Minutes Accepted and filed with the Town Clerk on 01/20/2015 by a vote of 3-0-1
(Chairman Stuart abstains, Selectman Hebert absent )
7:00 p.m. – January 6, 2015
Sutton Town Hall, Selectmen’s Meeting Room
Members in Attendance:
Acting Chair David Hall, Selectmen Mike Chizy, John Hebert and Paul Maynard
(Chairman Stuart absent)
Town Administrator James Smith & Debbie Jacques, secretary
Acting Chair Hall calls the meeting to order at 7:00pm followed by the Pledge of Allegiance
Public Forum: no comments
Selectman Hebert motions to accept minutes from the Dec. 16, 2014 BOS meeting, Selectman Maynard seconds passes 4-0
Alcoholic Compliance Check Hearings: TA Smith says these hearings are required by the Town of Sutton Bylaws 17.2. A separate hearing will be required for the 7 establishments. Acting Chair Hall opens the hearing with the following statement that will only be read once but is for each hearing: By letter dated December 18, 2014, you were notified that a hearing would be held pursuant to the Town of Sutton Bylaws (17.2) on the licensee’s failed alcohol compliance inspection. The notice indicates that you will be given an opportunity to provide testimony and other evidence or other information regarding this matter. Notwithstanding the Board’s prior action, the Board shall impartially hear all evidence and review any documents or other exhibits presented before rendering a final decision on this matter. At this
time, Town Clerk Laura Caruso swears in Police Chief Dennis Towle. Chief Towle briefs the Board on the November 24th, 2014 compliance checks where 7 locations sold or served a minor. The evidence remains in lockup. 1st hearing: Crossroads Variety: no representation. 2nd hearing: Sutton Center Store-owner Bill Connor of 26 Bond Hollow Road is sworn in by Laura Caruso. Bill reads a statement to the Board saying this is their 1st failure; they accept full responsibility but feel the Boards original motion to suspend alcohol sales for 1 day is excessive. The senior citizen that was employed and sold to the minor has been terminated. The new general mgr. has added additional training for all clerks. Bill wishes the Board to reconsider decision to suspend license for 1 day. Selectman Chizy says maybe this is the 1st offense but if this minor was drunk and got into an accident that is bad. Once is too many times. Selectman
Hebert acknowledges at the last meeting he motioned to suspend the licenses for 1 day. We were still in the holiday mode and wanted to send a message. Selectman Hebert is very troubled that all the compliance checks failed. TIPS Training should be a condition set on renewing all liquor licenses in town. Selectman Maynard supports TIPS Training 100% and shows a TIPS Training form. Acting Chair Hall states that in town we hold establishments with liquor licenses to a higher standard; we take these violations very serious. 3rd hearing Sutton Wine’s & Liquors, owner Vincent Allard 114 Eight Lots Road is sworn in. Vinny states he is not here to argue the points, he is in agreement with the Board. This is against the law and he has a zero tolerance for this the clerk has been terminated. He has been in this business for 15 years and all employees are trained. He is embarrassed and takes full responsibility but does not agree with the 1 day suspension. Selectman Chizy
says this is a very serious offense, Selectman Hebert is not going to repeat what has been said, you are all outstanding businesses in town, and we have never had issues before. Selectman Maynard again says TIPS but in the Police Report is disturbed by a comment the clerk made to the minor. Acting Chair Hall states this goes beyond public safety. 4th hearing: Xtra Mart North- no representation. 5th hearing Nick’s Country Store, Albino DaCosta 64 Arbor Road Uxbridge is sworn in. Mr. DaCosta says he takes full responsibility of the violation and has made arrangements to have the clerks TIP certified as a corrective action. This will not happen again. Selectman Maynard asks if there is still someone not TIP trained, DaCosta replies yes. 6th hearing -Tony’s Pizza- no representation. 7th hearing- Dudley Gendron- Merrill Atkins 3 Krula Way So. Grafton is sworn in. Mr. Atkins begins by saying he is very disappointed in this and the
server was severely reprimanded. Since that date everyone has been recertified in TIPS. The Board at this time reminds all that as the licensing authority, the BOS take this very serious. There will be future compliance checks; we want to know when these establishments pass not just when they fail. Selectman Hebert amends his previous motion of a 1 day suspension made on Dec. 16th, 2014 to issue a stern written warning. Selectman Hebert goes on to add at time of liquor license renewals we would like proof from all establishments that all servers/clerks at time of renewal are TIP certified. Selectman Maynard seconds passes 4-0. Acting Chair Hall would like to see more compliance checks done. We expect better results in the future this is fair warning, in the future there will be no warning issued, the Board will vote to suspend your license. It is requested that these letters of warning be delivered by a Police Officer.
Surplus Property MGL 30B sec 15 – Modular Buildings: TA Smith informs the BOS that he has prepared an IFB for the modular units at the Middle/High School. The 1st step is for the BOS to declare the units surplus property. There will be a tour of the units on January 22nd and then a bid opening February 6th. Selectman Chizy says there is no other reason to keep them and agrees to the sale. Selectman Hebert says they are in good shape now is the time to sell them. Selectman Hebert asks if there are any schools that will be having a similar project that may be interested in them. TA Smith replies this will be advertised in the Central Register which has a wide readership. Selectman Maynard totally agrees to sell when they are no longer needed. Acting Chair Hall
says we have no other need for them it seems the right thing to do. TA Smith says that Vanguard has given an estimate of $500,000. for the current value, when sold the revenue will go into the general fund. Selectman Maynard motions to surplus under MGL 30B section 15 the Modular classroom units located at the Sutton Middle/High School, 383 Boston Road, Selectman Hebert seconds passes 4-0
Town Administrator update:
- Purchasing street lights & converting to LED- Jim has hired George Woodbury as a consultant. In the report it shows a 5 year payback period. If the Board is interested Mr. Woodbury will be invited to the next BOS meeting.
- The BOS all agree this is a no brainer; Mr. Woodbury will be invited to give a presentation.
- Electricity Aggregation- Ken Elstein from Hampshire Council of Governments would like to address the BOS about the possibility of allowing residents to aggregate their electricity with a group of other communities. If interested, this would take a Town Meeting vote as final decision.
- Acting Chair Hall needs further understanding of this
- State Government budget process- typically the House one # is received near the end of January, it will be later this year due to a new governor. We will level fund until we know the numbers.
- Wilkinsonville Water District Billing error: the tax bills mailed out the end of December had an error in the Wilks Water District billing. This occurred due to a wrong # put in the estimated receipts section of the recap where $35,000 was listed rather than $3500. The tax rate should have been .42 per 1000 instead it was .33 per 1000. This resulted in a .9 cent difference. 1100 Wilks water customers were affected, a letter will be going out and a new bill will follow.
Announcements: N/A
Correspondence:
Acting Chair Hall states the BOS are in receipt of 2 letters from Mr. James Dwyer as well as a memo from the Board of Health in regards to NGrid and herbicide treatment
Selectman Chizy motions to adjourn. Selectman Maynard seconds passes 4-0
Meeting adjourned 7:50 pm
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