MINUTES
SELECTMEN’S MEETING
GRIFFIN ROOM, TOWN HALL
MONDAY, JUNE 29, 2009
7:00 P.M.
SELECTMEN PRESENT: Ballantine, Cole, LaMantia, McManus, Wilkins
OTHERS PRESENT: Town Administrator James Merriam, Assistant Town Administrator Nan Balmer, Paula Champagne, Lee Culver, Sally Power, Harry Power, and others.
MEETING CALLED TO ORDER at 7:10 p.m. by Chairman McManus.
Chairman McManus explained that the Board had just come out of Executive Session where they discussed personnel matters and contract negotiations and they will be concluding one of those contract matters tonight under Old Business.
WEEKLY BRIEFING
Ms. Champagne reported that the Board of Health has closed Hinckley’s Pond due to a toxic blue-green algae that was detected during routine testing by the State Department of Environmental Protection. She described the process by which an emergency team was assembled to deal with the incident and residents were notified of the closing. Ms. Champagne, Mr. Culver and the Board answered questions and listened to residents of the area who expressed their concerns about the toxicity of both the pond and the surrounding bogs. Chairman McManus recommended asking the Agricultural Commission to do a presentation on the impact of the use of fertilizers and pesticides in areas near ponds and what the safeguard practices are that are in place.
CONSENT AGENDA
A. Minutes
1. May 4, 2009 – Regular Session
2. June 8, 2009 – Regular Session
3. June 15, 2009 – Executive Session
4. June 22, 2009 – Executive Session
B. Rescind re-appointment of Oliver Pelton as Constable and his reappointment to the Traffic Safety Committee
C. Vote to rescind re-appointment of Don Roberts to Bikeways Committee & Traffic Safety Committee
D. Approve permit for craft show at Brooks Park on July 11-12th and August 8-9th for Harwich Cranberry Festival Committee
Mr. Wilkins requested to pull Item A4 from the Consent Agenda and Mr. Ballantine requested to pull Item A1.
Mr. Cole moved to approve the Consent Agenda Items A2, A3, B and C. Mr. LaMantia seconded the motion and the motion carried by a unanimous vote.
Mr. Wilkins moved to approve the minutes of May 4, 2009. Mr. LaMantia seconded the motion and the motion carried by a 4-0-1 vote with Mr. Ballantine abstaining from the vote.
Mr. Cole moved to approve the minutes of June 22, 2009 Executive Session. Mr. Ballantine seconded the motion and the motion carried by a 4-0-1 vote with Mr. Wilkins abstaining from the vote.
Chairman McManus recused himself from Item D. Mr. Ballantine moved to approve Item D. Mr. LaMantia seconded the motion. Mr. Wilkins stated that he is confused about the different names being used by the different groups. Mr. McManus clarified that the Harwich Cranberry Festival Committee is actually Harwich Cranberry Festival, Inc. which is a non-profit organization for the purpose of raising funds for the support of youth and children’s services in Harwich and surrounding towns. He noted that they are not having the festival this year due to economic problems but will have the two craft fairs in Brooks Park which they have been sponsoring for approximately 15 years. He added that the Festival Committee will continue to sponsor Kids Day at the Beach in cooperation with the Chamber’s “Fall for Harwich” activities. The motion carried by a unanimous vote.
OLD BUSINESS
A. Harwich Junior Theatre Lease
Mr. LaMantia recommended that there be should be a minimum base rent as it is currently based on a percentage of revenue and we could conceivably get no rent depending on the building’s use. He stressed that we have expenses and we should calculate what they are and use that as a minimum. Mr. Wilkins agreed noting that he would like to see cost estimates of what our short and long term obligations are.
Mr. Merriam reported that the Harwich Junior Theater’s Board of Directors is scheduled to review the document at their meeting Wednesday night and they want one more walk-through before entering into the contract.
B. Vote to extend negotiations with Comcast; authorize Chairman to sign letter
Mr. Cole moved to authorize the Chairman to sign this letter directed to the President of Comcast Massachusetts I, Inc. with regard to extending the negotiating period until midnight on November 10, 2009. Mr. LaMantia seconded the motion and the motion carried by a unanimous vote.
NEW BUSINESS
A. Vote to have the Compact complete the FY 2010 LAND grant application for the Sutphin property acquisition and authorize the Town Administrator to sign the application
Mr. Wilkins moved to vote to have the Compact of the Cape Cod Conservation Trust assist in completing the LAND grant application for the Sutphin property and authorize the Town Administrator to sign the application. Mr. Ballantine seconded the motion and the motion carried by a unanimous vote.
B. Vote to hold a Public Hearing on proposed changes to the Harbor Management Plan on July 27, 2009
Mr. LaMantia moved to set a public hearing on the proposed changes to the Harbor Management Plan on July 27, 2009. Mr. Cole seconded the motion and the motion carried by a unanimous vote.
C. Request from Chase family to plant a tree at Saquatucket Harbor in honor of their father, Robert Chase
Mr. Wilkins moved to approve the request from the Chase family. Mr. LaMantia seconded the motion. Chairman McManus noted that the family should contact the Harbormaster and Parks Foreman to discuss the selection and planting of the tree. The motion carried by a unanimous vote.
D. Vote to approve gift of volleyball court to the Town (including labor and materials) from Link Thatcher
Mr. Cole moved to gratefully accept the gift of a volleyball court for Red River Beach and write a letter of thanks to the Thatcher family. Mr. Wilkins seconded the motion and the motion carried by a unanimous vote.
E. Vote to approve use of funds from the Whitehouse Field Trust Fund Account for purchase of keypad system to monitor light use at the Whitehouse Field
Mr. Cole moved to approve the use by the Recreation & Youth Committee of their funds for the purchase of the keypad system to monitor light at Whitehouse Field. Mr. Ballantine seconded the motion and the motion carried by a unanimous vote.
TOWN ADMINISTRATOR’S REPORT
Mr. Merriam delivered the following report to the Board:
FY 10 Local Aid
Attached are the Conference Committee amounts of Local Aid for Harwich. These sheets include all accounts, whereas last week, only Ch. 70 and Unrestricted Aid amounts were available. With these new amounts, our deficit is reduced from the final Senate Local Aid budget of ($109, 96) to ($88,654). We can now reconvene the Selectmen’s Budget Subcommittee to seek resolution for a balanced budget.
Massachusetts Day on Capitol Hill
Senator Kerry hosted this event on June 23rd. Congress is proud of what legislation they have enacted in the first 100 days. They intend to work through the summer to achieve more legislation. We heard from CBS’ Bob Shieffer who fears the future without an independent printed newspapers, V.P Joe Biden via video from Toledo, who praised the Mass delegation as the best in the country, Senator Kerry who indicated a Health Plan will come out in July with a Government option plan to provide competition, lower costs and accountability. Senator Kerry spoke of a Global Climate Change bill on Friday. It will also be his responsibility to shepherd the Copenhagen Environmental Agreement through the Senate. There will be an energy efficiency bill submitted this Fall. Secretary of Education Marty
Duncan spoke of new money for education with $5b for early childhood for 3-4 years to provide access and quality, $70b for k-12 to save teacher jobs, $30b for higher ed with 45 other states getting up to Mass. Standards. Secretary Duncan wants comprehensive data to track students and teachers, reward teachers for excellence in underserved communities, pay for math and science skills. He has an urgent calling for failing school systems. Congressman McGovern called for fundamental changes and Americans are nervous about change. He recommended reading Come Home, America by Will McBride. Congressman Ed Markey is co-sponsoring the Energy/ Climate legislation based upon science, market based incentives, technology driven with $190b over the next 10 years. Congressman Markey wants to build a smart grid to move power from source to end user. George Stephanopoulos talked about President Obama’s 65% approval rating with National free floating
anxiety. Country knows we need health care changes. Less than 50% of Public are supportive of his 1.3b deficit. Senate Finance Comm. Chairman Max Baucus of Montana indicates that much of the Health care financing will be modeled after Mass., with payments stressed on quality of care, not quantity. Senator Dick Lugar talked about his efforts of Russian disarmament. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid praised Senator Kerry for his leadership as Chairman of Foreign Relations Committee. Congressman Mike Capuano as former Mayor of Somerville, urged not to spend money we don’t have. Congressman Frank spoke of financial concerns and lenders not able to sell loans, interested in consumer protection. Congressmen Richard Neal, John Tierney and Nikki Tsongas also spoke. Former Speaker Newt Gingrich spoke about his “American Solutions for Winning the Future” see attached 12 American Solutions for Jobs & Prosperity. (The former Speaker and
Senator Kerry are working on electronic prescription legislation to reduce medical errors.) Speaker Nancy Pelosi expressed pride in the Mass House delegation and their Chairmanships of various Committees and Subcommittees and what Congress has achieved so far.
State Ethics Reform Bill
The Legislature filed an Ethics bill and is expected to sign the bill on Friday. Town Counsel John Giorgio forwarded comments from the City Solicitors and Town Counsel Association relative to Open Meeting Law changes included in this bill. See attached.
Wind Turbines
Craig Wiegand has provided a map of the 72 acre parcel with existing and proposed wells located. I’ll bring the map to Monday’s meeting to discuss your thoughts on the potential options and abutting parcels.
Education Forum with Peter Franchese
The lower 8 Cape towns sponsored a forum on June 25th on “Best Possible Model for Education” at Nauset Middle School. Selectmen Wilkins, McManus and I attended. Attached is a 4 page hand out of demographics from Peter Franchese. It shows that 5-17 year olds dropped from 6,500 in 2000 to 5,200 projected in 2010.
SELECTMEN’S REPORT
A. Recommendation for amendments to Selectmen’s Policy Manual
At Chairman McManus’ recommendation, the Board discussed reviewing the Selectmen’s Policy Manual, in particular, the Rules of Operation and the policy pertaining to changes to rules, regulations and fees in an effort to bring the policies into uniformity. Mr. Wilkins suggested that all the present policies be scanned and put on a CD for the Board to review. He added that they may want to consider codification of the policies.
B. Tickler sheet/goals
Chairman McManus provided a tickler sheet that the Board can add items to their meetings. Mr. Wilkins requested to add “Financing Wastewater Management” which the Board briefly discussed.
ADJOURNMENT
Mr. Cole moved to adjourn at 9:29 p.m. Mr. LaMantia seconded the motion and the motion carried by a unanimous vote.
Respectfully submitted,
Ann Steidel
Recording Secretary
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