Town of Princeton, Mass. – Jan. 12, 2016 – 9 AM
BOARD OF SELECTMEN – Mtg. Minutes
9 AM Meeting was called to order at the Town Hall Annex. Present were Chairman Edith Morgan, Jon Fudeman, Stan Moss with T.A. Nina Nazarian. Wachusett Regional School District Bus. Mgr. Joe Scanlon were in attendance
John F. wants to see an enforcement clause built into the lease or maintenance agreement, spelling out a procedure for dealing with inadequate or non-existent maintenance. If the district does not do maintenance on something, it can pay the town to take over the maintenance. Also, if the town repairs or replaces something, the town can bill the district for the work. Stan would like to see a preventative maintenance checklist for anything that results in capital spending.
Joe S. reported that his team inventoried about 40 major items and found replacement costs for each, then tested the list against what is actually in each school. Major items will have maintenance tags on them. Joe explained the method of redress for lack of maintenance; if something is not done as required by the lease, the lessor may go to mediation. He described the district’s two fulltime maintenance employees and their capabilities.
Stan insisted that selectmen need to know what needs to be done, must know that it’s been done, or else get it done without mediation—do the work and send a bill. Jon F. concurred and mentioned an “escape clause” in which the town can order something repaired and then send a bill (to the district). The group discussed the usefulness of manufacturers’ “expected lifetimes” for capital equipment or finishes.
Group agreed that Nina and Joe will come up with wording to allow the lessor to step in within a certain time period, do the work and then bill the lessee. Joe admitted that upkeep of finishes might have lagged in the face of mechanical maintenance.
Selectmen are most concerned about replacing the T.P. School floor tiles under the new lease. Joe notes that the new floor comes under “capital improvement” and funding for it should follow Mass. DOR and DESE guidelines. The new lease increases the threshold for a capital improvement from $25,000 to $35,000. It was noted that an insurance claim was submitted for the floor tiles and the insurance company’s engineer reported that the case did not qualify for coverage.
Discussion returned to water and sewer as covered under Section 5 in the lease. Selectmen point out that the district payments to (excluding Sterling) the other three towns’ municipal water/sewer would well exceed the cost of maintaining pipes, pumps etc. for the on-site wells and septic systems in both Princeton and Sterling, where the district is essentially getting free water/sewer. To date, the pumps have been the towns’ responsibility. Joe agreed to analyze water and sewer bills from the other three towns. He also agreed to send a maintenance agreement if one can be found between the district and Princeton.
The board thanked Joe for his patience and he noted that the lease issue has taken a lot of time because many players have changed in some of the towns.
Stan let Joe know that the superintendent’s proposed request for towns to submit their budgets to WRSD was not viewed favorably by him. There was some discussion about Chapter 70 distributions and Princeton paying more than its share toward school funding over a number of years.
10:40 AM Board voted all in favor to adjourn.
Respectfully submitted, Marie N. Auger, administrative assistant
BOS Referenced Documents: Working drafts of lease documents with WRSD
Marie Auger
Administrative Assistant
Planning Department
978-464-2100
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