Town of Harwich Massachusetts - Minutes

OTHERS PRESENT: Town Administrator James Merriam, David Ryan, Pete Watson, Geoff Wiegman, Tom Huckman, Gerry Loftus, Susan Brauner, Polly Hemstock, Bob Murray, David Purdy, Valerie Foster, Jennifer Thyng, Sue Daggett, Leo Cakounes, Barry Worth, and others.

Kathryn McManus of the Brooks Academy Museum Commission invited the Board and public to a ribbon-cutting ceremony marking the end of the current phase of repairs to Brooks Academy on January 14^th at 2:00 p.m. At Chairman Wilkins’ request, Ms. McManus described her experience when she attended the recent inauguration of the Governor noting in particular the impressive speakers at the event.

Barry Worth alerted the Board that the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative hired an aviation consultant to see if there is any interference with Chatham Airport and the results indicate that the total height of any turbine we could put up at the High School would be 231 feet which is significantly less than the almost 400 feet needed for a large commercial turbine. He added that a map was provided which shows where we cannot put any turbines approaching 300 feet and that area covers 80-90% of the Town. He explained that the only areas without interference are right along the water and in North Harwich.

Leo Cakounes commented on the use of the snow and ice funds to purchase equipment as voted at last week’s meeting. He disagreed with the Board’s statement that it is an administrative decision and he stressed that approval by both the Board and Finance Committee should be required. Mr. Cakounes stated that this is an inter-budgetary transfer and it does not follow the intent of the voters. Chairman Wilkins described the extenuating circumstances and time constraints associated with this request and agreed that it should have gone to the Finance Committee. Mr. Cakounes offered his services to provide a luncheon for Harwich Civic Spirit Day if the Board wishes to hold one this year.

Mr. McManus moved approval of the Consent Agenda and the recommended actions thereon. Mr. Cole seconded the motion. Mr. Marsland requested to remove Item A1 and Mr. Piekarski requested to remove Item A3. Mr. McManus amended his motion to exclude Item A1 and A3. The motion carried by a unanimous vote.

Mr. Marsland noted that on page 1 and 2 of the minutes of December 4^th the text “Golf Commission” should be changed to “Golf Committee.” Mr. Piekarski moved to accept the minutes with the changes stated. Mr. Cole seconded the motion and the motion carried by a unanimous vote.

Mr. Marsland read the hearing notice into record. Mr. Watson, Chairman of the Capital Outlay Committee, outlined the Capital Outlay Plan for 2008-2014 (attached). The Board discussed the details of the plan with Mr. Watson. Mr. Watson brought to the Board’s attention that there are problems with the HVAC unit on the roof of Town Hall and this is not in the plan. Mr. Merriam stated that an assessment of the unit is needed to see if it needs to be repaired or replaced. Chairman Wilkins stated that it has been a lingering nuisance for a number of years and said they should put a placeholder article in the warrant for it.

Mr. McManus asked Mr. Watson if the Capital Outlay Committee would be in support of a good demographic study. Mr. Watson stated that the committee has discussed it in the past and he does see a need for it for a number of reasons.

Mr. McManus moved to adopt the Capital Outlay Plan as presented with the acknowledgement that there may be two additions – one a movement of the Saquatucket Harbor piling replacement project for $120,000 from 2012 to 2008 and that a capital project for repair and renovation of the Town Hall HVAC and roof may be inserted for the coming year and to approve the plan and authorize that it be brought forward to the warrant. Mr. Cole seconded the motion and the motion carried by a unanimous vote.

Gerry Loftus of the Harwich Housing Committee introduced the representatives of the various non-profit housing groups and explained that the presentation was in conjunction with the Housing Committee’s annual report to the Board.

Ms. Hemstock showed a video on behalf of the Lower Cape Community Development Corporation on the need for affordable housing on the Cape. Chairman Wilkins thanked Mr. Loftus for coordinating the group and the representatives for coming and commented that the Selectmen are well aware of the need for affordable housing in Harwich and on the Cape.

Health Director Paula Champagne has announced that Chatham and Harwich will conduct a joint flu clinic on Friday January 19^th at 9:30 a.m. at Harwich Town Hall. It will be conducted by appointment only. Call either Health Dept. at 430-7509 or 945-5166 for an appointment. Congratulations for conducting a regional event by sharing resources!

Attached is a draft Memorandum of Agreement between Harwich and Brewster for the transfer of $30,000 to Brewster to enter into a contract with ENSR to perform this contract. Please authorize me to execute this agreement for the Town.

Mr. Piekarski moved to authorize the Town Administrator to execute the Memorandum of Agreement between Harwich and Brewster for the transfer of $30,000 to Brewster to enter into a contract with ENSR. Mr. Marsland seconded the motion and the motion carried by a unanimous vote. Mr. McManus requested that Mr. Merriam place items such as these which require action and are of public interest on the Action Item section of the agenda.

I spoke with District 5 Engineer Skip McCourt on December 22^nd with regard to their commitment to rebuild sidewalks and followed up with a letter confirming the conversation. In turn, I committed to present your Board with that agreement that the Town would maintain the Rt.28 sidewalks as we do today. Please reconsider voting to accept the Agreement with Mass Highway.

Mr. Marsland moved to allow the Board to enter into agreement with Mass. Highway for the sidewalk project. Mr. Cole seconded the motion. Mr. Piekarski stated that he would not support the motion noting that the onus to repair the sidewalk is strictly on Mass. Highway. Mr. Marsland agreed but stressed that the project needs to move forward for the public good. Mr. McManus agreed with Mr. Marsland and reiterated the need for this type of item to be addressed as an agenda item. The motion carried by a 4-1-0 vote.

As authorized, I signed Change Order #9 on January 2^nd in the amount of $1552. for the installation of 388 haybales which was required by the Conservation Commission at the start of the project. This leaves $56,527 balance left in the Contingency Account.

Bill Doherty wrote a letter dated December 29^th requesting the Board to support a Legislative Bill which would grant a permanent easement for his family to access Long Pond rather than rely upon the Dept. of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) issuing a time limited permit requiring renewals that could be revoked or rescinded. Does the Board wish to act upon Mr. Doherty’s request?

Chairman Wilkins requested that Mr. Merriam bring a recommendation back to the next meeting as well as what the Board would need to do. Mr. Piekarski asked for more information on the legislation itself.

Town Counsel John Giorgio has provided a Memorandum to inform municipalities that members of adjudicatory hearings can still participate and vote even though they may have missed one session. MGL Ch. 39, Sec. 23D if accepted, would not automatically disqualify a member who missed one session. Does the Board wish to add an article to the Town Meeting Warrant for local acceptance?

A second statute for consideration for local acceptance by Town Meeting is MGL Ch. 40, Sec. 22F, which addresses local license fees, fixing reasonable fees for such licenses, permits or certificates which shall be subject to the review and approval of such elected board. Does the Board wish to add an article to the warrant for local acceptance?

Attorney Barbara St. Andre’ has provided us with a summary of relevant land use cases for 2006 which are forwarded for your perusal. I believe that you will find them quite interesting. For example, the Canton case indicates that if a community can reach its 10% goal for affordable housing, then HAC has no jurisdiction to overturn a ZBA denial of a Comprehensive Permit. This should be an incentive to keep local control over such developments.

As a follow up to the vote to accept the $14,000 gift from the Wequassett Inn, I spoke to Selectman Pete Piekarski, who informed me of his desire to have the Town adopt a comprehensive beach policy, where we can link the dredging activity to beach restoration. John Chatham informed me that Coastal Engineering is drafting such a policy for us. He would like to have the policy ready for adoption prior to the Allen Harbor dredging schedule.

Mr. Merriam made a power point presentation of the FY 2008 budget (attached) after which Mr. Merriam and Mr. Ryan took questions from the Board. Mr. Piekarski thanked them for all their efforts and added that the Board will need time to review the documents before having further discussion. Mr. McManus asked Mr. Merriam to provide the Board with the departmental narratives. Chairman Wilkins explained that the Finance Committee will be setting up a meeting schedule which they will share with the Board. Mr. Tombs, Finance Committee Chair stated that they will be setting up meetings in February based on their analysis of the budget. He informed the Board that if there is any area where they would like more information, they will set up a hearing.

Mr. Loftus noted that he had written the article to sell parcels of Town-owned land and has feedback on it from Conservation and Planning. Chairman Wilkins noted that this article is separate from another article to sell parcels of land which is unclear and should be brought back to the Board. The Board agreed to put in a placeholder article for this item.

Mr. Cole explained that in an effort to explain more clearly their objective, he rewrote the articles for the demographic study and benchmark survey for the Board’s consideration. Mr. LaMantia urged the Board to consider using the firm that was interviewed by the Task Force for the benchmark study. Mr. Cole noted that the demographic study requires statistical expertise and Mr. LaMantia stated that they need solid numbers from an independent study firm.

Mr. McManus stated that they should consider putting in an article for a betterment program in an effort to help the residents of Meetinghouse Village. He added that placeholder articles should be put in for the settlement of union contracts. Mr. Cole agreed to write the asset management article. Mr. Piekarski stressed the need to weed out articles.

Mr. McManus announced that the No Place for Hate Committee would be holding an event marking Martin Luther King Day to be held on Monday, January 15, 2007 at 12:00 noon at Harwich Town Hall with a reception to follow at the Albro House.