November 29, 2010
Present was Robert J. Garrity, James M. Tomaszewski, James C. Lehan, Jack Hathaway, Town Administrator, and Marian Harrington, Executive Assistant.
The meeting was held in Room 124 of the Town Hall.
At 7 p.m., Rob Garrity called the meeting to order. He announced that the meeting will be both audio and video taped. Jack Hathaway read the agenda contents.
SCHOOL BUILDING COMMITTEE UPDATE
Present was Leo Bedard, Chairman; Andy Bakinowski, Mike Guidice; Bill Beatrice, Architect, Flansburgh Architects, Inc.; and Jeff Luxemborg, Project Manager, Joslin, Lesser & Associates.
Leo Bedard, Jeff Luxemborg and Bill Beatrice spoke on behalf of the committee. Jeff gave a brief update of what will be done over the next few weeks.
Bill said there are 3 phases to the job. Phase 1 starts now and ends June 2012. That is the building proper. Phase 2 is from July thru August 2012 – first part of the demo. This will allow them to do the parent and bus drop off. They will be removing the 70’s wing. Phase 3 is removing the 50’s and 60’s part of the building, which is essentially the rest of the building.
Jim L. asked if they have discussed fields with Recreation. Bill said yes. We lose one field, but will get it back. The rest won’t be issues. Jim L. was concerned about heavy usage on the fields and parking issues if you are demolishing in July and August which is key months. Jim L. said he understands it needs to be done. He said just let Recreation know now so they can plan.
Jim T. questioned the gas line. Jack said we are still waiting for the gas company to sign on the dotted line. We may need to reach out to our legislators. Jack said it’s definite; we just need to get them to commit.
Rob asked if our school will be commissioned. Both Bill and Jeff said yes.
Jim L. asked how much of the $3 million have you put back in. Jeff and Bill said none, yet. Jim wants to build the contingency up. Leo said they haven’t really talked as a committee yet about what to add back in, if anything. Jeff said the sooner we get the gas commitment; we can know how much we are using.
Jeff said there can be no structural changes to the building, but we can talk about materials or whatever.
Jack noted that the MSBA is going to see bids and other documents for any changes made, such as change orders.
Rob questioned submittals. Bill said they are documents submitted by the subs so that what they are doing meets requirements.
Jim L. asked if there were any surprises – anything they didn’t expect. Bill and Jeff both said no. They expected low numbers, and that’s what they got. The bids were just what they hoped they would be.
Jeff will be the contact with neighbors. Leo said they will still hold regular meetings and residents can come and ask questions if they aren’t satisfied. Jim L. said they should use the cable and inform residents. Rob said it is better coming from them than others.
The Board thanked Leo and his committee for their hard work.
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE
Present were Bob Nicodemus, Mark Nelson, Greg Mirliss and Lori Scholl.
The Board told them they were mildly surprised at how easy town meeting was.
Bob said they have town meeting vote for the Board to sign. The EDC attended a meeting on consolidation of grants if they decide to go for funding. They have applied for Mass Works Infrastructure Program. Bob said applications are due in November. He would like to recommend the Selectmen consider submitting their legislative request by December. EDC would hope they would include Senator Ross and Rep. Winslow to help push this through. Bob said there is a lot of pre-planning ahead. He said a successful grant is having a grant application and projects ready to go.
Bob said they would look at public private partnerships. They know a little bit about it, and have tried to understand it. They do have some knowledge. They are difficult to get started.
Bob said they were hoping to get started in December.
Jim L. supports this, but thinks we are looking at May/June. He mentioned the time line and said to realize that Jack’s office is burdened with finances and budgets, and cannot take the extra load.
Bob mentioned the rates in the report. He said there is the possibility of public private partnerships and talk to town center owners.
Jim said we’re supportive, but have funding considerations, and debt for the new school and knowing already the new year will be difficult. He is just saying the reality of the fiscal conditions we’re in. Jim L. said to secure outside funding. Bob said EDC understands this.
ENERGY COMMITTEE
Ray Angelone, Chair of the Energy Committee is present to give a brief update on their meeting tonight. They discussed Green Communities. We need to do a policy on town vehicles – no cruisers and fire trucks.
TOWN ADMINISTRATOR REPORT
Action Items
Jim Lehan moved to approve the Girl Scouts selling cookies at the Transfer Station every Saturday from December 18th through March 12th from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Jim Tomaszewski seconded, and it was so voted.
Jim Lehan moved to appoint Barbara Phillips of 41 Fruit Street to the Council on Aging. Jim Tomaszewski seconded, and it was so voted.
Jim Lehan moved to approve a request from the Boy Scouts to hand out flyers at the Transfer Station on Saturday, December 18th from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. to advertise their Christmas tree pickup. Jim Tomaszewski seconded, and it was so voted.
Old Business
Jack gave the Board a breakdown on financials. He showed the original budget, revised budget, encumbrances and ending budget. Trouble areas are Legal Counsel and an Accounting Policy change with two public safety accounts. We can no longer encumber salaries per the auditor. Julie Siewko won’t let us use that policy any more. Ambulance billing is the other area. Jack said he will meet with Julie tomorrow to draft guidelines for the FY12 budgets.
Jim T. questioned the new public safety building committee and are they active. Jack said no, they heard the voters and aren’t anxious to come back. Jack said they are looking at regionalizing dispatch.
Jim L. said they lost by 15 votes. Jim agreed with Jack that they are waiting to see what can be done with regionalization, because it’ll change the footprint of the building. They have received a grant for 911 and are going out to bid for dispatch.
Jack said it is nice to get some money from Franklin for a change. Jack said they have been waiting for the new Wrentham Town Administrator to come on board, and he is here.
Jim L. said Bob McGhee would find it helpful to get some guidelines regarding the contracts. We should establish a policy that any contracts $5000 or more should be bid and the Selectmen have the caveat to consider. Jim T. would like details on which are bid, and which aren’t. He said there may be some that aren’t publicly bid and it may be appropriate.
Jack discussed a water taker who had a significantly high bill, and who is seeking some relief. Jack suggested he and a Board member go review the site and talk to the owner. Rob agreed to go. Jim T. felt we should do some kind of budget plan for a few months. Rob said the new meters let us know when there is an excessive use. He wonders why no one said anything.
At 8:27 p.m., Jim Lehan moved to go into executive session to consider the value of real estate, and to discuss strategy with respect to collective bargaining. Jim Tomaszewski seconded, and it was a roll call vote: Jim Lehan, aye; Rob Garrity, aye; and Jim Tomaszewski, aye. No votes will be taken and the Board will not return to open session.
At 9:43 p.m., Jim Lehan moved to adjourn the meeting. Jim Tomaszewski seconded, and it was so voted.
This is a true and accurate report of the Selectmen’s Meeting of November 29, 2010.
__________________________________
James C. Lehan, Clerk
| 
