BOARD OF SELECTMEN November 18, 2002
The meeting was called to order at 7:30 p.m. Present were Selectmen Elizabeth Sullivan and Andre Martecchini. John Tuffy arrived at 7:34 and Town Manager Rocco Longo arrived at 7:40.
OPEN FORUM: There was no one present for this portion of the meeting.
BOARD OF ASSESSORS’ TAX PUBLICATION PUBLIC HEARING: Present were Deputy Assessor Richard Finnegan and Board of Assessors members Tom Marquis and June Albritton. Mr. Marquis explained the process of separately classifying and taxing residential and commercial property and recommended that the town continue to tax all property at a single rate. This is because there is relatively little commercial property in town, and most are small businesses. The separate rates would be $11.86 residential/$18.09 commercial. The higher commercial rate could create a burden on many businesses, and possibly drive some out of town. The single tax rate is $12.06.
The legal notice regarding this hearing was read aloud for the benefit of the audience.
Mr. Finnegan announced that his department had just received final certification of its revaluation program from the Department of Revenue, who requires this every three years.
Andre Martecchini moved to adopt the single tax rate of $12.06 as recommended by the Board of Assessors. Mrs. Sullivan seconded. The motion passed, 3-0.
Mr. Finnegan was congratulated on his recent appointment as President of the Plymouth County Assessors’ Association.
AUDIT EXIT CONFERENCE: Renee Davis of Powers and Sullivan presented the Board with final reports of her firm’s recent audit of the town’s general purpose financial statements. Her comments were very positive; the town’s overall financial picture is very strong and she complemented management for its cooperation and proactive practices. She warned of shortages in the Health Claims Trust Fund. Mr. Longo responded that additional premium increases would be upcoming to increase the pool and that the Insurance Advisory Committee (32B) has been reactivated to look into cost-saving measures.
Mr. Martecchini noted that this review included fewer areas to improve upon than past audits.
Ms. Davis pointed out that with the new GASB34 financial statements becoming the standard, the appearance of our financial reports will change. They will include fixed assets and narrative reports that will explain in words what the numbers really mean. These changes will make the reports more easily read by the general public.
WEBSTER POINT PROJECT – WATER: Present for this portion of the meeting were Paul Cusson of Delphic Associates and Mark Devine of Coler and Colantonio. They are involved with this 40B project and have formally applied for a permit for 109 units of housing in the Duck Hill area. They appeared tonight to request that the Board consider providing town water to the entire project, approximately half of which is located in Marshfield.
Discussion included the average and maximum daily demands and the fire flow under current state permits at this particular location, as well as the existing arrangements the two towns have to provide water to areas in each other’s towns.
Of particular concern to the board was the fact that this request did not come from town of Marshfield officials, nor was the request for an existing project or development. Also of concern were Duxbury’s summer water restrictions, already an annual problem, and possible loss of water quality.
Town Counsel Robert Troy had provided a written opinion that the Board of Selectmen has the discretionary authority to provide another town with water for such a project, but does not have any legal obligation to do so.
Andre Martecchini moved not to extend water service into the Marshfield side of the Webster Point project. Betsy Sullivan seconded.
Chairman John Tuffy mistakenly took the motion as a positive motion to extend water service into the Marshfield side of Webster Point Project. He called for a vote on that basis and the motion failed, 0-3.
The error was pointed out and the motion was restated. Mrs. Sullivan moved not to extend water service
Into the Marshfield side of the Webster Point Project. Mr. Martecchini seconded. The motion passed,
3-0.
DPW BUDGET HEARING: Tom Daley, DPW Director, was present, along with Peter Buttkus and Carl Hillstrom.
Tom presented the Operating budget first. Transfer Station expenses are substantially higher. He has requested 2 additional staff persons (partially to replace 2 highway employees who fill in, and to alleviate overtime expenses). He also pointed to additional costs such as mattress disposal that did not exist previously. Solid waste disposal costs have increased and have already impacted the current budget.
Tom would like to purchase $7,500 of software to do in-house engineering and drafting to save substantial time and fees. Mr. Tuffy would like more information on how this would translate to cost savings.
The operating budget review was completed. Due to the late hour, the Board decided to postpone the capital portion until the remaining agenda items had been heard.
SUNDAY PACKAGE GOODS STORE OPENINGS: Gregory Sanders, Manager of Osborn’s Country Store, had sent a memo to the Board requesting that the past practice of allowing liquor sales on all the Sundays immediately before and between the Thanksgiving and New Year’s holidays be continued. There were no objections from anyone in the audience.
Andre Martecchini moved to approve the request of the package goods store owners Osborn’s Country Store, Hicks Point Ventures, Inc. dba Bennett’s General Store, McNandes Enterprises, Inc. dba Duxbury General Store, Duxbury Wine & Spirits Co., Inc., La Maison Du Vin, Inc., Millbrook Market, Inc., and The Wine Depot to sell alcoholic beverages on Sundays, November 24, December 1, December 8, December 15, December 22, December 29, 2002, subject to the following conditions:
No sale of alcoholic beverages before 12 noon on any of the above Sundays.
Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission allows for an 11:00 p.m. closing but the store can close earlier if it chooses to do so.
Employees must be paid at a rate not less than one and one-half times the employee’s regular rate.
No employee shall be required to work, and refusal to work on a Sunday shall not be grounds for discrimination, dismissal, deduction of hours, or any other penalty.
No unauthorized signs advertising such openings will be allowed to be displayed.
The selectmen reminded the owners that they cannot sell or deliver alcoholic beverages at any time during the day on Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, November 28, 2002 and Christmas Day, Wednesday, December 25, 2002.
MILLENNIUM GREEN TREE LIGHTING: The Duxbury Rotary Club and Duxbury Business Association requested permission to use the Millennium Green for their annual Christmas Tree lighting and celebration on Sunday, December 1 from 1:00 to 7:00 pm. Letters were sent to abutters with no apparent problems. Police, Fire, Inspectional Services and Board of Health Departments have approved the event. Betsy Sullivan moved to approve the Millennium Green Tree Lighting and celebration under the sponsorship of the Duxbury Rotary Club and Duxbury Business Association subject to providing Inspectional Services with a certificate of non-flammability for the awning.
Andre Martecchini seconded. The motion passed, 3-0.
ELLISON CENTER’S INTEREST IN WRIGHT BUILDING: Charles Fargo spoke on behalf of the South Shore Conservatory and Duxbury Art Association. They are interested in leasing the Wright Building as an extension of the Ellison Center, which they have already outgrown. They would be interested in a 50 to 99 year lease.
The group has hired an architect to design and plan renovations of the structure to make it more suitable for its purposes, and to make it ADA compliant. Garth Hoffman presented drawings illustrating the changes in the existing structure and discussed the use of each section of the building. This group would assume responsibility for raising more than $4 million to fund the renovations.
Parking adequacy was questioned. There is also another group who has expressed interest in using this building as a teen center, and they will be presenting their proposal to the Board in January.
Ruth Rowley cautioned the Board to be sure the use of the building does not violate the terms of Mrs. Wright’s will, and that this has been an issue in the past.
No action was taken on this item and the Board thanked Mr. Fargo and Mr. Hoffman for their presentation.
DPW CAPITAL BUDGET: Tom Daley returned to discuss the capital portion of the DPW budget. Among the items he has included are a new septic system for the Selectmen/Town Manager’s office at a cost of $50,000. This system is technically, though not officially, in a state of failure.
The Animal Control Shelter needs replacement and fundraising will pay for more than half the cost. However, he has included $75,000 in his budget, and much of the work will be done by town laborers, keeping the total cost down.
He requested one additional pickup truck and one replacement dump truck for the Highway Department, one replacement backhoe for the Water Department, one replacement tractor for the Cemetery, and a new plastic baler for the Transfer Station.
The crematory needs to have its four retorts relined on an alternating, semi-annual basis. This puts the expense in his budget every year. Tom and Peter Buttkus are looking into newer units but the costs appear to be much higher.
SENIOR CENTER BUILDING USE POLICY: The Board reviewed the policy and made the following changes: under “Regulations” item #1, remove the words “and alcohol-free”. Add item #9, “Alcohol is not permitted unless approved by the Board of Selectmen.”
Also, under Building Rental Rates, the first sentence in the third paragraph should read as follows: “There are no rental fees for town committees or town-sponsored groups as approved by the Town Manager.
FEE REVISIONS: Will be discussed again on December 9 and posted in the Clerk’s office.
MINUTES of November 4 and 12: Andre Martecchini moved to accept the minutes as presented. John Tuffy seconded. The motion passed 3-0.
COMMITTEE APPOINTMENTS: Betsy Sullivan moved to appoint Lorrie Hall and Maxene Armour to one-year terms on the Affordable Housing Committee, expiring on November 15, 2003. Andre Martecchini seconded. The motion passed 3-0.
MOTION TO ADJOURN: Betsy Sullivan moved to adjourn at 11:21pm. Andre Martecchini seconded. The motion passed 3-0. The meeting adjourned at 11:22pm.
Nancy Moody
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