BOARD OF SELECTMEN
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2009
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 John F. Goodrich II. 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 August 25, 2009 – open and executive sessions. Mr. Goodrich seconded and it was so VOTED.
Mug’n’Muffin – Application for Liquor License (continued from 08/25/2009):
Mark Thrasher, Owner/Manager of Best Bet Inc. d/b/a/ Mug’n’Muffin approached the Board of Selectmen. Mr. Guertin explained Mr. Thrasher previously held a liquor license for this premise a few years back, but had surrendered it due to low sales and now wishes to try it again. Mr. Thrasher stated he has taken a beverage course in the past and noted all his employees are of legal age for selling alcohol.
Mr. Harrison made a motion to approve the liquor license as presented and to forward it to the A.B.C.C. in Boston for approval. Mr. Goodrich seconded and it was so VOTED.
Joint Meeting with the School Committee to Fill a Vacancy on the Committee:
Monson School Committee members Edward Maia, Joshua Farber, Jeffrey Lord and Michael Kane approached the Board of Selectmen for a joint meeting to fill the vacancy on the School Committee. Four applications had been submitted with one being withdrawn. Mr. Guertin explained the process and said hopefully the chosen candidate will run in the April elections to fill the three year term. The candidates waited in the hallway outside the Conference Room with the door closed during the interviews so that none of the candidates could hear the questions or answers being given.
Candidate Peter Matrow was brought into the room first and approached the Board of Selectmen, introduced himself and described his background. Mr. Matrow was asked a series of questions by the School Committee, followed by the Board of Selectmen. Upon finishing his interview, he was told he may stay in the room if he wished.
Candidate Hope Bodwell was brought into the room next. Ms. Bodwell approached the Board of Selectmen and School Committee, introduced herself and explained her background. Ms. Bodwell was then asked a series of questions.
Upon Ms. Bodwell completing her interview, the last candidate, Joel Keller, was brought into the room. As with the previous candidates Mr. Keller introduced himself, explained his background and was asked a series of questions.
Both the School Committee and the Board of Selectmen agreed they were very pleased with the three candidates, as they were all very well qualified. After discussing the candidates amongst themselves, Mr. Maia made a motion to appoint Joel Keller to fill the vacant seat on the School Committee. Mr. Lord seconded. A roll call vote was taken as follows:
Edward Maia: yes Edward Harrison: yes
Joshua Farber: no John Goodrich II: yes
Jeffrey Lord: yes Richard Guertin: yes
Michael Kane: no
At this time, Mr. Guertin called a 5 minute break, with open session resuming at 8:45 P.M.
Water Main Break – Identification and Discussion of Costs:
Water/Sewer Superintendent Craig Jalbert, Water/Sewer Commissioner Steve Lobik and Highway Surveyor John Morrell approached the Board of Selectmen.
Mr. Jalbert explained on August 20th, water main break calls started coming in at 4:00 P.M. No water surfaced, making the break hard to locate. The Fire Chief noticed the water in Chicopee Brook at Chestnut Street was very dirty, and this is how the break was located. At 6:00/6:30 P.M. they shut down the water. It was estimated approximately 750,000 gallons of water were lost in the two and a half hours it took to locate the break which was under Main Street on Academy Hill; where there are also underground telephone lines, a Bay State Gas line, and a granite culvert running diagonally across the street and on top of the water main. Mr. Jalbert said he and Mr. Morrell worked together to come up with a plan to repair the water main, along with the culvert which had to be removed to repair the water main, with
the goal to get the water back on to twelve homes who were without service. Mr. Morrell said they had to call in other forces with larger equipment. Local contractors, Pete Lloyd Excavating (who received the call at midnight that he would be needed on the next day) and Northern Tree Service dropping everything to come through for the town, as they have in the past. Mr. Morrell and Mr. Jalbert agreed they really appreciated all of the assistance they received. Mr. Morrell noted the repair work was done at the lowest cost possible, yet it is pretty much a permanent fix which should last a long time. Mr. Morrell noted the costs, including labor for the Water Department and the Highway Department during the 223 hours during regular work hours, totaled $53,974.00, with a net cost of $24,268.00.
Mr. Morrell stated Northern Construction generously donated their time and equipment during this crisis, a savings of $19,505.07. Mr. Jalbert added everyone was just helping one another out; Marty Harris, being a previous Water/Sewer Superintendent came back into town to assist, Doug North offered assistance, James Haynes offered to assist, Secretary Dale Barns came in to change the message on the answering machine at the Water/Sewer Department, the Fire Chief assisted, along with the Police Chief, and they used the lights from the Fire Department rescue truck when it got dark. Mr. Guertin said the community really pulled together and he complemented Mr. Jalbert, Mr. Morrell and everyone associated with the repair for getting water restored and everything resolved as quickly as they did. Mr. Guertin noted he was very
impressed with the entire operation and how it was handled. Mr. Morrell said both departments worked very well together, working as one department.
Mr. Morrell stated he sat down with Mr. Jalbert and one of the Water/Sewer Commissioners on Friday to discuss the costs involved. Both departments agreed to split the cost of repair 50/50, with the Highway paying $12,262.00, as the stone culvert was a contributing factor being laid in the 1930’s along with an aging water main which was laid in 1894. Mr. Jalbert and Mr. Morrell agreed this split will deplete their Emergency Repair Reserves. Mr. Morrell noted he will have to use some funds from the General Highways and Bridges Account as well as Emergency Repair Reserves to cover his portion of the costs.
Mr. Guertin thanked Mr. Morrell, Mr. Lobik and Mr. Jalbert for coming in to present the up-date, for the work they did, and for coming up with the creative way to pay for it.
A special thank you went out to Mr. John Rahkonen of Northern Tree for donating the equipment and man hours saving the town a huge sum of money during a very difficult financial year.
The Selectmen also thanked Jim Manning for the numerous welds he made on the fire escape at Memorial Hall and to Mr. Levesque for donating all of the materials.
Appointments to MDC Re-Use Committee:
Ms. Neggers said she spoke with Kathleen Norbut and suggested postponing the appointments until the September 22nd meeting and sett up a public input meeting on September 28th.
Town Office Building Hours – Discussion re: closing offices for lunch due to staffing reductions:
Finance Director Deborah Mahar approached the Board of Selectmen. Ms. Neggers explained a meeting was held with the Department Heads of the Town Office Building. The lunch times of personnel working in the Town Office Building was discussed, due to personnel in transition, cuts in staffing and the public coming in being completely a hit and miss with offices being open and closed on any given day; for example a resident could come in to conduct business with the Collector’s Office only to find out they actually needed the Assessors Office, which could be closed. The department heads requested setting the lunch hours from 12:00 to 1:00 P.M. to avoid this type of conflict.
Ms. Mahar explained in a two person office, when one person is on vacation, out sick, or conducting business outside the building, the public will know a set lunch time is in place and not to expect the office to be open during that hour.
Mr. Guertin felt the current working hours in the Town Office Building of 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. are not inclusive to the working public, and the lunch hour makes it even more difficult. Mr. Guertin said he would like to see the Town Office Building open to the working public one night a week or on a Saturday morning; noting for example the Office Building could be closed in the morning to accommodate the evening hours or the Office Building could be closed one day during the week to accommodate being open on a Saturday morning. Mr. Goodrich agreed with Mr. Guertin and said he was going to look at this as a short term fix. Ms. Neggers said conversations would need to take place with the Union, AFSCME.
Mr. Goodrich made a motion to authorize the Town Office Building to close for lunch from 12:00 to 1:00 P.M. every day effective Monday, September 14, 2009. Mr. Harrison seconded. Mr. Guertin voted against the motion.
Correspondence was read and completed.
At 9:55 P.M., Mr. Harrison made a motion to adjourn from open session to go into executive session for the purpose of a collective bargaining discussion, not to return to open session. Mr. Goodrich seconded and it was so VOTED.
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John F. Goodrich II, Clerk
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