Town of Hudson - Board of Selectmen
Minutes –July 22, 2013
78 Main Street 2nd Floor 7:00 PM
Present were Messieurs Durant, Vereault, Lucy, Yates, Sandini, and Cipriano. Ms. Santos was also present
Public Session: July 1, 2013
On a motion by Mr. Lucy, seconded by Mr. Durant the Board voted by a margin of 4-1 to approve the minutes. Mr. Yates opposed.
- Citizen’s Issues:
- Meetings and Public Hearings - 7:00 PM:
- Licenses:
Selectmen to consider delegation of permitting authority for Ice Cream Truck Vendor Permits to the Hudson Police Department.
Mr. Yates questioned the reason this item was back on the agenda, Mr. Lucy stated that a legal opinion was received from Town Counsel. Mr. Vereault indicated that the minutes do no reflect that an opinion was requested.
On a motion by Mr. Lucy, seconded by Mr. Durant the Board voted by a margin of 3-2 to delegate the permitting authority to the Police Department with the provision that the Police Department provide a report to the Board of Selectmen through the Executive Assistant. Mr. Yates and Mr. Vereault opposed
Selectmen to consider approval of extending hours of an Outside Entertainment License at the Hudson Elks on August 10, 2013 from 10:00PM to 11:00PM to the Hudson Recreation Department for the Annual Tennis Court Dance.
On a motion by Mr. Lucy, seconded by Mr. Durant the Board voted by a margin of 5-0 to approve the license.
Selectmen to consider issuing a One-Day Entertainment License to the Hudson YSAP Coalition to be held at Wood Park on August 2, 2013 with a rain date of September 6, 2013.
On a motion by Mr. Durant, seconded by Mr. Lucy the Board voted by a margin of 5-0 to approve the License.
Selectmen to consider issuing an Ice Cream Truck Vendor Permit to Shawn Durkin driving for Juniper Farms.
The Board informed the applicant that he had the right to meet in executive session and the applicant indicated that he wished to meet in executive session.
After meeting in Executive Session with the applicant the Board reconvened in Public Session.
On a motion by Mr. Yates, seconded by Mr. Vereault the Board voted by a margin of 1-1-3 to issued an Ice Cream Truck Vendor Permit. Mr. Lucy opposed Mr. Quinn, Mr. Vereault and Mr. Durant abstained. Motion failed.
Selectmen to consider appointing Jaclyn Pacejo as Intern in the Community Development Department at a rate of $15.00 per hour effective July 23, 2013.
On a motion by Mr. Lucy, seconded by Mr. Durant the Board voted by a margin of 5-0 to approve the appointment.
Selectmen to consider appointing Alyssa Languth as Intern in the Community Development Department at a rate of $15.00 per hour effective July 23, 2013.
On a motion by Mr. Lucy, seconded by Mr. Durant the Board voted by a margin of 5-0 to approve the appointment.
Selectmen to consider appointing Christopher Sandini as Parking Clerk.
On a motion by Mr. Lucy, seconded by Mr. Durant the Board voted by a margin of 5-0 to approve the appointment.
Selectmen to consider appointing Teresa Vickery as Parking Clerk.
On a motion by Mr. Lucy, seconded by Mr. Yates the Board voted by a margin of 5-0 to approve the appointment.
Selectmen to consider approval of appointment of Christopher Sandini as an Ex Officio Representative to the Master Plan Steering Committee.
On a motion by Mr. Lucy, seconded by Mr. Durant the Board voted by a margin of 5-0 to approve the appointment.
Selectmen to consider approval of appointment of Alexander Skarin as Auxiliary Fire Fighter effective July 23, 2013.
On a motion by Mr. Lucy, seconded by Mr. Yates the Board voted by a margin of 5-0 to approve the appointment.
Selectmen to consider approval and authorization to sign a contract with John Hoadly & Sons Inc. in the amount of $10,332 for the purchase of six hydrants.
On a motion by Mr. Lucy, seconded by Mr. Durant the Board voted by a margin of 5-0 to approve the contract.
Selectmen to consider approval and authorization to sign a contract with A-P Associates, Inc. in the amount of $39,800 for Permitting and Design of transmission Water Mains.
Mr. Yates questioned why three bids were not sought out for this contract. Mr. Marques noted that there is no requirement that bids be sought out for professional services contracts. Mr. Yates then asked if there will be more contracts being awarded to AP Associates. Mr. Marques said that one more contract will be needed for supervision, inspection and review of contract documents. Mr. Marques estimated the total amount for this project to be approximately $450,000. He did note that the overall budgeted amount for this project was $700,000 however it will not come close to this.
On a motion by Mr. Lucy, seconded by Mr. Durant the Board voted by a margin of 3-2 to approve the contract. Mr. Yates and Mr. Vereault opposed.
Selectmen to consider approval of Revised Water rates for bills to be issued during Fiscal Year 2014.
Mr. Sandini stated that the rates had to be revised due to the agreement with Marlboro to purchase water from the MWRA. That calculations amount of $650,000 in increased expenses for the year related to the water purchase.
Mr. Vereault asked if the Board would consider directing Mr. Sandini look into the State’s water revolving fund account to see if there is any relief to be sought. Mr. Lucy explained that monies from this fund are awarded annually in August and work is not allowed to begin until this decision is made. Town’s that were awarded funds in fiscal 2013 were not able to begin work until the fall. He went on to say that as the Town has begun work we are ineligible. Mr. Durant is hesitant to take any action that may in some way delay the project.
Joe Coffey, 40 Avon Drive asked how long the rate increase will remain in effect. Mr. Sandini stated that the increase will remain in effect until such time as the Town stops buying water from the MWRA. Mr. Coffey then noted that the sewer rates are very high and he asked if additional fees will be added to the sewer part of the water bills because of this increase. Mr. Lucy explained that the water and sewer portions of the bill are two different components. The sewer bills have been significantly higher since the Town built the new wastewater treatment facility. Mr. Lucy stated that the 30% increase in the water rates will have “zero percent” impact on the sewer portion of the bills.
On a motion by Mr. Lucy, seconded by Mr. Durant the Board voted unanimously to approve the revised water rates for bills to be issued during fiscal year 2014.
Selectmen to discuss Blight By-Law.
Mr. Vereault cited House Bill 1881 which was introduced earlier this year that brings up this point. He noted that the fact that this is being discussed at the State level may be of an advantage to the Town down the line.
Mr. Lucy stated that if this by-law makes it on to the Town Meeting warrant that it will be the fifth time the voters will have been asked to consider this. He went on to say that there may be some benefit to waiting for the legislature’s decision regarding this issue.
Mr. Lucy would like the fine structure that was submitted in the May 2011 article to be reconsidered. He also noted the definition of blight relative someone’s interpretation as a major issue.
Mr. Vereault asked Dr. Wong how many complaints he gets annually. Dr. Wong stated that he only does inspections on trash complaints not complaints regarding junk as the current statue does not allow for this.
Wendy Durkin spoke in regards to unregistered vehicles, stating that this is a offense in which the Police Department has the authority to write citations. She stated that there is a citizen in Town who has over $2,000 in fines and he appealed the fines to district court and won because the magistrate said that because of the way the by-law is written it is not enforceable. She asked if Town Counsel could look into the verbiage of the by-law for form. Atty. Cipriano stated that he could do so only if directed by the Board or the Executive Assistant (no request made).
Mr. Grillo restated his position regarding the need for this by-law. He stated that the by-law needs to be written with “commonsense” in mind.
Mr. Yates suggested a Committee be established made up of the Building Inspector, Police Chief, Board of Health Agent as well as Mr. Grillo and five other community members. Linda Shea of Cottage Street argued that Mr. Grillo should have to fill out an interest form like the rest of the citizens in Town who are interested.
On a motion by Mr. Yates, seconded by Mr. Vereault the Board voted by a margin of 4-0-1- to create a Blight By-Law Committee comprised of the Building Inspector, Police Chief and Dr. Sam Wong as well as six other community members to create a blight by-law. Mr. Durant abstained.
Selectmen to consider supporting the MetroWest Tobacco Control Regional Collaborative grant application.
On a motion by Mr. Lucy, seconded by Mr. Durant the Board voted by a margin of 5-0 to support the grant application.
Selectmen to consider inviting Melanson Heath representatives to attend a future meeting to discuss the results of the financial audit.
On a motion by Mr. Yates, seconded by Mr. Vereault the Board voted by a margin of 4-1 to invite Melanson & Heath to attend a Board meeting to discuss the financial audit. Mr. Durant abstained.
John Parent to present an update on the Executive Assistant Search progress.
The members of the Committee met recently to discuss future meetings and to organize the Board. Mr. Parent was named Chairman and Justin Provencher was named Vice-Chairman. The Committee will meet with Mark Morse of MMA to create a job description for the position. Mr. Morse compiled salaries from ten different communities for the purposed of analyzing the salary for the position. Based on those findings Mr. Morse made a salary recommendation to the Committee. The job advertisement was produced by the Committee and Mr. Parent distributed a copy to the Board. The ad has been submitted to www.ICMA.org. The advertisement will run in The Beacon Newsletter tomorrow (07/23/13). The return date for resumes is August 26, 2013.
The Committee will review the resumes as they are received and decide which candidates to interview.
A public forum has been scheduled for August 1, 2013, a link has created on the Town’s webpage and an email account has been set up as well so citizens can provide their input (easearch@townofhudson.org).
Mr. Vereault asked whether all the wires on Washington Street have been moved to where they are supposed to be at this point in time and asked if he could look into this. Ms. Kerin Shea noted that not all the wires have been moved however Verizon is working on this although only with one crew. Community Development has reached out to Kate Hogan for help to get more Verizon crews out there to work on this. The reply that was received from Verizon is that it not a question of more crews. The problem they are having is coordinating with the affected businesses. Representative Hogan has said she will reach out to Verizon again.
Mr. Yates wanted to discuss the memo from Tony Marques which recommends that all outdoor watering be restricted until September 30, 2013. Mr. Marques noted that the MWRA documents state that they want the Town to provide as much water conservation efforts as possible relative to our consumption of their water. Mr. Marques did some research over a ten year period of summertime water usage and found that the overall usage is approximately 2.4 million gallons per day. The last four years the temporary water ban has been enacted with requirements based on our water management withdrawal permit. This temporary ban has allowed to Town to be able to reduce the consumption to a point where our own water supply has been sufficient. Due to the current water situation he feels this
recommendation is necessary. Subsequently, Mr. Marques has spoken with the MWRA in order to ascertain their position regarding these conservation measures. Their position is that level of restrictions that the Town currently has in place is sufficient to comply with the agreement.
According to Mr. Marques this recommendation is an operational viewpoint that is beneficial to his departmental operations. This is due to how difficult it is with number of personnel employed by his department as well as the number of those qualified to run the operation over an extended period of time.
Mr. Vereault noted that the agreement with MWRA states that the Town must submit monthly reports on water usage and water conservation program results and that status of the emergency for the proceeding quarter. He then asked Mr. Marques if he would characterize this situation as an emergency. Mr. Marques replied yes.
Mr. Yates feels that out of a courtesy to the City of Marlboro the Town has an obligation to conserve as much water as possible.
On a motion by Yates, seconded by Mr. Vereault the Board voted by a margin of 3-2 to enact a Level 5 water restriction, banning all outside watering. Mr. Durant and Mr. Lucy opposed.
Mr. Yates stated that he has received an email regarding a substance abuse prevention coalition meeting that is being held on August 5, 2013 for parents of Hudson school children grades 5 – 12. The meeting will be held from 6 – 7:30PM at 125 Brook Street, Hudson, MA.
Mr. Yates noted that he was informed by Mr. Sandini that upon Mr. Blazar’s retirement a $48,000 check was issued to him for unpaid vacation and personal time. Within this amount was a payment of $20,611.50 for vacation and personal time for fiscal year 2014. He then asked for clarification on how this amount could have been paid out as Mr. Blazar only worked 3 days in fiscal 2014. Mr. Sandini stated that upon request of payment he looked at Mr. Blazar’s contract and as per his contract those days are earned at the beginning of the fiscal year. Mr. Yates read from the contract the clause regarding vacation and personal time. He noted that it does not state that this is accrued on the first day of the fiscal year. Mr. Sandini stated that this is assumed as
all non-union Town employees accrue their vacation and personal time as of a certain date. Mr. Yates requested an opinion from Town Counsel regarding the matter.
Mr. Lucy called this standard municipal practice. It is an issue that the Board needs to be cognizant of during its next EA contract negotiations. He also stated that if Mr. Sandini remains in the interim position for approximately 14 weeks there will be no overrun in the budget as we will not be paying an EA.
Mr. Vereault stated that this payment should have been pro-rated. He also noted that he agrees with Mr. Yates that this is egregious.
Mr. Durant said that the contract speaks for itself, however Mr. Yates believes it is silent to the matter.
Mr. Durant stated that it is not appropriate to make allegations against a person who is not present. He also said that all other employees that retire get their accumulated vacation time and this instance is no different.
Mr. Quinn would like the Board to work together to avoid this happening again.
On a motion by Yates, seconded by Mr. Vereault the Board voted by a margin of 4-1 to seek a legal opinion from Town Counsel to ascertain the legality of Mr. Blazar’s vacation and personal time for fiscal 2014 payout. Mr. Lucy opposed.
- Correspondence to be Noted by Clerk:
On a motion by Mr. Quinn, seconded by Mr. Lucy, the Board voted by a margin of 5-0 to note correspondence.
The Board voted unanimously by roll call to enter into executive session, to return to public session, to obtain advice of Counsel, to discuss the reputation and character of an individual.
After adjourning Executive Session Part 1, the board reconvened in public session and voted on agenda items 5a) and 5d).
The Board voted unanimously by roll call by a margin of 4-1 to enter into executive session, not to return to public session, to obtain advice of Counsel and to discuss pending litigation, as the discussion of these matters in open session may have a detrimental effect on the bargaining position of the town. Mr. Vereault opposed.
Document List – July 22, 2013
Document |
Location |
Public Session Minutes: July 1, 2013 |
BOS Office |
Outside Entertainment License application from Recreation Department |
BOS Office |
One-day Entertainment License from YSAP Coalition |
BOS Office |
Ice Cream Truck Vendor Application, notice of Executive Session to Shawn Durkin |
BOS Office |
Appointment Memo regarding Jaclyn Pacejo and Alyssa Languth as Interns for the Comm. Development Department |
BOS Office |
Memo regarding appointment of Alexander Skarin as Auxiliary Fire Fighter |
BOS Office |
Contract for John Hoadkly & Sons Inc for the purchase of six hydrants |
BOS Office |
Contract for A-P Associates, Inc. for Permitting and Design of transmission Water Mains |
BOS Office |
Revise Water Rates for Fiscal year 2014 |
BOS Office |
Four Blight By-Laws previously on Town meeting warrants |
BOS Office |
MetrowWest tobacco Control Regional Collaborative grant application for Natick |
BOS Office |
Advertisement for the Executive Assistant position, data from MMA regarding Salary range for same |
BOS Office |
Letter from Melanson Heath & Company (MH&Co) regarding FY2012 Audit results |
BOS Office |
MH&Co Independent Auditor’s Reports Pursuant to Governmental Auditing Standards & The Single Audit Act Amendments of 1996 for the year ended on June 30, 2012 |
BOS Office |
MH&Co Annual Financial Statements for year ended on June 30, 2012 |
BOS Office |
MH&Co Management letter for year ended on June 30, 2012 |
BOS Office |
MH&Co Independent Accountants’s Report on Applying Agreed-Upon Procedures Over Compliance Applicable to MA School Districts’ End-Of-Year Pupil and Financial Report for year ended June 30, 2012 |
BOS Office |
Fort Meadow Commission notice of Herbicide Treatment |
BOS Office |
Interest Form received from Mr. William Charbonneau Jr. for the Assabet Valley School Committee |
BOS Office |
Letter from Town of Wareham requesting support for House Bill H1115 |
BOS Office |
Letter of resignation of Paul J. Spinetto Sr. as Constable for the Town of Hudson |
BOS Office |
Copy of letter to Mayor Vigeant and Council Members |
BOS Office |
Copy of Ad for the Search of Executive Assistant and Salary data from other Town/Cities (Distributed by Mr. Parent at the meeting) |
BOS Office |
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