Date of Meeting: Monday, February 26, 2007
Location: Town Hall, 221 Main Street
Time: 6:35PM – 9:40 PM
Members Present: Chairman James Stanton, Roger Deal, Ken Sydow
Others Present: Suzanne Olsen, Town Administrator; Lori Esposito, Administrative Assistant
Financial warrants signed in approval.
Meeting was called to order at 6:35pm.
Police Chief Sahagian: Montly report to the Board.
- New reserve officer started in training academy 1/29.
-2/12 attended Finance Committee hearing
-2/20 met with Carl Hultgren (Quinn Engineering), Fire Chief Flanagan, and DPW Supt. Don Parker to discuss traffic flow, potential of traffic light, road widening, etc. at E. Temple / Rt. 140 intersection. Discussed possibility of making exit to E. Temple one-way right turn only.
-E911 upgrade is complete. Assists with cell phone calls (tracking, GPS, etc.), speed of call, etc.
- After hours situation at the Other Place Pub; at 1:20am, the bar was serving (drinks were on the counter). Closing time is 1:00am. The door was unlocked when Officer Donahue went in.
- Board requests Atty. Angelini send letter (per Atty. Angelini, 1:00am is latest anyone can be in the bar). Roger Deal asked if the general belief is that consumption can continue after 1:00am closing time, but no serving after 1:00am. Atty. Angelini says the Board could issue a grace period policy.
-Jim Stanton asked if the A.B.C.C. has a regulation (e.g.,15 minutes after close grace period). Atty. Angelini will clarify with the A.B.C.C.; if their rule is 1:00am final, he will draft a letter to the pub re: violation. If no set policy by A.B.C.C., the Board will set one and notify all license holders.
-7-hour traffic survey completed at E. Temple / 140. Not a big cut through road, and the speed is not near 50m.p.h. that some claim it to be. Ken Sydow asked about speed displays (LED signs). Chief Sahagian says the cost is around $7-9K. They do not keep count, just a display. Also, they get vandalized. The Chief has a portable board for the back of a cruiser; if he needs a full size board, he was told he can use Shrewsbury’s.
- Route 140 accident report given for 2006. Total of 11 accidents, nearly ½ at Rte. 70/140 intersection. Fortunately, not catastrophic accidents as they used to be a few years ag
Kyle Pardo / Associated Industries of Mass. (AIM): Ms. Pardo was in attendance to present AIM’s personnel study findings. Sue Olsen noted there was very limited time to complete the work, so they looked at 7 positions (out of 75 job descriptions).
-Admin. Assistant positions and Highway Dept. positions found to be graded appropriately within the scope of the job descriptions provided by Sue Olsen. They were graded on a point rating system for various aspects of the job.
-Jim Stanton asked why the ‘confidentiality’ rating was higher for the DPW Admin. Asst. than for the BOS admin. The BOS admin. asst. handles documents at the highest level of confidentiality possible. Ms. Pardo said the ratings were based strictly on the job descriptions provided by the town. AIM did not interview any of the positions for accuracy of the job descriptions.
E. Temple Street / Quinn Engineering: Hearing continued to 3/26/07 at 7:15pm, due to traffic study not yet complete. Carl Hultgren of Quinn Engineering called earlier to reschedule.
Technical Advisory Committee: Ken Sydow would like to get individuals together to discuss possibilities and potential support. The Building Inspector told him it would be a lot of extra work for him; the BOH agent feels it will save everyone time in the long run. Mr. Sydow asked if the Planning Board or other don’t ‘approve’ of the committee, can the Board of Selectmen form the committee regardless? They can. Ken feels it will give the applicants much more service and guidance for the fees, and would streamline the process.
Lori Esposito will email boards and committees, as well as the police and fire chiefs to come to the Selectmen’s 3/12/07 meeting for further discussion.
Route 140 Traffic Study: Richard Baker (Chair, Planning Board) sent a letter regarding recommendations and estimate for Rt. 140 traffic study. Jim Stanton suggests putting $25K (based on Dr. Baker’s estimate) for traffic study as warrant article for annual meeting.
“Unsung Heroines” Received phone call requesting Boylston’s nominations.
St. Mary’s Youth Group: Request for a 1-day liquor license for their St. Patrick’s dinner fundraiser on March 10, 2007 from 5:30pm – 8:00pm. Ken Sydow motioned to approve 1-day license request and waive the fee; Roger Deal seconded, voted all in favor.
Town Administrator’s Report
Next roundtable discussion: Need date/time available; email cable committee for available dates, then email board.
Annual reports: Sue Olsen feels it would make sense to have annual reports follow fiscal year, rather than calendar year. Roger Deal motioned to run annual reports on fiscal year versus calendar year, beginning FY08; Ken Sydow seconded, voted all in favor.
Separate annual meeting for FY07: Ken Sydow motioned to hold separate annual town meeting / warrant for FY07 and FY08 in May; Roger Deal seconded, voted all in favor.
Personnel bylaw amendment: Sue Olsen, as Personnel Director, requests the Board dissolve the Personnel Board and assign their responsibilities to Personnel Director or other position. Alternatively, remove Town Administrator position from being part of the policy, or change Personnel Director to position other than TA that does not fall under policy. Board would like to continue discussion for possibility of article on fall special town meeting to dissolve Personnel Board.
New Budget format: Jim Stanton motioned to approve new budget format as presented; Roger Deal seconded, voted all in favor.
Wachusett Earth Day Meeting 2/8/07: Working towards locating a permanent disposal site for recyclables and hazardous materials on land in West Boylston donated by MDC. Cost for each member community is based on $1/head of total population; $4200 for Boylston.
--Jim Stanton asked if the Board of Health is willing to put cost back into their budget for original program ($300 each for 2x/year disposal). He would also like to see what past participation of the town has been for the one-day events. If the number is significant, they’ll discuss it further.
--Roger Deal recommends that at this time with budget constraints, we cannot afford to participate. Sue will inform Board of Health.
Insurance:
--Health insurance rate increase is 7.9%. Jim Stanton would like Sue Olsen to contact a non-MIIA town (of comparable size) to ask what percentage increase they’re facing. If not a significant savings, it’s not worth putting out to bid.
--General insurance is level-funded, no increase.
--Property/Liability: Jim Stanton asked Sue to get a cost for insuring vehicles with $1000 deductible versus current $500 deductible.
Grant writer consultant: Sue Olsen asked Board to approve budget line for start-up salary of $15K. Board needs job description before considering.
Library Building Committee: Would like someone from Board of Selectmen to serve. Currently, no one is available to serve, but would like to continue with periodic updates.
Minutes Approval: Jim Stanton motioned to approved meeting minutes as presented for 8/28/06, 9/11/06, 9/25/06, 10/6/06, 10/23/06, 10/30/06, 11/6/06, 11/20/06, 12/4/06, 1/8/07 regular and executive session, 1/16/07 regular and executive session; Roger Deal seconded, voted all in favor.
School Committee: The Regional School Committee, Superintendent, and Finance Director were present for budget discussions. They had met with the Finance Committee earlier in the evening.
-John Roy (Finance Director) supplied E&D account summary; certified at $493,638 July 2006. Per last year’s agreement, anything over $100K would be returned to the Town. Based on the agreement, $263,653 would be returned.
- Kathy Buchanan (Chair, School Comm.) says the committee would like to follow through with their commitment, but then would have to come forward with capital requests. Jim Stanton said the Town provided free cash for more than just last year; the agreement was for the funds to come back to the Town’s operating budget. Ms. Buchanan asked why bring up prior years? Mr. Stanton said because the agreement from FY06 was that excess Ch. 70 funds would be returned to the Town. This was waived last year due to the budget crisis and “patch” with the free cash. Rebecca Healy (school committee) feels that from a school committee standpoint, they have to honor
the agreement. As an outsider, she question why.
-Berlin committee member (???) asked if the Boylston selectmen should make the decision for both towns; says the agreement is not legal under Mass. law. Mr. Stanton said the school committee can make choice to honor it, but the agreement was made last year with all involved. Vin Perrone (school committee) would like the BOS to back the committee if they need to have warrant articles for the annual town meeting.
- Supt. Marcia Lukon says if warrant articles do not pass at the annual town meeting, the concern would be how to fund the items needed. Roger Deal says we’re facing serious budget challenges as a town, and wants to be sure of the integrity of the items. The Board would like to meet with the Finance Committee tomorrow evening before deciding.
- Jim Stanton asked if an override would eliminate the need for special warrant articles. Mr. Perrone and Supt. Lukon said yes, only an override would be needed for Tahanto. The Elementary school would still have some articles. Mr. Stanton asked the total dollar amount for the articles – they didn’t know.
- Roger Deal asked if they anticipate hiring additional school staff. Ms. Healy says yes, if the override passes. Supt. Lukon said Tahanto needs an additional A/P math class offered, plus an additional 2nd math period for some 7th graders. Some classes currently have 34+ students. A special education teacher would also be needed. Mr. Deal asked how much this math teacher at Tahanto would cost; Ms. Healy said $49,174. Mr. Deal asked the projected number of students she would teach in a class; Supt. Lukon said 10-12.
- Vin Perrone says of 423 students at Tahanto, Boylston has 296 and Berlin has 127. If school choice is the same as this year, the total number of students will be over 500.
- Roger Deal asked about the projected salary increase for the teachers. Mr. Perrone said 5.88% overall increase in Tahanto budget. Jim Stanton noted municipal budget is 3%. Kathy Buchanan says the Tahanto teachers are still in negotiations; next step is fact-finding.
-Supt. Lukon said the schools are still not in compliance with NEASC, and they are phasing in changes. Textbooks need to be added, plus stipends for 2 department heads. Jim Stanton recalled that last year we funded all NEASC deficiencies. He understood that we didn’t fund only SPED NEASC, since the numbers were not final.
- Override projected to be $1M this year for the schools. Jim Stanton suggests 2 separate overrides for Tahanto and Boylston Elementary. Vin Perrone says they are trying not to pit one school against the other; it’s a marketing strategy to combine them. He said the Finance Committee encouraged them to do this.
- Rebecca Healy says they will submit the override articles both ways by the deadline (noon next Monday), they they can further discuss. Mr. Perrone says the plan is to phase in to keep going over the next 3 years, then they won’t need to keep returning for more money.
- Ms. Healy says the elementary school would add teachers to meet remedial math needs, as well as meeting literature initiatives. Kathy Buchanan said that catching up the kids now would save SPED money in the long run.
- Roger Deal asked about the Tahanto renovation – when / what amount would be needed for override. Not sure. Vin Perrone said if they have an emergency situation, such as roof repair, spending might be reimbursable if they are on the building waiting list.
-Supt. Lukon said doing an override without the Selectmen’s support would be extremely difficult; they would stand on their own and “sell” to the voters. Roger Deal understands what is needed, but how much can you expect from the townspeople? Some seniors in town can barely afford to pay current taxes on their homes.
Meeting adjourned at 9:40 pm.
Respectfully Submitted,
Lori Esposito
Administrative Assistant
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