $2,000 was agreed upon. She explained the amount of time that goes into writing grants. Bill Elovirta addressed the Board regarding some issues that came up at the last meeting. One issue that was brought up was the fact that the new police cruiser did not get an oil change until it had about 8,000 miles on it. He advised that normally he tries to have the oil changed every 5,000 miles but the ice storm took place right around then and he could not take this vehicle off the road during that time. He also advised that the maintenance schedule for this vehicle calls for oil changes every 7,500 miles so it was only a couple of hundred miles over this schedule. Bill also wanted to clear up another issue that came up at the previous meeting. It was brought up that Bill is spending more money for
routine maintenance on the cruisers since he is not having this done at the highway garage. He advised the Board that the reason he is not having this maintenance done at the highway garage is because there is some internal circumstances taking place which is why he is no longer taking the cruisers there for maintenance. He has discussed this with the highway superintendent. Another issue that was brought up was that Bill does not go after grants for the police department. He advised that grants have always been a priority with him. He spoke of some of the
grants that he was instrumental in getting. Another issue that came up was that he never got an extended warranty for the transmission on truck #5. He advised that he always got an extended warranty on every piece of equipment. The extended warranty runs out after five years so he was not sure why this was brought up. John advised that he heard rumors that because some of the highway department members did not vote in favor of the new highway/police facility, Bill is targeting them. Briefly discussed the highway/police facility.
The Selectmen reviewed the invitation to the Berkshire County Selectmen’s Association Dinner Meeting on April 16, 2009 at the Wahconah Country Club.
The Selectmen reviewed the monthly reports of the Board of Assessors, Ambulance Department and Building Inspector.
Any other business: Nina advised that the water pump had to be replaced at town hall this week and that the computer system went down today but hopefully it will be repaired soon.
Reviewed correspondence.
7:35 PM Doug motioned to adjourn, John seconded. All in favor.
There were no payroll/expense warrants this week.
Respectfully submitted, _______________________________
Nina Weiler, Secretary William F. Cavanaugh, Chairman
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