Board of Selectmen
May 20, 2009
Minutes
Members present: William Cavanaugh, John Murray, George Fuller
Others Present: Richard Furlong, Colleen O’Connor, Beth Van Ness, David & Eva Bonney, Alice Briggs, Madeleine Swindlehurst, Bill Brownhill, Kathy Vsetecka, Bert Goodermote, Donald Murray, Tony Blair, Mark White, Chris Bleau, Sue Donnelly, Liz Will, Kathy Hayn, Maddy Elovirta, Heather Hunt, Doug & Geri Walter, Neil Toomey, Rob Gorden, Ginger Conner, Rita Furlong
7:02 PM Meeting opened. Reviewed minutes. John motioned to accept the minutes of April 22, 2009, Bill seconded. Motion passed. John motioned to accept the minutes of May 6, 2009, Bill seconded. John was not at this meeting and Doug Walter is no longer a Selectman so John voted to accept these minutes. Motion passed. John motioned to accept the minutes of the Local Licensing Authority meeting of May 6, 2009, Bill seconded. John was not at this meeting and Doug Walter is no longer a Selectman so John voted to accept these minutes. Motion passed. John motioned to accept the minutes of May 13, 2009, Bill seconded. John was not at this meeting and Doug Walter is no longer a Selectman so John voted to accept these minutes. Motion passed.
John motioned to keep Bill Cavanaugh as Chairman of the Board, George seconded. All in favor. George motioned to have John Murray act as Vice Chair of the Board, Bill seconded. All in favor. John motioned to have George act as Clerk of the Board, Bill seconded. All in favor.
Public Input: Colleen asked if Bill knew what a public water supply was and she asked what made him decide to sign a waiver to the DEP on the well location. Bill advised that he did not sign a waiver. He signed a letter supporting a waiver. Bill advised that he cannot make the DEP do anything. He also advised that the Selectmen could not do anything to make the store open; it is up to the DEP to see that everything is in order before the store could open. John advised that they would need to test the water regularly to see that it is fine for human consumption. Colleen advised that if the store is opened it would be done illegally since they are not complying with the DEP. She claims that there is a letter from the DEP that states that the store could never open. George
advised Colleen to give the Selectmen copies of the letter that she refers to. The Selectmen have never seen this letter.
Maddy Elovirta explained that she submitted two grants for the fire department and one grant for the ambulance department. She is only charging the town for the ambulance department grant. In order for the town to be reimbursed for the $2,000 that she is charging for the ambulance grant, she will need to be paid before June 20, 2009. John motioned to pay Maddy Elovirta $2,000 before June 20, 2009 for writing the ambulance grant, Bill seconded. George voted against this. The motion passed. Maddy asked George why he voted against it. He claimed that Mike Falk said at a meeting that Maddy was volunteering to do this grant. She advised that she volunteered to assist the ambulance department. Richard advised that he was at the meeting and the agreement was that Maddy would
be paid $2,000 for writing the ambulance grant and would not be paid for the fire department grants since she was on the fire department.
The Selectmen reviewed the letters to the Sherwood Forest, Sherwood Greens and the Becket Woods Road Districts regarding Fiscal Year 2010 Salary requests. The Town has contracts with the road districts for services that the tax collector, assessors and treasurer provide. The Sherwood Forest and Sherwood Greens Road Districts have signed contracts but the Becket Woods Road District has not signed a contract
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May 20, 2009
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with the Town. The Town has signed a contract with Sherwood Forest and Sherwood Greens Road Districts to be paid 3% of their budgets. Susan Donnelly feels that it is fair to charge all of the road districts the same amount and if you change the amount for one road district then you would have to do it for all the road districts. The Selectmen were advised that the Becket Woods Road District has not paid the town for the work they have done this year. The tax collector, treasurer and assessors would like to put the funds that they collect for Becket Woods into an escrow account. The Selectmen would like to have Richard check with town counsel to see if this is something they could do. John motioned to accept the billing amount of 3% of the Sherwood Forest, Sherwood Greens and Becket
Woods Road Districts budgets, George seconded. All in favor. The Selectmen will table this until they hear from Town Counsel.
The Selectmen reviewed the memo from the Town Clerk regarding Repair of Municipal Buildings. The current handicap ramps leading into the upstairs and downstairs of the Town Hall are not compliant with state building codes. Richard explained what would need to be done to repair the ramps. He does not have a cost of these repairs. Neil Toomey, of the Community Preservation Committee will check to see if the CPA funds could be used to fix the problems. Colleen asked if it were possible to put an elevator into the Town Hall. Briefly discussed this issue. Richard advised that the ramp at the front of the building would be much more expensive to repair than the one in back of the building.
Richard advised that the town is currently out to bid for the Yokum Pond Road Bridge replacement. The bids are due next week and the start date would be October 31st. Richard advised that he spoke with the Dream Away Lodge about this bridge replacement. Briefly discussed the borrowing for this project.
The Selectmen initialed the Becket Ambulance Department Request for Write-Off Report. Richard explained the billing process of the Ambulance Department.
The Selectmen reviewed letter from the Historical Commission regarding monument it would like to put in Ballou Park. This monument would recognize the railroad that was so vital to the town of Becket back when there was a large amount of industry in town. The town acquired the sign that was at the old railroad station. Rob Gorden advised the Selectmen of where it would be placed in the park and what it would be made of. The monument would be made from railroad ties. The Historical Commission has made the Planning Board aware of what they are planning to do. Bill had a problem with the monument being placed at Ballou Park. He feels that it might take away from this park being a memorial park. He would rather see it at the Mullen House. Rita Furlong advised that this
monument would be placed in the North Becket Historic District where the railroad was located. George thought that the area where they wanted to put the monument was far enough away from the war memorials so it would not affect the park.
Any other business: George addressed the Board and the public about being a Selectman. He advised that he would be willing to work with everyone and advised that he would be available if anyone wanted to contact him. George advised that the reason he did not vote to pay Maddy Elovirta for writing the ambulance grant was because the Selectmen did not know that this was being done. He thought that the Selectmen were the ones that were supposed to okay the spending of funds for this purpose.
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May 20, 2009
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Colleen asked if there was a way to hold a meeting with the Board of Selectmen and the Board of Health to discuss the Becket General Store. Bill advised that this store is a private deal and there are state agencies involved with the opening of this store.
Reviewed correspondence.
George asked Richard if he heard about a grant for the gutters at the school. Richard advised that this was part of the stimulus package. Richard also advised that the town owns the school but does not do any work on the building. It is up to the Central Berkshire Regional School District to keep the building maintained.
Briefly discussed the Animal Control Officer position. Bert brought in his book of animal control activity. Bill advised that he did not have enough information at the town meeting to make a decision about his salary. Bill asked Bert to start completing a monthly report like the other departments in town.
Kathy Hayn advised that the Selectmen could include a stuffer with the tax bills if they wish to. Briefly discussed the ice storm emergency and how people did not know the town hall was an emergency shelter.
8:30 PM John motioned to adjourn, George seconded. All in favor.
Reviewed payroll/expense warrants.
Respectfully submitted, _______________________________
Nina Weiler, Secretary William F. Cavanaugh, Chairman
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