Selectboard
Selectboard Meeting Minutes
January 24, 2024
Town Hall Annex and Virtual Via GoToMeeting
Attending: Karen Cruise (KC), Robert Cumming (RC), Phil Gott (PG), Allissa Horsung, Deb Cary (open space), Annie Charette (open space), Peter Guimette (Advisory), Helga Lyons, Holly Burgess, Greer Jarvis of CMRPC.
Call to Order
The meeting was called to order at 3:00 PM.
Approval of Minutes
KC moved to approve the minutes of 1/10/24 - Trustees. RC 2nd. Voted 3-0.
KC moved to approve the minutes of 1/10/24 as amended. RC 2nd. Voted 3-0.
Approval of Treasury Report -Warrant #15
KC moved to approve Treasury Report for Warrant #15 as follows:
Payroll: $142,082.36
Accounts Payable: $143,966.54
Light Department $ 39,793.57
Total: $325,842.47
RC 2nd. Voted 3-0.
Public Comment
None
Appointments
KC moved to appoint the following Election Workers for a term ending 7/31/2024:
Debra Brenner
Mark Dillon
Claire Golding
Jennifer Hilton
Alan Sentkowski
RC 2nd. Voted 3-0.
KC moved to appoint Jean Green as an Election Worker for a term ending 7/31/2024.
RC 2nd. Vote 2-0-1 with Phil Gott abstaining.
Deb Cary, Annie Charette, and Greer Jarvis of CMRPC were in to ask the Board to put an article on the STM warrant to allocate $10k to be used as matching funds for a trail grant application. PG expressed concern that the total amount of the project (including doing the work after the planning and maintaining the trails) was not yet known. KC expressed concern that Board was being asked for $10k when as the last meeting they were told it would be an in-kind match. She mentioned that she was concerned that money could be better spent on something with higher importance to the town. PG indicated his affirmative vote is based on getting significant support from the several Town Committees who have an interest in this project.
KC moved to put an article on STM warrant to use available funds of $10k for matching funds for a trails grant. RC 2nd. 2-1-0
New Business
KC moved to approve the early voting hours and political calendar subject to the ATM date which will be set later in the meeting. RC 2nd. 3-0-0
KC moved to approve the Application for a One Day Liquor License as requested by Troy Milliken, dba Seven Saws Brewing for the Winter Festival on 2/3/2024. RC 2nd. 3-0-0
Discussion Regarding Draft Policy for Citizen Communication
The Board briefly discussed the draft policy sent out by RC. PG hadn’t seen the policy or KC’s proposed edits yet. KC was concerned that posting the communications might seem petty or might suppress communication. RC made the point that the communications are public record and recommended that everything discussed during a meeting be attached to the minutes of the meeting. PG requested that KC send him the document. All agreed to discuss further at the next meeting.
KC moved to remove Mechanics Hall and add Thomas Prince as a location for posting town meeting warrants. RC 2nd. 3-0-0
Discussion Town Administrator Annual Review Process
KC updated the Board on the process and forms used in 2022 when they last did a review of Sherry Patch. She mentioned that she had forwarded the forms and final document to them earlier in the day and asked that they review and make suggestions on the process and forms. She said that it was not a violation of OML to discuss this via email and that had been okayed by Sherry last time.
Discussion Regarding Upgrading Single Vessel POETS
KC mentioned the statement by LSP Jeff Arps that EPA and then MassDEP were likely to change their drinking water standards, in particular for levels of PFOA and PFOS. She said that it was likely that MassDEP would require the addition of a second GAC vessel at that time to POETS at about 18 houses. She asked the Board to consider whether or not they wanted to upgrade the POETS soon or wait until required by MassDEP. Karen emphasized that Jeff Arps said the single vessels were keeping those households safe and it wasn’t urgent to add another vessel. She did say that we would want to budget for those upgrades though. The Board agreed to add this to a future agenda for further discussion.
Discuss and set Annual Town Meeting Date
KC reported the survey asking residents whether they preferred Tues or Sat was about evenly split so it was up to the Board. RC felt that since our bylaw said Tues, we should stick with Tues, even though MGL said we could change it.
KC made a motion to set the ATM date and time to Tues, May 14, at 6pm. RC 2nd. 2-1-0
Correspondence and Communications
Email: Julie Marynok on Behalf of Thomas Browne, Supt. Monty Tech. The Board discussed the concerns of Supt. Browne and ask Sherry to support his position.
Terry Hart re proper disposal of sediment filter
Ed Cichon re PFAS
Richy Bisk re request to test all wells in town for PFAS
Old Business
Discussion regarding FY 25 Proposed Capital Plan
PG would like to see the number of new police cruisers cut in half by purchasing one every other year rather than one every year requested. If we only have 2 officers on at a time, why do we need so many cruisers? KC expressed concern over numbers that still seem to be guesses. She asked Board to get back to Sherry with further concerns.
Allocation of ARPA for FY24 costs for new full-time police officer
PG expressed concern at the lack of rigor in the request at the last meeting. Since the Chief knew who he wanted to hire, he should have had a real number for the cost last time. RC expressed concern that the first time he saw the real number was in a town news item. He also questioned whether the latest hire (Castro) was officer 7 or 8. If 7, KC should update the town news item appropriately.
KC moved to allocate $11,011.20 from the ARPA Fund to cover the FY 24 costs for a New Full-time Police Officer. RC 2nd. 2-1-0
Bid Awards
KC moved to award the FY 24 Tree Removal bid to Enviro Arbor Solutions LLC ($10,047.11) and to authorize the Town Administrator to execute the contract documents. RC 2nd. 3-0-0
Grant Opportunities and Status of Existing Grants
None
Town Administrator Report
KC read the update from the TA discussing FY25 budget timeline including meeting schedule. RC mentioned that he needed someone to cover for 2 meetings he would miss. KC volunteered to cover the police budget on 2/14 and PG volunteered for fire on 2/21.
Selectboard Report
RC updated the Board on the driveway permitting process discussions. He met with Ben Metcalf and John Bennett. They agree it would be good to come up with criteria. RC also reached out to Planning Board. They asked to hold off and review the criteria that Ben and John come up with.
RC attended a seminar relating to flag polices. He reported that our policy doesn’t appear to need to be changed. He mentioned that one thing he learned was that previous requests to fly a flag need to be honored. KC questioned whether the SB’s decision to fly the Pride Flag a couple of years ago must be honored if it wasn’t specific to just that one year.
RC is also looking into whether or not the Town is owed a reimbursement of transportation costs for transporting a student for several years to a vocational school in the western part of the state.
PG brought up that the ecotourism committee and housing plan implementation committee have begun discussions or surveys with citizens and businesses we should be aware of. The EC is talking to business stakeholders about what can be done to get more money out of visitors to town (rather than get more visitors). The HPIC is talking to local developers about what would
make them put multi family or affordable housing in town. They are also looking at suitable parcels – both privately and town owned.
KC asks others to please review the recording policy and noted she had received feedback from PG. The agreed to discuss at a future meeting.
KC also asked them to review the draft SB annual report which is due 2/1. PG and RC asked to have it sent to them again.
KC brought up an interesting discussion at PFAS Info Session about the desire for residents to vote on whether or not to fund cleanup and not leave it up to small group. KC noted Jeff needs to finish more or all of the phase 3 investigation of options and costs. She also said SB or resident petition could put a vote on a town meeting warrant. Board agreed this was something they could discuss in future meetings.
Adjournment
KC moved to adjourn the meeting. RC 2nd. Voted 3-0.
The meeting was adjourned at 4:44 PM.
Respectfully submitted,
Karen Cruise,
Selectboard