Minutes of Meeting – April 2, 2014; meeting called to order at 7:00pm. Present: Ken Fowler; Ed Lane; Channing Gibson; Dave Roche; John McNinch.
Citizen’s Open Forum: Olga Weiss announced that the Affordable Housing Committee is continuing to offer the homebuyers program, and that eligible individuals could receive up to $25,000 toward the purchase of a home.
MOTION by KF, seconded by CG to accept the Minutes of March 19 as amended. 4/0 vote with JM abstaining.
FY15 Budget/Warrant Articles: The Board briefly discussed the proposed budget. The School Department will be voting on their final budget figure on Monday, April 7. The Board will meet with FinCom on Tuesday, April 8 to finalize everything.
Bid Awards: MOTION by JM, seconded by KF to award the bid for the Church on the Hill Cemetery marker stabilization project to Gravestone Services of New England , LLC in the amount of $87,975, and to authorize the TM to sign a contract for same; said award contingent upon approval of CPC warrant articles at the May ATM. 5/0 vote. MOTION by EL, seconded by CG to award the bid for the Brunell Avenue Pump Station project to W.M. Schultz Construction, Inc. in the amount of $2,491,720 and to authorize the TM to sign a contract for same. 5/0 vote.
Water/Sewer Rate Hearing: MOTION by KF, seconded by JM to open the public hearing. 5/0 vote. DPW Superintendent Sean Van Deusen presented his report on proposed increases to the water and sewer rates. Lucy Kennedy stated that everyone needs to understand that even with this level of increase, the Town will need to draw on general funds at some point in the future. Following this presentation, MOTION by KF, seconded by EL to close the public hearing. 5/0 vote. MOTION by KF, seconded by CG to increase the water rates by 7%, from $6.95 to $7.44 per thousand gallons, and increase the sewer rates by 10%, from $9.10 to $10.00 per thousand gallons. 5/0 vote.
Historical Tours: The Historical Commission is requesting $5000 as seed money to put into place historical tours of various locations in Lenox and Lenox Dale. She is hoping to have this up and running in plenty of time to incorporate this into the 250th anniversary celebration. EL questioned if there is enough money in the advertising account to cover this request. MED will produce an updated spreadsheet for review.
Consent Agenda: DR went through each item on the Consent Agenda, asking if any items needed a Hold placed on it. It was agreed to take each item separately. With regard to the cycling event in June, the Board discussed the need to close off Church Street and whether it made sense to try to have the finish line on Cliffwood Street. There was a consensus that Church Street would only be closed for one or two hours beginning at 8am and that it shouldn’t disrupt the businesses too much. MOTION by KF, seconded by CG to grant $5000 to Sparta Cycling for the Berkshire Cycling Classic. 5/0 vote. CG then reviewed what Studio Two recommended for Google advertising: Spring campaign with Google from April 1 – June 30 at $1400/month, $47/day for a total of $4200 plus $500 to Studio Two for
design work. He stated that these ads would link with ‘Berkshire County’. MOTION by CG, seconded by KF to award $4200 for the purchase of Google display ads and $500 to Studio Two for design of the items for a total of $4700, advertising from April 1 – June 30. 5/0 vote. MOTION by CG, seconded by KF to approve a sandwich board sign request from The Scoop. 5/0 vote.
BOS Reports: CG mentioned that the Planning Board will have four articles on the ATM warrant, and that they will be holding their public hearing on them on April 8 at 6pm. EL brought up the issue of the Aspinwall well and that there are many issues to deal with and that it could get costly. He then mentioned the various programs being run by the COA. KF stated that he met with another solar company interested in pursuing the WWTP solar project. In addition, he suggested that the Town bill Broadway for the remaining outstanding invoices due Beth Greenblatt and Attorney Grandchamp. DR thanked Mary Ellen Deming and Jeff Vincent for serving as co-interim town managers. He asked MED to follow up with Kopelman & Paige on the short term rental issue. He also wanted to make people aware that if
they pay more than 10% of their income for real estate taxes, they may be able to claim this when they file their taxes.
Meeting adjourned at 8:00pm
Minutes Taken By: ______________________ Minutes Accepted By: ______________________
Mary Ellen Deming Clerk
Interim Town Manager Board of Selectmen
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