Town of Princeton, Mass. – Nov. 23, 2015 – 4:30 PM
Meeting Minutes - BOS/PBMLP
4:40 PM Meeting opened with BOS/PBMLP members Stan Moss, chair, Jon Fudeman and Edith Morgan, and T.A. Nina Nazarian.
Board signed warrants for fire Dept. and Broadband (Verizon). Nina noted that she met earlier in the day with Phil L. and Brian A. at PMLD. Board voted all in favor to send letter to authorize PMLD to move forward with installation of replacement poles. Board agreed to wait for Verizon’s assessments to come back and then authorize paying for next step of the make-ready.
Board voted all in favor to authorize Town Hall to release payments (checks) when Verizon acknowledges receipt of applications. There was discussion about selling “dark fiber” to another operator, and about the need for a financial manager with broadband experience. There is no budget for such staff support currently, but the need is great. That process is getting started. Stan described the process of providing generators for the huts.
5:05 PM Board members joined Advisory Board in large room to hear presentation by Fieldstone Farm Working Group. It was noted that a public hearing on the Special Town Meeting article for the F.F. project was coming up. The Advisory Board had forwarded a list of questions and the F.F. Group discussed the answers as they went through a PowerPoint presentation.
It was reported that the town currently receives about $300,000 total revenue of PILOT from conservation lands, and that the F.F. would not add to that, although the farm currently pays about $14,000 annually in R.E. tax and is not in Chapter 61. The group went into detail about the option-to-buy, which is held by MassAudubon, who will also provide bridge financing to cover monies that come in later (grants, pledges, sales etc.) than the June 30, 2016 deadline for purchase. There was discussion about the difference between the $3 million sale price and the $2,740,000 “appraised” value. This was further questioned by the town’s tax assessment value which is less than $800,000. George Handy from the Adv. Bd. Insisted that the
town’s assessed values are intended to reflect actual market value, and he felt they do that on most other properties in town.
The Advisory Board discussed Chapter 70 funds and also received an update from Stan on the status of the Broadband project.
Edith left the meeting at 8 PM.
8:15 PM Board voted all in favor to adjourn
Respectfully submitted, Marie N. Auger, administrative assistant
Marie Auger
Administrative Assistant
Planning Department
978-464-2100
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