MONSON BOARD OF SELECTMEN
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 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 and Edward S. Harrison. Kathleen C. Norbut arrived at 7:50 p.m. 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 November 14, 2006 – open session. Mr. Guertin seconded and it was so VOTED.
Pole Petition #8259 – One New J.O. Pole on Moulton Hill Road:
Mr. Guertin read pole petition #8265 – Moulton Hill Road into the record. There was no one in the audience to speak for or against the petition and the Water/Sewer and Highway Departments expresses no objection to the pole location.
Mr. Harrison made a motion to accept pole petition #8265 as presented. Mr. Guertin seconded and it was so VOTED.
Correspondence was read and completed.
Board of Health – Presentation of Pandemic Preparedness Planning Status:
Board of Health Inspector Lorri McCool, and Board of Health members Robert Bator and Chairman Gary Allard approached the Board of Selectmen. Ms. McCool explained the pandemic preparedness planning which started about a year and a half ago, due to money coming into the state for this. Each city and town throughout the Commonwealth is now required to develop a plan. The funds are divided per capita based on population. The first big push was to organize an emergency dispensing site. This was done with the help of Jonathan Miller, who was the previous Emergency Management Director and who is still very much involved.
Ms. McCool said the Coalition is asking Boards of Health in every community to prepare for a flu pandemic. Ms. McCool said through discussions so far, Monson’s Board of Health has realized during a pandemic situation, there would be a decrease in the amount of people who would be able to go to work, therefore they and are working to put a COOP Plan (Continuity Of Operation Plan) into place. This plan will have people who will be qualified to fill in if the Board of Health members were unable to fulfill their requirements due to the illness, as well as look at how the town would function and continue to provide the services it provides. Ms. McCool said two people have agreed to do the inspections she does if she were to become ill during a flu pandemic and unable to carry out her responsibilities. One person would do
her food and related inspections, and the other person would do the field inspections for percs and septic plans. Mr. Allard said there are a number of other things that could happen to the town other then a flu pandemic, such as a flood or a hurricane, and this plan should cover them as well. Mr. Allard said this plan looks at what the town would do if the Police Department were operating on limited staff, Adams Supermarket with food dwindling on the shelves, the pays of town employees if the person who handles this were out sick, etc.
Ms. McCool said an MRC (Medical Reserve Corp.), will also be a requirement. To put an MRC together they are trying to find as many residents as possible with medical backgrounds to volunteer to come in to help the town out during a crisis, as well as volunteers with no medical training to work the dispensing site and to help out wherever needed. Grants are also available if someone has expertise in grant writing and would like to volunteer to assist. Special population in Monson will also have to be identified. These are the homebound, elderly, etc. Mr. Allard said so much is involved with this as the technology aspect is a whole different matter, requiring access to records and so on.
Ms. McCool suggested in the future putting a small seminar together allowing the public the opportunity to met and speak with the Board of Health, Fire Department, Police Department, etc. to gain knowledge and get to know just who is involved with these departments and boards, this could also be done on public access television or both. Mr. Guertin suggested the Board of Health attend the Board of Selectmen’s second meeting in January with Jeremy Bedson, the current Emergency Management Director, to provide an up-date and at the same time allowing residents the opportunity to start to recognize the members involved. Mr. Guertin said anytime the Board of Health or Mr. Bedson wished to give a presentation to the public; they are welcome to be placed on the agenda. Ms. Neggers said this would also remind residents to
continue to be prepared for any crisis or pandemic. Mr. Harrison suggested badges for the members directly involved with the pandemic planning, with possibly pictures on them for recognition during a pandemic crisis.
Wood Disposal Policy – Presentation:
Mr. Guertin explained that last July a resident asked him if the Town had a wood disposal policy for trees taken down by the town. He indicated that at the time he did not know and would get back to the resident. He indicated that he asked John Morrell, the Tree Warden, who indicated that we did have a policy. Mr. Morrell gave him a copy of the Policy. On August 16th Mr. Morrell wrote to Mr. Guertin and provided him with another copy of the wood policy as well as a copy of the Town of Hampden’s Wood Policy. Mr. Guertin indicated that since that time he has been reviewing the issue to see if he was comfortable with the policy or whether he felt we needed to revise and update the policy. He indicated that he felt it should be updated and provided the Selectmen with a copy of his proposed wood policy along
with copies of Monson’s existing policy as well as Hampden’s. He asked the Selectmen to review the data and take the opportunity to discuss the policy with the Tree Warden or anyone else they felt appropriate. He indicated that he was not looking for a reaction of decision tonight and asked that the issue be tabled until their January meeting at which time it could be opened for discussion. The Selectmen agreed.
Review Meeting Schedule for December:
Ms. Neggers explained the next scheduled meeting for the Board of Selectmen is December 12th. This meeting is needed for the approval of the licenses, tax classification hearing and a few other items. Due to the Christmas holiday, Ms. Neggers said it would be hard to get the packets together for the December 26th meeting. It was agreed to schedule a meeting for December 19th if needed and if no issues arise, to postpone the meeting until the first week in January, being January 2nd, and then to hold the second meeting in January on the regular scheduled meeting date for the fourth Tuesday of the month, January 23rd.
Other Business to Come Before the Board of Selectmen:
Mr. Guertin said the Special Town Meeting was held last night (November 27) and he wondered if residents really knew or understood what they were voting for, and added he would like to see in the future; the parties responsible for the article explain it to the residents. Mr. Harrison and Ms. Norbut agreed about the importance of this, but Ms. Norbut said the meetings really can’t go any longer time wise due to parents with children or journalist who need to get articles out for publication. Mr. Guertin added it would be up to the moderator to limit discussion time on lengthy articles. Ms. Norbut suggested publishing information or warrant articles ahead of time in the newspaper. Ms. Neggers said that would be too costly as once this was done in error and it would have cost over $900.00. Mr. Harrison explained, the
rational of the warrant is what is important, and that by having the town’s people better informed, leads to better decisions.
Also in other business to come before the Board of Selectmen, Ms. Norbut announced the Rotary Tree Lighting Ceremony which was held this past Sunday and said on Tuesday, December 19th caroling will be done for anyone wishing to participate, beginning at 6:00 p.m., with choirs from St. Patrick’s Church and First Church assisting.
At 8:05 p.m., Mr. Harrison 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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Kathleen C. Norbut, Clerk
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