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MONSON BOARD OF SELECTMEN
TUESDAY, AUGUST 24, 2004
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 Kathleen C. Norbut and Richard E. Guertin. James R. Manning was absent. Also in attendance were the Town Administrator and Media. Town Counsel was not present.
Mr. Guertin made a motion to accept the meeting minutes of August 10, 2004 – open session. Ms. Norbut seconded and it was so VOTED.
Chief McKenzie approached the Board of Selectmen for a Police Department Personnel Recognition Ceremony, recognizing Sergeant Robert Shuemaker, Officer Scott Lawrence, Officer Brian Allenberg, Officer Kristen Marciniec, Officer Nicholas Gasperini, Officer Eric Iwaniec, Officer James Boucher, Officer Daryl Buley and Emergency Dispatcher William Chaiffre. Officer Brian Allenberg, Officer Daryl Buley, Officer Nicholas Gasperini and Emergency Dispatcher William Chaiffre also approached the Board of Selectmen. Chief McKenzie said over the course of the summer, there have been some significant events where some of the officers and some of the emergency dispatchers have done an outstanding job. Chief McKenzie said he had written reports to the Board of Selectmen officially recognizing or commending these individuals for their
actions. Chief McKenzie also thought it would be nice to publicly recognize these individuals and asked the Board of Selectmen to present the awards, which would go into their personnel file folders. Ms. Norbut read the letters of commendation, which were submitted by Chief McKenzie, into the record. In the letters, the nine members were commended for solving the case of some stolen paving equipment. The real break in the case, which was reported to the police on June 19th, came after emergency dispatcher William Chaiffre received information, which led the police to the two suspects who were charged. Another letter read by Ms. Norbut, praised officers for their work in investigating a breaking and entering at Main Street Liquors, which stated the Police responded to a burglar alarm at the store on June 17th. After an investigation, police filed charges against five people from various towns. Ms. Norbut said it was nice to be able to have an opportunity to be
able to recognize these individuals publicly and to let people in the community know just how busy they are. Mr. Guertin agreed and added he is proud of the Police Department and its record for solving cases, and added Monson’s officers seem to be paying attention and solving crimes even when they are off duty. Officer Buley was off duty when he spotted a car nine days later at a store in Springfield with damage that matched a hit-and-run property damage accident in Monson, and gained a confession from the owner. Another officer was commended for assisting a State trooper and Palmer officer who wrestled with an armed robbery suspect on June 24th. Ms. Norbut said the Board of Selectmen do get to see the many notes, both typed and handwritten by members of the community saying thank you for the assistance by the Police Department. Mr. Guertin said the other letters received say the officer responding to a situation is so understanding and helpful. There is a
lot of praise for the officer and the way the officer interacts with the people. Ms. Norbut and Mr. Guertin offered their complements to the entire Police force and staff.
Lee Williams approached the Board of Selectmen regarding a request for the Monson Memorial Classic Road Race. Ms. Williams handed the Board of Selectmen a tentative draft of the proposed Road Race, which will be held on Sunday, November 14th, at noon. Ms. Williams added this will be the 9th year the Monson Memorial Classic Road Race will be held and that it has become a very popular event. They don’t expect too many changes from last year, except for a bigger crowd this year, as the prize money has increased. Mr. Guertin read part of the draft into the record and Ms. Williams explained the certified course the race will take. There is a web site now at www.monsonmemorialclassic.com for anyone interested in obtaining more information. Ms. Norbut said one piece of feedback was to take down the signs when the event is finished. Ms. Williams agreed to remove the signs and also agreed to get back to Chief McKenzie as to how many runners will participate in the event. Ms. Neggers asked Ms. Williams, due to the size
and magnitude of the race, and because it is a fundraiser being held at Memorial Hall, it would be beneficial if they could pay for a few hours of custodial services. The custodial service would include putting out the trash and so on, at a cost of $25.00. Ms. Williams agreed to this and Ms. Neggers said she would give the custodian Ms. Williams telephone number so they can coordinate on this. Last years’ race had 150 to 165 participants with even more runners expected this year. Mr. Guertin made a motion to agree to and support the Monson Memorial Classic Race scheduled for Sunday, November 14, 2004, at 12:00 noon and to okay the use of Memorial Hall for that occasion. Ms. Norbut seconded and it was so VOTED.
Edward Harrison approached the Board of Selectmen with a request to revitalize the Local Partnership for Economic Development. Mr. Harrison gave a brief explanation of the committee stating in the past this committee has reviewed project proposals and worked to maintain the economic, environmental and social needs of the town while maintaining the community’s integrity and character. The Local Partnership for Economic Development has worked on assisting the town with the Master Plan and had been studying options for the Omega building. They also worked on the South Main Street School project and helped in the acquisition by the town of that property. The committee was also instrumental in having the Number One Mill demolished. The Local Partnership for Economic Development worked with the Ware River Valley Economic
Target Area, which lead to designating the APW Wright Line as an economic opportunity area, which allowed the Board of Selectmen to negotiate a tax break for the capital investments made. Ms. Neggers added the Local Partnership for Economic Development applied for and received the Downtown Technical Assistance Grant through the Department of Housing and Community Development. Mr. Harrison has been a member of this committee for five or six years prior to it becoming defunct and added when he left briefly, for a year and a half, the committee kind of fell apart. He would like to revitalize and recreate the Local Partnership for Economic Development, starting with rewriting the Partnership’s Mission Statement, which should focus on economic industrial growth. Mr. Guertin added the committee should focus on fighting the misconception that Monson isn’t business friendly, and suggested the group find a way to help prospective business owners make their way through the
process of setting up in Monson. Mr. Guertin also said the committee should find a way to let businesses know that Monson is a place worth exploring. Mr. Harrison said participants are needed, and encouraged anyone interested in serving on the committee to send him a letter at P.O. Box 432 in Monson, or to drop by the Selectmen’s Office to let the Selectmen know they are interested. Ms. Neggers suggested contacting the people who served on the committee in the past. Mr. Harrison stated he is willing to Chair this committee and Mr. Guertin added he felt it should be up to Mr. Harrison to choose the types of people he feels are right for this committee and to bring the names back to the Board of Selectmen for their blessing. Ms. Norbut and Mr. Guertin thanked Mr. Harrison for coming in and for working on the Local Partnership for Economic Development Committee.
Ms. Neggers said she met at length with Carolyn Bedard last week. Andy Piwcio had taken care of the holiday lights for the town, and as part of this, Mr. Piwcio kept a separate account for the holiday light donations. Ms Neggers also spoke with Jeremy Bedson who is assisting Ms. Bedard and it was suggested it would be best to transfer these funds into the custody of the town and create an independent gift account. This would allow for the use of the town’s tax ID number as well. The donations would be deposited through the Town Treasurer, and the Town Accountant would delegate them to the Gift Account. This account would be used to replace the downtown holiday lighting, decorations at Dave Grieve Park and lighting at Memorial Hall. Ms. Bedard has spoken with various town departments with buildings in the downtown
area, such as the Highway Department, Water Department, Police Department, etc. about using some of the extra garland there. Ms. Neggers also said the tree on the common is connected to the flashers and the flashing light there needs approximately $600.00 worth of repairs. Mr. Guertin made a motion to create a Holiday Lighting Gift Account in the town’s name through which contributions might be made to support the holiday lighting. Ms Norbut seconded and it was so VOTED.
Mr. Guertin made a motion to approve the expenditure of not more then $100.00 from the Gifts to the Town Account for the purchase of two Prisoner of War flags to be displayed at 110 Main Street and Memorial Hall. Ms. Norbut seconded and it was so VOTED.
In other business to come before the Board of Selectmen, Ms. Norbut said she had suggested previously of having scouts come in to the Board of Selectmen’s meetings to lead with the Pledge of Allegiance. Ms. Norbut has received a positive response, however, over the summer, there was not going to be an organizational opportunity. This will be looked at in September.
Also in other business to come before the Board of Selectmen was an up-date on the status of the South Main Street School building. Ms. Neggers said a request for proposals has been issued. Jim Gray did feature the property at the Brownsfield Redevelopment Conference in Foxboro on August 4th. Three prospective proposers attended the walk through held on Friday, August 20th, and since then the office has been contacted by three others who now want to schedule a walk though of the building. Ms. Neggers said she is trying to accommodate and set up dates with them. The deadline date for viable proposals to be submitted is September 10th. The building is beginning to deteriorate and Mr. Guertin said there are barrels in the building that might need to be removed, whether someone is going
with a project or not. Ms. Neggers said this would be dictated by what happens on September 10th. Mr. Guertin wondered if within the next 30 to 60 days, if it would be possible to agree (based on what they see for proposals and informally if nothing looks that optimistic) that maybe the Board of Selectmen need to take action on the barrels that are inside the South Main Street School building. Ms. Neggers said Mr. Gray is researching whether this requires a town meeting vote. The other option they spoke about was whether Program Income could be used and replenished with money from the Revolving Fund.
It was explained the Board of Selectmen have a “to do” list with two major items on it. Mr. Guertin said one of the major items, which needs some initiative taken upon it, is the formation of a Long Range Capital Planning Committee. The town owns all of the town buildings and the schools, which will need roof repair, new furnaces, etc. at some point. The town is also responsible for all of the roads, town trucks, fire equipment and things along this line that will need to be replaced or repaired, and that will take a large amount of money. The Long Range Capital Planning Committee would be responsible for taking full inventory of all the items in this category, that are the responsibility of the town. The committee would then try to figure out just how much money would be required and just where the money is
going to come from, for those items needing repairing or replacement. The Storm Water Management is the other huge project. Mr. Guertin said he would like to find someone to assemble a team for this as well and to start pecking away at some of the projects within the storm water management project. The remaining items on the “to do” list, are much smaller. Ms. Neggers added that during the 1990’s, the town did spend approximately five million dollars in capital and when hard times hit, the $100,000.00 for capital was one of the first items cut. The Finance Committee, throughout the budget process last year, expressed great concern and great interest in looking to resolve the capital budget problems.
Also in other business to come before the Board of Selectmen, Ms. Neggers said a letter of resignation was received yesterday, August 23rd, from Donald Frydryk as the Town Engineer for the Town of Monson. Mr. Guertin made a motion to accept the letter of resignation from Donald Frydryk and thanked him for his service to the town. Ms. Norbut seconded and it was so VOTED.
Correspondence was read and completed.
At 8:15, Mr. Guertin made a motion to adjourn from open session to go into executive session for the purpose of discussing collective bargaining (AFSCME), not to return to open session. Ms. Norbut seconded and it was so VOTED.
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Richard E. Guertin, Clerk
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