Selectboard -- Town of Princeton, Mass. – Feb. 20, 2018 – 7:30 PM
– Meeting w/Adv. Cmte.– Town Hall Annex
Present: Chair Jon Fudeman, Edith Morgan w/ TA Nina Nazarian. Richard Bisk was absent. Adv. Cmte. members: George Handy, Wayne Adams, Judy Dino, Jim O’Coin
Minutes – Voted all in favor to approve minutes for January 25th and 29th including Exec. Sessions not to be released.
Charter Cable - Charter reports that they are 80% complete with the messenger strand installed on poles; working with property owners on easements; will begin work to install the main cabinet at PMLD to power system. Charter also announced that they will offer 100 Megabits per second download and 10 Mbps upload as standard speed.
Fire Dept. budget – Chief John Bennett is asking to staff his facility seven days instead of five, from 7 AM to 5 PM. He and his staff explained how they do equipment maintenance in-house, and some in conjunction with DPW. The national/local trend is for fewer fire calls and increased EMT calls. Town had seven heroin overdose calls since July; more accidents and electrical fires. He warned that after-market chargers are not to UL standards and eventually overheat and spark out. Group had lengthy discussion on rolling water needs, water tanks and trucks and ISO standards which may dictate home insurance criteria. Fire Dept. has not had ISO audit since 1980 and standards are now higher. Newest fire truck is 2006 and whole fleet is old. Chief is asking for new truck at ATM at $525,000.
Community Compact Grant & Work by Collins Center 8:55 PM – Project began for preparing a more detailed budget document. Nina reported departments have been given a template for completion and the Collins Center will be compiling the results.
Route 140 Reconstruction Project – At this time, appraisals are ongoing and scheduled to be complete by March 16th. Nina also announced that test borings for the Route 31 bridge will begin in March.
Facilities Steering Committee Update – Tour of public safety facilities appears to have been a success with 50-60 people attending. FSC would like to have a joint meeting with the SB & AC on the evening of Tuesday, March 6th. Edith suggests a survey to get feeling for which of the architect’s three options residents prefer. Discussion ensued about pros and cons of a survey at this point in time, as ATM will make the final decision.
Mechanics Hall – Nina noted bills from PMLD in the amount of $269.40 for electricity at Mechanics Hall—attributed to electric heater for wellhead, forwarded bills to Richard Stuart for payment directly to PMLD.
Janitorial Services contract 9:25 PM – The board voted all in favor to allow Nina to sign a contract for janitorial services for Town Hall, the Library, and Annex, at approx. $10,000/year, with BestPro Cleaning, LLC effective February 1, 2018.
Historical Commission appointment - The Historical Commission has recommended Krista Ferrante to fill the full member vacancy on the commission. The board voted all in favor to appoint Krista Ferrante as a full member for a term through June 30, 2020.
Cemetery Commission appointment - The Cemetery Commission has recommended Charles Steele to fill the vacancy on the commission. The board voted all in favor to appoint Charles Steele to the Cemetery Commission for a term through June 30, 2020.
Sen. Chandler – Board will send congratulations to state Sen. Harriette Chandler on her appointment to senate president.
New Community Compact Grant submitted by IT Strategic Planning Committee – in the amount of $73k for IT infrastructure and a new financial software system. Will add as article at ATM if grant is not awarded.
Adjourned 9:45 PM
Respectfully submitted, Marie Auger, admin. assist.
Selectboard Referenced Documents: Budget memo/charts; Fire Dept. budget details; applications from Ms. Ferrante and Mr. Steele
Marie Auger
Administrative Assistant
Planning Department
978-464-2100
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