BOARD OF SELECTMEN
TUESDAY – APRIL 10, 2012
The regular meeting for the Board of Selectmen convened at 7:00 p.m. in the Conference Room at 29 Thompson Street. In attendance were Dr. Richard M. Smith, Edward A. Maia and Edward S. Harrison. Also present were Town Administrator Gretchen E. Neggers and the media.
The Pledge of Allegiance was recited.
Acceptance of Meeting Minutes:
Mr. Harrison made a motion to accept the meeting minutes for April 3, 2012 – open and executive sessions. Mr. Maia seconded and it was so VOTED.
Meet with Parks and Recreation Commission:
Parks and Recreation Commissioners Stephen Slozak and Stephen O’Shea approached the Board of Selectmen.
Mr. O’Shea expalined they were here tonight to discuss the creation of a Maintenance Department. Mr. O’Shea stated everything is working well in the Parks and Recreation Department the way it is, and he would like to leave it as it is. Mr. O’Shea noted the Town hasn’t purchased any equipment for the Parks and Recreation Department, and their 27 year old truck was just repaired without any help from the Town. Everything comes out of their Revolving Fund account which comes from field user fees.
Ms. Neggers noted the user fees should be used for the programs and not on equipment for mowing, as the department is currently doing. Ms. Neggers stated the town does pay $52,259 a year for the Parks and Recreation Director’s pay, and noted that is for the recreation portion as well as the parks portion; $38,159 for field maintenance wages; $12,292 for school grounds maintenance; $5,500 for seasonal wages; plus the town pays for protective clothing allowance, cell phone, postage, etc. for a total operating budget of $127,700.
Ms. Neggers noted the town has always tried to distribute budget cuts evenly, and added there have been widespread budget cuts made throughout the town, yet the Parks and Recreation Department hasn’t lost any staff while the other departments either lost staff or had hours reduced.
Dr. Smith noted some of the things previously discussed in the creation of a Maintenance Department were the Capital requests; funds for a truck for the Parks and Recreation Department while the Cemetery Department also needs a new truck and the same with mowers, which leads to duplicating items that could instead be shared within one department. There are also two Supervisors who have down times in the winter that could be used for building maintenance to save money.
Mr. O’Shea said he didn’t know how games would be set up for multiple teams without communication, and again noted it is working fine the way it is and felt if it’s not broken leave it alone.
Dr. Smith explained just because it’s not broken doesn’t mean it can’t be better.
Mr. O’Shea proposed putting the head position for the Cemetery (who currently is without a Supervisor) and Parks together, to absorb the Manager’s position allowing combining the maintenance portion.
Dr. Smith noted the Board of Selectmen are still waiting to receive the proposed budget from the Parks and Recreation Department that was requested awhile back.
Mr. Maia explained right now taxpayers are paying for two part-time departments that are operating as full-time departments, with grounds that are maintained 6 to 8 months of the year, leaving 4 months of down time that can’t be utilized.
Mr. O’Shea responded the Recreation portion of the department monitors basketball games in the winter, as they need someone to monitor everything that is going on at the games.
Mr. Harrison explained the Maintenance Department would be like a pool, you don’t care who is doing the work as long as it’s getting done in a timely fashion.
Mr. Maia noted it would be one department taking care of the grounds and the buildings.
Ms. Neggers stated for the four months in the winter, the town is paying $27,519 for two employees in the Parks and Recreation Department, and $22,280 for the Cemetery worker and the town is spending, by contracting out, what a maintenance department could be doing. Ms. Neggers added there is no coordination now and the intent is to try to work collaboratively, as the whole situation is frustrating.
Mr. O’Shea said his concern is to keep the athletic programs funded, and he feels that would be the first thing cut when budget times get tough.
Mr. O’Shea noted every town has a full-time Director and the Monson Parks and Recreation Commissioners are opposed to the Board of Selectmen’s proposal. Mr. O’Shea proposed $52,293 for a full-time Director for Recreation only, $13,000 for an assistant, $15,000 for monitors and $2,500 for expenses.
Dr. Smith questioned why the Director’s salary would be full-time if he was doing half the work currently being comnpleted.
Mr. Harrison explained if the town was to cut all non-safety departments, the Parks and Recreation budget would get cut anyway.
The Board of Selectmen thanked Mr. Slozak and Mr. O’Shea for coming in and sharing their thoughts.
Annual and Special Town Meeting Warrants – Continued:
Ms. Neggers noted there are no new requests for warrant articles at this time.
Ms. Neggers said there aren’t any budget cuts for FY2013 that she is aware of.
Disaster Recovery Status
a. Update on Town Office Building Project
b. Update on Federal Highway Reimbursement – Tornado
c. Visioning Process – Next Meeting
d. Update on October Storm FEMA Reimbursement Status
a. Ms. Neggers said Reinhardt Associates will have a construction number for the Town Meeting and B2Q will probably have the information on the day of the Town Meeting.
b. Ms. Neggers said the Town is still waiting on the Federal Highway reimbursement. If the reimbursement doesn’t come in soon we will have to borrow, but Ms. Neggers did feel the town will get the reimbursement at some point, it’s just a process of paperwork.
c. Ms. Neggers reiterated the next Visioning meeting will be held on April 14, 2012, here in the Selectmen’s Conference room at 6:30 p.m., and noted the survey results have been posted on the Town’s web site.
d. Ms. Mahar approached the Board of Selectmen and said she is continuing to work on the reimbursement for the October storm.
Other Business to Come Before the Board of Selectmen:
- Ms. Neggers said the building here at 29 Thompson Street made it through the winter, but it has termites. An exterminator came out twice, but large masses of termites continue to swarm making it very disruptive to the staff. Upon inspection, it was found that significant termite damage has been done structurally. Ms. Neggers explained there is only a dirt crawl space underneath the building.
Ms. Neggers received a proposal from an exterminator in the amount of $1,865 to
spray foam in the sills of the last two offices where the infestation is the worse;
trench and rod soil along the courtyard on the west wing side and drill pump and
patch the brick veneer along the courtyard on the west side. The warranty is only
for the area treated for a period up to December 31, 2013.
Mr. Maia made a motion to move forward with the extermination at a cost of $1,865 to stabilize the infestation. Mr. Harrison seconded and it was so VOTED.
- Ms. Neggers explained the MTA representative appointment, noting the law was changed under the Education Reform Law of 1993 mandating the participating member, either the Chairman of the Board of Selectmen or a designee, be a voting member with the School Committee on all matters relative to collective bargaining.
Mr. Harrison made a motion to appoint Edward A. Maia as the MTA representative. Ms. Neggers said this did not need to be voted. The Chairman, Dr. Smith, agreed to delegate this responsibility to Mr. Maia.
Correspondence was read and completed.
At 8:00 p.m., Mr. Harrison made a motion to adjourn from open session to go into executive session to discuss non-union contractual strategy – MGL c.30A, Sec.21 (2), not to return to open session. Mr. Maia seconded and it was so VOTED.
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Edward S. Harrison, Clerk
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