Town of Warwick Selectboard August 31, 2015 Minutes Members present: Dawn Magi, Lawrence Pruyne, Nick Arguimbau Others present: Town Coordinator David Young, Town Secretary Rosa Fratangelo, Police Chief David Shoemaker, Broadband Committee Chair Tom Wyatt, Steve Ruggiero, Diane Miller, Jon Calcari, Rachel Rapkin (Greenfield Recorder) I. Call to Order Chair Magi called the meeting to order at 6:00 pm in Town Hall. II. Minutes Pruyne MOVED to approve the minutes of July 6, 2015, August 3, 2015 and August 17, 2015 as printed. Arguimbau SECONDED. Motion CARRIED 3-0-0. III. Presentations and Discussions 1. Warwick Police Department Report--Chief Shoemaker said that the Police Department will be monitoring areas where the school buses pick up and drops off students. He said that there will be lock-down drills at WCS; some of which will be announced and others will be surprise drills. The Chief said that the department will be participating in the U.S. D.O.T.'s national Drive Drunk and Get Pulled Over campaign which will target all types of impairments to drivers. He said that some needles had been recovered at Moore's Pond beach, and advised if anyone finds any needles to call the Police or Fire departments, as they have sharps containers for the safe disposal of hazardous medical waste. The Chief mentioned that some dumping of trash at the Town Beach by non-residents had been reported. He also announced the successful completion of the Criminal Justice Information Service (CJIS) audit and said that WPD had been commended on its performance. Young said that the Town had purchased walkie-talkies for WCS. The Chief noted that there must be a fulltime School Resource Officer for the District, and that the 2-way radios are a way for the School to contact WPD directly in case of an emergency. Pruyne inquired about a sex offender living near the School. The Chief confirmed that there is a Level 3 sex offender living there and that there are posted notices outside Town Hall. Chief Shoemaker cautioned that the Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) had just struck down a by-law in Lynn restricting where sex offenders may live. Young said that sex offenders have certain rights and that the one in question has not re-offended in more than ten years. 2. Broadband Internet, MBI, WiredWest, Warwick Broadband --Young said that the premises count is still somewhat confusing; Tom Wyatt concurred, adding that they say the premises count numbers will not affect the budget. Wyatt said that there will be wiring to every pole but WiredWest will not complete the connection to the household unless the people subscribe to the service. Young said that it is much more efficient and cost effective to do everything all at once rather than piecemeal. Wyatt said that he was still waiting for answers to Arguimbau's questions. The Town of Otis recently withdrew from the WiredWest project; Wyatt said that they were the second largest of the 32 towns, noting 60% of their residents are seasonal. He was unsure if this would affect the WiredWest model or if our take rate would need to rise in order for the model to work. Young said that MBI wants to attend a Selectboard meeting and that he had tentatively scheduled them for October 26th. Young said that the Broadband Enterprise Fund had a surplus of $53,000.00 at the end of FY 15. He noted that subject to the appropriation by Town Meeting funds could be used to contribute to the first year of interest expense for the WiredWest project if the Town votes it and it were needed. Young said that he wanted to wait until we reach the desired number of pre-subscribers. WiredWest portal says that 78 more are needed before bringing the WiredWest project to the Special Town Meeting; currently we have about 77 who have signed up for WiredWest; currently we have 52% of the 40% pre-subscription rate (40% of households in Warwick). Wyatt did not disagree, and said that people are worried whether the model is really sound. He noted that there has been no active attempt to boost the number of sign ups since April, as he is waiting on more solid information from MBI and WiredWest once the model has been vetted. Pruyne asked how much it would cost to make Warwick Broadband comparable to WiredWest. Young replied that it could cost as much as a fiber deployment, which would require between nine and fourteen towers, and most likely residents would not want to see all those towers. Diane Miller said that her daughter's job requires that she have reliable internet to access patient information before arriving at the patient's home, and noted that better internet is crucial to jobs in the medical field. Wyatt said that fiber can definitely help medical services. He concluded by saying that there are at least three separate vetting processes going on of the WiredWest model, that he expected to hear something within the next two weeks, but that it would likely be four to six weeks before all vetting is done and information is made available. Young said that our cloud based software subscription begins tomorrow (September 1st) and allows five users. 3. KM/TGP Pipeline--Young said that he had drafted a resolution for Warwick to send to FERC requesting that we be granted intervener status. Pruyne MOVED that the Town of Warwick seek Intervener status in FERC's review of the Tennessee Gas Pipeline known as Northeast Energy Direct. Arguimbau SECONDED. Motion CARRIED 3-0-0. Young said that he had sent a letter asking for a local scoping session, and that after he heard back that there won't be one scheduled in Warwick, he sent another letter asking that FERC actually read our letter and is awaiting a reply. Young noted that there will be a scoping session held in Cheshire County, NH. At a date, time and place to be announced. 4. Household Hazardous Waste Collection MOU--Young said that the Board had before it a Memorandum of Understanding between the Franklin County Solid Waste Management District and the Town of Warwick in the amount of $500.00 for Household Hazardous Waste Day on Saturday, October 3, 2015. He said that residents call and declare what hazardous waste they have to be disposed of, and the Town will be charged its share for the disposal, which cannot exceed $500.00. Pruyne MOVED to execute the $500.00 MOU with the Solid Waste District for Household Hazardous Waste Day. Arguimbau SECONDED. Motion CARRIED 3-0-0. 5. Selectboard Reports-- Pruyne said that he attended a Selectboard 101 meeting offered by FRCOG where ways in which to avoid violating the Open Meeting Law in this electronic age were discussed. Pruyne said that Selectboard members should not Email each other directly, and should avoid joining in discussions on the Warwick "L". 6. Coordinator Report--Nothing beyond the written report. 7. Public Comment--Diane Miller handed out copies of a statement entitled "Employee Safety in the Town Buildings" and read it aloud, but not quite verbatim (the statement is filed with these minutes in the Town Clerk's office). Ms. Miller said that it is the responsibility of the Town to do something now that it has been made public and in the newspaper that people do not feel safe in the workplace. Young said that he is passionately anti guns in social and civil situations, and that he felt comfortable with the Board's decision to ban firearms and that he felt this was sufficient action by the Board. He admitted that he was the one who first raised the issue of safety in the workplace and saw Ms. Miller's actions as "grandstanding" and a way to keep the issue going. Ms. Miller took offense to this and voices were briefly raised. Steve Ruggiero inquired if this issue does affect Mass labor laws would it open up the Town to liability. Magi said that they would check with Town Counsel on this. Miller said that due to the nature of Mass labor laws, it is best to contact an attorney who is very familiar with labor laws; Young said we had one on retainer. Arguimbau said he thought the Town should show a police presence around Town Hall at least until things calm down, and noted that a burglar would be deterred by a police vehicle parked out front. He said that if the police drop by at different times during the day, it would make things safer. Young said that the police were currently on call and on patrol in the area and would respond quickly to a 911 call, but it was not in the WPD budget to be present for the duration of all meetings. Wyatt said that he had respect for what Ms. Miller had to say and took it at face value, but thought the suggestions were too much for this size of a town. Pruyne said that nothing has happened in the past, and therefore it is likely that nothing will in the future. Young then apologized to Miller for his "emotional response" to her. Young pointed out that he is in Town Hall 32 hours per week and that the Treasurer/Assessor's Clerk and the Tax Collector are also in their respective offices many hours per week, and all of them are comfortable with the firearms bans. Magi asked Town Clerk Rosa Fratangelo how she felt; Fratangelo replied that she was not uncomfortable with someone having a concealed weapon when visiting her office, whether she knew about it or not. She noted that she does not handle much money, and that whenever possible she requests that people needing dog licenses or other types of documents pay with a check payable to the Town. Ruggiero inquired about the cutting of trees on Northfield Road, asking why there had been no public hearing. Young said that he had spoken with Tree Warden Brian Miner earlier in the day, and that Miner had said he would be scheduling a hearing for the trees marked for cutting on Northfield Road. Young said that the trees already cut were done so because the Tree Warden and Highway Superintendent had deemed them to be hazardous. He noted that the Highway Superintendent and Tree warden have discretion to identify and cut hazard trees. Young said that Miner would be holding his public hearings on site rather than in Town Hall so those in attendance can see exactly what is slated to be cut. 8. New and Other Business Unanticipated at Time of Meeting Posting--None. IV. Adjournment At 7:22 p.m., Magi MOVED to adjourn. Pruyne SECONDED. Motion CARRIED 3-0-0. Documents consulted at this meeting: *Minutes of July 6, 2015; August 3, 2015; August 17, 2015 Selectboard meetings *Town Coordinator Report dated August 27, 2015 *E-Mails from Cynthia Gaines to Young, Wyatt re: MBI Warwick revised premises count *Email from Wyatt to Gaines re: MBI Warwick revised premises count *WiredWest Response to the Withdrawal of Otis from WiredWest *Town of Warwick FY 2015 Other Funds Expense Report (page 4 of 5) *Town of Warwick FY 2015 Other Funds Expense Report (page 2 of 3) *Resolution of Support and Vote by Warwick Selectboard to become an Intervener in the Tennessee Gas Pipeline for a new natural gas pipeline known as Northeast Energy Direct August 17, 2015 letter from Norman Bay of FERC to Selectboard Chair Magi June 17, 2015 letter to Bay from Magi as Selectboard Chair *MOU by and between the Franklin County Solid Waste Management District and the Town of Warwick Statement made during Public Comment by resident Diane Miller