BOARD OF SELECTMEN
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2006
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, Edward S. Harrison and Kathleen C. Norbut. Also present were the Town Administrator and the media.
The Pledge of Allegiance was recited.
Acceptance of Meeting Minutes:
Mr. Harrison made a motion to accept the meeting minutes of September 26, 2006 – open session and September 6, 2006 – executive session. Ms. Norbut seconded and it was so VOTED.
George Naslas – Weston and Sampson – Update on South Main Street School Project:
Mr. Naslas of Weston & Sampson and Jim Gray of the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission approached the Board of Selectmen. Mr. Naslas explained his firm had been hired to prepare demolition specifications and remediation specifications to clean up contamination at the South Main Street School site. Mr. Naslas was here tonight to provide an update on the status of the South Main Street School project as it has been about a year and a half since the town was awarded the grant fund and to let everyone know what stage they are at and where it will end up.
Mr. Naslas said in addition to meeting the EPA’s requirements, Weston and Sampson must also meet the Department of Environmental Protection’s requirements, and this impacts their schedule which this is one of the reasons for the delay in the project. Mr. Naslas presented a quick recap of the project. Right now they have gone through the remediation planning process. They have spoken with the DEP who has agreed that special stamps on certain reports will not be required, and these have now been filed on Monson’s behalf. The DEP has asked them to file a phase four for the remediation, a remedy implementation plan. Mr. Naslas provided the Board of Selectmen with a description of what they plan to do in regards to the demolition and various remediation components. At the same time they will be preparing
plans for the specifications so it can go out to bid.
Mr. Gray said he has found out the EPA has money to do demolition and they have agreed to have their demolition team come look at the South Main Street School project. Ms. Neggers said they did come out last week and Mr. Lapointe met with the team at the site. They are looking to demolish the building in the spring if everything goes as planned. Mr. Gray explained the EPA has their own internal priorities in determining which projects receive funds from their pool first, and there is no real sense of where Monson stands on their list. Mr. Gray said when he went back and started to look at the numbers following the last meeting, he realized that even with the loan commitment Monson has with the PVPC and the grant award, there wasn’t sufficient money to complete the project. Mr. Gray spoke with someone explaining how
the property really can’t afford any additional debt and this is when he became aware of the removal fund, which every region has, called EPA Removal. They have told Mr. Gray that it is very likely the building will be removed most likely be in the spring. Ms. Neggers said she didn’t have any idea how Monson was going to come up with the extra funding necessary to complete this project. Mr. Guertin said this newly found fund is a gift. Mr. Naslas explained this is basically two projects. One is a removal project in which the costs will come from the Removal Program Fund with the balance being the clean-up. They are hoping the clean-up will consist of the soils and possibly the groundwater.
Mr. Guertin asked about any restrictions placed on the site after the demolition. Mr. Naslas said one of the contaminants for concern is the lead. One of the ways to limit the cost for disposal is to do an on-site stabilization. On-site stabilization would stabilize the lead so it can’t leach out making it cheaper to dispose of. What they are looking at now is pristine clean with no restrictions, versus commercial level of clean-up, which is why Mr. Naslas said he isn’t ready with a cost estimate yet. Activity use limitation would restrict the use of the property. This applies to soil contamination and would restrict sub-surface soils where it might restrict the type of housing that would have a backyard with soil and grown vegetables. It shouldn’t restrict commercial development at all and it may not
restrict a town housing type of development, depending on how it is done.
Open Special Town Meeting Warrant – Review Requested Articles:
Mr. Harrison made a motion to open the Special Town Meeting warrant. Ms. Norbut seconded and it was so VOTED.
Hope Bodwell of the Library approached the Board of Selectmen to explain the Library’s requested article. Ms. Bodwell said due to maintenance costs, increased utilities, and computer upgrading, the library is asking for $9,970.00 to make up the deficit. Ms. Bodwell said it has been five or six years since the Library last requested any funding at a town meeting.
· Ms. Norbut made a motion to place on the Special Town Meeting warrant an article for the Library’s request for a transfer/appropriation from available funds to the Library Account, a sum of money not to exceed $10,000.00. Mr. Harrison seconded and it was so VOTED.
· Ms. Norbut made a motion to place on the Special Town Meeting warrant an article for the request from the Fire Department to transfer/appropriate a sum of money from available funds to the Fire Truck Operating Account. Mr. Harrison seconded and it was so VOTED.
· Ms. Norbut made a motion to place on the Special Town Meeting warrant an article for the School Department for an appropriation of additional state aid for a sum of $40,145.00 to the School Department budget. Mr. Harrison seconded and it was so VOTED.
· Ms. Norbut made a motion to place on the Special Town Meeting warrant for Pathfinder Vocational Technical High School an article for an appropriation, for a sum of money to meet the budget passed by member towns. Mr. Harrison seconded and it was so VOTED.
· Ms. Norbut made a motion to place on the Special Town Meeting warrant an article for the Selectmen’s expense for an appropriation of $1,100.00 to correct an excel formatting error in the budget. Mr. Harrison seconded and it was so VOTED.
· Ms. Norbut made a motion to place on the Special Town Meeting warrant an article for the Planning Board for a zone change as written and passed at the ATM. Mr. Harrison seconded and it was so VOTED.
· Ms. Norbut made a motion to place on the Special Town Meeting warrant an article for the Planning Board regarding the zoning by-law change as read, Section 7.4 site plan approval – additional language. Mr. Harrison seconded and it was so VOTED.
· Ms. Norbut made a motion to place on the Special Town Meeting warrant an article for the Planning Board for a new zoning bylaw – stormwater management bylaw. Mr. Harrison seconded and it was so VOTED.
· Ms. Norbut made a motion to place on the Special Town Meeting warrant an article for the Western Region Homeland Security Advisory Council – Intergovernmental Mutual Aid Agreements. Mr. Harrison seconded and it was so VOTED.
Appoint Additional Election Workers:
Mr. Harrison made a motion to appoint Christopher Peck-Democrat, Gerald Hachigian – Democrat, Judith Bedell – Democrat, and Elizabeth Dane – Unrolled as election workers effective immediately through June 30, 2007. Ms. Norbut seconded and it was so VOTED.
Discuss Amended SEA Consultant Contract:
Mr. Guertin explained this pertains to the former landfill and the site assessment the town has been dealing with. Ms. Neggers said this is something that has been going on for several years. The town was notified by the Department of Environmental Protection that it was going to be required to complete a site assessment at the abandoned landfill, which was capped in approximately 1980. The town had contracted with SEA Consultants, Inc. who completed the original phase of the work that was required by the DEP. The DEP at this point is not requiring any further testing and said the test results the town did receive were quite favorable given the potential circumstances. The DEP does want the town to take the following actions:
· Conduct delineation of the landfill footprint and pursue acquisition of all property containing landfill and record that in the Registry of Deeds.
· Implement a maintenance program to fill in and grade portions of the landfill to provide a positive water run-off.
· Repair some minor damage that has occurred at the cap.
This has to be done no later than December 31, 2007. This contract would provide for the delineation of the landfill footprints and all of the necessary survey work and to have it prepared for the Registry of Deeds. Ms. Neggers added the bulk of this land is in a tax title and ownership can be taken at anytime. This needs to be done for the abutting areas and where the town would have to pursue ownership of that property. The town originally had $100,000.00 in this account and currently has approximately $60,000.00 remaining.
Mr. Harrison made a motion to approve the contract amendment # 2, agreement for professional services dated July 2005 for a standard initial site assessment of the former landfill with SEA Consultants, Inc. in the amount of $27,000.00. Ms. Norbut seconded and it was so VOTED.
Other Business to Come Before the Board of Selectmen:
Mr. Harrison made a motion to establish 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. on October 31, 2006 as the Trick or Treat hours for the Town of Monson and to approve the time of 6:30 p.m. for the Halloween Parade sponsored by the Monson Rotary Club. Ms. Norbut seconded and it was so VOTED.
Ms. Norbut commended the great rescue work performed by the Monson Police Department this week in rescuing a missing person who was found in Monson and with the significant arrest regarding counterfeit money and the astute work of the person who noticed it and alerted the police.
Ms. Norbut said the Monson Free Library will hold a Family Movie Matinee on Saturday, October 28, 2006 from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. Children are invited to come in their costumes to watch E.T. Also for children ages 3 to 10 years on Thursday, October 26th at 6:00 p.m. the Monson Free Library will present Monica Bleasius as Tomasina the Good Witch.
Mr. Harrison said Kathy Roth will give an informational presentation on the Monson Community Preservation Act on October 17th at 6:30 p.m. at the Monson Free Library.
Correspondence was read and completed.
At 8:25 p.m., Ms. Norbut made a motion to adjourn from open session to go into executive session for the purpose of discussing collective bargaining, not to return to open session. Mr. Harrison seconded and it was so VOTED.
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Kathleen C. Norbut, Clerk
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