BOARD OF SELECTMEN

MINUTES

JANUARY 5, 2009

Present:          Ted Goodwin, Vice Chairman

Scott Garieri

Mary Blanchard

Hal White

James Malloy, Town Administrator

T. Goodwin, Vice Chairman, called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. following the Pledge of Allegiance.

Approval of Minutes

MOTION:       To approve the minutes of December 15, 2008 as written, by M. Blanchard.

2nd:     H. White

Vote:  All in favor.

MOTION:       To approve the executive session minutes of December 15, 2008 as written, to remain confidential, by M. Blanchard.

2nd:     H. White

Vote:  All in favor.

Building Inspector Appointment

J. Malloy informed the Board that the position had been advertised and he conducted interviews and reference checks.  He submitted to the Board the resume of Erik Wight, who has over 25 years experience, including 13 years as a municipal building inspector and 13 years working as a private home inspector and managing his own contracting business.

Due to the downturn in the permits being issued, J. Malloy had considered a regional approach and/or converting the position to a part-time position until such time that building returns to the past levels requiring the position to return to a full-time position.  The Town currently was paying over $60,000 per year on a full-time basis.  Erik will be working Mondays-Wednesdays-Fridays at $38,000 per year.  He and J. Malloy will work together over the next couple of weeks to determine at what level it will be necessary to consider returning the position to full time.  As the budget for FY10 will be based on a part-time position, the one issue the Board and Finance Committee will need to keep in mind is that if building picks up quickly it may require a Special Town Meeting to address returning this position to full time.

Erik Wight appeared before the Board.  He said that he has a wealth of code knowledge, and plans to get a lot of information out to the public.  He views it as a trouble shooting job.  J. Malloy said that Erik will start work on Monday, January 12th, and he will spend some time showing Erik around town that day.

MOTION:       To confirm the Town Administrator’s appointment of Erik Wight as the Building Inspector/Zoning Enforcement Officer, by H. White.

2nd:     M. Blanchard

Vote:  All in favor.

Estimated Residential Population

J. Malloy submitted to the Board the estimated residential population for the ABCC, which is done every year based on the increased population during the summer months.

MOTION:       To approve the estimated population for the ABCC of 20,000 based on past history, by M. Blanchard.

2nd:     H. White

Vote:  All in favor.

Tree Warden Advisory Committee

J. Malloy submitted to the Board an application from Brian Chamberland to serve on the Tree Warden Advisory Committee.  There is a vacancy due to a resignation that has been open for several months.  It was the consensus of the Board to hold action until the next meeting.

Economic Stimulus

J. Malloy said that the President Elect has indicated support for an economic stimulus package and Congress is considering passing legislation for a $600 billion stimulus package in early January.  He informed the Board that he had received an application package on December 31, 2008 and has been working on it and plans to submit four applications for the following projects/amounts.  He said that the application forms are complete, and do not require a vote of the Board of Selectmen at this time.

Wastewater Treatment Plant - $14,000,000 (this figure may change before the final application is submitted)

Town Hall/Center Office - $5,900,000

Route 131 Sewer Force Main - $3,600,000

Well #4 - $4,000,000

J. Malloy noted that all of these projects meet the criteria set forth in the application package which is due at 2:00 p.m. on January 8, 2009.

Special Town Meeting

J. Malloy said that there are some outstanding bills from the Southbridge Landfill issue, as well as the Town Hall/Center Office restoration project.  H. White asked if it could wait until the Annual Town Meeting.  J. Malloy said that the bid for the Town Hall/Center Office project must be awarded within 30 days of the bid opening.

MOTION:       To set a Special Town Meeting on February 24, 2009 at Tantasqua High School Auditorium, by M. Blanchard.

2nd:     S. Garieri

Vote:  All in favor.

Miscellaneous

·        J. Malloy submitted to the Board two letters indicating grants received by the Fire Department in the amounts of $5,300 for firefighting equipment and $3,665 for the SAFE program at Burgess.

·        FY09 Town Counsel costs – At the last Selectmen’s meeting there was a discussion on town counsel costs/effectiveness and J. Malloy had offered to provide the Board the breakdown that he maintains on costs related to legal issues, which he submitted to the Board.  He had legal costs segregated by litigation vs. non-litigation; General Fund, CPA, Sewer, USDA, Water and Town Hall Project Accounts; and by Kopelman & Paige vs. Mirick O’Connell (Special Counsel on Sturbridge v. Southbridge Sewer issue and Southbridge Landfill issues).  J. Malloy considered the costs to be very reasonable.

S. Garieri asked about the win/lose ratio on litigation cases.  J. Malloy said that the Town lost two or three cases in the last decade, and they were Conservation issues.

·        Saturday Budget Meeting – J. Malloy suggested setting a date for a Saturday budget meeting for January 17th at Town Hall, for the Finance Committee, Board of Selectmen and department heads.  The Board agreed.

Snow and Ice Account

MOTION:       To approve deficit spending in the following accounts for the following amounts:

14231-51300 Overtime:  $10,000

14232-52000 Purchase of Services:  $17,500

14232-54000 Supplies:  $30,000

by M. Blanchard.

2nd:     H. White

Vote:  All in favor.

MMA Legislative Package

J. Malloy submitted to the Board the summary of positions that the MMA Board of Directors is supporting and taking to the Annual Meeting later this month.  He requested that the Selectmen review it and be prepared to take a vote at the next meeting on sections that they support so that their thoughts can be relayed to Senator Brewer and Rep. Smola.

Chapter 43D Sites

J. Malloy noted that the Selectmen had not voted on the Chapter 43D sites which had been reviewed and voted on by the Planning Board for inclusion as Priority Development Sites on the Town Meeting warrant.  They voted to support all of the sites except Site #3.  The list of sites included the following:

Site #1            51 Technology Park Road

Site #2            90 Charlton Road

Site #3            150 Charlton Road

Site #4            198 Charlton Road

Site #5            212, 214, 216, 226 Charlton Road

Site #6            178 Main Street

Site #7            17 & 26 Charlton Road

Site #8            660 Main Street

MOTION:       To approve the Chapter 43D site locations that were approved by the Planning Board for inclusion on the Town Meeting warrant, by H. White.

2nd:     M. Blanchard

Vote:  All in favor.

Correspondence

H. White noted that the supporting documents to Patricia Davidson’s December 15th letter regarding the status of the Town of Sturbridge vs. the Town of Southbridge was missing.

H. White asked whether Greg Morse, DPW Director, had looked at the erosion issue at Goodrich Road.  J. Malloy said that he had, and noted that Goodrich Road is a private road, so the Town cannot do drainage work there.  He said that the road should be regraded.  He said that he would respond to Frederick Gunn in writing.

M. Blanchard said that Tom Creamer had raised some interesting and important issues regarding the Sturbridge Landfill based on comments from Finance Committee reports.  T. Creamer, 359 Leadmine Road, said that the Finance Committee had indicated on several occasions that they felt that the Landfill warrants some study.  He said that some of their ideas included charging a fee for recycling stickers and charging upfront fees such as “pay as you throw.”  He noted that there was some verbiage in the Finance Committee’s report regarding a shortfall and capping the landfill.  He asked that the Board discuss it and come to a determination on what policy to use in the future.  T. Goodwin suggested that the Board of Health be present during the discussion.  J. Malloy said that there will be an article on the Town Meeting warrant in April to cap the current cell.

Old Business

H. White requested that the Building Inspector’s reports be summed up for 2008.  J. Malloy said that he would pull statistics out of the Town reports.  H. White said that it could wait until the 2008 figures are ready.

M. Blanchard said that people have indicated that they are pleased about the recent work done on the intersection of Rt. 148 and Rt. 20.  J. Malloy said that when the engineer from Mass. Highway saw it, they took care of it right away.

New Business

S. Garieri asked about the status of a sign for the Tantasqua Football Team.  J. Malloy said that Dan Durgin, Superintendent had chosen a design for the sign and it has been ordered.  It will be placed on the same pole as the basketball sign.

M. Blanchard said that on January 13th the Planning Board will hold a public hearing regarding rezoning on Rt. 15, and a public hearing on the accessory dwelling unit bylaw.

Ask the Selectmen

H. White said that there were no calls.

T. Goodwin said that the sign holiday was over.

T. Creamer asked whether the Town Hall/Center Office project would be revisited, considering the state of the economy.  J. Malloy said that it is a question of whether or not debt authorization will be supplanted all or in part.  He said that the state is looking to contribute dollar for dollar.

T. Goodwin noted that Old Sturbridge Village is starting to pick up again.  He said that the Town Common has a great deal of appeal, and felt that the Town Hall/Center Office project would create a larger capacity of use, as well as contribute to tourism in Sturbridge.  M. Blanchard said that the project will cost more money than originally thought, and there is a lot of concern with the economy and concern about appropriating more money for the project.

T. Creamer asked about broadcasting meetings on the public access channel continuously.  J. Malloy said that a system for doing that was purchased about 10 years ago, and it never worked well, as it had to be set up manually.  He said that it would take extra staff people to do it.  He suggested live streaming of meetings on line, and offered to speak to Virtual Town Hall.  He noted that the cost would be about $7,000 - $10,000 per year, and a lot of towns have live streaming broadcasting, which does not require having someone programming it constantly.  S. Garieri thought it would be a good thing to do.  M. Blanchard said that it would be worthwhile to look into it.  J. Malloy said that it would be necessary to buy different equipment to accomplish it.  He said that every year Charter provides the Town with funding, and there is a balance of about $80,000 in the account.

T. Creamer asked about posting Town Meeting minutes on line.  M. Blanchard said that there was a time when the Selectmen received minutes of all meetings.  J. Malloy said that he would look into it.

MOTION:       To convene in executive session under MGL Chapter 39, §23B, Paragraph #3:  To discuss strategy with respect to collective bargaining or litigation; not to reconvene in open session, by S. Garieri.

2nd:     H. White

Roll call vote:  All in favor.

Respectfully submitted,

Judy Knowles

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BOS Clerk                             Date