Date of Meeting: Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Location: Town Hall, 221 Main Street
Time: 4:30 PM – 7:50 PM
Members Present: Chairman James Stanton; Roger Deal; Ken Sydow
Others Present: Nancy Colbert, Town Administrator; Joseph Connelly, Interim Town Administrator; Lori Esposito, Administrative Assistant; others as noted on sign-in sheet.
Tax Title Property/Commercial Development:
· Jim Stanton gave Nancy Colbert a brief overview on the status of various sites in Town, including 140.
· A group called Worcester F.I.R.S.T. is trying to encourage existing businesses to stay in Worcester; they have approached Rand Whitney to stay at their location in Worcester.
· Jim would like to see a committee that markets Boylston to businesses before the economy picks up.
· Nancy suggested that we could contact some businesses ahead of time to touch base and see what their plans are. Update them regarding 43D, corridor study, etc.
· Ken Sydow feels a master plan for Rte. 140 would be ideal.
· Joe Connelly said we could possibly have a social meeting at a local hotel with refreshments and update business owners on the latest 140 developments for incentive.
· Ken: we need to look at Town-owned sites (Hillside, 140, football field) for development.
· 43D – Board would like Nancy to put together an action plan to present to the Board.
· Joe: have any towns ever put together a brochure? Nancy: Yes, Newburyport just did. It is best to do it when you have sites available and you know what can be done with them.
· Jim: Judy Barrett was supposed to provide a report on Rand Whitney 43D; we haven’t seen it yet. We are concerned because she is on the most recent 43D plan and would like to make good use of the money and see results.
· Nancy: She briefly looked at the scope of the plans; has some questions. For example, no soil or sewer evaluation. If 140 on sewer, it would really benefit development.
· On agenda with IAB for 43D on December 30. Nancy will review the plan beforehand and recommend any potential changes. Plans on attending the December 30 meeting.
· Nancy has worked with Mark Bobrowski in the past and feels vision of the Board doesn’t always agree with the planner.
· Brief discussion held regarding potential future development of Town. Would like boards and committees aware of support from Board of Selectmen and Town Administrator.
MOB Offices:
· Several positions were at one time elected; now changed to appointed.
· Some positions might be underutilized and could be combined.
· Ken: salary surveys for various jobs should be kept on file (police, fire, etc.) for future adjustments. Possibly for contracts. There are excellent people in Town that we need to retain.
· Joe: Said he did a recent DPW survey, Boylston is $2 to $3/hour lower than surrounding towns.
· Brief discussion held regarding long-range solutions for personnel issues.
Revenue Study Committee Herb Cronin was present to give a brief review of Revenue Study Committee Report:
· Draft, not complete.
· Boylston is not growing
· During the building boom, kids have only increased by five kids per year. New homes average two people per house; more than paying for themselves with new taxes.
· School populations down by one percent; however, 38 kids are being sent out of district so costs are much higher.
· Population is aging.
· Residential taxes equal 92 percent of total taxes.
· Potential new revenue:
o New homes
o Business/commercial
o Hillside property – restrictions appear to be gone
o Development of Town-owned property.
· Schools have 81 percent of Town employees – and average highest paid.
· Grew by 14.25 FTE’s during five-year period.
· All other Town departments grew by 3.5 FTEs (total).
· Ambulance revenues have helped and service has improved.
· Need to exploit relationships with state representatives. For example, Chapter 70 funds are severely underfunded to Boylston. Reps could be helpful in this. When legislation reform was passed in the 1980s, Boylston was a “wealthy” town, so we are in the lowest possible category of aid and Berlin was in “poor” status and still receives a high rate of aid.
· With regard to Tahanto Regional School, Herb feels that the regional agreement is working for what it is.
Potential Expense Reductions:
Short-term:
o Renegotiate insurance co-pays and cost-sharing.
o Building Inspector’s office might have to be reduced to part-time.
o Low priority capital projects might be postponed.
o In a great emergency, the union labor contracts could be reopened.
o Use of consultants to prepare studies should be discontinued in favor of citizen preparation of these reports.
Long-term:
o Savings from regionalization?
o Sale of excess buildings.
o Partnership with legislators.
o Proposing in future for volunteer group to develop a master plan for business development.
January 5th Agenda: Revenue Study Committee to present final report.
FY’2010 Budget:
Joe briefly described the many sections of budget summaries he’d been working on (green, blue, etc.)
Personnel Policy:
· Ken: would like to discuss this in the future.
· Roger questioned how many hours the Building Inspector works.
· Ken said he has received complaints concerning the Building Inspector’s limited availability.
· Roger: it’s the Board’s responsibility to run the business and establish expectations and work routines. Would like Nancy to evaluate individual situations
Planning Board: Jen McGrath, Planning Board member, was arraigned today on charges of theft from various organizations (PTO, Little League, etc.). Jim will contact Richard Baker to let him know the Board of Selectmen will be sending her a letter requesting she resign from the Planning Board.
Ken: For future discussion:
· Assessors – elected versus appointed
· Personnel Board - ? continue
· Investment Overseer Committee
· Applicant Advisory Committee – needs to be set up and running. Mark Bertonassi started, but it’s not what it should be – needs to be reworked.
Motion made to adjourn; motion seconded; voted All In Favor.
Meeting adjourned at 7:50 PM.
Respectfully Submitted,
Lori Esposito
Administrative Assistant
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