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Meeting of 2005-04/12
MONSON BOARD OF SELECTMEN
TUESDAY, APRIL 12, 2005

The regular meeting of the Monson Board of Selectmen convened at 7:00 p.m. In attendance were Kathleen C. Norbut, Richard E. Guertin and Edward S. Harrison. Also present were the Town Administrator and the media. Town Counsel was not present at this meeting.

Pledge of Allegiance:
The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Cub Scout Pack 776.

Ms. Norbut congratulated Mr. Harrison on winning the election and welcomed him back to the board. Mr. Harrison said it is good to be back and that he hopes he can live up to the voter’s expectations.

Reorganization of the Board of Selectmen:
Mr. Guertin made a motion to appoint:
                  Chairman – Kathleen C. Norbut
                  Vice Chairman – Richard E. Guertin
                  Clerk – Edward S. Harrison
Mr. Harrison seconded and it was so VOTED.

Acceptance of Minutes:
Mr. Guertin made a motion to accept the meeting minutes of March 22, 2005 – open and executive sessions and of March 15, 2005 – executive session. Ms. Norbut seconded as Mr. Harrison was not a participant at these meetings and it was so voted.

Monson Tourism Committee and Monson Arts Council Regarding Refurbishing the House of Arts Building:
Dot Jenkins and Jean Bailey of the Monson Tourism Committee along with Barbara Keffer of the Monson Arts Council approached the Board of Selectmen for a discussion on refurbishing the House of Arts building. Ms. Bailey said the Tourism Committee recently met with the Arts Council, who agreed at that time to let the Tourism Committee use one room on the first floor in the house of Art building. The Tourism Committee would like to turn this room into a visitor’s center for the Town of Monson. A desk, file cabinets, chairs, etc. have been donated so far to furnish the room. The Tourism Committee is all set to move in on May 2nd or 3rd. The visitor’s center will be open on Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. A tour guide pamphlet has been printed and visitors will be able to book tours for the Jacob Thompson House, Bellmen Museum, G.A.R. Museum, etc. During an art show, the Tourism Committee has agreed to work with the Arts Council. Ms. Keffer explained the Arts Council pays a liability insurance as well as the electric and heat for the House of Art building and asked the Tourism Committee to pay a small portion of it to help out. Ms. Keffer said the Arts Council is in favor of the Tourism Committee using that room and making it a place where people can come in on weekends year round, and at the same time allowing better exposure for the House of Arts. The Tourism Committee will sell the Summerfest afghans and Monson Arts Council tee shirts in their room, which will free up space on the floor in Memorial Hall during the craft fair. The tourism room will be closed during severe weather months. The tourism information room will be staffed entirely by volunteers. Ms. Norbut asked about the security. Ms. Bailey said the contact person would be one from the Arts Council and/or one person from the Tourism Committee. They keys would be limited to one or two. There is outside lighting in that area. Mr. Guertin added, when the craft fair is on the Big Mac committee is in charge of the security for all the crafts and so on, therefore, they have to be very careful relative to the keys. Mr. Guertin said he feels the Arts Council would be liable if anything turned up missing during the craft fair or even during an art show.  As there isn’t a separate door inside to secure this room, Ms. Bailey said the Tourism Committee would be willing to look into installing a door. Mr. Harrison made a motion to approve the request of the Monson Tourism Committee and approve the use of the combined Monson Arts Council and Monson Tourism Center at the House of Art as this is a town owned building. Mr. Guertin seconded and it was so VOTED.

Ms. Bailey said the Tourism Committee has received an estimate on the renovation work on the House of Art building. This is for re-glazing all of the windows, repairing wood rot around door jams, removing exterior doors in the basement as they are also rotted and replace them with steel doors, power wash the back entry and repairing rot behind the stairs. Ms. Bailey said Mr. Morrell has agreed to remove some of the trees as one is close to the building and not allowing enough sun in, which is creating a lot of mold and mildew and is also brushing against the building. Scraping and priming must also be done, along with the painting. This quote does not include the cost of the paint. The quote for this was $11,287.00. In funding this, the Tourism Committee is going to file paperwork for a $2,000.00 Rotarian grant. The Tourism Committee also plans on giving a presentation in hopes of being awarded a donation from the Grace Makepeace Trust. There are also a couple of businesses in town who the Tourism Committee feels will also make donations towards the renovation work. They are also hoping to receive a Tourism grant from Boston to help with the project. Ms. Bailey also requested a donation of $4,000.00 from the Board of Selectmen from the Gifts to the Town Account on behalf of the Tourism Committee. Ms. Neggers said the balance in the Gifts to the Town Account is $19,500.00 before this gift. If grants are received, Ms. Bailey said the Tourism Committee would turn back any funds left over at the end to the Town Gift Account. They have also applied for a $25,000.00 grant by the Mass. Turnpike Authority, whose timetable on this grant Ms. Jenkins believes is October, but it is not defined by statute. Ms. Bailey said they are hoping to have the work completed prior to the Summerfest. Ms. Norbut said she personally was hesitant to move forward with any donations from the Gifts to the Town Account as there are other groups and organizations the town gives to annually. Ms. Norbut asked if the Tourism Committee had looked into any of the Mass. Cultural Council grants or Arts Council grants that could possibly be used to dovetail this as well. Ms. Keffer and Ms. Neggers agreed the Cultural grants have been reduced dramatically in the last four or five years. Ms. Norbut added this fiscal year, town departments have had to used some of the capital as this is how close to the bone the town budget is and is concerned $19,000.00 is a very small reserve to use when the town hasn’t established the FY ’06 budget. Ms. Norbut explained there are usually some spikes or some unknowns needing to be taken care of and feels we need this for safety reserve reasons. Ms. Neggers said the town will not receive another gift to the town until the end of December. Funds in the Gifts to the Town Account can be expended for any legal purposes. Mr. Guertin said he feels the town will be receiving $11,000.00 worth of repairs done on a town owned building for the cost of $4,000.00, a savings of $7,000.00 to the town. Mr. Guertin also feels it will help to draw tourism into the town and help benefit businesses. Mr. Guertin added he feels it is a worthwhile expenditure and tends to support the $4,000.00 request at this time. Ms. Norbut agreed it is a fabulous project. Mr. Harrison said he is in sympathy with the $4,000.00. However, Mr. Harrison said he feels Mr. Guertin is right with doing the kind of maintenance the town should be doing on that building anyway and feels now the town can get this accomplished with the good will of the leverage of the Tourism Committee. Mr. Harrison added, to channel that kind of enthusiasm in a project, which actually accommodates maintenance to the town, is pretty worthwhile. Ms. Keffer added, over the last two years, the Arts Council has put almost $5,000.00 into the maintenance of this building in renovation and it still needs all this work. Mr. Harrison explained it is actually leveraging the income for the town without actually raising the taxes. Mr. Guertin made a motion to approve the $4,000.00 towards this project with the funds to be taken from the Gifts to the Town Account. Mr. Harrison seconded and it was so VOTED.

Ms. Bailey also mentioned the Town-Wide Cleanup to be held on April 23rd, and added they are in need of volunteers. If anyone is interested, they should meet at the gazebo on April 23rd at 8:00 a.m. Ms. Jenkins said BFI has donated a 20 yard dumpster again this year. Designated yellow bags will be picked up on the following Monday by the Highway Department. Ms. Jenkins thanked Mr. Morrell and his crew for their help and continual support. The Monson Small Animal Clinic has had tee shirts made up which will be donated to the volunteers along with Friendly’s gift certificates for free ice cream. Adam’s Supermarket will be donating all of the food. Gloves and handi-wipes will also be provided.

Review Requested Special Town Meeting Articles:
There are seventeen requested articles for the Special Town meeting warrant. Ms. Neggers read the following list of requested articles into the record:
Request from the Town Collector for the transfer of a sum of money from the Town Collector’s Expense Account to the Town Collector’s Salary Account.
A request from the Highway Surveyor for an article transferring a sum of money from the General Highways and Bridges account to the Highway Administration Account.
A request from the Town Clerk for an article transferring a sum of money from available funds the sum of $9.22 to the Town Clerk’s Salary Account.
A request from the Town Treasurer for an article transferring a sum of money from the Treasurers Salary Account to the Treasurer’s Expense Account.
A request from the Town Treasurer for an article transferring a sum of money from the Treasurer’s Salary Account to the Land Court Expense Account.
A request from the Monson Police Department, Sgt. Kozloski, for an article transferring a sum of money from the Animal Control Officer’s Salary Account to the Animal Control Officer’s Expense Account.
A request from the Water/Sewer Commission for an article transferring a sum of money from the Water Enterprise Fund to the Hospital Road Water Main Replacement Project.
A request from the Water/Sewer Commission for an article authorizing the acquisition of land from Mr. and Mrs. Gasparrini and Mr. and Mrs. Kelly, through eminent domain, purchase or gift. The land is needed to meet DEP requirements to protect the land in a 400-foot buffer zone around the new wells on Bunyan Road.
Ms. Neggers said the Water/Sewer Department has been working with Town Counsel in this land acquisition process and she did speak with Town Counsel today, in which he said he is very comfortable with this article. Craig Jalbert approached the Board of Selectmen to speak about the two parties. Mr. Jalbert said his primary objective is to first try to work something out with both parties. The first option is with the Conservation Restriction where the owners will retain ownership of the land and basically they can only do certain things in the areas that are within the radius of the wells. If this agreement cannot be worked out, then the Water/Sewer Department is in the process of receiving an appraisal for the land and what it is valued at and an offer will be made to purchase the land outright. The last option is to take the land by eminent domain because to operate the wells, would leave no choice, as the town must have control or own the land in a 400-foot radius around the wells. The Kelly’s own 1.3 acres of land and the Gasparrini’s won 3,000 square feet. This is mostly wet land and the survey work has been completed. Ultimately the Water/Sewer Department hope to work something out with both parties as this work is suppose to be completed and have water being pumped from these wells by June 30th. The Town voters will know at the Town meeting which option the town will be going with.

Mr. Jalbert explained the bids have come back for the water portion of the Hospital Road Reconstruction Project. A portion of that will be for the water main replacement. This will be for 4,200 feet of 12-inch water main on Hospital Road. Mass. Highway will be contributing up to $132,000.00 toward this project. The final bid prices have just been received and with the quantities they had estimated $220,000.00 for the Water Departments’ portion. It now looks like the Water Departments’ portion will be $200,000.00. The Water Department has permission to borrow $250,000.00 through a previous Town meeting article. Depending on how everything works out, the Water Department might want to put a portion of their surplus against that before borrowing to offset the borrowing costs. The funds of the Water/Sewer Department are completely independent from the towns’ funds.
A request from the Fire Chief for an article to transfer a sum of money, $2,000.00, from the Fire Truck Operating Account to the House Operating Account.
A request to transfer a sum of money, $2,000.00, from the Forest Fire Operating Account to the House Operating Account.
A request from the Planning Board for an article transferring a sum of money, $500.00, from available funds to the Planning Board Expense Account.
The next request is on behalf of the Board of Selectmen requesting a transfer for a sum of money, $62,500.00 from available funds to the Police Salary Account.
A request on behalf of the Board of Selectmen for an article transferring a sum of money from the Legal Department Encumbered Account to the current year Legal Account.
On behalf of the Board of Selectmen and article transferring a sum of money from available funds to the purchase of petroleum products account.
A request from the School Department for an article transferring and appropriating a sum of money, $90,761.00 from available funds to the School Department Expense Account.
A request from the Planning Board, for an article seeking change to the Zoning by-law pertaining to Section 3.1 Schedule of Use Regulations, institutional uses, lighting for public park, playground or recreational area and Section 6.17 Municipal Uses.
A request from the Planning Board for an article seeking changes to the Zoning by-law pertaining to Section 1.7 Definitions Lot Layout.
Ms. Neggers said on both #16 and #17, Town Counsel would draft the final language. The Planning Board has held public hearings within the past six months and have prepared to move these forward.

Mr. Guertin made a motion to place the articles as presented in the entirety on the warrant for the Special Town meeting. Mr. Harrison seconded and it was so VOTED.

Mr. Guertin made a motion to close the Special Town meeting article warrants. Mr. Harrison seconded and it was so VOTED.

Review Requested Annual Town Meeting Articles:
Ms. Neggers said other then the standard articles previously reviewed by the Board of Selectmen at their last meeting; there are two articles.
One is a request from the Building Department to establish a 53E1/2 Revolving Fund for the purpose of collecting and expending money to provide copies for the general public and to cover research time in extracting the information from files.
Second is an article which would be in accordance with a prior discussion by the Board of Selectmen and the Finance Committee, a capital funding article seeking an appropriation from the stabilization fund for specific, municipal purposes.
Ms. Neggers said the Annual warrant doesn’t have to be closed tonight and that it could be left open until April 26th.

The Annual Town meeting warrant was deferred until the next meeting to see if there are any further articles.


Discuss Police Chief Vacancy – Effective April 15, 2005:
Ms. Norbut said Chief Curtis McKenzie had submitted his resignation and will be resigning on April 15th. Therefore, the Board of Selectmen needed to discuss appointing an Intern Acting Chief. A letter of interest has been received from Sergeant Stephen Kozloski stating he is interested in being appointed to that position of Intern Acting Chief. Sergeant Kozloski is a senior supervisor in the department and Ms. Norbut said it seems very sensible to look to someone with his experience to move into that position at this time. Mr. Harrison said Sergeant Kozloski has had experience as the Town’s Acting Chief before in excess of six months and didn’t see any problem with this at all. Mr. Harrison was serving on the Board of Selectmen at that time as well. Sergeant Kozloski approached the Board of Selectmen. Mr. Guertin said Sergeant Kozloski also has acted as Intern Chief in Shutesbury as well. Sergeant Kozloski said he considers the Acting Chief position very important for the Board of Selectmen to consider. This position is to ensure the stability of the department until the Board of Selectmen chooses to make a decision on a permanent appointment. Sergeant Kozloski said he has just under a year’s experience in this position in the department previously and feels he would be the best fit for this position at this time. Mr. Guertin said both he and Mr. Harrison were on the Board of Selectmen when Chief Rebello left and Sergeant Kozloski did a great job while the Board of Selectmen were searching for a new Chief between the time Chief Rebello left and Chief McKenzie was hired. Mr. Guertin agreed there is no reason for him to doubt that Sergeant Kozloski wouldn’t continue to do a great job as an Intern Chief while the Board of Selectmen decide what they are going to do in the future. Ms. Norbut added Sergeant Kozloski did submit a wonderful letter stating his experiences. Ms. Norbut said Sergeant Kozloski brings a lot of experience, not only in budgets, but in many different areas, such as law enforcement, investigations and more specifically in Monson’s Police Department. Mr. Guertin noted portions of Sergeant Kozloski’s letter stating Sergeant Kozloski graduated from Westfield State College with a Bachelor of Science degree in Criminal Justice and has a great job as a Monson officer and Sergeant. Sergeant Kozloski said one thing his letter to the Board of Selectmen did not address, as it came as an after thought, was that if the Board of Selectmen were to consider him for the position of Acting Chief, that he would also be granted a leave of absence from his current position as Sergeant, just so there would be some type of fall back once the Board of Selectmen makes its permanent decision.  Mr. Guertin made a motion effective April 15, 2005 at 12:02 a.m. that the Board of Selectmen, appoint Stephen Kosloski the Intern Acting Chief of Police with the understanding that he would be placed on leave of absence in his Sergeants position during this period of time, until such time the Board of Selectmen make a decision on appointing a permanent Chief. Mr. Harrison seconded and it was so VOTED.

Ms. Norbut informed the public the Board of Selectmen have full intentions of moving carefully and swiftly to appoint a full-time permanent Chief and this is something the Board of Selectmen will be holding discussions and deliberating on in the future.

Correspondence was read and completed.

In Other Business to Come Before the Board of Selectmen:
Ms. Norbut reminded the community that on Thursday, April 28th, at 7:00 p.m., the Monson Arts Council will present their spring production in Memorial Hall entitled “Their Irish, Their Catholic, Their Guilty”. A play by a local author followed by a panel discussion. Admission is free.

John Goodrich, whom was in the audience, questioned a discussion, which did not occur on some of the Special Town meeting warrants, and wondered why that didn’t occur. Specifically a $90,000.00 cost overrun regarding the School budget. Mr. Guertin explained it was discussed at the Finance Committee meeting and didn’t feel it need repeating at this time. Mr. Goodrich thought the town voters should be informed about this overrun prior to the town meeting.  It was suggested Mr. Goodrich attend a School Committee meeting and that during the “Public Session” he express his concerns to the School Committee and the public in general. Mr. Harrison said his understanding is, the expenditure is for special education expenses that were unanticipated as late as the last Special meeting held in November, and that these are an influx of new students or changes in programs that resulted, and were not originally budgeted for. Mr. Goodrich approached the Board of Selectmen and said the school knew about the influxes in November, January and February, but it was not brought to the publics’ attention until April, and this is his problem. He stated the town lost two or three months of opportunity to find ways to recoup those sudden expenditures even though he understands they are mandated expenditures and that they have to be legally funded. The Board of Selectmen indicated that they felt that the monitoring of this was the responsibility of the School Committee and not the Board of Selectmen. The Board of Selectmen also indicated that as a result of the recent election they felt the “new” School Committee would be monitoring the budget more closely. Ms. Norbut said Mr. Goodrich should bring his concerns forward at the Department Head meeting on the 25th, and with the Finance Committee at the meeting on the 19th. The Board of Selectmen indicated their responsibility was to determine which items should appear on the town warrant. The Selectmen felt this was appropriate and that the matter would be discussed and voted upon at the Town Meeting.  Mr. Goodrich said the money for this is spent and there isn’t enough money in the School Department budget to cover this at this point in time, and the Finance Committee has to switch into recovery mode to try to find ways to come up with this money. The town is in a position where it has to find the funds for this in three weeks time instead of what could have been three months time and feels the public needs to find out why this has occurred in this time frame. Mr. Guertin suggested putting checkpoints in place next year to keep an eye on the budgeting of the School Department to minimize the chance of this happening again.


At 8:25 p.m., Mr. Guertin made a motion to adjourn from open session to go into executive session for the purpose of discussing collective bargaining and non-contractual issues, not to return to open session. Mr. Harrison seconded and it was so VOTED.


______________________________
Edward S. Harrison, Clerk