Town of Warwick Selectboard October 11, 2016 Minutes Members present: Dawn Magi, Lawrence Pruyne, James Erviti (arrived at 6:07 p.m.) Others present: Town Coordinator David Young, Town Secretary and Town Clerk Rosa Fratangelo, Highway Superintendent Larry Delaney, MCAP representative and Broadband Committee member Miryam Williamson, Finance Committee member Steve Ruggiero, Jared Robinson (Athol Daily News) I. Call to Order Chair Magi called the meeting to order at 6:00 pm in the Town Hall. II. Minutes Pruyne MOVED to approve the minutes of September 26, 2016 as printed. Magi SECONDED. Motion CARRIED 2-0-0. III.Presentations and Discussions 1. Recreation Committee --Rec. Committee Chair Denyse Dar gave each Board member a letter requesting that she be granted a one-day beer and wine license for a December 17, 2016 Murder Mystery dinner. Pruyne MOVED to grant a one-day beer and wine license to Denyse Dar on behalf of the Recreation Committee for December 17, 2016 Murder Mystery dinner at the Warwick Community School. Magi SECONDED. Motion CARRIED 2-0-0. Dar gave an update on recreation Committee activities. She began by saying that the sock hop held in August went well and brought in about $250.00 in donations. Dar said that she has events planned through next March, which include a Halloween costume party, a Mt. Grace hike and the formation of a community chorus and a community theatre. She said that she hopes to be able to keep events free of charge and accessible to all, especially the older residents within our community. Dar said that Leanne Limoges is now the Rec. Committee treasurer, Mindy Gibbons is the secretary, Rita McConville takes care of meeting deadlines and obtaining permits from the Board of Health, and that Kelly Farley will take over as the head of the committee once Ms. Dar moves out of town later this year. It was noted that not all of these individuals have been appointed to the Rec. Committee; Young said that some may remain associates of the committee but those with fiduciary and policy responsibilities should be appointed to the committee by the Selectboard. It was agreed to have Rec. Committee appointments added to the agenda for the Board's next meeting. Dar expressed some concern for members of the Rec. Committee who have paid out of their own pockets then wait for reimbursement. She said it can be financially difficult to have to wait to be reimbursed. Ways to hold back some cash were discussed; Young stressed the necessity for meticulous documentation of every penny in and every penny out. Also discussed were possible conflict of interest or at least the need for ethical disclosures for those who are committee members and want to be paid for cooking at events. 2. Small Bridge Grant Program--Highway Superintendent Larry Delaney attended a seminar on the Small Bridge Grant program which is for bridges with a span between 10 and 20 feet. He explained that this grant is only for the repair and replacement of existing structures, which would exclude the White Road/bass Road bridge. Delaney said that in order to be considered for a grant, the bridge must be assigned a BRI number and be inspected by the State. As he had been concerned about the state of the Gale Road bridge, he asked an inspector to come out. Upon inspection, the inspector ordered the bridge closed immediately. Delaney noted that because the bridge is closed it would receive a higher priority for selection approval. He said that the first round of applications is due October 31st, and that a BRI number should be assigned prior to that date. Delaney explained that a design company will come out to do a site visit and provide an accurate estimate of the cost to repair the bridge, which will part of the application letter for the grant funding. He said that the first round of projects selected for grant awards should be determined in January of 2017 with work to be done in the 2017 construction season. Delaney said that even if the Gale Road bridge is selected as a project to be funded by the grant, it will be closed for at least about one year. As Emergency Management Director, Erviti inquired if Orange EMS and Fire was aware of the bridge situation. Young said he contacted Orange Fire and was told "thank you" for the information. Erviti will follow up to make certain Orange EMS and Fire knows to avoid the bridge when responding to a call on Gale Road. 3. Chapter 90 Backhoe Purchase--Magi asked about the Northfield Road paving; Delaney said it would now have to wait until next Spring because the nights are now too cold for the product to cure properly. Delaney said that so far the Highway Department has tried out two different sizes of John Deere backhoes along with a Case machine. Currently the crew is trying out a 430 Caterpillar; Delaney said that they have not done enough work with it yet to form an opinion. He said he wants to try a JCB next, as the Athol Highway Department uses this type of machine and is very happy with it. Delaney said that the current machine should bring a trade-in between $12,000.00 and $15,000.00 and estimates the purchase price of a new machine to be about $110,000.00. Young recommended that the current backhoe not be used anymore to preserve its trade-in value if the Board approves the purchase of a new machine. He noted that we currently have $460,000.00 in Chapter 90 funds after completion of the Northfield Road project, so even after the purchase of a new backhoe the balance would be at lest $350,000.00. There was a consensus of the Board to proceed on the Chapter 90 purchase of a new backhoe. There was a Chapter 90 Reimbursement request form from FY 16 for $64,483.65. Pruyne and Magi signed the document; Erviti wanted to take the documentation home prior to signing the form itself, and said he would return it to Delaney by this Friday the 7th. 4. Accounting Update--Young said that he was hoping to have the next meeting with the financial team on Friday, October 14th; Erviti said he was available. Young said he would contact the Accountant, who should be in the office that day. 5. Personnel Policy --As Erviti had some questions, it was decided that there will be one more Selectboard meeting on Wednesday, October 19th at 2 p.m. for a final review of revisions to the Personnel Policy. 6. Broadband Report--Miryam Williamson said that Tom Wyatt asked her to relay to the Board that there was nothing to report tonight. The next Broadband Committee meeting will be held Monday, October 17th and Wyatt will report to the Board at their October 24th meeting. 7. Records Access Officer--Young said that new revisions of the Public Records law will go into effect on January 1, 2017 and that the Board needs to appoint a Records Access Officer (RAO) prior to that date. Fratangelo said that in most towns the Town Clerk is appointed the RAO, but the Board is allowed to appoint others as well, so that the RAO knows exactly to whom requests need to be forwarded if the RAO does not have immediate access to those records. She gave the example of a request that could ask for minutes to which she would have immediate access, as well as determinations from the Conservation Commission which are not on file in the Town Clerk's office. Fratangelo explained that a point person for each department, board or committee would streamline the process. 8. Selectboard Reports--Magi said that she recently attended a Mass. Municipal Association meeting where Senator Rosenberg and Representative Kulick were in attendance. She said Senator Rosenberg gave a convincing talk on how Question 2 is not good for our public schools. Magi said there was also talk of both the House and Senate working hard to see that no municipalities will have State funding cut. Erviti said that he had read an article by a councilman in a Massachusetts town where the treasurer informed him that the revenue from charter schools is far less than the costs paid for those schools. 9. Coordinator Report--Young said that he does not agree with the Selectboard members on Question 2. He said as an elected School Committee member he thinks that competition forces schools to adapt and improve. Ruggiero said that he has two grandchildren in charter schools who are way ahead of their peers who attend public school. He also noted that a "Vote No on Question 2" sign is on Town property and should be removed as the Town cannot take an official position on any ballot question. 10. Noise/Jake Brake Policy--Erviti left the Selectboard table and sat in the audience to make a request of the Board as a resident. Erviti asked that the Board consider a ban on the use of Jake brakes on Barber Hill. Young asked if this would be enforceable in Massachusetts; Erviti replied he believed so as he thought he had seen signs banning the use of Jake brakes in other Massachusetts towns. Both Magi and Pruyne asked Young to check into this to see if it is legal before any action is taken. 11. Procedure for Flagging Hazard Trees--Erviti said that the Town has a supply of blue and white striped tape that cannot be confused with the blue ribbons sometimes placed on trees to show support for the Police. Currently blue tape or ribbon is used to designate hazard trees slated to be cut. Erviti proposed changing to blue and white striped tape to avoid any confusion. Erviti MOVED to establish the use of blue and white striped tape to identify hazard trees that are proposed to be cut. Pruyne SECONDED. Motion CARRIED 3-0-0. 12. Public Comment--Fratangelo inquired about the approval of the Executive Session minutes of September 19, 2016. Magi and Young both said that those minutes were approved at the October 5, 2016 meeting. It was determined that the October 5th minutes had not yet been approved. Erviti MOVED to approve the minutes of October 5, 2016 as printed. Pruyne SECONDED. Motion CARRIED 3-0-0. 13. New and Other Business Unanticipated at Time of Meeting Posting--None. IV.Adjournment At 7:42 p.m., Magi MOVED to adjourn. Pruyne SECONDED. Motion CARRIED 3-0-0. Documents consulted at this meeting: *Draft Minutes of Selectboard meetings of September 26, 2016 and October 5, 2016 *Executive Session Selectboard Meeting minutes September 19, 2016 *Coordinator Report dated October 5, 2016 *DRAFT Personnel Policy *Town of Warwick FY 2017 General Fund Expenditure Report dated September 30, 2016 *Town of Warwick FY 2017 General Fund Revenue Report dated September 30, 2016 *Town of Warwick FY 2017 Other Funds Expense Report dated September 30, 2016