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Meeting of 2013-04/23

BOARD OF SELECTMEN
TUESDAY, APRIL 23, 2013

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 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.

Acceptance of Meeting Minutes:
Mr. Harrison made a motion to accept the meeting minutes of April 9, 2013 – open and executive sessions.  Dr. Smith seconded and it was unanimously VOTED.

Quaboag Riders Club – Request(s) Regarding Proposed August Event:
Ron Guertin and James O’Connell of the Quaboag Riders Club approached the Board of Selectmen. At the last meeting, the Board of Selectmen agreed to carry this over to allow time for Ms. Neggers to speak with Zoning Enforcement Officer Paul Tacy regarding the requests of the Riders Club, to change their start time and allow campers/tenters for their special event scheduled for August 10th and 11th, 2013.

Ms. Neggers stated a memo was received from Mr. Tacy as attached, and read it into the record.

Mr. Guertin noted he has not met with the Board of Health. Mr. Guertin said he has heard watering stations will be needed for every 50 campers; sani-cans will also be provided. Mr. Guertin said he will check with Ms. McCool to see if she has any other concerns.

Mr. Guertin was advised to speak with the Board of Health as well.

Mr. Harrison made a motion to approve the Quaboag Riders Club event in August with the new starting time of 8:30 a.m., and overnight camping on the property pending approval from the Board of Health. Dr. Smith seconded and it was unanimously VOTED.

Gary Allard – Discussion Regarding Status as Member of Board of Health:
Board of Health member Gary Allard approached the Board of Selectmen. Mr. Allard was invited in to speak with the Board as it appeared Mr. Allard was continuing to participate on the Board of Health while not meeting the legal requirements of residing in town.

It was noted Mr. Allard owns land in Monson, but resides in Sturbridge. Ms. Neggers noted a legal opinion was received from Town Counsel regarding this issue.

Town Counsel stated an individual should not be appointed to serve on the Board of Health without being a registered voter in the Town of Monson, under General Law chapter 41.

Mr. Allard said he understands now. However, at the time he felt it was legal since the position is an appointed position and not an elected position.

Mr. Allard said he would submit a letter of resignation, and noted in the future if he returns to Monson he would once again like to serve on the Board of Health. Mr. Allard said his heart is still in Monson and hopes he will return soon.

Dr. Smith stated Mr. Allard was a great asset to the town and to the Board of Health.

Mr. Maia thanked Mr. Allard very much for his services and added he hopes Mr. Allard will come back to residing in Monson.

Public Hearing – Proposed Change in General Bylaw (7:30)
  • Close Public Hearing That Commenced 04/09/2013
  • New Public Hearing – Regarding Finance Committee Appointments Between Town Meetings
Dr. Smith made a motion to close the public hearing regarding the bylaw change allowing the Moderator to make the appointments to the Finance Committee, taking no action. Mr. Harrison seconded and it was unanimously VOTED.

At 7:30 p.m., Dr. Smith made a motion to reopen the public hearing regarding the Finance Committee bylaw change. Mr. Harrison seconded and it was unanimously VOTED.

Mr. Maia noted the only item changing, is section 3. Based on concerns they heard at the last meeting, the changes made is, the Moderator and the Board of Selectmen will meet in joint session to fill any vacancies which may occur in the committee’s membership by vote, in the event of a tie the Moderator’s vote will prevail. The Moderator will then notify the Town Clerk of such action. This is only for vacancies that occur in between town meetings.

Erin Grassetti, Maureen O’Sullivan and Valerie Beaudoin approached the Board of Selectmen individually to reiterate their concerns they brought to the Board of Selectmen at their last meeting, on April 9th.

Ms. Beaudoin presented the Board of Selectmen with a handout of the wording she would like to see brought to the Town Meeting, as attached.

Mr. Harrison explained to Ms. Beaudoin, at the Town meeting she can say she wants to amend the proposed bylaw with the handout she supplied to the Board tonight.

The Selectmen agreed to bring this article to the voters of the town, to decide how they want it done.

Ms. O’Sullivan felt this was a lot of power to put in just one person’s hands and didn’t feel as though there was enough discussion on it. Ms. O’Sullivan said she would like to see the Board of Selectmen hold off on this to allow time for more discussion.

Dr. Smith felt even with waiting, it still comes down to the residents voting.

Dr. Smith made a motion to move this article as written today to the Annual Town meeting warrant. Mr. Harrison seconded and it was unanimously VOTED.

Mr. Harrison made a motion to close the public hearing. Dr. Smith seconded and it was unanimously VOTED.

Public Hearing – Proposed General Bylaws (continued)
  • Grant or Renewal of Licenses as affected by Non-payment of Local Taxes, Fees, etc.
  • Secondhand articles, Pawn Shop, Dealers and Collectors
  • Close hearing – bylaw request withdrawn for Secondhand Articles et al
Dr. Smith made a motion to close the public hearing regarding the granting or renewing of licenses as affected by non-payment of local taxes, fees, etc.; moving it forward for placement on the warrant for the Town meeting.  Mr. Harrison seconded and it was unanimously VOTED.

Mr. Maia read a memo from Bylaw Committee Chair Mary Watson into the record, as attached; stating the committee would like more time to work on this, and the proposed bylaw will not be completed for this Town meeting.

Dr. Smith made a motion to close the public hearing on the proposed secondhand articles, pawnshop, dealers and collectors bylaw, taking no action. Mr. Harrison seconded and it was so VOTED.

May Town Meeting
  • Consider Annual Town Meeting Article Requests:
Ms. Neggers noted the Conservation Commission submitted two separate articles regarding the donation of land and read them into the record, as attached.

Mr. Harrison made a motion to place the two articles requested by the Conservation Commission on the warrant for the Annual Town meeting. Dr. Smith seconded and it was unanimously VOTED.

Mr. Harrison read an article he submitted into the record, as attached, and explained the request, noting it was the Unitarian Church who is active in the arena of social justice, bringing this request forward as they felt it needed to be addressed.

Mr. Harrison noted this has received a lot of publicity nationwide and a lot of attacks on the Supreme Court for having passed that, allowing corporations to be considered “people”. This idea is to limit the amount of money that can be spread around without any documentation of who is doing it, and added this gives the voters of the town a chance to weigh in on it.

Ms. Neggers explained this is a non-binding, referendum vote.

Mr. Harrison made a motion to add this article to the Annual Town meeting warrant. Dr. Smith seconded and it was unanimously VOTED.

Mr. Harrison made a motion to close the Annual Town meeting warrant. Dr. Smith seconded and it was unanimously VOTED.

Regional Dispatch Project – Status and Discussion:
Police Chief Stephen Kozloski approached the Board of Selectmen. Chief Kozloski explained he attended a meeting last Tuesday with Ken Craven of the Collins Center at U-Mass. Present at that meeting were representatives from the Towns of Palmer, Monson, Warren and Ware. Chief Kozloski noted Monson Fire Chief Laurent McDonald was also in attendance at this meeting, as well as Fire Chief’s from other communities. Essentially this was a kick-off meeting with the Project Manager, which is the Collins Center group, explaining the process now of breaking down and meeting with individual communities, going over the prior feasibility studies, and basically forging ahead with their goal of attempting to reach some type of government structure and enter municipal agreements as well.   They have a pretty aggressive timetable, hoping to have that completed by the end of the current fiscal year.

Chief Kozloski said he thinks it’s a good idea to regionalize since the technology piece is always changing rapidly, and training requirements the state is mandating Police Departments to comply with is constantly changing. This is a partially funded mandate so they will get some money towards the training aspect.  Chief Kozloski added communities the size of Monson are falling behind rapidly when trying to provide the level of services the public should expect when they call 9-1-1, and noted the more communities involved in the regionalization that they can fit into that space, the more it will drive down our costs.

Mr. Maia suggested placing an up-date on this, on the agenda for the end of May.

Approve IMA for 2013 CIC Grant:
Ms. Neggers stated Monson is one of thirty towns that applied as part of a regional consortium regionalizing municipal stormwater management. Ms. Neggers provided the Board with copies of the inter-municipal agreement and noted the Town of Spencer is the lead community on the grant. Ms. Neggers said $2,833.00 will be appropriated out of the Gifts to the Town Account to pay for the match.

Mr. Harrison made a motion to approve the inter-municipal agreement. Dr. Smith seconded and it was unanimously VOTED.

In Other Business to Come Before the Board of Selectmen:
Ms. Neggers had two announcements.
  • The Board of Health, the Police Department and the DEA will be holding a prescription drug take-back day on Saturday April 27th from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., for residents with no questions asked,  in the Hillside Building at 29 Thompson Street.
  • Also here in the Hillside Building, on Wednesday, May 8th from 5:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., will be a program called the New England Sustainable Knowledge Corridor.  This program is to talk about our community, how we can integrate what we do here in Monson with what is happening regionally in terms of economic development, housing, environmental issues, educational issues, workforce issues, etc. Dinner will be provided.
Correspondence was read and completed.

At 8:25 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), not to return to open session.    Mr. Harrison seconded and it was unanimously VOTED.




______________________
Edward S. Harrison, Clerk