Date of Meeting: Monday, March 10, 2008
Location: Town Hall, 221 Main Street
Time: 6:30 PM – 8:50 PM
Members Present: Chairman James Stanton, Ken Sydow, Roger Deal
Others Present: Suzanne Olsen, Town Administrator; Lori Esposito, Administrative Assistant; others as listed on sign-in sheet
Not Present: Stephen Madaus, Town Counsel
Financial warrants were signed in approval prior to the meeting.
Meeting was called to order at 7:10 PM.
Chief Sahagian – Monthly Report (7:00 PM):
· After hours building checks up (averaging double from last year).
· Met with Town Administrator candidate on February 26.
· February 28: Tahanto student case in Worcester Juvenile court. Received 18 months; reimbursements not supported by the judge.
· Scheduled burn this weekend of old, unneeded records at Wheelabrator.
· Boston Globe made a request last week regarding traffic stops in 2007. Information sent via e-mail. Hard copy given to Board of Selectmen.
· Subject charged in Dunkin’ Donuts break-in.
Roger questioned if he had heard anything regarding Vinny’s Liquors and center store tip jar (person shoplifting). Tony said he spoke with a young man, approximately 32 years old; he knows they are watching him. He was also viewing inappropriate material on library computers.
Don Parker, Monthly Report to Board:
· They are $21K-plus over the sand/salt budget
· Have been patching potholes
· Provided Town Administrator photos of Green Street drainage issue. Water is coming off the Northborough side.
· An additional catch basin is needed on the Hillside driveway. Board of Selectmen okayed.
Ken said water running across Central Street makes a sheet of ice. Don stated that the water runs off the hill; not much can be done.
Regarding warrant articles for May, Don asked if the loader be supported. Not sure. Jim asked Don how he is doing on staffing. Don said they were not doing too well; he had a possible candidate but he chose to stay in construction. Don doesn’t need another ad; he has plenty of applications/resumes.
Don has been checking the MOB furnace regularly, since it has been shutting off for no apparent reason. It is sometimes off and he needs to restart it. Sue said she is having an HVAC tech look at the furnace to see if he can figure out the problem and/or if in dire need of repair, give an estimate.
Sign Requests: Roger motioned to approve, Ken seconded, voted All in Favor: Berlin Bravo and the Lions Club; both as requested.
Parks & Recreation:
Messes being left after P&R activities in the upstairs of the MOB. This past weekend, fecal matter was smeared in the men’s room. Also, MCJTC equipment was tipped over and damaged. Have had more complaints over the past year than previously, and it is costing the Town money. Jim said he had Rudy in a few weeks ago and he agreed to address it. Ken said he should do both: send a letter, provide a response, then come into the next meeting with a plan to provide coverage for monitoring, cleaning, lock-up, etc. If the issue is escalating, it’s a real problem. If necessary to shut it down, then shut it down beginning April/May.
7:45 PM – Michelle Ciccolo Progress Update:
· Ms. Ciccolo has had a number of meetings, most recently with the Building Inspector and the Board of Health Agent. They feel insufficient regular projects come through to form an Advisory Committee. Potentially, handbooks could be formed, but might not want to, since 43D coming up as possibility. They are not anxious to do a lot of unnecessary work and have nothing come of it.
· She is a grant writer; her services could be better used as such. Ms. Ciccolo suggested a block grant as a possibility, even though the Board of Selectmen didn’t feel that in the Fall (2007) that there would be time for this project, it is not a time-consuming grant. Absent some specific direction from the Board, she’s not sure what the next step is.
· Roger feels a lot of her time and talent has been wasted. We need to be more proactive. He is frustrated, feeling we haven’t taken advantage of her services. Perhaps the Board of Selectmen has failed in providing and establishing priorities. We have possibly lost money for the Town in potential grants.
· Michelle stated the Community Development strategy process helps determine what the Town wants to focus on. Jim disagrees. He feels they were explicitly clear in establishing an Applicant Advisory Committee as a number one priority. The requested skills don’t match, perhaps, but we were clear in what was needed. Michelle said that is not what she understood and she was not clear on exactly what the Board wanted in the form of an Applicant Advisory Committee. She was told by the Board of Health Agent and the Building Inspector that meetings cannot be held at night, but must be during the day. Ken Sydow stated the framework was laid out with the Boards and discussed as such. The point of the process was to go to the two (Board of Health Agent
and Building Inspector) who would have the most to do and they would coordinate it. What do other towns do? Michelle said she’s not sure there is a “one size fits all,” depending on town needs, personnel in place, etc.
· Michelle inquired as to how close we are on 43D. Jim said very close, possibly April or May.
· Michelle said funds had been appropriated for a traffic study, etc. A feasibility study for the Senior Center should be in the thought process since grants would be dependent upon it. Robust public planning is necessary for pursuing grants.
She asked for the Board’s wishes for her next steps.
· Roger: determine responsibilities, process and the written process for an Applicant Advisory Committee; need to initiate and get people together.
· Jim: We need to talk to Mark Bertonassi again since his opinion on the process seems to have changed, based on what Michelle told us tonight. We also would like to look at capital development needs/grants.
· Michelle stated it is difficult to ask the state for money when decisions have not been made.
· Ken suggests they take this into a work session; re-examine priorities, since things have changed. Realign, then get back together with Michelle.
· Michelle said her impression from Mark was that he wasn’t clear what the goals were and what direction to go in. It wasn’t that he was too busy or disinterested.
Reschedule; Board of Selectmen will be in touch.
Teresa Prunier: Asked about Graves Engineering memo. Jim said it has been continued due to the Earth Removal Board not available to be present at tonight’s meeting. Slope ratios are different from what was on the plan.
Town Administrator Search: Re-advertise (publish and on the web site).
Special Town Meeting: On a motion by Roger Deal, a Special Town Meeting date was scheduled for April 8, 2008; seconded by Ken, voted All in Favor.
Town Administrator’s Report:
· Building Inspector job description – leave as is. Don’t reduce to pay grade 8 as recommended by Personnel Board, but also no raise approved as requested by Mark.
· Retiree health insurance policy.
Veterans’ Agent: Paul Aucoin resigned. Sue suggests asking West Boylston if we can use their Veterans’ Agent. Sue will call Leon Gaumond (WB Town Administrator).
F’09 Budget:
· Telephone service – put out to bid (leave at $11K in budget)
· Workers Comp and General Insurance – put out to bid (leave in budget).
· Ask all boards to break down line items by March 24.
Meeting adjourned at 8:50 PM.
Respectfully Submitted,
Lori Esposito
Administrative Assistant
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