BOARD OF SELECTMEN
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 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, Edward S. Harrison and Dr. Richard M. Smith. Also present were Interim Town Administrator Daniel Laroche and the media.
The Pledge of Allegiance was recited.
Acceptance of Meeting Minutes:
Mr. Harrison made a motion to accept the meeting minutes of November 12, 2013 – open and executive sessions. Dr. Smith seconded and it was unanimously VOTED.
Public Hearing – Application for All Alcoholic Package Store License – Rajesh R. Patel d/b/a A-1 Package and Market Store – 130 Palmer Road:
Rajesh Patel approached the Board of Selectmen. It was noted Mr. Patel plans on opening a convenience store which will also sell liquor. The town is allowed three package store licenses, and this license is available due to Main Street Liquors closing.
It was also noted Mr. Patel has received approval from the Zoning Board of Appeals and the Planning Board.
Mr. Patel said the store will open at 6:00 a.m., and acknowledged he knows he can’t sell liquor until 8:00 a.m. The store will close at 11:00 p.m.
Mr. Patel stated he owns another liquor store in the Town of Wales. He will be the manager and he will be in the store most of the time overseeing the sales of liquor. When he isn’t in the store a family member will be, and Mr. Patel stated they have all had training.
Mr. Harrison made a motion to move the license to the A.B.C.C. for approval. Dr. Smith seconded and it was unanimously VOTED.
Update on Town Office/Police Building Project:
Resident Project Manager Bill Gallagher from Daedalus approached the Board of Selectmen. The Board of Selectmen had handouts regarding the project budget, they and the Building Committee have been working from, on the overall project and the dirty soil reports and issues from Lord Associates, who is the Licensed Site Professional on the project, as attached.
Mr. Gallagher noted this is a very dirty site with a lot of product being dumped there over the years. Mr. Gallagher said there is evidence of filling in a swamp land or wet land type area. This is being found at the 8 to 10 foot mark closest to the cemetery, and then it tapers uphill. All of this peat has to be taken out because it decays over time and the building will sink and crack. Mr. Gallagher said this is 75% the front of the building. The soil above the peat layer is out to the lab right now being tested. They are looking for high lead content, to see if they have the same condition that they discovered at the top layer. They also found about 75 yards of high leachable lead. This costs about $345 a cubic yard to get rid of. It costs about $74 a cubic yard to get rid of the regular lead.
Mr. Gallagher said they have about $500,000 of exposure right now and he hopes to report to Mr. Laroche Monday afternoon that it is actually less than that. $150,000 was budgeted in the base bid and they have discovered another 4,000 yards of material roughly, that has to go. Mr. Gallagher said there is money for contingency since they were aware of unknowns with the soil.
Mr. Gallagher noted the groundwater is clean, with no contaminants filtering into the groundwater there.
Dr. Smith asked Mr. Gallagher when we will see the foundation going in for the new building. Mr. Gallagher replied it looks like next Friday or that following Monday. This would be December 6th or December 9th.
Mr. Laroche said winter is coming therefore there is really a push to get things moving with the new building project in the next few weeks. Mr. Laroche noted Shane and Bill both work for Daedalus. Mr. Gallagher does more of the hands on construction side of this while Shane Nolan does more of the numbers side and estimating. Once construction actually begins, Mr. Nolan is the OPM (Owners Project Manager) while Mr. Gallagher is the Project Manager who is on-site dealing with the day-to-day stuff. Mr. Gallagher said even though he is only paid for 40 hours a week, he is on-site 50 to 55 hours.
Appoint Sexual Harassment Grievance Officer:
Mr. Laroche noted this was a duty Ms. Neggers did as Town Administrator, and it was her idea to pass this on to Cristina Pedro, our Treasure/Human Resource person, since this is more of a Human Resource role. Ms. Pedro has agreed to take on this duty.
Dr. Smith made a motion to appoint Cristina Pedro as the Sexual Harassment Grievance Officer through June 30, 2014. Mr. Harrison seconded and it was unanimously VOTED.
Mr. Maia asked about the Procurement Officer duties which Ms. Neggers did as well.
Mr. Laroche replied he feels this might now be part of his role. Mr. Laroche said there is a training that needs to be done for this position that he hasn’t done yet.
Mr. Maia asked Mr. Laroche to look into this and in the meantime see if Debi Mahar has already been through the training and has her certification, and if so at the next meeting they will do an interim appointment. Mr. Laroche said he would check on this.
In Other Business to Come Before the Board:
Mr. Laroche noted the second meeting in December falls on Christmas Eve.
The Board agreed unanimously to cancel this meeting and if for some reason another meeting is needed, to do so on another date.
Correspondence was read and completed.
At 7:45 p.m., Dr. Smith made a motion to adjourn from open session to go into executive session to discuss non-union bargaining pursuant to M.G.L. Chapter 30A § 21 (2) and 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.
______________________________
Dr. Richard M. Smith, Clerk
| 
