MINUTES
SELECTMEN’S MEETING
GRIFFIN ROOM, TOWN HALL
TUESDAY, MAY 29, 2007
7:00 P.M.
SELECTMEN PRESENT: Cole, Marsland, McManus, Piekarski, Wilkins
OTHERS PRESENT: Town Administrator James Merriam, David Ryan, Polly Hemstock, Richard Flink, Gerry Loftus, and others.
MEETING CALLED TO ORDER at 7:10 p.m. by Chairman Wilkins.
Chairman Wilkins explained that the Board had just come out of Executive Session for the purpose of discussing collective bargaining and real estate matters.
WEEKLY BRIEFING
No one appeared before the Board.
PUBLIC INFORMATION
Polly Hemstock, School Committee member, invited the Board and the community to attend their meeting to be held on June 6th at 7:00 p.m. at the High School where they will have a presentation by Business Manager Gary Costin to address some of the recent questions about the spending policies at the schools. Richard Flink asked the Board to give an update on the results of the Town’s audit of the spending practices of the schools that were discussed at the May 7th Board of Selectmen meeting. Mr. Ryan stated that the auditors are scheduled this week to start their field work for FY07 which will include the schools but he is unaware of any special audit. Chairman Wilkins noted that Mr. Ryan and Mr. Merriam have had a discussion with Carolyn Cragin and Gary Costin to prepare for
presentations to be provided by the School Committee. Chairman Wilkins said there had been no audit on the part of the Board of Selectmen with regard to the schools but rather he meant there would be a review of the spending practices through working with the appropriate people. Mr. Merriam asked Mr. Ryan if the auditors found anything out of the ordinary in their preliminary work with regard to the way the schools closed the books last year. Mr. Ryan stated that he doesn’t recall the audit findings but would check on it prior to next week’s meeting.
Gerry Loftus reported that a workshop would be held at the Community Center on June 20th from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. and the topic is “Conservation and Affordable Housing: Working Together.”
CONSENT AGENDA
A. Minutes –
1. April 30, 2007 Regular Meeting
2. May 7, 2007 Regular Meeting
3. May 14, 2007 Regular Meeting
B. Renew Junk Dealer’s License for 7 South Antiques
C. Approve Common Victualler’s License for Dave’s Ribs
D. Approve Special Permit for the American Lung Assn. 2007 Autumn Escape Bike Trek
Mr. McManus moved approval of the Consent Agenda and the recommended actions thereon. Mr. Cole seconded the motion and the motion carried by a unanimous vote.
TOWN ADMINISTRATOR’S REPORT
Mr. Merriam delivered the following report:
Finance Committee
I met with the Finance Committee on May 22nd to discuss their perspective of Town Meeting. Their first suggestion was to standardize a town meeting article form so that all the pertinent information is available when the petitioner requests an article. Attached is a draft form. Their second issue was the Human Services article. I provided them with Tony’s original back up information. They would like to institute an application form based upon a policy. (They asked if the Selectmen have a policy, but our office could not identify one). Such a policy would include not transferring money to Town Departments or religious organizations. They would be willing to draft a policy for your consideration.
Their third issue was the private library article and someone shouting out “liar” when Linda had the Chase Library’s financial portfolio in her hand as she spoke. They asked how the Library State Aid is distributed, whether their budgets should be included as separate operating budgets rather than part of Brooks Budget, issues of liability, and whether Brooks cards ought to be honored at their libraries. The Finance Committee will meet on June 26th and July 17th for close outs.
Chairman Wilkins commented to Mr. Merriam that it is time to meet with representatives from the two private libraries.
Brooks Library
Director Ginny Hewitt will announce expanded hours starting July 1st. They will be open Tuesdays – Thursdays 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Fridays and Saturdays 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Health Fair
COA Director Barbara-Anne Foley indicates that there will be a Health Fair on June 21st from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the Community Center with an emphasis on Emergency Preparedness. (Harwich has been selected for further review, however, FEMA will not decide about our storm shutters grant until September.)
Music Festivals
Sheila House is planning three music festivals (acoustical, not heavy metal) at Brooks Park this summer with each running 4-8pm.
Stonewood Specialty Products
The Planning staff met with Stonewood’s staff to review plans. Planning has requested revised plans with more specificity (to determine whether it would trigger CC Commission jurisdiction. This plan is before the Planning Board for June 12th.)
Projects Status
Earle Road Beach’s parking lot sub base and drains are installed.
The County Dredge has arrived and is set to start pumping the Outer Allen Harbor on Tuesday.
The Allen Harbor ramp contract is ready to commence.
The Piling contract has started. They’re removing broken pilings and 16 new pilings are on site with 20 more expected within the week. I have been requested to approve a change order for $7,000 to repair the pilings at Wychmere where the pick up ran off the end of the pier.
The Saquatucket fuel tank removal is ready.
The Golf Committee decided to proceed with the fuel tank removal/replacement at the original proposed site next to the cart shed.
Tom Leach received an e-mail from Fish and Game that the Saquatucket ramp may be ready for permitting in June and reconstruction this Fall.
Link Hooper will attend a meeting next Wednesday regarding the Harwich Port Sidewalk project to insure that the area is buttoned up for the Road Race on June 23rd.
Mr. Merriam asked the Board to consider accepting a gift for the dredging fund from Wyndemere Beach Trust in the amount of $25,800 which would allow the County dredge to take an additional 4,000 cubic yards of sand and reapply it to the Trust’s beaches. The Board agreed to take the matter up under Action Items.
Cranberry Festival Fireworks
A number of staff were invited and attended a Recreation and Youth meeting on May 23rd to discuss the Red River Beach use for the fireworks. Attached is a Police Dept. proposed traffic plan which was presented by Tom Gagnon. Everyone in attendance spoke favorably and the Recreation and Youth Committee voted unanimously in favor. Several people suggested that a barge launch of the fireworks would be preferable but the cost would be $8,000-$11,000 which is outside the budget. Currently, the entire beach would be restricted by snow-fencing to the left of Uncle Venie’s and bathrooms and handicap spaces to the right.
Vehicle List
Highway Supt. Link Hooper has a new software package which inventories all town owned vehicles. This list will be superb for capital budgeting, insurance, trade-ins with original purchase price and current replacement costs.
Regional Cable negotiations
The Cape Managers will be discussing a joint effort for license renewals at our June 14th meeting in Falmouth.
Group Health Insurance
Attached are two spreadsheets for your review. The first shows a $207, 973 savings from our FY 08 budget due to changes in enrollment, especially out of the Master Medical plan. The second sheet shows the savings if we switch to the Cape Cod Municipal Health Group, first with Master Medical at a savings of $493,795 over the current budget, then without Master Medical at a budget savings of $806,572. Even the employees and retirees would save over $200,000 if we joined the Cape Cod Municipal Health Group without offering Master Medical plans.
Boston Globe / Scott Lehigh
I have attached a May 22nd editorial regarding a potential Beacon Hill political compromise to try to pass the GIC requirement without union endorsement for Cities and Towns to join in exchange for the right to a referendum vote on Hotels/Meals taxes as part of Governor Patrick’s Municipal Partnership proposal.
Cape Cod Emergency Traffic Plan
MEMA Region 2 Director Bob Nadeau has advised us of a public meeting for June 20th at 10 a.m. at the Mass Maritime Academy to discuss the emergency traffic plan.
Fire Station Mapping
Fire Chief Remillard received from the Cape Cod Commission, three distinct large scale color maps which depict the response times from fire stations. Map 1 is existing manned stations. Map 2 is with the addition of a new Chatham station at the intersection of Route 28 and Meetinghouse Road. Map 3 is with the new Chatham and Brewster stations. Brewster’s is located on Millstone Road near Joe Long Road. I’ll leave the maps for your perusal and I would like to share this information with Brewster and Chatham’s Administrators. According to the maps, most of Harwich is currently reached within 10 minutes of existing stations. A new Chatham station would serve a section of South Harwich within 6 minutes. It would appear that a new Brewster station would not reduce response
times in Harwich.
Old Rec / West Harwich Schools
Architect Lynn Spencer facilitated a well attended meeting on May 25th in which many options and schemes were presented to those present. She intentionally presented a maximum build-out to demonstrate difficulty meeting parking requirements. Attached is a summary of the April 20th meeting. Today’s meeting suggested reducing the square footage requirements for the affordable units to 600-1000. The next meeting is June 21st. Building Commissioner Geoff Larson has provided a good faith list of work required in the West Harwich School prior to re-occupancy.
Affordable Housing
I met with Gerry Loftus and Sue Brauner to discuss housing issues and strategies. Gerry provided me with DHCD May 7th list of Ch 40B in which we’re at 4.25% subsidized. Gerry believes that there are more units which should be added. We talked about developing an Affordable Housing Plan which would include a public-private partnership.
Recent Events
On May 4th, I attended the Mass Municipal Personnel Association meeting in the Great Hall at the State House. Speakers included new Director of Municipal Affairs within A&F Bob Nunes who was former Mayor of Taunton. Since Taunton and Attleboro are sister cities, I worked with Bob on various projects that the two cities collaborated on. Also, Dolores Mitchell, the Director of the GIC spoke as well as my former Labor Counsel, Paul Mulkern on the topic of health care costs.
On May 11th, I attended a seminar in Millis on the new Owner’s Project Manager Requirements. This seminar should be helpful with the Police Station project. That same evening, my wife Linda and I attended the Toast of Harwich and had the opportunity to meet many of the members of the Chamber of Commerce.
On May 18th, Larry Cole, Sue Brauner, Link Hooper and I attended the Coastal Training Program on Clean Energy for Schools and Towns at the Cape Cod Community College. Speakers included Representative Matt Patrick, Debra Sachs from the Alliance for Climate Action in Vermont, Alan Mulak, Energy Consultant, David Tannozini Energy Engineer from Newton, and a panel discussion on fleets moderated by Mark Forrest. Link and I purchased a Big Belly cordless Compaction System to experiment on one of our beaches. We also learned that we can burn regular gas, rather than premium in our cruisers, plus we can go to 20% rather than 5% bio-diesel. I also asked for assistance in addressing Town Hall’s HVAC deficiencies.
On May 19th, Linda and I attended the Cape Cod Natural History Museum’s opening of the Rachel Carson exhibit. This was emotional for me as I was the opening speaker at a jam packed high school auditorium to kick off the Walpole Sludge Battle against the MWRA in my 1986. I started my speech with a direct quote from Rachel Carson’s famous book Silent Spring, whose work started the modern day Environmental Movement.
Capital Budget Committee
At Pete Watson’s recommendation, I interviewed and appointed Peter Wall to the Capital Outlay Committee.
Golf Fees
Dennis Hoye has provided us with a list of current fees for Cranberry Valley and a number of competing courses.
After a discussion between the Board and Deputy Chief Flynn and Mr. Leach regarding proposed fireworks at Red River Beach, Chairman Wilkins requested that Mr. Merriam write a letter for the Board to sign to the Chairman of the Chatham Board of Selectmen to enter into a conversation regarding how we might pursue a joint effort on this matter. He recommended that Mr. Merriam start with a conversation with the Chatham Town Administrator. Mr. McManus suggested looking to the Town’s business community for help.
DISCUSSION ITEMS
A. Beach Nourishment Draft Policy
Mr. Cole recommended minor editorial changes to the document. The Board discussed the plan with Mr. Merriam and Mr. Leach. Mr. Leach stated that there should be language in the document that would welcome private donations and encourage participation. Mr. Marsland commented that he felt the 10% for permitting and administrative costs is too low and prefers language that for every four yards purchased we would get a yard. Mr. McManus commented that the bodies proposing and regulating these projects should be different. He recommended that there should be another group in Town determining what projects need to be done. Mr. McManus also noted that there isn’t a guideline for when there isn’t enough money but we have dredging that needs to be done and we have some private
individuals willing to make a gift. Mr. Piekarski stressed the need to get a comprehensive coastal beach management plan in place with a revenue source. He questioned whether the gift being proposed tonight should trigger a bid process. He also suggested that this document should be a piece of the plan and agreed with Mr. Marsland that 10% is too low.
Chairman Wilkins stated that the Board received a letter in early May from Coastal Planning and Engineering of Boca Raton, Florida who are currently involved in a project on Nantucket and have made an offer to come in and make a presentation. Mr. Merriam agreed to schedule a meeting with them.
Mr. Leach outlined the request to make a gift by the Wyndemere Beach Trust for the dredging project. Mr. McManus moved to accept the gift of $25,800 from the Wyndemere Beach Trust to assist in the dredging project at Allen Harbor as outlined in their letter. Mr. Marsland seconded the motion and asked that a letter of thanks be sent and that this group be invited to participate in the discussion with Coastal Planning and Engineering. Mr. Marsland also suggested moving up the Non-Resident Taxpayers Meeting and Chairman Wilkins stated that he would review this with office staff. Mr. Leach suggested that Wayne Jaetke come to speak at the discussion as well. The motion carried by a 4-1-0 vote with Mr. Piekarski in opposition.
B. Summer Meeting Schedule
The Board agreed on the proposed summer schedule.
ACTION ITEMS
A. Nomination and election of the Board of Selectmen members to the following positions:
Chair
Vice Chair
Clerk of the Board
Interview and Appointments Committee (2 members)
Mr. Cole moved to nominate Robin Wilkins to continue as Chair of the Harwich Board of Selectmen. Mr. Piekarski seconded the motion. Chairman Wilkins welcomed the opportunity to continue and thanked Mr. Cole for his vote of confidence. The motion carried by a unanimous vote.
Mr. McManus moved to nominate Peter Piekarski to serve as Vice Chair for the coming year. Mr. Cole seconded the motion. Mr. Piekarski declined the nomination. At Mr. Piekarski’s request, Mr. McManus withdrew his motion. Mr. Piekarski moved to have Mr. Marsland serve as Vice Chair. Mr. Cole seconded the motion and the motion carried by a unanimous vote.
Mr. Marsland moved that Mr. Piekarski assume the duties of Clerk of the Board. Chairman Wilkins seconded the motion and the motion carried by a unanimous vote.
Mr. Marsland moved that Mr. McManus and Mr. Cole be appointed to the Interviews and Appointments Committee. Mr. Piekarski seconded the motion and the motion carried by a unanimous vote.
SELECTMEN’S REPORT
Mr. Marsland said we need to respond to the letter from the person affected by the water main break as well as the recent letter regarding the Caleb Chase Fund.
Mr. Cole asked Mr. Merriam if we have gotten a legal opinion on paying the S&J Exco bill and Mr. Merriam responded that he did not know but would find out.
Mr. Piekarski stated that the Board needs a work session with Mr. Merriam to go over thoughts and ideas as to how things go with regard to their meetings. He also asked for a presentation from Mr. Merriam and the Town Accountant as to findings regarding concerns of citizens on the school budget.
Mr. McManus moved to adopt an Affordable Housing Proclamation which he read to the Board. He explained that the Chatham Affordable Housing Authority, HECH and Lower Cape CDC will be putting on a telethon to raise money for affordable housing and the proclamation will be read at the telethon and will be publicized as well. Mr. Marsland seconded the motion and the motion carried by a unanimous vote.
Chairman Wilkins asked the Board to review the liaison list and note their interests.
ADJOURNMENT
Mr. Cole moved to adjourn at 9:00 p.m. Mr. Piekarski seconded the motion and the motion carried by a unanimous vote.
Respectfully submitted,
Ann Steidel
Recording Secretary
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