BOARD OF SELECTMEN TUESDAY, AUGUST 28, 2012
The regular meeting of 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. Maia made a motion to accept the meeting minutes of August 14, 2012 – open session. Mr. Harrison seconded and it was so VOTED.
Request for Appointment of PT Police Officer:
This was tabled until Officer Michael Goldberg is able to attend.
Request for “Gifts to the Town” Spending Authorization – Fire Department Technology:
Ms. Neggers explained, right after the tornado she spent a lot of time at the Fire Department, and became aware of some of the technology systems they are using. Ms. Neggers noted the Fire Department, like all the other departments, don’t have a budget for technology. The town’s vendor, CMD Technology in East Longmeadow, was asked to do an assessment of the needs at the Fire Department.
It was indicated the Fire Department has no server, firewall or back-up and very little security for the nature of information they are handling, as CMD stated in the assessment, overall the technology and network architecture are very poor, and are not conducive to securing sensitive and regulated information that is found on the network. There are also significant concerns over the stability and security of the current technology and use within the department.
Ms. Neggers said CMD put together a proposal, most of it capital costs involved with setting up a network, setting up a server, and getting what data they have backed up off site with the town’s other data. Ms. Neggers went over the list of items CMD would like to up-grade and implement, including the CMD monitoring service. The total proposal is $9,300.00.
Mr. Harrison made a motion to authorize the expenditure of $9,300.00 from the Gifts to the Town Account for the Fire Department technology project as described. Mr. Maia seconded and it was so VOTED.
Mr. Harrison noted he feels the town needs to have an IT budget line item, as he didn’t feel as though we could exists long tern relying on what we have in the Revolving Fund, not only for the hardware upgrades but for the software upgrades as well. Dr. Smith and Mr. Maia both agreed.
Request for Fire Department Appointments:
Mr. Harrison made a motion to appoint the following:
Ethan Dubois – Firefighter/EMT
Michael Jacobs – Firefighter
Zachary Plescia – Auxiliary Firefighter
Brendan Lloyd – Auxiliary Firefighter
Effective August 28, 2012 through June 30, 2013. Mr. Maia seconded and it was so VOTED.
There was also a request to promote John Fitzgerald from Senior Private Firefighter to Lieutenant of the Monson Fire Department. It was noted the Fire Department currently has two Lieutenants and this promotion would make three.
Mr. Maia felt since the town is in the process of hiring a new Fire Chief, he would like to allow the new Chief the opportunity to organize the department as he deems necessary.
It was agreed to table this item until a new Fire Chief is hired.
Ms. Neggers noted 30 applications have been received vying for the Fire Chief’s position; fourteen in state, three from nearby states and thirteen from very remote states; and wondered if we should focus on local applicants first.
Ms. Neggers also wondered during the interview process if it should be asked of the candidates where they are willing to come within the pay range, top step or bottom step.
Dr. Smith suggested extending the invitation for an interview to far away candidates if they are willing to relocate, and if they have strong qualifications, as long as they know they have to pay traveling expenses. After the brief discussion it was agreed to interview local candidates first in order to complete the interviews in a timely manner.
Review Open Meeting Remote Participation Policy:
Ms. Neggers stated the Legislature made a change in the Open Meeting Law that authorized, by acceptance by the Board of Selectmen and approval of a written policy, changes in the Open Meeting Law that allow remote participation. This was initiated last spring via a request from the Monson School Committee. A policy has been created and as part of the vote in accepting it, agreed to review it following six months of implementation. This has been used very infrequently.
Mr. Harrison made a motion to make the policy permanent, pending any changes in the law. Mr. Maia seconded and it was so VOTED.
Make Appointments to MDC Re-use Committee:
Mr. Maia made a motion to appoint Dana Harrell, Paul Hatch, Edward Harrison and Gretchen Neggers as Mr. Harrison’s designee, to the MDC Reuse Committee effective immediately through June 30, 2013. Mr. Harrison seconded and it was so VOTED.
Correspondence was read and completed.
At 7:35 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.
______________________________
Edward S. Harrison, Clerk
| 
