SELECT BOARD MINUTES FOR MEETING
Tuesday December 1, 2015 7 pm
Holland Town Hall
27 Sturbridge Road
Holland, MA
Present: Lawrence Mandell, Chair
Elias Gillen, Member
Andrew Harhay, Member
Kelli Robbins, Executive Secretary
Mr. Mandell called the meeting to order at 7:00 pm
Motion 120115-1 - Mr. Mandell, waive the reading of the minutes, accepted as written for November 3, 2015. 2nd Mr. Gillen. So Voted.
Appointment
- Quilts of Valor Presentation: Lt. Swain as Veteran’s Agent, explained how Lynn Arnold, when on the Select Board introduced him to the Quits of Valor program. Lt. Swain contacted Massachusetts Regional Director, Theresa Perrault. Through her efforts there are 3 quilts to be awarded tonight. Messrs. Tom Baltazar and Bruce Mahan have both been very active in the community and down at the Community Center. Mr Gene Lord, has repeatedly offered to help Lt. Swain in his duties as Veteran’s Agent. Lt. Swain then introduced Ms. Perrault. Ms. Perrault gave the history of the program and some statistics. The Quilts of Valor program began in 2003. Today there have been 542 quilts gifted this week, 3,905 gifted this month and 129,879 since the program’s inception. Ms.
Perrault and Ms. Arnold wrapped each Vet in their quilt and presented them with the documentation for the quilts.
Lt. Swain thanked the Select Board for allowing them to give these out during a Select Board meeting.
- NextAmp: Mr. Michael Cucchiara and Mr. Eric Misbach attended the meeting to share their proposal to sell the Town net metering credits. Mr. Cucchiara began by giving a short bio of the company and its history. (see documents provided)
There is no long term contract, credits are provided at approximately 90% of current usage. Mr Cucchiara explained the credits in the form of a gift card. NextAmp also offers their net credits to the residents of the town under the same terms as it is offering to the town, a 15% decrease on the total bill from National Grid. Mr. Cucchiara asked that we put their information on our town website. NextAmp currently has “10 projects in the pipeline”. Mr. Cucchiara stated they are waiting for the State to raise the cap. He then introduced his partner Mr. Misbach who addressed the residential aspect of the program.
Mr. Mandell asked if the 15% was guaranteed or if would/could fluctuate. The 15% is solid at this time.
Mr. Mandell asked if there was a sample contract they could forward to the Town. Mr. Misbach, yes.
Mr. Mandell asked about the ability to change the amount of credits being purchased, can they fluctuate? Mr. Misbach, yes, but National Grid only allows for adjustments 2 times a year at which point the Town would be able to increase (if credits are available) their net credit purchase or decrease same if usage drops off. That is why there is a 6 month opt out clause.
Mr. Harhay asked are third party charges included in what the credits can be applied too? Mr. Cucchiara, yes.
Ms. Robbins asked if the credits apply to the supply side and the delivery side, creatively. Mr. Cucchiara, yes it applies to the actual final dollar amount.
Mr. Ernie Fancy asked if a citizen’s contract would be the same as that of the municipality with the same rate and 6 month opt out clause. Mr. Cucchiara, yes.
Example
Bill 101
Supply = 100
Delivery = 100
Total bill = 200 x 15% = 170 owed, $30 off
Mr. Mandell thanked NextAmp for their interesting presentation.
Old Business
- South Boat Ramp: Mr. Mandell announced that there has been a full title search for the 2 parcels consisting of the South Boat ramp and the “parking” area for emergency vehicles. The results of the title search show that the ownership lies in Mr. James E. Counihan of Webster. The town has no rights to the property. Mr. Mandell stated that the town cannot collect any taxes retroactively but that there will be a bill going out to the owner. Mr. Mandell then speculated on possible reactions to the bill by the current owners.
- Lake Oversight Committee (LOC): Mr. Mandell asked if there was a mission statement available yet. Ms. Arnold said there was and that she would see that the Board gets a copy of it. Ms. Arnold went into detail about the LOC activities to date.
- identify items that are lake related to make sure that Boards and Commissions know they are responsible for items identified
- Would like to be on the Select Board agenda early in January to go over list of areas identified
- contacted state to for causeway related issues. Still waiting for the Highway department to send a formal request to have the state inspect the causeway. Mr. Gillen stated that the Select Board would send the request.
- established a relationship with CT DEP, Andy Goodall, 1st Selectman of Union Ct.
Mr. Harhay asked if anyone has pulled lake related things from the Hazard mitigation draft and/or the Master plan to create a comprehensive Lake Action Plan? Ms. Arnold stated that was one of the Committee’s goals but as yet they have not extrapolated anything from those 2 documents.
- Cox Cable Hearing: Mr. Mandell read the pertinent part of the decision (see attached) then stated that basically the hearing commission did not have jurisdiction to address the company dropping the Boston channel. Mr. Mandell stated that Mr. Charles Thompson has been continuing his activity with the FCC to attempt to get the WBZ channel back for Holland residents.
New Business
- Zoning Enforcement Officer/enforcement of bylaws – Motion 120115-2 Mr. Gillen, to table topic to next meeting. 2nd Mr. Harhay. So voted
- Hazard Mitigation draft- Mr. Mandell asked that it be moved to the next meeting for the 8th of December along so that there will be time to get feedback from the parties who were involved in its development. Mr. Mandell asked Ms. Robbins to invite said individuals to give feedback and attend the Tuesday meeting so that the Select Board can do their due diligence before signing the document.
- Community Compact agreement: Mr. Mandell stated that Mr. Harhay and Ms. Robbins recently attended a meeting on this issue. Mr. Harhay explained that the state is seeking to get as many cities and towns as possible to sign on to this program. The website has 30 or 40 areas of best practices with which to start. Mr. Harhay mentioned that Ms. Arnold was also present at the meeting. Ms. Arnold stated that the Town should choose 3 areas and start the process, such as financial trending etc.
- Cable room: Mr. Mandell explained how the Police Department was recently water damaged due to a septic issue and that the police are in need of an additional room. Lt. P. Swain explained that there are documents that are confidential that should actually be locked away and that the Chief needs a closed office to comply with securing confidential documents. Mr. Mandell stated that we have the room to comply so we should consolidate the cable commission to one room to allow the PD to expand.
Motion 120115-3 Mr. Mandell, to consolidate the cable commission into one room and allow the PD use of the former cable room. 2nd Mr. Harhay. So voted.
Legal Announcements - none
Announcements
- There is a winter parking ban from November 1, 2015 to April (see attached)
- Oil Heat Cares:
Oil Heat Cares is a Not-for-Profit Foundation that assists needy persons and organizations with the replacement of their oil heating appliance. Funds are raised to purchase heating equipment and OESP (The National Association of Oil and Energy Service Professionals) Chapters, Members and other Oil Heat partners identify those within their neighborhoods that need a temporary helping hand and install the heating equipment at no cost to the homeowner. All requests must be made by a member of the oil and energy industry, so homeowners should speak to their oil provider and ask them to contact Oil Heat Cares on Their behalf
Phone (888)552-0900
- Mr. Harhay presented the Citizen’s Guide to Town Meeting as a useful reference to the citizenry and asked that it be made available to them through the town website.
Public Access
- Brenda Palmer of FCC Lowering Devices wanted to announce that the Wreaths Across America program that she initiated 4 years ago will be able to provide wreaths for every veteran’s grave for the first time thanks to the generosity of Holland’s people. Ms. Palmer gave special thanks to Lisa Boudreau and Diane’s Villa Nova for their extra efforts in reaching this momentous goal. The ceremony will be on December 12th beginning at 11:45am at the Holland Community Center. All are welcome to attend.
Motion 120115-4, Mr. Gillen to adjourn. 2nd Mr. Harhay. So voted.
Next meeting to be December 8th at 2:30 pm.
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