BOARD OF SELECTMEN

MINUTES

JANUARY 19, 2010

Present:          Mary Blanchard, Chairman

Scott Garieri

Hal White

Thomas Creamer

Michael Racicot, Town Administrator

Ted Goodwin was absent.

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

MOTION:       To convene in executive session under MGL Chapter 39, §23B, Paragraph #3:  To discuss strategy with respect to collective bargaining or litigation; to reconvene in open session, by S. Garieri.

2nd:     H. White

Roll call vote:  H. White in favor; T. Creamer in favor; M. Blanchard in favor; S. Garieri in favor.

The Board reconvened in open session at 7:10 p.m.

Attorney Joel Bard, Kopelman and Paige

J. Bard reviewed the Supreme Court Judicial decision in the case of District Attorney for the Northern District v. School Committee of Wayland regarding staff evaluation procedures.  Employee work evaluations are exempt from public disclosure under the public records law, G.L. c. 66, §10, pursuant to G.L. c. 4, §7, Twenty-sixth (c).

J. Bard noted that the Open Meeting Law was significantly rewritten, and will take effect on July 1, 2010.  Town Counsel is working with the Attorney General’s Office to reach a common understanding of this and other provisions before July 1, 2010.

Recreation Committee – Recreation Fields Design

Lynne Girouard, Recreation Coordinator and Al Jones, Chairman of the Recreation Committee and Mary Lou Volpe of the Recreation Committee appeared before the Board.  They requested that the Board review the information they submitted regarding the proposal of Waterfield/Crowe for the design of the Town Recreation Fields and accept their recommendation.

T. Creamer stated that he was encouraged that the plans favored natural turf, as opposed to artificial surfaces.  L. Girouard said that there were pros and cons to both.  A. Jones said that they would rather put the money into drainage and go with natural turf.

T. Creamer expressed concern about maintaining the fields, citing the Town’s somewhat poor history with overall maintenance.  L. Girouard said that some communities charge usage fees which go into an account for maintenance.  A. Jones said that the Sports Booster Club could raise money for improvement of the fields.

T. Creamer suggested that they ask the people at Waterfield/Crowe to produce an electronic copy of their design to put on the Town website, in secure PDF form, which would be a great way to generate support within the community.

MOTION:       That the Board of Selectmen adopt the proposal of Waterfield/Crowe for the Recreational Fields, for a fee not to exceed $100,000, by H. White.

2nd:     S. Garieri

Vote:  All in favor.

Approval of Minutes

MOTION:       To approve the minutes of December 7, 2009 as amended, by H. White.

2nd:     T. Creamer

Vote:  All in favor.

MOTION:       To approve the minutes of December 14, 2009 as amended, by T. Creamer.

2nd:     H. White

Vote:  All in favor.

MOTION:       To approve the minutes of January 4, 2010 as amended, by T. Creamer.

2nd:     H. White

Vote:  All in favor.

MOTION:       To approve the minutes of January 11, 2010 as amended, by H. White.

2nd:     T. Creamer

Vote:  All in favor.

Town Administrator’s Update

Financial:

M. Racicot informed the Board that he has been working with staff and departments on the various budgets.  He noted that there are various assumptions that need to be made, especially on the expense side, as some of the numbers are not known at this time.  Revenue is also based upon best estimates, especially regarding State Aid.  He gave Barbara Barry, Finance Director, a lot of credit for all of the work she had put into it, and for her patience.

M. Racicot said that he had signed the contract for the technology park water line and worked on the notice to proceed.  He noted that the project should start in the early spring.

M. Racicot said that as part of the Town Hall project, there continue to be items which were unforeseen or which require attention beyond the initial contract.  These changes are carefully reviewed by the Town Hall Building Committee and brought forward after their affirmative vote.

MOTION:       To approve Change Order #8 in the amount of $25,154.93 as recommended by the Town Hall/Center Office Building Committee, and have the Town Administrator execute the necessary documents, by S. Garieri.

2nd:     H. White

Vote:  All in favor.

M. Racicot has been gathering and providing documentation for borrowing on the loan authorizations authorized at the last Special Town Meeting, as required by Bond Counsel.

M. Racicot said that the Mass. Highway representative notified him that though the Commonwealth does not require designer services to follow the procurement process, the Federal government does; therefore, it will be necessary to advertise for design services for the Grand Trunk Trail project in order to have it funded through a grant.

M. Racicot received notification from DEP that the Wastewater Treatment Plant improvement project documentation has met their guidelines in order to qualify for stimulus funding.  He thanked Greg Morse, DPW Director, Ian Catlow of Tighe and Bond and Rick Holland of Kopelman and Paige for their solid work on this matter.  He noted that the contracts with R.H. White fall within the deadlines.

Personnel:

M. Racicot met with the Department Heads for their annual performance reviews.  He noted that Sturbridge is very lucky to have high caliber staff working for the citizens, and said that he enjoyed the opportunity to work with them.  He said that as part of the performance evaluation process, they discussed possible staffing needs in several of the departments.  Sturbridge needs to take a good, hard look at the services it provides and whether more staff will be necessary to continue these services.  T. Creamer noted that at least one Department Head was missing from the document provided, and asked about the status of that performance review.  M. Racicot indicated that the Department Head in question was on vacation when the reviews were conducted, and that it would be completed shortly.

Legal:

M. Racicot continued to prepare the list of articles for the Annual Town Meeting.  He submitted to the Board the first draft.

M. Racicot received a response from Metro PCS on a draft lease for a cell tower on Town property.  He is researching possible zoning questions with the Town Planner, and discussing proposed locations with the DPW Director.

M. Racicot responded to public record requests from various union organizations for the projects going on in Town, which was a significant draw on administrative time.

General Government:

M. Racicot attended the Town Hall Building Committee meeting, and spent considerable time working on details of fiber optic connection between the Center Office Building and Town Hall, and how to make it happen in the most efficient way.  He went up onto the Town Hall roof to review the suitability of the sheathing to support the new slate.

M. Racicot received a request from A-1 Parts Inc. and the Hamilton Rod & Gun Club to hold motorcycle ice races on their property from 10 a.m. until sunset.

MOTION:       To allow motorcycle ice racing on Sundays at the Hamilton Rod and Gun Club property from 10 a.m. until ½ hour after sunset, January through March 7, 2010 as detailed in the letter dated November 10, 2009 from A-1 Parts Inc., by S. Garieri.

2nd:     H. White

Vote:  All in favor.

M. Racicot said that the Cable TV Advisory Committee held a meeting with a representative of Charter Communications to negotiate the renewal contract details.  They presented a list of requests in response to Charter’s Jan. 9 proposed contract.  They agreed on some details, and will be receiving a revised draft contract along with the dollar impacts of the requests.  T. Creamer said that he would like to see the proposal contract language and have the Board weigh in on it several weeks in advance of the final vote of the Board.

M. Racicot received a request from the Northern Bass Association for a special fishing event in the spring.

MOTION:       To allow a bass fishing event on Alum Pond from 6 a.m. until 3 p.m. on May 16, 2010 as detailed in the application dated January 4, 2010 from Michael Bessette of Southwick, by S. Garieri.

2nd:     H. White

Vote:  All in favor.

M. Racicot said that the process has begun for preparing the 2009 Town Report, and Judy Knowles will be dedicating considerable time to the effort.

M. Racicot attended the Burgess School Building Committee meeting.  They are working on the various building and site details at this time, with the architect and consultants heavily involved in the actual design.  They covered topics such as environmental requirements, utilities, site work constraints, existing trees, heating and cooling and wiring.

Correspondence

T. Creamer commented on the letter of complaint from Bob and Melissa Evans regarding a home viewing by a public official at their home on McGregoryRoad.  He noted that the public official was there in uniform in an official vehicle during working hours.  He considered it to be a failure in policy by the Town and not specifically the individual involved, and suggested there be a policy to let town employees know that when they are on duty, they should refrain from putting themselves in situations where a resident could misconstrue the situation.  He suggested that the Board implement a policy stating that during the course of a regular work day, when town employees are in uniform and in an official vehicle, they should refrain from attempting these types of appointments so that people are not confused by their presence.

M. Racicot said that as soon as Mr. Evans had come into the office and complained, he went to the Fire Chief and asked him what had happened.  He said that Chief Senecal had been wearing a sweatshirt with the Sturbridge Fire Department logo on it.  The incident had taken place late in the afternoon.  He noted that the Fire Chief is never off duty.  M. Racicot explained to him that in the future he should not wear clothing with the Fire Dept. logo in such a situation.  Chief Senecal did not write anything up when at the Evans home; it was merely an inspection for the benefit of his brother-in-law, who was interested in purchasing the home.

T. Creamer noted that nothing was said or done by the Chief that was detrimental.  The resident was unable to determine whether or not he was making an official pronouncement.  He felt that it was inappropriate for a Town employee to be in that situation.

H. White suggested having the Personnel Committee take it up.  H. White felt that the Board should not have to write a policy for every single issue that comes up, but agreed that this was something that the Personnel Committee should consider.  M. Blanchard agreed.  M. Racicot noted that municipal staff also have certain rights, and Chief Senecal had not committed an egregious violation.  T. Creamer said that the resident expressed concern about what appeared to be misuse of an official position.  M. Blanchard said that M. Racicot did not feel that an apology was necessary, and he had answered the homeowner.  T. Creamer apologized to Mr. Evans, that he did not get a better response from the Town Administrator.

M. Blanchard noted that there had been a question regarding the senior municipal service program.  T. Creamer said that individuals are allowed to resubmit an application and work off an additional amount up to $750, and wondered if it were possible to allow separate applications per senior household.  M. Racicot said that if a couple were to apply for the program, they could get up to $750 off their taxes, not $1500.  However, they could split the work hours between the two of them.

Old Business

T. Creamer asked whether all of the members of the Board of Selectmen had seen and read Town Counsel’s opinion that was issued on September 7, 2009 regarding the conflict of interest issue.  S. Garieri, M. Blanchard and H. White all indicated that they had been in custody of the legal opinion since it was first released.  He asked why up until January 13, 2010 there had been no disclosures filed by them regarding this particular issue, as recommended by Town Counsel.

M. Racicot said that he had received Town Counsel’s opinion in email form on September 7th (Labor Day), so the members of the Board did not receive it on the Friday before the meeting on September 8th.  He submitted copies of the opinion to the Selectmen on Sept. 8th.  T. Creamer said that there has been an ongoing discussion regarding M. Blanchard’s conflict, but M. Racicot never reminded the Board that they had Town Counsel’s opinion.  M. Racicot said that he “never referred to it because it was never questioned.”  T. Creamer reminded him that he has been questioning this process since the very beginning.

M. Racicot further stated that he “sought this opinion himself; it was not requested by Charles Blanchard, it was not requested by Mary Blanchard, the Chairman of this Board.  He did it because he felt it was necessary to protect the interests of the community and to know exactly where we stand and to find that out from Town Counsel.”  T. Creamer then questioned why M. Blanchard had indicated on September 24 that she had not seen an opinion from Town Counsel.  M. Blanchard said that this opinion was not new to her, and that she had received the same opinion from State Ethics; she would have to recuse herself from anything involving her husband.  T. Creamer asked if she had that in writing.  M. Blanchard said no.  She said that there was no conflict of interest in choosing the first Town Administrator Search Committee, since at that time she didn’t know whether her husband was going to apply or not.  After he had applied, she had nothing to do with the search from then on.  On Sept. 8th when the Search Committee came before the Board, she was ready to recuse herself.  The Search Committee did not present any candidates that evening, so the applications remained in the pool.  When a new Search Committee was set up, she had recused herself.  On November 4, 2009 when the Search Committee had eliminated some of the candidates (including her husband), C. Blanchard was no longer a candidate.  C. Blanchard had written a letter on November 12, 2009 in which he referenced Town Counsel’s opinion.  M. Blanchard said that at no time was she working under a conflict of interest.  H. White said that in his interpretation of Town Counsel’s opinion, M. Blanchard should have disqualified herself from any part of the selection process as soon as her husband had filed seeking appointment to the Town Administrator position.

T. Creamer again asked why M. Blanchard had previously indicated that she had not seen an opinion from Town Counsel when she now indicated that she had.  M. Blanchard said that “she could have forgotten.”  He then asked why she did not comply with the opinion provided from Town Counsel, since she and other members of the Board have publicly stated that the Board should abide by Town Counsel’s opinion, whether we agree with it or not.  She stated that she had a different interpretation of the opinion than Mr. Creamer or Mr. White had.

M. Blanchard asked about the status of the Route 15 sewer.  M. Racicot said that he had spoken with Mary Berry of the Sturbridge Retirement Co-op, and any solution will not be fast enough to help her.  He spoke with Dave Prickett of Tighe & Bond, and they have to put together a proposal to come up with options for that sewer project.  He noted that it will cost upward of $25,000 to review options and come up with some cost figures.  M. Berry has a deadline to meet within the next few months.  T. Creamer said that the Board has an obligation to meet with the people from the area.  S. Garieri said that the timeframe is not compatible with what needs to be done, and a solution needs to be found.  M. Blanchard said that she had requested information from Greg Morse, DPW Director, last month.  M. Racicot will look into it.  S. Garieri said that it is the Town’s obligation to supply some type of septic systems for those businesses and residents to be in compliance with DEP.  He suggested that a study be done.  Carol Childress said that if her septic system failed, she would not come to the Town to ask for a study; she felt it would be up to the individual to do that.

New Business

S. Garieri said that he had heard that Amorello Construction was awarded the bid for the Route 131 project.

T. Creamer received a call from a resident regarding the lack of public transportation in Sturbridge.  He suggested that the Board discuss it during a work session, and have some dialogue with the WRTA.

M. Blanchard asked when the budget packets would be ready.  M. Racicot said that they should be done by Friday, Jan. 22nd.

MOTION:       To adjourn, by S. Garieri.

2nd:     H. White

Vote:  All in favor.

The meeting was adjourned at 9:30 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Judy Knowles

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BOS Clerk                             Date