BOARD OF SELECTMEN
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2014
The regular meeting of the Board of Selectmen convened at 7:00 p.m. in the conference room at 29 Thompson Street in the Hillside Building. 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.
A moment of silence was held for Father Jeddie Brooks of St. Patrick’s Church, who passed away after many years of service in the Town of Monson.
Acceptance of Meeting Minutes:
Dr. Smith made a motion to accept the meeting minutes for January 28, 2014 – open session. Mr. Harrison seconded and it was unanimously VOTED.
Liquor License Hearing – Main St. Restaurants, Inc. d/b/a Main St. Pub & Pizza, 216 Main St.:
Applicant Paul Stone of Sutton Mass. approached the Board of Selectmen.
Mr. Stone stated he will be the owner and manager on-sight
Mr. Stone said his experience comes from working as a bartender, taking a bartending course which didn’t require him to be TIPs certified at that time, and from owning two pizza shops and a sandwich shop in the past, all of which didn’t have liquor. Currently, he doesn’t own any businesses.
Mr. Stone said he will have an on-site TIP’s class for everyone working for him and will have a bar consultant come in to work with the bar managers. Mr. Stone noted he plans on having very little entertainment, if any it would be very small such as a guy with a guitar, more folk rather than a rock band. Dr. Smith noted that has been a concern in the past; the noise with the surrounding neighbors.
Mr. Stone stated he hasn’t spoken with the Board of Health yet. His lease is a “tenancy at will” and he has February and March to negotiate a lease. Everything is contingent upon his liquor license approval, which is why he hasn’t spoken with the Board of Health, as he said he wants to take one step at a time.
Mr. Stone said the restaurant will be a pizza shop, with delivery, eat-in and take-out with a full wait staff and full bar. He will serve subs, wings, pizza, etc. and noted it will be more a pizza shop that has a bar with casual dining. Mr. Stone said the capacity for the building is 99 people.
Mr. Stone said he doesn’t know exactly what the hours of operation will be yet, but stated probably till 11:00 p.m. during the week and 1:00 p.m. Thursday, Friday, Saturday or just Friday and Saturday. Sunday will be 11:00 p.m. as well, or possibly 10:00 p.m.
Carolyn Bedard approached the Board of Selectmen and said the only issue that concerns her, are the delivery trucks that go in front of the Bellmen’s museum making large ruts that the Bellmen have to rake out. Ms. Bedard said she spoke with Mr. Stone prior to the start of tonight’s meeting and everything seems to be resolved.
Mr. Maia told Ms. Bedard if she has any problems, to come back to the Board and they would address it.
Mr. Harrison made a motion to approve passing the liquor license application for Main St. Restaurants Inc. d/b/a Main St. Pub and Pizza, on to the A.B.C.C. in Boston for their consideration. Dr. Smith seconded and it was unanimously VOTED.
Contract Execution for Town Administrator:
Evan Brassard approached the Board of Selectmen. Mr. Maia reiterated at the last Selectmen’s meeting, it was stated there was a pool of 39 applicants which Municipal Resources Inc. narrowed down to 10 applicants over a two or three month process, bringing the top 3 candidates before the Board of Selectmen at their last meeting, where Mr. Brassard was chosen to fill the vacant Town Administrator’s position. Mr. Maia noted Mr. Brassard has been the town’s Emergency Management Director for the past three years.
Mr. Maia noted Mr. Brassard cleared his background check and is in agreement with the contract. Mr. Brassard will start on March 1, 2014. Mr. Laroche has agreed to continue with his dual role as Town Planner and Interim Town Administrator to assist Mr. Brassard for his first two weeks.
This is a three year contract that will run from March 1, 2014 through June 30, 2017.
It was noted Mr. Brassard will attend the Board of Selectmen meetings as well as try to meet with the department heads to get as much information ahead of time as he can, prior to starting as the Town Administrator.
The contract was signed by all three Selectmen, and Mr. Brassard.
Mr. Maia noted a copy of Mr. Brassard’s contract will be sent to Town Counsel and if a copy is ever needed, it can be requested from Town Counsel Ken Albano.
Memorial Hall Safety Improvements Update:
Mr. Laroche noted the Memorial Hall Safety Oversight Committee met last night and went over the bids received for the removal of the asbestos stage curtain. Mr. Laroche presented the Board with handouts explaining the scope of work and a contract for the asbestos abatements. Five bids were received, with the lowest bid received for $4,500.00, which is really much better than they had expected, which was approximately $10,000.00. Mr. Laroche said he and the committee really believe this curtain has to be removed prior to any other work being done in the building. Mr. Laroche stated the company hired will deal with all insurance issues and do testing to make sure there aren’t any other issues.
Mr. Laroche noted the curtain will be documented for historic purposes, as the Historic Commission is hoping to reproduce the curtain in a non-asbestos material.
Mr. Maia requested a Monson Town email address for Maintenance Director Paul DeMaio, as he has been using his own private email for work purposes. Mr. Laroche noted he will be meeting with the technology people on Thursday, and he would set this up at that time. Mr. Harrison noted Mr. Brassard will also need one as well.
Mr. Harrison made a motion to allocate $4,500.00 from the Gifts to the Town Account for the removal of the asbestos curtain from Memorial Hall. Dr. Smith seconded and it was unanimously VOTED.
Town Hall/Police Station Building Project Update:
Mr. Laroche said the Building Committee met last night, and presented the Board of Selectmen with a handout describing what’s currently going on at the site.
Mr. Laroche said currently the work is being performed on the stairwell for the new facility. Also, all the footings are mostly in and the electrical conduit has been installed underground.
Mr. Laroche explained it is slow going due to the cold weather, and noted they are probably 3 to 4 weeks behind schedule. This is also partly due to the dirty dirt that had to be removed earlier.
Mr. Laroche said they will not meet the deadline schedule of October. However, the project is still doing fine as far as the budget.
Mr. Laroche noted the Parks and Recreation storage building, which is covered by the insurance as well, will also be built by PDS as part of the Police/Town Office Building project, keeping the storage unit and the building looking similar.
Mr. Maia asked Mr. Laroche about the potential change orders. Mr. Laroche replied the architecture is making the changes as they go along, because he sees that a window is too small or too large, etc.
Dr. Smith asked Mr. Laroche about how the furniture shopping was coming along. Mr. Laroche replied there has been a lot of chair trying, and everything should be completed in another month or so, relating to the furniture.
There was a question regarding the venting in the sally-port. Chief Kozloski responded this vent has to do with the oil separator unit, and this was the only place available for the vent.
Mr. Laroche said there will be a technology meeting on Thursday morning to look at computers and security. M-PACT will be in attendance as well. They will also be going over all the conduit, drops, etc. that will be needed in the new building.
In Other Business to Come Before the Board:
- Appoint Auxiliary Police Officer: Police Chief Stephen Kozloski approached the Board of Selectmen and explained his request regarding the appointment of Jeremy Fay noting he has previous experience with the Town of Granby, and that his background check has been completed.
Mr. Harrison made a motion to appoint Jeremy R. Fay to the Monson Police Department as an Auxiliary Police Officer effective immediately through June 30, 2014. Dr. Smith seconded and it was unanimously VOTED.
Correspondence was read and completed.
At 7:50 p.m., Mr. Harrison made a motion to adjourn from open session to go into executive session to discuss rule #3, strategy with respect to collective bargaining or litigation if an open meeting may have a detrimental effect on the bargaining or litigating position of the public body and the Chair so declares, not to return to open session. Dr. Smith seconded and it was unanimously VOTED.
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Dr. Richard M. Smith, Clerk
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