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Meeting Minutes
Minutes Accepted and filed with the Town Clerk on3/04/2014 by a vote of 3-0
6:30 p.m. – February 18, 2014 (Selectmen Chizy & Hersom absent)
Sutton Town Hall, Selectmen’s Meeting Room
Members in Attendance:
Chairman John Hebert, Vice Chair Kenneth Stuart, Selectmen Richard Hersom & David Hall
Selectman Chizy absent
Town Administrator James Smith & Debbie Jacques, secretary
Chairman Hebert calls the meeting to order at 6:30 pm and motions to enter in to Executive Session sighting MGL c30A, Sec. 21#3
Selectman Hersom questions the need for Executive Session if we are assuming the subject matter is the contract for completion of the school, what negotiations would be jeopardized having our discussion? It would allow tax payers to gather as many facts as possible; Rick says the BOS are not privy to what the contract contains. Atty McEnaney (Town Council) replies that this is due to the claim against the performance bond and the offer from the Surety Company, the BOS could counter propose and that could be detrimental. If the BOS accepts the tender agreement the terms will all be disclosed in open meeting. Chairman Hebert requests to enter into Executive Session, roll call taken: Selectman Hersom “nay”, Selectman Stuart “I”, Chairman Hebert “I”, Selectman Hall “I” passes
3-1. Selectman Hersom requests public record show he has challenged the validity of this Executive Session and he exits the room.
Meeting reconvenes at 7:07 pm with the Pledge of Allegiance
No comments under Public Forum
Selectman Hersom motions to accept as presented February 4, 2014 meeting minutes, Selectman Stuart seconds passes 4-0
Certificate of Recognition for Highway Superintendent Mark Brigham as read by Selectman Hall. The BOS offer Mark their thanks for serving the town and wish him well. Chairman Hebert offers his personal thank you; they grew up together and have known each other their whole life. You have done one heck of a job and we appreciate all you have done. Chairman Hebert presents an award at this time. Mark Brigham thanks the BOS and says it has been an honor. Time goes by quickly, Mark thanks Lyman Rosebrooks for his assistance as foreman as well as Ray Smith and previous administrator Mike Boynton for promoting him to the superintendent position.
Tender Agreement from Western Surety: present are SBS project mgrs. Jon Winikur & Tim Alix, Kopelman & Paige Tom McEnaney, Robert & Michael Braite (Braite Builders). Atty. Tom McEnaney says this is a follow up to the performance bond claim made with Western Surety after the firing of TLT in October of 2013. Western went out to bid for a completion contractor. Before the BOS tonight is a tender agreement as well as a contract with Braite Builders as the completion contractor. Atty. McEnaney states Braite Builders will step into the shows of TLT. The cost of Braite Builders to complete the project is $16.9 million dollars. It is an all in price with a completion date of June 30, 2015. The tender agreement includes $835,000.00 reimbursement to the Town of Sutton. This is to cover the proj. Manager, the architect,
legal fees as well additional costs by the school. Selectman Hersom asks how many firms bid on the project. McEnaney replies 6, the Surety picked 3 out of the 6. Select. Hersom asks what happened with G&R Construction that was to be named as the contractor last week. McEnaney replied that G&R went back to the Surety with an increase in the bid price hours before the meeting; as a result the Surety terminated discussions with them. Selectman Hersom asks what the delay was in presenting the tender agreement, if G&R was named in December, why was this delayed with the Surety, Atty. McEnaney does not recall the time frame in which G&R was named. Selectman Hersom states we were to hold a meeting last Wednesday to consider G&R, due diligence was done on them and now it is another contractor. Hersom agrees with the instructions given by TA Jim Smith to Town Council to negotiate in the best interest of Sutton for the very best decision, Rick states he has not seen or
read the tender agreement and has concerns with voting on this tonight. Atty. McEnaney apologizes but the final agreement was not complete until 3pm today. Rick states the residents have witnessed this $58 million dollar crisis situation; we need to make sure this is the right choice. Selectman Stuart agrees with the need to have gone into Exec. Session but respects Rick’s concerns. Selectman Stuart wishes they had the agreement prior to tonight for review. Selectman Stuart says last Wednesday, SBS was asked to do their homework on Braite Builders. Stuart goes on to ask about the punch list or deficiencies made by TLT, Atty. McEnaney replies this is an all in bid, Braite owns everything TLT owned. Briate will supply their performance and payment bond which is also through Western Surety. Selectman Hall asks Selectman Hersom how would he like to see this go forward, Selectman Hersom responds the questions on his mind are what has been done differentially now then when
TLT was chosen; all the parties involved are the same except Braite Builders. That is why I did not go into Exec. Session, residents in this town deserve total transparency. Resident’s deserve to know the rational and the thinking of the BOS when the board is making decisions on their behalf and spending their tax dollars. Selectman Hall asks Hersom, now that we have a contract in hand what would you like to see. Selectman Hersom responds we should delay our decision until the T.A. has all information so the BOS can make the best decision. I do not feel comfortable basing our decision on a written contract by Town Council, I have not seen anything from SBS, I’m sure the contractor is a good contractor but I don’t know that. Hersom says God help us if we make another mistake. Selectman Hersom says he needs to hear from someone, based on their professional experience that this is the right contractor to finish the job; the monetary part of this has been
satisfied. Selectman Hall says we are heading down another path but time is of the essence, we have a building that is exposed to the elements, selectman Hall would have liked to see the contract sooner to review the numbers and would also like to hear from SBS regarding due diligence. Dave goes on to say he does not mind putting this off but we do need to move on this otherwise there seems to be no end in sight. Selectman Hall questions the funds going back to the school, he also asks for clarification on recovery costs; Atty McEnaney names the 4 areas: liquidated damages, back charges to TLT for failing to provide a fulltime Proj mgr., direct payments made to subs and contractual retainage. When asked John
Couture’s thoughts on Braite, T.A. Smith replies the Building Commissioner felt the two top bidders, Braite Builders or Fontaine are good, he became comfortable with G&R after some research. Chairman Hebert asks for SBS to comment on the new contractor. Jon Winikur approaches the BOS, Jon states they have checked with DCAM as well as on current and past projects. All comments show consistency expressing that they do honest, high quality work. In the agreement, Braite agrees to have the core building complete for occupancy in April of 2015 with the project fully completed by June 30, 2015. They have also agreed to have the auditorium completed by the start of school this fall. Selectman Hersom asks Atty. McEnaney if he has done due diligence on Braite, Atty. McEnaney responds no, that is for the project manager. Select. Hersom asks if there have been any suits or settlements, Atty. McEnaney responds he does not know. Jon Winikur says on the schedule E there are 6 items
which resulted in small settlements or fines. The only red flag was a 1 year decertification with DCAM in 2006 for misrepresentation on a project. Jon Winikur goes on to say he personally gives his recommendation and endorsement that they are a wise choice. Selectman Hersom thanks Jon and says that is comforting to hear his endorsement. Michael & Robert Braite approach the BOS, they tell the BOS they will go in and get the job organized, we are all in for that contract and will hit head on and hard. They have been incorporated since 1993; their work consists of mainly schools. They have taken over jobs in the past and were able to complete. A secret to their success is they complete projects ahead of time. The BOS all thank the Braite brothers and at this time. Chairman Hebert says the town has to move on, get the project going again. Selectman Hersom would like to postpone the decision and speak personally to Building Commissioner John Couture but sometimes you have to
take a leap of faith, it is time to move so I will vote in favor. Selectman Stuart motions to approve the tender agreement with Western Surety and moves to have Braite Builders as the completing contractor for the new Middle School/High School project, Selectman Hersom seconds passes 4-0. The BOS sign the Tender Agreements and the Contract agreement at this time.
FY15 Preliminary Budget power point presentation: TA Smith presents the total budget for FY15 being $28,492,982.00, an increase of $503,000.00 (1.8%) over FY14. A brief review of the overall changes includes dept changes, employee benefits & school increases. Jim says the big picture is it is a basic budget. Our goal continues to be to reduce our reliance on use of free cash. BVT is looking for an additional borrowing of 2.9 million to expand programs; the average cost to Sutton will be $15,400. Over 20 years. Jim has requested a meeting with Dr. Fitzpatrick along with the other 12 communities that are in BVT’s region. Lottery aid is level funded, 30% down from FY09; Chapter 70 increased $38,000., 5% down from FY09. The FY15 Capital Plan is $623,500. Some of the items are a police cruiser, feasibility
study for a new Police Station, continued payment on SCBA’s in the Fire Dept, replacement of Engine 2 in Manchaug, a plow truck and 2 sanders for highway. One of the items of concern is the school budget; they are creating a structural deficit by using more school choice funds then what is anticipated. Selectman Hersom commends Jim and Tim on a great job and discusses the BVT issue. Rick goes on to say a structural deficit at the school is not desirable, was that necessary for no layoffs? TA Smith replies yes to the deficit, he goes on to say that the 13 communities are signing a letter asking for Dr. Fitzpatrick to delay the budget to enable towns to bring this request to town meetings and not have to schedule a special town meeting. Selectman Stuart echoes Rick’s comments and says a balanced budget is always nice to hear especially with no layoffs and meeting contractual obligations. In regards to BVT, that is a great school but Dr. Fitzpatrick please do
things above board, don’t slip things in. Selectman Hall says it was a well written budget message and calls it a magic budget. Only a 1.8% increase and still meeting all the contractual obligations and services is quite a challenge. Purchasing a fire truck with no debt exclusion is a good thing. Having a Capital plan in place is really paying off. Selectman Hersom says the BOS were asked 2 years ago to purchase a new fire truck, the board’s advice was to hold off until the quint was paid off, this was great fiscal strategy. Chairman Hebert says our management team is by far none the best, they do a fantastic job. We have a strong bond rating of AA stable as well as a very strong stabilization fund. The BOS kept the commitment of a new fire truck and having no layoffs at the school, great job. Thank you to Jim, Tim and Cathy.
Town Administrator Update:
Ambulance update- contract up July 2014, after several ambulance contract meetings between the 3 towns, Grafton went out on their own, Millbury & Sutton are meeting with MedStar Wednesday night, we may have to go out to bid again. The BOS are disappointed with the Town of Grafton not working in good faith.
BVT meeting- a letter is being drafted and all 13 towns have agreed to sign and ask for a delay so this can go before the Town Meeting in May.
Highway Superintendent- 2nd interviews with Lyman Rosebrooks and Matt Stencel. A decision will be made over the next day or two.
Green Community Energy Mgr. Position- would represent Sutton & Millbury. The 1st year would be 100% funded, the 2nd year 75% and the 3rd year the town would pick up salary. It would be up to this person to get grants to fund the position.
Announcements: Selectman Stuart reminds all in Selectman Chizys absence the food pantry is in need of supplies.
Selectman Stuart mentions the article of Whittier Farms in the Yankee Swapper and the importance to support local businesses.
Round Table: N/A
Hearing no further comments Selectman Hersom motions to adjourn, Selectman Stuart seconds passes 4-0
Adjourned 9:10 pm
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