Town of Princeton, Mass.
BOARD OF SELECTMEN --- January 14, 2013
5:30 PM -- The meeting was called to order in the Town Hall Annex. Present were Chairman Edith Morgan, Stan Moss, Neil Sulmasy and Town Administrator John Lebeaux.
Scheduled meeting – Two representatives from WRSD School Committee came in as per BOS request to discuss the process for reviewing the regional agreement, which is reviewed every five years. A series of public hearings in member towns is starting, and one will be held in Princeton on Feb. 5 at 7 p.m. at the T.P. School. The two reps were Bob Imber from Princeton and Julie Kelley from Rutland, who chairs the five-member, ad hoc subcommittee to review the regional agreement. They explained that the formula for the number of committee members dictates that two more are required from Holden, making a total of 22. They want to decrease the number, however, by switching to a “weighted” vote system.
They discussed options for Princeton’s declining school enrollment, noting that with parents’ approval, students can be enrolled in any school in a WRSD town. Julie said most parents do not support moving their kids over town lines to ‘even out’ enrollment. However, if there is some special incentive, parents would be inclined to send their kids to an out of town school. Rutland, for instance, has a special needs education center that draws from all district towns. Julie noted that an academically-accelerated program, of specialized advanced math or science, could be something offered at T.P. School that could be a major draw, although transportation could be an issue.
She reported that the school committee wants to have an annual maintenance audit for school properties and selectmen informed her that annual building inspections are part of the maintenance agreement that Princeton has with the District. Some discussion continued about setting the school budget and waiting to get a deficit number from the state, which is the main holdup. The new business manager Joe Scanlon will be putting together a budget book for town boards. Julie reported that the proposed forensic audit had been “suspended indefinitely” by the school committee, much to her dismay. She had formerly served on the finance sub-committee and admitted that she and other school committee members were to blame for not paying attention which resulted in the major discrepancies in the FY’12 school budget. She
also reported that a subcommittee was starting the search for a superintendent, to be in place by July 1, and they would be using a consultant because the cost was minimal.
Discussion moved to the state’s school funding formula and “Minimum Local Contribution” and Stan pointed out that the town pays 93 percent of the cost of educating each Princeton student and “we’re not getting any benefit from Chapter 70” while all other district towns receive more Chapter 70 funding. State Rep. Kim Ferguson was in attendance, as she had office hours in town, and she was taking the issue of equalizing the regional contributions to her committee—she had some recent success with increasing state funding for transportation in a regional system.
6:40 PM New Business – Resident Brian Keevan, forester for DCR, came in to volunteer to serve as “town perambulator” and noted that towns, by an archaic law, are supposed to check their political boundaries every five years or pay a $20 fine. John L. said he believed few communities ever checked their boundaries. Mr. Keevan will walk to check 24 known boundary marks and date them, using GPS coordinates. The selectmen voted all in favor to appoint Mr. Keevan of 32 Mirick Road as Town Perambulator for a term through June 30, 2014. Town Clerk will send a letter to Keevan within the week to authorize him for the job.
The Board reviewed and signed the FY13 #14 payroll and vendor warrants from the treasurer and accountant. Selectmen voted all in favor to approve regular meeting minutes from Jan. 2; voted AIF to release executive session minutes (previously approved) for the former fire chief; voted AIF to approve and release executive session minutes of Nov. 19 for the former fire chief; and, voted AIF to approve executive session minutes of Dec. 17 for the acting fire chief.
7:05 PM Old Business – Board discussed a fire chief hiring plan. John L. suggested formation of a local screening committee and continuing with the recommendation of the Public Safety Committee, which is to hire a full-time fire chief who can serve as a paramedic on duty weekdays. He did not think outside consultants were necessary. The former hiring committee had five members, and those contacted are not interested in re-upping. The selectmen agreed to go forward with John’s recommendations and solicit a hiring committee.
7:15 PM New Business – The board voted all in favor to have Edith sign a letter to designate John L. as voting member representing Princeton at Mass. Municipal Association meetings.
John L. reported that the PCB problem at T.P. School may qualify for a class-action suit being brought against Monsanto and other corporations owing to the fact that window/door frame caulking was manufactured with PCBs from the 1950s into the 1970s. The law firm of Kennedy & Madonna (K&M) was organizing on behalf of the town of Lexington the suit on a contingency basis. If the legal status of a “class” was not certified by a judge within a year, the town and other plaintiffs may pursue the case individually. K&M filed a similar suit in 2007 on behalf of the Yorktown School District in Westchester County, NY and received an undisclosed settlement out of court. John estimated the town had spent approximately $700,000 so far, including bussing students while T.P. was being rehabbed. The selectmen voted all in
favor to authorize John to engage the town with Kennedy & Madonna on a contingency basis to pursue the PCB suit.
7:25 PM Old Business -- John also reported that the new skylight in the school library was being manufactured and could be installed before school lets out. The PCB mitigation project is believed to be complete. The most recent wipe sample testing results were “Non-Detect”. Results of air quality testing are pending.
7:30 PM Other Business -- Selectmen reviewed the list of committee/board vacancies and Stan suggested that the Personnel Board focus on finding a candidate for that board. They also reviewed a budget calendar that John had put together and discussed times to get together with the Advisory Board in the spring. The selectmen voted all in favor to approve the Budget Calendar subject to future amendments.
Stan M. reported that his Broadband Committee is going to Leverett this week to learn about that town’s fiber optic initiative.
7:50 PM Adjourn
Respectfully submitted, Marie Auger, administrative assistant
Referenced Documents: MMA letter; Town Budget Calendar; Board/Cmte. vacancy chart
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