Town of Princeton, Mass., Selectboard Meeting Minutes
June 4, 2019 – 8:30 am – Town Hall Annex
Present: Chair Karen Cruise, Richard Bisk, Matthew Moncreaff and interim TA Rick White
8:30 AM Goal-setting -- Karen opened the meeting and suggested the board seek input from residents as well as the Advisory Cmte. She shared a draft letter to residents asking for their ideas and outlining last-year’s goals and their status (mostly accomplished). Group agreed that proposed goals should be presented when residents are asked for input. Richy offered that the new goals list should focus on major items and not be too long—and stressed the need for town-wide appeal. Karen also distributed a list of potential goals, divided into categories of staffing; finances; communications and buildings.
Richy verbally shared several major goals, most of which were already on Karen’s list; such as recruiting a T.A. and highway supt.; working in conjunction with the Adv. Cmte. through the budget process; and Bagg Hall stabilization including temporary office space for staff. He also included completion of road projects and creation of a Building Maintenance Cmte.
The group discussed issues such as part-time versus full-time for the fire chief, medical response times, and the concept of regionalizing the fire department as a way to provide more growth opportunities for staff. None of these were put on the list of possible goals for the year.
ACTION: The Selectboard voted all in favor to send out the S.B. Communication letter as amended along with the list of proposed goals.
8:45 AM COA staff appointment – COA Director Aimee Kindorf came in with Nickole Boardman who was chosen for the support position in the COA office owing to her outstanding qualifications. The position is 10 hours per week at $19./hour
ACTION: Board voted all in favor to appoint Nickole Boardman to position of administrative assistant/program coordinator for the COA, .effective at 9 AM on June 4.
Advisory Cmte. – As part of the discussion on goals, the board discussed coordinating work and clarifying the charge with the A.C. and whether to seek feedback from the current members or wait for term endings and new appointments after June 30, as at least two new members will be coming on. The S.B. and AC need to agree on a budget calendar. It was agreed to wait until there is a full committee in place before finalizing a calendar. Richy pointed out that a new charge for the A.C. should not override state legislation or local bylaws.
Rick suggested the A.C. chair meet with the S.B. chair, to ease the logistics of group meetings. Also, he proposed, having all budget meetings with departments, boards, and committees be joint with SB and AC.
In the notice seeking volunteers for the A.C., the board agreed there should be mention of frequency of meetings. They concluded it’s a year-around task which averages two meetings per month.
ACTION: The Selectboard voted all in favor to amend the solicitation notice for A.C. members to include meeting frequency and the AC’s suggested text.
Bond Bill – Matt has studied the Bond Bill FY’18 which gets renewed annually, and he noted that other communities often (as much as) double their original request and Princeton could do the same. It is still unclear whether any communities have ever gotten bond bill funding for a public safety building.
Compliance issues -- Group considered ways to support the land-use and regulatory boards when they are challenged with neighborhood issues. One suggestion was to meet with regulatory boards--Conservation Commission; Planning Board and Board of Health—maybe twice a year.
New website – It was noted that website news and announcements may possibly be sent out as text messages for residents who opt in, as they do for Code Red on the phone and Town News on email.
Meetings – The S.B. will have its next regular meetings Tuesday, June 11 and 25 at 8:30 AM; the first breakfast meeting with committee chairs will be Thursday, June 13 at 7:30 AM; a public meeting for residents will be Tuesday, June 18 at 7 PM to discuss traffic calming. Police Chief Michele P. will be asked to attend to provide information.
Karen agreed to attend a MassPort meeting at Worcester Airport on June 6, as Karen Polito and others will be in attendance and (hopefully) available.
Light poles around Common – The board noted a request from the Historical Commission for frosted light fixtures. After discussing briefly, the group decided to address it on a future agenda.
10:00 AM Meeting adjourned.
Respectfully submitted, Marie Auger, admin. assistant
Referenced Documents: List of potential goals from Karen; letter to residents for “Goals” input; solicitation notice for A.C. members.
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