Minutes of Meeting – January 9, 2013; meeting called to order at 7:00pm. Present: Ken Fowler;
Ed Lane; Channing Gibson; Dave Roche. John McNinch entered meeting at 7:15pm.
Citizen’s Open Forum: Kim Flynn, representing the Berkshire Cycling Classic, asked the Board for permission to move forward with plans to hold another cycling event in Lenox on Sunday, June 2, 2013. She went on to state that this race would follow the same format as last year’s race. In addition, there may be a women’s race, a kid’s event on the Saturday and possibly a cycling film followed by a Q&A. This will not be a UCI sanctioned race, but she hopes to have that return in 2014. MOTION by DR, seconded by CG to endorse moving forward with these events. 4/0 vote.
Carolyn Barry stated that Pittsfield is looking into the PILOT program, and was wondering if Lenox was also. It was agreed to place this item on the January 23 BOS agenda for discussion. She then asked how the Town was doing with regard to uncollected monies owed to the Ambulance Department? The TM explained that the $200,000 represents many years of uncollected accounts, and it would be too difficult to try to collect now. He also explained that discussions with our billing agent have taken place to improve their follow-up process. (JM entered meeting.)
Police Chief O’Brien recapped a recent event that lead to Officers Ward and Smith receiving letters of commendation from the Town of Lee, and the subsequent recommendation for them to receive the Mass Medal of Valor. The Board congratulated them both on the wonderful job that they did, and CG read letters of congratulation from the Board.
FY14 budget: The TM presented the Board with his draft budget. He stated that he is assuming level funding in state aid and a 2% COLA raise for staff, along with a 2% tax rate increase. He then briefly touched upon the different budgets and what would need to be done if the Board wanted to lower the projected tax increase. The Board would like to hold a public forum on the budget sometime in February, and meet with the FinCom on January 23.
Librarian Sharon Hawkes provided her monthly update of activities at the library. She stated that a new youth librarian has been hired. DR stated that he is happy to see that revenue is going up and expenditures are coming down.
The Board discussed a proposal that the Town received to create a 60 second video of the Town, free of charge. KF stated that originally he was totally against the idea, but is now warming up to it. He feels that we need to do more research, and suggested that they be asked to attend a Selectmen’s meeting in February to discuss the issue further.
The TM asked the Board for permission to pursue resubmitting a grant application to the National Endowment for the Arts under their “Our Town” program. MOTION by JM, seconded by DR to tweak the original application for resubmittal. 5/0 vote.
Consent Agenda: MOTION by EL, seconded by JM to approve a temporary banner request from the Lenox Youth Basketball Association for one week prior to August 10, 2013. 5/0 vote. MOTION by DR, seconded by CG to approve a 2-week temporary sign request from Scott Schiff at 4 Holmes Road once he has applied to the ZBA for a permanent sign. 5/0 vote. MOTION by JM, seconded by DR to approve the following sandwich board sign requests: Shots Café, Patisserie and Coffman’s Antiques; denied signs at Electra’s Café and Devonshire Estates. 5/0 vote. The Board agreed with Katie McNulty Vaughan from the Planning Board that the Route 7 & 20 corridor should not be included as an area with sandwich board signs. MOTION by JM, seconded by DR to approve a one-day W&M license
to the Lenox Dale Fire Company at 26 Elm Street for 1/12/13 from 5pm-midnight, and to approve a one-day A/A license to Jonathan Lanciano at the Community Center ballroom for 1/13/13 from 3-7pm. 5/0 vote. MOTION by CG, seconded by DR to grant a taxi license to Berkshire Car Service, Richard Lampron Sr. 5/0 vote.
BOS Reports: JM stated that the town has agreed to hire Sean Van Deusen as our new DPW Superintendent . He will begin next week and serve a 6-month probationary period. MOTION by EL, seconded by DR to ratify the appointment of Sean Van Deusen as DPW Superintendent. 5/0 vote. EL mentioned that the sidewalk machine was out of service during the recent storm, but is now all set and sidewalks are being cleared. DR congratulated the Town of Lee for the recent newspaper article about their state of the art treatment plant. He stated that Lenox now must follow and do the same. CG stated that the Planning Board is working on drafting new sign by-laws for the May ATM. He also mentioned that the Environmental Committee will be holding its first meeting on February 4. He stated that the on-line
inspection permitting software is working quite well so far. Finally, he mentioned that the Town received six applications for CPC funding. He feels that the Town should look at some long-range planning with regard to utilizing CPC funding to create Lenox as a year-round outdoor recreation destination. JM stated that the Open Space Committee will be meeting with the Conway School tomorrow to begin the process of creating a new open space and recreation plan. KF stated that he has agreed to serve another year on the Board of Directors of the Chamber of Commerce, and he has great expectations from the new Chamber Board.
MOTION by JM, seconded by CG to accept the Minutes of December 12 as presented. 5/0 vote.
Meeting adjourned at 8:30pm.
Minutes Taken By: ______________________ Minutes Accepted By: ______________________
Mary Ellen Deming Clerk
Director of Administrative Services Board of Selectmen
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