Date of Meeting: Monday, June 16, 2009
Location: Town Hall, 221 Main Street
Time: 6:40PM – 9:35PM
Members Present: Chairman James Stanton, Roger Deal, Ken Sydow
Others Present: Nancy Colbert Puff, Town Administrator; Lori Esposito, Administrative Assistant
Financial warrants signed in approval.
Payroll Warrant: Roger Deal questioned the timesheet from the Assessor’s office, which showed a retroactive 3% pay increase back to July 2008 for Margo Richardson and Mary Morrill. Jim Stanton asked Nancy Colbert Puff if she knew anything about it; she is not sure, but recalls Margo saying she never took a 3% pay increase last year, of her own accord. Mr. Stanton asked her to look further into it, and meanwhile said to hold off on the extra lump sum payments of $704.64 and $560.16 for Margo and Mary (respectively). Already in paycheck, cannot be withheld.
Mr. Deal also had a question about elected officials and department heads signing off on their own time sheets. Mr. Stanton explained that if there is a dept. manager or supervisor available, they will sign off. Otherwise, certain offices sign off on their own.
HEARING (7:05PM) Cyprian Keyes Golf Club – ABCC License Alteration: Continuation from June 8, 2009.
Cyprian Keyes submitted an application to amend to their existing all-alcohol club license to include the 18-hole golf course and par-3 golf course in the description of licensed property.
Mr. David Frem (General Manager) and Robert Inangelo (Club Manager) were present.
· The Board reviewed the revised application submitted by Cyprian’s and were satisfied that it met all of the requirements for guidelines set forth by the ABCC.
· Mr. Sydow motioned to approve the application subject to review and approval/sign-off of Town Counsel; motion was seconded and voted all in favor.
· Mr. Sydow motioned to approve findings that Cyprian’s application change was not detrimental to St. Mary’s church (an abutter of the property) was seconded and voted all in favor. Town Counsel to review letter.
Lions’ Club BBQ Matt Mecum sent a request on behalf of the Lions’ Club requesting permission for use of the football field and also to place temporary signs for their August 1st Chicken BBQ. Ken Sydow motioned to approve the request for the signs and field use and also to waive all fees associated with permits and use of the field. Motion seconded and voted all in favor.
Meeting Minutes Approval: Motion made to approve meeting minutes for June 8, 2009 with the change of football carport being voted as two in favor and Roger Deal abstaining; motion seconded and voted all in favor.
Conservation Commission: Mr. Daniel Duffy submitted his written resignation from the Conservation Commission to the Board of Selectmen.
Review of Revenue Study Committee Report Recommendations
Herb Cronin (Committee Chair) was present.
Nancy Colbert Puff reviewed short term and long term revenue source recommendations and the status of them.
Short Term Revenue
1. Fees, fines, etc. increase where fair and reasonable.
· Feels this could be implemented immediately
2. Pursue Grants
· In process
3. Rent any unused space at Hillside (eg. Lower level area)
· Mrs. Colbert Puff says the space must be improved first
· Ken Sydow feels that if it makes sense to invest in improvements, he absolutely thinks we should do so wherever it makes sense (if we already have tenant lined up, for example)
· Re: cell phone tower leases, Roger Deal has been receiving calls from David Tivnan of Verizon asking why it’s taking the Town so long to respond to their interest in locating a cell tower on town-owned land behind the Fire Station. Mrs. Colbert Puff said she has responded to Mr. Tivnan and made it very clear that an RFP would need to be put out, but that a zoning change is also required for that location (which would need town meeting approval). Mr. Deal said Mr. Tivnan is frustrated and would appreciate if we could respond to him definitively one way or another, and also get an RFP in process if that’s what the plan is.
4. Sell town-owned property whenever reasonable.
· In process; update is on agenda for July Selectmen meeting.
Long Term Revenue
1. Rezone certain areas of Hillside property for commercial development
· Brief discussion re: past studies, future potential, etc.
2. Preserve other existing rural zone
· On-going
3. Create Fast Track Permit Processing Policy
· Completed 12/8/08
4. Continue to sell excess town-owned property as long as we get reasonable prices
5. Make attractive concessions such as TIF’s to compete with other towns for commercial development projects
· On-going
6. Encourage legislators to be active partners in our planning process/seek changes in Chapter 70 legislation.
· Mr. Stanton feels that may be an appropriate purpose to establish a committee. If we put something together over the summer and include in the revenue process, in late Fall recommendations could be put together. Ken Sydow can think of some people who would be a good fit for such a committee.
Short-Term Expense Reductions
1. Renegotiate insurance co-pay and cost sharing
· Completed for 2010
2. Seek voluntary cooperation from unions for delaying pay increases.
· Herb: teacher union contacts coming up, we need to be firm w/ negotiations.
3. Building Inspector could be reduced from full-time to part-time to save expenses.
· Nancy: is still in process of putting together job description and reviewing department production, etc. to present to Board next month.
· Roger had survey done of twelve other similar communities. All but one is smaller in population, but most have part-time inspector. Also, relative to town size in sq. miles and public road miles, most are also smaller. If we are unique to need a full-time inspector, then why? He finds it difficult to understand what’s done differently now than during the building “boom” a few years ago when we had a part-time inspector. What are other communities doing differently that they are getting by with a part-time inspector?
· Jim Stanton said Mrs. Colbert Puff will continue her evaluation and present to the Board when complete.
· Herb Cronin noted the position of the Finance Committee was not that they didn’t want a building inspector, but felt that a fixed salary was not necessary at the end of the building boom.
4. Postpone low priority capital projects.
5. Re-examine need for full-time legal representation during BOS meetings
· Completed – only attending as required.
6. Discontinue use of consultants
Long Term Expense Reductions
1. Investigate savings through joint purchasing and cost sharing ventures.
2. Sell surplus buildings and town-owned property.
· Herb would like to track results if any changes are implemented.
· Ken Sydow noted that the report is very eye-opening for citizens, and has a lot of facts that many people may not have been aware of.
· Roger Deal says he doesn’t foresee the economy getting any better. We need to anticipate making some changes to save.
Appointments FY10
· Motion to appoint Police Dept. as listed/submitted by Chief Sahagian was seconded and voted all in favor.
· Motion to appoint Fire Dept as listed/submitted by Chief Flanagan was seconded and voted all in favor.
· Affordable Housing – pass
· Appeals Board – pass on associate members. Nancy to talk to chair re: vacancy
· The following were motioned to appoint, seconded, and voted all in favor:
o Cable Advisory Committee: Tom Martiska, Michael Ridinger
o Conservation Commission: Chip Burkhardt
o Council on Aging – listed on sheet
o Cultural Council: Susan Boucher, Carolyn Zagame, Carolyn Crane
o Finance Committee: Eric Brose
o Historic Society: Peter Haynes
o Historic District Commission: Bob Haynes, Ken Linnell
o Homeland Security: see sheet
o Earth Removal Board: Arthur Gibree
o Senior Tax Rebate Committee: Mary Jasper, Jane Meegan, Dennis Goguen
o Stormwater Committee: Joe McGrath, Don Parker
o Town House Committee: Janice Ressiguie, Don Parker
o Legislative Liaison: Nancy Colbert Puff
o Civil Defense/Tree Warden/Right to Know Coordinator: Don Parker
o Parking Clerk: Sandy Bourassa
o Council on Aging Coordinator: Jane Meegan
o Social Service Rep/Nutrition Site for Elderly Meal-on-Wheels Coordinator: Janice Ressiguie
o Fence Viewer/Surveyor of Hoops and Staves: Oswald Sauer
o Administrative Assistant Board of Selectmen: Lori Esposito
Business Marketing Committee
Brief discussion re: formation of committee (Herb Cronin will volunteer to be appointed).
· Nancy Colbert Puff draft a mission statement.
· Ken Sydow feels each potential member should meet with Nancy prior to meeting with the Board before being appointed. We need to make sure the committee is managed properly and we’re all on the same page. He is very pleased with the members that have volunteered to serve their time, but Rte. 140 is complex and needs to be carefully managed. Also, the committee should be opened up in the future to additional members.
· Roger Deal asked why not have all of the potential members meet with Nancy as a group rather than one-on-one? Then it’s not a redundancy of Nancy’s time, and as a group they’ll all be on the same page.
· Herb Cronin suggests they all define how they would see their potential roles. He personally sees them as being “salesmen” to be sure projects move forward, etc.
· The Board is leaving it up to Nancy to decide on how to meet with the three volunteers.
· Re: development of Football Field, Ken Sydow says that in conjunction with that development, we would need to build an alternative field to replace it. Many residents have dedicated their money and sweat to build the existing field.
Meeting adjourned at 9:35 p.m.
Respectfully Submitted,
Lori Esposito
Administrative Assistant
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