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03/21/2017 BOS Meeting Minutes
Town Of Sutton
Board of Selectmen
                                                        Meeting Minutes
  
                                           Minutes Accepted and filed with the Town Clerk on 4/4/2017 by a vote of    4-0
                                                                                                   (Vice-Chair Maynard absent)
7:00p.m. – March 21, 2017
                                       Sutton Town Hall, Selectmen’s Meeting Room
Members in Attendance:                           
        Chairman John Hebert, Vice-Chair Paul Maynard, Clerk Jesse Limanek and Selectmen David Hall & Michael Kenney
Town Administrator James Smith & Deb Jacques, secretary  
 
Chairman Hebert calls the meeting to order at 7:00pm followed by the Pledge of Allegiance.

Forum:  Chris Gramstorff of 67 Barnett Road is present to comment on the Green Line Velo bike race which is held in town annually. Mr. Gramstorff says the bike people are great but they should think of another traffic plan. As a tax payer in town, Mr. Gramstorff says the road closures are an inconvenience to the residents. The flaggers which are supplied by Green Line Velo do not do a great job, they should be trained flaggers. Mr. Gramstorff says the people coordinating the race can do better for the citizens of Sutton.   

Selectman Hall motions to accept as presented minutes from March 7, 2017 meeting, Vice Chair Maynard seconds passes 5-0  

Green Line Velo bike race: present is Kyle Butler and Daniel Fitzgibbons from Green Line Velo. TA Smith states this is the 7th year the bike race has come into town. Kyle Butler thanks the BOS and says in working in the past with the Police Dept. they were the ones to suggest half the road be closed to thru traffic. Kyle would be willing to work with the police and the town to have less of an impact on residents in the area of the race. Daniel Fitzgibbons stated the bottom of Mendon road and Barnett Road is a problematic area due to the speed riders pick up as they are going down the hill. Selectman Hall says the event is well run and the bikers show respect to the route and the town but it is also good to hear concerns of residents. Dave asked why the area of Mendon & Barnet is closed, Kyle Butler responds that it is difficult when no lines are painted on the roads. Dave also asked what the method of notifying residents was. Kyle responds by mailings, Mr. Gramstorff (in the audience) said Barnet Road was not notified last year. Kyle apologizes, in the past they had flyers but they cannot put them in mail boxes. Vice Chair Maynard stresses respect to the residents and asks how the workers communicate with command posts. Kyle states they have radios provided by Central Mass Public Safety as well as cell phones. Selectman Limanek says he usually hears positive comments but to be respectful, open and transparent. Jesse questions how many riders take part in the event. Kyle replies 500 spaced between 8am and 5:30pm in 3 waves at 8:00, 10:30 and 2pm. Selectman Kenney questions how many auto/rider accidents in the past 7 years, Kyle replies none. Mike asks about the proceeds, Kyle responds around $1500.00 which they donate to the Sutton food Pantry.  Mike says we still have to listen to the concerns of the residents but before we start hitting the break on the event take a look, there are a lot of people that enjoy the race in town try to come up with a solution. Chairman Hebert says the town is open to suggestions, work with the Police Dept. John says a lot of concise effort goes into this event. Selectman Kenney motions to approve the Green line Velo cycling race to be held on Sunday, June 11th  between the hours of 7AM to 6PM with detail Police Officers & EMS, road signage in place and a copy of the insurance rider on file in the Town Administrators office prior to event selectman Hall seconds passes 5-0

Marijuana regulation & possible prohibitions: present is Planning Director Jen Hager. Jen presents a power point to show the difference between Medical and Recreational Marijuana. Medical cannot be prohibited only regulated, if not regulated it can go wherever a similar use would be allowed. The Planning Board will sponsor an article to create a Medical marijuana Overly District (MMOD) and regulate the use in the Zoning Bylaw. It is proposed to cover the South Sutton Commerce Park. Recreational Marijuana (not for personal consumption as a local regulation cannot prohibit personal use) can be prohibited but only by a ballot question. Jen goes on to say the current legislation has created many questions. One of the options is to have a moratorium on recreational marijuana which would run until Oct. 31, 2018.  The Planning Board is proposing to enact a moratorium on recreational marijuana to allow time to act on either prohibition or limitation. The BOS must decide to allow this question onto the town election.  Jen says it may be best to use the belts and suspenders approach and do a general by law to prohibit. Selectman Hall states it is very confusing, there are a lot of contradictions. Dave states he is pleased that the Planning Board has presented a moratorium for recreational use and would support putting the question on the ballot. Offer this to the voters and see how they feel. Vice Chair Maynard is in support of the moratorium and says to let the town vote on it. Selectman Limanek is in favor of the moratorium as well as the ballot question, Jesse questions the Medical retail vs the Recreational retail.  Selectman Kenney asks if you have a prescription for medical marijuana can you smoke in a public place. Jen answers you can have it on you but if there are bylaws against smoking in a public place you could not but the Board of health would have to be involved with this. Mike agrees with the moratorium, bring it to the town to vote. Chairman Hebert states he would support the moratorium. Selectman Limanek motions to support a moratorium on recreational marijuana as proposed by the Planning Board until October 31, 2018, Vice Chair Maynard second’s passes 5-0.
Selectman Limanek motions in support of the ballot question to prohibit all types of Recreational marijuana establishments in Sutton Selectman Kenney seconds passes 5-0

Library trustees/Shaw Farm: present is Library Trustee Elizabeth Kane and Library Director Betsy Rajotte: TA Smith informs the BOS this is a requested to have the town lease approx. 3 acres of land where the proposed library will be in the custody of the Library Trustees. This is needed for the grant application and the question will be at the May Town Meeting. This would be contingent on the library receiving a construction grant. Selectman Hall questions what happens if the library facility does not last 99 years, TA Smith states we would have to negotiate with the trustees and end the lease or put contingencies in the lease.  Vice Chair Maynard says it is just a paper shuffle, Paul goes on to ask if they have plans yet for a generator on site, they reply no.  Selectman Limanek asks what would happen if due to budget cuts the library closes or is it in the bylaws that we need a library. Elizabeth Kane states if it is not a running library for 25 years the town must pay the grant back. Jesse goes on to ask some questions that were asked of him by residents. What is the head count of users, they reply 60,000 a year, is this a justifiable scale of the project with the age of technology. Jesse states use vs scope. Also discussed was the staffing, custodial services, maintenance, utilities, HVAC. Elizabeth Kane states the size was determined by the Wisconsin Library standards.  Selectman Kenney says this is a resource center and agrees if you are going to do a project do it right the first time, build for the future. Chairman Hebert says Betsy and the trustees have done an awful lot of work. It will be up to the voters to decide on this project but has no issues with the lease of 3 acres.           

TA Update:
  • FY18 budget Update: upcoming meetings will include the final FY18 budget presentation and the Town Meeting warrant. The Town Meeting will be held on May 8 in the middle school/ High school auditorium.
  • Green communities Grant submission: Friday March 3rd, Doreen Defazio submitted a grant request in the amount of $227,388. This will be for new boilers in the ELC, 2 electric cars and $7,500. From DEP for the EVIP program.
  • Fire Dept grants: Chief Belsito applied for and received two grants, one is student awareness of fire education for $3951. And the second is the Senior Safe grant for $2,596. For smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors.
  
Announcements/Round Table/Correspondence:
  • Selectman Limanek thanks the Knights of Columbus for the Friday Fish fry’s, reminds residents of the Meals on Wheels grand cook off at the Sr. Center Wed. 3/22 and the Boot drive recently held by the Fire Dept at Market 32  
  • Selectman Kenney asks if there is a minimum bid amount on the upcoming April 4th auction in town. TA Smith replied no, Paul Zekos does not set bid prices.


Selectman Kenney motions to adjourn, Selectman Limanek seconds passes 5-0       9:05pm