BOARD OF SELECTMEN
FEBRUARY 12, 2013
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 Edward A. Maia, Dr. Richard M. Smith and Edward S. Harrison. Also present were Town Administrator Gretchen E. Neggers and the media.
The Pledge of Allegiance was recited.
Mr. Maia thanked the Highway, Police and Fire Departments for going above and beyond the call of duty over the last few days, as this blizzard was a tough one.
Acceptance of Meeting Minutes:
Mr. Harrison made a motion to accept the meeting minutes of January 29, 2013 – executive session, and February 5, 2013 – open session. Dr. Smith seconded and it was so VOTED.
Pole Petition #13162887 – Relocation of Pole 90 on Brimfield Road:
Mr. Harrison read the pole petition into the record and noted the Highway and Water/Sewer Departments had no objections with the pole relocation.
Abutters to the relocation spot for pole 90, Jack and Linda Paydos of Brimfield Road, questioned if the pole was going to be relocated on their property. National Grid representative Amanda Christian, who was in the audience, explained there is a stake where the pole will be relocated, and said the relocation of this pole is due to the current pole being tied to a dead tree, which they feel is hazardous to the safety of the public.
With everyone satisfied, Mr. Harrison made a motion to accept pole petition #13162887 as presented. Dr. Smith seconded and it was so VOTED.
Paul Boulier of Tighe & Bond – Update on Cleanup at M & M Chemical/Cushman Street Mill:
Mr. Boulier approached the Board of Selectmen and noted the Board of Selectmen invited him in to explain the oil release at the former M & M Chemical building on Cushman Street in the old boiler room, which sits about 15 feet away from the bank to the Chicopee Brook.
Mr. Boulier said he first learned of the oil release through the DEP and his client, after the Fire Chief discovered it. Mr. Boulier said he immediately got out there and installed booms and a harbor boom that floats up and down with the water level. Inside are oil absorbent sausage booms, so at this point the release is well contained in the booms, and any oil still being released is being captured there. This is checked on once or twice a week and changed out as necessary. The boom change out is done by Western Mass. Environmental.
Mr. Boulier said the plan is to demolish the portion of the building where the roof has collapsed; this is a one story addition that was added onto the main building. This portion of the building is not safe to go into, and there is a lot of asbestos involved as well.
They have submitted a notice of intent to the Conservation Commission and they are on their agenda to meet with them on February 20th. If this goes well, and they close the hearing that night and issue an order of conditions, they will insert the order with the bidding documents they are preparing right now for demolition and remediation. The other hold up is with the Army Corp. of Engineers who has jurisdiction over the Chicopee Brook and anything up to the mean annual high water mark, which is 3 or 4 feet below the building wall facing the brook. The Army Corp. of Engineers has time restrictions, low flow, which is July through the end of September. There is about 8 feet from the edge of the stream to the high water mark, and he would need an individual Army Corp. of Engineers permit to
do anything in there prior to July. Therefore, he will do everything he can up to that point, as it would take six to nine months to obtain that permit.
Mr. Boulier said the building has to be gotten out of the way so they can get in to excavate down to the ground water table and remove floating oil so it won’t be channeled down to the brook. A sump will be created for a day or two pumping into a frat tank, which is a 10,000 gallon tank with a series of baffles that separate the oil from the water. The water on the discharge end will then go through a granular activated carbon treatment before being discharged as clean water.
Mr. Boulier said there are three above ground 275 gallon oil tanks, which he isn’t sure if they are empty or not as the building has been vacant for many years. One of the oil tanks is tipped over on its side. Mr. Boulier said the oil could be coming from any one of these tanks, they don’t know yet because the building isn’t safe to enter. There are also some 55 gallon drums on the property that he is unsure what was contained in them. Mr. Boulier said about 15 years ago he worked at this site inside on the other side on an oil spill with Clean Harbours who did a complete inventory of every drum that was in there, and they had the lab identify all the contents. At that time, everything was pumped out and hauled away. Mr. Boulier said a couple hundred empty drums were left in there
stacked on top of each other.
Mr. Maia asked about the time frame. Mr. Boulier replied it would probably be mid-April by the time they can conceivably be out there with a contractor, and noted this was an optimistic guess.
Dr. Smith asked if there were any long term plans for the building. Mr. Boulier replied he hasn’t spoken to his client about that.
Mr. Maia asked Mr. Boulier if he would report back to the Board in mid-April. Mr. Boulier agreed to do so.
Monson Rotary Club – Discussion Regarding Security System for Gazebo:
Mike O’Grady, Dorothy Jenkins, Jean Bailey and Police Chief Kozloski approached the Board of Selectmen.
Chief Kozloski said since the last meeting, he met with a vendor, and noted that quote was forwarded to the Board of Selectmen at that time. Chief Kozloski said he also met again with the Rotary Club and individually with Bob Wood, who the Selectmen asked to be included in that part of the project as well. Chief Kozloski said he also met with the School Department on the funds they received from the town on capital improvements to the security system at the High School.
Mr. Maia said his understanding is what the Rotary Club is trying to do at the gazebo isn’t going to be compatible with what is going to be needed for the town. Mr. Maia suggested letting the Rotary Club do whatever they feel they need to do for the time being, until the town can put together a package when we are ready for it to go out to bid, inclusive of the School, and then maybe integrate and possibly up-grade what the Rotary Club is trying to do now.
Chief Kozloski noted he received another quote on the security camera for the gazebo from a company in Wilbraham. Chief Kozloski said both companies offer systems that have essentially the same functions pertaining to video surveillance of the gazebo; however the method of getting them to a recording system vary somewhat. The starting cost for a simple recording system is $3,416.92 with the expandability down the road becoming a little over $6,000. The other system quoted most recently that he forwarded to the Board was also in the $6,000 neighborhood.
Chief Kozloski said the first proposal he forwarded to the Board several weeks ago was for system that took video images, transmitted them wirelessly to an existing town network or internet resource and recorded them on a DVR that could be accessed remotely through the internet through a network. The other system recorded images at the gazebo, but rather than transmitting them wirelessly off site, they went to an appliance that would essentially be providing internet access at Dave Grieve Park itself.
Ms. Bailey said the company she spoke with said the system they were looking into is expandable and can be built on; its start on a small scope and expanded as needed.
Mr. Harrison said when the Rotary Club was present at the prior meeting, he was prepared to spend a couple thousand dollars, but then they were talking about $6,000 and he felt that was too much.
Chief Kozloski said any of the three quotes received can address the Rotary’s concern, but he said he isn’t skilled enough to know if and how that is going to play into the future plans.
Mr. Maia said the information the Board received from the Building Committee is that no one here really has the required type of knowledge on security systems, and no one should be taking advice from a vendor on what kind of program we should be building, Mr. Maia added no offense to the vendors, but input is needed instead from the Building Committee, the architects and the engineers.
Mr. Harrison said independent of however expandable the system is that might be installed at the gazebo, that’s not necessarily the most cost effective ultimate solution when you multiply it by the number of schools, town office building/police facility, and sites we might have to cover. Mr. Harrison noted you don’t want that tail to wag the dog, unless you put it out to bid.
Dr. Smith suggested focusing just on the gazebo right now and going with the least expensive way, and then down the road when we are ready to do the school and the new office building/police facility we could reconsider.
Chief Kozloski said the two quotes he provided were for the gazebo only.
Ms. Bailey said the Rotary Club has one quote for $1,647 which was going to be the gazebo and the tennis courts with a monitor at the police station and a monitor in the office at Parks and Recreation. It could have a code that could be typed in to see what’s going on. Ms. Jenkins invited Mr. Wood to approach the Board of Selectmen to explain this system a little better. Mr. Wood handed out booklets to the Rotary Club, Chief Kozloski and the Board of Selectmen with guidelines that he said would assist in moving forward.
Mr. Wood noted Chief Kozloski received three proposals, one from Chief Kozloski’s people, and one from Well Design and one from A T W.
Mr. Wood said the first one was from A T W, and that’s what the initial proposal of $1,647 was for, which included a recorder and a camera for the gazebo and a monitor for the Police Station. Mr. Wood said he isn’t sure of what their technology is for getting the information back to the Police station. Mr. Wood said the other number that was given was for $3,416.92 from Smart Tech; and the $6,500 was from the company in Wilbraham, Well Design.
Dr. Smith said he isn’t in favor of placing cameras all over town if there isn’t a need for it, for example at the tennis courts, if there has never been a demonstrated need there.
Mr. Maia noted it won’t take long for the kids to realize cameras are there, and move to another area of town.
Chief Kozloski stated the recording device must have a way to archive the data, as he can’t monitor it live; therefore the camera will identify the wrong doer and it will be archived to view later.
Ms. Jenkins noted the Rotary Club wrote up a bylaw to control skateboarding in the downtown area and it was noted the Board of Selectmen had a copy of this. Ms. Jenkins asked the Board of Selectmen if they would support this. Ms. Jenkins said there has been destruction at the gazebo caused by the skateboards on the benches, etc. Ms. Jenkins said the Rotary Club does have signage to prevent skateboarders from the downtown area, but were told by the Police Chief that he couldn’t enforce the signage without the proper bylaw. The Rotary Club checked with eight different communities who have bylaws put into place for skateboarding that were accepted by the towns and then approved by the Attorney General. The Rotary Club then went ahead and put the data together in the proposal they presented to
the Board of Selectmen, and they have provided this bylaw provision to the Bylaw Committee as well for their review and recommendations. Ms. Bailey noted a petition was circulated around town pertaining to the skateboarding and they received 25 signatures in about an hour.
Ms. Bailey said the Rotary Club has also been discussing starting a Neighborhood Crime Watch, and requested $300 from the Gifts to the Town account for signage. Chief Kozloski noted the Police Department endorses this program.
The Board of Selectmen unanimously agreed they had no prior knowledge of either of these items and agreed they need more time and information, and noted right now the concentration is on the security at the gazebo.
Chief Kozloski said starting a Neighborhood Crime Watch will not be an additional cost to his department. He said his hope is the position that is being restored, which would be a position on the evening shift, could also be devoted towards being the liaison to the Neighborhood Crime Watch program. Chief Kozloski said if anyone sees anything happening, the Police Department will be called. The Rotary Club will get people and business owners involved and also hold the meetings where the Police Department will provide an officer to facilitate dialog between the Crime Watch group and the officers that are actually on the shift, informing the group where to look, what to look for, and how to bring that information to the Police Department.
Ms. Bailey added they have spoken to about a half dozen people on the Main Street corridor who are all in favor of this program and a few of them are interested in being Block Captains who will screen the calls coming in prior to passing the calls onto the police station.
Mr. Harrison said he feels this type of program has been encouraged by law enforcement agencies across the country and he applauds the efforts of someone who really wants to get involved with this, because paying for more police officers is a difficult thing for a town to come up with.
Mr. Maia said he wants to get more information on the Neighborhood Crime Watch program from Chief Kozloski, to, and felt this needed to be placed on an agenda.
It was agreed to place the $300 for signage on the next agenda, and for Chief Kozloski to come in to verify if the Police Department can fully support and endorse the Neighborhood Crime Watch program moving forward prior to the Board of Selectmen endorsing this. And also to find out if the Bylaw Committee has vetted the proposed skateboarding bylaw, and place this item on the next agenda as well.
It was agreed to get specific quotes from the Rotary Club for the most cost effective way of monitoring the gazebo only, in the neighborhood of $1,600.
Disaster Recovery Manager Daniel Laroche – Announcement of Public Meeting on Open Space and Recreation Plan and Other Updates:
Mr. Laroche and Leslie Duthie approached the Board of Selectmen. Mr. Laroche noted the Town’s Open Space and Recreation plan has expired and this is the time to up-date the plan, which he and Ms. Duthie have taken an initiative in doing.
Mr. Laroche explained to the listening audience just what an Open Space and Recreation Plan is. Mr. Laroche noted this is a document that inventories the natural assets of the town, lands that have been protected both permanently and temporarily through the Chapter 61 program. It also identifies an action plan and how to move forward with protecting the natural assets in the expiring grant and in moving forward with improvements to the town parks. This action plan is now a seven year document rather than a five year document as in the past.
Ms. Duthie said a lot of it has to do with asking the public what types of recreation they would like to have in the town, and then identifying locations where they might be able to fulfill those wishes and dreams. The last one they did was in 2005.
Both Ms. Duthie and Mr. Laroche felt this is a great opportunity and a great tool for the community to use in partnership with the Master Plan to determine where they want to protect, and where they want to develop.
The current plan is on the website under the Conservation Commission’s webpage.
Mr. Laroche announced he will be conducting a public meeting on this on Thursday, February 28th, at 7:00 p.m. Mr. Laroche and Ms. Duthie are also working on up-dating the survey for the residents of the town, and this will be on the website as well by the end of the week using Survey Monkey, so residents will be able to do the survey on-line. The survey will be listed under the News and Announcements on the Homepage.
Ms. Neggers noted it’s really important to know this is about the recreational piece as well as the open space piece.
In another up-date, Mr. Laroche said he has set up a downtown Main Street stakeholder meeting on Monday, March 18th at 6:30 p.m. to get businesses and stakeholders involved in talking about economic development in downtown Monson. This group will consist of the Arts Council, town officials, churches, businesses, and even some residents on Main Street.
Ms. Neggers said we have a lot of work to do, particularly on Main Street, and the goal has always been to create something that’s more revitalized than it was, and to fix some of the problems that were there before, as we rebuild and recover.
The Board of Selectmen agreed this is a great idea.
Set March 11, 2013 Special Town Meeting Warrant:
- Mr. Harrison made a motion to approve an article authorizing the Board of Selectmen or their designees and the Board of Assessors or their designees to participate in negotiations regarding the PILOT for the CornerStone Power of Monson solar power projects. Dr. Smith seconded and it was so VOTED.
- Mr. Harrison made a motion to approve an article for a zone change for 110 Main Street from RV to CC. Dr. Smith seconded and it was so VOTED.
- Mr. Harrison made a motion to approve an article to transfer funds from the Health Insurance Account to the School Spending Account. Dr. Smith seconded and it was so VOTED.
Dr. Smith made a motion to close the warrant for the Special Town Meeting for March 11, 2013. Mr. Harrison seconded and it was so VOTED.
Ms. Neggers encouraged everyone to attend this Town meeting.
Fiscal 2014 Budget Development Status:
- Non-Union Salary Increase
- Disaster Recovery Manager/Planner Position
Ms. Neggers said she presented the Board of Selectmen with copies of the budgets.
Ms. Neggers explained salary increases have not been addressed in the budget, as union negations are about to begin. Ms. Neggers recommended a 2% increase for the non-union employees.
Mr. Harrison made a motion to construct the budget with a 2% increase in salary for non-union employees. Dr. Smith seconded and it was so VOTED.
Ms. Neggers explained there is a five year recovery time frame from the tornado and noted Disaster Recovery Manager Dan Laroche is just beginning to get into bigger projects, one of them being the MDC in the near future, which she doesn’t have the time or the skills for and recommended asking the Finance Committee for funds to keep Mr. Laroche on for one more year.
Mr. Maia said he feels Mr. Laroche has done a great job and agrees the town needs him. Mr. Maia questioned if there is any grant money available to help defray the cost.
Mr. Harrison agreed and made a motion to submit as part of our budget the funds to keep Mr. Laroche as out Planner. Dr. Smith seconded and it was so VOTED.
Local Governance Review Committee – Status:
Ms. Neggers explained the creation of a Governance Committee was discussed previously, and put on the back burner.
It was agreed for Ms. Neggers to place the work chart, which was created previously, on the town’s web site and to put the request out through the press and on the web site seeking people to serve on the Governance Committee.
Appointment of Various Fire Department Officer Positions:
Fire Chief Laurent McDonald approached the Board of Selectmen to explain this request, noting these are three year terms that are set to expire on June 30, 2013.
Mr. Harrison made a motion to approve the restructuring of the Fire Department as described, and show on the attached chart, effective immediately. Dr. Smith seconded and it was so VOTED.
Mr. Harrison made a motion to reinstate Firefighter/EMT-I David Martin III to the rank of Captain; appoint/promote Firefighter Mathew Walch to the rank of Lieutenant; and to appoint/promote Lieutenant Jeffrey Chaffee to the rank of Captain effective February 12, 2013 through June 30, 2013. Dr. Smith seconded and it was so VOTED.
In Other Business to Come Before the Board of Selectmen:
- Ms. Neggers said she will not be able to attend the Board of Selectmen meeting scheduled for February 26, 2013. It was agreed to meet instead on Thursday, February 21, 2013 at 7:00 p.m.
- The Board gave Mr. Harrison their approval to share a document from Bacon Wilson, Ken Albano, regarding the casino legislation with other members of the Western Mass. Casino Task Force.
Correspondence was read and completed.
At 8:55 p.m., Dr. Smith made a motion to adjourn from open session to go into executive session to discuss collective bargaining pursuant to M.G.L. Chapter 30A § 21 (2) and a discussion of non-union collective bargaining pursuant to M/G.L. Chapter 30A § 21 (2), not to return to open session. Mr. Harrison seconded and it was so VOTED.
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Edward S. Harrison, Clerk
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