MINUTES
BOARD OF SELECTMEN
June 27, 2006
Present at the meeting that was held at the Town Building were Chairman Janet Wheeler and Selectmen Stephen Dungan and Thomas Ruggiero.
Carole Makary and Jason Robart were absent.
Also present was Administrative Assistant Susan McLaughlin. Town Administrator William Wrigley was absent.
Chairman Wheeler called the meeting to order at 7:05 p.m.
Public Comments – none.
Treasurer/Collector - Bond Anticipation Note
Treasurer/Collector Pam Landry brought, for the Board’s signature, a one-year renewal of $605,000 BAN for borrowing on the Town’s newest fire truck and remaining Pompo/Center renovations.
Mr. Dungan moved to sign the renewal of the BAN for the fire truck and Pompo/Center renovations; Mr. Ruggiero seconded, and all voted in favor. The Board members, Treasurer/Collector, and Town Clerk signed the documents.
Public Employees Local 1156 Contract
Board members signed a renewed contract and memorandum of agreement for Local 1156, as previously discussed and voted for acceptance at the Board’s June 13 Executive Session on labor contract negotiations.
Meeting Minutes
June 13, 2006 Open Session: Mr. Dungan moved, Mr. Ruggiero seconded, and all voted to accept the minutes as amended. Ms. Wheeler was absent from the June 13 meeting and abstained.
Joint appointment of NRSD Audit Advisory Committee Stow representative
The Finance Committee joined the Board to vote jointly on the appointment of James Medeiros to the NRSD Audit Advisory Committee, representing Stow. The vote of both committees, as a single body, was held to conform to procedure for joint appointments and confirmed prior votes taken by the committees independently.
Mr. Dungan moved to jointly appoint James Medeiros to the NRSD Audit Advisory Committee, Mr. Ruggiero seconded, and all voted in favor: Selectmen Dungan, Ruggiero, and Wheeler and Finance members Glauner, Hagopian, Heron, Kern, and Walrath.
Mr. Ruggiero offered a public apology to the Finance Committee for keeping the members waiting so long at the last meeting (due to the overrun of a public hearing); Finance Chairman Patti Heron, in turn, expressed her appreciation for his comments.
Meeting Minutes, continued
June 13, 2006 Executive Session: Mr. Dungan moved to accept the minutes, as written, Mr. Ruggiero seconded, and all voted in favor. Ms. Wheeler was absent from the June 13 meeting and abstained. The minutes will be made public records when contract negotiations are complete.
Town Administrator’s Report
Town Administrator William Wrigley was on vacation so Ms. Wheeler briefly summarized his activities report for the Board. The main topics were the labor contract agreement and land banking/RFP proposal.
Annual Appointments
The Board made its annual July 1 appointments, the positions having been duly posted. Mr. Dungan moved that the Board approve the appointments detailed in the appointment list dated June 27, 2006, which Mr. Dungan then read aloud; Mr. Ruggiero seconded, and all voted in favor.
The appointments are as follows:
Assabet River Trail Committee Representative (annual from July 1)
Donald B. Rising
Cemetery Committee (3 years from July 1)
Roberta Boylen (2006)
Conservation Commission (3 years from July 1)
Rebecca Mattison (2006)
Emergency Management Officer (annual from July 1)
David B. Soar (Fire Chief)
Historical Commission (3 years from July 1)
Karen Gray (2006)
Housing Partnership (3 years from July 1)
Margie Lynch (2006)
Patricia Settles (2006)
Hudson Light and Power Board, Stow Advisory Member (annual from July 1)
Edward Brown
Local Access Cable Advisory Committee (2 years from July 1)
James Parr (2006)
Robert Glorioso (2006)
Leonard Golder (2006)
Police Matrons (annual from July 1)
Rachel R. Belanger
Deborah L. Richardson
Darlene D. Trefry
Police Officers, Auxiliary (annual from July 1)
Enrico F. Maldari
Timothy Neufell
Jeremy G. Trefry
Police Officers, Special (annual from July 1)
Robert E. Blanton
Jonathan Butler
John Connors
John Fantasia
James F. Finneran
Lee Heron
Sherry J. Morton
Tracy Thibaudeau
Recreation Commission (annual from July 1)
Michael Busch
Christine P. Way
Corinne B. Green
Mark S. Pieper
Superintendent of Streets (annual from July 1)
Michael E. Clayton
Superintendent of Streets, Assistant (annual from July 1)
Bruce E. Fletcher
Tree Warden (annual from July 1, per Charter)
Bruce E. Fletcher
Trustees, Randall Relief Fund (3 years from July 1)
Louise E. Peacock (2006)
Trustees, Randall Town Fund (3 years from July 1)
Louise E. Peacock (2006)
Veterans' Services Officer (annual from July 1)
Donald Hawkes
Veterans' Graves Committee (annual from July 1)
Jeffrey J. Lance
Francis R. Milak
George A. Veracka
Appointment to Recreation Commission
Resident John Sangermano joined the Board to discuss his interest in membership on the Recreation Commission, where a seat had been vacated by now-Selectman Ruggiero. Mr. Sangermano previously served for many years on the Conservation Commission and currently helps manage the Town’s recreation land. In that regard, he said he had contacted the state’s Ethics Commission in order to satisfy the Conflict-of-Interest regulations, because he is paid for his work on the land. He said he will follow the procedures to meet the regulations.
Ms. Wheeler moved to appoint Mr. Sangermano to the Recreation Commission, Mr. Dungan seconded, and all voted in favor.
Appointment to Local Access Channel Advisory Committee
Resident Lisa Lavina met with the Board to express her interest in a position on the Local Access Advisory Channel Committee, which operates Stow TV. Ms. Lavina has been an associate member of LALAC meetings since March and is a 15-year employee of WGBH. She said the local TV channel helps people stay in touch with town events and wants to help keep it going.
Mr. Dungan moved to appoint Ms. Lavina to a two-year term on LALAC, Ms. Wheeler seconded, and all voted in favor.
Municipal Land Bank RFP/Land Banking
Mr. Dungan updated the Board on activities since the June 13 meeting, when it was agreed that Mr. Dungan and Mr. Robart would meet with Town Administrator Wrigley to work out the details of the evaluation strategy for the proposals. Prior to their June 20 meeting, Mr. Wrigley asked Town Counsel Witten to review the applications received by the Town and determine whether they met the minimum requirements of the RFP. He found that two of the three did not meet the minimum requirements and the third was not a valid submission.
The selectmen and Mr. Wrigley agreed with Mr. Witten, deciding that further evaluation of the current proposals was unnecessary. They went on to discuss the difficulties inherent in writing a land banking RFP: land banking does not stipulate a specific use for the land; by nature, it is generic. The procurement regulations, on the other hand, require that evaluation criteria be specific. There is a conflict between having requirements open ended enough for flexible use of properties but specific enough to be quantifiable.
Mr. Dungan said if the Board decides to re-issue a municipal land bank RFP, the group agreed it should be done in close concert with Town Counsel, and used as an opportunity to better define the criteria. Lastly, he noted the larger question of whether a majority of the present Board was in favor of the concept of land banking, the prior board being split 3-2.
Mr. Dungan asked Town Counsel about the process of feedback to the applicants and whether re-submission is required. He read from a memo from Mr. Witten, which stated that the Town could inform the applicants as to where their submissions fell short and invite them to reapply.
He recommended to the Board that they could vote to reject the two proposals but defer further discussion until meeting with Mr. Wrigley and Atty Witten, as well as having the other Board members part of the discussion.
Ms. Wheeler agreed, referring to a chart Town Counsel provided to help in evaluating to applications. Board members had an extended discussion on the next steps, a main question being whether a vote was needed and, if so, whether to vote to reject the applications at this meeting.
In response to questions from three members of the press, the Board members present agreed that Town Counsel’s memo to the Town Administrator was a public record and would be provided to the press; Administrative Assistant McLaughlin disagreed, stating that it was confidential attorney-client communication.
Ms. Wheeler summarized the actions to be taken: she would phone the applicants to say that Town Counsel advised rejecting their applications, to be followed up with a written statement.
Mr. Ruggiero moved to reject the applications of Mr. Snow and Mr. Glover because they did not meet the minimum requirements of the April 12, 2006 RFP; Mr. Dungan seconded, and all voted in favor.
Liaison Reports
Ms. Wheeler said that she would like to move ahead with liaison appointments, even though Mr. Robart, who was not present, had requested that goals be determined in order to make the appropriate liaisons. Mr. Dungan noted that liaison appointments were not on the agenda. Ms. McLaughlin said that the intention was to let the goals determine where liaisons were needed. Ms. Wheeler and Mr. Ruggiero replied that liaisons were important to have in place regardless of the goals.
Ms. Wheeler then spoke at length about her view that communication was important and that liaisons would provide oversight of the town’s activities.
Goals would be discussed at the next meeting.
There were no liaison reports. Mr. Dungan said that he would be meeting with Lew Halprin and Anne VanTine on the issue of telephone companies offering TV services.
Correspondence
Ms. Wheeler noted the correspondence listed on the agenda: a DTE hearing, ccs of two letters from School Building Task Force members to the state, and a notice on Chapter 90 funds.
At 8: 15 p.m., Mr. Dungan moved to adjourn, Mr. Ruggiero seconded, and all voted in favor.
Respectfully submitted,
Susan McLaughlin
Administrative Assistant, Board of Selectmen
Approved as amended, July 11, 2006
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