Coordinator Report  2/25/2016

Rosa requests you appoint Tom Wyatt election worker. I request a 268
Section 20D exemption as he is also on Broadband Commmittee.

Chief Shoemaker will make a report. He requests appointment of an
officer. And he will tell us about the planned 4/23 MIT bicycle race
slated to happen in Warwick.

To continue to accept and recycle pellet bags at the transfer station we
need contract authorization by the Selectboard. The cost in FY17 will be
$175.

Somebody contacted MA DOT to alert them that the town is using Chapter
90 money to pay the salaries of town employees. We got a letter telling
us we can't do that. I replied that Warwick understands that Chapter 90
funds cannot be used to pay the salaries of municipal employees and that
grant uses are restricted to approved projects.  We are using Chapter 90
to pay the documented hourly wages of municipal employees only when they
are working on the approved Chapter 90 projects, in this case drainage
work on Northfield Rd, Quarry Rd, and Chestnut Hill Rd and we will use
the form 600 from the DOT website to report these costs.  FYI, other
sources of revenue being used to fund our highway department include the
snow and ice budget, the regular highway budget, our broadband and solid
waste enterprise funds and two building improvement accounts. In reply
DOT wrote: "In accordance with the State Aid Manual - Excerpt as
follows; Chapter 90 Force Account and Rentals: A city or town may
utilize force account procedures to provide its own work forces or its
own contractor to supply all labor, equipment, materials and other
services necessary to complete a Chapter 90 project. By entering into a
force account agreement with MassHighway (now MassDOT), the municipality
would be reimbursed for the actual construction costs to complete the
work. Chapter 90 force accounts are begun by following the procedures
for Chapter 90 Project Request and Project Reimbursement".

Our new school superintendent at Pioneer Regional, Ruth Miller, and the
District's Budget Sub Committee led by Warwick's Martha Morse brought in
a budget recommendation for next year with the lowest annual budget
growth to date in my eight years working as Town Coordinator. After the
annual budget public hearing which was packed with school employees, the
full committee did not take their Sub Committee's lead and instead voted
a 2.5% increase. We subsequently learned that two committee members
can't vote because of their employment in the district and that the
budget didn't pass because it requires a 2/3 vote of the committee which
was not obtained. David Shoemaker and I are the other Warwick elected
School Committee members and we all three voted for the more modest
1.57% increased budget recommendation. 

Tree Warden Miner proposes to remove three hazard trees from the common
and replace them. One maple has to come down now and two more either now
or soon.  Brian's estimate for removing three trees and replacing them
are $2211 for removal or trees, stumps, and lawn repair and $663 for
replacement. These numbers are for three highway employees at $18 per
hour. We may come in lower cost. I am looking for the funding. Brian has
spoken to Ted about them and he agrees they are outside the scenic road
domain.

Visit the municipal financial transparency website at www.cleargov.com
and by clicking on Massachusetts and searching for Warwick you will find
our data, which goes as far back as 2011 and will soon include our
future recommended budget.

In response to the proposed gas pipeline project our Planning Board is
proposing a road preservation bylaw so that we can recoup the cost of
damage done to our roads by this construction project if it occurs. In
addition the Selectboard created a donation account for research and
legal action which you may contribute to. Meanwhile the developers have
filed with the state Public Utilities Commission seeking permission to
survey upon land whose owner have not granted access. My reply is this
doesn't make sense since FERC hasn't decided that the pipeline is
needed. For a fuller rebuttal see Planning Board Chair Cady's nine pages
of hearing testimony which I've posted on www.blog.town.warwick.ma.us

We have some vacancies to fill including Solid Waste District Rep;
Recreation Committee; and Field Driver.

There is beginning to be some discussion of forming a sub-regional
probably hybrid broadband network of nearby towns. If Wendell
Selectboard is interested I think we should get involved. Tom may be in
to provide WiredWest and MBI updates.

Chief Gates met with Northfield ambulance this week and I look forward
to his report. This cost will be growing significantly unless we decide
to make a change. I can't yet argue that they would be Orange's equal.
The rest of this report will appear in the newsletter and is not related
to the agenda:

The effect of large construction projects on our roads is a big concern.
We can't prohibit truck traffic that conforms to and abides by the law
or statute no matter how inappropriate it seems to us. That includes the
tractor trailers routed over 78 every day unless they exceed the legal
length, width, or weight and need a permit. We are seeking approval of
our neighboring towns to place signs at either end of Route 78 to inform
truckers that Route 78 is not a state highway in Massachusetts and that
their state or federal permit for over wide or over weight loads doesn't
apply. That way truckers can avoid us and avoid getting to the town line
to learn this fact at a point where there is no place to turn a big rig
around. 78 is a Town road and they need to call our PD first for
permission.  I note that any local traffic that has no other option is
highly likely to be permitted.

Recently the Governor's office told the state agency dealing with
expanding rural broadband (MBI) to hold off spending money that will
have to be borrowed. This is a matter of cash flow, and specifically the
Baker Administration is trying to conform to the legislature's voted
debt ceiling or limit. The Commonwealth spent bond money heavily during
the recession which helped kick-start our economy and also has us
pressing up against the Legislature's borrowing limit. Some folks will
claim this is the result of the tension between WiredWest and MBI over
the proposed fiber project. I think not. Moreover, the Town of Warwick
itself has two legislative earmarks (designated appropriations) on the
dock. One is for our principal highway, Route 78 to improve the "Gulf"
and the stream crossing and the other for land protection / acquisition.
These projects, we have been informed, face the same timing issues with
respect to the level of the State's outstanding debt. I think this means
we will have some extra time, past the July 1 deadline, to figure out
how we want to accomplish broadband: to answer the question of fiber or
wireless.