Town of Warwick Selectboard August 18, 2014 Minutes Members present: Nick Arguimbau, Dawn Magi, Patricia Lemon (via Remote Participation, joined meeting at 7:06 p.m.) Others present: Town Coordinator David Young, Town Secretary Rosa Fratangelo Firefighter Bill Lyman, Police Chief David Shoemaker, Bernardston Selectman Bob Raymond, Northfield residents Brian Bordner, Howard Perrea and Mary Perrea, Wendy Wirth, Barbara Whiting, Paul Davis (representative on behalf of Verizon), Janice Kurkoski, Steve Kurkoski Jon Calcari, Paula Robinson (Athol Daily News) I. Call to Order Chair Arguimbau called the meeting to order at 7:01 pm in Town Hall. Bill Lyman was recording the meeting. II. Public Comment None. III. Minutes Magi MOVED to approve the minutes of the August 4, 2014 meeting as printed. Arguimbau SECONDED. Motion CARRIED 2-0-0. IV. Presentations and Discussions State Primary Election--Young handed the six copies of the Sate primary Election warrant to the members of the Board for their signatures. All copies were signed by Magi and Arguimbau. Town Clerk Rosa Fratangelo explained that the Selectboard must appoint Election workers by September 1st. She also said that supplementary appointments can be made after that date. Arguimbau MOVED to appoint Diana Tandy, Judy Johnson, Beth Gilgun, Helen Whipple, Rod Whipple, Susan Wright, Martha Morse, Nancy Kilhart, Carol Foote, Fredericka Fellows, Calvin Fellows, Clare Green, Barbara Walker, Dan Dibble, and Jaylin Dibble as Election Workers for a one-year term effective September 1, 2014 and expiring August 31, 2015. Magi SECONDED. Motion CARRIED 2-0-0. Selectboard Vice Chair Patricia Lemon joined the meeting via remote participation. 2. Police Chief Report --Chief Shoemaker said that since the increase in hours for Police officers went into effect July 1st, he has seen gratifying results. The Chief said that arrests are up, and the closure rate on cases has increased. He noted that there is one ongoing investigation of a single recent break-in. Chief Shoemaker also said that a trench is being dug for the power supply for the new Public Safety Building. 3. Special Town Meeting--Brian Bordner spoke to the Board representing the Northfield Taxpayers Protection Association. He discussed the override vote held in Northfield on July 8, 2014 regarding the PVRSD assessment. He brought up inconsistencies, irregularities and spoke to the general confusion surrounding the initial vote and the subsequent recount. Bordner asked the Board if Warwick needed to revisit our assessment based on an increased appropriation to the District from the State. Young noted that our assessment had been reduced by $9,500.00 and now stood at 8.36% as opposed to the initial 9.6% voted at ATM. Young said that a 3.8% increase was recommended by both the Selectboard and Finance Committee, but the Town Meeting vote was for the amount requested by the District. Based on this, with the technology budget and a modest increase in the operating budget, an increase of over $1.00 on the FY 16 tax rate is anticipated. Bordner said that to his knowledge the recount will not be challenged. He noted that all Warwick taxpayers give money to the public resources of PVRSD. He said that funds were expended on posters, Emails and robo-calls. He pointed out that Emails and robo-calls are public domain and public resources were used to inform parents of students and the parent/teacher partnership of the Northfield override vote. Bordner said that the school did this selectively, targeting those who were most likely to vote a particular way rather than informing all of the public. He said that he checked with the Town Clerk, who told him that no one had filed with the Town Clerk on campaign finance. Bordner also said that according to MGL Chapter 56 Section 36 no public official or employee shall do anything to influence a vote. He thought we should revisit our PVRSD assessment. Bordner said that others would say the same things that he had said, and that he was here speaking for many other people. Mary and Howard Perrea were present and both had signed the letter currently before the Board. Mr. Perrea said that more would have signed the letter had there not been time constraints to get the letter to the Board in time for the meeting. Bordner said that a series of inappropriate actions culminated in a favorable result for PVRSD. Mary Perrea said that she personally had read Emails sent from the school to the parents and had been told by parents that robo-calls had been made. She noted that she and her husband, who are not parents of PVRS students, did not receive any such calls. Both Howard and Mary Perrea said that they were very concerned that public funds were used to influence the parents. Bernardston Selectman Bob Raymond spoke about his concerns on how the towns are going to fund their assessments in the future. Raymond said that out of the $18-plus dollar tax rate in Bernardston over $13.00 goes to fund the schools ($1.09 to the Tech School, the rest to PVRS). He noted that due to our having voted to put our free cash towards our PVRSD assessment rather than into capital stabilization, we should expect to take quite a hit to our tax rate in FY 16. Raymond estimated that next year the technology budget will be $200,000.00 plus the loan, both of which are outside of the operating budget. He said that a 2% increase in the operating budget translates into a 5% increase in the local assessment, and pointed out that less revenue equals higher assessments. Raymond said that while the school needs budget increases, we must be careful because the member towns have other needs that could fall by the wayside. He said that he is concerned how to foot the bill down the road, and that the School District needs to work with the member towns. Young asked what new information we had, as the Moderator would demand that new information be presented on Town Meeting floor so that a vote could be taken based on a reasonable cause. 4. Pole Hearings on Gale Road and Athol Road -- Paul Davis came before the Board as a representative of Verizon for the pole hearings for Gale Road and Athol Road. Young said that the abutters for the Athol Road petition were present, so the Athol Road petition was heard first. Davis explained that Verizon proposed taking the right of way behind a home on Royalston Road and bring it out to the road to make maintenance and repair easier. He said a new pole would be placed 25 feet closer to the corner to bypass trees, and a second pole would be used as a supporting pole to the first. Wendy Wirth wanted to know if her power would be interrupted and if so, for how long. Davis said that this was an upgrade in service, and that while he does not represent National Grid, he had talked to their engineers and to the best of his knowledge poles are moved live and power is not shut off. He said that he would request that Verizon notify the abutters when the new poles are scheduled to be installed. Magi MOVED to approve Verizon's request to relocate the poles for Athol Road. And Royalston Road. Lemon SECONDED. Motion CARRIED 3-0-0. The next hearing was for Gale Road. Young said that the only abutter was the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and that no one was present to represent its interests. Davis said that this is a request for one larger pole to be installed to replace a smaller pole that is guyed to a dead tree and a small tree, and would be a service upgrade. Davis said that the location for the new pole is 20 feet north of the existing pole. He said that Highway Superintendent Larry Delaney had recommended the location, as a culvert prevents the new pole from being placed next to the existing one. Magi MOVED to approve the petition. Lemon SECONDED. Motion CARRIED 3-0-0. The hearing was closed. 5. Special Town Meeting (STM), continued--The green communities zoning and building code changes were discussed. Young said that the deadline for submitting grant proposals is October 17th, and that the STM should take place about one month before that date. He said that the Planning Board had held its hearing on the as-of-right solar zoning for one piece of property owned by the Town. Janice Kurkoski said that some of the criteria for the green communities could be worked on prior to the STM. Kurkoski said that the stretch code forum with Western Massachusetts Representative for Green Communities Jim Barry should be held well prior to the STM, and that the Buildings and Energy Committee would meet next week to closely review the stretch code and evaluate their opinion of it. Magi MOVED to set the date of September 22, 2014 at 7 p.m. for the Special Town Meeting, and to open the warrant now and close it on September 8, 2014. Lemon SECONDED. Young said that he would schedule the stretch code forum and announce the date for that as well as the STM in the September newsletter. Magi CALLED THE QUESTION. Motion to end discussion CARRIED 3-0-0. Motion to set date and time of Special Town Meeting CARRIED 3-0-0. Arguimbau said that he thought we should do the reconsideration of our PVRSD assessment. Magi said that the use of public resources would qualify as new information. Arguimbau said that given what transpired in Northfield, regardless of the outcome, we need to take a hard line now and do all we can. Lemon said that she was in favor of placing the reconsideration of the assessment on the STM warrant. Magi MOVED we reconsider the PVRSD appropriation at the September 22, 2014 Special Town Meeting. Lemon SECONDED. Motion CARRIED 3-0-0. There was a consensus of the Board that there be four articles placed on the STM warrant: PVRSD reconsideration; new lower Warwick assessment; as-of-right solar zoning for the Allen lot; adoption of stretch code or something equal to it. 6. Execute Seaboard Solar Contract--Young said that Town Counsel Jeremiah Pollard had reviewed the contract and that in order for the Town to receive any future payments for being a net meter host, the Board needed to vote to execute and sign the contract. Magi MOVED that the Chair be allowed to sign the Seaboard Solar contract. Lemon SECONDED. Motion CARRIED 3-0-0. Arguimbau signed the necessary documents. 7. WCS Roof Project Update --Young said that he was pleased with the progress. Bill Lyman said that the main school roof is 85% finished, and that he anticipates tremendous energy savings once the project is completed. He said that it will be " a great roof". 8. Correspondence--Young said that the Board members' meeting packets included his response to a letter from Kim Devine of Orange District Court regarding the Town's attempt to collect damages from the illegal dumping that occurred on Hastings Heights Road. He also passed out a flyer with a schedule of planned Selectboard workshops for 2014-2015. 9. Selectboard Reports--Lemon asked that her discussion on the gas pipeline be put off until the next meeting, as she expected to be able to attend the meeting. 10. Coordinator Report--Young said that he expected to have Building Inspector Phil Delorey in attendance at the next meeting to discuss Arguimbau's proposed intermittent zoning compliance inspections. The Apple Financial Services Education Finance Program was also discussed. Young handed out copies of the FY 14 General Fund Expenditure Report to the Board members present. Young said that he has been talking to Vanu Bose about bringing cell service to town. Young was told that we don't own the radio spectrum, but Bose will see if either Sprint or Verizon will sign up; AT&T will not. Young said that if Warwick Broadband can connect the systems and pay to have it installed, we could have cell service from either Sprint or Verizon. Young said that there is still some hope for cell service. 11. New and Other Business Not Reasonably Anticipated Prior to Posting Notice--None. V. Adjournment At 7:55 p.m., Magi MOVED to adjourn. Arguimbau SECONDED. Motion CARRIED 3-0-0. Minutes taken by Rosa Fratangelo