Shutesbury Board of Selectmen Meeting Minutes January 22, 2008 Members present: Chairman Rebecca Torres, Debra Pichanick and Ralph Armstrong. Also Present: Town Administrator David C. Dann and Leslie Bracebridge, recording. Meeting opened at 7:02 P.M. Appointments Police Sgt. Robinson: * Sgt. Robinson is filling in for Chief Harding who is due back next week. * Reviewed the resolution of 7 of the 8 summer break-ins. * A lot of citations for speeding have been issued, especially on Pelham Hill Road, where a dog was recently hit by a car. * Showed photos of tire marks indicating fault in a Sand Hill Road accident. * Police have responded to many false alarms at the school when more than one person is in the building and one leaves and sets the alarm without knowing that another person is still in another part of the very large building. The alarm code is well-known. Is the key issue list complete; or are there older keys outstanding? Fire Chief and Emergency Management Coordinator Walter Tibbetts: * The Fire Department is down 2 personnel putting the department roster at 7. He has received some passing inquiries, but no other solid applications. * Funds allocated earlier this year for NIMS training, rather than for Homeland Security grants (as had been available in previous years) have instead now been allocated for “mini-grants” for NIMS compliant communities such as Shutesbury. If either of the two regionally applied for grants are awarded, it is possible that Shutesbury could get replacement pagers compatible with the new regional radio system, and/or a 100KW generator with an automatic transfer switch, valued at $26,000 (before installation) that would be capable of powering the entire Shutesbury Elementary School, thus making it a viable sheltering and emergency dispensing site. * Routine on-going work includes reports to the state on calls. Calls are running on a course for about 120 calls this year. * Engine two had an annual service and exhaust work done yesterday. * $1052 worth of work on the Chief’s car due to an inherent design flaw now raises the question of whether to cycle the Police Chief’s car, soon to be replaced, to the Fire Chief. Both cars are the same year, though the Police car has fewer miles. * Becky thanked Walter for his efforts in getting the Lake Wyola Dam Emergency Action Plan submitted to the Office of Dam Safety on time. * Ice fishing at Lake Wyola: o A lot of liability questions are involved in determining the safety of ice. o After a recent citizen inquiry was made, Walter did a check in one location 50 feet off shore on a cold blustery day that showed only 2 inches of hard black ice under less stable ice and with standing water. o Stating anything more than the thickness of ice could lead to liability problems for the town. o The municipal insurance company advises never to put up signs saying the ice is safe. Rather the suggestion is for little signage at all because it draws attention to the hazard. o Who in the town would take on the responsibility of measuring and posting the ice danger? Chief Tibbetts would not. o Becky said that the Board of Selectmen won’t ever ask Chief Tibbetts to check the ice and determine the safety of the ice. o Local police do not have authority to ask people to get off the ice. o Who owns the ice? o A Select Board response letter will be written to a person concerned about ice safety notification. * The Porcupine Ridge-Runners have submitted a large event notification form for Health, Police and Fire departments and Select Board sign-offs to hold a February ice fishing derby on Lake Wyola. o The Board of Health has signed the form upon learning that the state park bathrooms will be open for the derby. o Police and Fire Chiefs will wait for advice from town counsel to see if a disclaimer should be added stating that by signing the form, they would only be acknowledging their notification that the event will take place, and to indicate if officers or safety personnel would be necessary, not to determine ice safety. * When Chief Tibbetts is on vacation George Davies will be first and Chris Hasbrouck second in command of the department. Chief Tibbetts will bring his computer on his vacation to keep in touch with department messages and to respond to inquiries. * “The door is open” for people interested in joining the Fire Department. * The Pancake breakfast will be on February 2. Select Board Action Items 1. Unanimously voted to accept the December 19, 2007 and the January 9, 2008 Select Board minutes as written. 2. Unanimously voted to sign vendor warrants totaling $119,196.09 and payroll warrants totaling $76,552.63. 3. Selectmen unanimously voted to authorize the Friends of the Library to use the Town Hall for a book discussion group on Sunday, March 30 from 6:30 to 9:30 PM. 4. Selectmen unanimously voted to appoint Steve Rideout and Penelope Kim as election workers. 5. Selectmen unanimously voted to appoint Jake Stocker to the Energy Committee. He is 18 years of age. New Topics * Selectmen reviewed a response letter written by Highway Superintendent Hunting to a letter of advice on road sanding from resident Jeff Lacy. * Matthew Hart has resigned from the School Committee. Selectmen will discuss refilling the position with the School Committee on January 29th. * Selectmen received a packet of the timeline of the Shutesbury Elementary School reconstruction audit and copies of relevant documents. * David will attend the annual lake and pond management workshop of the Massachusetts Congress of Lakes and Ponds Associations, Inc. (MACLOAP) meeting in Worcester on Saturday, January 26. * The annual 4-town Select Boards, School and Finance Committees discussion of the regional school budget will be held at the Middle School Library at 9:30 AM on Saturday, January 26. Walk-Ins West Pelham Road resident William Wells asked the Select Board: * How many voter signatures are needed to get an article on the annual town meeting warrant and how to make sure that it is written legally correct. The answer is ten signatures to get an article on the annual town meeting warrant and Chairman Torres noted that Town Counsel could review the article for legality. * Has Shutesbury looked into other ways of raising revenues other than through taxes, such as the industrial park in Chicopee? Mr. Wells was advised to review the proposed zoning bylaws to see if they will allow the things he might be considering and if not, that he might provide input to the Planning Board relative to his concepts for raising revenues while the proposal is still under review.