Members present: Mark Karlberg, Jeanne Pryor, William Elovirta
Others Present: Craig Kleman, Colleen O’Connor, Eva Birkette, Bill Cavanaugh, Bob Ronzio, Katherine Hoak, Bruce Garlow, Pat Portieri, Angela Hilton, Heather Anello, Dan Osman, John Amato, Rebecca Barth
7:04 Meeting opened.
Mark asked if anyone was recording the meeting. Angela Hilton and Bob Ronzio are recording.
Select Board’s comments and announcements. None.
Town Administrator’s report: Craig advised that he has set up employee evaluation training in September and he would like anyone who will be evaluating another employee to go to this training. If the Select Board agrees then he will send out a memo stating that this training will be mandatory.
Craig also advised that there is a Wired West meeting on Saturday but Bob Ronzio and Zina Jayne cannot make this meeting so he will attend it.
Craig advised that there was a bid opening today for North Becket Village Infrastructure project and they received two bids. One was drastically lower than the other and Pat Mullins is looking these over to see if they meet the requirements. He is hoping to have a proposal by the next Select Board meeting.
Jeanne motioned to accept the minutes of June 6, 2012 Select Board meeting, Bill seconded. All in favor. Bill motioned to accept the minutes of June 20, 2012 Select Board meeting, Jeanne seconded. All in favor.
Mark read the Guidelines for Select Board Meetings before he took public input.
Public Input: Bob Ronzio asked who submitted bids for the North Becket Village Infrastructure project and the amounts of these bids. Craig advised that Gomes Construction submitted a bid in the amount of $282,000 and J. L. Raymaakers & Sons submitted a bid in the amount of $347,000. Bob also asked who the gate keeper for the Town of Becket was. He advised that he has gone to a number of offices in town hall and asked who is in charge of the road names and he did not get a clear answer. He advised that there are a bunch of roads in town that do not have the correct names. He advised that most towns have the town clerk as the person who keeps records of the road names. Jeanne advised that when she was town clerk she found that there were no records of road names in the clerk’s
office and tried to get a list but did not know where to get one. The Select Board will look into this.
Katherine Hoak addressed the Board regarding advertising signs. She has noticed that there are a lot of real estate signs popping up everywhere and she was not sure if they are legal signs. Jeanne advised that according to our Zoning Bylaws some signs are allowed by right and some need a permit. Jeanne suggested that she speak with the Building inspector/Zoning Officer so he could determine if the signs are legal.
Dan Osman gave a follow-up on his music festival at the Dream Away Lodge this past weekend. He advised that it went very well although one of his neighbors complained about it. He advised that none of his other neighbors complained about the festival. He mentioned that there was one issue where someone parked somewhere they should not have but it was taken care of in ten minutes. He stated that a police officer that came to the Dream Away Lodge was very rude and threatened to shut him down. Other than that it went very well and he asked if anyone complained about this event. Craig advised that he received a verbal complaint but never received a written one. Daniel advised that the one neighbor who always complains lives 1.2 miles away and there are 8 houses between his property
and the lodge but he is the only one who complains.
Heather Anello, owner of the Becket General Store, addressed the Board regarding information about water at the BGS. She gave the Select Board a copy of her last Drinking Water Quality Report which showed that the water was stellar. She advised that she obtained a copy of the recording for the last Select Board meeting and wanted to clear up some misconceptions. The State requires that the water be tested for all Public Water Systems and for the last thirty years the water has been tested at the store and received stellar results. She asked that if anyone had concerns or questions regarding the water at the store that they bring them to her attention. She asked what could be done if someone was being a menace at a meeting. She attended a couple of meetings in the past and noticed that
some people are disruptive. She asked the Board if this ever happens at their meetings. Colleen O’Connor advised that what she stated at the last meeting was that there was a gas leak at the location of the store and the company who has done the environmental work at the site was concerned that the gas could eventually get into the water system. She stated that she has every right to reference a public record document.
The Select Board reviewed letters that they received from interested people who wish to be appointed to the Town Meeting Bylaw Review Committee. The Select Board received letters from Bruce Garlow, Jeanne Pryor and Ann Krawet. Nina advised that some people expressed interest verbally. Bill motioned to appoint Bruce Garlow and Ann Krawet to the Town Meeting Bylaw Review Committee, Jeanne seconded. All in favor. Mark motioned to appoint Jeanne Pryor to the Town Meeting Bylaw Review Committee, Bill seconded. Jeanne abstained. Motion passed. Jeanne advised that it was posted on the website and put in the Country Journal that the Select Board was looking for people to appoint to this committee and anyone interested should submit a letter. She feels that that they could
appoint anyone else who is interested once they submit a letter of interest. John Amato advised that he emailed each of the Select Board members about being interested in this committee. Jeanne and Mark do not recall getting and email. They asked him to forward this email to Nina.
Jeanne read Suggestions for Future Town Meetings that she wrote up. These suggestions were things that she thought could be looked at and discussed so that guidelines could be written. Briefly discussed items on this list. Bill stated that he was not in favor of 2-d about separating voters from non-voters. He had gotten a couple of complaints from people who could not sit next to their spouses and he feels that voter cards should be used. Bruce Garlow does not feel this is unreasonable and it works in others towns that do this. Colleen suggested that there be a baby sitter so parents could attend the meeting and not be separated from their children. Bob Ronzio stated that some people were turned away because they were told they could not sit with their children. The Select
Board will review these suggestions and bring this back to the Select Board meeting on August 15, 2012.
Jeanne motioned to appoint Sean Raymer to the Recreation Committee, Bill seconded. All in favor.
Jeanne motioned to appoint Karen Karlberg to the 250th Anniversary Committee, Bill seconded. Mark abstained. Motion passed.
Jeanne motioned to sign agreement of provision of Nursing Service by the Lee Regional Visiting Nurse Association, Bill seconded. All in favor.
The Select Board reviewed the Becket Ambulance Department Request for Write-Off Report. The Select Board had questions regarding this report. Nina will call Comstar and ask them what some of the reasons mean and get back to the Select Board. Bob Ronzio asked if the Ambulance Department could put the total amount that was written off on their annual report. The Select Board will take this up at their next meeting.
The Select Board reviewed the Dog Officer Warrant for FY13. Jeanne advised that she does not have a problem with signing the warrant but she would like a report from the Animal Control Officer three times a year stating what he has done with all of the unlicensed dogs in town. The warrant states that he should deliver a report in January, April and October with the information regarding unlicensed dogs within the Town of Becket. Bill motioned to sign the Dog Officer Warrant for FY13 with a notation that the Select Board needs reports in January, April and October, Jeanne seconded. All in favor.
Bill advised that he attended a Town of Washington Select Board meeting on Monday and spoke with their accountant who is also on our Finance Committee and was told that if the Select Board wishes to increase the fee for fire protection then they should send something around January to the Town of Washington so they can include it in their budget. The accountant stated that the Town of Washington appropriated $8,000 for FY13. Jeanne asked if there was a written agreement between the Town of Becket and the Town of Washington for fire protection. Nina advised that she was not aware of one. Briefly discussed the fire protection in the past and discussed how they should go about coming up with a fee. Bob Ronzio stated that it should go by how many houses are in Washington. The Select Board
would like Craig to check with the fire chief to see what percentage of calls go to Washington and to also have some kind of an agreement prepared so they have something to send in January. Bill motioned to send an invoice to the Town of Washington in the amount of $8,000 for their share of fire protection provided by the Becket Volunteer Fire Department, Mark seconded. All in favor.
The Select Board reviewed the Special Permit application for a filling station on Otis Road. Nina advised that she asked the Planning Board Secretary if she could have copies of the plans for this filling station and was told that the applicant has not submitted any plans yet. Jeanne asked why the Planning Board would schedule a hearing if the application is incomplete. The Special Permit application was date stamped by the town clerk on June 4th and the other boards and committees in town did not receive copies until after July 6th. She noted that the applicant and not the Town Clerk is responsible for filing the application with the Planning Board. She wanted to know how the Select Board could approve this application if they do not have any plans to go with it.
Bob Ronzio advised that the hearing is scheduled for August 8, 2012 and if the applicant still does not have any plans by then the Planning Board could take action then. He also stated that most departments in town never respond to any of the special permit applications and if they do not then the bylaws state that the Board is okay with it. Jeanne advised that she sent the planning board an email that asked them to review the information from the Open Space and Recreation Plan that the town has and to do some research on it. She never got a response from the planning board so she does not know if they received it. Bill motioned to oppose the special permit application because we do not have the information to make a decision, Jeanne seconded. All in favor. Jeanne would like the other Select Board members to review the information that she sent the planning board and if they agree with it then they can send the planning board a letter
regarding this information.
The Select Board reviewed the monthly report of the Ambulance Department. Bill spoke about the issues that the ambulance department is having with the new ambulance. He advised that the company that services the ambulance does not respond to any of the concerns the department has with the problems they have been having. They are very slow in repairing the ambulance and the last time it was in for repair it took twelve days to get it back. He advised that Yankee Fire and Rescue is the company that the ambulance and fire department uses to service the ambulance and fire trucks. He is displeased with this company because they are not very responsive to these departments. He feels the Select Board should send this company a letter stating that they are very displeased with their service. He told Craig that he would be happy to compose this letter. He feels that the town should think twice about using this company in the future when they go out to bid on equipment. He advised
that this company used to give the town a loaner while the ambulance was being repaired but they stopped doing this. Bill motioned to send Yankee Fire and Rescue a letter stating that they are displeased with its service, Jeanne seconded. All in favor.
Any other business: Briefly spoke about the town accountant’s health insurance costs. The Town Administrator’s report stated that the town has paid part of the cost for the accountant’s health insurance. Jeanne asked how many hours a week she works and Craig advised that it varies. Bill advised that if she does not work over 20 hours per week then she should not receive health insurance benefits from the town. He advised that there are many part time EMT’s and police officers that are going to want the town to cover them. Craig advised that he spoke with Matt Kerwood from Richmond and he advised Craig that because the accountant works for a number of towns then she is considered a shared employee. Craig also advised that the town does not have a written agreement
that states that she is a shared employee. The Select Board would like some more time to look into this.
Jeanne asked Craig if he could look into whether or not the Select Board could go into executive session to work on the Wage and Benefit Agreements for the fulltime employees. She feels this should be done soon.
Jeanne distributed a policy on completing a performance evaluation on the Town Administrator. She would like the Select Board to review this and they can discuss it at another meeting. Bill would like to hold off on this until after the training takes place in September.
Nina advised that she received a legal opinion from town counsel regarding the property in Sherwood Greens that there was a question about the tax taking of a portion that contained a beach. Town counsel feels that the beach should be included with the transfer of the abutting property. Kathy’s suggestion would be to have the attorney who is involved with the selling of this property write a deed that includes the beach to the new owner and have it approved by the Select Board. She feels this attorney should incur the cost for the filing fees. This would give clear title to the new owner. Jeanne motioned to approve Kathy Hayn’s recommendations in her letter of July 18, 2012, Bill seconded. All in favor.
Jeanne would like the upcoming primary and election schedule to be put on the website and she wants the town clerk to make sure he completes voter registration sessions for these elections. She also would like the town’s directory on the DOR’s website to be updated. She advised that this directory still shows people who are deceased on it. Nina will let the town clerk know about this. She also advised that there is an election training workshop in Otis on August 2, 2012 and she feels all of the election workers should attend this training.
Jeanne would like letters of thanks sent to everyone on the Police Chief Search Committee.
Colleen O’Connor asked how the meeting was last Thursday and if the Select Board needed anything from her. The Select Board advised that they are still digesting the information and they do not need anything from her.
Bill asked that the Select Board’s email addresses should be put on the town’s website. Nina advised that she has already put them on the website. Briefly discussed creating town email addresses for members of other boards and committees. Craig will check to see if the town has a limit on how many email addresses it can have.
Briefly discussed an issue involving a tree hanger that is interfering with the power lines. The tree owner does not want the tree to be touched and his neighbor is concerned about a possible fire from this. Discussed the tree warden’s involvement and the power company’s involvement with this issue. Craig will check with Lenny about this.
Bill Cavanaugh advised that one day he was at the town beach and there was a girl sitting in the lifeguard chair. People at the beach were under the impression that this girl was the lifeguard but she was not. He feels there should be a chain across the seat when the lifeguard is not there to prevent people from sitting on the chair. He also was concerned about people bringing their dogs to the beach. Bill will speak to Tina LeVasseur about these issues. The Select Board would like a copy of the beach rules. Jeanne would like the different boards and committees to update their web pages so people can see rules and regulations and know a little about each board and committee.
Reviewed correspondence.
9:19 PM Bill 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:
- Becket General Store Drinking Water Quality Report
- Suggestions for Future town Meetings
- Agreement of Provision of Nursing Service By the Lee Regional Visiting Nurse Association
- Dog Officer Warrant for FY13
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