Minutes of Meeting – January 5, 2011; meeting called to order at 7:00 pm.
Present: L Messana; KR Flynn; J McNinch; D Trancynger; K Fowler.
Citizen’s Participation: The owner of Trillium, Sue Shook, would like permission to hold a 5K road race in honor of a friend recently diagnosed with cancer on Sunday, January 23 at 8am beginning at the Post Office. The Board was in support of this endeavor, and asked her to update the office, as well as the Police Chief, as the specifics are determined. MOTION by KF, seconded by LM to grant permission for the use of town roads for said event. 5/0 vote. Terry Weaver informed the Board about a close call that he encountered with a trailer truck, and suggested that we need to watch for speeding trailer trucks within the downtown area.
MOTION by LM, seconded by DT to accept the Minutes of December 15 as presented. 5/0 vote.
MOTION by LM, seconded by DT to grant permission for the following craft fairs in Lilac Park: Church on the Hill, July 30-31; Lenox Youth Basketball, August 13-14 (movie night 8/12); Lenox Children’s Center, August 27-28. 5/0 vote.
The Board discussed the composition of the Economic Action Plan Steering Committee. They debated whether they should keep it at five members, or increase it to seven members since there has been considerable interest from individuals wishing to serve. JM suggested five members with two alternates. The Board will interview interested individuals at 6pm on January 19.
Building Inspectors Bill Thornton and Don Fitzgerald appeared before the Board to give an overview of their department’s budget. They explained that the number of building permits and inspections performed have increased over the years. They are putting together a comparison to other towns with regard to fees and clerical help. They are looking for a clerk for approximately ten hours per week.
The TM gave an overview of his proposed FY12 Town budget. Budgets are mostly level funded, except for salary and benefit increases. It assumes the basic services as they are currently offered. The total budget, including capital, etc., is 3% lower. Operations are up .75%. The budget assumes an 8% reduction in state aid, and a 25%/75% split in health insurance costs. He is estimating an 8% increase in health insurance rates. He recommends that at the Annual Town Meeting there be a warrant article seeking a meals tax which would be dedicated to the sewer and water capital budgets. An override will not be necessary this year if the budgets are not increased any further. The Town is at its levy limit. He suggested looking at putting funds away annually to cover OPEB (Other Post
Employment Benefits) if the economy continues to show improvement and local receipts rise.
Fire Chief Dan Clifford appeared before the Board to explain the new process to be utilized for burning permits. He explained that while the Town will be foregoing the small amount of revenue that the permits generated, it will streamline the process. While you can still come into the Town Hall or Fire House to obtain a permit, he is requesting that those that are able should utilize the on-line process.
He then gave an update on the recent fire at Cranwell. He explained that an inspection had been performed on December 14 (fire was on December 22) and that everything was up to code. In fact, they were above what the code required. There were 64 Lenox firefighters on the scene, with 140 in total. Thirteen towns/agencies also assisted in numerous ways. LM asked that thank you letters be sent to everyone. Dan will get the list to Mary Ellen.
Old/New Business: KR thanked the DPW for their snow removal efforts during the past storm. KRF thanked those that picked up their licenses by the December 30th deadline, but reminded everyone that they need to be on top of the licensing process, with 100% cooperation next year. JM suggested that the Collector put together a pre-set payment schedule which would speed up that portion of the licensing process.
Meeting adjourned at 9:00 pm.
Minutes Taken By: ______________________ Minutes Accepted By: ______________________
Mary Ellen Deming Clerk
Director of Administrative Services Board of Selectmen
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Mary Ellen Deming
Director of Administrative Services
Town Hall - 6 Walker Street
Lenox, MA 01240
phone: (413) 637-5500
fax: (413) 637-5518
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