Town of Princeton, Mass. – January 23, 2017 – 5 PM
Board of Selectmen –Regular Meeting Minutes
Chairman Stan Moss, Edith Morgan, Jon Fudeman present; and TA Nina Nazarian Absent.
5 PM Stan opened meeting of PBMLP in the Town Hall Annex. SEE SEPARATE MINUTES.
5:20 PM PBMLP adjourned and Selectmen opened regular meeting.
Representatives from Mountainside market came in for a corporate name change, and the state ABCC requires a public hearing. Board voted all in favor to open the hearing for a Change of Beneficial Interest & Corporate Name for Cork and Windsor LLC, d/b/a Mountainside Market at 23 Hubbardston Road. They voted all in favor to waive the reading of the hearing notice and asked representatives to speak about their business. Katherine Huck and Shaun Ennis (current owners of Mountainside Market - Cork & Windsor LLC) are partnering up with Robin and Albert Springfield and changing the corporate name to Mountainside Market LLC. Stan opened the floor for public comment—there was none. The public hearing was closed. Selectmen had no comment and they voted all in favor to approve the Change of Beneficial Interest & Corporate Name as presented in the paperwork filed, which they all signed.
The Board then voted all in favor to sign the Montachusett Regional Planning Commission’s Daily Traffic Count Request Form for a speed and volume study on Merriam Road.
Selectmen voted all in favor to appoint Mr. Jesse Samdahl to the position of Snow Shoveler Coordinator at a rate of $13.00 per hour and Mr. Zachery Hunton to Snow Shoveler at a rate of $11.00 per hour to clear/shovel snow around town buildings this winter.
Jon F. reported that town auditor Tony Roselli is stopping in at 4 PM on Tuesday, Feb. 28 and can meet with Adv. Cmte. and selectmen to discuss appointing procedure and charge of Adv. Cmte.—all agreed.
The report from the T.A. noted that the public hearing for cable TV will be March 13; and bids for the roof repair at Fire Station #2 will be opened on Feb. 22.
5:33 PM Four members of Advisory Committee were present: Chairman John Shipman, Jim O’Coin, Don Schoeny and Bill Lawton. They shared their “Report Regarding Capital Improvement Requests in the 2018 Budget” which selectmen had requested on Jan. 3. It left Bagg Hall and Princeton Center to-be-determined but focused on fire and safety code upgrades in the main campus at an estimated $150,000; budgeting regular maintenance of the Annex; and exhaust systems at both fire stations for $80,000. The group wants more information about police vehicles which are on a four-year replacement schedule even though (five) racked up less than 100,000 miles. They considered including vehicles in the police budget. Several other departments added almost $100,000, but not considered were TP School, Mechanics Hall, Krashes Field
roof and road repair/Route 31 bridge. Adding up all items totaled $531,500. which didn’t include the library computer system upgrade. The total could come out of free cash and the Building Stabilization Fund.
Adv. Cmte. recommended a Building/Capital Improvement Committee with qualified volunteers modeled after the Road Advisory Committee, to apply for state and federal grants for historical buildings etc.
Stan pointed out that under state procurement rules, the town must hire an engineer to assess structural needs and problems. He offered to follow up on Parks & Rec two revolving funds and with town clerk about vault storage. Edith noted that a building maintenance group is meeting soon.
6:00 PM The next BOS budget meeting on Jan. 30 will host WRSD representatives to explain their budget. Then the Adv. Cmte may address the district’s operating budget on Feb. 6.
Group turned to the vacancy on the Adv. Cmte., members of which forwarded a memo to BOS recommending Bill Holder for the seat. Edith and Stan stated they hadn’t changed their minds about appointing Judy Dino, and there was discussion about diversity, with Edith noting that the Adv. Cmte. already had enough financial experts. She insisted that there is more to financial planning and budgeting (in a community) than just numbers.
Jon F. said the town is in a stressful financial environment and that Bill H. had raised some valid points that were not inaccurate. Stan described his past terms on the Adv. Cmte. and said it had been coed all that time—only becoming all-male about seven years ago. He also insisted that a municipality is not a business, as some have encouraged the town leaders to run the town more like a business. He asked what’s best for Princeton and at what value. He addressed the criticism Bill H. had focused on, that the town was in arears with OPEB (county retirement) payments, and that these charges were rather sensational. Stan noted that only a handful of municipalities had funded anything for OPEB, and there were new state rules making the funding more attainable. Stan added that
Princeton is in better financial shape than most others this size, with extra levy capacity, good credit rating and healthy reserve funds.
Jon F. clarified the issue of running a town like a business, and said the financial controls are basically the same for a business or a municipality.
John S. pointed out that there was no policy about creating diversity when making appointments and there could be danger in setting up roadblocks (for volunteers). He added that it’s been months that the seat has been empty and suddenly there are two terrific candidates.
6:30 PM Edith moved to appoint Judy Dino to a seat on the Adv. Cmte. and Stan 2nd the motion. All three selectmen then voted in favor of appointing Ms. Dino to the Adv. Cmte. for a term through June 30, 2017.
Edith then stressed that the board should stick to the goals they set for this year and Jon
F. wants to present his report on two articles he proposes for ATM. The group decided to address his report on the agenda for the Feb. 27 selectmen meeting.
The group reviewed and accepted a budget schedule submitted by the T.A.
6:35 PM Karen Rossow was in from Open Space Cmte. for a Trails Grant from DCR for $4,000. The town has to match at least 20 percent but that can be in-kind labor. She reported that they already had $16,000 worth of volunteer hours, so the town didn’t have to provide any dollars for a match. Grant monies are needed for bog bridge lumber and signage.
6:45 PM Selectmen voted all in favor to sign a letter of support for the grant application, to be forwarded to DCR.
They also voted all in favor to sign a letter of support for a grant that Wachusett Greenways is applying for that supports operations and maintenance of the Mass. Central Rail Trail.
6:50 PM Group discussed possible violations in the BOS Code of Conduct such as discussing selectmen issues outside of a BOS meeting. Selectmen all agreed to uphold the Code.
6:55 PM Bill H. read aloud a statement explaining new requirements of the Worc. County pension board and it’s going up over nine percent. He cited sources for his previous claims about Princeton being in future financial trouble and talked about funding a pension supplement. Stan argued that it meant raising taxes today for a liability that’s years away and he felt that was unacceptable. Bill H. said the state allows a community to create a trust fund to pay future OPEB liability.
7:15 PM Selectmen voted all in favor to approve minutes from Jan. 9 and Jan. 17 along with executive session minutes not to be released.
7:22 PM Selectmen voted all in favor to adjourn
Respectfully submitted, Marie Auger, admin.assist.
BOS Referenced Documents: ABCC form to Change of Beneficial Interest & Corporate Name; Traffic Count Request Form; Adv. Cmte. report: Capital Improvement Requests in the 2018 Budget; letters of support to DCR; BOS Code of Conduct; statement from Bill Holder; letter from David Loysen.
Marie Auger
Administrative Assistant
Planning Department
978-464-2100
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