Date of Meeting: Monday, December 19, 2011
Location: Town Hall, 221 Main Street
Time: 5:00 PM – 8:30 PM
Members Present: Chairman Kenneth Sydow, Members Roger Deal and James Wood
Others Present: Stephen Madaus, Town Counsel; Nancy Colbert Puff, Town Administrator; Lori Esposito, Administrative Assistant to the Board of Selectmen; others as noted on attached sign-in sheet
Hillside Study:
Michelle Smith, the summer intern, presented her results after compiling relevant Hillside studies over this part summer. Approximately 15 studies were used to compile the presented information. A brief discussion regarding the findings was held.
The Board thanked Michelle for a job well done; they felt she gave an excellent presentation and did excellent work.
In the future, the Board feels they need to survey residents to know what they want before any decisions are made.
Recess at 6:20 PM. Meeting resumed at 6:35 PM.
Service Recognition: Jim Wood suggests we send letters of appreciation to residents who go abroad to serve in the service. It was brought up that we need to find a way to know who goes overseas. Jim Wood will get in touch with Vin Perrone.
Selectmen’s Meeting Schedule: Schedule approved as drafted.
Report of the Town Administrator:
1. Treasurer/Collector: Jeff Ugalde is scheduled to start work on January 3, 2012.
Jim Wood made a motion to appoint Jeff Ugalde as Treasurer/Collector, effective January 3, 2012. Motion seconded and voted all in favor.
2. Health Insurance Reform Proposal: MIIA has provided an analysis regarding how the Town could consider a change in benefits to achieve savings, similar to what we would enjoy if we joined the GIC. The proposal is for active employees. There would be a change in the overall deductible as well as a variety of additional fees applied to ER visits, hospital stays, MRIs, etc. No estimate is available at this time on the expected premium; it should be available in late January.
The estimated savings between what Tufts Navigator (GIC Benchmark) would save: GIC: $76K – MIIA: $51K. Jim Wood will be the designated Board of Selectmen representative to work closely with the TA on this.
3. Regional Housing Grant: Leon Gaumond, West Boylston TA, has prepared a tri-town grant application for funding a shared housing specialist for West Boylston, Sterling and Boylston.
Roger Deal made a motion to approve the grant application; motion was seconded and voted all in favor.
4. Lease for fire truck/Phillips Precision TIF Agreement: In accordance with the TIF agreement made with Phillips Precision, the Town has the opportunity to continue to rent space from the Phillips for use by the Fire Department. The Tax Increment Financing agreement allowed the Town to use the garage at no cost for two years; the Town is now obliged to compensate the Phillips for the space. The Chairman of the Board of Selectmen and the Town Administrator met with the Phillips and discussed a $350/month rental; Town Counsel prepared the attached lease agreement.
Motion was made that the Board of Selectmen enter into a one-year lease for garage space at Phillips Precision at a cost of $350/month, the Fire Department being responsible for the payment. The motion was seconded and voted all in favor.
5. Memorial on Central Street: The Board received a complaint from Mr. Lucier regarding the condition of the roadside memorial on Central Street. He has stated that the site has attracted visitors who have obstructed normal travel and garbage has been left at the site. He requests the Board’s consideration of his request to improve the area. Lori Esposito researched the issue of roadside memorials and how they are treated in other towns. There is a wide range of opinion and policy in various towns as to how they are handled. Some of this information is attached to the TA’s report. The TA requests the Board’s direction in this matter.
Ken Sydow asked Chief Sahagian for his opinion. The Chief said he considers the aforementioned “garbage” to be memorabilia, relative to the memory of the individual. The one-year anniversary was December 7. The Chief has not received any complaints. There are other locations in Town and mourners have been very respectful; he does not see it as being a big problem and he travels the road repeatedly every day.
Ken Sydow said the problem with this location is its potential for someone to be hurt, as this is on a blind hill and speed is usually at maximum. The Chief agreed that it is a dangerous area, especially in winter, but people do not congregate there in the winter.
Lori said some towns take on the placement of memorials, which are standardized. Ken said we need to look into time frame, retention and safety of memorials, along with the potential for a permanent memorial. The Chief feels that once a time limit is set, the items removed should be put aside for family.
Report of the Chief of Police:
- November 21: Weapons firing at the firing range.
- November 29: MIIA inspection.
- December 2: Lt. Rajotte attended a DOT meeting regarding spring paving
- December 3: Lt. Rajotte and Tony accepted an AAA award at a luncheon for zero pedestrian fatalities in the past three years.
- December 5: An 8th Grade sexting case was reported. The parents did not want to prosecute; the Worcester District Attorney’s office will not pursue.
December 21: Attended a meeting with West Boylston at the jail regarding contingency operations.
There has been an increase in Town in house breaks, four in late November/early December. Suspects and card were identified; some property has been recovered at pawn shops.
The State has mandated police ID cards be obtained for the Department.
The State will not be replacing the BT machine and we will use West Boylston or Shrewsbury in the meantime. The State told him towns are not even on the list for State replacements. They have since revisited the decision and might be replacing the machine.
Report of the Town Administrator, Cont’d:
6. Remote Participation for Boards and Commissions: Attached are recently released regulations governing the Open Meeting Law that allows remote participation in a public meeting: personal illness, personal disability, emergency, military service or geographic distance. Remote participation cannot count toward a quorum, however. Also, cities and towns must ratify the practice of remote participation before any public body can use it. The law allows for audio or video conferencing to be used, providing all participants can clearly hear one another. All votes must be roll call votes. A brief discussion was held among the Selectmen.
Jim Wood made a motion to adopt the practice of remote participation. The motion was seconded and voted all in favor.
7. Mt. Pleasant Golf Course Sale: The golf course is being sold to Boylston Recreation and Golf LLC, which is managed by Regan Remillard. The closing will be held in the next two weeks or so. The use of the property will remain unchanged; it will be managed by Brian Lynch, formerly GM of The International in Bolton. The new owner is enthusiastic about growing membership and making improvements to the property. They have requested that the Town confirm it does not have right of first refusal on the property as the use is not changing. Steve Madaus, Town Counsel, has confirmed this. The TA has requested the Board acknowledge receipt of the affidavit and confirmation there will be no change in use of the subject property.
Motion was made, seconded and voted all in favor to authorize the Town Administrator to write a letter to the new owners confirming the above.
8. Holidays and Vacations: Town Hall will be closed on December 26 and on January 2 for the Christmas and New Year’s holidays. The Town Administrator will take December 20 – 23 off. The Administrative Assistant to the Selectmen will be out of the office the week between the holidays.
Report of the Fire Chief: Joe Flanagan was unable to attend the meeting; Ken Sydow summarized his report briefly to the Board.
Report of the Building Inspector:
- He received a plan for an FDA office to be opened on Route 140 near the diner and the pub. He has not heard from them since that time.
- A final occupancy permit for the gas station was issued.
- Inspections were completed for five liquor license establishments. Four of the five are 30-day temporary permits, pending some corrections.
7:40 PM – Michael Ridinger – Cable negotiations update:
- They are close to where they need to be with language with Charter.
- The Committee requests they provide TV Guide Channel lineup. Charter does not want to do it.
- Charter is also planning on adding a fiber network; this will replace cable connections so that the cable station will no longer be able to connect with Tahanto, the Library, etc. Charter states it will cost Boylston money. We have very little leverage. By law they are required to pay up to five percent of revenue from cable to PEG. This is their only bargaining point with them. They do not want us to increase the percentage. If the percentage is increased by one, for example, the taxpayer increase is $1 on a $100 invoice.
- The Committee needs permission from the Board of Selectmen to increase from four percent to five percent, if necessary for negotiations.
Roger Deal made a motion to allow the cable committee to negotiate up to a five percent maximum limit of PEG funding. The motion was seconded by Jim Wood and voted all in favor.
- Ken Sydow asked the status of cameras to be working to record meetings. Mike said they are just finishing up repair of the computer and they should be up and running very soon,-- within one to two weeks.
- Jim Wood wants to review protocol. Any one of the boards should be able to put something on the agenda without checking with other members. He wants anyone who wants to meet with any board to feel welcome to do so.
- Ken said we do welcome anyone and encourage people to come to the meetings but he explained there are deadlines to be met according to open meeting law, etc. He does not want to be the be all and end all, but it is easier to have a single contact to set a final, approved agenda before posting a meeting and after a board has had an opportunity to review it. Sometimes additional preparation is needed to allow the board to prepare for the meeting.
- Jim asked if “to properly come before the board” should allow anything to come up for discussion. Mike said “absolutely not.” That allows for emergency issues to be handled but it does not allow everything to be last-minute. Notice is required if it can wait.
- Roger agrees we should be available, but we should also have a level of protocol that allows us to prepare for discussion.
- Mike said the law is meant to be fair to the entire public, not just the party requesting an agenda item.
Discussion was held regarding an agenda closing date set years ago (Wednesday), current open meeting law, etc. It was agreed that Wednesday would be the closing date; if the chair is not available, the Board can make the decision. A request for an agenda topic should be submitted in writing, with as much detail as possible, it can then be distributed to the Board along with the agenda draft.
On a motion made by Jim Wood and seconded by Roger Deal and voted all in favor the meeting was adjourned at 8:30 PM.
Respectfully Submitted,
Lori Esposito, Administrative Assistant
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