MINUTES
BOARD OF SELECTMEN
March 13, 2007
Present at the meeting that was held at the Town Building were Chairman Steve Dungan and Selectmen Carole Makary, Jason Robart, Thomas Ruggiero, and Janet Wheeler.
Also present were Town Administrator William Wrigley and Administrative Assistant Susan McLaughlin.
Chairman Dungan called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.
Public Input
None.
Town Administrator's Report
Mr. Wrigley reported on recent updates to his FY08 Department Requests budget, providing a more accurate forecast. These include:
· Revenue: a more accurate forecast now that the House 1 budget is available.
· Expenditures: Approved budgets from the Nashoba and Minuteman school districts, plus minor adjustments.
Mr. Wrigley said the earlier deficit of $331k had been reduced to $87k. He will present his FY08 Budget Recommendation to the Selectmen on March 27, at which time he will have balanced the budget by cuts to the operating budget and to the Raise and Appropriate special article requests.
Meeting Minutes
None.
Liaison Reports
Ms. Makary updated the Board on the prior night's School Building Task Force public forum, saying that the task force will narrow the building options from three to two later this week. Two options will be presented to Town Meeting in May.
Public Hearing on Unregistered Vehicles at 136 Old Bolton Road
At 7:15 p.m., Chairman Dungan opened the public hearing, duly posted, to hear a request for a special permit regarding General Bylaw Article 6, Section 23, Unregistered Motor Vehicles. Mr. Frank Veracka of 136 Bolton Road, in the process of removing unregistered vehicles from his property, asked the Board for an extension of the 10/29/06 deadline in order to complete his compliance.
In response to Mr. Dungan's invitation for input, Mr. Veracka asked for an extension of the deadline to the end of May. In his earlier written request, he petitioned the Board for an extension, citing weather conditions and his illness. He stated that in his efforts to comply with the bylaw, he previously had 13 unregistered vehicles and had disposed of all but four. The remaining vehicles are a school bus, a van, a square truck, and a pick-up truck. He must have the vehicles dismantled to remove them. The ground condition in spring makes this difficult. He noted he has been at his home for 50 years.
There were no comments from the public.
Regarding the length of time between the Town's notification of the bylaw violation in September and the present, Mr: Veracka explained he was in the hospital with a heart condition. Following discussion of the length of the extension, Mr. Robart moved to extend the time to May 31; Mr. Ruggiero seconded.
During discussion, it was proposed that the permit specifically state that the school bus must be one of the vehicles removed. It was then noted that the bylaw does not allow the Town to specify which vehicles much be removed. It states that no more than one unregistered vehicle may be kept on the property, the exceptions being vehicles in enclosed buildings or license holders for Class II/ Used Vehicle Sales. Mr. Veracka noted he previously held a Class II license.
Following discussion, Mr. Robart moved to reconsider the present motion; Mr. Ruggiero seconded; and all voted in favor.
Mr. Robart then moved to grant Mr. Veracka a special permit through the end of May 2007 to come into full compliance with General Bylaw Article 6, Section 23; Ms. Makary seconded; and all voted in favor.
Mr. Wrigley said he would send a letter to Mr. Veracka, confirming the decision.
Joint Finance and Selectmen's Meeting with Minuteman Regional on FY08 Budget
Superintendent Bill Callahan, Asst Superintendent Tom Markham, and Stow Committee Representative Alice Deluca joined the Finance Committee and Selectmen to review the upcoming Minuteman budget and town assessments.
It was noted that the three formed a veteran group. Mr. Callahan was retiring after 33 years with the School. Ms. Deluca had volunteered her service on the School Committee for 10 years, and Mr. Markham is a nine-year employee.
Mr. Callahan said the FY08 operating budget of $16.8M represents a 3.8-percent increase over FY07. Factors include increasing expenses in transportation, health benefits, and heating; $250k is for capital improvements to the infrastructures of vocational shops and information technology. Following a drop in enrollment of roughly 50 students this year, the school voted to invest in a new position, Admissions Counselor, to reverse the downward trend.
As to capital expenses, the superintendent said the physical facilities are now 34 to 35 years old and need an evaluation. A six-month needs assessment is scheduled and will determine how to bring the facilities up to condition over the next 18 to 30 months.
Mr. Markham presented the Minuteman assessment to Stow for FY08, as well as how assessments are calculated for the 16-member school district.
Stow's FY08 assessment decreased from FY07 by $16,798 to $954,573.
Appointment to the Council on Aging
The applicant had withdrawn her application, citing business reasons. The appointment was canceled.
General Bylaw Review Committee Recommendations for Five-year Update
General Bylaw review Committee chairman Kathleen Pavelchek explained that the Town Charter requires a review of the General Bylaws every five years. She and her committee members were appointed in January 2005 and have been meeting every two weeks to work on the project. They have collected input from most departments and boards (all that would respond) and have held the required public hearing. She noted that any group can propose a bylaw change at any time. This five-year review is to ensure that they are reviewed regularly.
Mr. Dungan moved to accept the recommendations in the report of the General Bylaw Review Committee, dated March 9, 2007; Ms. Makary seconded, and all voted in favor.
Ms. Pavelcheck said the plan is to request Annual Town Meeting to accept the changes.
Selectmen's Warrant Articles for Annual Town Meeting
Board members discussed the current Recreation for Stow group proposal and that they were looking at both Pine Bluffs and the Snow property. The question was raised as to whether the Snow property could be used for recreation purposes.
The group is creating a Master Recreation Plan, funded by $5.0k from Community Preservation and $5.0k from other sources. At present, the group has a general warrant article with no dollar amounts. Mr. Wrigley said that Bond Counsel will need the specific purpose and use for the borrowing articles.
As to whether to invite the RFS and Recreation Commission in now for a visit, there was agreement to wait until RFS has the Master Plan done.
The Board agreed to submit all of its articles for the warrant.
Selectmen's Master Planning.
It was reported that the Master Plan Committee would like to wait until the plan has been reviewed by the Planning Board before presenting it to the Selectmen. Ms. Wheeler will resolve this at the Master Plan meeting on Thursday.
At 8:45 p.m., Ms. Wheeler moved to adjourn, Ms. Makary seconded, and all voted in favor.
Respectfully submitted,
Susan McLaughlin
Administrative Assistant, Board of Selectmen
Approved as written, May 1, 2007
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