Minutes of Meeting – January 18, 2012; meeting called to order at 7:00pm.
Present: J McNinch; D Roche; D. Trancynger; L Messana; K Fowler.
Citizen’s Open Forum: Sonya Bykofsky asked if the Board had had a chance to review her proposed guidelines for monuments on public property. The Board agreed to discuss it at the next Selectmen’s meeting on February 1. One question she had was what the difference was between a dedication and a memorial plaque.
MOTION by LM, seconded by DT to accept the Minutes and Executive Minutes of January 4 as presented. 5/0 vote
Steve Mack from Foresight Land Services went over the plans for the new sewer line from Canyon Ranch, up Kemble Street, and up Schermerhorn Park. The contract for the work will be awarded in February, with completion anticipated by the end of June. Various questions from residents along Schermerhorn Park were addressed. A portion of this job will be funded from a $600,000 Mass Works grant.
MOTION by DR, seconded by LM to appoint Chris Fenton to the Finance Committee, replacing Bob LaChance. 5/0 vote.
The TM distributed the FY13 budget books and briefly went through it, highlighting some of the bigger issues. He explained that he has presented a status quo budget with no hires/no fires. He has anticipated that state aid will be level funded. This budget will mean a 2 ½% increase in taxes. The overall budget is up 1.7%, with the operating budget up 2.4%. There was some discussion about pending retirements and the need for transition planning. DR suggested that the difference in salary from the person retiring and the new hire should be placed in the OPEB trust.
Members of the ConCom appeared before the Board to talk about the requirements that need to be met in order to take corrective action against the weeds and zebra mussels in Laurel Lake, as well as the monitoring of any draw-downs, etc. $10,000 has been put into the FY13 capital budget to help the Laurel Lake Association to pay for some of these efforts. Neal Carpenter feels that the lake should be left alone since he feels the drawdowns do nothing. He feels that the necessary reporting in order to do a drawdown are a waste of money, and that the Town should not subsidize these activities. The bigger issue is runoff and nutrient loading of the lake which is where he feels efforts should be focused.
Library Sublease: The Library and Chamber of Commerce are proposing that the Chamber move their office into the front room where the Chamber operated the visitor’s center this past summer. They would begin paying $833/molnth with a 2.5% annual increase. The lease would be for five years. MOTION by DR, seconded by DT to approve a sublease between the Library and the Chamber of Commerce as presented. 4/0 vote with JM abstaining
Consent Agenda items: MOTION by DT, seconded by DR to approve another 14-day temporary banner/ground markers request at the new CVS from 1/29-2/11. 4/1 vote with LM opposed. MOTION by DT, seconded by LM to ratify the appointment of Cody Schaefer as a relief firefighter/EMT. 5/0 vote. MOTION by DR, seconded by LM to appoint Bill Sample to the Cable Advisory Committee. 5/0 vote.
Old/New Business: KF, on behalf of the Wind Energy Research Panel, asked the Board to grant an extension of time to complete their work until the middle of February. MOTION by LM, seconded by DR to grant the Wind Energy Research Panel an extension until February 15 before they need to submit their report to the Board. 5/0 vote. DR announced that Bodden-Hamilton will be making a presentation tomorrow at 10:30am at the Town Hall, followed by two round-table discussions at Cranwell at 1:30 and 3:30. He also mentioned that individuals 65 years of age and older should look into the circuit breaker tax credit when filing their tax returns. DT mentioned that the Berkshire Scenic Railway brought 3900 people into Lenox last year, and that she would like to see the businesses try to work with them to bring even more
people to town.
By roll call, LM, DR, JM and DT voted to go into Executive Session at 8:10pm to discuss contract negotiations, and to not return to open session.
Minutes Taken By: ______________________ Minutes Accepted By: ______________________
Mary Ellen Deming Clerk
Director of Administrative Services Board of Selectmen
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