MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF SELECTMEN MEETING
MONDAY - NOVEMBER 8, 2004 - 7:00 PM
WILLIAM HILTON CENTER
PRESENT: Selectmen Robert Carroll Chairman, Ed Hunt, Anthony Papoulias, Henry Richenburg, Jerry Klima
ALSO PRESENT: Neil Harrington, Town Manager and Janet Flannery, Secretary
I. Call to Order/Salute to the Flag
Chairman Carroll called the meeting to order at 7:04 PM.
II. Acceptance of Minutes
Minutes of Sept. 13, 2004 and Oct. 18, 2004
Motion by Sel. Richenburg, Seconded by Sel. Hunt; Unanimously voted to approve the Minutes of Sept. 13, 2004 and Oct. 18, 2004 subject to the correction of some typographical errors.
III. Old Business - none
IV. New Business
License Renewals:
Motion by Sel. Richenburg, Seconded by Sel. Hunt; Unanimously voted to renew a Repair license for Drew’s Cycle, Inc. - 72 Elm St., Unit #5 (new address only).
b. New Licenses:
Motion by Sel. Richenburg, Seconded by Sel. Hunt; Unanimously voted to approve a Class I license to National Sales - 10 Main St.
Motion by Sel. Richenburg, Seconded by Sel. Hunt; Unanimously voted to approve a Common Victualer license to LaChiquita-Salisbury - 238 Lafayette Rd. and New England Chocolate Co., Inc. - 123 Lafayette Rd.
Motion by Sel. Richenburg, Seconded by Sel. Hunt; Unanimously voted to approve a General license to Twin Rivers Shipyard - 1 Jak-len Dr. For clarification, this is a hobby done in the home and the models are then brought to Newburyport to be sold. No actual business takes place in the home.
c. Committee Appointments
Council on Aging - 3 vacancies - 1 applicant: Karen Parent to fill an unexpired term
Motion by Sel. Richenburg, Seconded by Sel. Hunt; Unanimously voted to appoint Karen Parent to serve on the COA with a term to expire 6/30/06.
MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF SELECTMEN MEETING OF NOV. 8, 2004
d. Triton Regional School Committee Letter re: Community Representative to fill at-large position on School Superintendent Search Committee
Ms. Joan Petersen, Chairperson of the Triton Regional School Committee had submitted a letter to the Board requesting that the Selectmen select one community representative, without children in the schools to serve on th is committee.
Motion by Sel. Richenburg, Seconded by Sel. Hunt; Unanimously voted to post an opening on the Triton Regional School Superintendent search committee and appoint a person at the Nov. 22nd Meeting. Applicants must be residents of the Town with no children attending District schools.
e. Acceptance of a parcel of land on Baker Rd. From Ferry Rd. LLC
The Selectmen had received a Conservation Deed and Restriction re: 6.06 acres of land in a subdivision on Baker Rd. However, Rick Whaley, Chairman of the Conservation Commission had presented a memo to the Board just prior to tonight’s meeting regarding several matters on this issue one being that a delineation was supposed to be done prior to tonight’s action and it has not been done by Mr. Palis. Sel. Carroll said he would like to see all work done before the Board signs any documents and he suggested this be tabled. Motion by Sel. Richenburg, Seconded by Sel. Hunt; Unanimously voted to table until the next meeting scheduled for Nov. 22, 2004. Sel. Klima requested that a plan be provided so that the Board can see exactly what they are voting on.
f. Town Manager Employment Contract
Sel. Carroll placed this on the agenda because it would be mutually beneficial to the Town and Mr. Harrington to come to an agreement to extend the existing contract; he further stated that the Selectmen and other individuals have expressed their satisfaction in Mr. Harrington’s accomplishments. Sel. Carroll has asked Sel. Klima and Sel. Richenburg to work with Mr. Harrington on this extension.
Motion by Sel. Hunt, Seconded by Sel. Richenburg; Unanimously voted to permit the Chairman to appoint Mr. Klima and Sel. Richenburg to work with the Town Manager in preparing an extension to the manager’s employment contract. Further, that Sel. Klima and Sel. Richenburg present a revised contract to the Board of Selectmen and the Town Manager for approval no later than 12/31/04.
g. Adelphia Board/Committee Meeting Coverage
Volunteers from the Community Access Committee requested this to be on the agenda. Many meetings are being taped and televised and these are done by volunteers. The Town’s contract allows for two Board meetings to be televised per month and this covers the Selectmen meetings. However, there is an opportunity to have more meetings televised. Presently, the volunteers tape the Board of Health and ZBA meetings and they are shown at a later date. Motion by Sel. Richenburg, Seconded by Sel. Hunt; to authorize the Chairman to send a letter to Adelphia requesting they televise two additional board or committee meetings per month under the terms of the contract between Adelphia and the Town. Further, that the volunteer community access committee and Adelphia share the responsibility for televising these meetings along with other meetings now being televised by the community access committee.
Discussion: Sel. Hunt said he would like to know who is going to select the other committee to be shown for he would like to see the school committee meetings covered. He thinks it would be an asset for the Town to be able to view them. Sel. Richenburg agreed, however Mr. Takesian, Chairman of the Cable Advisory Board said the reason they are not covered now is that the meetings are held in Newbury which is covered by Comcast. Tony Noone, working for Adelphia said his only concern with the topic is he doesn’t think the wording works with the Contract and suggested tabling this until the next meeting and invite Doug Bozak so he can work out the proper wording, etc.
Original Motion and Second withdrawn. Motion by Sel. Richenburg, Seconded by Sel. Hunt; Unanimously voted to table until the next meeting scheduled for Nov. 22, 2004.
h. Set Date for Reporting Progress on Town Goals & Objectives
Sel. Carroll said that the Manager and Dept. Heads have come up with about 44 objectives for the next couple of years and he thought it would be a good idea if the Selectmen and Manager report their progress and asked the Board when they could sit as a Board to discuss the goals and objectives and Sel. Hunt thought that the next meeting would be a good time. Motion by Sel. Hunt, Seconded by Sel. Richenburg; Unanimously voted to report on the progress of the goals at the next meeting.
I. Discuss Scheduling Reports from Boards, Committees and Dept. Heads
Sel. Klima thought it might be helpful to have regular reports from Dept. Heads, Boards and Committees given at each Selectmen Meeting and it would be an opportunity for them to let the Selectmen and those who watch the meetings what they are doing and what their future plans are. He suggested that the Chairman could schedule these and have 10-15 minutes for those reports. Sel. Richenburg said he thought this was a great idea for he knows how hard these Boards do work and thinks it would be helpful to them to let the public know what is going on. Sel. Hunt suggested that if there are certain questions a Selectman may have then maybe he could give it to the Committee Chair so they would be prepared to answer at the meeting.
V. Comments by Visitors - none
Kendall Eaton requested that the Board have a cancer update given by the Health Dept. At the next meeting and the Board agreed.
VI. Sewer/Water
VII. Correspondence
· Card of thanks from the family of Kenneth Chase. Mr. Chase passed away recently and Sel. Hunt stated that he was a role model for many of the young people; he worked at the parking lot up to his retirement and prior to that served on the fire department, and was a building inspector. He has served the Town well with his service.
· Chamber of Commerce Fall Newsletter.
VIII. Hearings - none
IX. Town Manager’s Report
Mr. Harrington summarized his written report, a copy of which is attached and made a part of these Minutes. He also provided an update on the receivables project of which a copy is attached.
On the issue of the upcoming EPA meeting the Board felt the details needed to be discussed as to the Town’s position and who will be doing the speaking. Motion by Sel. Richenburg, Seconded by Sel. Hunt; Unanimously voted to hold a special meeting on Nov. 15, 2004 at 4:30 PM in the Hilton Center to discuss the strategy for the EPA meeting of Nov. 29th.
X. Selectmen’s Report
Sel. Hunt:
RE: the Elementary School, there was some controversy on the landscaping not being properly taken care of and there are some dead trees that should be cut down. He said that last week a very large limb broke and almost fell on a child; this is a safety issue that needs to be addressed and he feels this should be part of a maintenance program with the school and he would like a letter sent to the Superintendent asking that those trees be taken care of immediately.
RE: the north end of the beach, he understands that we have received the sandbags and he would like that project started as soon as Mr. Levesque returns from vacation. He then asked for an update of the south end of the beach and the Manager said 150 surveys have been returned and another run was sent out last week and Don Egan of the Planning Board and Mr. Blatti, a resident have volunteered to go door to door to get additional surveys completed.
RE: the 40B issue, Sel. Hunt feels the Town should take a stand on the 40B’s and not wait a year. He suggested starting discussions with some State Agencies and plead with them to help our community for he doesn’t think we should have to accept any more 40B’s, that we should take a stand and ask to be treated fairly. We have 13% now and he thinks the State formula is wrong; it is not fair for the community for Salisbury has the lowest per capita in the State and he would like the Manager to look into that to see what steps the Town can take. Sel. Richenburg agrees and his concern is who, what committee and how does the town go about it. Mr. Harrington said according to State Law the Town does qualify for more 40B’s. He thinks the only remedy is legislative; we need to bring people in to testify and stand up and state it’s not right. Right now the Selectmen don’t have a say in the matter, it is up to the ZBA for they are the only ones who have any say. The problem is with the agencies who administer the law. Sel. Klima pointed out that he and Sel. Hunt went and testified against the 40B project on Seabrook Rd; they say it’s affordable housing but nobody from Salisbury could afford them. Sel. Richenburg asked if it would be wise for the Selectmen to send a letter to Sen. Baddour requesting his help re: the 40B’s and ask for a response back. Motion by Sel. Richenburg, Seconded by Sel. Hunt; Unanimously voted to ask the Manager to write a letter to Sen. Baddour and include the comments of Sel. Klima’s and Sel. Hunt’s concerns and request his advice as to what the Town should be doing.
Sel. Carroll spoke regarding the terms that will be expiring in December on various Boards/Committees and stated that between now and January 1st there will be 25 openings and he encouraged people to apply and have the incumbents re-apply. As to the Water and Sewer Advisory Boards, it was suggested they be combined because they cannot meet due to a lack of a quorum. Motion by Sel. Richenburg, Seconded by Sel. Hunt to combine the two so that meeting can be held and things can get done. Discussion: Because these two Boards were approved at Town Meeting there was a question as to whether or not the Board could combine the two. However, they could appoint those currently on the water advisory to the sewer advisory and vice versa.
Motion by Sel. Richenburg, Seconded by Sel. Hunt; Unanimously voted to amend the main motion and appoint the two members of the water advisory board to serve on the sewer advisory and the one individual on the sewer advisory board to serve on the water advisory board.
Motion by Sel. Richenburg, Seconded by Sel. Hunt; Unanimously voted to approve the main motion as amended.
Sel. Klima stated they are trying to get a volunteer group together to work on the rail trail. He has been working with Lisa Pearson and Don Levesque and there have been a couple of events with Timberland. The goal is to have a trail totally connected with Newburyport and Amesbury. The next step is to get a group of volunteers together to meet next Wednesday, Nov. 17th in the Art Room art room at 7:00 PM; this is a meeting to see who is interested and what the group can do.
Sel. Papoulias asked if the Manager can look into the policy of the fire and police departments to see if the members do get hurt on duty that their families are taken care of; he doesn’t want the same thing to happen in Salisbury that just occurred in Lancaster. Mr. Harrington said he believes that this is governed by State Law and that the firemen in Lancaster were not full time, but volunteers.
XI. Executive Session - none
XII. Adjournment
Motion by Sel. Richenburg, Seconded by Sel. Hunt; Unanimously voted to adjourn at 8:35 PM.
Respectfully submitted,
Janet Flannery, Secretary
Approved:______________________________
Ed Hunt, Clerk