BOARD OF SELECTMEN MINUTES OF FEBRUARY 11, 2008

 

PRESENT:                 Selectmen Jerry Klima, Chairman; Don Beaulieu, Henry Richenburg, and           Fred Knowles

ALSO PRESENT:      Neil J. Harrington, Town Manager and Janet Flannery, Secretary

ABSENT:                   Selectman Hunt

 

I.          Call to Order/Salute to the Flag

Chairman Klima called the meeting to order at 7:00 PM in the Colchester Room, Salisbury Town Hall.

 

II.        Acceptance of Minutes

            Minutes of January 28, 2008

Motion by Selectman Knowles, Second by Selectman Klima; voted to approve the Minutes of January 28, 2008.  VOTE: 2 yea’s – 2 abstentions. 

 

III.       Old Business - none

 

IV.       New Business

            a.  License Renewals:

Motion by Selectman Richenburg, Second by Selectman Beaulieu; unanimously voted to renew a Common Victualer license, with the same conditions/restrictions that may have been on the original license and all subsequent renewals for: Subway – 192 Elm St., and Cinemagic – 1 Merrill St.

 

Motion by Selectman Beaulieu, Second by Selectman Richenburg; unanimously voted to renew a General license, with the same conditions/restrictions that may have been on the original license and all subsequent renewals for: Seaside Resorts, Inc. – 3 Liberty St., Complete Car Cleaning – 162B Bridge Rd., Golden Nails – 4 Elm St., Divided House – 145 Elm St., and Salisbury Mini-Mart – 192 Elm St.

 

            b.  New Licenses

Motion by Selectman Richenburg, Second by Selectman Beaulieu; unanimously voted to approve a General license to Paradise Spa – 141 Bridge Rd.

 

Motion by Selectman Richenburg, Second by Selectman Knowles; unanimously voted to approve a General license Diamond Shine Detailing – 213 Lafayette Rd.

 

            c.  Committee Appointments - none

 

            d.  Update/Presentations:  DPW Director/Harbormaster & Harbor Commission

Mr. Levesque stated that the DPW is responsible for ten different departments and he continues to have an aggressive approach dealing with the day to day responsibilities of the landfill, including the recycling center, highways and roads, parks and recreation, cemeteries, comfort station, solid waste, accounting, water and wastewater.  This past year the DPW handled 77 street opening permits, 298 service requests, swept all streets in the beach district and center of town on 12 different occasions, cleared 500 catch basins and 2,600 feet of drainage.  He said that so far this year the Town had experienced 6 major storm events and 20 minor events.  Up to this point the Town has expended over $108,000 which is 135% of his snow budget.  With the additional cost of materials Mr. Levesque said he will have to address this with Warrant Advisory to see if that line item can be increased for FY09.

 

DPW continues to move forward with a lot of departments, communities and organizations to improve the parks.

  • Funding and permission has been obtained to make a tot lot which will be located at the Memorial School field.
  • The Easter Egg Hunt will be held next month.
  • The beach baseball field has been hydro-seeded.
  • They have been working with several people from the PTA looking to have a temporary ice skating rink built, but work had to be postponed because of the snow events.
  • Working with Timberland and the Planning Department on the rail trails.
  • Helped out and worked with the organizers of the “Sand & Sea” festival last summer, as well as the Brazilian festival and the Nelson’s Ride event.
  • New sign and fence has been put into place at the Maplewood cemetery and the Board was urged to ride by and take a look at them.
  • There have been many upgrades made at the comfort stations; this is a complex that needs a lot of attention but it is better than it was.
  • 15,000 cars used the parking lot last season.
  • There is a new set of gates at the landfill and the area has also been graveled.
  • They will be restructuring the entrance and exit at the recycle center making a definite entrance and a definite exit.  At the present time people drive in, drop off and have to turn around to exit the same way they entered.  The new entrance/exit will make for a much smoother pattern.
  • They continue to monitor the capped landfill and so far everything has been within the limits of the DEP regulations.
  • The hazardous waste day was held last Fall and 50 cars went through.  This number was down from the previous year, but it was a stormy day which probably accounted for the decrease.
  • The salt shed is up.  This is one of the 3 phases of that whole area; the other two are the renovations done at the Hilton Center and the parking lot at the entrance to the Hilton Center needs to be done.
  • Actively working with the Planning Department and Planning Board to upgrade their regulations and looking at a sidewalk plan.
  • Continue to work with the utility companies on pole locations and tree pruning in an effort to minimize power outages due to limbs coming down.
  • Working with MVPC on many things, one being the possibility of forming a consortium for purchases, such as salt and sand.

 

            e.  Vote to Ratify DPW Contract

Mr. Harrington had provided a confidential memo to the Board outlining the parameters of the Contract and he asked if there were any questions and there were none.

Motion by Selectmen Beaulieu, Second by Selectman Richenburg; unanimously voted to ratify the DPW Contract as presented.

 

V.        Comments by Visitors - none

 

VI.       Sewer/Water – no action

 

VII.     Correspondence

  • Notice of the Chamber of Commerce monthly meeting scheduled for Feb. 21st at the All American Tavern at 6:30 PM
  • Notice from the Pettengill House re: a community partnership capacity building forum to be held on March 13th at the Anna Jacques Hospital from 9:30 AM – 12:30 PM.
  • Agenda for the Triton Regional School Committee Meeting scheduled for Feb. 13th at 7:00 PM
  • Letter from Robert Scatamacchia, Chairman of the Whittier District AdHoc Committee asking if a Selectman or a representative would like to participate on this committee.

 

VIII.    Hearings

            7:30 PM – Continuation – Proposed Changes for Salisbury Waterways and Docking     Fees

Motion by Selectman Knowles, Second by Selectman Richenburg; unanimously voted to reopen the hearing at 7:35 PM.

In the absence of Chairman Jim McCarty, Larry O’Brien addressed the issue of the accounts governed by the Harbor Commission and the restructuring of the rate increase schedule, copies of which are on file in the Selectmen’s Office.  He also reviewed some of the events of the last year and summarized the objectives of the Harbor Commission.

Harbormaster Ray Pike updated the Board and addressed the following issues and concerns: the limited number of public access points to the Salisbury waterfront; mooring field layout density; completion of the float repairs and placements.  The immediate plans include monitoring the progress of the Cove Marina lawsuit; preparing for the 2008 season; and re-arranging the mooring field layout.  Long range plans include: pursuing acquisition of additional water access sites; setting assigned swimming and fishing zones at the town pier; reducing the delinquent tax roster; dealing with issues involving emergency management and Homeland Security; and completing the harbor management plan.  He then gave an overview of the revised budget resulting in a figure of $51,227 and not $57,647.

Don Jansen, reporting for the Harbor Commission gave a summary of the facts and figures to support the discussions that had taken place over the past several weeks and gave an overview of the duties carried out by the Assistant Harbormasters which include: rescuing 9 boaters that capsized; rescuing a kayak; participating in 8 search and rescue missions; assisting Amesbury with an automobile in the water; assisting with 7 boats that ran aground; assisting the Coast Guard looking for drowning victims; assisting with removing two heart attack victims from a party boat; issuing over 75 by-law citations; monitoring compliance with fishing and shellfish laws; cleaning up debris from the storms; assisting in DUI and non commercial issues.  Activities are all boat related and the Assistant Harbormasters’ salaries do not come out of taxes.

Atty. Fogel, representing Brian Mullen, stated that Mr. Mullen feels the budgets have not been under control and requests that the Selectmen not approve the increases and have them pay out from their present budget.  He therefore urged the Selectmen to: 1) deny any increase in the waterways fees; 2) suspend the fees to be collected for FY09; and 3) direct an audit be done and gain some control over the Harbor Commission.

Mr. Harrington stated that the revenue generated in the fees in the past has exceeded the amount it takes to run the Harbor Commission and pointed out that there is enough money in the Harbor Commission’s accounts and budget to cover expenses for the next year without any increases.

 

Motion by Selectman Beaulieu, Second by Selectman Knowles; unanimously voted to close the hearing at 9:25 PM.

 

After discussion and upon Motion by Selectman Beaulieu, Seconded by Selectman Knowles; unanimously voted not to approve the requested increases in the waterways and docking fees as provided this evening and to keep the current fee structure that is now in place.

 

IX.       Town Manager’s Report

Mr. Harrington gave a brief overview of his written report, a copy of which is available in the Town Manager’s office.

 

X.        Selectmen’s Report

            a.  Ratification of Signing of Weekly Warrants:

Motion by Selectman Beaulieu, Second by Selectman Knowles; unanimously voted to ratify the signing of the following weekly warrants:  W08-117 thru W08-126.

 

Selectman Knowles attended the Triton Communication Meeting on Feb. 7th and reported that Salisbury’s assessment should be about a 5.86% increase; Newbury’s about 5.87% and Rowley about 3%. 

The next budget meeting is scheduled for Wednesday Feb. 13th.  School choice surveys have been sent out to find out why children are being bused out of Salisbury schools.

Triton is reviewing their regulations re: SPED services.

As for the issue of the last lay-off of coaches, they have been guaranteed an interview for the next season.

 

Chairman Klima announced that Mass. Highway has approved the Border to Boston project and has approved $960,000 for the preliminary design of the train which will include Mudnock Road up to the State line.  It is hoped that the design will be done by the middle of next year and to hopefully begin construction by 2011.  Selectman Beaulieu commended Chairman Klima for all his hard work and the effort he has put into this project.

 

XI.       Executive Session - none

 

XII.     Adjournment

Motion by Selectman Richenburg, Second by Selectman Beaulieu; unanimously voted to adjourn at 9:55 PM.

 

 

Respectfully submitted:

Janet E. Flannery, Secretary

 

                                                            Approved: ___________________________

                                                                              Fred Knowles, Clerk