BOARD OF SELECTMEN
OCTOBER 9, 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:
Mr. Guertin made a motion to accept the meeting minutes of September 25, 2007 – open and executive sessions. Ms. Norbut seconded and it was so VOTED.
Appoint Full-time EMT/Firefighter:
Fire Chief Marshall Harris and EMT/Firefighter Mathew Walch approached the Board of Selectmen. Chief Harris explained there is a full-time opening in his department as James Royce, one of the full time EMT/Firefighters, has accepted a full time position with a neighboring town (this employee will continue working for the Monson Fire Department on an on call basis).
Chief Harris explained he is recommending the appointment of Mr. Walch for the full time EMT/Firefighter position as he is has been employed by the Monson Fire Department on a part-time basis as an EMT/Firefighter and is very dedicated. Mr. Walsh is currently attending school for fire science.
Ms. Norbut made a motion to appoint Mathew Walch as a full-time EMT/Firefighter effective October 15, 2007 through June 30, 2008 and to accept the resignation from James Royce as a full-time EMT/Firefighter. Mr. Guertin seconded and it was so VOTED.
Interview Community Preservation Committee Applicants:
Ms. Neggers explained two of the five applicants had stated they would be unable to attend this meeting and she would like them to be considered as well for the two open positions. It was reiterated the members previously appointed to the Community Preservation Committee are Karen King representing the Planning Board, Dennis Swierad representing the Historical Society, Stephen Slozak representing the Parks and Recreation Commission, Francis Nicoli representing the Housing Authority and Leslie Duthie representing the Conservation Commission.
Robert Kaddy and William Skillman approached the Board of Selectmen and answered questions about their experiences and qualifications asked by the Board of Selectmen. Ms. Norbut read a letter submitted by Jeff Lord regarding his experiences and qualifications into the record.
Ms. Norbut explained the five previously appointed members representing, Boards and Commissions, all come with experience which she feels is good. Of the five applications received to fill the two positions for the at large members tonight, Ms. Norbut said three are newer community members and two are older community members. Ms. Norbut said she would like to see one of the older community members appointed bringing their skills forward, along with one of the newer community members and recommended Jean Bailey and William Skillman for the positions. Ms. Norbut said she felt that between the newer community members, Mr. Skillman, Mr. Kaddy and Mr. Lord, that Mr. Skillman has superior skills to bring to the committee. Of the two older community members applying for the positions, Ms. Norbut felt Ms. Bailey contributes
tremendously to the community through her work on the Tourism Committee and felt Ms. Bailey’s knowledge about the history of past and present projects would be useful in dealing with the different projects which will be presented to the Community Preservation Committee for consideration. Projects approved by the Community Preservation Committee must go to a Town meeting for approval. Mr. Harrison read Ms. Bailey’s letter of interest into the record. Mr. Harrison said the Board of Selectmen are at liberty to consider everyone and added he would like to see new people being appointed to the committees providing them an opportunity to serve the community, as committees continue to be mainly staffed by the same dedicated people. Mr. Guertin said he was having difficulty with appointing people who didn’t show up for the interviews as letters were sent out to all of them ahead of time. It was noted Ms. Bailey was not present for the interviews and is currently serving
on a town committee. Mr. Guertin added he feels there are advantages in having a diversity of committee members and a need for differences of opinions as the town is changing, and he recommended the appointment of the two gentlemen who were present for the interviews tonight, Mr. Kaddy and Mr. Skillman.
Mr. Guertin made a motion to appoint Robert Kaddy and William Skillman to the Community Preservation Committee effective immediately through June 30, 2008. Ms. Norbut seconded and it was so VOTED.
Appoint At Large and Other Members to the Local Casino Study Committee:
Ms. Norbut explained the town has been seeking interested persons wishing to serve on the Local Casino Study Committee. Although there hasn’t been any written correspondence received regarding the open positions for two at large members to serve on the Local Casino Study Committee, there has been verbal interest expressed. Ms. Norbut made a recommendation to appoint Thomas Warden and James White, along with five representatives from town departments to the Local Casino Study Committee.
Ms. Norbut made a motion to appoint James White, Thomas Warden, Kathleen Norbut, Gretchen Neggers, Police Chief Stephen Kozloski, School Superintendent Richard Nabel, and Water/Sewer Superintendent Craig Jalbert to the Local Casino Study Committee effective immediately through June 30, 2008. Mr. Guertin seconded and it was so VOTED.
Long Range Financial Planning Committee – Recommendations on FY 2008 Budget Process:
Mr. Guertin explained this process started in 2005 with data being gathered. The results showed the potential for an annual town budget shortfall that could have been a million dollars a year as long range capital planning was pretty much non existent. Capital needs were projected through the year 2038. On the low end, the annual capital needs were about $600,000.00 to $700,000.00. On the high end, the annual capital needs were about $1 million 5 to $1 million 6. It was explained, seeing these figures made the Long Range Financial Planning Committee realize they really needed to know what was going on with large expense items such as the age and condition of boilers in town owned buildings including the schools, roofs, etc. Mr. Guertin explained there are a lot of changes taking place everywhere and felt communities
should look to see if the way they have been operating should be continued.
Ms. Neggers gave a presentation where she explained, the budget process consists of activities that encompass the development, implementation, and evaluation of an on going plan for the provision of services and capital assets. Ms. Neggers further explained the mission of the budget process is to help the decision makers in making informed choices about the provisions of services, capital assets and to promote stakeholder participation in the process. The people who attend the Town meetings are the stakeholders as they are the people who make the decisions on the budget process. The key characteristics of the budget process Ms. Neggers described are it incorporates a long-term perspective, establishes linkages such as becoming NIMS certified, to broad organizational goals, focuses budget decisions on how it fills the
towns needs, involves and promotes effective communication with stakeholders and provides incentives (which enhance the performances) to government management and employees. Ms. Neggers explained the stakeholders are the residents, tax payers, elected officials, Town employees, Town department heads, Commonwealth of Massachusetts, business communities, etc. and she added it is important to communicate and share our budget process with them so they really understand the challenges the town faces. Ms. Neggers explained the “How To”, which would be to hold a budget summit early in the year with the Board of Selectmen and the Finance Committee, sitting down together to identify trends and common challenges and trying to stay up dated on the goals and priorities.
It was agreed with health insurance, pensions and energy costs rising, it is important to get the budget out on the table as soon as possible, as it isn’t getting out there early enough now. Ms. Mahar spoke about possibly looking into having departments submit their budgets in mid November instead of late December and looking at level services and putting dollar figures to it. Ms. Mahar also suggested ranking priorities and what departments would want to add on if more money were available and placing a dollar figure on that as well, so when the town had a clearer indication from the state with what the towns revenues are going to be, the town could say the number came in higher than anticipated, therefore we can go beyond level services and add on some of what the departments had added as priorities. Ms. Mahar said
she really would like all of this to occur in October if possible rather than mid November in the future. Ms. Norbut added if the budget were done early, it could be submitted to the State legislature so they could move through their process knowing these are Monson’s needs and numbers.
Ms. Mahar said the town really needs to look at where our priorities are going to be in the next year or up coming two years, and to see if the town would have to eliminate departments and/or services to do that, or could the town continue to go with level funding. Ms. Neggers questioned there is a very real possibility the town is not going to be able to fund everything and/or to provide all the services, and in that event, who should be making the decision on what to eliminate, who should be establishing the priorities? Ms. Neggers said she believed very emphatically that the decision should be between the School Committee and the Board of Selectmen. For example, Ms. Neggers said the Town of Bridgewater just closed their library and Senior Center and a number of towns across the state are closing municipal
facilities and making drastic cuts in order to keep the Police Department open.
Mr. Harrison added there is also the potential possibility of regionalizing some things where a town would share resources amongst several towns.
Ms. Neggers further added, Monson has been very fortunate and very creative in the financial area but it is becoming very challenging.
Mr. Guertin explained Monson has relatively new schools and noted as time goes by, maintenance is going to have to be done on those buildings. The money that comes from the state for the schools, which the School Committee controls, is for education. It isn’t to put a new roof on one of the schools or to replace a furnace or any large or major capital item. Mr. Guertin questioned if the town doesn’t know what is going on with the condition of such items and something did need replacement, where exactly is this money going to come from? Mr. Guertin continued, on the other hand if we are talking to one another we can start planning now if a replacement is going to be required in another five years. This process goes back to trying to prioritize the town needs, planning and communication. Mr. Guertin
explained right now the town isn’t doing this, but it is something the town does need to begin doing. Ms. Norbut said she feels sometimes the town has tried to look in those directions, but it seems so daunting or hopeless as far as the activity or budget process, and one might think what’s the point, but if we have collaboration there may be some more ways to identify some holes that can be filled or addressed and have contingency plans when emergencies do happen. Mr. Guertin added if the town did identify the fact that a new furnace will be needed in five years, what needs to be done is to go to Town meeting and say we need to appropriate 20% each year for the next five years so when we get there, we will have the money in place.
Ms. Norbut asked about the Towns checks and balances. Ms. Neggers responded the Town meeting is the ultimate check and balance as it is the residents who show up at Town meeting to vote on the approval of the capital items and budget. The Finance Committee, who remains independent, makes an independent recommendation to the towns’ people. The Selectmen can not dictate that recommendation nor can the School Committee dictate that recommendation. The Finance Committee independently achieves that. This goes back to the stakeholders and what was said earlier about the stakeholders casting the deciding vote. Ms. Neggers said she feels the goal here is to make the data and presentation easier for the Finance Committee by putting it in a better format by the time they get it. Mr. Guertin agreed that under the process
discussed, there would be more guidance. Ms. Mahar said the Finance Committee does need to look to the Board of Selectmen as the executive office of the town and as to where the town is headed.
Mr. Guertin explained the people need to know that by attending town meetings, they will be heard and they do make a difference. Mr. Harrison added, that could change the outcome of the recommendations. Ms. Neggers replied this is where, hopefully, the other stakeholders could defend, explain and attach fact to the recommendation to back it up.
Ms. Neggers added these are small baby steps being taken to try to make it more transparent, more participatory and hopefully more effective. Ms. Neggers said the request to the Board of Selectmen tonight is to convene a summit meeting at the next meeting of the Board of Selectmen on October 23rd, as time is of the essence.
Appoint Betty Bouchard – Community Relations Committee:
Ms. Norbut made a motion to appoint Betty Bouchard to the Community Relations Committee effective immediately through June 30, 2008. Mr. Guertin seconded and it was so VOTED.
In Other Business to Come Before the Board of Selectmen:
Approve Lease With Robbins in the Nest, Inc.:
Ms. Neggers said the School Department has presented the lease for the Board of Selectmen to approve, with Robbins in the Nest, Inc. This has already been approved by the School Committee.
Ms. Norbut made a motion to renew the lease as presented. Mr. Guertin seconded and it was so VOTED.
Approve expense from Gifts to the Town Account:
Ms. Neggers said the Town experienced a fairly catastrophic failure of the Town’s computer server this past week and requested up to $10,000.00 from the Gifts to the Town Account to make the necessary emergency repairs. Ms. Neggers explained there is no money devoted to computer technology other than the money from the cable television contract, which is about $16,000.00 a year and the town has a serious problem that can’t wait, not only to make repairs to the existing server, but to build more redundancy to the back up system as some very important data was lost. The data will be reconstructed accurately, but at an expense to the town with significant disruption.
Mr. Guertin made a motion to authorize the use of up to $10,000.00 from the Gifts to the Town Account for the purpose of computer technology repair to repair the problem just described by Ms. Neggers. Ms. Norbut seconded and it was so VOTED.
Halloween Trick or Treat Hours:
Also in other business to come before the Board of Selectmen, Mr. Harrison said Halloween is coming up. The Trick or Treat hours will remain the same as in the past, from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. on October 31st, with the Rotary Club hosting the usual parade following the Trick or Treat hours at 6:15 p.m. beginning at the Town Office Building marching down to Memorial Hall where the festivities will take place.
Mr. Guertin made a motion to set the official Trick or Treat hours for the Town of Monson from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. on October 31, 2007 and also to allow permission for the parade to go down Main Street from the Town Office Building to Memorial Hall and for Memorial Hall to be open for the Halloween Rotary festivities following the parade. Ms. Norbut seconded and it was so VOTED.
Theatrical Presentation:
Ms. Norbut announced and invited all the members of the community to attend a theatrical presentation entitled “Revealing Frankie” on Wednesday, October 24, 2007 at 6:30 p.m. in the Palmer High School auditorium. Revealing Frankie is based on a true story about domestic and dating violence. October is National Domestic Awareness month.
Casino Meeting in Lakeville Mass.:
Mr. Harrison said he had the occasion to stop at the Lakeville Library last week where a meeting was being held for the communities surrounding Middleborough, addressing their concerns regarding the potential of a casino in Middleborough. There were approximately twenty-two people in attendance representing Select board from seventeen surrounding communities, with more being added as they go along. State Senator, Marc Pacheco, for that area was in attendance. Mr. Harrison said Senator Pacheco had some interesting things to say regarding the whole casino issue. Specifically, the state is in trouble financially as the state was left with a $1 billion structural deficit leaving a need for additional revenue at the state level. The casino is one option to raise revenue while the other option would be to raise taxes such as
sales tax, tax on gasoline, tax on cigarettes, state income tax, etc,. Senator Pacheco also stated at that meeting they realize there is a need for mitigation of the impact for communities surrounding the casino. There are three categories where they feel money should be set aside, one category would be the host community, the second category would be the surrounding communities and the third category would be the communities a little further out but still close enough to lose patrons from church Bingo games and so on who can document loss of income due to a casino in that region. If sufficient funding isn’t provided for mitigation, this would constitute and unfunded mandate on surrounding communities. Mr. Harrison said following the two and a half hour meeting he had the opportunity to speak with the committee and it was agreed their issues and concerns are the same as Monson’s. Mr. Harrison said he established a link with that regional committee and is hoping to be
able to exchange information and have representation from everyone involved when it goes before the Governor.
Citizen of the Year:
It was announced the Rotary Citizen of the Year banquet will be held on October 16th. Tickets are still available. For more information anyone interested may contact with Dot Jenkins in the Collector’s Office or Ed Harrison.
Peaked Mountain Race/Birthday Party:
Also, a reminder Peaked Mountain has the mountain race and birthday party on Sunday, October 21st at 10:00 a.m.
Correspondence was read and completed.
At 8:45 p.m., Mr. Guertin made a motion to adjourn from open session to go into executive session for the purpose of discussing litigation and collective bargaining, 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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