Members present: George Fuller, Mark Karlberg, Jeanne Pryor
Others Present: Craig Kleman, Bill & Maddy Elovirta, Sandy Sayward, Beth VanNess, Rita Furlong, Pat Portieri, Colleen O’Connor, Dan Andrews, Paula Cianfarani, Katherine Hoak, Kevin Fox-Auditor Melanson Heath, Karen Karlberg, David Zagorski, and others
7:00 PM Meeting opened.
Mark asked if anyone from the audience was recording this meeting. Beth VanNess is audio taping the meeting.
Selectmen’s Comments and Announcements: Mark advised that he walked the property on Maple Street with the Nature Conservancy on Saturday and he feels that the Select Board should work with the Nature Conservancy on this property.
Town Administrator’s Report: Craig advised that the Green Communities Grant is being extended to December 31, 2012 and the Standard Contract form needs to be signed. The contract has Craig listed as the signatory and he needs the Select Board to authorize him to sign this contract.
Craig advised that the Nature Conservancy would like to come to their next meeting to discuss the merits of conserving the property located off Maple Street.
Craig advised that Len Tisdale has asked him to pursue the Hazard Mitigation Grant for the potential replacement of the Bonny Rigg Hill Road Bridge with a clear span box culvert with an estimated cost of $400,000 of which FEMA would pay 75% of this. The Select Board will need to think about including this in the budget.
Craig advised that the CBRSD Superintendent will be meeting with the Select Board and the Finance Committee on December 1, 2011 at 7:00 p.m. to discuss the FY2013 school budget and any other educational issues.
Craig advised that he met with staff from Mass Broadband and conducted inspections at Community Anchor Facilities. They looked at Town Hall, Fire Station #1 and #2, the Becket Athenaeum and the highway garage. They located a space in the Becket Athenaeum that may serve as a hub for the information highway. He will keep the Select Board posted.
George motioned to accept the minutes of the October 19, 2011 meeting as presented, Jeanne seconded. All in favor. George advised that he feels some things were left out of the minutes from November 2, 2011 and he would like to put these on hold until the next meeting. Mark advised that he did not get a chance to read the minutes. George motioned to put the minutes of November 2, 2011 on hold, Mark seconded. All in favor. George motioned to accept the minutes of the November 2, 2011 Local Licensing Authority public hearing, Jeanne seconded. All in favor.
Public Input: Beth VanNess advised that there will be a free flu shot clinic at the Town Hall on Friday, December 2, 2011 sponsored by Hillcrest Hospital. She also advised that if they do not get enough people participating in this clinic then they will not conduct another one at town hall.
Rita Furlong advised that a while ago the Parks Commission submitted to the Conservation Commission a beach plan and they had spoken with Camp Greylock because they were concerned that the project would encroach on their property. The camp had a survey done and it was found that the entire parking area belongs to the camp. She feels the Select Board should go down to the beach and see where the flags are because they will be shocked to see how much the camp owns. She also advised that the Parks Commission, the Recreation Committee and Camp Greylock would be meeting sometime to discuss this issue. She also feels the Select Board should think about trying to purchase this property in the future.
Katherine Hoak feels that the Board should think about renaming the Board of Selectmen now that there is a woman on the Board. She looked online to see what other towns that have women on their boards call themselves. She came up with Board of Select Persons, Board of Supervisors, Board of Representatives, and Select Boards. She feels that the Board of Selectmen is very historical but the times have changed and she feels it should be renamed. George motioned to change the Selectmen’s meetings to Select Board Meetings, Jeanne seconded. All in favor. Nina will change this designation on the town’s website and in town hall.
Colleen O’Connor asked why Jeanne thought the minutes were too lengthy. Jeanne replied that the only thing that is required in the minutes of a meeting is a brief summary of the discussions that took place and the votes. Colleen replied that if someone did not come to a meeting they would not know everything that happened from the minutes so she thinks that more information is better. Jeanne replied that if the Board thought something was important enough to include in the minutes they could make this decision.
Colleen O’ Connor asked how a person on October 3, 2007 could resign from an elected position and then be reinstated ten days later without having an election. She advised that Mr. Elovirta resigned as Highway Superintendent, Pest Control, Tree Warden, Constable and Chief of Police at the Select Board meeting on October 3, 2007. At that same meeting he was voted to be reinstated ten days later as Chief of Police and Constable. She feels that the Select Board takes a vow to uphold Massachusetts General Laws but they continue to allow Mr. Elovirta to be a uniformed member of the Police Department when the law states he cannot be a uniformed member after the age of 65. She is appealing to the Board to do its job and uphold the laws. Mark advised that he spoke with Paul Mark and Smitty
Pignatelli and also Martha Coakley about this issue and she does not have a problem with it. He feels that this should be the last time this gets discussed. Colleen wants the Board to say that this is not a law. Mark said it is a law but the Attorney General’s office does not have a problem with it. Rita Furlong advised that the town overwhelmingly voted home rule to keep Mr. Elovirta until he turns 70. Colleen advised that he could not work until the legislation is passed.
7:25 PM The Tax Classification hearing opened. David Zagorski, the principal assessor, stated that each year the Select Board needs to vote to keep a single tax rate or vote to have multiple rates for the different classes of property. He advised that the Board of Assessors recommends that the Select Board vote to adopt a residential factor of 1; it recommends that the Select Board vote no to adopt an open space discount since there is no open space in town; it recommends that the Select Board vote no to adopt a residential exemption; and it recommends that the Select Board vote no to adopt a small commercial exemption. George asked why the Board of Assessors does not recommend a small commercial exemption. He explained that the exemption applies to a specific parcel occupied by an eligible
business, not to the eligible business itself. The owner of the building receives the exemption not the qualifying business owner. He stated that because the town does not have any large commercial properties, it does not benefit anybody. Karen Karlberg asked why the camps were not considered commercial properties. David explained that the property values were not enough to consider them large commercial properties. Mark asked David if he has a list of the values for the camps and he advised that he could produce it for the Select Board. George motioned to adopt a residential factor of 1 as a yes vote, Jeanne seconded. All in favor. Jeanne motioned to adopt an open space discount as a no vote, George seconded. All in favor. George motioned to adopt a residential exemption as a no vote, Jeanne seconded. All in favor. Jeanne motioned to adopt a small commercial exemption as a no vote, George seconded. Mark
would like to see the print out of values for commercial properties before he votes. David will go to his office to print this report and the Select Board will continue the hearing when he returns.
7:35 PM George motioned to close the Select Board meeting to open public hearing as Local Licensing Authority, Jeanne seconded. The Select Board meeting will reopen after the public hearing. All in favor.
7:42 PM Meeting re-opened.
Kevin Fox, auditor from Melanson Heath & Company, addressed the Board regarding the FY10 Audit. He asked the Select Board if they had any questions regarding the management letter. Mark asked if the discrepancies that were in the report have been addressed. He advised that he does not know if they have because the Town has decided not to do an audit next year. He advised that normally the town would complete a corrective action plan and submit it to the auditors but they did not receive one from the town this year. Briefly discussed the issue at the Transfer Station. It was suggested that maybe the Becket General Store would be willing to sell bag stickers to make it easier for residents to purchase them. Jeanne thought that maybe a vending machine could be used for the sale
of bag stickers. Craig advised that he would assemble the finance team to go over the issues and get answers to them. Mark asked Craig if he could get a letter to the Select Board at the end of the year explaining the corrective measures that have been done. A copy of this letter would also be sent to the auditors. Colleen asked Kevin if he thought the town should have an audit next year. He advised that it is not a requirement to have an audit done every year. The only time a town would need an audit is if it received over $500,000 in federal funding. Craig advised that it was not budgeted to do an audit next year and the town accountant does not feel that we need one every year.
Craig advised that Len Tisdale could not come in tonight. He has been very busy getting the FEMA paperwork finalized. Mark asked if there was someone else to speak about this. Craig advised that there was no one here to replace Len but he advised Craig that the Parks Commission has two options regarding the beach improvements. They could postpone the beach improvements until the highway department is all caught up with its work or they could go out to bid which, with the prevailing wage rates, this could cost about $30,000. Craig was not sure what could be done now that we know that Camp Greylock owns the parking area at the beach. George wants to know if they could still go out to bid so that the Select Board knows what to raise at the Annual Town Meeting. He advised that they
could give three contractors in town the plans and see what price they come up with. Sandy Sayward asked if Camp Greylock was tax exempt. The Board advised her that the camp was not tax exempt. Briefly discussed non-profit organizations. George advised that if they would go out and get informal bids for this project they could give the plans out to Andrews Construction, Cormier Construction, and Canterbury Farms. George motioned to give the plans to three Becket contractors and get informal bids for the beach improvements, Jeanne seconded. All in favor.
George motioned to sign the Wage and Benefit Agreement for Kenneth Bilodeau, Assistant Tax Collector, Jeanne seconded. All in favor.
Tax Classification Hearing continued. David Zagorski entered the meeting with the information the Select Board wanted. The Select Board reviewed this information. George motioned to adopt a small commercial exemption as a no vote, Jeanne seconded. All in favor. The Select Board signed a form that needs to be sent in to the Department of Revenue that states that the tax classification was held. The tax classification hearing closed.
George motioned to appoint Craig Kleman as the Associate Member to the Governing Board of the Berkshire Public Health Alliance, Jeanne seconded. All in favor. Jeanne asked if the Board of Health voted to appoint a member to the Governing Board of the Berkshire Public Health Alliance at one of their meetings because she did not see that they did in their minutes. Craig will look into this.
The Select Board discussed the Police Chief search. Craig advised that he followed the Town of Brookfield’s police chief job description but he has changed a couple of things. He changed the part about the police chief answering to the Select Board. Our charter states that the police chief answers to the town administrator. He also changed a part of the job description that involves elections since it is the constable’s job to handle this. Mark does not have a problem with Jeanne’s suggestions regarding education and experience. He agrees about the part about the police chief residing in Becket. George advised that in the description it states that this would be a fulltime position. He stated that the town has not voted to have a fulltime police chief.
Craig advised that it would need to be a budget item and explained the salary range. George questioned about the time frame that they would give the appointed chief to move into Becket. Jeanne advised that the State Law says that the police chief needs to live within 15 miles of the town. Bill Elovirta advised that the town does not have a residency policy so he does not know if the Board could make a person move into town. George asked about Jeanne’s recommendation for a person who has five years of law enforcement experience as opposed to Craig’s recommendation for three years experience. He also asked if the Board wants a fulltime police chief, would they be having a Special Town Meeting or would they wait until the Annual Town Meeting. Briefly discussed having someone work as interim chief until they see if the town wants a fulltime or part time chief. Craig feels the Select Board should start putting together the
search committee.
The Select Board reviewed the Special Permit Application from the Planning Board for the addition to an accessory building for a non-conforming use located on Andrews Road. Jeanne asked if there was any way the planning board could attach the plans so the Board could see what was being done. Jeanne motioned to have the Planning Board attach plans and maps to all future special permit applications, Mark seconded. All in favor.
The Selectmen reviewed the monthly reports of the Building Inspector, Police Department and Citations Issued.
Any other business: Craig advised that the Green Communities Standard Contract extension needs to be signed and they have Craig as the person who needs to sign this contract. He would like the Select Board’s okay to sign this. Jeanne motioned to give Craig Kleman authority to sign the standard contract for the Green Communities Grant, George seconded. All in favor.
The Select Board reviewed a Becket Ambulance Department Request for Write-Off Report. George motioned to send the report to the collection agency, Mark seconded. All in favor.
Rita Furlong asked if this meeting room could have the scotch tape removed from the walls and could it be repainted. Craig will check to see if Bill Girard could paint this room.
Jeanne asked if the Fred Snow Road and Johnson Road issue would be on the next agenda. Craig advised that it would be on the agenda for the December 7, 2011 meeting.
Jeanne would like the Remote Participation on Open Meetings to be on the agenda for the next Select Board meeting.
Jeanne would like to discuss the Guidelines for Selectmen’s Meetings at the next Select Board Meeting. Mark asked Craig to put this on the agenda for December 7th meeting.
Jeanne asked if the winter parking ban could be put on the website and also the revised Annual Town Meeting minutes. Nina will make sure these items are put on the website.
Briefly discussed the school busses departing from Becket Washington School.
Reviewed correspondence.
Jeanne asked what needed to be done to have the deed transferred to the Sherwood Greens Road Improvement and Maintenance District for the property that was recently purchased at the entrance to Sherwood Greens. Craig will check with the Treasurer and the Town Attorney to see how this will be done.
9:00 PM George motioned to adjourn, Jeanne seconded. All in favor.
Reviewed payroll/expense warrants.
Respectfully submitted, _______________________________
Nina Weiler, Secretary Mark L. Karlberg, Chairman
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