HomeMy WebLinkAbout1987-09-21 Board of Selectmen Minutes f
Board of Selectmen Meeting
September 21, 1987
Meeting convened at 7 : 30 P.M. in Room 16 of the Town Hall.
Present were Chairman Russell, Vice Chairman Nigro, Secretary
Graham and Selectmen Ziegler. Also present were Town Manager
Peter Hechenbleikner, Town Moderator Paul Dustin, and a number of
citizens.
Chairman Russell indicated that the purpose of the meeting was to
discuss the Town Meeting Warrant which will be closing at 8:00
P.M. on September 28th.
Liason Reports - Mollie Ziegler reported that the Budget Format
Committee has met. Chairman Russell indicated that he had
received a complaint about the hours of the office operation at
Town Hall-not in terms of the 5:00 to 7:30 hours but in terms of
having them every other week.
The Warrant was reviewed as follows:
Reports will include a report of progress on a number of issues,
as well as items that may be anticipated in the future.
Amendment of fees- We will be guided by a general policy of
trying to recover costs, and having fees consistent with con-
tiguous communities. The only fees amendments known would be for
the Sealer of Weights and Measures.
The report of the Fire Facility Study Committee and request for
funding was reviewed. It is anticipated that $50,000 in funding
will be required.
Three issues with regard to the personnel by-law were discussed
as follows:
( 1) At a minimum the by-law will be amended to conform with
the Charter.
( 2) Also as a minimum schedules A & B need to be modified
to cover positions that are currently not covered.
( 3 ) The Town Manager submitted a proposed revision to the.
by-law which would establish the broad policies with
regard to personnel issues, but permit the Board of
Selectmen to establish specific policies and the Town
Manager to administer the policies.
There may be some cost associated with this item, with regard to
implementation of the pay and classification study.
1
I
f
I
The Municipal Building Space Committee intends to request funding
for the construction of the project. There will be a presenta-
tion to the Board of Selectmen prior to Town Meeting, and other
methods of public information will be used.
The disposal of the surplus equipment by the Department of Public
Works and the School Committee was discussed. The Town Counsel
will advise us as to whether this should be two separate ar-
ticles. In addition the sense of the Board of Selectmen unless
the Public Works Director feels otherwise would be to authorize
the disposal of the bulldozer and the garbage truck. The road
grader and roller would be evaluated for trade-in on new equip-
ment next year. Bill Brown, Town Meeting Member in the audience
suggested a modification to the current by-law that would
authorize the auctioning of equipment and materials that are not
of use to the Town by action of the Board of Selectmen. They
would suggest that this should be reviewed with the by-law com-
mittee.
The Selectmen and Moderator asked for a copy of the by-law amend-
ments proposed by the by-law committee.
There was considerable discussion about the adoption of the plan
of organization, and whether an organization table constituted a
plan of organization in terms of the Charter requirements.
There was discussion regarding the establishment of a Scholarship
Program. The Town Manager indicated that staff had some concerns
about this, but it was indicated that the School Committee will
be developing the Article for that item.
Patty Keenan was present to discuss the sale of land. The Board
of Selectmen agreed that it would put the issue on the Warrant.
The Board agreed that the handicapped accessibility would be done
as follows:
( 1) Approximately $3700 from the current Clerk' s Budget
would be used for this purpose.
( 2) The School Committee would be asked to determine what
funding availability they might have for this project.
( 3 ) Fin Com funding would be requested for the remainder of
the project that needs to be done prior to cold weather
onset.
( 4 ) Town Meeting will be requested to fund the additional
portions which could be done during cold weather.
With regard to the modification to the by-law to allow the
Selectmen to set the date of the first session of the Annual and
subsequent Town Meetings, the Moderator suggested that this might
need some broader review, and the Board of Selectmen agreed that
2
the by-law committee should review this issue.
It was indicated that two (perhaps three) Articles on the Biggio
land swap would be required, and that a copy of these Articles
should be sent to Biggio as soon as possible.
The Board of Selectmen agreed that the improvements to dispatch
issue should be dealt with in the least cost manner now-i .e .
through some ventilation improvements. This is proposed since
another article will provide for a new facility.
The Board felt that it was not appropriate to include an article
requesting Town Meeting support of the Master Plan since this was
within the purview of the Community Planning & Development Com-
mission and should be included as a report of information.
An article regarding the ability to sell to Embassy Suites will
be included as an Article of the Special Meeting.
In other action, the Board of Selectmen on a motion by Graham
seconded by Nigro approved the advancement of up to four weeks
additional sick to Stephen Lewko on a vote of 4-0-0 .
On a motion by Graham seconded by Nigro the Board adjourned this
meeting at 9: 45 P.M. The vote was 4-0-0 .
Respectfully submitted:
Secretary