NEWTON MUNICIPAL COMPLEX
MEETING MINUTES
January 13, 2014
In attendance, in alphabetical order: Leonard Beauvais, Jim Doggett-Chairman, Roger Hamel, Bill Landry-Vice Chairman, Trisha McCarthy, John Meserve, Mike Pivero, Dale Putnam, Jim Ryan, Ron Saunders, Joe Simone, and Jim White.
Mary Allen, Larry Foote, Bill Ingalls, Charles Melvin, and Larry Streeter were not in attendance. Mrs. Wrigley is attending the Selectmen’s meeting and will join the Committee later. Secretary Barbara White recorded the minutes.
I Call Meeting to Order: The meeting was called to order at 7:00 pm.
II Acceptance of Minutes: Mr. Beauvais noted that in the December minutes on page two the measurement for the distance between the green building and the property line was stated as 27’ and should be corrected to 57’, which is the actual measurement. Mrs. White will make the change. Mr. Doggett asked for a motion on the minutes.
MOTION: Mr. Beauvais MOVED to accept the minutes as amended; second by John Meserve. Approval was unanimous.
II.B Resignation: Mr. Doggett reported he had received an e-mail resignation from Mr. Ingalls due to personal reasons. Mr. Doggett asked for a motion.
MOTION: Mr. Meserve MOVED to accept the resignation of Mr. Ingalls with regrets; second by Jim White. Approval was unanimous.
III Warrant Article Discussion:
Mr. Doggett stated to the best of his knowledge their warrants articles, as they appeared the last time with corrections from the DRA, will be on the ballot. He also noted there were several other warrant article proposals requesting large sums of money. The Fire Department is requesting $50,000 towards a new vehicle or station; Greenie Park is looking for $35,000; and we are asking for $50,000. It will be interesting which ones, if any pass on top of last year’s tax increase.
Mr. Landry verified the Selectmen would be meeting on January 20th, at which time they would decide whether or not to place their recommendation on the warrant article. Mr. Doggett acknowledged that was so. He reminded the Committee the numbers could be changed at the Deliberative Session by the people. Also, although the Selectmen could not change the numbers at this time, they could do so after the Deliberative Session.
Mr. Doggett noted he would be attending the Selectmen’s Meeting on the 20th at 7:00 p.m. to answer any questions they might have in regards to the warrant article. He will also attend the Deliberative Session and offer an explanation of what the Committee is doing and why, and answer any questions that might come up.
IV SubCommittee Reports:
Mr. Doggett noted at the last meeting, the SubCommittees agreed to choose their photos and get them to Mrs. McCarthy for the slide show.
Town Hall SubCommittee
Mr. Hamel noted they had met last week. Mr. Landry had taken pictures for the slide show and they had, as a group, come up with verbiage for each. They were provided to Mrs. McCarthy. Mrs. McCarthy noted comments to go with any photos she receives would be helpful so she would know what she is describing. Her program will allow her to let a photo stay on the screen long enough to give time for the text to be read before changing to the next photo.
She noted jpg. is the format in which she would need to receive the photos, and the slide show could have up to 50 photos included. It was decided each SubCommittee would provide 15 photos, which would leave 5 slots for title and other information. They would include their Mission Statement, an explanation of the areas needing to be addressed, and that this plan was to build on the future - a site plan and recommendations for reuse. Mr. Simone hoped by viewing the slide show, people would really see what changes are needed.
The goal is to have the slide show on the web and cable before the Deliberative so people could make themselves aware of what the Committee is working towards.
Mrs. McCarthy noted the only portion of the slide show she had completed was of the library portion and would show the group what she had done at the end of the meeting. She will also create a link and e-mail to each member when she was done so they could review.
Library SubCommittee Report
Mr. Putnam noted they had met on Jan 6 and decided on bullets for the photos. They had also reviewed the fact the library had incredible increased usage in the last 5 years. The exact numbers were reviewed with the Committee, and Mr. Doggett suggested perhaps some of the numbers could be tagged to the pictures for the slide show.
The Library SubCommittee had asked Mr. Foote to conduct an inspection to see what would be needed for ADA compliance. They do not have that report back from him yet. They do know the bathroom is not handicapped accessible and neither is the second floor.
Mr. Doggett noted that in discussion with the Planning Board, it was suggested between the Town Engineer and Building Inspector they have structural knowledge and the Committee should be taking advantage of their expertise to look for structural deficiencies that need to be addressed.
Mr. Doggett offered to write a letter to the Selectmen asking for the Building Department to look at the structures and give input. Mr. Meserve noted that could be quite helpful in regard to the green building at 8 Merrimac Road.
Mr. Meserve noted some of the following library statistics: Circulation – 25,380 for a 4,600 resident town; participants in programs - 2,183; library visitors – 11,182; item inventory - 29,161; there was great participation in programs (including children’s) with numbers from 28-66 for each program.
Fire Department SubCommittee
The SubCommittee reported they had nothing new at this time; Mrs. McCarthy is working on the photos and completing the slide show.
Slide Show: Mr. Doggett noted that before the next meeting, all the SubCommittees will have provided Mrs. McCarthy with their photos, and there should be a finished product.
Mr. Doggett noted the slide show will be approximately 10-15 minutes long. He will request it run on cable on a staggered schedule – ex. 10:00 am one day, 11:00 am the next; 12:00 pm the next, etc. Mrs. McCarthy noted for the Police Station it had also run on the web as not everyone in town has cable; the Committee agreed that was a good idea and will request it be placed on the web also.
As it was the goal of the Committee to have the slide show on the web and cable as soon as possible, Mr. Doggett asked if the Committee wanted to make a motion to give the Chair the authority to approve the final version.
MOTION: Mr. Meserve MOVED to give the Chairman the authority to approve the final version of the slide show; second by Mrs. McCarthy. Approval was unanimous.
Mr. Putnam suggested putting a notice in the Carriage Towne News and the Eagle Tribune directing residents to refer to the web site for further information regarding the slide show for those residents who do not have cable. The web address should be included. The Committee agreed that would be a good idea. Mr. Landry could also put the information on the Facebook page.
Mrs. Wrigley joined the meeting.
V Other:
Mr. Doggett asked if the Committee thought they should create their own Facebook page. Mr. Meserve stated he did not think it was necessary as there were already enough social media sites to reach the residents.
Rescinding Appointments: Mr. Doggett stated he had sent the letter to the Selectmen asking them to rescind the three appointments; he asked Mrs. Wrigley if there had been any action on the request. Mrs. Wrigley noted it had come in after the deadline to be included on the agenda and would be on the next meeting agenda.
Mr. Landry asked if Mr. Ingalls’ resignation would need to go to the Selectmen also; Mr. Doggett stated it would not as it is a resignation the Committee accepted.
Mrs. Wrigley noted a copy of the e-mail should be sent to the Selectmen so they are aware of the resignation. Also a copy should be sent to the Town Clerk, and Mrs. Wrigley would like a copy for her file.
Meeting Times: The Selectmen’s Secretary has asked the NMCC Committee to submit a request to reserve the meeting room on a regular schedule. This way it can included it on the monthly schedule. She has asked that the Committee choose the same day each month for ease of scheduling. It will then be recorded on both the meeting room monthly schedule and the NMCC website.
After discussion, the commission came to a consensus to meet on the 3rd Monday of each month. The Selectmen’s Secretary will be notified of the Committee’s decision; Mrs. White will give her the completed form.
Next NMCC Meeting: The next meeting will be on February 17, 2014 at 7:00 pm at the Town Hall Meeting Room.
Deliberative Session: In closing, Mr. Doggett hoped the Committee members could all make it to the Deliberative Session on Saturday, February 1.
VIII Adjourn: Mr. Simone MOVED to adjourn; Mr. White seconded. Motion was unanimous.
Chairman Doggett adjourned the meeting at 7:53 pm.
Barbara White
Respectfully Submitted,
Barbara White
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