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Minutes of Meeting – July 10, 2013; meeting called to order at 7:00pm. Present: Ken Fowler; Ed Lane; Channing Gibson; Dave Roche; John McNinch.
Citizen’s Open Forum: None.
MOTION by KF, seconded by EL to accept the Minutes of June 26 as amended. 5/0 vote.
Linda Miller and Steve Moritz from the Cable Advisory Committee appeared before the Board to explain the process that was gone through to come up with the new cable contract. They explained that there were monthly meetings, then bi-weekly and weekly meetings. A draft contract was presented to each of the five communities. Two public hearings were held. The final draft contract was then sent to Kopelman & Paige for their review. Once they had approved of the contract, each Town was presented a copy for approval at a Selectmen’s meeting. The Committee worked very hard to simplify the language and improve the terms whenever possible. Clarence Fanto brought up the fact that the local channels, 16, 17 and 18, will now need a converter to be seen on 116, 117 and 118 if you do not have a newer
television. Mr. Moritz explained that this is true, and that individuals may pick up a converter for free for one year, and at 99 cents/month afterward. DR stated that he has a name of someone interested in serving on the Cable Advisory Board for Lenox, as we currently have no one serving.
Marketing Proposal: Carl Pratt gave a presentation to the Board, outlining what the Chamber of Commerce would like to propose for marketing. He believes that the Chamber is in a unique position to determine how the hotel/motel monies could be best utilized to bring more people and businesses to Town. He is seeking $20,000 as Seed Money for the creation of off-season events; $10,000 for general marketing of Lenox and events; $7,000 for website maintenance, $25,000 for an Events Coordinator and $2500 for operating expenses for a total of $64,500. CG explained that Town Counsel is questioning if the Town may do this without going out to bid for these services first. In addition, there is only $55,000 currently allocated in this budget, and there are other items included in this amount such as economic development
and advertising. Mr. Pratt explained that he envisions things in phases. Tonight’s’ proposal should be considered as Phase I, followed by a strategic vision, or Phase II, and then a Phase III which would put together everything learned in the first two phases, and hopefully turn visitors into homeowners and workers. The Board questioned why the Chamber doesn’t do social media. Mr. Pratt explained that they don’t have one person to devote to such a time-consuming task. JM suggested that a few members from the Chamber and from the Board of Selectmen meet to hash things out. KF then questioned the Visitor’s Center, thinking that this should be part of the current plan.
Cemetery stone Repair: Historical Commission member Olga Weiss made a brief presentation to the board regarding a Request for Proposals for the repair of the cemetery stones at the Church on the Ill Cemetery. She stated that they were awarded $75,000 from CPC funds for cemetery remediation. They had ten inquiries about the project, and received four responses to the RFP. After reviewing their qualifications, followed by the pricing, they are recommending hiring Gravestone Services of New England, LLC based upon their response in the amount of $41,975. MOTION by JM, seconded by KF to award the bid to Gravestone Services of New England, LLC based upon their response to the RFP. 5/0 vote. Olga explained that since they will not be utilizing the full $75,000, 120 extra stones can be worked on. CG
questioned if the fencing and steps would be considered as maintenance rather than historical preservation and not eligible for CPC funding.
MOTION by JM, seconded by KF to approve a change of manager from Gina Kirchner to Krista Stevens at Arizona Pizza. 5/0 vote.
P&R Committee: JM explained that there was a recommendation included in the Open Space Plan to appoint a Parks/Land Management Committee. He wants to wait until he has met with Kim Graham (P&R) to put this together and determine what land/parks would be overseen, i.e., Edith Wharton Park, Post Farm. He sees this committee more as a group looking at maintenance and how land will be utilized. It will not replace the ConCom, Kennedy Park or Parks and Recreation. He will be meeting with the group next Tuesday to draft something, and he will share it with the Board at the 7/24 meeting.
Police Officer Appointment: MOTION by JM, seconded by CG to appoint Robert Fuore as a student police officer, and send him to the full-time academy which begins in August. It was noted that this will not cost the Town any funding to send him. 5/0 vote.
Consent Agenda: DR went through each item on the Consent Agenda, asking if any items needed a Hold placed on it. A hold was placed on a sandwich board sign request for Aspinwall Stables and the Olde Heritage Tavern, the canvassing request from The Planned Parenthood Federation of America and the Environmental Committee appointment. MOTION by JM, seconded by CG to approve the balance of the consent agenda which includes the following: a one-day A/A license to Kelsey Mullin for Thursday, July 11 from 5-8pm at the stables at The Mount; a one-day W&M license to St. Ann Church for Friday, July 12 from 4:45-8:30pm at the Family Center and on Saturday, July 13 from 8am-8pm under a tent at 134 Main Street; a temporary banner to Frances Heaney, on behalf of the Housatonic Valley Art League, to hang a banner at the Welles
Gallery from September 28-October 12, 2013; a temporary banner to the Lenox Library for July 19-August 2, 2013. 5/0 vote. MOTION by CG, seconded by KF to grant permission for a sandwich board sign to the Olde Heritage Tavern. 4/0 vote with JM abstaining. MOTION by CG, seconded by KF to grant permission for a sandwich board sign to Aspinwall Stables. 4/0 vote with DR abstaining. Katie McNulty-Vaughn suggested to DR that he check the zoning regarding signage for this location. MOTION by JM, seconded by KF to deny the request from The Planned Parenthood Federation of America to canvass in town. 5/0 vote. The Board agreed that these types of requests have always been denied and they want to continue with that precedent. CG stated that Jaime Cahillane will be involved with the Environmental Committee whether appointed or working through CET, and asked that the other candidate be asked to attend the 7/24 meeting prior to a vote
being taken.
BOS Reports: JM will have an update on the CR at the next meeting. He will need to obtain a legal description of the property from Kopelman & Paige. CG stated that the Berkshire Scenic Railway Museum is returning the $100,000 FY13 CPC grant awarded to them. Their plans to purchase the Daley property have fallen through. In addition, $17,000 has been returned from the Curtis porch project. Ventfort Hall has asked that their time be extended on their outside elevator project. The committee declined to extend this project, but suggested that they could reapply next year. With regard to signage, it was mentioned that the Planning Board is working on a new by-law that would take the permitting of temporary signs on private property away from the BOS and give enforcement responsibility to the
Building Inspector. CG will touch base with the inspector regarding enforcement of illegal sandwich board signs. EL stated that the beach is open and being utilized. He updated the Board on the issue of the broken pump at the New Lenox pump station. He questioned if we want to utilize the old cobra lights from National Grid in the public lot behind the bank. It was agreed that they would be too bright and high in a residential neighborhood. KF offered to contact the neighbors to get their input on this issue. EL then suggested that the Capital Improvement Committee get together sooner rather than later regarding the FY15 budget. DR brought up the news that the decision on the Kennedy Park lawsuit was found in favor of the Town. He stated that at a minimum, the town has changed its monument process, they defer votes until a second meeting, and they try to be even more transparent. He sees this as a victory for both sides.
Meeting adjourned at 8:45pm.
Minutes Taken By: ______________________ Minutes Accepted By: ______________________
Mary Ellen Deming Clerk
Interim Town Manager Board of Selectmen
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