Board of Selectmen
September 2, 2009
Minutes
Members present: William Cavanaugh, George Fuller
John Murray-absent
Others Present: Tony Blair, David & Eva Bonney, Alice Briggs, Bill Brownhill, Colleen O’Connor, Beth VanNess, Donna Mellick, Bob Ronzio, Bert Goodermote
7:00 PM Meeting opened. Reviewed minutes. George asked Tony if he had spoken with someone at Becket Washington School about the janitor throwing waste water into the road drainage system. Tony advised that he spoke with the appropriate person at CBRSD but he has not heard what happened. George motioned to approve the minutes of August 19, 2009, Bill seconded. Motion passed.
Public Input: Alice Briggs advised that the Country Journal is looking for towns that have anything that impacted their town in regard to the late Senator Edward Kennedy. Bill advised that he was advocating for the Americans with Disabilities Act years ago in Washington and he spoke with Senator Kennedy about this bill while Congress was in session. Bill always supported Senator Kennedy even though he did not always agree on everything he did.
Bob Ronzio asked if anyone was appointed to the Strategic Planning Committee of the CBRSD. George advised that he was appointed to this committee. He also asked about the outcome of the meeting with Mass Highway regarding the bridges on Route 20. Tony advised that this will come up later on in the meeting.
The Selectmen reviewed the bond for the Yokum Pond Road bridge replacement. Tony advised that we have done a borrowing for this. George motioned to sign the bank bond in the amount of $250,000.00 for the Yokum Pond Road bridge replacement, Bill seconded. Motion passed.
Tony advised that the family that requested to name the private road off of Leonhardt Road to Leonhardt Court decided that they would rather have the road named Frederick Court. Bill thought that this name would be less confusing than Leonhardt Court. George motioned to change the name from Leonhardt Court to Frederick Court, Bill seconded. George advised that this would be the last time this road name changes. Motion passed.
The Selectmen reviewed the invitation to the Conflict of Interest Seminar at the Town Offices of the Village School in West Stockbridge. Bill and George will attend this seminar. Bill would like Nina to call John to see if he would like to attend this seminar.
The Selectmen reviewed the letter from the MMA regarding the annual MMA Statewide Essay Contest for 6th graders. Briefly discussed this essay contest. Nina advised that the 6th grade students participated in this contest last year but unfortunately no student from CBRSD won the contest. The Selectmen would like the 6th grade students to participate again this year.
Bert advised that George would be covering the animal control officer calls this weekend when he is on vacation.
The Selectmen reviewed the Special Permit application for a concession trailer at 29 Chester Road. Tony suggested that the Board of Health be contacted so they can inspect the trailer before they start selling food. Bill thought that it would be a good idea to have a porta potty there for the patrons. This could be one of the stipulations that the Planning Board could place on the Special Permit if it is approved.
The Selectmen reviewed the application for a front line variance for the construction of a pergola at 9 Peterson Road. They had no objection to this. George asked why they get notified about this before it goes before the Zoning Board of Appeals. Tony explained that it is a part of State Law that all boards get notification of a hearing so the boards can give input if it wishes.
The Selectmen reviewed the monthly reports of the Building Inspector, Animal Control Officer, Police and Ambulance Departments. Bill suggested that Bert fill out the animal control report better. He currently just lists on his report the date and time of call and what type of animal call. Bill advised that this does not tell him how long the call took, if he responded or dealt with it by phone, what the outcome was, etc. Tony advised that he will implement a new program for the Animal Control Officer. He also advised that the Town Clerk needs a form from the Animal Control Officer when he collects fines describing what the fines were for. He is working on the form for the town clerk. Tony explained that this is being done to better handle the animal control calls and paperwork. Bill also advised that Bert can no longer go on calls while he is working on the highway department unless he uses his personal time while he is on the call. George asked why Bert gets his cell phone
paid by the town. Bill advised that Bert pays for this through his expense account. Tony advised that he is trying to get a cell phone plan for the town that could be used by the ambulance, police, fire, highway and other town departments. This would save the town money if we had one plan instead of multiple plans. Briefly discussed the cell phone policy that was just implemented. Tony advised that by having a policy, it saves the town money on insurance and it will also keep drivers safe if they do not talk on the cell phones while driving. George asked why Bill Elovirta does not break down the miscellaneous calls on the police report. Tony advised that he has added approximately six more categories to his report but it is impossible to have a category for all the miscellaneous calls. Briefly discussed the energy audit that was done on Fire Station #2. George asked why so many ambulance calls are not being collected.
Briefly discussed hardship requests. Bill advised that the hardship requests should be made clear so that people can apply easily for them. Tony advised that he wants to meet with the billing company, the treasurer, ambulance director and accountant to go over the billing procedures to make sure that everything is being done to collect the fees.
Any other business: Beth VanNess advised that she has been training for emergencies through the Medical Reserve Corp. and she would like to hold a seminar so she can teach people what to do in the case of emergencies. She will hold a seminar on September 30, 2009 at the town hall and would like the Selectmen to attend.
The Selectmen reviewed the letter of thanks that was sent to Scott Richards for repairing the drainage problem at the school at no cost to the town.
Tony advised that there is a swine flu meeting coming up that will be important for local officials to attend.
Tony gave the Selectmen an update on the Wade Inn Road truck issue. He advised that Mass Highway has reassessed the ratings on two bridges on Route 20 and the engineers are working on the other bridges. He also advised that in the next two months all bridges on Route 20 should be opened to all kinds of traffic.
Tony advised that the CDBG Task Force has been meeting and will come up with a plan by late September. He also advised that he may need to schedule a special Board of Selectmen meeting at the end of the month because the Selectmen are only scheduled to meet on September 16, 2009 and are not scheduled to meet again until October 7, 2009.
Tony advised that the fire stations had its water tested and fire station #2 came out fine but fire station #1 has coliform. He does not think that shocking the well will help. In the meantime, the fire chief has ordered a water cooler for fire station #1. Briefly discussed the grant that the fire department applied for. Maddy Elovirta advised that the waiting period for this grant is about a year. George asked why the highway department does not have its water tested. Tony thought that it would be a good idea to have this water tested also.
Tony advised that the Vocational Transportation is underway. The town is leasing a ten passenger van to transport students to Smith and Westfield Vocational Schools. George asked why the town was using the old police cruiser to pick up kids. He was concerned that the vehicle does not have the proper flashers on it. Tony advised that the van that the town is leasing would not be available until the end of the week. He also advised that the town could use the old cruiser up to three days.
Tony advised that he was told on the morning of September 2, 2009 that the town did not get the Green Communities Planning grant because we did not meet one of the requirements. He then received an email in the afternoon stating that the town did meet the requirements and that the town would receive this grant so we will be receiving technical assistance on energy issues for the next year under this grant. He explained that the town should form an energy committee to come up with a plan to make the town more energy efficient.
George asked why the unemployment assessment for one of the EMT’s is coming out of the ambulance department expense account. Tony explained how unemployment works. He plans on appealing this decision because he does not feel that the town should be paying since the EMT did not stop working for the town. He also advised that we received another claim for one of the monitors who worked during the ice storm clean up but he sent it back stating that this person did not work for the town as an employee but was an independent contractor.
Reviewed correspondence.
8:45 PM George motioned to adjourn, John seconded. All in favor.
Reviewed payroll/expense warrants.
Respectfully submitted, _______________________________
Nina Weiler, Secretary William F. Cavanaugh, Chairman
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