BOARD OF SELECTMEN
TUESDAY, AUGUST 28, 2007
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 Edward S. Harrison, Kathleen C. Norbut and Richard E. Guertin. Also present were the Town Administrator and the media.
The Pledge of Allegiance was recited.
Acceptance of Meeting Minutes:
Ms. Norbut made a motion to accept the meeting minutes of August 14, 2007 – open session. Mr. Guertin seconded and it was so VOTED.
Monson Girl Scout Troop 464 – Presentation of Book Documenting the North Main Street Cemetery:
The girls in Girl Scout Troop 464 approached the Board of Selectmen and explained their project, which they completed to earn the Silver Award, the second highest award to be achieved in Girl Scouts. Each Girl Scout worked approximately 50 hours on the project. They had read an article in the newspaper recently about a Monson resident, Christopher Dietz, who was working to plot town cemeteries for future generations and thought this would be a great project to work on to earn their award, as there are still cemeteries that Mr. Dietz hasn’t done yet. The project ended with the creation of the book, contains pictures of each grave along with the documentation of names, dates and any other information found on the monuments, including the type of stone the monuments were made of, for the 200 plus people buried in Monson’s North Main Street Cemetery. It was noted the average age of those buried in the cemetery were 37 years old. Thirty eight of the people buried there are Revolutionary
War veterans. The youngest person buried in North Main Street Cemetery was 11 hours old and the oldest was 96 years old. The newest marker was dated 1899 while the oldest was dated 1705. The owner of Country Memorials in Palmer taught the girls about the different types of stone used for monuments in that time era and Mr. Dietz explained to them just how he went about documenting everything for the two cemeteries he has completed. The book will be available at the Library. The CD, in Microsoft word format, will be presented to the Cemetery Department.
Mr. Harrison told the girls this is a significant contribution to the history of Monson as this will be preserved and the stones may deteriorate over a long period of time. The Board of Selectmen thanked the girls for coming in to present the book they created.
Request for One-Day Liquor License – Greene Room Productions:
Erin Greene approached the Board of Selectmen with a request for a one day liquor license for Greene Room Productions, as she did last year for the Monster Gala. Ms. Greene said all I.D.’s will be checked at the door and everybody will be clearly marked, so there will be no under aged drinking. Mr. Guertin explained since this is her event, all the responsibility will fall back on her and cautioned her to be careful.
Ms. Norbut made a motion to approve the application for a special liquor license for Erin Greene, Greene Room Productions, for November 3, 2007 from the hours of 8:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m. in Monson Memorial Town Hall, and for the sale of wine and malt beverages only, contingent upon the receipt of certificate of insurance. Mr. Guertin seconded and it was so VOTED.
Monson Cultural Council – Status:
This item was postponed until a future meeting.
Possible Casino Development – Regional Impact Discussion:
Mr. Harrison explained the Town of Palmer has been looking into allowing a casino in their town. The Town of Middleborough is facing the same issue with the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe who signed an intergovernmental agreement on July 28, 2007 relative to a proposed casino. The towns surrounding Middleborough have put together a committee to see what the impact of a casino would be. Mr. Harrison explained this is Monson’s concern too if a casino were to be built in Palmer, as it would have a significant impact on Monson. It was explained the impact won’t just be on traffic, but also on housing, education, infrastructure, water/sewer and environmental concerns as well.
Mr. Guertin added he read an article on the proposed casino for Palmer that spoke of a 600 room hotel and 5,000 to 7,000 employees, most of which are immigrants who would need places to live. This might have a very good chance of impacting the Monson school system along with demographic change. In communities that already have casinos, there has been an increase in traffic, requiring an increase in law enforcement. Mr. Guertin also said one of the things that was clear when working on the Master Plan, is that residents want Monson to stay the way it is. Mr. Guertin added, we can’t control if the casino goes into Palmer or not, but if it does, Monson will be impacted in many ways. Mr. Guertin said Mohegan Sun Casino in Connecticut has entered into an agreement with a potential developer in Palmer, increasing the
chances greatly for Palmer. He feels this will be a two prong effort, one that tries to discourage the creation of a casino in Palmer and secondly, one who says what if it can’t be blocked and it does go through, there should be some recognition of the financial impact on the Town of Monson and the fact that we need compensation in some way to offset the expenses that we’ll incur, as there are enough strains on the town now.
Mr. Harrison said he has concerns on two perspectives. One is the quality of life here in town. It is a great community to live in and to raise a family. The financial issue arises on how do we handle the increased demand for services and resources that the town can’t afford now and where do we get that money from? Mr. Harrison agreed there needs to be a slow down at the state level and would like to see feedback from the community, where everyone of voting age would send a letter to the Selectmen expressing how they feel about having a casino in Palmer. Secondly, Mr. Harrison feels being pro-active, Monson needs to get organized and make this a regional effort by getting together with ten to fifteen of the surrounding communities to form a regional effort group to have an impact on the Governor and Legislature.
Ms. Norbut added she hopes discussions about the casino will get community members thinking about this issue and added many residents choose living in Monson due to the character and sense of community here, which is worth preserving. The voters proved this when they voted and passed the Community Preservation Act recently. Ms. Norbut added, Monson has done a very good job with the open space preservation and the department heads have done a very good job operating their departments during difficult economic times to keep Monson fiscally stable and she wondered if she really wants to see this large of a change. Ms. Norbut also said she hasn’t heard anything about the impact on young people who gamble and addictions to gambling. As a member of the Board of Selectmen, an important component to think about will be the
creation of jobs and the economic viability of the community and surrounding resources, but said she would have concerns regarding any large industry with the magnitude of 5,000 to 7,000 employees over a period of two to five years, and added change can be a good thing if it is manageable. It was noted right now casino gambling is not legal in Massachusetts. However, the Governor needs to make a decision very soon to achieve his agenda and there needs to be another revenue source, so it looks like it is going in this direction. Ms. Norbut said she is just thinking about the impact this would have on Monson. She would like a place “at the table” to talk about slowing the process of the proposed casino down and to have the opportunity to express Monson’s concerns and physical impacts, measured by those who live here.
Several residents, who were in the audience, also voiced their opinions, stating they were concerned about the increase in traffic, the raise in crime, the impact on schools and finances and wanting to preserve our small town.
Ms. Neggers suggested the Board of Selectmen hold a meeting on Wednesday, September 12, 2007 at 7:00 p.m. in the DeSantis Room in the Monson Free Library. The purpose of this meeting would be to lead a meeting of regional representatives in discussing the casino development in Palmer and the regional impacts. Ms. Neggers said she will send out invitations to Select Boards, Town Administrators and others in surrounding communities who might be interested in attending. Ms. Neggers said the towns of Brimfield and Hampden have already contacted her regarding the casino and their concerns. Mr. Guertin suggested inviting someone from a surrounding town of Middleborough who was a participant in the committee set up there to speak and to offer suggestions.
Mr. Guertin wondered if the Governor could be asked to send his representative to the proposed meeting so the representative could appraise the Governor of the types of issues and concerns being raised as opposed to waiting for the report. Ms. Neggers said they would probably need to hold the first meeting in order to form the group. Ms. Norbut said she spoke with the Lieutenant Governor earlier today who announced he would be coming to Monson to speak at the Senior Center on Friday, September 14th at 9:00 a.m. about Prescription Advantage. He will also have time to discuss other topics as well. Ms. Norbut said she asked him if it would be possible to arrive a little early so she could take him on a drive through the community and down Route 32, which would be impacted by a casino in our area, and he was
agreeable to this suggestion.
Ms. Norbut made a motion to first send a letter to Governor Patrick immediately requesting he hold off on his decision and the process; secondly request the formation of a Local Impact Study Committee that would be comprised of the Board of Selectmen, Town Administrator, Police Chief, education representative, representative from the infrastructure such as the Water/Sewer Commission and two at large members of the community; and thirdly the recommendation for a Results Impact Study Committee and the proposal of pursuing the hosting of the September 12th Regional Meeting as mentioned. Mr. Guertin seconded and it was so VOTED.
Jim White and Tom Warden, both of whom were in the audience and spoke of concerns said they would be interested in serving on this committee as members of the community.
Resident Jeff Lord of Green Street said he is trying to create a Bed and Breakfast at his house and didn’t know just how a casino would impact his business. He said he grew up in New Jersey and the areas outside the casino district are run down and felt we would lose complete control of our town if a casino were built in Palmer. He will be hosting a meeting at his house on Sunday, September 2nd at 2:00 p.m. for anyone who is interested in this topic and who wishes to attend.
Mr. Harrison thanked everyone in the audience for attending the meeting tonight.
Correspondence was read and completed.
At 8:35 p.m., Ms. Norbut made a motion to adjourn from open session to go into executive session for the purpose of discussing non-union bargaining, not to return to open session. Mr. Guertin seconded and it was so VOTED.
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Richard E. Guertin, Clerk
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