MINUTES
BOARD OF SELECTMEN
January 9, 2007
Present at the meeting that was held at the Town Building were Chairman Janet Wheeler and Selectmen Stephen Dungan, Carole Makary, and Jason Robart.
Selectman Thomas Ruggiero was absent.
Also present were Town Administrator William Wrigley and Administrative Assistant Susan McLaughlin.
Chairman Wheeler called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.
Public Input
Resident Daisy Dearborn addressed the Board to remind the Board that while her friend and resident George Dargaty was fading (with ill health), Ms. Dearborn was well and she intended to continue speaking out on issues of concern. She handed out a quote on the importance of attitude that a friend had given to her years ago. She said it has been a great help to her and she hoped the Board would find it useful.
Town Administrator’s Report
Mr. Wrigley reported on the following topics:
· On January 19, the Appeals Court will hear oral arguments on the Cushing 120-day matter, after which a written decision will be issued. This could take from six months to over one year. If the court supports the Town’s position, the matter will be remanded to Land Court.
· Following three days of depositions in January, the MCAD labor arbitrator will now decide if the Town had just cause to terminate former employee John Egan. If the court finds in favor of Mr. Egan, the Town will need to negotiate a settlement.
· Mr. Dungan and Mr. Wrigley, as members of the Town Administrator’s Lower Village study group, will leave tonight’s meeting to discuss possible Lower Village water sources located on conservation land with the Conservation Commission. The study group’s goal is to hand a list of sources and other research to private developers for further investigation and follow-up. The group has met with two property owners, who will be liaisons to the Town. One business owner has already received a DEP compliance order, and the working group hopes to persuade DEP to suspend enforcement while a solution is being found.
· Mr. Wrigley recommends adding a new category to the selectmen’s agendas called “Selectmen’s Master Planning,” to provide a structure within which to address long-range planning within the existing meeting schedule. It was added to tonight’s agenda as a placeholder.
· The Police building has a serious mold problem, due to an equipment failure last summer. The Chief is working on remediation with the Health Agent, Building Inspector, and consultants provided by the Town’s insurer. The expense exceeds our insurance coverage and will require a transfer from the Reserve Fund.
Meeting Minutes
The chairman postponed review of the minutes.
Town Meeting Warrant
Mr. Dungan moved to open the Annual Town Meeting warrant on January 9 and close the warrant on March 16; Ms. Makary seconded, and all voted in favor.
Municipal Land Decision
Mr. Dungan asked that the Board review the remaining criteria on their evaluation grid for municipal land banking, based on engineer Sue Sullivan’s report on the Sweeney land on West Acton Road, complete the evaluation process for the Snow and Sweeney land, and decide the next steps.
The remaining criteria to be applied to the properties concerned ease of development, access, and permitting. The Board completed the rating process, with higher points indicating higher value. The resulting scores were 11 for the Sweeney property and 14 for the Snow property, with Sweeney lower on ease of development and access.
Mr. Wrigley advised the Board to vote on pursuing the Snow property for purchase, allowing Town Counsel to contact the property owner. Town Meeting would need enough evidence to vote whether to purchase, but it need not be a Purchase-and-Sale agreement. Per MGL, the Town must pay fair market value for the land, which would require an appraisal.
Ms. Makary moved to authorize Town Counsel to engage in due diligence with the Snow property owners; Mr. Dungan seconded. Mr. Dungan, Ms. Makary, and Ms. Wheeler voted in favor; Mr. Robart was opposed. The motion carried.
Mr. Wrigley will request Mr. Witten to inform the Snow’s legal counsel of the decision.
Selectmen’s Mediation
Mr. Robart reported that Tad Mayer, the MWI facilitator employed by the Board, sent his recommendations this afternoon, having completed phone interviews with the Board members, Mr. Wrigley, Ms. McLaughlin, and Town Clerk Linda Hathaway.
Mr. Robart read the recommendation, which included:
· The process would be two mediation sessions and one facilitation session. One of the mediation sessions would involve Ms. Makary, Ms. Wheeler, Mr. Wrigley, and Ms. McLaughlin, a second session would involve the five Board members. A follow-up facilitation session would involve the five Board members and two employees listed above, as well as the Town Clerk.
· The facilitator said he found a number of interpersonal dispute as well as structural or procedural disagreements, and the lack of resolution to the 2005 grievance was a central issue.
Mr. Wrigley said that he, Town Counsel, and the District Attorney’s Office agree that the Open Meeting Law would be in effect for the mediation process.
After discussion, it was agreed that the Board would not decide on the MWI proposal until everyone had reviewed it and understood the impact of the Open Meeting Law.
School Building Task Force
Chairman Ellen Sturgis presented her monthly update of the group’s activities. Outreach continues with conversations with residents on the task force’s activities, as well as a town-wide mailing, newspaper articles, and Q&A broadcasts on Stow TV.
The architects are using the task force’s criteria to create options, which will be narrowed down to two options for Town Meeting. They are also doing due diligence on the Hale School, to answer questions at Town Meeting. The task force is interested in the Snow property and the Board of Selectmen’s decision on whether to purchase.
There are new enrollment figures from NESDEC, the source for enrollment projections. NESDEC projects 600 students with no accelerated growth; the task force is using 660. Other points noted were that the earlier School Building Committee used an enrollment projection of 722 and had an accelerated growth factor, too. Today, Massachusetts is one of two states losing population. The question is movement within the state.
The task force requested a Joint Boards meeting before Town Meeting and a designated night at Town Meeting for the school building proposals.
Selectmen’s Capital Requests
The Board voted to submit the Snow land purchase article to Capital Planning.
Mr. Dungan moved to submit a capital request for $1.6 million or any other amount for land acquisition in Fiscal Year 2008; Ms. Makary seconded.
The Board voted three to one in favor: Dungan, Makary, and Wheeler in favor; Robart opposed. The motion carried.
Selectmen’s Liaison Assignments
It was agreed that Mr. Ruggiero would be the liaison to Recreation and to the Recreation for Stow citizens’ group. Ms. Wheeler asked that Recreation for Stow visit the selectmen.
Selectmen’s Master Planning
No action for this meeting.
Liaison Reports
Ms. Makary reported that she had notes and handouts from the previous Tri-Town meeting and that the next meeting would be the first Wednesday in February.
Mr. Robart reported that in working on Human Resource policies, the Board is somewhat hampered in what it can do. Some policies are in the General Bylaws ands some in union contracts. There are not standard operating procedures across all departments and committees. He suggested a kick-off of creating standard operating procedures within the Office of the Board of Selectmen and recommended using a facilitator.
At 8:45 p.m., Ms. Makary moved to adjourn, Mr. Dungan seconded, and all voted in favor.
Respectfully submitted,
Susan McLaughlin
Administrative Assistant, Board of Selectmen
Approved as amended, March 27, 2007
| 
