Town of Greenfield
Selectmen’s Meeting Minutes
Thursday – June 30, 2005 – 5:45 pm
Present: Selectmen - Chairman, George Rainier; Selectman, William Brooks; Selectman, Conrad B. Dumas
Administrative Assistant, Deb Davidson taking minutes
Department Heads:
Appointments:
5:50 – Michael Sparling & Rev. Osgood – to discuss the church, the lease that is up for renewal in a few years and the future of the building
Lease Agreement - Everyone was provided a DRAFT lease agreement, which is being proposed by the church. The current lease expires April 11, 2009 –
Selectman Rainier stated he would like some time to review this proposal. Michael Sparling discussed the proposed changes within the document
· Increasing the lease from 50 years to 99 years
· Allowing the Church the use of the building for 24 hours on Sunday.
· Walls would remain up continuously in the basement, allowing the nursery to remain in tact.
· Additional responsiblitiy for the janitorial costs will be taken care of by the church.
Selectmen stated they would like to discuss this among themselves before any decision be made. Selectman Dumas asked why ’99 years? Michael Sparling stated they should review the Monohan estimate that explains some updates necessary to the building. Some concerns are the cost of a sprinkler systems, access & the electrical system in the building. The members of the Church have stated they are willing to help offset the expense for these updates, however before they do so, they would like to have assurance they will remain in the building.
Decision: Administrative Assistant will check to see if this needs to go before town meeting? Selectmen will get back to the church after they have reviewed all the information. They would like at least until August to review the file before they consider this lease request. This was acceptable to all parties.
Chairlift – It was discussed they may need to replace the old chair lift, in order to do so they would need to have Selectmen’s permission – the church is currently researching estimates at this point. Discussion followed.
Decision: No decision was made at this time. The church will keep Selectmen up to date with what will be required.
6:15 – Jim Cruthers – Antrim Waste Water Operator – to discuss the position we will have available – Mr. Cruthers stated he has reviewed the site, he has spoken with Keith Pratt earlier this week. Mr. Pratt indicated it won’t be a permitted site, it is a very minimal site. It is a low maintenance site.
Selectman Rainier asked if Mr. Cruthers had any questions? He stated he really did not – after speaking with Keith Pratt it was determined it won’t be very time consuming. However, until it actually gets up and running Mr. Cruthers stated “you really don’t know what you need”.
Discussion followed regarding what is most likely going to be needed, what will be expected from the system, the operator etc. Mr. Cruthers will provide the Selectmen with a written price for this project. Selectmen will wait to get the price and be in touch with Mr. Cruthers. They thanked Mr. Cruthers for his time.
6:30 – Wage & Benefit Study Committee – Aaron Kullgren, Karen Day, Margo Bliss, Deb Davidson were present from the committee –
Mr. Kullgren discussed what has transpired since this committee has been formed.
· The original committee has been broken into 3 sub committees – wages & grade steps; benefits; evaluations & job descriptions - Aaron & Deb are the wage & grade sub-committee; Nell, Jarvis & Greg – benefits sub-committee; Karen & Margo – evaluations & job descriptions sub-committee
· Part 1 - Mr. Kullgren explained how the committee would like to proceed, he further explained how we woud like to make a matrix that can be installed on the website. The matrix would explain the different job steps and how/what is expected of each grade, allowing anyone wanting to review positions in Greenfield, encouraging staff to have goals.
Part 2 - Would be evaluations, via self evaluation, supervisory evaluations & Selectmen evaluation. Merit wages etc. were discussed
Part 3 – benefits gathered from all the surrounding towns, similar towns and what they offer for benefits, what type of medical insurances, dental, level of funding etc., requirements necessary before you can receive benefits, co-pay etc.
Systematic approach to rewarding employees, as well as allowing goals for all employees.
The committee would like to have a draft to the Selectmen by August – possibly a power point presentation.
Next meeting with Selectmen will be July 25th with an update of where the committee is going.
On – going matters:
Waste Water Project – No Update
Septic System Operational Guidelines – Reviewed changes, will review again.
Other Business:
Minutes - Selectmen accepted the minutes of June 23, 2005 Selectmen’s Meeting as written
Selectmen Approval –
· Letter regarding acreage discrepancy – Khouw
· Payroll
· Invoices
· Elderly Exemption – Elderly Tax Deferral – R9-69
Selectmen Denial –
· Veterans Exemption – S5-23
Mail - Reviewed misc. incoming mail –
Beach – Administrative Assistant reported to the Selectmen, the DES called the office earlier in the day regarding water tests that had been done at Sunset Lake. The lake had a high level of E-Coli on the left side of the beach. The DES recommended at this time, no swimming signs be posted at Sunset. The lake will be tested again tomorrow, if the test is ok, they will notify the town and the no swimming signs can be removed. The DES did not report anything about Zephyr Lake; at this time we can assume Zephyr Lake is fine. Administrative Assistant asked if the Board would like door to door flyers, as was done in the past? Selectmen thought this would be a good idea, depending on what happens tomorrows reading.
Decision: If the second test comes back with high levels of E-coli, Parks & Recreation Director will deliver flyers to each home.
Tax Map Update - Administrative Assistant provided Selectmen with two choices of mapping companies that are able to update our tax maps, SWRPC & Terra Map. Selectmen were asked to review the two options and decide whom to have done the 2005 updates. Discussion followed.
Decision: Administrative Assistant was instructed to check references for Terra Map and report back to the Board. No decision was made at this time
PILOTS – The town received PILOTS from Crotched Mountain & Greenfield Commons this week.
Fuel bids – This should be put out to bid as soon as possible.
With no further business, meeting adjourned at 7:33 pm. Next scheduled Selectmen’s meeting will be Thursday July 7, 2005 at 5:45 pm.
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