Town of Princeton, Mass., Selectboard Meeting Minutes
– November 27, 2018 – 5:00 PM – Town Hall Annex
Present: Chair Richard Bisk, Karen Cruise, Edith Morgan and TA Nina Nazarian.
5:02 PM Richy opened the meeting.
Minutes – The Selectboard voted to approve minutes of November 14 but not release the Executive Session minutes.
Public Comment – There were no members of the public in attendance except for a Landmark reporter.
Environmental Action Committee asks to appoint Mr. Rob Abady – The group considered Mr. Abady’s Volunteer Committee Application form and noted that the Environmental Action Committee recommended the appointment of Mr. Abady,
ACTION: The Selectboard voted all in favor to appoint Mr. Abady to the Environmental Action Committee for a term through June 30, 2019.
Review of letter to residents on Open Meeting Law – Nina explained that the November 15th Selectboard “Communications” meeting had inadvertently not been posted by her. Based on town counsel’s recommendation on how to remedy this lack of posting, board members repeated their actions from Nov. 15 which included review of a letter to residents describing the particulars of the state’s Open Meeting Law—its benefits and challenges. The board wanted residents to understand the constraints imposed by the law which prohibits board/committee business from being discussed by board members outside of an open (posted) meeting. After some editing and tightening up the language, Karen read the finished letter out loud.
ACTION: The Selectboard voted all in favor to accept the letter as finalized and distribute it through regular channels (Town News, then reposted to the Princeton Nextdoor social media site).
Charter Update – As of November 21st, Charter reported that it has connected 130 properties, with many more appointments scheduled. Charter also intends to have released all addresses in town by the end of the 3rd week in December. Nina noted that it was unknown where the company got its original database of household addresses, however the Town generated an address database for Charter for the ultimate purpose of assisting in the facilitation of the roll out for the benefit of Princeton residents. Richy asked both other board members if they were included in either the Phase I or Phase II lists(for installation appointments) that has been released so far, and no one on the S.B. has been listed yet.
Council on Aging Sonoma Space update 5:25 PM – Director Aimee Kindorf, Linda Farineau, David Cruise and Nina met with Rud Mason, Bob Mason, and two representatives of their management company on November 20th. One major issue is that the original, construction cost, rough estimate rose from $80-90k to $144k when actual costs were requested of vendors. When the original estimate was developed, there was a very abbreviated timeframe before Town Meeting, therefore hard costs were not able to be determined. The town is responsible for 75 percent of this cost which is planned to be spread over five years. A construction completion by February has been estimated, but this is a very rough estimate since details of the construction are still being finalized along with the lease
language.
Code of Conduct, discuss feedback/review written suggestions 5:30 PM – The board received twelve responses from individuals or boards with comments about the Code of Conduct which the S.B. previously distributed. Many responded in support of the code and some commenters suggested changes but many did not propose specific language. Others noted that the code seemed “patronizing” and there were some questions about impositions on free speech and “First Amendment rights.” It was noted that the code has no enforcement procedure for committee members aside from their not being re-appointed. Karen offered to investigate models from the Mass. Municipal Association and Edith agreed to compile comments for a base line and possibly create
a preamble or response. Rich suggested bringing all these elements together at a later time.
Fire truck borrowing 5:45 PM – The bids for this borrowing came in just before this meeting, and anticipated annual percentage rates came within the expected range. This loan will purchase one used and one new fire truck--each considered an excellent value. By borrowing instead of leasing, the town is able to save over $7,000.
ACTION: The Selectboard voted all in favor to authorize the borrowing of $480,000 through Statehouse, serialized notes, over four years, for the purchase of fire trucks--and sign the borrowing paperwork.
Discuss board/appointment process – Board members considered their “Board/Committee/Commission Vacancy – Notice of Interest Policy/Procedures” which was adopted two years ago. A question has come up as to whether or not the procedure should always include a request for the potential appointee to attend a Selectboard meeting, so that members can meet/speak with the individual. Or, simply have each S.B. member call and speak with the potential appointee in advance of their meeting. Various scenarios were considered.
ACTION: The Selectboard voted all in favor to add to the policy, a notice that, depending on the nature of the board or committee, the S.B. may ask the candidate to attend a S.B. meeting for an interview before an appointment is approved.
Advisory Committee vacancy, extend deadline – There were two applicants for the open seat on the Advisory Committee. One applicant is not available on the night the A.C. meets; while the other applicant applied after the deadline, so the Board agreed to extend the deadline through Monday, Dec. 3rd and inform residents.
Memorial Day Committee, accept resignation & advertise 6 PM – The board received a notice of resignation from the Memorial Day Committee by Ms. Sarah Custer. There was discussion about the challenge of filling two seats which are now empty—only one member is currently on board. Group agreed to advertise a 2nd seat and if that fails, to ask the remaining member if they would be willing to be appointed as a single officer (instead of a committee) who would then gather volunteers for the annual event.
ACTION: The Selectboard voted all in favor to accept Ms. Custer’s resignation letter and advertise the position.
Christmas Eve Holiday, close non-emergency departments – Nina reported that other communities varied considerably in setting closing times for the Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve Mondays. Given that Christmas Eve is a half day in accordance with the Personnel Policy and given that it falls on a Monday in 2018, she suggested closing Town Hall and other non-emergency departments (e.g. Highway Department barring inclement conditions) on Christmas Eve. but be open on New Year’s Eve for the full day.
ACTION: The Selectboard voted all in favor to adopt full-day closing on Dec. 24 and opening on Dec. 31 this year.
Update letter from Adv. Cmte. – Nina distributed a memo from the Advisory Committee that outlined who was working on what; progress on meeting the two candidates for the open seat (mentioned above) and some outstanding requests. They plan to meet on Nov. 28 and Dec. 5
Correspondence:
- Letter from WRSD to the Town Manager of Holden, thanking him for Holden’s assistance on the recent roundtable.
- Letter from the attorney general to Ms. Kathy Conway, indicating that the file for the Open Meeting Law complaint has been closed.
- Letter from town counsel, confirming the increase from $145/hour to $175/hour effective July 1, 2019, per the Selectboard’s request (instead of mid-fiscal year as proposed).
Town Administrator’s Reports:
- FY’20 Budget and Capital Items – Nina has begun meeting with Department Heads to inform them of the changes to be expected for the FY’20 budgeting and capital improvements process. For the budgeting aspect, so far Department Heads have received the information well.
- Annex & Public Safety Improvements Project – The Town has entered into a contract with the architect and they have begun their design work.
- Bagg Hall “Stabilization” Project – Chris Conway, Jim O’Coin, Steve Mirick and Nina met last week to kick off the Bagg Hall project. The group anticipates that it will take a couple of months to prepare a draft Request for Qualifications.
Krashes Field - Karen and Richy reported having spoken to residents about the maintenance of Krashes Field and fieldhouse. There are no conditions attached to the deed, nor any such reference in the Town Meeting approval of the property donation to the town. Group discussed getting some data about revenue from rentals; if it’s sufficient to cover quality maintenance of the sports fields. They noted declining usage and competition from other communities.
Meeting Adjourned 6:30 PM
Respectfully submitted, Marie Auger, admin. assistant
S.B. Referenced Documents: Rob Abady’s Volunteer Committee Application form; letter to residents describing the particulars of the state’s Open Meeting Law; emails from individuals or boards with comments about the Code of Conduct; Board/Committee/Commission Vacancy – Notice of Interest Policy/Procedures; notice of resignation from the Memorial Day Committee by Ms. Sarah Custer; update memo from the Advisory Committee
Marie Auger
Administrative Assistant
Planning Department
978-464-2100
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