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12/01/2015 BOS Meeting Minutes
                                                         Meeting Minutes
  
                                           Minutes Accepted and filed with the Town Clerk on 12/15/2015 by a vote of   4-0   
                                                                                         Selectman Maynard absent
7:00 p.m. – December 1, 2015
                                       Sutton Town Hall, Selectmen’s Meeting Room
Members in Attendance:                           
        Chairman David Hall, Vice Chair John Hebert, Selectmen Paul Maynard, Jesse Limanek & Michael Kenney  
        Town Administrator James Smith & Debbie Jacques, secretary   

Chairman Hall calls the meeting to order at 7:00pm followed by the Pledge of Allegiance.
Public Forum:  N/A

Vice-Chair Hebert motions to accept as presented minutes from the 11/17/2015 BOS meeting; Selectman Maynard 2nds passes 5-0

**Public Hearing** Liquor Violations. Chairman Hall declares the meeting open. Selectman Maynard reads as advertised the Public Hearing notice that was in the Nov. 23rd, 2015 T&G. Chairman Hall asks all parties to rise and be sworn in. Sgt. Josh Nunnemacher begins by briefing BOS on the compliance checks held on 10/21/2015 with him, Officer Lefebvre and an 18 year old female. Cross roads, Sutton Wines & Liquor & Xtra Mart North all failed with the underage female purchasing alcohol without request of an id. After each purchase, Sgt. Nunnemacher entered the store and spoke to the clerk to inform them they just failed a compliance check. Present for Crossroads is Pinkus Patel, the clerk that sold is not present. Mr. Patel agrees with report by Sgt. Nunnemacher and apologizes; he states the employee that sold was a new employee. Vice Chair Hebert asks Mr. Patel if he understands all that has been said, he replies yes, the clerk sold without checking id. Selectman Maynard asks if the new clerk is TIP certified, after brief exchange Mr. Patel states no, he was only employed for 2 weeks prior to this. Selectman Limanek confirms the clerk Mr. Gupta, was there alone in the store and asks if anyone checked in to see if the clerk was following policy by checking id’s, Mr. Patel states no. Selectman Kenney also reviews the TIP on line certification, Mr. Patel will check into. Vincent Allard & Diane Labonte are present for Sutton Wines & Liquors. When asked if they accept the reported facts, Mr. Allard states yes. At this time, Mr. Allard reads a prepared statement to the BOS apologizing for this incident. Vinny says his store has a zero tolerance policy and has increased signage, mandated id checks for anyone under 35 as well as hiring a 3rd party Bars Program that does compliance checks 2-3 times a month. If the clerk passes they get a green card, failure gets a red card.  He asks for the reprimand to be in the form of monetary such as a donation to an organization rather than ordered closure. Vice Chair Hebert thanks Vinny for all the steps he is taking but says it is troublesome as this was the 2nd violation within 7-8 months. Selectman Maynard asked if the clerk that sold was TIPS certified, Vinny replies no, he was scheduled to go the class last week but he has been terminated.  Selectman Limanek has no questions but does compliment Mr. Allard on steps he has taken and says he sees that Vinny takes this very serious. Selectman Kenney asks if with the Bars Program, if they get a red card are they terminated.  Mr. Allard states he has not thought about that as it has just started, Mike says there must be a cost associated with this, Vinny replies yes there is a monthly fee. Chairman Hall thanks Vinny for his clear and sincere apology.  Present for Xtra Mart is Atty. Lesley Germaine and store mgr. Glen LaBossiere. When asked by Chairman Hall if they accept the facts as stated by Sgt. Nunnemacher they reply yes. Atty. Germaine states they are embarrassed to be before the BOS for this and due to the recent transfer of management the clerk that sold to the minor was inherited from the old management. Liquor sales transactions do require the date of birth to be entered to sell and the clerk that was there was actually not scheduled to be on but due to the sr. employee leaving due to illness he took over the shift. All but 2 employees are TIP certified, the remaining 2 will be attending a class this weekend. Store mgr. Glen LaBossiere states the day after the violation occurred, he sent around a memorandum that stated all liquor transactions must be id. Selectman Maynard asks if the employee was TIP certified, they reply no but he was internally trained. Selectman Limanek asks if there is a camera above the register to show that the date that is entered corresponds with the date on the id, they reply no. Selectman Kenney asks everyone is to be id, they reply yes, Mike states he and his wife have been there 2-3 times each and they have not been carded. Mike states the manager should be in control of this, if this is an internal policy not being followed look at the management.  Selectman Maynard motions to close the Public Hearing, Vice-Chair Hebert 2nds passes 5-0. Selectman Limanek motions that a violation of serving to an underage person occurred on October 21, 2015 at the 3 Liquor License establishments, Crossroads Variety, Xtra Mart North and Sutton Wine & Liquors: Vice chair Hebert 2nds passes 5-0. Vice Chair Hebert states the BOS take this very serious and commends the Police Dept. on this check. The BOS recently put into effect a new Liquor Violation Policy. John is recommending this be treated as a 1st time offense with a stern written warning on file, Selectman Maynard agrees, Selectman Limanek says as noted in the past, we do not want Sutton to be known as a place minors can purchase liquor, we as the BOS have full control over the scope of the penalty, at this time Jesse agrees with a stern warning but if there is a second offense it will not be treated with leniency. Selectman Kenney agrees with the policies in place as well as the 1st offense written warning. Mike states some of you have taken steps to prevent this from reoccurring, some have blamed others. We will accept no excuses next time, ignorance will not be taken.  Chairman Hall says we take our Liquor Regulations very serious, we put these new policies in place after the last compliance check that everyone failed, 2 of the 3 establishments have made presentations that show they take it serious, Mr. Patel, you did not give the same presentation which causes concern, please take serious. Vice Chair Hebert motions to follow the new policy in place and issue a written warning for the 1st offence, warning to be placed in file, Selectman Maynard 2nds passes 5-0.

Police Dept. Update: present is Chief Dennis Towle and Lt. David Perry. TA Smith says it was requested at the Goals meeting to have updates by Dept. Heads. Chief Towle begins by saying his staffing is the most valuable equipment he has. There will be a position posted within the next few months with the retirement of Pete Greeno for a patrolman as well as a sergeant. Four years ago we started the SRO position at the school; we were the 1st in all surrounding towns to do so. Their presence in school is more than just an armed security guard. We have also held Youth Academies which have had a great response. The biggest challenge is the dispatchers with all the required schooling needed now whether they are full or part time. Chief Towle states the biggest expense in his dept. is the fleet of cruisers. The Police Dept. has been level funded for a number of years, the 3 most unpredictable areas are overtime, holidays and court.   There have been new policies put into place; the most recent is the Taser policy. This policy had to be approved by the EOPS before it could be posted. In addition to this policy, officers were able to take part in the training by being tased. The Dept. has 4 Tasers which is enough to cover 3 officers per shift. The issue now is where to store them, there is limited space at the station.  The building does not affect how we operate but we do need a new Police Station. A policy on Nar can is also in the process of being written. Chief Towle says that the Police Dept. has become more involved with community events as well as the Sr. center. We want to make our presence less on enforcement and more on public service. Lt. Perry lists the various areas the Police Dept. are involved with, ATV & Boat patrol, RADD program, CEMLEC, Blackstone Valley drug task force. They will also do house security assessments if requested by residents. The common issue is speeding, fraud & identity theft and an increase in mental health issues. The BOS all thank Chief Towle and Lt. Perry for coming in and updating the BOS and the public on their dept.          
Vice-Chair Hebert at this time invites the BOS to PV on Dec. 9th @ 9:30am as Chief Towle is being sworn in as the president of Central Mass Chiefs association.                                                 

1 year extension Sutton Webster IMA Nursing Services: Public Health Nurse Cheryl Rawinski is present. TA Smith says this is a yearly renewal but the cost has increased from $55.00 an hour to $75.00 an hour. Cheryl reviews the nature of the services provided to the town of Webster which consists of disease surveillance, TB cases, Flu Clinics. Cheryl acts as a liaison between the town of Webster and the MA. Dept. of Public Health as well as keeping the Town of Webster on track with reporting all required information online through the MAVEN system. The BOS all thank Cheryl for her service to the Town but want to make sure she does not over spend herself. Selectman Limanek cautions Cheryl to know her limits. TA Smith states that she currently deals with 8 communities, including Sutton, there may be a 9th shortly.  Chairman Hall says Cheryl is one heck of a resource plus this is an economic benefit. Vice Chair Hebert motions to approve a 1 year extension for Nursing Services between the Town of Webster and the Town of Sutton for the period from Dec. 1, 2015 to Dec. 1, 2016, Selectman Limanek 2nds passes 5-0

Dual Representation letters: TA Smith presents 2 requests from Town Council (Kopelman & Paige) for Dual Representation for the Towns of Westborough and West Boylston. K&P represents both towns and this is needed to arrange an IMA with them for Nursing Services. Selectman Kenney motions to approve the Dual Representation disclosure allowing Kopelman & Paige to represent the Towns of Sutton and Westborough regarding Public Health Director/Nursing Services /Intermunicipal Agreement Selectman Limanek 2nds passes 5-0. Selectman Limanek motions to Motion to approve the Dual Representation disclosure allowing Kopelman & Paige to represent the Towns of Sutton and West Boylston regarding Public Health Director/Nursing Services /Intermunicipal Agreement , Vice Chair Hebert 2nds passes 5-0

TA Update:
  • Annual Town Christmas party to be held Dec. 15th. The town hall will be closed from 12-1pm. The BOS are invited to attend.  Waters Farm Christmas party is scheduled for Dec. 9th 11:30-1:30pm.
  • Goddard Lodge Roof Replacement: The town received 4 bids from $18,500. To $36,600. The low bidder did not submit the required paper work so therefore they were disqualified. The 2nd lowest bidder was Plan B out of Barrington RI. Their quote was $28,444.
FEMA reimbursement for Juno last January – We will be receiving $63,893. From the federal govt. This is 75% reimbursement.
Chain of Lights Saturday Dec. 5, 2015
  • TA Smith informs the BOS there will be a press conference on the Common on Dec. 11th @ 10am for the street light acquisition.
 
Announcements/Round Table/ Correspondence/Business Topics:
  • Selectman Maynard read the needs for the Food Pantry-25 baskets were distributed for Thanksgiving.
  • Selectman Kenney asks about the Conservation Commission bylaws- he states there are major concerns. Is there any way we could do a subcommittee on this. TA Smith states that the Charter by Law Review Committee actually just disbanded not too long ago, the Conservation Commissions bylaws went from 30 to 10 pages. We will have to see what comes up regarding this.
  • Selectman Kenney would like to have a skating rink at the school. It would be aside of the Basketball courts. TA Smith has checked with Town Council and our insurer, as long as it is opened to the public there should not be any issues. TA Smith advised Mike to go to the School Committee next for their comments.  Vice Chair Hebert states that if this moves forward we should stay with in the hours of the basketball courts.
  
9:45 pm Vice-Chair Hebert motions to adjourn Selectman Maynard 2nds passes 5-0