MONSON BOARD OF SELECTMEN
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2007
The regular meeting of the Monson 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.
Approval of Meeting Minutes:
Mr. Guertin made a motion to accept the meeting minutes of November 27, 2007 – open session. Ms. Norbut seconded and it was so VOTED.
Introduction – K-9 Officer Arventos and Atys:
Police Chief Stephen Kozloski and Officer Christopher Arventos along with K-9 Atys approached the Board of Selectmen. Officer Arventos introduced Monson’s new K-9 Atys, who is two years old, and a local green dog, (one without any previous training). A total of three dogs were evaluated prior to Atys being chosen based on his temperament, motivation and personality. He started his scent training last Monday and will learn the tracking aspect in the spring. Training is eight hours a day, Monday through Friday. Chief Kozloski explained the name Atys is the name which came with the dog. This could be changed as the dog will learn to respond to hand commands and the name will be secondary. A naming contest might be developed solely to get the public interested and familiar with the dog. Chief Kozloski explained Penny
Harris Foundation Inc. is the agency who found Atys for Monson. Chief Kosloski explained the Penny Harris Foundation is comprised of a group of volunteers who have an interest in locating free resources when available, and provide free training. Officer Arventos will be able to network with other trainers in the area to correct any problems he might have.
Chief Kozloski explained two officers applied for the K-9 handler position. Officer Arventos was chosen as he lives in town and both he and Atys have the proper motivation and noted he will watch Atys when Officer Arventos goes on vacations.
Mr. Guertin added the Police Department made a great choice in choosing Atys as he is a great dog.
Tax Classification Hearing – Board of Assessors:
Board of Assessors David Royce, Russell Bressette, Stephen Slozak and Town Assessor Diane Hildreth approached the Board of Selectmen. Ms. Hildreth explained they were here tonight to share information with the Board of Selectmen so they can make a decision to have one tax rate or a split tax rate and if Monson is going to adopt a residential exemption or adopt a commercial exemption. Ms. Hildreth went over each section. The first section was the residential factor which had a couple of options, with one being the residential factor 1, which is one tax rate among all classes. They have proposed a tax rate of $11.92; the old rate was $11.66 which is an increase of 26¢. The housing values have increased to where the average home is now worth $237,000.00. If the tax burden were shifted to the commercial industrial from
residential using a minimum residential factor, the residential tax rate would be $11.47 with a commercial tax rate of $17.88. Monson has 93% residential properties, with only 7% commercial industrial, so there would only be a small impact to residential, and a very large impact to commercial, based on the percentage Monson has.
The next section is the residential exemption. Ms. Hildreth explained this is the option Monson has if the town wanted to grant an exemption to owner occupied residential properties and this could possibly go up to a 20% exemption. This is generally used in an area that has a very large rental base, such as communities at the Cape. Monson is more residential. Out of 3,900 residential parcels, there is a possibility that about 2,875 of them could qualify. We would then have to determine if it is owner occupied. There would be a small decrease in the tax rate shifted over to the residential larger valued homes, apartments, multi-families and non resident property owners, making it very hard to determine. If the proposed tax rate of $11.92 per thousand, along with the residential exemption, you would be looking at a
residential house rate of $13.97 as proposed, if the essential exemption were adopted.
The last option is the small commercial exemption, where there is the possibility of exempting up to 10% on commercial properties that are less than $1 million in value and have an average annual employment of not more then 10 people. This list comes from the Department of Employment and Training, and Ms. Hildreth stressed this goes to the property owner, and not the small businesses that occupy the property. This has no added revenue to the town as it is only to shift the tax burden between commercial properties with the proposed tax rate of $11.92. There are only twenty-one properties out of eighty-two that may qualify. The shift would be 19¢ above the proposed residential tax rate, to end up paying $12.11 per thousand.
Mr. Guertin made a motion to continue to retain the single residential factor 1 on residential, commercial industrial and personal property in Monson. Ms. Norbut seconded and it was so VOTED.
Mr. Guertin made a motion the Board of Selectmen do not approve the residential exemption of up to 20%. Ms. Norbut seconded and it was so VOTED.
Mr. Guertin made a motion the Board of Selectmen do not approve a small commercial exemption of up to 10%. Ms. Norbut seconded and it was so VOTED.
Ms. Hildreth spoke about the revolution which has taken place in the Assessor’s Office. The first major component was up-dating with new software. In switching over the software, the Department of Revenue has required the second component, which was a full exterior review of all properties to make sure what was on the card matched what she saw and the changes were up-dated. The third component is tri-annual re-evaluation itself. Monson’s values are based on sales that took place January 1, 2006 through December 31, 2006. The FY ’08 values are based on what a willing buyer and willing seller, under no direst, would negotiate as a fair market value. Ms. Hildreth added Monson’s values are still up there as we have not seen a decline. Ms. Hildreth noted she had problems with locating 5% to 8% of the
properties, due to the properties not marked properly or using old addresses prior to the installation of the 9-1-1 emergency system. Mr. Guertin said many residents refuse to adopt new house numbers. Ms. Neggers added they are putting themselves at risk if an emergency should arise. Ms. Hildreth said even deeds are reflecting old addresses. Ms. Neggers noted it is a bylaw issue in trying to enforce this. The Assessors Office is working with the Building Department to rectify this and also with the Town Clerk going through past census. Mr. Solzak suggested everyone check their tax bill for their proper addresses. Ms. Norbut suggested sending a notice out with the tax bills asking residents to check to make sure their address is correct.
Public Hearing – FY 2008 Community Development Strategy:
Jim Mazik of the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission approached the Board of Selectmen to speak about the Community Development Strategy, which has been revised. Mr. Harrison asked if anyone in the audience had any comments pro or con, regarding the document. There weren’t any comments made. Mr. Mazik said this process is required when a town applies for CDBG funding which Monson will be doing later on this year, as the discussion regarding this must take place two months prior to the application being submitted, which will be done on February 15th. The strategy was developed back in 2006 and has been revised every year as required, and modified as necessary with open discussion for anyone with feedbacks, comments or making changes, so this can be submitted with the application for funding. There were
changes in the Commonwealth’s sustainable development principals and this strategy has been modified to reflect those changes. Basically everything is similar to last year and the past administration with some minor adjustments. The prioritization of projects must include target dates for the activities. Mr. Mazik explained this is difficult as the monies, goals, activity, and objectives are constantly on-going, so he has noted target dates where he could and where he couldn’t, it was noted as essentially on-going through a certain time period. The bulk of this was agreed upon by the Board of Selectmen last year in terms of projects, priorities and what was identified as the past town effort.
Ms. Norbut noted a change on page 2, stating the Community Relations is an 8 member committee currently. Also a typo in the next paragraph down where it says “Pioneer Valley Regional Housing Plan” in the last sentence where it says “the town that it exceeded its 2004 goal”, strike the words “that it” to instead say “ the town exceeded its 2004 goal”. On page 3 in the first section under future economic development and local promotion, toward the end, it should reflect that the Local Partnership for Economic Development and the Tourism Committees recent efforts have resulted in the purchase of the formally abandoned Zero East property on South Main Street. Mr. Mazik said he would make the changes as noted.
Ms. Norbut made a motion to accept the Town of Monson Community Development Strategy, as discussed and amended, revised 2008 on December 11, 2007. Mr. Guertin seconded and it was so VOTED.
Bay State Gas Company Representatives – Proposed Distribution Capacity Expansion:
Several representatives from Bay State Gas Company were in attendance for this meeting. One representative approached the Board of Selectmen and explained the Massachusetts Municipal Wholesale Electric Company (MMWEC) is one of the accounts he handles and together they are proposing a potential for a project for Bay Sate Gas to expand their capacity here in Monson. The representative explained Bay State Gas met with the Monson Board of Selectmen back in 1991 when the first gas line came through town, which is located under Main Street. They have met informally with some of Monson’s town officials to discuss the potential of this project. They have already heard back from some of them and are incorporating some of the comments and some of the suggestions they have heard into their studies and engineering as they move
forward. They are only in the beginning of the process in terms of engineering, studies, designs and so forth. In December of 2005 he had a meeting with MMWEC and they discussed the potential of adding some more generating power at that facility and explained they addressed two issues. One is they have member municipal companies that they provide electric power for and they were going to have a shortage of petroleum in moving forward. They have been talking about not having enough generating capacity by the year 2010. The power they produce does go into the New England grid as well as providing energy for their member companies. The representative explained he is the salesman and the people with him tonight are the subject matter experts. He said he would provide the high level view of the proposed project tonight and the others would be able to answer any questions with more information into the details. He explained Bay State Gas has a high pressure pipeline that runs from the
Cedar Swamp Road Station in Monson to Ludlow, interconnects with MMWEC and then goes to Mass. Power. Bay State Gas has owned and operated that line since 1991. It is a 16” line installed under Main Street (Route 32) and currently operates at 500 pounds of pressure, which is a maximum factor. MMWEC is proposing an additional 280 mega watts of generating power. In order for Bay State Gas to provide this additional transportation service to MMWEC, they need to make some changes to the system. Within the past few weeks, Bay State Gas signed a Memorandum of Understanding with MMWEC, which puts them into the next phase, explaining the meeting tonight to bring this to the attention of the Board of Selectmen. To provide this level of service, they would need to have two projects going. One project would take the existing system and elevate the pressure by ten pounds, so it would go from operating at 500 pounds of pressure to operating at 510 pounds of pressure. The other portion of
the project would be the looping of the existing system starting at the Cedar Swamp Road Station, interconnecting with the Tennessee Gas pipe line running approximately 4 to 41/2 miles of parallel pipe to the existing pipe, so there would be two side by side pipes operating in that area at the same time at 510 pounds of pressure for both lines. By doing both of these projects, Bay State Gas would be able to provide the level of service. The process would go through the Energy Facility Sighting Board.
Ms. Neggers stated she met with the town officials recently, the Fire Chief, Police Chief, Highway Superintendent and the Superintendent from the Water/Sewer Dept., about a month ago regarding the immediate reaction. They went through a list of questions and at the end there were significant concerns about safety as well as the concept of laying the new pipe under Main Street parallel to the current pipe line. Water/Sewer Superintendent Craig Jalbert, has photographic evidence of there not being enough room to go under Main Street. The existing storm drain system under Main Street is in excess of over 100 years old as well as the water mains being 100 years old. Ms. Neggers said the departments were very up front about it and expressed a lot of opposition they did not under any circumstances want the additional gas line
going parallel to the existing gas line under Main Street. Also, there are seven bridge crossings and the proposal is to just hang the gas line from the bridges, so there would be two 16” high pressure gas lines with 500 pounds of pressure hanging from the seven bridges, which was a serious safety concern. Ms. Neggers added she would like to see other places where two parallel gas lines have ever been run side by side. Ms. Neggers reiterated the bridge crossings and the lack of space are Monson’s real concerns. It was also noted Bay State Gas is required to develop two proposals, the main route and an alternate route. The representative from Bay State Gas said based on that meeting and those comments, they are looking at an alternate route, either power right-of-way or secondary roads.
Mr. Guertin added the Selectmen have had numerous discussions regarding how terrible the sewage pipes are, the fact that they are 100 years old, under roadways, with all kinds of water problems, therefore, he gets really nervous thinking about a second gas line being placed in an environment that is already scaring us.
Ms. Norbut questioned, earlier it was stated the currant line is rated for 500 pounds of pressure and now they are talking about increasing it to 510 pound of pressure. The representative answered they would take the current line, which has an allowable pressure at 500 pounds and operate it at 510 pounds. The next study would determine if and what would need to be replaced to do this. This would also require a special permit. There are no other lines being operated at 510 pounds of pressure, this would be a new level of operation.
Mr. Guertin asked if it would make more sense to run the pipes through fields or property not subject to the high travel volume instead of under Main Street which also happens to be a major route. The response was they don’t know for sure if this is the route which will be chosen, as studies would still have to be conducted. Ms. Neggers added the State will be the deciding factor in this. The representative said he feels they will end up with the best alternative for the requirements. The representative, who would facilitate the filing itself, said the Energy Facility Site Board is a State agency was mandated to oversee the citing of the facility center as it is greater than a mile and greater than 100 pounds per square inch of pressure. This is a qualified facility that will require site work approval. The process
they go through is, the company has to work closely with the customer to determine what the requirements are. This is the first step. He said once an agreement, the “Memorandum of Understanding”, is in place and the engineering studies are completed, which is expected to be in the first half of 2008, they will have enough information, in terms of location, costs, routes, alternatives, environmental impacts and just basically a good understanding of what the options are. A petition will be put together with the engineering studies to back it up in a file requesting approval of the project. That project will go through a public review where interested parties will have an opportunity to participate; questions will be allowed to be asked about the project. The representative said he feels Monson will find the process works and Monson will end up with the best alternative for the given requirements. Ms. Neggers was presented with a folder containing a number of recent Site
Board decisions that address what is in it for Monson, which are the tax revenues as a primary benefit.
Mr. Guertin asked a question regarding the evaluation process, as it appears to him the reason Bay State Gas wants to go down Main Street is because it is cheaper and they wouldn’t have to worry about land acquisition and permission from property owners or anything long those lines, and added he feels the cost is the major factor in not going down Main Street. To him, the balance scale that Monson is being put on from Monson’s perspective is for concern for the safety and problems when there are other utility lines that we have to deal with, and added he finds it hard to believe this will be recognized. The representative said there are two major options the utility company has. One is the public right-of-way and the other is the cross country. The cross country route would be through the fields and marshes
and not along the public way. It is Bay State Gas and the local distribution companies’ philosophy to go down the public right-of-way. That is what they are use to, that is how they operate and it is a much more known entity in terms of what they are getting into and what they’ll experience. Mr. Guertin added they also say this is a unique situation. The representative said what is unique is the size of the pipe going down the Main Street and an additional pipe being installed along side of it. The alternative engineering studies will not have the pipes doing down Main Street parallel. They will go along the street but not through the down town. One alternative route would take the pipe line under the power easements by following Cedar Swamp Road to Route 32 to King Avenue and go up under the power right-of-way from there and tie in down below. Another option is from the Cedar Swamp Road Station, parallel on Route 32 to Hampden Avenue and then zig-zag over
Hampden Avenue to Pease Street to Cushman Street to Gate Street to Bethany Road and then back out to Route 32, in order to avoid the downtown area.
Ms. Norbut noted she is sure the Water/Sewer Superintendent must have mentioned during the meeting with him and the town officials the really decayed older infrastructure and the town’s concerns with that. The representative said as part of their initial study, they will sit down with the town, Water Dept., Fire Dept., etc. to identify the age and history such as any leaks or problems identified on any of the streets regarding all of the utilities. Ms. Neggers noted the town is spending about $40,000.00 to have Bethany Road repaved following a huge water main break which took out the whole road and added, the town is finding out the water lines dating to the 1940’s and 1950’s are decaying faster than the 100 year old lines due to quality workmanship.
Ms. Norbut asked if there has ever been a model of setting up through this process, where the EFSB set up an escrow account that would be established to mitigate future expenses, especially in a unique situation such as this. The representative responded this discussion would be part of the process. As for the bridge crossings, the representative said one option would be to install one larger pipe at the bridge instead of having two and then go back to parallel pipe lines once it is past the bridge. Mr. Harrison asked about an alternative route that would avoid Monson altogether. It was explained Wilbraham/Hampden was rejected and the Tennessee Gas Pipe Line runs to Cedar Swamp Road in Monson. The representative said they want to work with Monson to find out what our concerns are and try to design those concerns into the
solution as the Designing Board will make sure Monson ends up with the best project at the end of the process. Ms. Neggers added the Town on Monson doesn’t have a seat at the table with the Designing Board unless we go for an intervention status and engage in legal counsel expenses as she has the records from the Hampden/Wilbraham case, where she has cases upon cases of papers, as well as cases and cases of the 1989-1990 petition for the first pipe line, which is also comprised of cases upon cases and books that are thick, to bring Monson’s concerns forward.
Mr. Harrison said he would like to see the time table mapped out. The representative said the high level time line right now is to have the people get into the next phase of the engineering process, which includes speaking to the town officials and walking the wet lands. They have made a commitment to MMWEC to have the next phase of the study done by April 2008. The looping report with three choices will be completed by January. MMWEC’s decision to go ahead with the project and what they want to do will be completed in a 45 to 60 day window. In the end of May, the cost estimate will be completed. The end of July is the window for making the decision. The process of preparing the report itself will take three to four months. Filing for site work will be completed probably by September/October. The window for review
that the Designing Board takes is anywhere from six months to one year depending on how controversial the issues are. Mr. Harrison reiterated he would like to see the time line on paper and to be up-dated if things changed dramatically one way or another. Ms. Norbut would also like advanced notice of dates and times for any meetings with locations, etc.
The Board of Selectmen thanked the representative form Bay State Gas for coming in.
Chapter 40B – Discussion:
Ms. Norbut explained there is a Massachusetts General Law, 40B, regarding affordable housing. There are many challenges and difficulties with 40B, and in a nut shell, each community is assessed for the percentages of what is referred to as affordable housing. When a community meets a threshold of 10%, it is good. Under 10%, the developers would have the right to come into a community and basically propose a development that supersedes some zoning bylaws. Ms. Norbut said she found that Monson does not meet the 10% threshold. She had requested during the previous administration to look into having mobile homes, which are clearly affordable housing and is currently being counted at a half point instead changed to counting as a whole point. This would place Monson above the 10% range. Ms. Norbut said she would like to address
a formal letter, from the Board of Selectmen to the legislature, requesting they move on developing some type of legislature or add an amendment that would reform the 40B, to bring mobile homes into counting as a 1.0 instead of the .5 rating they currently have. Mr. Harrison thought the legislature might increase the threshold percentage and therefore looking to increase the number of affordable units. Mr. Guertin agreed mobile homes are affordable homes and he supports what Ms. Norbut is proposing.
Mr. Guertin made a motion to authorize the Board to create a letter to send to the legislature promoting the points Ms. Norbut has outlined. Ms. Norbut seconded and it was so VOTED.
It was agreed Ms. Neggers will draft the letter following Ms. Norbut sending her the high points.
Acknowledge Receipt of Request for Town to Waive its Right of First Refusal – Transfer of land on Munn Road from Robert and Mary Ann Brazas to Greg and Caron Falcone:
Ms. Neggers explained this item is only to acknowledge receipt of the request. The Board of Selectmen are waiting for a response from the Planning Board. The Conservation Commission has already replied back to the Board of Selectmen.
Commence License Renewals:
Ms. Norbut read and made a motion to approve the Common Victualer – All Alcoholic licenses for Ramadon Enterprises, Inc. d.b.a. C J’s Restaurant; Orange Lantern d.b.a. Magic Lantern; Tee Jay’s, Inc.; Golf Two Enterprises, Inc. d.b.a. Quaboag-Valhalla Restaurant; Fat Cat Capital, Inc. d.b.a. Mustang Sally’s and Quaboag Riders, Inc. effective January 1, 2008 through December 31, 2008. Mr. Guertin seconded and it was so VOTED.
Ms. Norbut read and made a motion to approve the Retail Package Store licenses for DeMaio Discount Package Store, Inc., Monson Markets, Inc. d.b.a. Adams Discount Liquors and Peter LePoer d.b.a. Main Street Liquors, effective January 1, 2008 through December 31, 2008. Mr. Guertin seconded and it was so VOTED.
Ms. Norbut made a motion to approve the Club license for the Polish American Citizens Club. Mr. Guertin seconded and it was so VOTED.
Ms. Norbut read and made a motion to approve the Common Victualer (wines and malts) licenses for Monson Italian Pizzeria and 10th Planet LLC d.b.a. 10th Planet Pizza effective January 1, 2008 through December 31, 2008. Mr. Guertin seconded and it was so VOTED.
Ms. Norbut read and made a motion to approve the Entertainment licenses for Tee Jay’s, Inc., Quaboag-Valhalla Restaurant, Polish American Citizens Club, Orange Lantern d.b.a. Magic Lantern, Fat Cat Capital, Inc. d.b.a. Mustang Sally’s and Donald Bean d.b.a. Partridge Hollow Camping Area effective January 1, 2008 through December 31, 2008. Mr. Guertin seconded and it was so VOTED.
Ms. Norbut read and made a motion to approve the Automatic Amusements for Tee Jay’s, Inc., Polish American Citizens Club and Fat Cat Capital, Inc. d.b.a. Mustang Sally’s effective January 1, 2008 through December 31, 2008. Mr. Guertin seconded and it was so VOTED.
Ms. Norbut read and made a motion to approve the Motor Vehicle Class I licenses for Ray’s Mobile Home Park and Trailers of New England, Inc. effective January 1, 2008 through December 31, 2008. Mr. Guertin seconded and it was so VOTED.
Ms. Norbut read and made a motion to approve the Motor Vehicle Class II licenses for John Bee Auto Body, P & F Auto Parts, Liz Motor Sales, Raymond LaBonte d.b.a. LaBonte’s, Trailers of New England, Inc. Northeastern Commercial Development Corp. d.b.a. Lou Rivers Used Cars, Ernie’s Service Station and Paul R. Racine d.b.a. Paul’s Auto Sales effective January 1, 2008 through December 31, 2008. Mr. Guertin seconded and it was so VOTED
Ms. Norbut read and made a motion to approve the Motor Vehicle Class III licenses for Scantic Auto Service, P & F Auto Parts and LaBonte’s effective January 1, 2008 through December 31, 2008. Mr. Guertin seconded and it was so VOTED.
In Other Business to Come Before the Board of Selectmen:
The Board of Selectmen received a letter from Ms. Neggers resigning from the Regional Casino Impact Committee due to time constraints effective immediately.
Mr. Guertin made a motion to accept the resignation from Ms. Neggers. Ms. Norbut seconded and it was so VOTED.
Ms. Norbut thanked Ms. Neggers for organizing and forming the organization.
Mr. Guertin made a motion to appoint Ms. Norbut to the Regional Casino Impact Committee effective immediately through June 30, 2008. Ms. Norbut seconded and it was so VOTED.
Mr. Harrison reminded the listening audience, the Monson Rotary Club will hold a Time of Remembrance Tree of Light Ceremony at 6:00 p.m. at Dave Grieve Park on Tuesday, December 18, 2007. Immediately following the ceremony, everyone is invited to attend a concert by the Brimfield Area Master Singers. This is an outstanding choir of 40 plus singers, keyboardists, percussionist, sleigh bells and other hand instruments that accompany the choir. This concert is free.
Ms. Norbut said Senator Brewer will be at the Library on December 19th at 4:00 p.m. for the 10th Annual Holiday Story Hour with fun for children of all ages.
Correspondence was read and completed.
At 9:20 p.m., Ms. Norbut made a motion to adjourn from open session. Mr. Guertin seconded and it was so VOTED.
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Richard E. Guertin, Clerk
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