Shutesbury Board of Selectmen Meeting Minutes December 12, 2006 Members present: Chairman Rebecca "Becky" Torres, Debra Pichanick and Ralph Armstrong. Also Present: Town Administrator David C. Dann and Administrative Secretary Leslie Bracebridge, recording. Meeting opened at 7:10 P.M. In the presence of many community at large people, a recognition event was held for Town Accountant David Kielson who has resigned his position in Shutesbury in anticipation of his new role as President of the Massachusetts Municipal Association which will begin on January 1, 2007. He received a Shutesbury T-shirt, a Proclamation from the Massachusetts House of Representatives, a personalized song sung to him by those in attendance, and multiple personal testimonials. Select Board Action Item #2: The Select Board unanimously voted to accept the December 5, 2006 meeting minutes as written. The Selectmen will hold off approving the November 28, 2006 minutes until they have had a chance to read them. Appointments In the presence of the Shutesbury Athletic Club (AC) President-Elect Paul Danielovich, Becky read the proposed 2007 Memorandum of Agreement between the Town of Shutesbury and the AC. New wording in Articles 8 and 9 were discussed and agreed upon. Selectmen unanimously voted to sign the 2007 Memorandum of Agreement. Paul signed on behalf of the AC and he will contact Mark Snow to come in to also sign on behalf of the AC. Selectmen unanimously voted to sign the renewal application form for the Shutesbury Athletic Club, an accompanying Form 43 required because of the change in Manager, and the change of a number of the Board of Directors, and other forms required by the Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission (ABCC). Selectmen also unanimously voted to sign the Alcoholic Beverages license, a Live Entertainment license, a Commercial Video license and a Pool Table license for 2007. Representing Clark’s Auto Wrecking, Sara Clark stated her company’s preference for the Board of Selectmen to call or stop by anytime they have concerns about the business rather than to call a public hearing. Further, if a public hearing must be called due to a complaint, her company would like a copy of the complaint in advance. Sara does not want to be "left hanging" every year wondering if there will be a public hearing. Becky explained that each Board makes the choice of whether or not to call a public hearing. A current Select Board cannot dictate the activity of a future Select Board but the present Select Board could recommend that if a future Select Board wanted to hold a hearing, that the hearing should be held earlier in the year. Selectmen unanimously voted to sign a license for a Class III Auto Wrecking for the year 2007. Fire Chief Walter Tibbetts reported: * An outcome of his annual review is to meet more regularly with the Board of Selectmen to keep the flow of information going back and forth. * Requests have been made to improve conditions of emergency services for Shutesbury residents when the Town of Amherst rescue teams are tied up. A generalized investigation at the state level is under way concerning a recent rescue. This may result in future service, when Amherst is not available, that is quicker and more local. * A property owner wrote a letter stating conditions of non-compliance with the state fire code noticed on a recent run have been corrected. * Level 300 and 400 ICS classes will be scheduled for the Select Board Chairman. Board member Ralph Armstrong expressed his interest in attending also. * The comprehensive emergency management plan has been completed. Very soon everyone will have his/her own copy. The plan serves as the basis for various other emergency plans in various stages of completion. * Chief Tibbetts and Board of Health Chairman William "Bill" Elliott went to a regional COOP exercise in Greenfield on Monday. The exercise helped Chief Tibbetts better understand the things that will be harder and the things that will be easier for the small town of Shutesbury to address, as opposed to larger communities, when responding to a large scale emergency. * The Emergency Action Plan for the Lake Wyola Dam is "coming together." The Selectmen will meet on Wednesday December 27 to sign that plan. * On 12/13/06 the dispatch center will switch over to the new regional radio system. There are several back-up plans in the event that the change does not proceed as planned. * A rescue truck is temporarily out of service for emergency repairs to the brakes. A complete service will be done on the whole vehicle while it is out. In the meantime, engine 2 will be used for medical emergencies. Walter has outfitted his pick-up truck for other kinds of emergencies. * July to October 31st was a slow quarter with only 21 runs; November had 13 runs. * Of the current 8 members of the Fire Department, one member with over 25 years of experience will resign effective the end of the month. A new applicant will be recommended for appointment, but it takes years to gain the experience of the person who is leaving. Shutesbury is very fortunate to have Chief Tibbetts, Chris Hasbrouck and Leonard Czerwonka all regularly working in town during the day. * Volunteers aren’t as plentiful as they once were. Partly due to a change in lifestyles, partly due to extensive mandated training. Walter predicted that volunteer departments will be replaced within the next ten years with regionalized departments. Retention and recruitment is a problem across the country for volunteer departments. * The Selectmen will arrive at the Fire Department at 7:15 P.M. on Thursday, December 14 in recognition of the retirement of Assistant Fire Chief Harry Masterton. * Selectmen will try to meet with Fire Chief Tibbetts one time per month to keep better communication, or more often if there are special concerns. Topics A. Town Administrator David Dann reviewed building renovations expenditures in the past 3 years and the current balance in the building renovations account of $10,575. Priority for the remaining funds will be placed on improving air quality at the Town Hall. (Addendum #1) He distributed a report of estimated future building renovation needs that come to approximately $230,000. (Addendum #2) Becky commented that there will be a lot of competing capital expenses coming up. B. David reviewed the proposed plot plan as approved by Fire Chief Walter Tibbetts for the replacement of the underground fuel tank and the diesel tanks at the Highway Garage. David distributed change orders for the fuel tanks installation and the application form to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Department of Revenue for partial reimbursement for the removal and re-installation of the new tanks. The applications are due this year. Any grant funds awarded would be distributed after June 30, 2007. If the funds don’t come in, amounts over budget would come from free cash. Selectmen unanimously voted to accept change orders 2, 3, and 4 for the highway above ground gasoline and diesel tank installations at the highway garage following any corrections to the actual costs after possible duplications noted by Finance Committee member Al Springer are researched and removed, if appropriate. C. Selectmen unanimously voted to authorize the Town Administrator to sign a renewal of the town’s insurance contract provided by the Massachusetts Inter-local Insurance Association with a 2-year guaranteed rate decrease of 5% per year. Select Board Action Items 1. Unanimously voted to sign vendor warrants in the total amount of $163,538.72 and payroll warrants in the total amount of $78,396.30. 2. See start of these minutes for approval of previous minutes. 3. Selectmen overlooked granting permission to the School Committee to gift their older math materials to schools in greater need. 4. Unanimously voted to sign Personnel Action Forms (PAF) for the resignations of Town Accountant David Kielson and Assistant Fire Chief Harry Masterton and a PAF for Town Accountant new hire Gail Weiss. 5. See Memorandum of Agreement vote in appointments above. 6. See vote of Class III license in appointments above. New Topics Selectmen will meet on December 16, 18, 19 and 27. David will try to get the school for the December 16 meeting at which the Lake Wyola Advisory Committee and the Dam Management Committee will be reviewing the recent dam inspection. The purpose of the December 18 meeting, at the Town Hall at 7:30 PM with members of the Energy Committee and the Building Committee will be to consider if the proposed installation of the wind turbine would be in compliance with the Telecommunications Tower Bylaw. The purpose of the December 27 Select Board meeting is to sign off on the emergency action plan for the Lake Wyola Dam. Ralph reported that the Lake is filling at the rate of one inch per day. Walk-Ins Resident Michael Hootstein had two messages for the Board of Selectmen: 1. He referred to a recent report in the Daily Hampshire Gazette concerning an investigation and praised Police Chief Harding’s involvement. 2. He feels that getting a building permit is harder to do in Shutesbury than in other towns and he wants all bylaws enforced consistently. He offered to write a report that would help the town to better coordinate the efforts of the various boards that sign off on building projects. Becky welcomed Michael’s report and asked Town Administrator David Dann to collect requirements for building permits by statute and regional norms to see if Shutesbury deviates from the regional and state standards in preparation for review of Michael’s report. A motion was made, seconded and unanimously voted to adjourn at 10:30 P.M. Respectfully submitted, Leslie Bracebridge Administrative Secretary ?? ?? ?? ?? 061212 Selectboard 1