Shutesbury Board of Selectmen Meeting Minutes July 10, 2007 Members present: Chairman Rebecca Torres and Ralph Armstrong. Absent: Debra Pichanick. Also Present: Town Administrator David C. Dann and Leslie Bracebridge, recording. Meeting opened at 7:02 P.M. Select Board Action Item #1: The Select Board unanimously voted to accept the June 28, 2007 meeting minutes as written. Appointments Chief Harding: * IMC software is installed and training has occurred. * Sgt. Robinson is receiving RAD training. * Reviewed current and future Governor’s Highway Safety Grants. * Reviewed recent police activity. The Fourth of July was relatively quiet. * There are some minor changes to be made to a proposed standard language police department mutual aid agreement. Fire Chief and Emergency Management Director Tibbetts clarified that each community will be responsible for insuring its own personnel. Most towns are already carrying the necessary insurance. Town Counsel wants the insurance wording added to the mutual aid agreement. David will review the agreement with Chief Tibbetts for approval at the next Select Board meeting. Chief Harding has spoken with area Chiefs that would be involved in the agreement. Shutesbury Athletic Club President Paul Danielovich and Secretary Eric Pietz: * The Club has held a number of benefit functions: Relay for Life benefit dinner, Friends of the Library events, and an Elementary School fund raiser. * Private events: A birthday party and an Amherst Middle School teacher event. * The Club sponsored a chicken barbeque. There will be a steak roast on August 11 with donations to go to the Fire Department. * Club activities are slow in August. The Lake Wyola Association will have a number of benefit activities. * Friday night dinners will continue. * Chief Harding praised Club efforts to keep him well-informed about Club events. * Paul appreciated that police officers stop by the Club in a positive social way. * As a non-profit organization, the Club is balancing putting money into the facility and giving money back to the community. * The current Club focus is on reaching out to the community so that people will understand the Club’s interest in being a long term community place. * In September the Club will have a clean-up work party. * Erik and Paul will meet with Selectmen in September. Fire Chief and Emergency Management Director Tibbetts: * In the presence of Athletic Club President Danielovich and Secretary Pietz Chief Tibbetts reviewed his determinations concerning Massachusetts sprinkler laws and regulations as formalized in a June 19, 2007 letter the Chief sent to the Club. If the Club can remain in compliance by following the stipulations of the letter, Chief Tibbetts will not require the installation of a sprinkler system. Chief Tibbetts noted that such installation of a 20,000 gallon water tank and the necessary accoutrements would cost the Club $30,000 to $50,000. o Chief Tibbetts put the statement in writing so that there would be no misunderstandings. o Any indoor function must be limited to 100 in the dining room and 70 in the bar area. Outside functions can have 240 people. o “Music as the main draw without meals events” will require special permits from the Fire Chief and the Building Inspector. They can only happen occasionally. o Erik and Paul will share this information with the Athletic Club Board of Trustees. * FEMA reimbursement for the April storm damage was finalized and the reimbursement amount will be 75% of the $7513.09 qualifying expenses. * Shutesbury got 20 of the surplus Motorola 12 channel portable radios that had been discussed at the Emergency Management Team meetings. They will be programmed to the frequency licensed to the Highway Department. The radios were “top of the line” at the time they were manufactured. Chief Tibbetts also picked up 2 silver box radio amplifiers that can convert a radio in the box with an antenna into a 40 watt base station. He also received 3 single battery chargers and two 6 bay chargers Each radio is valued at $1200. Chief Tibbetts estimated the total value of the radio equipment received to be between $20,000 to $24,000. For a few hundred dollars the radios could all be refurbished with new batteries. Leverett also received radios and will schedule the programming with Shutesbury and each town will include the other town’s frequency on all of the radios. Other mutual aid community frequencies could also be programmed into the radios. Using the Highway Department frequency keeps the town emergency management uses of the radios off the regional fire and police frequencies. All radios have been inventoried. * Chief Tibbetts attended National grid’s Storm Preparedness Training. He received new emergency telephone contact numbers from the Athol area for police and fire personnel to get information during an emergency. They received helpful diagrams and explanations for all of the equipment that could be on utility poles. * The Fire Department did 97 runs in FY07. They have already done 6 runs by this 10th day of this new fiscal year. Some of the 2007 calls had longer hours that ate into the call salaries budget line. Increasing the line will be considered for the FY09 budget. * The Fire Department has made and used some volunteer recruitment posters. * The Fire Department is doing some training with Pelham to develop a mutual aide rapport between the two departments. Pelham has a house in which they simulate fire conditions so that fire fighters can practice hauling hoses, dealing with smoke and looking for victims. These activities broaden Shutesbury fire fighter’s training. * Pelham has a different radio frequency than Shutesbury. Pelham may be able to program Hampshire County issued radios to Shutesbury’s frequency. It has already been allowed for Amherst ambulances so that Shutesbury can now share information directly with ambulance personnel the moment the ambulances roll out the door. * Costs of the FY09 Emergency Communications Maintenance Assessment services are going to go up by about $100 and have been going up by about $100 per year. * Fire Chief and Emergency Management Director Tibbetts received a copy of the Atkins Reservoir Dam Emergency Action Plan that was prepared for the Town of Amherst by Tighe and Bond engineers. Because Tighe and Bond used the same template as that used for the Lake Wyola Dam, much of the wording is the same. Walter is referring to the Atkins Reservoir Dam plan for ideas for improving the Lake Wyola Dam Emergency Action Plan. Once the updates are finished, Chief Tibbetts will bring it to the Select Board for review. * It is strongly recommended that Shutesbury get the Western Mass Regional Mutual Aid comprehensive agreement that will include such departments as Public Works and Boards of Health approved. A town meeting vote on the agreement is needed. At some future date, all FEMA funds will be tied to towns having signed these agreements. * In keeping with the schedule of increasing hours for Chief Tibbetts, he will be working at the Fire Station on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays in the coming year. He will get ICS 300 training soon. The ICS training schedules are all during the day making it difficult for volunteers to get their required training. Selectmen unanimously voted to draft a letter to Senator Rosenberg and Representative Kulik asking for support of evening training and to include a paragraph of support for “Veronica” who made the ICS 200 training meaningful. Finance Committee Chairman Eric Stocker and members Russ Greco, Russ Wilson, Patrick Callahan and Al Springer and interested future Finance Committee members Richard Nathhorst and Mark Pocsik: * Becky noted that the Fire Department salary budget line for calls ran at 89% in FY07. It is hoped that there will be enough in the FY08 line. She also notified the Finance Committee that Chief Tibbetts had been instrumental in receiving approximately $25,000 worth of surplus radio equipment for free. * Finance Committee Chairman Stocker reviewed the proposed line item transfers to balance out overspent FY07 budget lines. (Addendum #1) Statute now allows such transfers by approval of both the Finance Committee and the Board of Selectmen to replace a special town meeting vote. At the Finance Committee meeting it was voted to accept this proposed schedule of transfers. The Board of Selectmen unanimously voted to accept the schedule of proposed budget transfers, addendum #1 for the fiscal year 2007. * The next Finance Committee meeting will be September 11, 2007. * An auditor will be engaged for FY 07, in keeping with the town’s decision to audit every two years rather than the 3 year state mandated audits. GASB 45 will be discussed at the September Finance Committee meeting. GASB 45 insures that future pensions can be covered. Planning Board member Jeff Lacy met with the Selectmen to review a request of the Town of Walpole concerning Chapter 40B: The Town of Walpole is petitioning the Legislature and the Governor’s office to impose a moratorium on Chapter 40B while the law is studied and reformed. The law has been in effect since 1969. Also known as a “Comprehensive Permit” because it is administered by the ZBA, The towns’ local regulations “go out the window” with a comprehensive permit. State standards must be complied with. The state gives away the local towns’ authority which is puzzling as it was passed three years after the Home Rule Amendment. 40B imposes a standard of 10% affordability on housing stock in towns. Significantly higher densities are seen in 40B projects. The projects are moving into the rural towns. Sunderland is facing a 160 unit 40B apartment complex. 44 or 48 of the 351 towns have met the housing stock 10% affordability goal. Only towns with water and sewer and full time planning departments have met this goal. Sunderland and Whately have supported the Walpole petition. Jeff listed ways that 40B could be “fixed up” rather than repealed: 1. There’s a gap between the cost of “affordable units” ($150,000) and the market rate units ($300,000) leaving people just over the qualifying income for affordable housing with no alternatives. 2. Accessory apartments should qualify as affordable units. 3. There is a question of excessive developer profits. 4. Oversight of 40B projects is severely lacking. 5. Coordination with local master plans and planning should be accorded more respect. 6. Single family houses count as only ½ unit and rental units are considered 1 whole unit. Selectmen unanimously voted to draft a letter in support of the Walpole petition. Topics 1. Mutual aid was discussed under appointments. 2. Selectmen scheduled an All Boards meeting for September 25th. They will discuss what will be covered at the All Boards Meeting on July 24. Select Board Action Items 1. The June 28, 2007 meeting minutes were unanimously accepted as written. 2. Selectmen signed FY07 vendor warrants totaling $69,443.88 and payroll warrants totaling $3,569.07. Selectmen signed FY08 vendor warrants totaling $86,586.74 and payroll warrants totaling $64,807.42. 3. Mutual aid was discussed under appointments. 4. The Church on the Common was not discussed. New Topics 1. Selectmen unanimously voted to accept the bid of SVE Associates of Greenfield to provide civil engineering services for the preparation of bid documents for the Ames Brook culvert on the gravel portion of Wendell Road in the amount of $5,520 as recommended by Town Administrator David Dann, with the funds to come out of the gravel road fund Capital Fund. So far no funds have been identified for the actual reconstruction project. 2. Town Administrator David Dann reported on a site visit surveying storm water run-off around Lake Wyola. Some run-ff from private driveways is crossing Locks Pond Road entering private property and eventually entering the Lake. David will prepare a letter to the home-owners requesting that they crown their driveways and create ditches on both sides of the driveways so that the run-off stays on the west side of Locks Pond Road. He will follow the letters with phone calls. 3. Comments on the officials reappointments made at the June 26 meeting: * Selectmen will ask the COA and the School for representatives to the ADA Committee. * Muriel Gross has declined re-appointment as Franklin Regional Transit Authority Representative. * Selectmen will wait for recommendations from the Recreation and Open Space Committee before adding the names of the three people who volunteered to serve on that committee. * David will ask Maryelise Lamet again if she would like to be considered for appointment on the Historical Commission. After she responds, the Selectmen will give to the Historical Commission the names of Julie Taylor, Marilyn Tibbetts and if she is interested, Maryelise Lamet for their recommendation to the vacancy on the Historical Commission. Selectmen adjourned at 9:24 P.M. Respectfully submitted, Leslie Bracebridge Administrative Secretary 070710 Select Board 4