Town of Princeton, Mass. – March 9, 2015
Minutes - BOARD OF SELECTMEN
5:35 PM The meeting was called to order in the Town Hall Annex. Present were Chairman Neil Sulmasy, Edith Morgan, Stan Moss, and interim T.A. Robert Reed. Advisory Board members were present in a quorum.
New Business
Police Budget--Police Chief Michelle Powers came in to discuss the proposed FY 2016 budget. Chief Powers stated that in the administrative budget her assistant, who did not get an increase this year, would get an hourly increase from $19.37 per hour to $20.06 per hour and the police officers would get the 2% increase called for in their collective bargaining agreement. She also said that she was in the third year of her contract which calls for a 3% increase.
Telephone costs will go from $5,000. to $10,000. due to regional dispatch and some new business lines that were needed. Under “capital” no new cruisers were proposed, but the department was requesting a new server at a cost of $5,000. Chief Powers distributed a lease schedule to the Board. She said there may be an issue with overtime this year due to the prisoner watch in Holden, and there are ongoing discussions about that, and also due to one officer on FMLA.
Mr. Moss stated that the proposed budget would be taken under advisement by the Board.
Cultural Council Appointment--Mr. Reed explained that the Cultural Council was recommending Ms. Hannah Hall-Alicandro be appointed to replace Ms. Andrea Gaspari. Ms. Gaspari’s term ended in June 2014 as she was not allowed, by law, to serve more than six consecutive years. Ms. Hall-Alicandro’s term would then expire in June 2017. Mr. Moss moved that Ms. Hall-Alicandro be appointed to serve on the Cultural Council with her term expiring June 30, 2017. Ms. Morgan seconded, the vote was unanimous.
Conservation Commission.--The Board then met with Mr. John Viera to discuss the membership on the Conservation Commission. Mr. Viera explained that there were seven members and two associate members and there were some difficulties getting a quorum. However, he did not recommend a change in the size of the Commission.
Mr. Viera also discussed the need for a culvert study to comply with regulations and the possibility of this being a regional project with grant funds as the cost for a study for one town could be between $12,000. And $15,000. Though he was not looking for any funding for this at the present time Mr. Sulmasy stressed the need for Conservation to work with the Highway Dept on this matter.
Budget for Wachusett Regional School District--Superintendent Darryll McCall, Bus. Dir. Joe Scanlon and HR Dir. Jeff Carlson came in for the district budget. They explained that the FY’15 budget had experienced a $1.4 million cut that was felt last September, and the FY’16 budget increases will fund some new programs such as math and expanded WiFi. The WRSD is the largest in the state and ranks tenth lowest in per-pupil annual cost at just over $11,000 per student. The overall assessment for Princeton is flat, at $3.5 million compared to $3,6 million last year. The debt service for Princeton is going down; is now $9-10,000. Transportation costs were up 7.45 percent; health insurance is a variable; the Excess & Deficiency Fund is budgeted flat. The total WRSD budget for FY’16 is $84,159,000 A 10 percent increase is requested for supplies and equipment as computers and technology is antiquated across all schools. Operations and maintenance shows a five percent increase. Special Ed. Is
up 21 percent but costs have ben kept down by keeping programs and teachers in-house. The high school had a re-financing of its debt for lower rates. Enrollment is down slightly from7,064 last year to 7,052 this year. The group talked about fluctuations in student populations over the years and those projected. Mr. Moss stated that the proposed budget would be taken under advisement by the Board.
Fund Transfer—the Advisory Board and the Selectmen both voted all in favor to transfer $5,000 into the BOS Expense Budget from the Reserve Fund for expenses connected with hiring the Collins Center for recruiting a Town Administrator. The BOS and Adv. Bd. also voted all in favor to transfer $3,506 from the Reserve Fund into the Library Expense Account to replace computer equipment. Selectmen voted to delegate their chairman to sign the contract with the Collins Center and neil signed it.
Old Business
Edie M. announced that an “Appreciation Event” for John L. will be on Saturday afternoon from 2 – 4 on March 28.at the Harrington Farm and be open to all.
The selectmen voted all in favor to appoint a screening committee led by Edie. They will meet with Collins Center representatives on Thursday at 9:45 AM.
The selectmen discussed taking a $2,000 stipend from the “Ambulance Readiness account in the Fire Dept. to pay two DPW employees who work as EMTs for the F.D. This will match stipends now paid to F.D. personnel who are EMTs.
Other Business
Stan noted that the T.A. name needs to be changed on the contract with the Animal Control Officer
Minutes and Warrants
Board voted all in favor to approve regular meeting minutes for Feb. 23
They reviewed and approved vendor and payroll warrants: FY15 #18
7:30 PM Board voted all in favor to adjourn.
Respectfully submitted, Marie N. Auger, administrative assistant
BOS Referenced Documents: Parks & Recreation recommendation; FY’16 budget summary for Police Dept. and WRSD;
Marie Auger
Administrative Assistant
Planning Department
978-464-2100
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