MINUTES
BOARD OF SELECTMEN
February 14, 2006
Present at the meeting that was held at the Stow Town Building were Chairman Edward Perry and Selectmen John Clayton, Stephen Dungan, Carole Makary, and Janet Wheeler.
Also present was Administrative Assistant Susan Flint Hosier. Town Administrator William Wrigley was not present.
Chairman Perry called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.
Town Administrator’s Report
Mr. Perry referred to Mr. Wrigley’s activity report, updating the Board on two legal matters:
· a lawsuit between RLI, the bondholder for a subdivision developer, and the Town has been settled out of court.
· a pre-trial conference for the Cushing lawsuit is scheduled for March 1.
Union Church Earth Removal
In response to a request from the Union Church to permit earth removal resulting from a building project, and in consideration of a February 6, 2006 memo from the Building Commissioner and General Bylaw Article 6, s22(j), the Board approved the earth removal.
Mr. Clayton moved to authorize the Building Inspector to issue a building permit with the selectmen’s approval of earth removal; Mr. Dungan seconded, and all voted in favor.
Class II License Renewal
The Board signed a Class II Used Car 2006 license renewal for Artisan Automotive of 92 Great Road.
Agricultural Commission Appointments
The Board appointed the first members of the new Agricultural Commission approved, which Town Meeting voted to establish in December 2005. The five applicants for the five positions were Dwight Sipler of Small Farm, Kathy Steege of Red Acre Farm, Liz Painter of Shelburne Farm, Julie Martin-Sullivan of Honey Pot Hill Orchards, and Steve Mong of Applefield Farm.
The applicants were appointed to terms in the order in which their applications were received. Mr. Dungan moved and Ms Makary seconded the following appointments: Mr. Sipler and Ms. Steege to three-year terms, Ms. Painter and Ms. Martin-Sullivan to two-year terms, and Mr. Mong to a one-year term. All voted in favor. Subsequent terms will be for three years.
The Board also voted to designate Agricultural Commission members as Special Municipal Employees, on a motion from Mr. Clayton, seconded by Ms. Makary, with all voting in favor.
School Building Committee Interviews (jointly with Stow representatives of the NRSD School Committee)
Chairman Perry introduced the interview session with guidelines for appointment process. There would be no deliberations at this meeting or until all the applicants had been interviewed. Voting would be done at the conclusion of the interviews, with each board member voting to appoint seven or nine members (the final number to be determined in later discussion).
Mr. Clayton had informed the Board that he chose not to participate Task Force appointments, due to his upcoming time away. He did not actively engage in the interviews.
The topic of advertising the position of facilitator for the task force was re-opened from a prior meeting. There was agreement 1) the position would be posted and 2) anyone from the present group of applicants could combine their interview for the facilitator with their scheduled interview for committee membership.
The interview process was for candidates to confirm their support for the new task force’s objective and to respond to a series of questions:
The stated objective is: To collaborate and develop a consensus on two or more building and/or renovation options for Grades PreK-5 and present them, with cost estimates at the May 2006 Annual Town Meeting or as soon as possible thereafter.
The questions asked were:
· Why do you want to serve?
· What skills and experience do you bring?
· Do you have pre-conceived notions or ideas and are you tied closely to them?
· Are you prepared to devote the necessary time?
· Do you plan to be away during the term of appointment (through May 2007 Annual Town Meeting)?
In addition to the questions above, some Board members asked specific questions of some applicants.
Six of the 21 applicants met with the joint boards during the meeting, all of whom are Stow residents and registered voters. The applicants interviewed in the following order: Gary Bernklow of Hudson Road, Lisa D’Alessio of Robert Road, William Byron of Gleasondale Road, Rob Kaufman of Whitney Road, James Seatter of Robert Road, and Stephen Quinn of Whitman Street.
During his interview, Rob Kaufman described how the facilitator might serve the committee, a position he would like to fill. He explained the conflict-resolution process he would use to reach the desired goal, based on his analysis of the Town Meeting videotapes.
Following the interviews, it was agreed that the new committee would be named the School Building Task Force, to distinguish it from its predecessor. Task Force members were designated as Special Municipal Employees, on a motion from Mr. Dungan, seconded by Ms. Wheeler, and with all in favor.
Report on Snow Property Investigation
The Board received a report on the Snow property on Old Bolton Road, dated Feb 13, 2006, from three residents: Eric Bachtell, chair of the Housing Partnership, John Sangermano, and Jim Wheeler, joined by Selectman Dungan. The report was based on walking the land on Feb 7 and reviewing maps and soil information.
The land was described as flat and rectangular with good soil. Mr. Bachtell said the owner had not been spoken to but that the market price was $1.25M, while the property was assessed at $355.0K because of the frontage. Mr. Dungan said that, according to the Town Treasurer, borrowing for the purchase for 20 years at 5 percent would mean a $37- to $39-increase in annual property taxes for a $434,100 home. Mr. Perry noted that the property is in the Water Resource Protection District, which could affect its use. Kathy Sferra, chair of the Conservation Commission, said from the audience that the commission has been contacted by the state regarding agricultural preservation.
Land Banking Discussion and Municipal Land Requests for Proposals
Following the Snow property report, Mr. Dungan asked the Board to vote to support land banking. Ms. Makary so moved, seconded by Ms. Wheeler. During discussion, Chairman Perry said there were two points to decide: whether the Board was in favor of land banking and whether to do an RFP for this property.
The Board was divided over support for land banking. One position was that that property is hard to acquire when needed and should be purchased when available. The other position was that the town could not afford the luxury of buying land to hold for future use and that there are no identified needs for municipal land at present.
Ms. Makary moved to support land banking as a planning tool; Mr. Dungan seconded. Mr. Dungan, Ms. Makary, and Ms. Wheeler voted in support; Mr. Clayton and Mr. Perry were opposed. The motion carried three to two.
Regarding a municipal land RFP, Mr. Dungan will work with the Town Administrator and, through him with Town Counsel, to answer questions on how to create a land banking RFP.
At 9:20 p.m., Ms. Makary moved to adjourn, Mr. Dungan seconded, and all voted in favor.
Respectfully submitted,
Susan Flint Hosier
Administrative Assistant
Board of Selectmen
Approved as written, February 28, 2006
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