Board of Selectmen Present: Stanley Wysocki
March 10, 2011 Curtis Plante
David Lindsay
Don Lowe, Town Administrator
Linda L. Day, Town Secretary
The Board of Selectmen met at the Town Hall at 7:00 p.m.
Mr. Dinjian, Chairman of the Advisory Committee was present.
LEGISLATIVE UPDATE
Senator Flanagan and Representative Hogan met with the Board of Selectmen to discuss state budget issues.
Representative Hogan is scheduled to attend a House Ways and Means Committee meeting to discuss the three top three priorities which include local aid, Chapter 70 and regional school transportation.
Representative Hogan confirmed that the Governor’s budget is up 3% on chapter 70 aid and level on regional school transportation.
Senator Flanagan stated that the overall budget is still up $8 million over last year, and, we don’t have the stimulus money to fall back on. The lottery revenue continues to be down.
Senator Flanagan and Representative Hogan are also working with Town Administrator Don Lowe to investigate the new legislation to allow municipalities to fund dam repair or removals in the State. They will assist Bolton in getting an extension through June of 2012 from the Office of Dam Safety. Mr. Lindsay was concerned that the legislation's revolving fund only referred to private dams and not to municipally-owned dams. He felt that issuing, in relatively small amounts, the40 year bonds that the legislation seemed to encourage might be difficult.
Representative Hogan confirmed that the legislation was being revised to include municipalities. Mr. Lindsay will provide Senator Flanagan and Representative Hogan with an e-mail regarding his concerns about the financing.
Representative Hogan will be meeting with the Division of Transportation. Mr. Lowe will discuss some issues in town with Representative Hogan prior to her attending the meeting.
Senator Flanagan’s office confirmed that Worcester County was included in the FEMA reimbursement announcement released a couple of weeks ago.
Ms. Day will forward contact information for the Board of Selectmen to Senator Flanagan and Senator Hogan’s office.
LION’S CLUB – FRUIT SALES AT THE TRANSFER STATION
Mr. Keane, member of the Lion’s Club requested permission to hold their third annual fresh Florida citrus sale at the Bolton Transfer Station on March 12 and March 19, 2011 from 9:00 to 2:45 p.m.
On a motion made by Lindsay and seconded by Plante, the Board of Selectmen approved the request for the Lion’s Club to sell fruit at the transfer station. (Wysocki – yes, Plante – yes, Lindsay - yes) Mr. Lowe will discuss with Mr. Brookings to see if the Board of Health would have any concerns regarding this event.
REVIEW OF POLICE DEPARTMENT BUDGET
Present: Chief Alfano and Lorraine Kenney, Administrative Assistant
Mr. Lowe stated that the Advisory Committee approved a reserve fund transfer in the amount of $40,000 for the unbudgeted new operation costs of the new public safety building for FY11. Mr. Lowe is comfortable that we are budgeted appropriately for FY12.
An article on the Annual Town Meeting warrant to transfer the amount of $18,000 received from insurance reimbursements to the police department overtime account will offset the budget deficit due to one officer being out on Injured On Duty status. Chief Alfano will also be submitting a transfer request to cover the retroactive expenses for the Police and Communication union contracts that were signed in August of 2010.
With the recent reserve fund transfer for $40,000, the insurance reimbursement for $18,000, and the reserve fund transfer for $25,000 for the retroactive expenses, the balance of the budget will be approximately $7,500. Aggressive measures have been taken to restrict spending. If the expenses continue to track as anticipated, the reserve fund transfer request for $25,000 will be less.
Based on the current level of spending, Mr. Plante did not see how Chief Alfano could come in on budget, and this continues to be a concern of his. Chief Alfano confirmed the funding as described would carry him through to the end of the year.
Mr. Lowe stated that he has met with Chief Alfano and Ms. Kenney, and they have a process in place where Ms. Kenney will provide updates on the budget every two weeks.
There is no projected date for the return of the police officer out on Injured on Duty status. Mr. Lowe stated that from a budget management perspective Chief Alfano continues to tightly manage how the open shifts are covered or not covered, and the overtime has been cut back on drastically. Mr. Plante suggested that an officer be hired to cover these shifts, but there was a concern expressed about the expense of unemployment for the officer laid off when the officer Injured on Duty returned.
Mr. Plante expressed his concern with the possible overlap of expenses in the Police Department, Library and Public Safety building budgets. He suggested that an independent committee be appointed to research cost control measures for the public safety center building, including the HVAC system contracts.
Before forming a Committee, the Board of Selectmen agreed to invite Mr. Brown to a meeting to discuss the fixed and variable costs for the HVAC systems.
FYFESHIRE DAM – CITIZENS’ PETITION
Sponsors of the Citizens’ Petition to repair the Fyfeshire Dam met with the Board of Selectmen.
Ms. Remington presented a map that showed the “no name” stream flowing south, parallel to Wattaquadock Hill Road, and into the Fyfeshire conservation area.
Ms. Galeski provided the Board of Selectmen with a history of the Fyfeshire dam.
Ms. Balco, introducing herself as the Erin Brockovitch of the marshes, stated that if this dam was removed, it would be an ecological disturbance and the marsh would be destroyed.
The Board received copies of letters from various organizations that supported the repair of the dam.
Ms. Balco recommended that a biological survey be done to determine the best alternative and said that the Massachusetts Division of Fish and Wildlife were willing to do the survey at no cost.
Ms. Gumbart stated that the dam has been evaluated by the State and two firms hired by the Town.
Ms. Ablavsky provided a summary of the costs for repair or removal of the dam which showed that depending on the option chosen, it is slightly more expensive for the repair, but there is also maintenance costs to be considered each year.
Mr. Lowe stated that he will be scheduling a conference call with the Office of Dam Safety and is working with Senator Flanagan and Representative Hogan’s office regarding the pending legislation. He would also like to seek a possible extension to June which would allow more time to understand the options related to the removal or repair of the dam. If the Board chose to, the articles could be removed from the warrant. The citizens' petition could not be removed by the Board of Selectmen, but could be withdrawn by the petitioners themselves with a new petition that included at least 10 signers of the original petition.
It was Mr. Lindsay’s opinion that the Board of Selectmen needed to vote on the Conservation Commission’s proposal to lower the cost for the removal from $500,000 to $360,000 because the deadline for final wording of the articles had passed. Mr. Lowe stated that it was his opinion that any article on the warrant was subject to change because the warrant was still open, and the decision rests with the Board of Selectmen.
Mr.Wysocki and Mr. Plante both agreed that a revision to the article would be accepted from either group.
Ms. Ablavsky encouraged everyone to find a middle ground to work together with the State to resolve the dam issue.
PLANNING BOARD
Present: Doug Storey, Chairman of the Planning Board and Jenny Atwood Burney, Town Planner
Articles for Annual Town Meeting: Mr. Storey and Ms. Atwood Burney provided a summary of the articles on the Annual Town Meeting warrant that are being sponsored by the Planning Board. The articles included:
Amendment of the Zoning Bylaws to Add Subsection 2.5.5.7 Design Review Guidelines;
Amendment of the Zoning Bylaws to Add Section 2.2.4 Design Review Criteria;
Amendment of the Zoning Bylaws, Section 2.5.5.5 (h);
Amendment of the Zoning Bylaws, Section 2.5.5.6 Plan Approval Process;
Special Permits for Zoning Use Amendment of the Zoning Bylaws, Section 2.4.2.2 Sign Regulations;
Amendment of the Zoning Bylaws, Section 2.5.3 Flood Plain District, and
Adoption of Maps Issued by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
2010 Affordable Housing Plan: The Board was informed that the Affordable Housing Plan has been revised and will be forwarded to them for their review and approval. This document requires the approval of both the Board of Selectmen and Planning Board before being submitted to the Department of Housing and Community Development for their approval.
TOWN ADMINISTRATOR REPORT
Annual Town Meeting warrant update: Mr. Lowe reported he has reviewed the draft Annual Town Meeting warrant with Town Counsel.
Revisions included the addition of an article to transfer from the stabilization fund the sum of $16,000 to fund on-going testing and reporting associated with the oil leak at the Public Safety Building. Although Mr. Lowe recommended that the DPW truck article be removed from the warrant, based on a conversation with Mr. Brown, DPW Director, the Board of Selectmen agreed to leave the truck on the warrant at this time. Mr. Lowe reported that the citizens’ petition for a traffic survey for the crosswalk on Route 117 in front of the Nashoba Regional High school will be removed from the warrant by either following the process of getting the appropriate signatures or recommendation to pass over the article at town meeting. An article to transfer funds from available funds to the Advisory Committee
Reserve Account for FY11 will be added to the warrant to insure that there will be sufficient funds to accommodate any year-end transfer requests for FY11.
Electricity Provider: Mr. Lowe reported that Easy Energy is no longer providing a savings to the Town. Mr. Lowe stated that this is a result of Easy Energy buying contracts in smaller batches resulting in a higher rate than what we can get from National Grid.
On a motion made by Lindsay and seconded by Plante, the Board of Selectmen voted to authorize Mr. Lowe to switch back to National Grid as our provider. (Wysocki – yes, Plante – yes, Lindsay – yes)
Hours of Operation for Transfer Station: The Board of Selectmen looked at the costs associated with the operation of the transfer station and considered cutting back on hours to save money. To close the transfer station on Wednesdays and expand the hours on Friday would be a savings of $4,300. Given the relatively small savings and the concern about meeting the needs of the residents, the Board agreed to leave the hours as they are now.
Great Brook Farms – Form 43: The Board of Selectmen signed Form 43 for the application of Great Brook Farms for a new annual general on premise wine and malt license located at 356 Main Street.
EXECUTIVE SESSION
On a motion made by Lindsay and seconded by Plante, the Board of Selectmen voted 3-0 by roll call (Wysocki – yes, Plante – yes, Lindsay - yes) to enter into executive session under the authority of Massachusetts General Law, Chapter 39B, Section 23B (3) at 9:50 p.m. to discuss collective bargaining and contract negotiations with non-union personnel. The Board announced it would not reconvene to open session.
Minutes respectfully submitted by Linda L. Day
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