MINUTES
BOARD OF SELECTMEN
April 26, 2005
Present at the meeting that was held at the Town Building were Chairman John Clayton and Selectmen Kathleen K. Farrell, Edward R. Perry Jr., and Janet Wheeler.
Also present were Town Administrator William Wrigley and Administrative Assistant Susan Flint Hosier. Carole Makary was absent.
Chairman Clayton called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.
Town Administrator’s Activity Report
Mr. Wrigley said that he, Chief Mark Trefry, and Chairman Clayton recommend that the Board approve a promotion for Officer Timothy Lima to fill the vacant Sergeant position for the department. In making his recommendation, Chief Trefry’s letter stated that Officer Lima has 18 years with the Stow Police and has the experience, education, and all the qualities of being a leader.
Mr. Perry so moved, Ms. Farrell seconded, and all voted in favor of Tim Lima’s promotion to sergeant. The promotion is effective immediately.
Mr. Wrigley noted that the FY06 police union (Local 206) contract would be discussed in Executive Session later in the meeting.
Registrar of Voters Appointment
The Board appointed Pam Weathers of West Acton Road to the vacant Registrar of Voters position for which she had applied. Ms. Farrell moved, Mr. Perry seconded, and all voted in favor of the appointment.
Candidate’s Night
The League of Women Voters had requested a Board representative for their upcoming Candidate’s Night to answer questions from voters. Mr. Perry volunteered to attend for the Board.
Special Beer and Wine License Approval
The Air Field Café requested two one-day liquor licenses for Mother’s Day and Father’s Day. Mr. Perry moved to approve the licenses, Ms. Farrell seconded, and all voted in favor.
Call Firefighter/EMT Appointment
Fire Chief David Soar recommended that the Board appoint Raymond Hegerty to the position of call firefighter/EMT for the Stow Fire/Rescue Department. Mr. Hegerty, who is certified as an EMT/Firefighter II, recently returned from a tour of duty in Iraq.
Mr. Perry moved to appoint Mr. Hegerty to a call firefighter/EMT position, Ms. Farrell seconded, and all voted in favor.
Website Update
The Board discussed website status and issues based on Ms. Wheeler’s notes on an April 21 meeting with Linda Hathaway and Susan Flint Hosier. Decisions were to list only government links and to accept only website-specific comments. Department and committee coverage will be done with 10 licenses; Ms. Hathaway and Flint Hosier are covering an additional 12 and 13 committees, respectively. Ms. Wheeler will contact other towns regarding their workflow management.
Two action items were proposed: to define expectations for posting agendas and minutes for all departments and to establish responsibility for oversight of the website. For the first item, Ms. Wheeler said that approved minutes could be posted within two to three days; another member suggested asking the departments and boards what they felt they could manage. Regarding the second item, Mr. Wrigley advised to define deliverables first, followed by oversight responsibility. Mr. Perry and Ms. Wheeler will work on this. Ms. Wheeler said that a place for volunteers to assist is the website.
Town Meeting Procedure Proposal from Resident
The Board discussed a letter from Bill Joss of Taylor Road containing two recommendations regarding Town Meeting votes on the Nashoba Regional school district annual budget. One proposal was that acceptance of the school budget be based on the sum of votes in the three towns, as opposed to one vote for each town, that is, popular votes vs. “electoral college” votes.
Mr. Joss said that Stow has more than one third of the school costs and more than one third of the public interest (citing Bolton’s and Lancaster’s 5-percent voter turnout) but only one third of the vote. He felt the Board of Selectmen was the place to begin with his recommendations.
The Board and Mr. Wrigley discussed the Mass General Law and Town bylaw regarding changes to the regional agreement. In response to the question of holding Stow Town Meeting on the same night as the other two towns, Mr. Wrigley advised that the first Monday in May is specified in the Town Charter, so that can be easily done. However, history has not shown that holding the meeting on the same night makes a difference in the outcome, and the advantage of holding it later is that more budgetary information is available. The decision was that this is a Tri-Town issue and members agreed that the Stow Board would bring it to Tri-Town for discussion.
The second proposal was to create a process to expedite secret ballots at Town Meeting, to save the step of everyone re-registering. . The Town Clerk advised that re-registration is a necessary step to prevent unregistered voters from getting in. The Board thanked Mr. Joss for his recommendations and agreed to take them under advisement.
Recognition of Municipal Clerk’s Week
The Board presented Town Clerk Linda Hathaway with a special proclamation recognizing the accomplishment of the Office of the Municipal Clerk and celebrating Municipal Clerk’s Week, May 1 to 7, 2005. Chairman Clayton extended the Board’s appreciation to Ms. Hathaway and all municipal clerks for their service and dedication.
At 8:55 p.m., Mr. Perry moved, Ms. Farrell seconded, and all voted by roll-call vote to enter Executive Session, as provided by MGL Chapter 39, Section 23B (2), for the purpose of discussing union contract negotiations, and to immediately adjourn following a return to Open Session.
At 9:12 p.m., the Board voted by roll-call vote to adjourn from Executive Session and re-enter Open Session. From Open session, the Board voted unanimously to adjourn.
Respectfully submitted,
Susan Flint Hosier
Administrative Assistant
Board of Selectmen
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