HOLDEN BOARD OF SELECTMEN
MEETING MINUTES
APRIL 22, 2008
6:30PM Senior Center
Present: Chairman James Jumonville, Kenneth O’Brien (arrived 6:41PM), Joseph G. Sullivan,
David J. White
Absent: Kimberly N. Ferguson
Others Present: Brian Bullock, Town Manager, Jacquie Kelly, Assistant Town Manager,
Elizabeth Helder, Recording Secretary
Chairman Jumonville opened the meeting at 6:30PM. The Board participated in the Pledge of Allegiance.
Request for Sewer Abatement
The Manager informed the Board that the town has received a deed in lieu of foreclosure for three parcels of land on Bullard Street owned by the Borowski family. These parcels have sewer assessments in need of abatement.
Motion by Sel. Sullivan, seconded by Sel. White, it was VOTED 3-0-1 WITH 1 ABSTENTION TO APPROVE SEWER ABATEMENTS FOR MAP 178, PARCEL 22 AND MAP 190, PARCELS 18 AND 19 ON BULLARD STREET AS RECOMMENDED BY THE ADMINISTRATION. (Abstained: O’Brien.)
Sel. White requested clarification on what happens to the sewer abatements when the property is sold. The Manager said he would ask Town Counsel for a legal opinion.
Sel. O’Brien arrived at 6:41PM.
Selectmen Subcommittees
Sel. Sullivan: EMS: Has not met.
Sel. White: PSBC: Met on April 16th. Committee continues with schematic design process. Next eight months will be spent refining plans. Committee expects to go out to bid on the project January 2009. Next meeting is May 7th.
Sel. Jumonville: Memorial Day: Meeting on April 22, 2008. A band will play at the Bandstand at the end of the parade and the Boy Scouts will serve refreshments. Residents are encouraged to picnic. Next meetings are May 5th and May 20th.
Sel. O’Brien: EDC: Has not met.
Annual Town Meeting Warrant – Articles RE: FY08 Water/Sewer Budget
The Manager said that it was necessary to add an article to the Water/Sewer Budget. Town Counsel has been working on the article to balance the FY2008 Water/Sewer Fund. The article will become 6-5A.
A motion was made by Sel. Sullivan and seconded by Sel. Jumonville to discuss the placement of warrant article 6-5A to balance FY2008 Water/Sewer Fund.
The Board discussed the purpose of the warrant article. The warrant article will appropriate and transfer money from unexpended balances of various warrant articles that are no longer needed for their original purposes to the Water/Sewer Enterprise Fund. Sel. O’Brien referenced an April 2nd email that he sent the Manager regarding auditing the town accounts. Sel. O’Brien referenced a quarterly payment that was missed in the Water/Sewer Budget. The Manager said that that payment was not missed but delayed a quarter because the bill was late.
Motion by Sel. Sullivan, seconded by Sel. Jumonville, it was VOTED 3-1 WITH 1 OPPOSED TO PLACE WARRANT ARTICLE 6-5A TO BALANCE FY2008 WATER/SEWER FUND ON THE MAY 12, 2008 ANNUAL TOWN MEETING WARRANT. (Opposed: O’Brien.)
Town Manager’s Miscellaneous
a. The Board reviewed a list by Department of employees/positions that have the use of a town vehicle. It was noted that the Recreation Department was not included on the list. Sel. White asked for an explanation why some employees take their vehicles home. The Manager said that some employees take their vehicles home so that they can respond to a town emergency from their residence. Sel. White commented that there is a deficit in the petroleum budget this year. The Manager replied that the petroleum budget includes gasoline and heating oil for town buildings. The deficit is due to the increase in these prices.
b. The Manager announced that the Gale Free Library would be open from 9:30AM to 1PM on Wednesday, April 30th. They will close at 1PM to allow all staff to participate in a customer service training session.
c. The Board reviewed the Year-to-Date Revenue and Expenditure Reports for the period ending March 2008.
d. The Manager announced that town employees would hold a flea market on Saturday, April 26th from 8AM-2PM in front of Town Hall. All proceeds will benefit the Wachusett Food Pantry.
e. The Manager informed the Board that new playground equipment was currently being installed at the Rice School condominium project.
f. The Manager informed the Board that the Administration was currently working with Standard & Poors on the Town’s Bond Rating.
Citizens’ Address
No one came forward to address the Board.
Selectmen Miscellaneous
Sel. O’Brien: 1. Sel. O’Brien said he would like to see some of the $420K apportioned back to the taxpayers and some used to pay debt-related items. Sel. White said he would like to see all of the money returned to the taxpayers. Sel. White added that he was considering making an amendment to the Stabilization Warrant Article to fund the stabilization account with 50% of free cash and use remaining 50% to jump-start the next budget.
Sel. Miscellaneous was interrupted to proceed with the WRSD FY2009 Budget presentation.
The Manager said that an invitation had been extended to School Superintendent Dr. Pandiscio to engage in discussion regarding the Jefferson School Oil Remediation and Monitoring expenses.
Dr. Pandiscio said that originally the clean-up time period was projected to be 20 years. The project, when bid, was won by the environmental clean up company ECS. ECS’s plan was to aggressively recover the underground oil. It was determined that a majority of the oil is under the school and has not expanded. Within the last several weeks, tests have shown that the oil has not migrated off the premises. Test wells are testing clean. To date, 4000 gallons of loose, moving oil has been recovered. An investigation of the tank proved that the tank was an 8000-gallon tank, and not a 10,000-gallon tank as previously thought. Dr. Pandiscio said that the clean-up standard to be achieved is not the amount of oil recovered, but the quality of the drinking water. Current plans are to introduce
a surfactant agent into the soil to “scrub” the soil in attempt to collect the remaining oil trapped under the building. Clean up cost estimations range from 1.1M to 2.1M. Approximately 688K has been spent to date. The recovery will enter a new phase in 4 or 5 months after the cleansing phase is finished in late summer. All underground oil tanks have been removed from the site.
Sel. O’Brien inquired about paying for the clean up through the District’s Excess and Deficiency Fund. This fund is just over 1M. Dr. Pandiscio said he felt the best way to pay for the clean up is through a bond. Sel. White commented that the borrowing, while unfortunate, has been reduced down to something that is manageable.
Sel. O’Brien thanked Dr. Pandiscio for arranging the parents meeting at the High School to help allay the concerns raised by the recent fight that occurred at the High School. Sel. White commented that the Town of Holden benefits from hosting the High School in Town. However, public safety resources/costs that the Town of Holden expended over the incident were significant. These costs are lost to the other member towns. He acknowledged the professionalism of the Town staff and District staff who responded to the event. Dr. Pandiscio concurred and added that the State Police were also very responsive to the recent event.
Selectmen Miscellaneous (reopened)
Sel. O’Brien: 2. Sel. O’Brien inquired about the declining rate revenue from the Water/Sewer Account in 2006-2007, while showing an increase of water metered and sewer billing in terms of gallons. The Manager said that he would forward a response.
3. Sel. O’Brien inquired about revenue generated from Damon House rentals and the costs incurred for heating and taxes. The Manager said that $15,600 is generated from rental which is applied to the general fund and that the tenants are responsible for utility bills. Sel. O’Brien suggested that the town set up a dedicated account for the rental income generated from the Damon House. The Manager responded that while it is possible, he is not sure it is a good idea.
4. The Manager said that a fuel efficiency policy is being developed and is anticipated to be available to the Board by the end of May.
5. The Manager said that a Water-Sewer survey was being conducted by DPW regarding sprinkler fees.
6. Sel. O’Brien inquired on the status of the Earth Day Collection site legal documents.
7. Inquired if the town could provide street sweeping services at Checkerberry Village. The Manager said that previous attempts to street sweep at the facility have not been successful. Coordination of moving the cars has not worked in the past. It is a State owned facility and the town does not clean other State owned property. The Manager said that the Town has tried to maintain the property in other ways by cutting back brush and installing sidewalks.
Sel. White: 1. Inquired about an update to the EMS Pro-Forma? Sel. Sullivan said that the committee was charged with bringing the service in-house. Any other updates to the pro-forma would need to be made by the Administration. Sel. White said that some allocations regarding building upkeep and personnel need to be added to the current pro-forma to make it as monetarily transparent as possible. Sel. Sullivan said that the costs currently covered on the pro-forma are for additional costs for materials and manpower – it’s the additional costs over and above the current model. The task was to replace the private AMR model with an internal one. The Manager said that the operation would be run as a General Fund Account and not as an Enterprise Account.
2. The Mountview rehabilitation bid package low bid came in at $65K and the high bid came in at $130K. Donation of services by a local resident is currently being discussed with the low bidder. There is the possibility that all the bids will have to be discarded and the bidding process will be reopened if these donated services are used at Mountview. However, there is the possibility that the donated services can be used elsewhere in town.
3. Executive Session to discuss the Manager’s contract and merit increase. The Manager said that he had three personnel issues to discuss with the Board during Executive Session.
Sel. Sullivan: 1. Nothing to report.
Sel. Jumonville: 1. Reviewed the results of the Town Manager’s evaluation.
Sel. White asked that the Chairman appoint several people to reevaluate the current form and process of the Town Manager’s Evaluation. The Chairman said that he had already asked Sel. Ferguson to serve on the reevaluation of the process. Sel. White will also serve on the committee.
8. Approval of Previous Minutes
Motion by Sel. Sullivan, seconded by Sel. Jumonville, it was VOTED 3-0-1 WITH 1 ABSTENTION TO APPROVE THE MARCH 31, 2008 WINTERBERRY HOLLOW SPECIAL MEETING MINUTES AND TO REMOVE THE ATTACHMENT TO THE MINUTES. (Abstained: White.)
Motion by Sel. White, seconded by Sel. O’Brien, it was UNANIMOUSLY VOTED TO APPROVE THE APRIL 7, 2008 MEETING MINUTES.
9. Executive Session
Motion by Sel. White, seconded by Sel. Sullivan, it was UNANIMOUSLY VOTED TO ENTER INTO EXECUTIVE SESSION AT 8:22PM TO DISCUSS THE NON-UNION CONTRACT NEGOTIATIONS AND PERSONNEL ISSUES AND RETURN TO REGULAR SESSION FOR ADJOURNMENT PURPOSES ONLY. ROLL CALL: Sullivan: yes; White: yes; O’Brien: yes; Jumonville: yes.
Adjournment
Motion by Sel. White, seconded by Sel. Sullivan, it was UNANIMOUSLY VOTED TO ADJOURN THE APRIL 22, 2008 MEETING AT 9:45PM.
Approved: May 5, 2008 as amended
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