Date of Meeting: Monday, July 30, 2007
Location: Town Hall, 221 Main Street
Time: 6:30PM –10:10PM
Members Present: Chairman James Stanton, Roger Deal, Ken Sydow
Others Present: Suzanne Olsen, Town Administrator; Michael Kane, Banner Reporter; Lori Esposito, Administrative Assistant; others as listed on sign-in sheet
Financial warrants were signed in approval prior to the meeting.
Meeting was called to order at 6:30p.m.
DPW Foreman Interviews: Two current DPW employees were recently interviewed by Sue Olsen and Don Parker for the open foreman position. As requested, Ms. Olsen and Mr. Parker are making their recommendations to the board.
· Sue Olsen recommends against hiring either of the candidates. She feels neither Mr. Mero nor Mr. Osterberg is ready for the position at this time. Don Parker agrees to postpone hiring for the position; otherwise, he would recommend Mr. Mero. Don also says the pay for workers needs to be increased – he is losing potential candidates to area towns that pay more.
· The Board agrees to postpone hiring a foreman for at least a couple of months, since the right fit has not been found. Roger Deal cautioned Mr. Parker to not imply that any particular candidate will be promoted in the future.
· The Red Knight’s memorial dedication ceremony will be held 8/18, Don would like a selectman to attend.
Appointment Interviews: The Board invited residents that volunteered for appointments in for interviews:
Larry Brenner: Interested in volunteering for the Appeals Board, Conservation Commission or Finance Committee.
· Mr. Brenner is a 2-year resident with 2 children in 5th and 7th grades (previously lived in Northborough) and is a Senior Engineering Manager at Boston Scientific since 1991. He is interested in serving to help the town; he sees recent issues in Town and would like to assist in resolving. Mr. Brenner previously worked on a committee in Northborough. He does not have a lot of long-term planning experience but has done a lot of project planning.
· Mr. Deal said he has seen Mr. Brenner’s input with the override for schools and was impressed with his demeanor and work. Mr. Brenner said it was a huge task and his intent was to inform people of what was happening.
Tim Houlihan: Interested in Finance Committee appointment.
· Mr. Houlihan has a Master’s in Accounting and has worked in various accounting positions; he us currently a controller at St. Gobain/Norton for the past 21 years. He is also a certified internal auditor and chartered life insurance underwriter.
· Mr. Deal asked Mr. Houlihan how he felt about the challenge of the upcoming needs of the town. He responded that he is concerned about incoming Rand/Whitney and possible Rte. 140 mall; worried about a “feeding frenzy” similar to what happened in Berlin with the new revenue. Incoming revenue needs long-term planning to avoid overrides – it needs to be a balancing act.
Wendy Lonstein: Interested in Conservation Commission appointment.
· Ms. Lonstein served on the BOH several years ago. She is heavily involved in school issues, the PTO and Playground Committee. Ms. Lonstein previously worked as director of communications technology and also designed websites.
· Mr. Coakley (Con Comm Chair) was present and told the Board that they are looking for a soil scientist or wetlands scientist to serve on the committee.
Ronald (“Skip”) Resseguie: Interested in re-appointment to the Earth Removal Board.
· Mr. Resseguie has served on the ERB for about 20 years; he has been a resident for over 40 years and still has an interest in serving. He originally filled out volunteer form incorrectly indicating “not interested” in being re-appointed; this was an error. He would like to be re-appointed.
Arthur Gibree: Interested in Earth Removal Board appointment.
· Mr. Gibree has his own general contracting business and is experienced in site work. He has little knowledge of the ERB and asked the Board what the job would be. Jim Stanton briefly explained the ERB bylaws that need to be governed/enforced. They sometimes work in conjunction with some other boards and Chief of Police.
The Board thanked all for their time and will take the interviews under consideration.
Wendy Lonstein / Playground Committee: Ms. Lonstein provided an update to the board regarding the Elementary School Playground status.
· They are ready for Phase I, met with the playground equipment company. They need to take a small part of pavement out of the parking lot. Existing structure (for 2-5 year-olds) to be moved to another part of the property. Signs will indicate appropriate age for each play area.
· Jim Stanton asked if the plan has been reviewed with Fire Chief Flanagan or Don Parker yet – Ms. Lonstein said no, but P&R has seen it and ok’d it. The School has also ok’d it, but not officially at a meeting yet. They would like to complete site work before the school year starts.
· Ken Sydow motioned to waive building and other permit fees and to allow construction to take place until dusk any day of the week. Roger Deal seconded, voted all in favor.
· Building Inspector Mark Bertonassi was called into the meeting and informed of waived fee and extended hours. The Board asked him to assist Ms. Lonstein with necessary permits and procedures.
· Mr. Bertonassi asked about waiving fees for Tahanto for flood cleanup work going on – no, board advises to charge fees as usual.
Michelle Ciccolo, Grant Writer: Outlined draft plan of projects and reviewed with the Board. She suggests starting with 43D expedited permitting application for the State, which would require a town meeting vote. The Rte. 140 traffic study might be covered.
· BOS said filling the Town Administrator vacancy needs to be higher priority and completed sooner. Jim Stanton feels the TA search should not be on Ms. Ciccolo’s list since her salary money was voted for grant writing.
· Mr. Deal said someone needs to start talking to DiPilato and the developer re: possible Rte. 140 mall. He is concerned that no one from the Town is talking directly to the “source”, Mr. DiPilato, who is directly involved. Ken Sydow agreed and stated that an outside company that works on behalf of the Town to meet, discuss and negotiate with the developers was required. Ms. Ciccolo said she has experience in negotiating with developers and being the “go to” person, but there will be a need to hire engineers for the town; the developer
should be paying for this. The most important thing is to “have a seat at the table”.
· Ken Sydow said Hillside development should also be a priority in order to provide needs for the town while also maximizing revenues.
· The BOS will schedule a planning session to set priorities.
· Roger Deal motioned to authorize Ms. Ciccolo to start based on work plan beginning with August tasks and “get acquainted” meetings with department heads and board chairs; Ken Sydow seconded, voted all in favor.
· Meantime, the BOS will revise memo of agreement re: “areas to be explored will be identified in consultation with the BOS and reported and re-prioritized on an ongoing basis”, before signing.
Library Trustees: Sue Therriault updated the board on the new library progress. Jean Therriault and Brad Barker (Trustees) were also in attendance.
· Trustees agreed to hire J. Stewart Roberts as design architect. They will need the contract reviewed by Town Counsel. Jean said whatever preliminary work is done by the architect will be transferrable to any 4-acre area. Sue Therriault said they are moving forward with design and estimates so they don’t lose momentum, pending outcome of discussion re: Hillside parcels.
· The Trustees plan to have something on the Fall Town Meeting warrant to be voted. Jim Stanton reminded that any money voted would have to be for FY09, not FY08. Ms. Therriault asked about the timeline for fall town meeting articles; a meeting date has not been set yet, nor have article submission timelines.
· They still have 2 contracts pending review by Town Counsel.
· They asked the status of the Hillside Development Committee – Jim Stanton said it is still being formulated; they hope to appoint a committee in August.
· Mr. Therriault said the Trustees have met with P&R, and determined they could accommodate fields on the designated library parcel.
Fall Warrant Draft: Continued for discussion at the Board’s next ‘workshop’ meeting.
Horizon Partners, LLC: A letter was received requesting return of $30K deposit plus interest. Continued to next meeting when Town Counsel is present.
Retiree Health Insurance Policy: Sue Olsen to put notice with next paychecks for hearing at 8/27 meeting.
Temporary Sign Request: Fire Chief requested permission to place signs advertising Straw Hollow Engine Show fundraiser to be held 8/11-8/12. Ken Sydow motioned to approved request, Roger Deal seconded, voted all in favor.
Clark ERB Permit: $500 paid and permit was picked up.
Appointments:
Conservation Committee: Roger Deal motioned to appoint Wendy Lonstein to Con Comm until June 30, 2010; Ken Sydow seconded, all in favor.
Finance Committee: Roger Deal motioned to appoint Tim Houlihan to the Fin Comm until June 30, 2010; Ken Sydow seconded, voted all in favor.
Capital Planning Committee: The Board agreed to send Fin Comm a letter asking them to interview and possibly appoint Larry Brenner to their vacancy rep. position on the Capital Planning Committee.
Earth Removal Board: The Board agreed to send a letter to the Appeal Board, asking if they have appointed their rep. to the ERB; if not, are they willing to appoint either Ronald Resseguie or Arthur Gibree. They also agreed to hold the BOS rep. appointment to the ERB until further discussion.
Surplus Property: Computer from the Selectmen’s office was replaced. Jim Stanton said to ask if Tahanto needs it for their computer re-building course. If so, send to Carol Bryngelson.
Town Counsel: The Board has not yet re-appointed Town Counsel (Gregory Angelini). Sue Olsen expressed her concern, since the town is currently without counsel and several issues need to be resolved. Roger Deal asked why we wouldn’t continue to utilize Atty. Angelini even though he’s not been re-appointed; Sue does not consider him town counsel until appointed.
· Roger has been talking to other towns, and would like to propose a procedure be established to send out an RFP for new counsel every 3-4 years. Then we can determine if current counsel continues to meet our needs. Jim Stanton said many towns do use firms, and many also use individual counsel. He would like Mr. Deal to define exactly what he would like to incorporate as a process and have it ready for discussion at their next meeting.
· Mr. Stanton asked if Mr. Deal was suggesting they not appoint town counsel until that process is complete. Mr. Deal said yes, if possible, depending on how long the process will take. He will look further into it and get more information.
Meeting adjourned at 10:10p.m.
Respectfully Submitted,
Lori Esposito
Administrative Assistant
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