Members present: William Cavanaugh, Mark Karlberg, George Fuller
Others Present: Richard Furlong, David Bonney, Rita Furlong, Patricia Mullins, Gerry Galliher, Bill Elovirta
7:02 PM Meeting opened.
It was announced that Beth VanNess was audio taping the meeting.
Selectmen’s Comments and Announcements: Bill acknowledged the veterans for their service to our country, past and present and thanked them.
Bill motioned to accept the minutes of November 3, 2010, Mark seconded. George advised that the only change on the minutes was that he wanted to be present when they site the well for fire station #1, not when they drill it. All in favor.
George asked Richard if Bill Girard ever took a look at the property on Quarry Road where there are many unregistered vehicles on the property. Richard said he was not sure. George told the woman that asked him about this to see Bill Girard about it.
Public Input: None.
Richard advised that the seasonal liquor licenses go until November 30th but the Selectmen can vote to extend the season until January 15, 2011. George asked how they could get a year round full liquor license for the Becket Country Store. Richard advised that they would need to go through the legislature. Richard explained the quota system which goes by population. He said that the system was meant for cities and does not take into consideration a town that is 48 square miles in area. George motioned to extend the seasonal liquor license effective date to January 15th, Bill seconded. All in favor. Richard advised that the town will send the two seasonal package goods store licensees a letter stating that they could sell all kinds of alcohol until January 15th.
The Selectmen reviewed the letter from resident regarding false alarm fines assessed to them by the Becket Police Department. The letter stated that the resident was having an issue with their alarm sensor and they continually asked the alarm company to fix the sensor and refrain from calling the police department when the back door sensor went off but the alarm company continued to call the police department. They have been assessed $550 for all of the false alarms. The Selectmen asked Bill Elovirta what he thought about this. He stated that all alarm systems are registered through the Police Department so the owners know what it would cost for a false alarm and he thinks they should go after the alarm company because they should not have called the police department. George asked how many
false alarms the police department went to. Bill advised that there is no charge for the first false alarm and the next one costs $50 and any ones after that would cost $100 per false alarm. The police department went to seven false alarms to their address. Bill Cavanaugh stated that the Selectmen in the past would reduce the fine amount to help the people out. Bill motioned to reduce the fine from $550 to $350 and send a letter asking the people to go after the alarm company, George seconded. All in favor.
Public Hearing on the FY11 CDBG Grant Application. Patricia Mullins, from Berkshire Regional Planning Commission, opened the public hearing by explaining the three different components of the grant application. The first component is infrastructure which entails the sidewalk repair in North Becket Village. Pat showed a drawing of where the sidewalk work will take place. The next component would be housing rehab and the third component would be planning for affordable senior housing. She will put together the grant application but will not have it ready by the next meeting. She explained why the grant application would not be ready. She thought that this could wait until the meeting on December 1, 2010. She explained that the only thing different this time around is that
approximately $10,000 will go toward a clerk of the works so that the highway superintendent would not be responsible for the day to day activities on the infrastructure part of the grant. The Selectmen wanted to know where the $10,000 would come from. She advised that it would come out of some other part of the grant. The Selectmen would like this to come out of the planning for affordable senior housing part of the grant. Mark asked if the Selectmen could legally sign off on the grant application without BRPC presenting it to them. She said that they could have George sign the application instead of her presenting this at another Selectmen’s meeting. George asked if the paved shortcut from High Street to Main Street is included in the application. Pat advised that if they wanted to include this in the grant application then it would have to be ADA approved and that would cost more than if the town repaired this section itself.
Bill motioned to allow George to review and sign the grant application without doing this at a Selectmen’s meeting, Mark seconded. All in favor.
The Selectmen reviewed the letter to person that donated his property to the town. This letter is to acknowledge that the town has accepted this parcel so the person who donated this property can claim this on his taxes. Bill motioned to sign the letter, George seconded. All in favor.
The Selectmen reviewed copy of the MassBroadband 123 Project information that was sent to the Historical Commission. Rita Furlong advised that the Historical Commission has not reviewed this yet. The Selectmen will not be acting on this; it is for their information. Bill explained what this report is all about. Bill advised that the Historical Commission will be notified before anything is done in an historical district in town.
The Selectmen reviewed the monthly report of the Becket Police Department and Citations Issued.
Any other business: Richard advised that the flag at the town hall will be down for awhile because the line broke so he needs to pick up some more line and see if someone could bring a bucket truck so we can get the line back up. Briefly discussed keeping the flag down through the winter by Memorial Park. The flags take a beating during the winter. The Selectmen think the flags could come down after Veterans’ Day and put back up before Memorial Day. Briefly discussed repairing the light that shines on the flag at Memorial Park.
Richard advised that the highway department was out at 4:30 a.m. sanding the roads during the snow and ice storm.
Richard advised that the ambulance had to go to River Road in Chester the other day at about 5:00 a.m. These runs take about 6 hours from start to finish.
Richard advised that the Selectmen need to ask Central Berkshire Regional School District to designate Taconic High School as the Town of Becket Vocational High School. Once Taconic High School is rebuilt it will have more of the vocational programs that the other schools carry. If it is designated the Town of Becket Vocational High School, any new student wishing to go to a vocational school would need to go to Taconic if they offer the program they want. This will save the town money. Bill motioned to send a letter to CBRSD asking it to designate Taconic High School the Town of Becket Vocational High School, George seconded. All in favor.
The Selectmen reviewed two applications from the Zoning Board of Appeals. One is for a dimensional special permit for the construction of a single family house on a pre-existing non-conforming lot containing greater than 50 ft. of frontage and 5000 sq. ft. in area recorded prior to zoning within 10 ft. of a property side yard and 30 ft. of a property front yard. The other application is for site plan approval for the construction of a new maintenance facility building to replace existing facility within Performance Campus at Jacobs Pillow Dance Festival.
Briefly discussed the vehicles at a house on Quarry Road. There have been some complaints about the number of unregistered vehicles at this location. Richard will check to see if Bill Girard has been there to address this issue.
Rita Furlong advised that the Mullen House is fragile right now because of the renovations and she would like Bill Elovirta to keep an eye on the lumber pile. She also advised that Dave Drugmand is doing the work at the Mullen House.
Reviewed correspondence.
8:25 PM George motioned to adjourn, Bill seconded. All in favor.
Reviewed payroll/expense warrants.
Respectfully submitted, _______________________________
Nina Weiler, Secretary George Fuller, Chairman
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