BOARD OF SELECTMEN
AUGUST 12, 2014
The regular meeting for the Monson Board of Selectmen convened at 7:00 p.m. in the conference room at 29 Thompson Street. In attendance were Edward S. Harrison, Dr. Richard M. Smith, and John R. Morrell. Also present were Town Administrator Evan Brassard and the media.
The Pledge of Allegiance was recited.
Acceptance of Meeting Minutes:
Dr. Smith made a motion to accept the meeting minutes for July 22, 2014 – open and executive sessions. Mr. Morrell seconded and it was unanimously VOTED.
Correspondence #3 was Discussed:
Kathy Richards of Lakeside Drive approached the Board of Selectmen to explain her request for a speed limit study. Ms. Richards noted the Paradise Lake area is a recreational site, and a lot of people walk and bike around the lake. Ms. Richards noted Lakeside Drive is very narrow, and with the cars parked on the side it makes it really hard as cars tend to go fast in this spot, which is a cause for concern. Ms. Richards said the residents who signed the petition are asking for two speed limit signs to be installed; one sing going down Paradise Lake Road from Lakeside Drive showing 25 MPH and one on the other side of the road going onto Lakeside Drive and around the lake itself showing 20 MPH.
Mr. Morrell said before a speed limit sign can be put up, they have to go by a “Manual On Uniform Traffic Control Devices”, that is put out by the American Association of State Highway Officials, which covers the entire country so all the signs are uniform. Mr. Morrell noted the Highway Department doesn’t get involved until it’s all approved by the Board of Selectmen, the State Highway Department, and the Police Department. First the Board of Selectmen vote to have the speed assessment done. Then the Police Department does a survey of the road by spending a certain amount of time monitoring the traffic and speed on that road. The Police then turn that report into the State Highway Department. The State Highway Department has one Traffic Engineer for the entire state who will come to Monson
when he is able to come out and report what he feels the speed limit should be for that specific area. Mr. Morrell read the regulation covering this into the record, as attached.
Mr. Morrell added this process can take up to a year to complete.
Mr. Morrell said the speed limit on Paradise Lake Road, leading to the lake from Ely Road, was approved on March 13, 2001 for 30 MPH by the State Highway Department Traffic Engineer.
Mr. Morrell said he took down a speed limit sign this morning because he couldn’t find any documentation in any of his records showing where Lakeside Drive was ever zoned for speed through the legal process. The Town Clerk also had no documentation on this, as she always keeps copies of the speed limit studies done in town as well. Mr. Morrell said both he and Ms. Watson had the same copies of studies completed as he does, and neither one had anything on a study for Lakeside Drive. Mr. Morrell said he contacted the State Highway Department and they too had no record of a speed study ever being done for Lakeside Drive. Therefore, Mr. Morrell noted the 25 MPH sign that was up there was illegally posted and that is why he took it down. Mr. Morrell stated he never put the sign up and didn’t know who
installed it. Mr. Morrell said right now, if Lakeside Drive is in a rural district, and there isn’t a speed zone for Lakeside Drive, the legal speed limit is 40 MPH.
Mr. Morrell said Hilltop Drive is a dead end, and thought 80 to 90 percent of the people speeding on these roads are the residents who live on these roads.
Dr. Smith made a motion to request a speed limit study on Lakeside Drive. Mr. Morrell seconded. After a brief discussion, Dr. Smith amended his motion to also include Hilltop Drive. Mr. Morrell seconded and it was unanimously VOTED.
Board of Health Rate Change:
Mr. Brassard reiterated the Board of Health requested a rate change at the last Selectmen’s meeting where they were unsure if this required a vote by the Board of Selectmen. After researching this with Ms. Mahar, it was found in the M.G.L. Chapter 40 Section 22F, since the Board of Health is appointed and not elected and they can’t set their own rates, they can only deliberate and vote to send it to the Board of Selectmen, but it must be approved by the Board of Selectmen.
The Board of Selectmen reviewed the list of fee increases, as attached, being proposed by the Board of Health. Mr. Brassard noted the fee increases are in line with surrounding communities.
Dr. Smith made a motion to approve the proposed rates set by the Board of Health. Mr. Morrell seconded and it was unanimously VOTED.
Republic Services Contract Extension:
Mr. Brassard explained this is just extending the original contract.
Dr. Smith made a motion to approve the contract for the solid waste collection extension. Mr. Morrell seconded and it was unanimously VOTED.
LEPD Designee Appointment:
Mr. Brassard explained he has a letter addressed to the Emergency Management Director Laurie Stewart on the Board of Selectmen’s behalf because as the town looks forward to certifying our LEPC with the State, there are certain criteria we have to meet. This will switch over to having disciplines present; such as instead of having the Chief of Police present you could have a Police representative, same with the Fire Chief, etc. Mr. Brassard noted this letter allows him to be the designee for what would be a Board member.
Dr. Smith made a motion to designate Evan Brassard, our Town Administrator, to act as our designee for all matters related to the LEPC. Mr. Morrell seconded and it was unanimously VOTED.
MFD Pay Scale Discussion:
Fore Chief Laurent McDonald approached the Board of Selectmen and explained he had provided the Board with his proposal that would change the pay scale structure in the Fire Department which keeps them in the same financial operating footprint that they already have, so there’s no new money needed so this will not impact the Fire Department budget. This was modeled out on two previous fiscal years.
Chief McDonald said traditionally they have paid people different rates of pay depending on the job they do rather than on a set pay scale. This proposal is instead of having two or three different pay rates for one particular person they would have one pay rate based on their skill. For example, if you have an entry level auxiliary firefighter it would be minimum wage, and if they are a spare who has gone through their internal recruit program, the pay scale would be $11.23. A regular firefighter who is also an EMT – basic would be $12.31. A driver operator would be $14.33, etc., same as with officers, who would now get paid for their rank. This would promote a career path progression for people to seek out greater skillsets, which now feeds the system to make sure they have qualified driver
operators which has been a problem in the past, and motivates people to progress to get their EMT paramedic, basic or intermediate.
Chief McDonald noted this would be retro-active back to July 1, 2014.
Dr. Smith made a motion to approve the Monson Fire Department pay scale, retro-active back to July 1, 2014, as presented. Mr. Morrell seconded and it was unanimously VOTED.
MFD Residential Solar Discussion:
Chief McDonald stated over the past couple of weeks, he has received several telephone calls from residents stating they heard the Fire Department in general and himself, are against solar energy and solar panels on houses and that if a home with solar panels on it has a fire that the Fire Department wouldn’t come. Chief McDonald said he wants to assure the residents this is false information. The Monson Fire Department employees are trained to keep them safe and they developed standard operating procedures on solar panels and how to deal with them, as they do any particular utility.
Chief McDonald said his recommendation to residents who are considering purchasing solar panels is to follow the permitting process and have the devices installed by a qualified and licensed professional. The key is for the homeowner, the installer, the building official and the Fire Department to work together to insure it’s done right and that they know where they are so they can adjust their tactics if they do have a fire or other incident at their home. They are obligated to respond to all calls for assistance and they will continue to do that.
MDC Reuse Committee Update:
Mr. Harrison explained the Reuse Committee, which consists of Mr. Harrison, Mr. Brassard, Paul Hatch from the Planning Board, Tamara Cabey from the Historical Society, Dan Laroche the Town Planner, and Dana Harrell from DCAM (the Department of Capital Asset Management from the State), have been working on this for quite a while. A consultant has been hired to go around and do the marketing study, that doesn’t cost the Town of Monson any money since the State picks up the entire tab. The report came back and they felt needed additional work, so he was sent back to do some more investigation. A meeting was held subsequent to that, and the Committee decided to have them prepare a report that would ultimately be brought before the Town in a public hearing for the citizens of Monson to approve before the
Committee presented it to the State officials to approve the plan for the reuse. Mr. Harrison said in going forward from there, with all of that taken care of they would put out a request for proposals for everyone and developers interested in competing for some of that land to implement one of the recommended solutions, to make their case as to why we should select them to go forward.
Mr. Harrison said the three areas they identified were some type of industrial component as there is a rail spur that comes onto the Monson Developmental Center property; some sort of specialized residential application such as over 55, or some sort of medical establishment which would be a residential type of medical situation; and the third one would be an agricultural use such as anything from a cooking school to raising farm crops, organic farming, etc. and anything in between that would fall under the agricultural perspective.
Mr. Harrison said these are just recommendations and he felt the Committee was willing to entertain just about any and every application short of a jail or a steel foundry on that property, which could be bringing tax money back into the Town of Monson and provide jobs, and at the same time save the State money by not having to maintain that property and provide security, etc.
Mr. Brassard added we have had a lot of interest from residents regarding the reuse of the buildings and the things the residents would like to use them for and he just wanted to clarify those buildings were designed for a certain purpose and they have certain limitations. One of those limitations is they are all heated out of a centralized heating plant, making individualized reuse almost impossible because to heat one building you would have to heat the entire complex, making it cost inefficient to do that, or you would have to install a heating system for that one particular building.
Dr. Smith noted zoning is also another issue involving the Monson Developmental Center property. Mr. Harrison said that was something the Committee discussed and said the state could make it what they wanted, but Monson could say we want to look at the proposals and once a proposal was approved, we would make the necessary changes to accommodate that proposal. Mr. Harrison said making a zoning change would require a Town meeting, but a special Town meeting could be scheduled at any time, if timing were an issue on a really interesting proposal.
Mr. Brassard said it could be a hindrance if the Town zoned it prematurely, complicating matters. Right now that property isn’t zoned because its State owned land.
Mr. Morrell questioned why the State isn’t taking down the eleven or twelve buildings they promised they were going to take down as he felt this would help with proposals.
Mr. Morrell also said he heard a rumor they were getting rid of the security at the end of the year. Mr. Brassard said that is just a rumor and not true. Mr. Brassard said he heard the same rumor and spoke with someone from DCAM and they said absolutely not, they have no intention of pulling the security from there. Mr. Brassard said they also had a conversation regarding what if we are only able to sell a portion of the property and say five buildings remain, are they still going to be secured, and Mr. Brassard said he was told they still stay on the States dime until they come off.
Mr. Morrell said he would like to suggest the Board have Mr. Brassard draft a letter to DCAM or whoever is in control of this, and ask why those buildings haven’t been taken down and what’s going on, or are they still going to be taken down?
Mr. Brassard suggested waiting to see about the RFP process comes out, because there might be people who suggest the reuse of existing buildings.
Mr. Brassard said they have had these discussions and the response he got from the State regarding the children’s ward up on the hill that burned down is on the tear-down list, but not at the top of the list.
It was suggested to put a letter, on the letter list, asking about securing the building on the hill better or taking the building down. Mr. Brassard said with additional information from Chief Kozloski that trespassing problems do exist and a log documenting that, he could draft a letter asking to bump the children’s ward building up on the hill to the top of the tear down list, and also if there is any intent on the part of the State to demolish any of the buildings.
Mr. Harrison also stated at the last meeting of the MDC Reuse Committee, they asked the State for a timeline showing what was going to happen and when; when will the public hearing be, when are we going to get the State approval to put out the request for proposals, when are the proposals going to go out, etc.
Parks and Recreation New Field Discussion:
Parks and Recreation Commissioners Peter Beaupre Jr. and Sara Szado approached the Board of Selectmen. Mr. Beaupre said they started looking at what they were going to do for soccer this year for the fall season. Mr. Beaupre said typically they set up two junior soccer fields at Veterans Field. With all of the construction currently going on at Veterans Field this isn’t necessarily the safest field for kids to be running in and out of, plus the lack of parking.
While looking for other pieces of property to utilize, Mr. Beaupre said they thought of the field at Monson Developmental Center since they currently mow that field as they utilize it for lacrosse during the spring. However, that field isn’t level and there is only room for one true field there and they need space for two soccer fields.
Mr. Beaupre said River Hollow approached them and offered them the use of some of their land to utilize behind the miniature golf. After discussing this amongst the Commission, they decided to put the two junior soccer fields there. There is a net between the golfing portion and where the soccer fields are going, plus anyone hitting golf balls will be moved all the way down to the left hand side so there is no way anyone will get hit by the gold balls.
Mr. Beaupre said River Hollow doesn’t want any payments or anything for the use of this land, and this should bring business to them not only with the golf portion, but with the sale of food and ice cream at their concession stand, helping a small local business.
Mr. Brassard said if the Board views this favorably and approves the use of this land, he suggests bringing it to Town Counsel to see what is recommended from a liability standpoint.
Mr. Morrell made a motion to allow Parks and Recreation to enter into an agreement with River Hollow Golf Center to use land for two soccer fields pending the outcome from Town Counsel. Dr. Smith seconded and it was unanimously VOTED.
Regional Mutual Aid Agreement:
Chief Kozloski approached the Board of Selectmen. Dr. Smith clarified the definition section of the contract it identifies a police officer as only somebody who is on duty, which was his concern. Dr. Smith said he didn’t want any off duty officer who happened to be traveling through Monson to be able to activate himself and start enforcing the law. Town Counsel is still looking into this to make sure.
Chief Kozloski said he has also reached out to Town Counsel to see how to address the pre-existing mutual aid agreement Monson currently has.
Dr. Smith made a motion to approve the regional mutual aid agreement contingent upon Town Counsel’s clarification regarding a police officer so that it is only police officers on duty; and then also contingent upon the Town being able to withdraw from the pre-existing agreement that we have on the local level at the time the second one takes effect. Mr. Morrell seconded Mr. Harrison said this will not take effect immediately until we get notification from Town Counsel to the Boards satisfaction that the intent is truly on duty police officers only and to notify the other members of our current mutual aid agreement that we have signed this, Town Counsel’s approve, and therefore it is defunct as of this date. And it was unanimously VOTED.
New Business to Come Before the Board:
Chief Kozloski approached the Board and Mr. Brassard explained awhile back there was discussion regarding entering an agreement with the Town of Palmer regarding the Animal Control Officer. We have a preliminary contract which Mr. Brassard sent to Town Counsel to review. Town Counsel wanted a couple of minor changes. One was a dispute resolution language and some other minor things which were added into the contract by our Counsel and re-forwarded to Palmer.
Chief Kozloski said this discussion goes back quite a ways and has been going on for many, many months now, and reiterated the history of how Monson shares an Animal Control Officer who is our town employee with the Town of Palmer who is also their town employee, sharing a vehicle and dog pound, yet maintaining two separate pounds and maintaining two separate vehicles.
Chief Kozloski said through this agreement we are essentially relinquishing employment of the Animal Control Officer to the Town of Palmer. Palmer will then be the host agency for animal control. This agreement will provide essentially both Police Chiefs oversight in terms of policy, practices, and procedures. It also includes language where each town is still responsible for its own dog hearings, etc., so we will maintain our own identity in day to day procedures as it relates to dog complaints, however the actual employment of this position gets transferred over to Palmer. For the first year, we are agreeing to take what is left in our Animal Control budget and transfer that over as payment to the Town of Palmer to maintain that position. Chief Kozloski said the plan is to hire an assistant so when
the Animal Control Officer is away, there is a back-up in place for her, as right now we don’t have one.
Mr. Harrison felt this was worth a try. The pound will become surplus Chief Kozloski said and anther town has expressed interest in our ACO vehicle.
Mr. Morrell made the suggestion to sit on the dog pound property to make sure this process is going to work out, and Mr. Brassard concurred.
Dr. Smith asked if the Board could have until the next Board of Selectmen’s meeting to look over the contract prior to signing and in the meantime, it was agreed to let Palmer know we are interested in pursuing it.
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 strategy with respect to non-union personnel pursuant to M.G.L. c.30A, § 21 (2) and a discussion with respect to collective bargaining or litigation – pursuant to M.G.L. c30A, § 21 (3), not to return to open session. Mr. Morrell seconded and it was unanimously VOTED.
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John R. Morrell, Clerk
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