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03/22/2016 BOS Meeting Minutes
                                                          Meeting Minutes
  
                                           Minutes Accepted and filed with the Town Clerk on  4/5/2016 by a vote of  3-0- 1   
                                           (Vice-Chair Hebert absent/Chairman Hall abstains, absent from 3/22/16 meeting)

7:00 p.m. – March 22, 2016
                                       Sutton Town Hall, Selectmen’s Meeting Room
Members in Attendance:                           
        Vice Chair John Hebert (acting Chairman), Selectmen Paul Maynard, Jesse Limanek & Michael Kenney  
 (Chairman David Hall absent)
       Town Administrator James Smith & Debbie Jacques, secretary   

Vice Chairman Hebert calls the meeting to order at 7:00pm followed by the Pledge of Allegiance.
Vice Chair Hebert states he will be acting Chair tonight as Chairman David Hall is away.

Public Forum: no comments

Selectman Limanek motions to accept minutes from the 03/08/2016 BOS meeting; Selectman Kenney 2nds passes 3-1-0
                                                        (Chairman Hall absent/Selectman Maynard absent from 3/8/16 meeting)

Owners Project Manager contract-Library: TA Smith states this firm was chosen by the Designer Selection committee,  now we are out with an RFQ for the design. This project will have to go before a Town Meeting for approval, the Library Trustees are interested in Shaw farm but there are some developmental issues there. Selectman Maynard says another good project, Selectman Limanek says the trustees and the librarian are engaged in their due diligence, Selectman Kenney said he was looking forward to this day and to follow the stages as we go, there will be challenges but he is looking forward to the process.  Vice Chair Hebert is in agreement with the BOS, he says they have done a lot of hard work and he wishes them well. Selectman Maynard motions to authorize the Vice Chairman of the Board of Selectmen to sign the Owner’s Project Manager’s contract for the library project awarded to Construction Monitoring Services Inc. Selectman Limanek seconds passes 4-0

Intention to Layout road-Virginia Ave. TA Smith states tonight’s meeting is for the BOS to vote on their intentions to layout Virginia Ave., it will them go before the Planning Board and will be back in front of the BOS at the next meeting to adopt the layout and accept as a public way.  TA Smith states the town has maintained this road but this process needs to be taken in order to include in the Chapter 90 funding. Selectman Maynard states this is just a housekeeping issue, we have maintained this road-no issues. Selectman Limanek says it is a win win for the residents; this is a town road and will benefit the town by adding to our Chapter 90. Selectman Kenney has no issues, Mike states this is doing justice for the tax payers in town by adding to the Chapter 90 funds. Selectman Kenney motions to approve the intentions to layout Virginia Avenue as a public way Selectman Limanek seconds passes 4-0

10 year lease Wireless Edge-Town Farm Road: TA Smith states this is to sign a Notice of Lease for Wireless Edge Towers, LLC which is the next step in bringing a new cell tower to the town at the Town Farm Road location.  Jim states Verizon is the interested carrier and has performed the environmental phase of this project. Once this is approved tonight, Verizon will issue the sublease with Wireless Edge. They will still have to go through the Planning Board and Zoning Board for their approval. Selectman Maynard says this has been worked on for 5 years, residents & the school will be very happy. Thank you to Jim’s guidance for pushing forward. Selectman Limanek says this is fantastic especially for that part of town. Jesse thanks Jim for his continued work on this project. Selectman Kenney agrees this is fantastic; this was one of his top goals he discussed at the yearly Goal & Objectives meeting. This is fantastic for West Sutton and important for the service that it will provide to the school. Vice Chair Hebert reflects that he is the only remaining Board member when this process began in 2009. Whittiers were good partners in making this happen. When he was Police Chief it was frustrating that in that area of town you could not get calls for emergency services. TA Smith states there will be repeaters at the top of the tower. Selectman Kenney asks about repeaters, Selectman Maynard states they take a signal from one cruiser to another. Selectman Kenney motions to sign a Notice of Lease for Wireless Edge Towers, LLC.  for the cell tower location on Town Farm Road, Selectman Limanek seconds passes 4-0

FY17 Budget update: TA Smith states there is still some small moving pieces but the budget is balanced.  The FY17 budget is $30,182,232.00 which is an increase of $375,000. or 1.26% of the FY16 budget. The school is close to being structurally balanced. FY17 tax impact will go down; taxes will increase by 1.7%. The Health Insurance will be increasing 6% with the help of some plan design changes which include an opt out provision of $1,500.00 for a single and $3,000. for a family.  Property & Casual Ins. has increased 22% due to some Workers Comp issues at the Highway Dept. as well as an IOD in the Police Dept. Also being looked into at this time is a Health Care Stabilization fund. Dave Hall, Jeff Bannon and Tim Harrison are looking into this further but it would be an account that could help fund future years of Health Insurance increases. The school dept. is closer to having a sustainable budget.  Selectman Maynard says the HRA fund and the Health Care Stabilization fund are great ideas. To TA Smith, Tim Harrison and the financial team, the budget is great. Selectman Limanek says the best two words he heard was Sustainable Budget. Jesse recounts during the recession years the town was in horrendous shape, we rode through the storm. We are able to sustain what we have at a reasonable rate. Kudos on the Health Care Stabilization fund and the ability for depts. to think outside the box; excellent job Tim. Jesse asks Jim if we get additional Chapter 70 money when would we get that, this year or next year. TA Smith replies either one. Selectman Kenney asks if the town gets additional Chapter 70 funding where would that go, TA Smith replies he has always giving that to the school dept. but if we are over what we have to give for net school spending we can appropriate it in other places. Mike says we hear Tim Harrisons name a lot, he is the towns CPA. It is good to see the tides are changing, in the past we were cutting; now we are building back up. Vice Chair Hebert says this is the end of his 3 terms and it is the 1st time in 9years he is excited about the budget.  John thanks our financial team, TA Smith and Ted Friend at the school for the open communication process and the partnership they have formed.  

TA Update:
  • BVT Vocational School Community Service Day: Thursday March 24th 8:30-11AM. Students will provide such things as cleaning & mulching beds around the town hall, building a foot bridge at Marion’s Camp, holding manicures at the Sr. center as well as at the library for toddlers.
Flag pole replacement on the Town Common: we have ordered a 60ft fiberglass pole which will be maintenance free as far as painting goes.  
Police Dept makeover: Jessica Bruno, a town resident, has offered to spruce up the Police dept. at no charge to the town. She will be before the BOS at a future meeting for the Board to accept.
Alternate Wiring Inspector: Jeff Fenuccio, our current alternate inspector has relocated out of state. We have named Marty Nagle to be a backup for  Larry Morris
  • Student Govt. Day is scheduled for April 5th. These students will attend the BOS meeting that night. Jim will be in touch with Richard Levensavitch regarding this.
 
Announcements/Round Table/ Correspondence/Business Topics:

  • Selectman Maynard reads the list of items needed at the Sutton Food Pantry.
  • Selectman Limanek attended the Sheriffs Dept presentation at the Sr. Center last week about opioid use and the disposal of medications. It was a fantastic program and will be aired for residents to watch.
  • Selectman Kenney was not able to attend the Sheriffs program but watched a Dateline special on this subject and found it very informative. Mike thanks Jim for the updates and says fantastic for the makeover at the Police Dept. Mike also thanks the Highway Dept. for picking up the material used for the skating rink, we will do this again next year.
  • Selectman Kenney at this time would like a moment of silence  for what has happened in the world, the terror attack in Belgium and the State Trooper that had lost his life
7:55 pm Selectman Maynard motions to adjourn Selectman Limanek 2nds passes 4-0