MINUTES
BOARD OF SELECTMEN
July 26, 2005
Present at the meeting that was held at the Stow Town Building were Chairman Edward R. Perry Jr. and Selectmen Stephen Dungan, Carole Makary, and Janet Wheeler.
Also present were Town Administrator William Wrigley and Administrative Assistant Susan Flint Hosier. Selectman John Clayton was absent.
Chairman Perry called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. He explained that the meeting would be videotaped as another test of the recording equipment and meetings could be ready for broadcast in the August timeframe.
Town Administrator’s Report
Mr. Wrigley reported on the status of two burned-out houses: one on Crescent Street at the Center and one on Gleasondale Road near the Hudson town line, in response to questions from the previous meeting. According to Building Commissioner Rich Roggeveen, both houses have now obtained demolition permits and plan to rebuild on the site. The Fire Department has permission from the Crescent Street homeowner to use that building for training exercises before it is demolished.
After evaluating 12 applicants for the open position of Assistant Treasurer/Collector, Mr. Wrigley and Treasurer/Collector Pam Landry requested the Board to appoint Donna Kunst to the position. Ms. Kunst, presently the Assistant Treasurer in Clinton, has extensive experience in finance, as well as the payroll system used by the Town.
Ms. Makary moved to appoint Ms. Kuntz to Assistant Treasurer/Collector, Mr. Dungan seconded, and all voted in favor. Pending the success of salary negotiations, Mr. Wrigley will make the job offer.
Mr. Wrigley said that Town Counsel Jon Witten confirmed that the Purchase & Sale Agreement on the Cushing/Chapter 61B land is a bona fide offer, noting that the 120-day right-of-first-refusal period will end on October 25. To determine if the offer represents fair market value for the property, past practice has been to start by comparing any existing commercial appraisals with the Assessors’ assessed value. John Bolton, chair of the Board of Assessors, is providing a Statement of Assessed Value which, combined with Ms. Cushing’s commercial appraisal, might give a close enough Fair Market Value for the property that the Town need not pay for another appraisal.
Town Counsel is also assisting the School Building Committee with its request for proposals on a new school. The deadline for submissions to the RFP is August 8.
A draft of a governance agreement for the Public Education and Government Advisory (PEG) Committee and Stow TV, created by Mr. Wrigley and outside counsel, is being reviewed by PEG members. Unless PEG has substantive changes, the Board will probably receive the revised draft by its next meeting.
Special Municipal Employee Designations
In response to a request from the state Ethics Commission, Town Clerk Hathaway and Ms. Hosier prepared an updated list of the Town’s Special Municipal Employee designations for the Board to vote. The “Special” designation has less stringent rules regarding the Conflict of Interest laws, so that municipalities can obtain needed expertise on committees and, in small towns like Stow, people can serve on multiple committees.
Ms. Makary moved, Mr. Dungan seconded, and all voted in favor of the following changes, as read at the meeting:
Additions
· Charter Review Committee (new)
· Election Workers
· General Bylaw Review Committee (new)
· Stow Housing Partnership (new)
· Municipal Land Use Committee (new)
Deletions
· Stow Municipal Electric Department (dissolved)
· SMED General Manager (dissolved)
· Stow Web Design Committee (dissolved)
· Televised Meeting Study Committee (dissolved)
Union Membership Request
The Board discussed a letter from the Mass Laborers’ District Council of the Laborer’ International, AFL-CIO, dated July 15, 2005, stating that the Board’s administrative assistant had requested union membership and asking the Town to answer the request. Mr. Wrigley answered general questions for the Board, after which the only remaining concern was whether making the position a union job might discourage potential future employees from accepting it.
It was decided to hold the request until the next meeting, so that a question on a school-district employee’s issue with union membership could be answered.
Joint Boards Date
The upcoming Joint Boards meeting on the Cushing property was rescheduled to August 3, with a possible follow-on meeting on August 10, following Mr. Dungan’s update on the property. See next section.
Cushing Ch 61B property
Mr. Dungan, liaison to and former chair of the School Building Committee, updated the Board on activities on the Cushing’s Walcott Street property, which is coming out of Chapter 61B status as recreation land. Approximately 10 people representing several Town boards walked the property, after which the Open Space Committee ranked the property relative to existing parcels of interest. Mr. Dungan said the SBC saw value in the land for mixed-use development.
Open Space Chair Bob Wilber, from the audience, said that the property took 12th place of the 16 properties on the committee’s list. While it has significant value as open space, it is not high enough at the $1.6M price for open space alone. The Open Space Committee proposes that all interested committees work together on the analysis to take advantage of economies of scale. Mr. Wilber, who also chairs the Community Preservation Committee, said CPC has interest in mixed use of the land. Chris Way, co-chair of the School Building Committee, reported that the SBC saw potential as a school site but needed expert advice in evaluating the land and had money budgeted that could be applied to this parcel.
Special Town Meeting Warrant Open and Close
The Board discussed the scheduling issue of October 25 being the 120-day deadline, while the Special Town Meeting was presently scheduled for November 7. Mr. Wrigley agreed to consult Town Counsel on any flexibility the state might allow on the 120-day period. Ms. Cushing noted that her attorney is checking on the ramifications, possibly financial, of granting the Town an extension. The Board will plan for one STM and set the opening and closing dates of the warrant at the next meeting. If the deadline problem cannot be resolved, it was agreed that two Special Town Meetings could be held.
The first of two Joint Boards meetings will be held on August 3, with Ms. Wheeler chairing in Mr. Perry’s absence and Mr. Dungan as the Board’s representative and point person for the project.
Website Liaison Report
Ms. Wheeler said that she will be assigned a license seat in order to help maintain the site, adding that this is an opportunity for volunteers, too.
Master Plan Committee Liaison Report
Ms. Wheeler said that the master Plan is scheduled for completion in mid-August and will be ready for fall Town Meeting. In preparation, the committee will hold a series of resident forums. Also, related to the Cushing property, the committee is looking at all planned land use in the west part of town.
Crow Island/ Rail Trail Liaison Report
Mr. Perry reported that Assabet River Rail Trail member Don Rising reached an agreement with landowner Ron Albright to purchase an easement on 7,100 feet of Track Road for the trail. Most of the $146,667 purchase price ($130,000) will be paid, via reimbursement, by a 1998 TEA 21 federal grant. The remaining amount, the Town’s cost of $14,667, was approved by Article 44 at the 2004 Annual Town Meeting. Mr. Rising and Mr. Albright are currently negotiating an easement for a second section, 2,800 feet, of Mr. Albright’s land. With the Board’s approval, Mr. Perry signed a purchase offer for the easement, which was witnessed by the Town Clerk.
PEG Governance
This topic was covered in Mr. Wrigley’s report.
Approval of Minutes
The minutes of the April 26 open session were reviewed and amendments requested, but were then held, with the executive session, for a quorum at the next meeting.
For the minutes of the May 10 open session, Ms. Makary moved, Ms. Wheeler seconded, and all voted to accept, as amended. Mr. Dungan, who had not yet joined the Board on May 10, abstained.
For the minutes of the May 10 executive session, Ms. Makary moved, Ms. Wheeler seconded, and all voted to accept, as amended. Again, Mr. Dungan abstained.
At the chairman’s suggestion to release the May 10 executive session minutes to public records, Ms. Wheeler so moved, Ms. Makary seconded, and all voted in favor, with Mr. Dungan abstaining.
Additional Notes
A question was raised on whether work from the Town Administrator was impacting the Administrative Assistant’s work for the Board of Selectmen. The Town Administrator and the Administrative Assistant said no. The Chairman said that the Administrative Assistant was following the priorities he requested.
There was a brief discussion on how the Board would respond to a request from the Concerned Citizens to hold Annual Town Meeting on the same night as Bolton and Lancaster. Mr. Wrigley said that the Board need take no action because, by Charter, Stow’s Town Meeting is held on the first Monday in May – the same day as the other towns. In the past, he has asked the Board to set a later date, a request he does not plan to make next year.
Action Items were not discussed.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:35 p.m., with all voting in favor.
Respectfully submitted,
Susan Flint Hosier
Administrative Assistant
Board of Selectmen
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