Coordinator report April 6, 2017

First order of business will be to sign the Town Election Warrant for
the town clerk to have posted.

Just prior to your meeting the Town Forest Committee is meeting to op
bids for the Town Forest timber sale.  The will make a recommendation
and it is up to the board to decide to accept a winning bid.

On Tuesday the 11th the new refrigerator for town hall arrives. I am
seeking a surplus property declaration so we can have the seller of the
new haul away the c. 1980s commercial refrigerator. This purchase was
grant funded for half the cost. 

Fire and Police chiefs recommend the town participate in a county
Emergency Dispatch Study which would be something like what Gardner and
Athol were considering before Athol went provincial and pulled out of
implementing.  Chiefs will be looking for a vote to participate.

For our Highway Department the main meeting subject is road salt use in
the village center and its impact on folk's drinking water.  A past salt
ban by voted Selectboard policy or by-law has been alleged and we've
been provided photo evidence of a former sign. There is no by-law and I
can't find a voted policy which happened between 1990 and 2000 in
response to the closure / replacement of the Center School's well. Some
folks are asserting that salt is being used on the dirt roads and more
material than ever on main roads .When I first came to work here 10
years ago, Warwick had been in the recent past second highest in the
county in salt use.

Past practice with past highway superintendent Tim in complaint
reporting was that I got an emailed report and these were about five or
six per year. I've mistaken the fact that I've never got one from Larry
for there not being complaints. There are and we need to know about
them. I'll provide Larry with the simple form Tim developed and we
should use it or develop an alternate mechanism.

Concerns about Highway workforce utilization on my part in the recent
past resulted in me directing a practice by Highway superintendent to
make daily emailed reports and further the requirement that report each
be posted at Larry's office for benefit of workers to know what to do
the next day. I've requested a contingency plan as well and we all
realize that the inbox can surprise us and plans get changed. By this
reporting practice I am trying to get Larry to think further ahead and
not waste our staff capacity.

We are 75% through FY17. The snow and ice deficit is >$39k YTD, the
regular highway budget $25k underspent YTD in highway expenses and $36k
underspent in wages and salary. We could fill the hole with surplus wage
money spent on vendor payments. The wage line is in surplus as we run a
three person full time crew rather than four. Counsel says since we vote
a categorical rather than line item budget at Town Meeting the board can
direct a reallocation or can assign the details to the Accountant,
Coordinator, and Highway Superintendent to work out and we'll be back
for direction only if we can't agree on the reallocation. The board
could vote to freeze an amount of highway expense for the purpose. We
have options. Our goal is to avoid adding $0.52 / 000 to the tax rate. 

Conservation Commission wants to report in about an enforcement action
near the cemetery where drainage from the cemetery is a concern, in
addition to a landowner's activities. Larry and Karro did a site visit
during Thursday's rain. I think the cemetery is under control of
Cemetery Commission.

At 7 p.m. we should pause to vote to close Annual Town Meeting warrant
(to petition articles) and take stock of what has been submitted before
passing anything received on to the town clerk for verification.

The finance team met with Selectboard member / liaison Erviti and he's
requested a agenda item regarding Coordinator and Treasurer duties. In
the Coordinator case to clarify supervisory status and for the Treasurer
a change in practice to conform with statutory duties where the
Treasurer does the payroll and the Accountant reviews but does not
prepare the payroll. 
	
A few years ago the Town got an earmark to acquire conservation land as
part of a five year bond bill. The amount is $100k. I've recently been
working with Senator Rosenberg's office to get this project moved to the
Governor's capital list and assigned to an agency. The land we are
interested in is adjacent to the Town Forest and is in Chapter 61. It
slightly less than 100 acres and will provide a bridge from our lot to
the Black Gum parcel which are currently not contiguous. Current annual
tax bill on the land is <$150 a year.

We got our contingent FY18 Chapter 90 award in the amount of $224,061.