Town of Warwick Selectboard November 9, 2015 Minutes Members present: Dawn Magi, Lawrence Pruyne, Nick Arguimbau Others present: Town Coordinator David Young, Town Secretary and Town Clerk Rosa Fratangelo, Conservation Commission members Mary Williamson, Gregory Brodski, Karro Frost, Police Chief David Shoemaker, Steve Ruggiero, Maria Ruggiero, Todd Dexter, Jon Calcari I. Call to Order Chair Magi called the meeting to order at 6:00 pm in the Town Hall. David Young announced that he was recording the meeting. II. Minutes Pruyne MOVED to approve the minutes of October 26, 2015 as printed. Arguimbau SECONDED. Motion CARRIED 3-0-0. III. Presentations and Discussions 1. Chapter 268 Section 20D Exemptions--Young said that David Koester and Lawrence "Doc" Pruyne have indicated interest in working for compensation on building WinCerts for various Town buildings. David Koester serves as Moderator and Pruyne is a member of the Selectboard. Arguimbau MOVED to grant MGL 268:20D exemptions to Lawrence Pruyne and David Koester for the WinCerts contract. Magi SECONDED. Motion CARRIED 2-0-1: Magi and Arguimbau-AYE; Pruyne ABSTAINED as he had recused himself from the discussion. For this discussion, Pruyne excused himself from the Selectboard table and sat with the residents in attendance. 2. Broadband Internet--Young said that he was continuing his work on getting use of licensed spectrum. He said that the preliminary LTE wireless trial will be conducted in December and January and if it works, will be tested again in the spring once the leaves are back on the trees. 3. Public Shade Trees and Scenic Road Cutting on Northfield Road--Magi said that Town Counsel's opinion was that a quorum of the Selectboard was not required for the continued Northfield Road tree hearing. Young said that matters were decided by the Planning Board and Tree Warden. Because comments on cutting submitted via the listserv were accepted for the hearing record, Arguimbau's objection entered via that forum should be accepted and acted upon by the Selectboard. Arguimbau MOVED to approve tree cutting on Northfield Road including the cutting of hazard trees conditional upon the Highway Department performing calculations as to capacity of drainage as recommended by Gergory Brodski, make modifications as shown to be necessary by the calculations, that modifications ordered by the Conservation Commission be adopted and preservation of the maximum number of trees possible including found unnecessary for the purposes building the project be adopted. The Highway Department is hereby advised to consult with the Conservation Commission about excavation and tree removal. Fratangelo read the motion aloud to confirm proper wording. Arguimbau confirmed that the motion was read back correctly. Young said that the Conservation Commission has no say in tree removal, but according to the Wetlands Protection Act they work to protect the impact of any work to wetlands and perennial streams. He advised Magi and Pruyne not to second Arguimbau's motion. Arguimbau said that when he tagged all the trees it seemed that the project design was not well thought out and that trees should not be cut for a project that likely will not work. He made clear that he has never been opposed to cutting trees for safety reasons, but that he does oppose unnecessary cutting. He noted that the deciduous trees on the north side of Northfield Road do not shade the road and therefore do not cause ice build up in the winter. Arguimbau said that Conservation Commission Co-Chair Gregory Brodski told him that calculations need to be done to see if the project will indeed work. The concern was that if the trench capacity was not sufficient water could overflow and go onto the road and undermine the road. Magi said that it was not appropriate to discuss this without Highway Superintendent Larry Delaney and Tree warden Brian Miner present to give their input. She wanted to postpone further discussion until Delaney and Miner could attend, but Young said that the Notice of Intent needed to be filed before there was snow on the ground because wetlands cannot be clearly identified when under snow. He also said that a civil engineer should be hired and he wanted to have Jim Toth consult on the Notice of Intent to be filed with the Conservation Commission. Young noted that in the future the Highway will do no work on other roads before a hearing is held regarding the proposed project. Pruyne said that he would like to hear the Conservation Commission's concerns either at this meeting or a future one. Young explained that at first the ConsComm had determined no Notice of Intent filing was necessary, but the project expanded and more trees were marked for cutting, a Notice of Intent needs to be filed due to work being done within 100 feet of a wetland. He said that it is the responsibility of the ConsComm to protect wetlands resources and can require measures be taken to preserve the integrity of the wetlands, but that they cannot decide on excavation or cutting of trees. Arguimbau said that what he put in his motion was what Delaney and Brodski agreed to, which was to spend the next few months watching what the water does over the winter and that a final decision would not be made until calculations were done and the winter runoff was assessed. Young said that there would be layoffs on the Highway Department if Chapter 90 tree cutting could not be done. Magi said again that the discussion should be postponed until Larry Delaney can attend the meeting. Young asked Arguimbau to let him know what he wanted put on the next agenda regarding this issue. Arguimbau said that he wanted both Delaney and ConsComm members present at the next meeting. Motion FAILED for LACK OF SECOND. Todd Dexter asked if a daytime meeting could be scheduled. There was a consensus of the Board to schedule a meeting in Town Hall at 1 p.m. on Friday, November 13, 2015. 4. Open Meeting Law --Young said that meetings between members of Boards and Committees that the respective entities may act upon must be posted due to the potential of "serially polling committee" outside of the meeting. He said all discussions must be held in open meetings with a posting placed on the notice board outside the dining hall in Town Hall and a copy given to the Town Clerk. Meetings must be posted no less than 48 hours before the meeting is scheduled to begin; weekends and holidays are not included in that 48 hour window. 5. Public Records--Young said that Town officials cannot write "your eyes only - neither the Email nor the information to be passed along in any form to any person without checking with me first". He said this is only appropriate for some attorney client communication. Young also said that per Town Counsel, text messages may only be used for scheduling meetings unless all texts will be archived because they are subject to public information requests. 6. KM/TGP Pipeline--Young said that a coalition of towns opposed to the pipeline has been organized. Pruyne MOVED that Warwick join the Municipal Coalition Against the Pipeline. Magi SECONDED. Magi asked how much this would cost the Town. Young said that he did not have that information yet, and noted that he believed that as municipal government should be a fair arbiter and not declare opposition to the pipeline prior to the filing of an application for the pipeline. Pruyne said that he believed that the Board should be fundamentally biased in favor of the best interest of Warwick and its residents because it is the Board's duty to represent the people as they voice their opposition and objections to the pipeline. Steve Ruggiero said that the Board should wait until the cost of joining the coalition is known. Magi said that she does not like to enter into something without knowing the potential costs. Young recommended taking action at a future meeting. Motion TABLED until the next meeting. 7. Public Records Requests--Young spoke about recent public records requests sent to the Town Clerk and the Police Department. He said that these were likely from an organization attempting to modernize the public records law in Massachusetts. 8. Green Communities Energy Conservation Work-- Young said that Green Communities funded energy conservation work will begin on Town buildings. He said that most of the work will involve insulation and air sealing, and that the Police Station will have a new air source heat pump installed. Work will be done at the Town Hall, Library, Highway garage and Police Station. The Franklin County Tech. School electrical and HVAC classes are installing the Police Department heat pump. 9. Selectboard Reports --No reports this meeting. 10. Coordinator Report -- Young had nothing to add to his written report, and the Board had no questions. 11. New and Other Business Unanticipated at Time of Meeting Posting --Young said that Janice C. Alden had resigned as Assistant Tax Collector and Assistant Treasurer, and that Tax Collector Terry Kemerer had appointed Jessica Foote as Assistant Tax Collector. The Board needed to vote to approve this appointment. Pruyne MOVED to approve the Tax Collector's appointment of Jessica Foote as Assistant Tax Collector. Arguimbau SECONDED. Motion CARRIED 3-0-0. The Library has items stored in the basement and attic that need to be moved out before energy conservation work can commence. The Board was provided with a list of seven items that included a description and the current location of each one. Magi MOVED to declare as surplus property the list provided by the Library. Arguimbau SECONDED. Motion CARRIED 3-0-0. 12. Public Comment--Jon Calcari said that if someone is going to use his name in an Email without his knowledge, they should be sure to get the facts straight and declare all the facts and not just those that make themselves look good before writing and sending the Email. IV. Adjournment At 7:327 p.m., Arguimbau MOVED to adjourn. Pruyne SECONDED. Motion CARRIED 3-0-0. Documents consulted at this meeting: *Draft Minutes of October 26, 2015 Selectboard meeting *Town Coordinator Report dated November 5, 2015 *List of Items in the Library basement and attic for disposal dated November 9, 2015 *Letter dated November 2, 2015from Conservation Commission to Selectboard and Highway Department Re: Northfield Road Drainage Work *Email from David Young to Jeremia Pollard Re: Questions related to Shade Tree and Scenic Road action *Email from David Young to Larry Delaney Re: Northfield Road Chapter 90 *Letter dated January 18, 2015from Governor Charles Baker to Nicholas Arguimbau Re: Warwick's Chapter 90 funds *Warwick Highway Department budgets FY 14, FY 15 and FY 16 *Letter dated October 26, 2015 from Janice C. Alden resigning as Assistant Tax Collector and Assistant Treasurer effective October 26, 2015 *Letter to Selectboard from Terry Kemerer Re; Appointment of Jessica Foote as Assistant Tax Collector *Wetlands map of Warwick