Town of Princeton, Mass., Selectboard Meeting Minutes
– August 20, 2018 – 7:30 PM – Town Hall Annex
Present: Chair Richard Bisk, Karen Cruise & Edith Morgan w/ TA Nina Nazarian.
Minutes – 7:30 PM Richy opened the meeting and the board voted all in favor to approve minutes for August 2, 6, and 9 including executive session minutes of Aug. 6 (not to release).
Public Comment – Kathy Conway handed the chairman a written complaint regarding alleged violations of Open Meeting Law.
Charter Update – The board reviewed the quarterly update from Charter and agreed to publish it via Town News and on Nextdoor, in accordance with the Communication Plan, by attaching it to the monthly update sent out by the Town Administrator. Group discussed the Public/Education/Government (PEG) option from Charter which can provide the Educational Access Channel originating from WRHS and up to two additional public access channels. A start-up grant would be available from Charter for infrastructure in the amount of $25,000 and costs to operate it can be offset by revenue from the town collecting 1.25 percent of Charter’s Gross Annual Revenue. Staff, paid or volunteer, would likely be needed, plus space, equipment, etc. Nina briefly
touched on some technical considerations which she has experienced in the past, suggesting that this was something that would require more planning before a decision could be made. A citizens’ group could be involved. The board decided to discuss it at the next Goals session of the S.B.
S.B. Communication Plan – S.B. members agreed that the Communication Plan would be posted to Town News. Nina will send a draft Town News release to Karen for review, including a note that under the open meeting law the S.B. cannot respond to questions online without a meeting and vote on the response.
Board/Committee, appointments 7:50 PM – Ms. Diana Gubber Markley was not recommended by the Board of Health for appointment as an alternate, given that they are seeking someone with septic system experience. The Board of Health will prepare an advertisement for this need. Regarding the vacancy on Facilities Steering Committee Phase II, there were no applications to act on and the group agreed to move forward with a joint meeting on Sept. 4 with fire chief and the four members in place on the Facilities Steering Committee Phase II. There was some discussion about the charge of the FSC Phase II and regarding a budget or any spending requests from the committee. For the Cemetery Commission seat, the Commission voted to recommend the
appointment of Mr. Greg Miranda.
ACTION – The board voted all in favor to appoint Mr. Greg Miranda to the Cemetery Commission for a term through June 30, 2019 and Ms. Susan Stolberg to the Council on Aging for a term through June 30, 2019 contingent upon being sworn in, and the completion of the Open Meeting law and Municipal Ethics requirements as well as the return of a signed copy of receipt of the Town of Princeton’s Sexual Harassment Policy.
Student involvement 8 PM – The board received three applications for the student S.B. position (deliberating but non-voting member) and decided to interview all three aiming to schedule it for 6:30 PM on Sept. 17. Each board member will submit a question for the applicants ahead of time to Nina.
Appoint Election Officer – The Town Clerk recommends the appointment of Ms. Frances Thomas.
ACTION – The board voted all in favor to appoint Ms. Frances Thomas to the position of Election Officer for a term through August 5, 2019.
Appoint CMRPC Alternate – The Planning Board recommends Ms. Ann Neuberg for the CMRPC Alternate position.
ACTION – The board voted all in favor to appoint Ms. Ann Neuburg as Central Mass. Reg. Planning Commission Alternate position for FY19.
Accept Disclosure of Appearance of Conflict of Interest – Ms. Noelani Chase has completed the necessary steps to be a full voting member of the FSC Phase II, which included filing of a disclosure.
ACTION: S.B. voted all in favor to accept a “disclosure of appearance of conflict of interest” filed by Noelani Chase whose husband is a Princeton police officer.
Inspector of Buildings Job Description, Post – Nina recommends that the S.B. vote to post an advertisement and job description for the position which will be vacated by current Inspector of Buildings Richard Breagy in September.
ACTION: S.B. voted all in favor to post the position of building inspector. A screening committee will be formed by the town administrator to consider applicants.
Ball Hill Road Culver Design, Authorize TA to sign contract – The town was awarded a grant for of $22,513 from the Division of Ecological Resources to fund final design of the culvert on Ball Hill Road.
ACTION: S.B. voted all in favor to authorize the town administrator to sign the Ball Hill Road culvert grant agreement with the commonwealth.
Calamint Hill Road paving project – Several public meetings/hearings are slated to inform residents and gather their input. The Conservation Commission has a Notice of Intent hearing on Aug. 21, the Road Advisory Committee has also mailed notices to all abutters inviting them to a hearing on Sept. 5 and notices will mailed to all abutters inviting them to a site walk on Aug. 30.
Correspondence:
Letter from Jon Fudeman – Board discussed an “Open Letter to the Selectboard” from former S.B. member Jon Fudeman in which he outlined suggestions on how to cut costs of constructing a public safety facility and related issues. Richy noted that a conceptual design for the public safety building was presented by the architect on Feb. 3, 2018 while Mr. Fudeman was S.B. Chair. He said that he had no recollection of Mr. Fudeman raising the concerns about the design outlined in his letter when he was on the Selectboard. Richy asked the members of the board if they recalled him raising his concerns at Facilities Steering Committee meetings. Members did not recall him raising the issues with the FSC, but did note that Mr. Fudeman was the driving force for
requesting that the Town Meeting public safety building article include both design and construction funds; which seemed to be contradictory to one of his points in the letter.
Request from Phil Gott 8:30 PM – The Environmental Action Committee member, Phil Gott, forwarded a request to the Town Administrator that Princeton adopt/develop a Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness (MVP) program. This program supports Massachusetts Executive Order 569, “Establishing an Integrated Climate Change Strategy for the Commonwealth” and is intended to help communities in Massachusetts identify and rectify areas of their town that are vulnerable to extreme or catastrophic weather events so that the community becomes more resilient to natural disasters. The group discussed the concern of resources—mainly the staff time required—to implement this program at this time but agreed that Richy would reach out to Mr. Gott and ask
about the time commitment anticipated.
Town Administrators Report:
DLS inspectors – Nina reported a new Executive Order signed by the Governor which goes into effect Feburary 1, 2019 for workplace safety standards, based on OSHA standards. Volunteer inspections are an option, and Nina intends to work with the Highway Superintendent to schedule a volunteer inspection for the future.
Community Compact grants 8:40 PM – The Town is eligible to receive up to two Best Practices grants through the Community Compact Cabinet. Group discussed the goal of developing more EMTs with Fire Dept. and Police Dept. staff and Nina will submit EMT training as proposed Best Practice Area to the Division of Local Services. Selectboard members will review the list of best practices and submit to Nina up to two Best Practice area preferences. Nina will compile the submissions for discussion by the Selectboard at a future meeting.
August 23rd Communications Meeting – Richy explained how he has been working with the fire chief and Claire Golding to develop a letter to residents on the town’s fire holes and water supply available for fire suppression. The board will discuss a draft of this letter at their meeting on Thursday.
Meeting Adjourned 8:55 PM
Respectfully submitted, Marie Auger, Admin. Asst.
S.B. Referenced Documents: Complaint submitted by Kathy Conway regarding alleged violations of Open Meeting Law; Charter quarterly update; Email from Cemetery Commission Chair with recommendation of Mr. Greg Miranda; Committee Volunteer Application by Ms. Susan Stolberg; letter from CMRPC on alternate position; applications for the student S.B. position; Inspector of Buildings job description; “Disclosure of appearance of conflict of interest” filed by Noelani Chase; “Open Letter to the Selectboard” from Jon Fudeman; request from Phil Gott for Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness (MVP) program; letter from governor’s office in Community Compact Cabinet grant program.
Marie Auger
Administrative Assistant
Planning Department
978-464-2100
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