MONSON BOARD OF SELECTMEN
TUESDAY, JULY 8, 2003
The regular meeting of the Board of Selectmen convened at 7:00 p.m. in the Conference Room at 110 Main Street. In attendance were Richard E. Guertin, James R. Manning and Kathleen C. Norbut. Also present were the Town Administrator and the Media. Town Counsel did not attend this meeting.
Ms. Norbut made a motion to accept the meeting minutes of June 24, 2003, Open and Executive sessions. Mr. Manning seconded and it was so VOTED.
Mr. Guertin offered thanks to everyone having anything to do with the Summerfest. Watching it all, Mr. Guertin said, you realize the tremendous amount of work that goes into it on the planning perspective and in getting everyone ready, not just for the work on that day, but for the many days of work prior to the Summerfest as well. Mr. Guertin added that people were everywhere helping to make this a success and he just wanted to thank everyone involved. Adding, it was a great day.
A hearing commenced at 7:05 p.m. for pole petition #7792 – Lower Hampden Road – for the installation of one new pole. Ms. Norbut read the petition into the record. There was no public comment or input. The Water/Sewer and Highway Departments expressed no objection to the pole location. Ms. Norbut made a motion to accept pole petition #7792 as presented. Mr. Manning seconded and it was so VOTED.
A hearing commenced at 7:05 p.m. for pole petition #7810 – Silver Street – for the installation of 8 new poles. Ms. Norbut read the petition into the record. There was no public comment or input. The Highway Department expressed no objection to the pole locations. This petition did not involve the Water/Sewer Department. Ms. Norbut made a motion to accept pole petition #7810 as presented. Mr. Manning seconded and it was so VOTED.
The next item on the agenda was the Right of First Refusal for .118 acres of property on Beebe Road as requested by Carpenter Realty, LLC. Ms. Neggers stated her understanding is that this is a very small portion of land. It is all back land and this is just to straighten out a boundary between two boundary lines. Ms. Neggers felt under these circumstances, the Conservation Commission and the Planning Board would not have to be bothered and the Board of Selectmen waived the normal policy procedures. David Royce of the Assessors Office was aware of this.
Mr. Manning made a motion to not exercise the Right of First Refusal by not acquiring this property. Ms. Norbut seconded and it was so VOTED.
Police Chief McKenzie approached the Board of Selectmen regarding the appointment of an Animal Control Officer. Chief McKenzie said he posted an advertisement in the local newspaper for an Animal Control Officer/Animal Inspector position. The Police Department received several resumes over the last couple of weeks. Chief McKenzie interviewed many of the applicants and came up with the recommendation of Rebecca Ziegler of Holland. Ms. Ziegler is a veterinarian’s assistant and has been a kennel manager. Ms. Ziegler also has an associate' degree in animal care from Becker College in Leicester. Chief McKenzie feels based on the qualifications; Ms. Ziegler is the best candidate for this position.
Mr. Manning made a motion to appoint Rebecca D. Ziegler of 43 Heritage Drive in Holland, Mass. as the Animal Control Officer effective July 16, 2003 through June 30, 2004. Ms. Norbut seconded and it was so VOTED.
Shellie Schicoff and Teresa Rini-Percy approached the Board of Selectmen and along with Ms. Norbut, gave an up-date on the teen mural project. Ms. Norbut said Ms. Schicoff is an art professor who has been working with the teens. She is also the author of a book and now resides in Monson. This project is an extension of the Teen Advisory Board and will be one of Ms. Norbut’s closing projects. Ms. Norbut stated the Teen Advisory Board would continue under the leadership of a new Teen Coordinator. The mural began shortly after meeting Ms. Schicoff a year and a half ago, while doing the Ground Zero talks. Ms. Schicoff was one of the guests who came and spoke to the teens. Ms. Schicoff has lived in New York City and was there on September 11, 2001. Ms. Norbut said different prospectives were looked at for
this project and they spoke with various members of the community, such as the Historical Society, Monson Arts Council, the Planning Board and others for their input. There are a dozen teens involved in this project which will be a rendition of the Town of Monson. It begins with the image of a native person and goes on to show landscapes, nature, rivers, agriculture, a rendition of the Library and historical buildings, the quarry, women working in the mills, a bell to represent the Academy, a stained glass which will represent the churches, etc. Ms. Schicoff said the mural will be painted on eight boards that measure 8’ high by 4’ wide, to create a mural that is 32’ in length in the end. The actual painting will begin inside to transfer this onto the boards. The teens will work for three weeks from July 9th to July 25th from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Ms. Schicoff said the teens working on the mural don’t have to be talented or gifted
as they will be following a grid and will only paint what is shown in the grid boxes. Ms. Norbut stated the mural will be displayed at Adam’s Supermarket and they anxiously await the arrival. The mural will be portable and will belong to the town. Ms. Neggers added this is really beautiful and will be an impressive piece of art for our town. Ms. Norbut added it is a wonderful learning process as well.
Ms. Norbut thanked the Monson Free Library for their generous donation of $2,000.00 from a grant, which has been put toward this project. Ms. Norbut also thanked the Monson Savings Bank who is continuously generous for their donation of $1,000.00. Also Frank and Jack Armata (who still own the building across the street) and Adam’s Supermarket for their donations of $500.00 each. Many of the parents whose teens are receiving great art instructions by working on this project also donated funds to make this possible. Ms. Norbut said anyone with questions on the mural may stop by the Town Hall where they will be working for the next week. After that, the mural project will be moved across the street. Ms. Schicoff has picked out a palette of colors that will fit conservatively with the town omitting a lot of bright,
standout colors.
Denise Morgan, who was in the audience questioned if the mural would have a protective coating over it to protect it from the elements of the weather. Ms. Schicoff stated it will have a coating and will last, as she has done these murals with other communities as well. Ms. Morgan also wondered if this mural would be insured. Ms. Norbut stated that is a question that is asked quite often. The mural will be placed on Main Street right out in full sight and they feel it will be well watched as everyone will love looking at it every time they pass by it. Ms. Norbut said she has also spoken with Chief McKenzie at the Community Relations meetings about this and feels the Police Departments work with the Neighborhood Crime Watch in the downtown area is also a deterrent. Mr. Guertin questioned if it would help protect the mural
if a light were on it at night. Chief McKenzie stated the city of Springfield has several murals that are lit in high crime areas and no one has ever touched them and feels it would definitely help.
A dedication will be planned for the mural once it is completed. They are thinking of holding it at 5:00 p.m. on August 5th, as the National Night Out is held this day starting at 6:00 p.m. across the street in the parking lot by the Police Department.
Denise Morgan approached the Board of Selectmen regarding the Town-Wide Tag Sale she is putting on the last week of August. This will be the same as it has been during the past three years. The proceeds will be going back to the town this year to help benefit the Monson Tourism Association who is trying to raise funds to purchase park benches, planters and trash receptacles to place in the downtown area. This year Ms. Morgan said she would like to list ten items on the maps that residents will be selling for anyone who is looking for something specific. She is also requesting permission to place a banner over Main Street one month in advance. She will give a map to the Fire Department and also to the Police Department. Chief McKenzie stated if he has a map of residents participating, he can place no parking signs in areas
that might cause a problem with the flow of traffic by cars parking on both sides of the road. Ms. Morgan said she would give Chief McKenzie a copy of the paper she hands out which says if they live near a corner they request the tag sale sign to be posted before the corner, so people driving know what to expect and can watch out for other cars and for people walking in the road. Ms. Morgan said she has approximately 90 residents interested in participating in the Town Wide Tag Sale this year. She also has organizations inquiring on how they too can join. Each year she has more and more residents participating. Posters are hung up in all the businesses in town and in public places. Also handouts are available on counters this year.
Ms. Neggers asked Ms. Morgan how she structures other organizations that want to piggy back this event, such as the Scouts, with car washes and/or bake sales. Ms. Morgan said any non-profit organization that wants to join gets their star on the map at half price. If it is not a tag sale and the organization wants to hold a can and bottle drive, a car wash or a bake sale instead, she gives them a star as well and places the event on the map and flyers.
Ms. Norbut made a motion to approve the Town-Wide Tag Sale on August 30th; the use of the gazebo, and permission to put up a banner across Main Street on the new poles installed approximately 30 days prior to the tag sale. Mr. Manning seconded and it was so VOTED.
Mr. Guertin stated now that the new banner poles have been installed he feels more and more organizations are going to come forth wanting to put banners up to announce different functions and events. There are currently banners for the Summerfest, Craft Fair, the Art Shows, etc. and he is concerned with the potential for conflicts of organizations wanting banners up at the same time. He would like to create a policy in the near future to address such concerns as how far in advance banners can be put up and are they going to allow everyone who wishes to put a banner up to do so, such as people running for re-election, church groups putting on suppers, etc. Mr. Manning said he agrees that some kind of policy would be needed, but didn’t see any particular problem with allowing this banner to be put up for
30 days prior to the event. Ms. Norbut said she feels comfortable with allowing banners to be put up three weeks prior as the community looks nice without the banners, although it is a fantastic way to let the community know about events. Mr. Guertin stated the distinction is the Summerfest is advertising an event and Ms. Morgan is soliciting people to participate in an event. Mr. Manning said he wasn’t for doing an instant policy and felt the Board of Selectmen should think about it a little bit. Mr. Manning suggested Ms. Neggers schedule this discussion for one of the Boards meetings. Ms. Norbut suggested maybe inviting the Summerfest Committee, the Monson Arts Council, as well as any residents to this meeting to add their input.
The last item on the agenda was a discussion pertaining to the storage of the contents from the Teen Center. Ms. Neggers gave an up-date on this, as there has been prior discussions regarding this particular matter at previous meetings. Ms. Neggers stated about two weeks ago a commercial appraisal was done of the property. When she went inside the building with the appraiser, she basically took a visual inventory of the contents. Ms. Neggers stated there are a lot of things in the Teen Center such as a pool table, refrigerator, file cabinets, computers, big screen television, photograph equipment, furniture as well as some items that appear to be fixed. The fixed items would be the booths and the snack bar. Ms. Neggers said it would be very difficult, but not impossible, to store this as there is a shortage of storage
space in town. The only area she could find that was within the Board of Selectmen’s jurisdiction was in the basement at Memorial Hall. But, even there it would require using the former M-PACT space in order to store all of the items. The M-PACT space had been talked about previously as putting this space out to rent. Ms. Neggers stated this was going to be the next project after the sale of the Teen Center building. If items are stored in there for any length of time, Ms. Neggers stated it will prohibit the lease of this space. Ms. Neggers stated there is one storage room in Memorial Hall across the hall from the M-PACT space and next to the Summer Theater storage area that is much smaller and some items could be stored there as well.
Mr. Guertin asked if there is a risk of the basement at Memorial Hall getting damp or anything of that nature. Ms. Neggers said the M-PACT space is a little bit better, however, the ventilation system isn’t on right now. Ms. Neggers said this would be an issue for any long-term storage. The only other possibility, which she isn’t advocating or recommending at all, would be to try to put everything into the South Main Street School building, Ms. Neggers said she didn’t feel that was a secure area whatsoever. Mr. Morrell had said he and his staff would be willing to help move the items. The only other possibility would be to have a meeting of the Board posted down there and to invite Tom Greene and the Teen Center group in to say this is a list of items the Selectmen are going to store and this is a list
we are not going to store. If you are interested in any of the items not being stored, you can have them for a future Teen Center if Mr. Greene wishes to store them.
Mr. Guertin stated he felt reluctant in turning over any items to a group, especially a group that has no form of plans, nor physical location, etc. Therefore, Mr. Guertin was really looking for a place to store these items and to hold onto them. Mr. Guertin added, if at some point, a bona fide Teen Center plan were to be presented and it looked like it was on solid ground, then maybe these items could b e released to that particular group of people. However, by placing these items in the best storage place available, it will delay the rental of that space and prevent receiving revenue relative to Memorial Hall.
Mr. Manning stated he felt the items should just be left where they are for now, until the building is sold. Ms. Neggers stated this wouldn’t be an option as there aren’t any funds appropriated for heat and electricity for the old Teen Center building for the winter. This is why the appraisal was done so the building could be advertised and hopefully sold by the end of September. Ms. Neggers said she would like direction as to what items will be moved out and what would be sold with the building as fixed items. Ms. Neggers believes Mr. Greene had talked about getting the booths and snack bar back.
Ms. Norbut said she is hearing two things during this discussion. The first thing she is hearing is regarding the timing and the process. Secondly about the actual contents. Ms. Neggers stated some of the furniture items are worthless and aren’t worth storing. Ms. Norbut said she feels it might work if items are stored in the M-PACT space, as right now on one is interested in this space and she is hoping that the Teen Center group will have a place for this to go in six months so the items would not have to be in storage for too long.
Mr. Guertin said he feels the items need to be moved out whether it is now or in September and felt an inventory should be taken of what is in there and then make a decision as to which of the items are worthy of storage. The items not worthy of storage, Mr. Guertin suggested asking Mr. Greene if he is interested in them. By doing this the storage area could be minimized.
Mr. Manning agreed to meet at the Teen Center tomorrow morning (Wednesday, July 9th), with Ms. Neggers to identify the items which would be stored. Once this is done, Mr. Morrell and his staff will help to move these items to Memorial Hall into the M-PACT area. Mr. Greene and the former administration of the Teen Center will have the option of taking the items not wanted by the Board of Selectmen for storage with the full understanding these items being stored will hopefully be used for a Teen Center in the future.
In other business, Mr. Manning stated he is now back from active duty after serving one year and seven months. Mr. Manning said it is good to be back.
Correspondence was read and completed.
At 8:00 p.m., Ms. Norbut made a motion to adjourn the meeting from Open session to go into Executive session for the purpose of discussing pending litigation and collective bargaining, not to return to Open session. Mr. Manning seconded and it was so VOTED.
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Kathleen C. Norbut, Clerk
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