Chilmark Board of Selectmen Minutes of September 6th 2005
Meeting called to order by Chairman Fenner in the Selectmen’s Meeting Room at 7:30 PM.
Present: Fred Keduri, Eli Keduri, Bob Merry, Jane Slater, Walter Epstein, Sylvia Cohn, Chris Russell, Mrs. W. Epstein, Margie Hayes, Jonathan Revere, Kate Warner, Melanie Becker, Brian Hellund, Alicia Knight, JBR Parker, Frank Fenner, Warren Doty, Tim Carroll.
Minutes of August 16th 2005 approved with two changes.
Janitor
Margie Hayes met the board and was interviewed for the position of Janitor at 13 hours a week cleaning the Police Station and Library. She said she was cleaning other offices at night as her main job. Mr. Doty moved and Mr.Parker seconded a motion to appoint Margie Hayes to the vacant position of Janitor. SO VOTED: Three Ayes.
The Selectmen welcomed Miss Hayes and wished her well.
Chilmark Town Affairs Council
Mr. Walter Epstein, President of the CTAC, spoke to the Selectmen about the success of the 2005 Summer season at the Community Center and all of the wonderful programs. He said that local families with children in the school system were asked to make a voluntary $200 donation for membership in the 8 week program and that no one is turned away.
He told the Selectmen that for the last ten years that there has not been a successful swimming program. He said that this is a problem for the CTAC and they want to correct it. He credited the Langmuir family of Abel’s Hill for supporting an 8 year successful swimming program through the loan of their swimming pool to the Community Center.
Since that family sold their home, the Community Center has been unable to find a facility in Chilmark at which to teach swimming. They tried Lucy Vincent and Squibnocket Beaches. They tried Chilmark Pond. They tried Menemsha Beach. Each had a challenge the Center tried to overcome. The Community Center hired a well qualified instructor to lead the program and revitalize it three years ago. She quit after three weeks when none of the children would participate in swimming at Menemsha Beach. This instructor urged the Community Center to return to a swimming pool for their program. Mr. Epstein said that there has been no swimming program for the last 2-3 years and the Community Center is seeking a safe facility to teach the community’s children how to
swim.
Next year is the 50th anniversary of the Chilmark Community Center. The Town Affairs Council is hoping to conduct a fund raising effort as part of the celebrations. The CTAC wants to raise money to put towards meaningful improvements of the programs and facilities. They hope to raise $500,000 to be placed in a fund for long term facility improvements and estimate $250,000 of that could be used to build a swimming pool.
The CTAC asked the Selectmen to consider leasing a piece of land at Peaked Hill Pastures for the construction and operation of an in ground swimming pool. The pool would be at least 25 meter long, not have a diving board, be as “green” as possible to operate (using solar and other energy reduction means, and special filtration systems) and be securely fenced.
The pool would be operated for Red Cross certified swimming instruction Monday – Friday, 8:30 am – 12 noon, for the 8 weeks the Community Center is open in July and August. The pool operation would be funded by membership fees and supervised by Community Center staff. Mr. Epstein said that the pool would have the ability to expand to greater public use if and when the town wanted to do so. The CTAC said that the facility would be designed and built to only be used during the daytime. Mr. Epstein said that as part of this project, they were planning on building a detached restroom facility outside the pool fence so that it could be available, at the town’s discretion, for other public uses like during the softball games on Sunday mornings.
Mr. Epstein said that he had tried to work out the use of a private pool in town, but that the obstacles of liability, insurance and intrusion into someone’s private home were too great. He said that was a major imposition to impose on a family every week day for 8 weeks.
Mr. Doty asked about safety concerns and the program to teach children swimming. Mr. Epstein said that in the past they have conducted Red Cross certified training. Mr. Doty asked if a safe facility could be built that would be empty 18 hours a day, in such a way to make sure accidents don’t happen there. Mr. Epstein said that a six foot fence was required by state law, and that there are many pools built each year on the island and this pool could be better policed.
Mr. Doty said that this pool should be fine if it has a heavy cover that can be locked on when the pool is not in use, and no children can get in or no adults can have a night party there. Mr. Epstein said that they would need to work on all these and other issues before we could go forward with a lease.
Mr. Fenner asked how many kids. Mr. Epstein said that they were assuming 150 per week. Mr. Doty said to make sure the septic system was sized large enough. Mr. Parker said that there will be concerns to work out and he asked what the estimated operating expenses were. He said they would be helpful for voters to decide if they wanted to operate the pool in June and September. Mr. Epstein said that until more design work was done, some of which is site driven, they would not have an estimated operating cost. Mr. Parker asked for that to be done before the special town meeting.
Kate Warner told the group that solar heating of the pool can pay for itself in one season. Mr. Epstein said that was part of the plan at this time.
Mr. Doty said that the town already has systems in place that could take on this function. He said that the town could hire a couple more lifeguards and sell pool permits from the existing beach sticker office with little additional expense.
Mr. Merry said that the town already has beaches to teach water safety at and if someone falls in the water it is more likely to be the ocean than a pool. He said he didn’t understand why we were spending this money, and if we were spending this money, why we weren’t using it to support the YMCA proposal.
Mr. Epstein said that this was not in competition with the YMCA program and would only be seasonal. He said that driving to and from Oak Bluffs was not an option that would work for the morning program at the Community Center. He pointed out that all Red Cross swimming certifications, except Open Water, are taught in pools. He said that this can be done and it is beneficial to the community. Chris Russell said that the pool will not take away the demand for beaches in Chilmark, but that their have been tremendous demand from parents of young children for a swimming program. She said it is important to teach them in a pool before some can be comfortable in the ocean.
Mr. Merry said that there are beach clubs all up the coast that teach swimming in salt water. Sylvia Cohn said that the Community Center really tried to use Menemsha Beach. She said that from 20 to 10 years ago the center had a vibrant swimming program until it moved from a pool to Menemsha Beach. She said the program shrunk until in despair they gave up trying to use Menemsha Beach. She said that the old access to Menemsha Pond was better than the beach, but was lost when the land was sold. Mrs. Cohn told the group that she never started out wanting a pool for the center, but now we have come tot he conclusion that a pool is needed.
Mr. Parker said that there are always demands for the use of public land and that the Special Town Meeting needs to decide its priorities for the use of this land. Mr. Fred Kedhouri told the group that the use of this land for a pool would prevent its use for other important projects in the future. He said he learned to swim in the ocean, but that his wife was the person who had tried to arrange for the center to use their swimming pool for a program, but that fifty kids a day was not possible at their home. He gave a letter to the Selectmen outlining concerns he had with a possible public pool at the Peaked Hill Pastures site. He told the Selectmen that the Seigal family was unable to attend, but was in agreement with his letter. He said having lighting in the night sky was a bad
thing. He asked the Chilmark Town Affairs Council to be sensitive to the concerns of the neighbors and the possible unintended consequences of their activities. He asked if the pool could be located on a different site.
Mr. Parker said that there would be no decision made here tonight, that would happen at the Special Town Meeting. Mr. Fenner said that the terms of the lease will be up to the Selectmen to decide. Mr. Doty said that for seven years this site has been discussed as a site for many different town services (regional middle school, tennis courts, library, etc), and the town even went to a town meeting to put recreational facilities there. He said that this site is good for a pool if approved by the town meeting.
Community Center
Mr. Doty asked about the proposal to spray the ceiling with acoustic material. Mr. Epstein said the CTAC would split the bill with the town. Mr. Doty asked about the estimated $40,000 to replace the old windows and the main room doors in conjunction with the 50th anniversary. Mr. Parker said that should be deferred until the town has a Capital Improvement Plan. Mr. Epstein said they were planning to raise $500,000, some fair sharing of the costs with the town was fine, and generally the answer is always yes from the CTAC when it comes to sharing expenses.
MV Energy Plan
Kate Warner gave a 30 minute presentation on the MV Energy Plan and things the towns can do to help implement it successfully. She was seeking two people from each town to serve on an energy committee to research and develop a possible District of Critical Planning Concern for energy on MV. Mr. Parker said that they shouldn’t take too much of a regulatory approach.
Treasurer
Melanie Becker told the Selectmen that the TriTown Ambulance was a regional group and that when EMTs arrived at a Chilmark call they could be from Aquinnah and West Tisbury as well as Chilmark. She felt it was a bad idea to discriminate against EMTs that didn’t live in Chilmark, but were active with the TriTown Ambulance, by limiting the availability of health insurance at 100% cost to only those living in Chilmark. She said that she discussed this with the Chairman of the Tri Town Ambulance and the Coordinator, who agreed with her.
Mr. Parker moved and Mr. Doty seconded a motion to amen the wording of article 2 of the September 26th 2005 special town meeting to strike out “Chilmark” as it appeared to allow all Tri Town EMTs to be eligible to purchase health insurance through the town at 100% of the cost. SO VOTED: Three Ayes.
Mrs. Becker presented the Selectmen with copies of her policies on investing. Mr. Parker said that they were good policies and thanked the Treasurer for them.
Julie Coleman
Mr. Doty moved and Mr. Parker seconded a motion to allow Mrs. Coleman free use of the Community Center for her second annual fund raising event marking the death of her son. SO VOTED: Three Ayes. She needs to notify the police department and post the $100 cleaning deposit.
Capital Improvement Plan
Mr. Carroll provided the Selectmen with a draft ordinance for a CIP. He also provided the Selectmen with the capital needs for the Harbor, Highway, Police and Fire Departments for the next 5 years.
The Selectmen agreed to read the drafts and come back on September 22nd to vote on calling a public hearing on an ordinance.
West Tisbury
Mr. Parker and Mr. Fenner said they would try to attend the meeting in West Tisbury about county government.
Dog Officer
Using the town custodian as an assistant to the dog officer was discussed. Mr. Parker said that the town was obligated to pay that position overtime for any work beyond his existing 40 hours a week.
It was agreed to decide the appointments at their next meeting when Chris Murphy had returned from his trip.
Special Town Meeting
Mr. Parker moved and Mr. Doty seconded a motion to call a special town meeting on September 26th 2005 at 7:30 PM with ten warrant articles. SO VOTED: Three Ayes.
Harbor Regulations
Mr. Parker was drafting changes to the Waterways Rules & Regulations. A date of October 18th was discussed as a possible public hearing date.
Housing Bank Coalition
Mr. Doty moved and Mr. Parker seconded a motion to refer the Housing Bank Coalition proposal to legal counsel on the condition the costs were split between the towns involved. SO VOTED: Three Ayes.
Hurricane Katrina
Mr. Carroll reported on the efforts underway within the state regarding relief for the victims of the hurricane. Mr. Doty asked to make sure our elderly people were being planned for.
Conservation Commission
It was agreed to interview Russell Maloney at the September 22nd meeting.
Molly Flender
The Selectmen took a moment to commend the late Molly Flender for her service to the community and note that she will be missed.
Ed Sussman
Mr. Fenner said that the request for Mr. Sussman to meet with Town Counsel should be denied since the Selectmen stand by the action of the Beach Committee and Mr. Parker agreed.
Executive Session
Mr. Doty moved that the Selectmen go into executive session and not return to regular session for the purpose of discussing land acquisition. Seconded by Mr. Parker.
Doty -Aye Parker - Aye Fenner-Abstaining
10:26 PM
Meeting Adjourned at 10:57 PM
Approved: 22 September 2005
| 
