January 30, 2017
The regular meeting of the Board of Selectmen was called to order at 7:00 PM by Chairman Soter with all members in attendance.
Public Hearing – Peter Sanborn, President of Community Opportunities Group, Inc. – to discuss and get public input regarding the Town’s proposed application to the Mass. Dept. of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) for funding from its FY 2017 CDF Program in conjunction with the Town of Hopedale. The Town is considering requesting FY 2017 funds from this program to renew and expand the current reginal housing rehabilitation program to operate town wide in the towns of Bellingham and Hopedale. There will also be an update on progress of the Town’s current (FY 2015) CDF II Grant.
Chairman Soter called the Public Hearing to order at 7:00 p.m. and recognized Mr. Peter Sanborn, President of Community Opportunities Group, Inc., the grant consultant for the Town of Bellingham.
Mr. Sanborn distributed handouts to the Selectmen and the audience including: 1) information about the MCDBG Grant Program 2) a summary of past grants received by the Town of Bellingham 3) an update on the current 2015 grant and 4) a summary of the 2017 update to the Town’s Community Development Strategy with a proposed updated list of priority projects that was discussed at the January 9th Selectmen’s Meeting.
Mr. Sanborn provided a brief explanation of MCDBG Program and changes that had been made to the program for 2017. He indicated that due to a lack of demand from the Town of Franklin, it was recommended that the Town of Bellingham partner only with the Town of Hopedale on an application for funding in 2017. Important changes affecting this application include:
- The target area requirement has been suspended for 2017 grant applications – this will allow the housing rehabilitation program to operate on a town-wide basis for the first time in more than a decade – allowing homeowners in north Bellingham to be assisted with non-emergency repairs. COG is recommending that the Town submit an application for a housing rehabilitation program to run in Bellingham and Hopedale on a town-wide basis in both towns.
Chairman Soter asked about what resources the Community Development Office can provide to better explain the requirements of the program, specifically related to the lien
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requirements. He suggested that if people understood the requirements in advance, particularly elderly homeowners could discuss the program with their families in advance. Mr. Sanborn replied that the program accepted applications on a rolling basis but that specific eligibility determinations were not made until the case came up in order from the waiting list and it was at that time that the staff would discuss requirements with the applicants. Applicants do receive a summary of how the program works at the time they receive the application form.
COG is recommending that the Town submit a single purpose application for Housing Rehabilitation only. The Supplemental Fuel Assistance Program has only been able to expend about 30% of the funds allocated halfway through the second heating system. This is due partly to the fact that there have been two mild winters and although several hundred applications had been approved, households had not used up their regular fuel assistance allocations from SMOC and Self-Help and thus did not require the assistance from the supplemental fuel assistance program funded by the grant. It is expected that some of the funding for the fuel assistance program may need to be reprogrammed to do additional housing rehabilitation units.
At this point Chairman Soter asked if any members of the audience had questions. Mr. MacLachlan, 8 Barrett Lane asked if this program required any expenditure from the Town’s budget. The Chairman responded that it did not, that grant funds paid for all of the costs of the program.
There being no additional questions, the public hearing was unanimously closed on a Spencer/Martinis motion.
Selectman Spencer made the following combined motion:
~1.~~~~~ To Approve the submission of a FY 2017 MCDBG CDF Application in Cooperation with the Town of Hopedale, with Bellingham serving as the lead community;
2.~~~~~ To designate Denis Fraine~as Environmental Certifying Officer; and
3.~~~~~ To Authorize the Chairman of the Board and the Town Administrator to sign all necessary documents related to the submission of the grant application.
The motion was seconded by Selectman Martinis and was approved unanimously.
Residents of Highridge Road, Sandcastle Lane and Deer Run Road came before the Selectmen to discuss the condition of the roads.
Marek Rutkowski, 13 Highridge was the spokesperson for Highridge residents concerning complaints from the recent chip sealing process. Mr. Rutkowski stated he has received letters from the residents and some of the complaints include loose stones spread over lawns and driveways; damage to vehicles from stones being kicked up;
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inability for children to ride bikes, pet paws are cut from walking on stones, difficulty walking on the stones, damage to hardwoods from stones caught on shoes. He stated it’s unacceptable for a perfectly good road to end up in this condition.
John Walden, Deer Run Road requested a sweeper be sent to the road.
Gary Titov, 7 Highridge asked if the chip sealing company has been paid, and if so, how much. Mr. DiMartino stated the company has been paid in the amount of $272,000.
John Garten, 64 Highridge asked if this was a new company hired by the Town. Mr. DiMartino stated this company has been operating for quite a while. Town officials visited other towns this company has provided service to without issues. It was noted chip sealing is usually performed during the warm months; whereas it was performed in Bellingham during October which may have been too cold for the stones to adhere to the road.
Mr. Fraine stated the Town officials will be inspecting the affected streets in the spring and plan sweeping and cleaning up lawns.
Mr. Soter requested all communication from residents be handled through the Town Administrator or Selectmen’s Office.
Mr. Spencer and Mr. Soter stated the Town made the roads worse by using this process and it needs to be rectified.
Mr. Martinis stated the process that was used on the streets has been used successfully in many towns and in this town in the past. He does not feel it was the town’s fault the process did not work this time; however, he does feel it is the town’s responsibility to the residents to fix the problem.
On a Martinis/Spencer motion, the Board unanimously voted that the letters and pictures of the effects of the chip sealing received this evening be a part of the meeting record.
Jim Kupfer – Macy School Sale of Land update
Jim Kupfer appeared before the Selectmen to give an update on the sale of the Macy School property. Mr. Kupfer explained that he had met with several developers interested in purchasing the property; however, the affordable housing aspect proved to be too costly. Mr. Kupfer proposed the town consider creating an overlay district to be presented to Town Meeting which would allow for the same development without the affordable housing component. All members agreed this would be worth pursuing and asked Mr. Kupfer to proceed with the proposal.
On a Martinis/Spencer motion, the Board unanimously voted to authorize emergency spending for the Snow and Ice Budget.
On a Spencer/Martinis motion, the Board unanimously voted to set the seasonal population increase at 1500.
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On a Spencer/Martinis motion, the Board unanimously voted to approve the Common Victualler License renewal for Moe’s Bellingham, 316 Hartford Ave. and the Second Hand Dealers License renewal for Cash for Gold, 316 Hartford Ave.
On a Spencer/Martinis motion, the Board unanimously voted to approve the residential water abatements in the amount of $589.93 and residential trash abatements in the amount of $142.00.
On a Martinis/Spencer motion, the Board unanimously voted to approve the January 9th minutes as submitted.
Mr. Fraine presented the possibility of demolishing the Primavera building except for the cafeteria portion which would allow space for the Parks Department to move to that location. He suggested placing an article on the Annual Town Meeting warrant to fund engineering review to see if this is feasible.
On a Martinis/Spencer motion, the Board unanimously voted to double license fees on late renewal applications. Notification of this late fee will be included in the licensee renewal letters.
On a Spencer/Martinis motion, the Board unanimously voted to adjourn the meeting at 8:30 PM.
Respectfully submitted,
Jacqueline A. Bokoski
Administrative Assistant
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