HOLDEN BOARD OF SELECTMEN
MEETING MINUTES
JANUARY 5, 2009
6:30PM Memorial Hall
Present: Chairman David White, Kimberly Ferguson, James Jumonville, Kenneth O’Brien, Joseph Sullivan
Others Present: Brian Bullock, Town Manager, Jacquie Kelly, Assistant Town Manager, Robert Martin, Town Counsel (arrived 7:10PM, left at 8:50PM), Elizabeth Helder, Recording Secretary
Chairman White opened the meeting at 6:30PM. The Board participated in the Pledge of Allegiance.
Ice Storm Re-Cap
Chairman White acknowledged all town employees for their efforts to clean up and keep the Town running during the December 11-12, 2008 ice storm. He said that the citizens of Holden should be proud of their valuable work during the crisis.
Selectmen Subcommittees
Sel. Ferguson: AHC: Nothing to report.
Sel. Jumonville: Memorial Day: Next meetings are January 6th at 7PM in Town Hall and January 20th at 7PM in the Selectmen’s Room.
Sel. Sullivan: Help at H.O.M.E.: A Help at H.O.M.E. emergency and safety booklet has been printed and is available to all residents. The booklets will be available for distribution at all municipal buildings. Next meeting: January 7 at 3PM.
CRA:
Sel. O’Brien: EDC: Next meeting is January 2009.
Water/Sewer: Has not met.
Holiday Lighting Contest: Cancelled due to the ice storm.
Sel. White: PSBC: Construction documents are being prepared to go out to bid. Geothermal test drilling has begun.
Town Manager’s Miscellaneous
The Manager announced that the Employee Appreciation Ceremony will be held on Tuesday, January 20, 2009 Selectmen’s meeting.
The Board reviewed the Y-T-D Revenue and Expenditure Reports for the period November 2008 as prepared by Lori Rose, Town Accountant. Sel. Sullivan inquired about the motor vehicle excise tax deficit. The Manager said that January is the largest collection month. However, the collection is expected to be less than budgeted due to the slow-down in the economy. A Water/Sewer budget update is being prepared for the Board.
The Manager reviewed the Christmas Tree chipping schedule. Chipping is scheduled for January 10th and January 17th at the Adams Road DPW facility from 8AM-3PM. Only clean Christmas Trees will be accepted for chipping – no storm brush/debris should be brought to the site.
Storm Update
The Manager reported that Administration is engaged in a clean up plan of debris in town. There is no commitment of a 25% reimbursement from the State (MEMA). The Manager said that due to the high volume of debris, clean up will be expensive. He said he anticipates approximately 1.5M in costs to clean up the brush and debris. In addition to hedging on a reimbursement commitment, the State has said that all debris clean up must be competitively bid out in order to be considered for reimbursement. The Manager said he expects to attend a meeting in late January with FEMA. He added that the other district towns are in the same reimbursement situation.
The Manager said that the DPW has recommended scheduling the debris and brush removal for March and/or improved weather. Currently, there is too much ice and snow which will hamper clean up efforts. He asked that the residents exercise patience during the next several months. He said that the burning season has been extended and burning permit fees have waived. However, weather has not been cooperative. He asked the Board for direction taking into consideration a 75% reimbursement scenario.
The Board invited Mr. Al Berg with the Finance Committee to participate in the discussion. Mr. Berg said that the Finance Committee has not met to discuss the clean up or its associated costs.
Sel. Sullivan said it was important for the administration to communicate to residents the current status of the clean-up plan. He suggested that the town use the R911 system. He also said the ALB restricted zones and quarantined areas need to be directly communicated to residents so that potentially contaminated wood is not removed from these areas and infected into other areas. He suggested that the HMLD should consider assessing a one-year surcharge to help cover clean up costs. The Manager said that some type of damage surcharge would probably occur in ’09 to help cover storm recovery costs, but was not sure that this surcharge would cover brush removal costs. He added that in no way has the town turned away any reimbursement offers from FEMA/MEMA.
Sel. O’Brien said that the ALB office in Worcester has said it is finished working in Holden and that the Town will not receive any more help from the ALB office. Sel. O’Brien urged the town to allow homeowners to seek individual reimbursement from FEMA. He urged the Administration to speak with all local State Senators and Representatives to gain their support for individual reimbursement plans from FEMA/MEMA.
It was unanimously agreed that the Board would send a letter to State Senators and Representatives to advocate for individual reimbursement from FEMA.
The Manager said that since other District Towns are in similar situations, it would be prudent to schedule a Regional Selectmen’s Meeting as soon as possible. The Board directed the Manager to schedule a Regional Selectmen’s Meeting on 1/15.
Town Counsel arrived at 7:10PM.
Sel. O’Brien said he was leery of instituting a surcharge when some of the HMLD accounts could cover the expenses. The Manager said that any surcharge would be to pay the portion of the clean up that is not reimbursed by the State. He said that he felt confident that the State would either reimburse 12.5% of their 25% portion or none at all.
The Chairman encouraged the Administration to have the winning contractor start cleaning up as soon as the weather permits. He said he would like to see an aggressive bid process. He asked if brush from the ALB regulated area could be taken to the Norton Company collection/chipping site for quick disposal? The Manager said his office would contact the USDA office in Worcester to see if they would take the regulated waste. Sel. O’Brien commented that the Norton site is the site for the contractors working for the Worcester area and it is unlikely they will let the Town of Holden use the site.
Mr. Berg asked for a breakdown of the 6M storm costs. The Manager said that the split was approximately 80/20 between the HMLD and the Town.
Motion by Sel. Sullivan, seconded by Sel. Jumonville, it was UNANIMOUSLY VOTED TO REQUEST THAT THE ADMINISTRATION PROCEED WITH HASTE TO DEVELOP A BRUSH CLEARING PROGRAM FOR ALL TOWN PUBLIC WAYS INCLUDING A R911, OR EQUIVALENT EFFORT TO APPRISE ALL CITIZEN’S OF SUCH PLAN AND MORE SPECIFICALLY, INSTRUCT RESIDENTS IN THE SO CALLED ALB RESTRICTED AREA OF THE RESPONSIBILITIES FOR MATERIAL CONTAINMENT.
The Manager said his office would act with urgency in the communication of the clean-up efforts.
Ms. Kelly commented that the bid process for the brush/debris clean up would not be finalized until mid-February.
The Board interrupted the storm discussion to proceed with Citizen’s Address.
Citizens’ Address
Ms. Johanna Lolax, 86 Dorothy Ave, thanked the Manager and the Board for their efforts during the emergency. She encouraged the Town to contact local Senators and Reps in order to pursue individual homeowner reimbursement/assistance from FEMA. She said her home and property experienced an extensive amount of damage that will require expensive clean up costs. Homeowner’s insurance is not being supportive regarding damages and many homeowners are unable to physically clean up their property.
Ms. Maureen Floryan, 191 Sterling Road, went without power for 11 days. Thanks to high school cafeteria and town employees for their support during the storm event.
Mr. John Kennedy, 3 Blueberry Lane, thanked the town for its efforts. He said he incurred extensive damage to trees on his property. He said he was currently paying $3500 to have trees removed from around his house for safety purposes, and would incur more expenses in the spring when further clean up is necessary.
Mr. Ernest Ostro, 646 Shrewsbury Street, thanked the Board and the Manager for individual reimbursement support and encouraged proactive communication from the town. He suggested that the Town website would be able to provide more information effectively than a R911 call.
Storm Update (cont.)
The Manager reported that the HMLD would begin a survey of damaged service connections in the next couple of weeks. Homeowners will be contacted directly and it is important for the HMLD to have access to the home. Improper connections that are not repaired by the HMLD due to lack of contact from the homeowner will result in discontinued service and will be the homeowner’s responsibility.
The Chairman asked if it was acceptable to remove oak wood from the ALB quarantined area? He said he had recently confronted a local contractor who was removing a truck full of oak wood from a restricted area in Town. The Manager said that it was the Town’s advice that nothing should be removed from the restricted area. He said he would confirm to the Board what is and isn’t removable in the ALB restricted area.
The Chairman suggested that the Board make a “Mutual Aid Thank-You” road trip in order to thank in person, those that helped the Town. He requested the names of linemen who provided aid in order to offer them a personal letter/citation. The Chairman said he had personally called each agency to offer his thanks.
HMLD 2009 Operating and Capital Budget
Mr. Peter Liddy with the Light Department Advisory Board discussed a decision to join the MA Technology Collaborative, a green renewable power project membership. This membership will allow the Town, as well as individual citizens, to apply for grants for alternative energy (solar, wind) use. Cost to each home will be .25 cents/month/$3.00/year.
Ms. Margaret Donaldson, Office Manager at the Light Department, discussed changes to the billing process. Only the first billing cycle was completed in the month of December. Billing cycles for December Cycles 2 and 3 will be billed in January for 50 electrical usage days; trash billing will be for two months (Dec/Jan) and water/sewer billing will be doubled. February billing will be between 30 and 40 days for power. An insert to explain the changes will be included in the upcoming billing cycles.
No resident will be billed for power not used during the recent storm outage.
Assistant Town Manager Jacquie Kelly presented the 2009 HMLD Operating and Capital Budget, a level funded budget.
General Foreman Mike Flagg presented an update to the capital improvement program.
Selectmen held discussion on the budget and individual line items.
Sel. Ferguson stated that she would like to have further discussion with the Manager regarding the hiring process for the financial/operations position vacated by Diane Mero in 2008.
Sel. O’Brien said that he would not support the budget because he believes that the Town would be better served by being run by a Light Department Manager that does not also serve as the Town Manager. He said that he felt that communications with residents would have been improved during the recent ice storm if the Manager had been able to focus on his job as the Town Manager instead of serving as both the Light and Town Manager.
The Chairman said that he has advocated for several years that the Light Department should hire an Operations Manager to run its day to day operations. The Town would have benefited from this expertise during the recent storm crisis while allowing the Town Manager to function in his role as the Town Manager. He said he would not support the budget because of this reason. He said he would like to see the budget re-developed and re-submitted to the Board to incorporate this type of position into the budget.
Town Counsel left the meeting at 8:50PM.
Sel. Sullivan said that with anticipated cuts in local aid to the 2009 and 2010 budgets, the HMLD and Town budget can’t afford to fund a new position.
Sel. Ferguson said that while she intended to support the budget, she felt very strongly that the open financial/operations position needed to be filled soon.
Motion by Sel. Sullivan, seconded by Sel. Ferguson, it was UNANIMOUSLY VOTED TO APPROVE THE MEMBERSHIP TO THE MA TECHNOLOGY COLLABORATIVE.
Motion by Sel. Sullivan, seconded by Sel. Jumonville, it was VOTED 3-2 WITH 2 OPPOSED TO ENDORSE THE 2009 HMLD OPERATING AND CAPITAL BUDGET AS PRESENTED.
Sel. Miscellaneous
Sel. Jumonville: 1. Nothing to report.
Sel. O’Brien: 1. Precarious hanging branches should be reported to the Light Department.
2. Implementation Committee for the Master Plan in progress.
Sel. Sullivan: 1. Requested that the Board and Manager schedule a meeting to review the events and lessons learned from the ice storm. The Manager requested that the meeting be held after the budget has been submitted done.
Sel. White: 1. Nothing to report.
Sel. Ferguson: 1. New construction and underground utilities requirement policy needs to be addressed by the Town.
2. Board is waiting for the Manager’s self-evaluation in order to begin the Board’s review of the Town Manager’s Performance Evaluation.
Adjournment
Motion by Sel. Sullivan, seconded by Sel. Jumonville, it was UNANIMOUSLY VOTED TO ADJOURN THE JANUARY 5, 2009 MEETING AT 9:05PM.
Approved: January 20, 2009
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