Town of Warwick
Selectboard
February 25, 2008
Minutes
Selectboard Members present:  Patricia Lemon, Jim Toth, Rick Abbott
Others present: David Young, Rosa Calcari, Terry Kemerer, Jon Calcari,
Dave Shoemaker, and Paula Lundgren (Athol Daily News)
I. Call to Order
Chairman Lemon called the Meeting to order at 6:08pm at the Town Hall.
II. Minutes
Toth MOVED to approve the minutes of the February 11 meeting as printed.
 Abbott Seconded. VOTED.
III. Presentations/Discussions
1. Town Hall Improvements Budget Line - Due to a lightning strike in
August 2007, repairs were made to the central alarm box for the Town
Hall fire alarm system. Because the cost of these unanticipated repairs
has overburdened the Town Hall Expense budget, Young suggested that a
better funding source would be the Town Hall Improvements Account.
Toth MOVED to have the Accountant transfer the  $2173.98 payment
previously taken from the Town Hall Expense Account to the Town Hall
Improvements Account. Lemon Seconded. VOTED.
2. Correcting BoS Meeting Calendar - R. Calcari explained that the
meeting calendar previously voted by the Board had meetings slated for
September 2nd, 8th, and 29th.  Meetings are normally held every two
weeks, to coincide with the biweekly warrant schedule. In order to keep
to the traditional schedule, a change in meeting dates needed to be
voted.
Lemon MOVED to change the September 2008 meeting dates to September 8th
and 22nd.    Abbott Seconded.  VOTED.
3. Consolidating Town Park Drains - Young spoke about the culvert that
is supposed to run from the Town Hall bulkhead, under the street,
towards the Library. Because the culvert does not run properly, a sump
pump is needed in the wet season. The sump pump must run almost
continuously during that time, which results in a substantial increase
in the electric bill. Young said that there is a second culvert that
runs from a catch basin behind the bulkhead out across the street. He
recommended the Board consider connecting the catch basin behind the
bulkhead with the culvert on the curb.
Toth felt that pumping may be necessary due to the probable lack of
sufficient elevation for gravity feed. He said that it was worth
investigating the perimeter drains. He pointed out that the Highway Crew
had spent the better part of a day in September 2007, flushing the
culvert. Toth, who was present for this project, said that while there
was no water backing up in the basin, no water ever discharged at the
outlets. He cautioned that while decisions need to be made on how to
proceed and how much to spend, just determining the best way to go can
be costly.
4. Selectboard Reports - Toth said that George Day and Phillip D'Avanza
had started work on the Town Clock last Wednesday, and will continue
that work this Wednesday, with Toth present. He also said that he and
Nicholas Arguimbau will meet with the Accountant this week to set up the
account for private donations towards the clock repairs.
Lemon reported that the FY 07 Annual Town Report could be very costly,
with the lowest quote for printing, alone, received having been
$14000.00 . She was looking for ways to drastically reduce this amount,
since just $800.00 was voted for the printing and binding of the Report.
Young and Lemon had conferred with Terry Kemerer, who had suggested the
use of two laser printers already in use, one in his Town Hall office
and the other at his home. Lemon also suggested the Report be offered on
CD.  Kemerer said he thought the cartridge could be purchased for around
$20.00, and he was willing to donate blank CDs. Toth said that the
County Jail inmates often print annual reports for other towns. Lemon
said she would make an official inquiry tomorrow. She also said she
hopes to have page proofs ready by the end of next week.
Toth reported on the Firearms Qualifications for the Warwick Police
Department: Five of the eleven officers qualified within the past year,
and that Chief Peters has scheduled qualifying tests in May, 2008 for
the rest of the officers. Toth pointed out that not only are all
officers currently qualified, but that some of the best scores in the
area belong to members of Warwick PD.
5. Town Coordinator Reports - Young said that the Town will be sending
updated data to FRCOG. FRCOG had been working with ten-year-old
assessors maps, which caused incorrect and outdated information to be
incorporated into the 2-mile broadband maps.
Reserve Fund Transfer:  Young said that the Board needed to vote a
Veteran's Services reserve Fund request in the amount of $855.00.
Toth MOVED that the Board request the Finance Committee to approve the
expenditure of $855.00 from the Reserve Fund to pay the latest Veteran's
Services invoice. Lemon Seconded. VOTED.
Insurance Rates:  Young reported that Massamont had provided the Town
with a very competitive offer for property, liability, and workers
compensation insurance for FY '09. The offer reflects a 20% reduction in
the current premium (from $31,800.00 to $24,585.00), lowers the McNamara
police and fire insurance by $2,000.00 (from $5,800.00 to $3,800.00),
and could lower the workers compensation insurance by an additional 15%.
Young said that MIIA had offered a 5% rate decrease over the next two
years and had made no counteroffer. FY 09 budget: Young reported that
the spreadsheet is up to date, and only the operating numbers for
Warwick's share of the school budgets are lacking. He hoped for a
"provisional" number from Pioneer within the week, since their budget is
voted in late March.
Internet Connectivity in the Town Hall:  Young said he had ordered an
exterior WiFi antennae, wireless bridge, and related equipment to make
the Town Hall Internet connection more reliable. Toth asked if there is
currently an Internet connection in Town Hall, to which Young replied
that the connection is still spotty.
Diesel Bid:  Young pointed out that, as of the current warrant cycle,
the Highway diesel bid has been exceeded (that is, the Highway
Department has bought more diesel fuel than the bid allowed for).  The
department will now be charged over $3.00 per gallon. Young will get
department input before making the bid for FY' 09. Both the Town Hall
and Library are still well under their bids.
Toth read a statement: "The town received the Department of Revenue
Financial Management review this week, copies of which were distributed
to all participants. DOR makes 19 recommendations but no
findings/deficiencies identified. Recommendations included making more
information available on the website; getting more organized with
computers and information systems; improving the budget process;
forecasting; capital planning; and creating a financial management
team."
Young has received no reply to date to his request from the Scanlon &
Scanlon, who undertook our most recent audit, for the data on which they
based their review of the Town's capital property.

5. Annual Town Meeting Warrant Articles - Possible ATM warrant articles
include: appropriations of $308.59 to the Mary Ann Hastings Fund,
$1,100.00 to the Forestry Committee, funding to provide local matching
funds for a DCR forest-fire-fighting grant to the Fire Department;
$100,000.00+ for an International Harvester dump truck and sander/dump
body, $5,000.00 for WCS to replace repair money spent on sprinkler
system engineering. Other money articles include funds to pay for a
broadband study or grant match; funds to excavate and bury the water
lines at the old Center School; and funds to relocate and replace the
culvert at the rear of Town Hall. There will also be votes on a
provision for retiree health insurance benefits; changing the Town Hall
Improvement Account to a Town Building Improvement Account; and Zoning
changes. 
Young suggested creating an appropriation for a fund to cover future
grant matches, and noted that the Finance Committee will be making a
recommendation on the funding source for the new Highway Department dump
truck.
Toth pointed out that the retiree health insurance issue is a holdover
from a past ATM, which was passed over due to Town Counsel's having
found problems with the legal language of the warrant article. Lemon
asked Young to see if he could find the article that proved unacceptable
as soon as possible so it could be discussed with Town Counsel well in
advance and acceptable language be included in the warrant.
Toth said both the Police and Fire Chiefs are in agreement that the
excavation and burial of water lines under the old school is a sound
decision. He estimated that $5,000.00 would be more than sufficient to
complete the project.
7. Broadband Access and the Fire Tower - At Lemon's request in response
to DCR Counsel Nick Vontzalides' suggestion, Young had drafted a letter
to DCR Commissioner Sullivan seeking to obtain permission to locate an
Internet wireless antenna array and related equipment on the DCR-owned
fire tower and/or the "H" transmitter tower atop Mt. Grace. Lemon
reported that both State Fire Marshall Phil Gilmore and Vontzalides
agreed that the Town could arrange to use space on the tower in exchange
for in-kind services to the DCR, but that and y and make an, rather than
fee-based, arrangement with DCR.   Young explained that the town can
have space on the unused cell tower but will have to pay for the
electricity. He said getting permission to locate equipment on Mt Grace
is an important first step to getting broadband in Warwick. Both Young
and Lemon gave high praise to Janet Conover for her help with this
endeavor.
IV. Public Comment
J. Calcari said he had recently asked Tim Kilhart about the condition of
the southbound lane of Route 78 near the cemetery. Calcari's concern was
that the lane was too narrow because snow had not been pushed back far
enough to the side, making it dangerous due to the amount of truck
traffic on route 78, and he feared an accident was inevitable.
Toth brought up bridge reports received from the Massachusetts Highway
Department, which inspects biennially municipally owned bridges with a
clear span greater than twenty feet. The three bridges inspected every
two years are on Northfield Road, Wendell Road, and Route 78. Toth
discussed the November 28, 2007, inspection field report on the Mill
Brook bridge on Northfield Road.  Most notable findings included
spalling (flakiness and scaling of road-surface concrete) and footing
scour from brook flow. Overall the bridge was deemed satisfactory. Toth
noted that moving the channel stream to make repairs to the footing
would require environmental permitting, an onerous process.
V.Adjournment
Toth MOVED at 7:32 pm. to adjourn the meeting.  Abbott Seconded.  VOTED.
Minutes taken by Rosa Fratangelo Calcari.  Approved at the March 10,
2007 meeting.
				
Patricia Lemon,
Selectboard Chair		Frederick H. Abbott III
Selectboard Member		James J. Toth
Selectboard Member
		
Rosa Fratangelo Calcari
Selectboard Secretary		James David Young
Town Coordinator