Town of Hudson - Board of Selectmen
Minutes–April 25, 2011
78 Main Street 2nd Floor 7:00 PM
Present were Messieurs Loura, Parente, Durant, Vereault, McGourty, and Blazar. Ms. Santos was also present. Mr. Cipriano joined the meeting in progress at 7:30 PM.
Public Session: April 11, 2011
Mr. McGourty made a motion to amend the minutes by inserting in Item 7 after the words, “Sergeant Crippen.” The sentence, “Mr. Loura stated that the motion was against the Charter.”
There was considerable discussion among the Board members as to whether the vote under section 7 of the previous meeting was, in fact, against the Charter; and whether or not the inclusion in the minutes of verbatim comments by individual board members was a desirable practice.
Prior to taking a vote on the motion, a second motion was made by Mr. Loura, seconded by Mr. McGourty, and voted by the Board by a margin of 4-1 to table Mr. McGourty’s motion until Town Counsel arrived. Mr. Parente opposed the motion.
Subsequent to the arrival of counsel, the Board resumed deliberations on this matter, during the course of which Counsel opined that it was his belief that the subject vote under Item 7 was not contrary to the charter, but that it was contrary to long-standing practice and protocol.
Following additional discussion and debate on the subject, Mr. McGourty made a further motion, which was seconded by Mr. Durant and approved by a vote of 5-0, to pass over approval of the minutes [of the public session of April 11, 2011] as they did not include the statement of Mr. Loura that the motion was contrary to the charter.
Executive Session: April 11, 2011
This item was not addressed in the meeting.
- Citizen’s Issues:
- Meetings and Public Hearings - 7:00 PM:
Licenses:
Selectmen to consider amendment of Transient Vendor & Hawker/Peddlers Regulation for “Promoters”.
On a motion by Mr. Loura, seconded by Mr. Durant, the Board voted by a margin of 5-0 to approve the amendment.
Selectmen to consider granting a Transient Vendor License to Assabet valley Chamber of Commerce for its Annual Community Fest to be held on June 4, 2011.
On a motion by Mr. Durant, seconded by Mr. Loura, the Board voted by a margin of 5-0 to issue the license.
Selectmen to consider granting a one-day Entertainment License to Assabet Valley Chamber of Commerce for its Annual Community Fest to be held on June 4, 2011.
On a motion by Mr. Durant, seconded by Mr. Loura, the Board voted by a margin of 5-0 to issue the license.
Selectmen to consider approval and authorization to sign contract with SEA Consultants Inc. for on-call engineering consulting services for various boards and committees.
On a motion by Mr. Durant, seconded by Mr. Loura, the Board voted by a margin of 5-0 to approve the contract.
Selectmen to consider approval and authorization to sign a contract amendment with Maguire Group in the amount of $10,500 for commissioning services at the new Senior Center.
On a motion by Mr. Durant, seconded by Mr. Loura, the Board voted by a margin of 5-0 to approve the amendment.
Selectmen to consider approval of Amendment #1 increasing the amount of the Sauta Field Design contract by $4,000 in order to provide construction administration and supervision services.
On a motion by Mr. Durant, seconded by Mr. McGourty, the Board voted by a margin of 5-0 to approve the amendment.
Selectmen to consider acceptance of donations for the Hudson Recreation Department from various contributors in the total amount of $726.00.
On a motion by Mr. Durant, seconded by Mr. McGourty, the Board voted by a margin of 5-0 to accept the donations.
Selectmen to consider executing documents for Water Betterments for Homer Street, Murphy Road, Parmenter Road and White Pond Road as previously approved on January 10, 2011.
On a motion by Mr. Durant, seconded by Mr. Loura, the Board voted by a margin of 5-0 to sign the Water Bertterments.
Selectmen to consider executing documents for Sewer Betterments for Birchwood Drive, Forest Avenue and Woodrow Street as previously approved on January 10, 2011.
On a motion by Mr. Durant, seconded by Mr. Loura, the Board voted by a margin of 5-0 to sign the Sewer Betterments.
Mr. Durant would like to have the Executive Assistant look into the cost of repairing the town roads and the financial impact of an override to pay for the repairs.
On a motion by Mr. Durant, seconded by Mr. Loura, the Board voted by a margin of 5-0 to have the Executive Assistant to provide a summary report on the cost of road repair.
On a motion by Mr. McGourty, seconded by Mr. Vereault, the Board voted by a margin of 5-0 to rescind the Boards vote taken under Item 7 of the meeting of April 11, 2011, to have Chief Braga come before the Board.
On a motion by Mr. Durant, seconded by Mr. Loura, the Board voted by a margin of 2-3 to send Mr. Coldrick the letter dated 2/28/11, in the draft of which the Board expressed it’s satisfaction with the results of the Police Department’s investigations into Mr. Coldrick’s complaints. Mr. Vereault, Mr. McGourty, and Mr. Parente opposed the motion, which thereby failed.
Mr. Vereault made mention of anonymous letters he had received at home, after which he made a motion that In compliance with section 3-4 subsection E of the Hudson Town Charter for the Board of Selectmen to exercise its authority under the Town Charter to conduct an investigation; said investigation to include the authority to subpoena witnesses, administer oath, take testimony and require the production of evidence regarding the allegations that were made by an individual relative to a Hudson Police Officer and to investigate the investigation relating to said complaint. Mr. Parente seconded the motion.
Mr. Durant asked Mr. Vereault to name the officer that he intends to investigate. Mr. Vereault responded Sergeant Crippen.
At this point Mr. Cipriano requested a five minute recess by the Board so that he could consult with a member of the Board.
The Board reconvened and Mr. Parente stated that his situation is complex, the investigation involving that particular Sergeant involves my Brother in-law in a pending suit in a federal case. This particular investigation was 6-8 months ago prior to the federal suit issued by my brother in-law. He would like to get an independent view from the ethics Board as to whether or not it’s a conflict of interest for him to vote or not.
Following some brief additional discussion the Chairman called for the vote, which resulted in an initial vote of 0-4 and upon a request by Mr. Vereault for a re-vote, a subsequent vote of 2-2-1, with Messieurs Loura and Durant opposed, and Mr. Parente abstaining. The motion thereby failed.
Selectmen to consider issuance of a Citation recognizing Manuela G. Frias as Portuguese-American woman of the year.
On a motion by Mr. Durant, seconded by Mr. McGourty, the Board voted by a margin of 5-0 to issue the citation.
Selectmen to consider issuance of a Citation in honor of the 125th Anniversary of the Portuguese presence in Hudson.
On a motion by Mr. Loura, seconded by Mr McGourty, the Board voted by a margin of 5-0 to issue the citation.
Selectmen to consider signing Certificates for all the Recipients of the 2010-2011 Cultural Council Grant Awards.
On a motion by Mr. McGourty, seconded by Mr. Durant, the Board voted by a margin of 5-0 to sign the certificates.
- Correspondence to be Noted by Clerk:
On a motion by Mr. Durant, seconded by Mr. Loura, the Board voted by a margin of 5-0 to note correspondence. Mr. Durant requested a copy of the anonymous letters that were received by the Executive Assistant Office.
- Executive Session:
- Adjourn:
On a motion by Mr. Loura, seconded by Mr. Durant, the Board voted by a margin of 5-0 to adjourn.
Document List
Document |
Location |
Public Session Minutes of 4-11-11 meeting |
BOS Office |
Executive Session Minutes of 4-11-11 meeting |
BOS Office - unreleased |
Proposed amended Transient Vendor/Hawker Peddler Rules & Regulations |
BOS Office |
License Application from Assabet Valley Chamber for Vendor License |
BOS Office |
License Application from Assabet Valley Chamber for Entertainment License |
BOS Office |
Procurement, bid sheet, bid specs for Consulting Services |
BOS Office |
Memo from Community Development regarding contract amendment for Maguire Group |
BOS Office |
Memo from Recreation requesting acceptance of donations |
BOS Office |
Letter from Mr. Figueiredo requesting citation for |
BOS Office |
Memo requesting amendment for Sauta Field Design Contract |
BOS Office |
Letter from Mr. Figueiredo requesting citations for Manuel Frias & the 125th Anniversary of the Portuguese presence in Hudson |
BOS Office |
Invitation to march in the Memorial Day Parade |
BOS Office |
Water Betterments for Homer St., Murphy Rd, Parmenter Road and White Pond Road |
BOS Office |
Sewer Betterments for Birchwood Dr., Forest Ave. and Woodrow Street |
BOS Office |
Award Certificates for the Cultural Council recipients of the 2010-2011 Grant Awards |
BOS |
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