BOARD OF SELECTMEN

MINUTES

OCTOBER 2, 2006

Present:          Arnold Wilson, Chairman

Ted Goodwin

William Emrich

Steven Halterman

James Malloy, Town Administrator

The Chairman called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. following the Pledge of Allegiance.

A.Wilson announced that the Quinebaug-Shetucket Walking Weekends will take place on Oct. 6-9 and Oct. 13-15, and brochures with further information are available.

A.Wilson announced that MMA is sponsoring a fall conference for Selectmen on October 14th in Millis.

Approval of Minutes

MOTION:       To accept the minutes of September 5, 2006 as corrected, by S. Halterman.

2nd:     W. Emrich

Vote:  All in favor.

MOTION:       To accept the minutes of September 11, 2006 as written, by S. Halterman.

2nd:     T. Goodwin

Vote:  All in favor.

MOTION:       To accept the minutes of September 18, 2006 as modified, by S. Halterman.

2nd:     W. Emrich

Vote:  All in favor.

MOTION:       To accept the executive session minutes of September 18, 2006, to remain confidential, by W. Emrich.

2nd:     T. Goodwin

Vote:  All in favor.

Preservation of Historic Documents

MOTION:       To award the bid for the preservation of Town Meeting records from 1866-1945 to Robert Arnold in the amount of $40,000, by W. Emrich.

2nd:     S. Halterman

Vote:  All in favor.

Proposed Amendments to 603 CMR 41.00

J. Malloy informed the Board that this proposal seeks to codify the informal interpretation of Ch. 70 regarding regional school districts that the Dept. of Education formally imposed on the Tantasqua District, and is part of the subject of the Town’s litigation against the Commonwealth.  The comment period runs through October 27, 2006.  J. Malloy asked the Board for their thoughts on any subjects that should be incorporated into the comments, prior to submitting the comments to the Board of Education.

A.Wilson asked whether the Dept. of Education had imposed the rules on Tantasqua.  J. Malloy said that the DOE has stated that the statute requires the Town to use this formula, and said that he considers it to be “imposed.”  He said that he had sent Jeff Wulfson an email indicating that the matter of the outstanding litigation against the Commonwealth should be resolved prior to the Board of Education’s adoption of regulations that support the DOE’s position in the litigation.

Draft Permit for New Water Source

J. Malloy informed the Board that the draft permit for the new water source off Shattuck Road has been approved by the Mass. Dept. of Environmental Protection.  He forwarded copies of the draft permit to Tighe & Bond and Greg Morse, DPW Director for comment.  He will coordinate with Tighe & Bond and G. Morse next week and prepare appropriate comments based on the previous discussions that the Town has held with MADEP.

Senior Municipal Service Program

MOTION:       To approve the Senior Municipal Service Program for Ellen Speed working with the Finance Department, assisting with tax billing, by W. Emrich.

2nd:     T. Goodwin

Vote:  All in favor.

Water & Sewer Staffing Plans

J. Malloy submitted to the Board the staffing plans (copy on file) that the Board had requested for the Water and Sewer Departments.  Shane Moody, Operations Manager, will be at the Selectmen’s meeting on October 16th.

Snow Closing Policy

J. Malloy submitted to the Board a draft snow closing policy (copy on file).  Last year there had been some discussion about developing a formal policy on closing town buildings during snow storms, after J. Malloy had closed the Town Hall during a snow storm.  It was also listed on goals for the Town Administrator for 2006.

MOTION:       To approve the snow closing policy dated October 2, 2006, by W. Emrich.

2nd:     T. Goodwin

Vote:  All in favor.

40-Hour Work Week

J. Malloy submitted to the Board a spreadsheet (copy on file) showing the impact of putting all town employees on a schedule of 40 hours per week.  A.Wilson noted that it should include employees who work 35-37 hours/week, and not part-time employees.  J. Malloy said that he would recalculate it.

Public Lands Advisory Committee

Based upon J. Malloy’s initial recommendation for the creation of this committee and the Open Space brainstorming session held by the Board of Selectmen on September 11, 2006, he recommended the following regarding the formal creation of this committee:

To name the committee the Sturbridge Public Lands Advisory Committee, to avoid confusion with the Open Space Committee.  The mission statement for the Committee would be:  That the Town of Sturbridge, recognizing the importance and beauty of land in its natural state, the need for outdoor-based recreation, and the value of preserving the Town’s historic cultural qualities, is committed to the thoughtful planning and careful enhancement of its public lands for the enjoyment, education and heritage of the people of Sturbridge.  To provide for these goals, the Board of Selectmen charge the committee with the following:

Develop management plans, including forestry plans to provide for the best management practices and preservation of open space lands owned by the Town of Sturbridge.

Oversee and be responsible for revenues generated through forestry and/or other operations and expenditures which will be deposited in a revolving fund established for the purpose of managing town lands.

Trail planning, management and maintenance.

Development of public information.

Coordination of volunteers.

J. Malloy further recommended that the Committee consist of the following members, to be appointed by the Town Administrator:

One member of the Conservation Commission – The Conservation Commission has the responsibility for the land;  One member of the Board of Selectmen – Selectmen are the policy setting board for the Town;  One member of the Open Space Committee – To ensure that the use and management of the lands are consistent with open space planning; One member of the Historic Commission – Some of these lands have some historic significance, according to the Mass. Historic Commission), and any forest management plans should take this into consideration;  Three members of the public – To gain a wider perspective.

J. Malloy suggested that the Board consider placing a warrant article on the Town Meeting warrant for the next Town Meeting that would amend the Charter to include this as a permanent Committee, as the Town will always own these lands.

S. Halterman suggested adding “applying for and managing grants” to the list of responsibilities of the committee, and suggested having more members of the public represented on the committee.  T. Goodwin said that there should be a number of Open Space and Community Preservation Committee members on this committee, and four members of the general public.  S. Halterman recommended that J. Malloy send out a request for people to nominate or volunteer for membership.  J. Malloy suggested that the Board consider creating the committee, with the charge and the rest to be determined later.

MOTION:       To create a new committee called the Public Land Advisory Committee, to consist of seven members to be appointed by the Town Administrator, by S. Halterman.

2nd:     T. Goodwin

Vote:  All in favor.

13 Bates Hill Road

MOTION:       To amend the Reserved Sewer Flow listing to include 13 Bates Hill Road in the list of properties that may connect, subject to the payment of a sewer privilege fee of $7,500 as per the Town’s Sewer Bylaws, by W. Emrich.

2nd:     T. Goodwin

Vote:  All in favor.

Town Administrator’s Goals and Objectives – 2006

J. Malloy reviewed the list with the Board (copy on file).

1.                  Continue to provide recommendations, research and coordinate the issues related to the Tantasqua funding issue and work with Special Counsel regarding the lawsuit.

J. Malloy said that he worked with Special Counsel on the response to the motion and has kept abreast of all other matters involving the lawsuit.  He and Pat Costello of Merrick, Louison & Costello also reviewed a recent motion by the state on various counts in the litigation; P. Costello will draft a response for his review before submitting it to the court in the next 4-6 weeks.

2.                  Continue the pursuit of education funding equity.

J. Malloy has been serving on both the MMA Fiscal Policy Committee and the MMA Board of Directors for the past year, which has generated a more cohesive movement toward equitable funding for education than the Town working on its own.

3.                  Continue overseeing the development of a new water source and/or re-use of Well #1.

J. Malloy said that based upon his initiative and request to the MADEP to reactivate Well #1 without any pretreatment, MADEP has included the full use of Well #1 on the Town’s Water Withdrawal permit for the first time since the mid-1980s.  The Town spent this spring updating and making improvements to the pumping equipment at a minimal expense, and the well has been online since early Summer.

4.                  Coordinate the Selectmen’s efforts in the implementation of the Strategic Planning Report and Dialogue for the Future.

J. Malloy said that he had provided an updated status report regarding the Strategic Plan that was adopted the previous year with revised timelines and schedules.

5.                  Negotiate new police and fire contracts.

J. Malloy noted that the timing for completion of these negotiations is out of his control, as there was a long time lag as both the police and fire unions chose to change representation this past year.  A meeting has been set with the Police Union next week, and J. Malloy will discuss the set of proposals from the Fire Union with the Board, and will schedule a meeting with that union shortly thereafter.

6.                  Complete the revisions to the Traffic Regulations.

Revisions have been completed and adopted by the Board of Selectmen.

7.                  Keep the Town’s road management system updated.

J. Malloy informed the Board that this has been accomplished and was included as part of the FY07 budget.

8.                  Working with the DPW Director, oversee the design services for the Route 131 reconstruction project and keep it on track.

J. Malloy said that this is well underway and the plans have been developed by Parsons Engineering.

9.                  Coordinate and oversee the engineering efforts with MADEP and USEPA on updating and upgrading the Town’s wastewater treatment facility.

J. Malloy said that a presentation with Tighe & Bond has been scheduled for October 10th when they will present the findings from the Comprehensive Wastewater Management Plant and will provide recommendations to the Board.  He recommended that a Special Town Meeting be set in December to address this issue.

10.             Develop an “adopt-a-headstone” program for the Old Burial Ground.

J. Malloy said that he had developed a draft proposal for an “Adopt-A-Headstone” program for the Old Burial Ground.  The goal was to create a volunteer force that could be trained by the preservationists who had worked on the cemetery, to be coordinated through residents/businesses in town, adopting specific headstones that they would be responsible for cleaning on an annual clean-up day.

11.             Develop a “pre-town meeting” informational session to better inform town residents on town meeting issues.

J. Malloy said that this was developed in 2005 and repeated in 2006 for the Annual Town Meeting.  It provides the opportunity for the Town Moderator to explain how town meeting works, to explain the issues before Town Meeting, and to have informal discussions with residents.

12.             Review and develop a proposal to create a “Citizens’ Leadership Academy” with the goal of both educating residents and creating a pool of candidates that are knowledgeable and interested in town government to become future leaders and board/committee members.

J. Malloy sent this proposal to most town departments for their review, as they will be required to participate and help “teach” a course during the nine-week long program.  His intention is to finalize the guidelines and format once he receives comments back from the various departments, and to start the first class in early January 2007.

13.             Continue efforts on improving the Town’s Sewer Bylaws.

J. Malloy drafted a bylaw to address the various concerns from the Board regarding sewer expansion resulting in uncontrolled growth.

14.             Ensure collections of sewer privilege fees as agreed upon with developers and as part of the motions of the Board granting sewer extensions.

J. Malloy said that this was completed as per the votes of the Selectmen.

15.             Continue pursuit of improvements to Route 20 from I84 overpass to Route 49 as proposed by the Route 20 Study Committee.

J. Malloy said that this is on hold as Mass. Highway works on other projects.

16.             Continue pursuit of equity in real estate valuations between commercial, industrial and residential properties.

There have been numerous meetings with the Board of Assessors over the past year, and there continues to be a concern that residential properties and commercial properties are being valued on a different basis, creating an inequity.  J. Malloy noted that the Board of Assessors is an elected body, so there is only so much that he can do in the pursuit of equity in this matter.  He said that there is a maximum shift that can take place, and in a few years the Town will reach this maximum, at which time residential properties will begin to see fairly large tax increases, assuming that the current trend continues.

17.             Represent the Town during all Burgess union contract negotiations.

J. Malloy is representing the Town on the School Committee as a voting member, and also serving as a member of the negotiating team.

18.             Continue to provide information to the Board of Selectmen, Finance Committee and Burgess School Building Committee.

J. Malloy has provided comments to the School Building Authority on the proposed regulations.  The School Building Committee submitted a Notice of Intent to the School Building Authority, which was approved by the Board of Selectmen in June.

19.             Continue to pursue the purchase of open space, working with the Community Preservation Committee to achieve the goals set forth in the Open Space Plan.

In 2006 the Town acquired the Heins parcel and the OSV parcel, and both acquisitions proceeded without any problems.  J. Malloy has also worked on three other major acquisitions as discussed with the Board of Selectmen and Community Preservation Committee.

20.             Monitor improvements underway at the Public Safety Complex.

J. Malloy said that the roof has been replaced and the HVAC system improvements were put out to bid twice, with both results being higher than the remaining appropriation.  He will recommend an additional appropriation to complete the HVAC system improvements at the Special Town Meeting in December.

21.             Develop a policy dealing with emergency closing of Town offices, including the Library.

J. Malloy drafted a snow closing policy, which was approved by the Board of Selectmen.

22.             To investigate the ramifications of putting all Town employees on a schedule of 40 hours/week.

J. Malloy submitted a spreadsheet to the Board showing the impact of putting all town employees on a schedule of 40 hours per week.

23.             To continue to monitor the cleanup of the lands along the Quinebaug River, review funding sources and if authorized, negotiate for the acquisition of the lands along the river.

J. Malloy monitored the cleanup, mostly through the Conservation Agent, who has been receiving notifications from the MADEP.  Tighe & Bond got involved through their LSP and have provided updates to the Board in executive session, and have discussed with the Board and the Community Preservation Committee the potential for acquisition of these lands; and have met with the land owner and discussed the acquisition.

In addition to these goals, during 2006 the following was also accomplished:

Old Sturbridge Village Gateway Project

Updated the Sewer Service Area Report

Worked with the Town Engineer to update the estimated costs of renovating the Town Hall/Center School

Developed a comprehensive set of fiscal policies that blended the past informal policies of the Town with the other sound fiscal management practices, presented them to the Finance Committee and Board of Selectmen, and both boards now follow these polices (as amended), and the Town should be implementing some of the recommendations at the next Annual Town Meeting.

Ensured that all appropriate town staff met the NIMS requirements to ensure that the Town retained eligibility for federal grant funds for emergencies.

Researched the intermunicipal agreement with Southbridge and presented findings and recommendations to the Board of Selectmen in regard to the violation of the agreement in relation to fees charged by Southbridge for the sewer flow from Sturbridge, and coordinated the legal action that Sturbridge is taking against Southbridge to enforce the intermunicipal agreement.

Due to major staffing changes at Veolia, J. Malloy is conducting an analysis of bringing water and sewer operations back in-house after 17 years of contracting the operations services with EOS, Wheelabrator, US Filter, Vivendi and now Veolia (same company, different names).  He will present his findings and recommendations to the Board in the next 4-6 weeks.

J. Malloy said that when the Board of Health received the notice of violation for the recycling center, it initially came with a $55,000 penalty.  He worked with the Board of Health to have DEP reduce it to a $10,000 penalty, and also negotiated some of the requirements to be implemented by the Town to be more easily implemented.  DEP had wanted the Town to hire an engineering firm to rewrite the Operations and Maintenance Plan.  J. Malloy was able to get them to agree to let the Town do it in-house.

Miscellaneous

Litigation Status Update – J. Malloy informed the Board that this is being undertaken by Town Counsel at this time.

Cottone vs. Town of Sturbridge – Cottone (through Attorney Ed Neal) challenged the makeup of the Town’s Zoning Board of Appeals (as a 7-member body), claiming that a 4/5th vote is required to reverse the Building Inspector’s determination.  Town Counsel argued successfully on the Town’s behalf, and the Appeals Court rejected these challenges.

Woodside Circle Sewer Project

J. Malloy submitted to the Board the Sept. 29, 2006 letter from Tighe & Bond (copy on file) providing an estimate for extending the Woodside Circle Sewer Project to Westwood Drive.  He also submitted summary estimates (copy on file) of betterment assessments for this project and how it would look spread out over the 20-year assessment.  Calculations were done with and without USDA RD grant funds built into the estimates.

Woodside Circle Only (original project)     $25,000 per ERU

Woodside Circle w/USDA RD Funding     $16,985 per ERU

Woodside Circle + Westwood Drive          $27,841 per ERU

Woodside Circle + Westwood Drive

w/USDA RD Funding                                 $19,489 per ERU

Based upon these cost estimates and that Town Meeting has voted to fund the original project based on Woodside Circle only, J. Malloy recommended that the Selectmen schedule a meeting with the residents of Woodside Circle and Westwood Drive, discuss these figures and see whether there is support sufficient to base going forward with a larger project to a Special Town Meeting.  It was the consensus of the Board to schedule a meeting with the residents.

NPDES Permit

J. Malloy submitted to the Board the final National Pollution Discharge Elimination System permit for the Town’s wastewater treatment plant (copy on file) which is valid through November 30, 2011.  USEPA made two changes; the one substantive change was the phosphorus removal requirement was extended to four years into the permit period to provide the Town the opportunity to design, permit and build an update to the wastewater treatment plant to meet the new standard.  J. Malloy sought to extend the compliance period to seven years; the USEPA agree to four years.

Resignation

MOTION:       To accept the resignation of Joseph Overly as a full-time firefighter, but to keep him as an active member on the on-call list, by W. Emrich.

2nd:     T. Goodwin

Vote:  All in favor.

Old Business

S. Halterman commented that Kelly Kippenberger, Conservation Agent, had done a good job in her response to Tony Celuzza.

W. Emrich asked about the status of the meeting with Lynne Girouard regarding the formation of a Field Study Committee.  J. Malloy said that L. Girouard is working on a draft and putting together an advertisement on it.  He will meet with her later in the week to finalize it.

A.Wilson asked when J. Malloy was going to meet with the Building Committee regarding Town Hall and the Center School building.  J. Malloy said that he would meet with them later this month to focus on the debt exclusion vote.

New Business

S. Halterman said that he cannot attend the next MMA meeting.  J. Malloy said that the annual MMA conference will be held January 12th and 13th at the Marriott in Boston, and if any of the Board members were interested, there will be good sessions to attend and a trade show on municipal products.

Ask the Selectmen

S. Halterman said that a resident called to ask about the residential tax rate.  J. Malloy said that the residential tax rate is $10.94, which is down from $11.80 in FY06, but noted that values have gone up.

MOTION:       To convene in executive session under MGL Chapter 39, §23B, Paragraph #3:  To discuss strategy with respect to collective bargaining or litigation; and Paragraph #6:  To consider the purchase, exchange, taking, lease or value of real property; not to reconvene in open session, by T. Goodwin.

2nd:     W. Emrich

Roll call vote:  All in favor.

Respectfully submitted,

Judy Knowles

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BOS Clerk                             Date