Selectboard Correspondence - Reflecting on FY21 Areas of Focus

Submitted by the Town of Princeton Selectboard

Every year the Selectboard (SB) takes some time to think about what they would like to focus on during the year. Many things (e.g. budgets, appointments, spending authorizations) need to be done as a matter of course. Other things (e.g. PFAS in FY20) come up and take significant time and attention. This is a brief summary of how the SB did on its areas of focus for FY21.

New Public Safety Building: Continue to work with Caolo & Bienek on a set of 3 preliminary designs for the new public safety building. Work with team to inform residents about the options and their costs, answer questions, prepare for a town meeting vote to fund design and construction documents. Continue seeking alternate funding sources. 

SB member Karen Cruise was part of a working group reporting to Town Administrator (TA) Sherry Patch that worked with Caolo & Bieniek on the development of three preliminary designs for the new public safety building. The group focused on ensuring the designs included only spaces deemed necessary by the Police and Fire Chiefs. Caolo & Bieniek brought valuable experience in designing public safety buildings for towns like ours. The group worked also to communicate their progress with residents, the Advisory Committee (AC), and the SB. Questions received by the group were answered and added to the Public Safety Building webpage’s FAQ for the benefit of others. The building team presented at a Town Buzz session, a SB meeting, a joint AC / SB meeting, and three information sessions. SB member Cruise attended a Historical Commission meeting to present the design options. In addition, a second joint SB/AC meeting was held shortly after the first one, to allow more questions from the Selectboard. The joint SB/AC meetings, the three information sessions, and the AC Hearing on the warrant were all attended by the building team and Caolo & Bieniek. The building team presented three design options to the SB with the recommendation to proceed with Option B, an all-new building. The SB voted to move forward and support Option B. The building team, TA and SB understood the desire to get grants to help pay for the building and worked toward that end. Advice from our State legislators was to have a shovel ready project. The Annual Town Meeting vote to transfer approximately $370,000 into the public safety building account and spend approximately $850,000 on design and construction documents to bring us to a shovel ready state failed to reach the 2/3 majority needed. The SB voted on 6/1/21 to form a new committee with SB and AC liaisons and five residents, hopefully including one from the Environmental Action Committee and one from the Historical Commission. The committee’s charge is to work with Caolo & Bieniek to reduce the cost as much as can reasonably be done and to bring the new design and cost projections back to a future Special Town Meeting. SB member Matthew Moncreaff will be the SB liaison on this new committee.

PFAS:   Continue working with team to move forward per Immediate Response Action Plan filed with MassDEP. Focus on consistency and fairness with attention to safety and cost. Particular attention will be paid to communication with affected residents and townspeople. 

SB member Cruise worked with TA Patch, Licensed Site Professional Jeffrey Arps from Tighe & Bond, and Attorney Barry Fogel from Keegan Werlin on the continued execution of the Immediate Response Action Plan filed with MassDEP. SB member Cruise and TA Patch kept the SB updated and held SB meetings in executive session with Attorney Fogel as needed. Though private well testing was slowed down because of COVID restrictions, quarterly well testing is back on schedule. Residents were kept updated on the PFAS situation through updates on the PFAS page on the website and by updates during SB meetings. An information session was held on 4/15/21 where Jeffrey Arps informed residents of the status to date and discussed the next phase of the IRA which has begun. The SB recently approved a PFAS Information Sharing Plan whereby Matt Charpentier, a representative from the Environmental Action Committee, will work with the SB on making information about PFAS more accessible to residents.

Communication:  The Selectboard will continue its efforts to improve communications with residents, with other boards/committees, and internally. Attention will be paid to written/emailed communication, website updates, and information sharing meetings.

The SB increased its efforts to communicate with residents, boards and committees, and internally. Using town-wide news and Nextdoor, the Board updated residents frequently on matters coming before them, grants applied for and/or received, new hires, State communications related to COVID, and many other topics. They continued their practice of issuing regular communications to residents on topics they deemed of potential interest. In addition to these communications, the SB worked to keep many parts of the website up to date such as Projects, PFAS, and Town Finances. To ensure SB members know what the other SB members are working on, the agenda for regular SB meetings now includes an item called Selectboard Updates. Each member is asked to update the others on their areas of focus. They are also encouraged to speak up if there is something they wanted to know more about that another member might be working on.

Sale of Mechanics Hall:  The Selectboard will negotiate both a Host Community Agreement and a Development Agreement with Red Cardinal. If the sale to Red Cardinal falls through, the Selectboard will determine appropriate next steps for Mechanics Hall. 

The SB worked with Red Cardinal, TA Patch, and Town Counsel Thomas Mullen on the Host Community Agreement and other documents that were needed by the Cannabis Control Commission. as well as the Community Outreach Meeting. Though the process is very slow, the deal is moving forward. The speed is dictated, in part, by the six-month review period for the Cannabis Control Commission. At a recent meeting, the Board approved Red Cardinal moving forward with site plan review in front of the planning board. We are hopeful that the sale will be completed by the end of the year.

Improve Sharing of Knowledge Throughout Board: The board will continue to discuss areas where knowledge sharing can be improved and will make improvements when possible. 

See Communication above.

Investigate the Abandonment/Discontinuation of Certain Town Roads: 

The Selectboard, working with the Town Administrator, Road Advisory Committee, and Highway Superintendent, will develop a list  of road (segments) that they recommend discontinuing. The Board will present that list to the TA or inclusion in an article for an upcoming town meeting warrant. 

The SB, working with TA Patch and Attorney Mullen, decided to move forward with Discontinuing the Maintenance of Certain Town Roads or Road Segments. This was determined to be sufficient to protect the Town from claims for damage or injury by those using the roads and road segments. Furthermore, the status of any building lots on this road does not change.  Since the SB was not pursuing the Abandonment or Discontinuation of those roads, the requirement was for the SB to hold a public hearing before voting on the discontinuation of maintenance.  That hearing was held on 2/8/21 and the SB voted 2 for, 1 against, to discontinue the maintenance of the list of roads excluding Schoohouse (which was already discontinued).

Improve Road Safety for Pedestrians and Cyclists:  Control speeding and loud vehicles.  This may

include crosswalks, signage, traffic calming measures and enforcement. 

The Town has made considerable progress in this area, but much work remains.  We purchased portable speed signs that warn motorists when they are speeding.  We regularly move them to new locations.   Crosswalks have been installed in a number of areas of town.  The Route 140/East Princeton Village project was completed.  That project includes numerous traffic calming measures. 

Last summer, we used Safe Streets funding to create a temporary walking path along Worcester Road in the area of Post Office Place.  We are currently surveying residents before we decide whether to set up the path again this summer. Long term, we hope to create a permanent and more aesthetic path.

We created a Complete Streets Policy and with the help of HSH Associates and a committee of residents, we developed a Complete Streets Prioritization Plan.  This plan makes us eligible for state funding for projects that improve walking, biking and equestrian safety.  The final Complete Streets plan was approved by the State. However, the State changed the funding guidelines. It used to be that towns could apply for up to $400k annually. It has been changed to up to $400k every four year. The Complete Streets Committee, chaired by SB Member Bisk, will be meeting over the summer to discuss which, if any, projects to move forward in October for spring construction.  (See https://www.town.princeton.ma.us/complete-streets-committee for more details.)

Review and revise (and create if necessary) committee charges.  Clarify the role of alternates and consider increasing the term of alternates. 

Though this project was begun, little headway was made on parts of it. New committees that were formed over the past year started with a clear and much discussed charge. As committees asked for alternates, care was taken to ensure the role of the alternates was well defined. There are still committees without a formal documented charge.

Review and clarify the chain of command in town government:  Specify a backup person when someone is unavailable.

Though this problem was identified by SB member Bisk after a particularly difficult time while Town Administrator Sherry Patch was on vacation, TA Patch took the lead in resolving the issue. She named new Town Clerk Nate Boudreau as her backup. So far, that has helped quite a bit. The SB will continue to pay attention to this issue and will work with TA Patch as needed.

Review and Update Stipends:  The Selectboard, working with the Advisory Committee, will undertake a comprehensive review of annual stipends allocated to Select Board members, the Planning Board Chair, School Committee members, the Town Meeting Moderator, and others.

Early in the Covid Pandemic we decided to table this item until after the pandemic was under control. We look forward to resuming work on this in for FY 2022. 

Formally Change Name Board of Selectmen to Selectboard:  The Selectboard will prepare an article for town warrant, seeking permission to petition the state legislature, for approval to legally change the Board of Selectmen to the Select Board.  This is the first step of a three-step process. 

Although we have been referring to ourselves as the Selectboard,  we are still formally the Board of Selectmen.   SB member Moncreaff  worked with TA Sherry Patch to draft a warrant article for the May 15, 2021, town meeting to initiate the official process for the name change.  The article passed and we will now petition the State Legislature for approval.

Open Space Plan Implementation: The Selectboard will continue working with the Open Space Committee to implement the Open Space Plan. 

The Open Space Committee made great progress on the implementation of the 2020 Open Space and Recreation Plan (available on the town website). Of the tasks in the plan assigned to OSC, progress has been made in the following areas:

• A Trail Vision and Action Plan has been completed and is being implemented. Implementation to-date has included completion of the Calamint Hill trail system, development of Cobb Brook Trails, Clearing of Goodnow Park trails, and plans at all hiking areas for improved signage. In addition, a revamp to the OSC website is being planned.
• A 'trails summit' to share the trail vision with town residents is being planned for the fall.
• Princeton Hikes! has been refocused on Princeton residents and Princeton Trails and continues to see excellent participation.
• Delivered two library presentations showcasing trails in Princeton and Surrounding towns (recording is available on the OSC website).
• OSC worked with EAC to drive the Earth Month Cleanup process by which we cleaned/maintained Parks, Trails, and town Roads