Coordinator Report November 12, 2010

Town accountant has requested Selectboard authorization for a recent 25
cent per hour pay increase given by the BOH / Transfer station board of
governors for the dump attendant. The background is that when George was
hired to replace his predecessor it was at one half dollar per hour less
than predecessor and was done with intention to raise it to the budgeted
amount after the probationary period was done. Tim did the same thing
with the new highway hire. After six months that position will go up 50
cents per hour. It is all within the budget. I suggest a motion to
permit department heads to adjust pay rates as long as the rates
increases do not exceed their budget.

Discussed with Planning Board chair Cady the matter of digitizing our
tax maps for the zoning program. This will make them accurate and
available to be overlaid on other GIS map layers.  Two things are
needed. We have a revolving fund limit and the Selectboard should vote
to raise the annual limit. Secondly, the Accountant is of the opinion
that a vote by TM is needed to broaden the allowable uses of this fund. 
The cost is going to be about $2,000 and can be met with these fees.

The Assessors report that the Town's valuation has been approved by DOR.
 The Town's valuation went down about two million dollars. The effect on
the tax rate is to raise it about ten cents. The tax levy of course
stays the same. The valuations establish how we divide up the pie. The
Town won one tax court appeal and has one pending. I watch these because
when we lose it eats into the assessor's overlay, funds set aside for
abatements and tax court decisions against us.

Filed our answers to a DLS computer plan survey.  In general it said
that we have a peer to peer network to share printers and Internet and
that our computer budget has been adequate to the task.

As promised, MBI sent notice that they intend to make a fiber connection
to the Town Hall. I forwarded the notice to the Historic Commission

Making progress to hold a February 2011 Special Town Meeting  (STM).
Town Clerk is available for any Monday during the month. We are waiting
for word back from the moderator

Have a vacancy on the Warwick representative to the Pioneer Regional
School Committee (PVRS) as no one took out papers and the incumbent won
on write-in votes but has declined to accept the position.  The vacancy
is filled by appointment by the Moderator.

Bernardston Finance Committee and Selectmen has invited the Warwick Fin
Com and Selectboard to meet with them on Nov 30 at 6:30 pm at their town
hall regarding the PVRS budget for 2011.

Pastor Dibble reports that there is no charge for the domestic violence
prevention training sessions that were discussed at the previous
meeting. He is pursuing two tracks. One is training for the general
public and the second is geared for first responders.

Contacted the AG's office and advised Mrs. Foote regarding the Guild's
project to paint the town hall dining hall.  The only procurement law
that applies is that if the painting contractor has employees, they must
be paid prevailing wage. So the smart move is that they contract with an
individual.

The new meeting notice board by the back entrance has been completed and
installed. We are paying for its construction while the installation was
donated. The Tech School will be here next week to wire it for lights
and while they are here, add the air conditioning 220 volt electrical
circuit. They will also wire the new paper compactor which is being
delivered on Nov. 16.

Building and Energy Committee members Steve and Janice Kurkoski and Les
Goodman installed everything except the panels for the town hall solar
project. The actual panels will be mounted on the roof as soon as they
are delivered which is expected to be in about three weeks. We will be
the second municipal building to implement the new AC solar panels in
the state.

Procurement of consulting to assess Community School's building systems
and capital needs moves forward with an on site meeting Tuesday at 9 am
with potential vendors.

Jack Cadwell is assisting me on the remaining Town Hall storm window
replacement by writing the specifications. We had considered purchasing
the windows and hiring the labor to install but the better windows are
only sold though installer/dealers.

Requested that the Town Secretary update the compilation of Selectboard
voted policies as the previous effort is about one and one half years
old.

BOH issued vehicle stickers to sell. They are priced at $20. Each
household using the transfer station needs one. This will raise $3000 or
so for the operation. Last year after a balance carry forward, the
Transfer Station Enterprise fund ran at an approximate $2,000 loss.
Since then the pricing of bags went up and we are eliminating the yellow
bag stickers that some people use on overly large nonstandard bags.

George Day is willing to take back the job of Enumerator. Gunnar is
willing to give it up. This is happening informally until the next round
of annual appointments. The job used to be called E911 coordinator. I'll
look into the title and function.

I will be taking vacation the entire week of Thanksgiving. I may need to
take two additional days in advance of Thanksgiving week for some
meetings in NY. I will tend the voicemail and monitor email during my
absence.

I advised the Planning Board of the board's desire to hold a Feb. STM to
include the Floodplain Zoning District. Ted is looking into
clarification of the question of whether we are eligible for hazard
mitigation funding without the zone. It appears we can't get mitigation
money without the plan; the town could get disaster money following an
event even if we didn't pass the zoning, but residents could not without
the Town adopting the zoning change.

I will have the application packages for the customer premises equipment
grant activity available December 1.  Publicity will occur in advance
and will include the newsletter, broadband billing, targeted mailing,
the email list-serve, and webpage. Of course word of mouth is the best.

Each Selectboard member has been supplied with a copy of the application
package that housing rehab clients work from and the income forms that
get filled out.  I am working on an internal policy to be followed to
secure the privacy of applicants. Ted has suggested that once approved
the beneficiary hold onto the information and sign an agreement to make
the documents available on request for an audit, for instance or face
return of the equipment.  In the mean time if we hold records while they
are being evaluated, they will be in a locked box with a key held by Ted
and the box locked in a file drawer with the key held by myself, or Town
Clerk or Treasurer.  I am also making sure that Ted is covered by our
insurance as a volunteer doing this work.

There is importance in minding the subject line in emails. For one thing
it helps to find messages later. It helps to know what is in the
message. And it is very confusing when the subject in the line and that
in the message have no connection.

I expect to have our annual report document draft ready by meeting time.
Is currently in outline form.

In my next report I will summarize CDBG National Objective, Eligible
Activity, Agency and Trust Accounts as they relate to CDGB.