Members present: Mark Karlberg, George Fuller, Jeanne Pryor
Others Present: Craig Kleman, Bill Elovirta, Colleen O’Connor, Beth VanNess, Eva Birkette, Rita Furlong, Pat Portieri, Angela Hilton, Ann Spadafora, John & Debbie Hall, Bill Cavanaugh, Katherine Hoak, Bob Ronzio, John Amato, Eva Bonney
7:00 PM Meeting opened.
Mark asked if anyone from the audience was recording this meeting. No one is recording.
Select Board’s Comments and Announcements: George welcomed Jeanne back.
Town Administrator’s Report: Craig advised that most of the items on the report will be covered on the agenda but he stated that he has submitted all of the information that he has on the FY2013 budget to the Finance Committee but has not heard anything back yet. He received something from Dan Parnell but it was late but he will have the information for the Finance Committee meeting on Thursday. Craig mentioned that we received a petition to put Mosquito Control on the warrant but he does not have the article written so the Select Board will have to decide if they want this on the annual town meeting warrant. Jeanne advised that she saw two petitions for articles to be placed on the warrant but they are not certified. She advised that the Board of Registrars is supposed to certify these
petitions and sign them but they were not signed by the registrars.
The Select Board reviewed the minutes of the last meeting. Jeanne motioned to approve the minutes of March 21, 2012, Mark seconded. George did not like that the remarks made about the Planning Board were removed from the minutes. Jeanne and Mark approved the minutes. George opposed. Motion passed.
Public Input: John Hall asked why we have advertised for a full time police chief before it was voted on at the Annual Town Meeting. Mark explained that the Police Chief Search Committee is instructed to advise all applicants that this is contingent on the budget passing at the Annual Town Meeting. Craig explained that the Select Board, by majority vote back in the fall, voted for a fulltime police chief and has started the process of putting a search committee in place so that someone would be hired before Bill Elovirta retired on June 30, 2012. Bill Cavanaugh feels that this is very confusing because some applicants could be applying because it is fulltime and we could be losing some good applicants. John Amato advised that the PCSC is writing a letter to all applicants that are asked to
come for an interview explaining the job being fulltime contingent upon the budget passing at the ATM. Colleen advised that they are upset with the methodology that the Select Board chose. She also advised that Kopelman and Paige is not the only law firm that represents the Town. The residents are concerned that the Town is spending a lot of money in lawsuits. Angie Hilton asked if the Select Board had read the letter to the editor that George wrote. Mark advised that he had. She also asked if the non-voters will be separated at the Annual Town Meeting. She feels that a police officer should be present to make sure non-voters do not mingle with the voters. Briefly discussed using voter cards for all votes at town meetings. Jeanne feels they should discuss this with the moderator since he is the one who runs the meetings.
The Select Board discussed the Town Administrator’s appointment of Tyler Miller as part time police officer. George asked to table this until the budget passes because if they do not have enough money to cover a fulltime police chief how would they have enough money to cover another officer. Craig advised that he would be used only when no one else could cover a shift. Bill Elovirta advised that he wants him to start because eventually there will be officers leaving. George asked if he got letters from any of the officers stating that they were leaving. He advised that he had not gotten any yet. Bill Elovirta advised that he spoke with Craig about advertising for a new officer because the town administrator is who he reports to. Craig told him to go ahead. He also
advised that one of his officers will not be able to work many hours since her husband is being deployed. Jeanne stated that if he has it in his budget to pay the new officer he should be able to do it and if he does not then the new officer would not be working many hours. Bill advised that in the twenty two years he has been chief, last year was the first year he had to ask for more money. George motioned to put this on hold until after the fiscal year. No one seconded his motion. Bill Cavanaugh asked what would be the ramifications if they waited until the end of the fiscal year. He advised that the police department would be short people and some shifts would not be covered. Jeanne asked Craig, since it is his appointment, if he felt this should be done. Craig stated that he thought they would eventually need him. Bob Ronzio asked if any of the officers had a contract with the town. Bill advised that only the full time
officers have contracts. Bob feels the town should have a contract that would prevent someone from just leaving without any notice. Mark motioned to table the Town Administrator’s appointment of Tyler Miller as part time police officer until the next meeting on April 18, 2012, Jeanne seconded. Mark and Jeanne voted yes, George opposed. Motion passed.
The Select Board discussed the town beach property. Craig advised that Kopelman & Paige sent an email regarding this property and had some suggestions on how to move forward. The attorney recommends that the town provide tax maps showing the town property and the Camp Greylock property, and a sketch of the land purported to be owned by Camp Greylock; a title examiner be retained to confirm the instruments which form the basis for both the town’s interest and Camp Greylock’s interest in the disputed area. She does not recommend a full title search at this time but she recommends that the town request a copy of the survey commissioned by Camp Greylock. Craig advised that Brian Bean needs to know what is happening about the beach property because he needs to hire the life guards and if
the beach is not going to be open then he would not need to hire any. He also advised that the highway department may not be able to do the work at the beach because they are missing a piece of equipment. Eva Birkette asked if the town had title search insurance. She advised that if the town has this type of insurance then it would cover the cost of the title search. Craig will check with the insurance company. George asked if Camp Greylock was listed as additionally insured by the town for the parking area. Rita advised that years ago they were insured by the town but was not sure if they were still insured. Jeanne advised that to add Camp Greylock to our insurance it would cost approximately $400. Jeanne also feels the town should look into what it would cost to have title search insurance for the beach property. She also feels the town should get a copy of Camp Greylock’s survey. Colleen O’Connor feels that
the town should do title searches on any property that it is not sure about because it cannot assume to own something and find out later that it does not own it. This can prevent unnecessary lawsuits. Bob Ronzio feels the town should do its own survey on the beach property. Jeanne motioned to follow the recommendations from Town Counsel and do the three items and also find out if we have title insurance and if we don’t, find out the cost for the title insurance and see if we have the money for this, Mark seconded. All in favor. Jeanne would like Craig to check on what it would cost to have Camp Greylock listed as additionally insured. Rita Furlong stated that the Parks Commission could pay for the title insurance if the work is not done at the beach.
Craig advised that two firms submitted proposals for the CDBG-funded Housing Rehabilitation Management project. One is Hilltown Community Development Corporation and the other is Berkshire Housing Development Corporation. He advised that he and Berkshire Regional Planning Commission reviewed the bids and he is recommending that the Select Board award the contract to Berkshire Housing Development Corporation of Pittsfield. George motioned to use Berkshire Housing Development Corporation of Pittsfield to provide Housing Rehabilitation Management Services, Jeanne seconded. All in favor.
Craig advised that part of the CDBG deals with the North Becket Village Infrastructure. White Engineering is providing the engineering services and the town needs to appoint a Design Review Committee to work with the engineering firm. He has four people that he would like to be appointed to this committee. They are as follows: Rita Furlong from the Parks Commission, Mercedes Gallagher from Westfield River Wild and Scenic Committee, Rob Gorden from Historical Commission and Len Tisdale the Highway Superintendent. George asked if this could be tabled until the next meeting so Craig could see if Len Tisdale wanted to be appointed to this committee. Craig advised that he was hoping to get this committee appointed soon because the engineer has the plans all set now and in order to apply for a
Notice of Intent with the Conservation Commission, they need to have the plans reviewed. Jeanne asked if it would be a problem if Len Tisdale did not want to be appointed to this committee. Craig advised that the highway superintendent is a crucial person for this committee. George motioned to appoint Rita Furlong, Mercedes Gallagher, Rob Gorden and Len Tisdale to the Design Review Committee – North Becket Village , Jeanne seconded. All in favor.
Craig advised that he did not receive the letter from the police chief search committee until late in the day so he has not had a chance to review it. John Amato spoke about the committee wanting to send out a letter expressing the salary range and also that the full time position was contingent upon the budget passing at town meeting. Jeanne motioned to table this until they see the letter, George seconded. All in favor.
The Select Board reviewed the monthly reports of the building inspector and the ambulance department.
Any other business: Jeanne asked if anyone that attended the WMECO meeting regarding their emergency response had any information they could share. Bill Elovirta explained what was discussed at the meeting and advised that he received a very large map that showed how power was fed into town. He also advised that this map is not for public display. Beth VanNess also stated that WMECO would like to meet with all the towns to come up with one person who will be the contact person so they do not have multiple people contacting them regarding downed wires, etc.
Jeanne wanted to make sure that all of the articles for the warrant that was previously discussed would be placed on the warrant. She asked if the Wired West article, the article regarding Fred Snow and Johnson Roads, and the CPA articles were going to be on the warrant. Craig advised that all of the articles she asked about would be on the warrant. Briefly discussed survivor benefits.
Rita Furlong asked if we could push the beach property along so that they could get the beach ready for the summer. Briefly discussed renting the piece of equipment that the highway department does not have. Craig will check into the cost of this so they could make sure they have enough to cover it.
Reviewed correspondence.
Craig advised that he was not ready to enter into Executive Session to discuss personnel issues so he would like to wait on this until the next Select Board meeting. Mark motioned to table agenda item #13 until the next Select Board meeting, George seconded. All in favor.
8:30 PM George motioned to adjourn, Jeanne seconded. All in favor.
Reviewed payroll/expense warrants.
Respectfully submitted, _______________________________
Nina Weiler, Secretary Mark L. Karlberg, Chairman
Documents discussed at meeting:
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