Present: Edward Melanson, Chairman, Ellen Friedman, Member, Dan Winslow, Member. Absent: Harvey Nasuti, Vice-Chairman and Vida Holmes, Member
Ed Melanson called the meeting to order at 7:05 p.m. at the Town Hall in Room 124.
Mr. Melanson opened with the Open Public Forum portion of the meeting by recognizing John Olivieri who began by restating the list of concerns he had submitted to the Board for review in the past: Status of the Millis water connection, plan for water rate reduction, Mr. Olivieri also submitted solar power information for measuring ground water levels, and continued by noting that he had heard that the MWRA had invited interested communities to buy-in to their system. He also noted that it was his understanding, that all residents do not fund the use of water for fire protection but all residents benefit from its use for that purpose and thought the Board should check into that further.
Mr. Melanson responded to Mr. Oliveri’s concerns by informing him that the Millis water connection was on the agenda for discussion and that a meeting had been planned in March with the DEP as well as meetings with the Town of Franklin and the Town of Milllis; water rate reduction was something the Board was reviewing; regarding the MWRA, the buy-in is approximately one million dollars and he did not believe it to be a viable option for the Town of Norfolk; the solar power information would be reviewed by the Board, and the fire protection issue is one of the items the Board is focusing on. Mr. Olivieri thanked Mr. Melanson for the update and with nothing further, Mr. Melanson formally closed the Public Forum and moved on to the next item on the agenda.
Mr. Melanson turned to Mr. Vito for the Report from the DPW Director. Mr. Vito began by stating that Verizon rejected the town’s proposal to remove the generator clause from their proposal and adjust their monthly rent to the threshold amount stated in the Request for Proposal (RFP) documents therefore, the Verizon proposal was rejected as submitted. He informed the Board that a generator was not imperative for that site at this time.
Mr. Vito continued by informing the that Board that he had spoken to Town Counsel about resubmitting the Wireless Communication RFP for advertisement around March of 2006, but with minor changes to the wording for the Sharons Avenue location to allow a free standing tower; the verbiage pertaining to the Weeber Tank site would remain unchanged. Mr. Vito also noted that it would be necessary for the wireless company to go through the design review process and that the free standing tower would require some type of easement. He also assured the Board that he would continue to pursue revenues through wireless.
The discussion continued with the fiscal 2007 DPW Level Service Budget Proposal. Mr. Vito informed the Board that a preliminary budget review meeting with the Advisory Board was set for this week. He continued by stating that the concentration of the DPW consolidation has been focused on Water but noted that there was much more going on. He continued with an overview of the consolidation referring to the DPW Division breakdown in the beginning of the budget book; DPW Administration, Highway, Water, Solid Waste, Landfill, Municipal Grounds Maintenance: Municipal/Recreation and Cemetery, Vehicle Maintenance, Tree/Shade Tree, Snow & Ice, Town Fuel, R.O.W. Lighting and Capital. He explained to the Board that the DPW maintains three revenue based budgets: Water, Solid Waste and Cemetery. He also noted the Department
maintains accounts for the Town: Landfill, Town Fuel and R.O.W. Lighting. Mr. Vito gave the Board a brief overview of the budget suggesting that they discuss the proposal in greater detail at the next meeting allowing the Board time to review the information.
The meeting continued with a discussion of Articles to be submitted by the Board of Public Works for the Annual Town Meeting. Mr. Vito noted that the focus was to rescind old articles in the Water Division. He continued by stating that he was proposing to rescind articles that were approved at previous town meetings but never borrowed. The articles could then be written for what was needed. Mr. Winslow suggested and the Board agreed to invite the Treasurer/Collector to attend the next meeting to discuss financial issues with regard to strategies for rescinding articles to reduce debt; strategies for lowering bond rates on projects currently on the books; discuss group borrowing and the consolidation of Water borrowing and short term borrowing. At the Board’s request a meeting was posted for February 27, 2006
for this discussion.
The Report from the Director continued with an update on the Millis water connection. Mr. Vito informed the Board that several meetings had occurred with the Town of Franklin to review and attempt to resolve the issues that Franklin had regarding the Millis water connection prior to the meeting with the DEP; to date we have not come to an agreement. A meeting with the Town of Millis has been scheduled for Thursday, February 10, 2006 to review the fixed cost issue. Mr. Vito assured the Board and Mr. Olivieri that this issue was high priority. He also noted that funding for well exploration was included in the budget for FY-2007 and would like to assure the Board that we are making provisions to address water issues for the Town of Norfolk.
The meeting continued with a discussion of Board Business:
Mr. Melanson suggested that the discussion of Task Delegation to Board members be deferred but recommended that the Board review the process for setting water rates. Mr. Vito noted that the Board’s recommendation for FY-2007 water rates would need to be submitted to the Board of Selectmen for their Public Hearing. Mr. Melanson recognized Jonathan Smith a member of the Board of Selectmen who was in attendance. Mr. Smith informed the Board that the Hearing was scheduled for February 27, 2006. Board members Dan Winslow and Ellen Friedman agreed to review the most recent rate study to begin the process for recommending a rate structure for FY-2008. The Board continued to discuss the possibility of lowering rates in FY-2007 but did not want to act prematurely before reviewing all of the proposed capital projects.
Mr. Vito informed the Board that there are several issues that required resolution prior to adjusting the rates. Mr. Melanson requested that Mr. Vito research the following items and report back to the Board; rate of the increase of the retained earnings, if there is a balance required and whether the Board has the flexibility to adjust the water rates within a six month period. Mr. Melanson emphasized that the goal of the Board is to refund some monies to the rate payers if it is feasible. The Board agreed to continue the discussion at the next meeting.
The meeting continued with the next item of Board Business
Mr. Melanson noted two resident issues he had received regarding a damaged mail box and graffiti at the Campbell Street Bridge. Mr. Vito informed the Board that the mail box had been repaired and also noted that the Department of Public Works has a policy where residents can notify the office of mail box damage when it occurs. Repairs are made if it is negligence on our part. In most cases this occurs during plowing events when the snow is heavy.
Regarding the Campbell Street Bridge graffiti, Mr. Vito informed the Board that he would check with the Interim DPW Superintendent to confirm the clean-up had been completed. He noted that there was a meeting with Conrail and they guaranteed us the graffiti would be cleaned-up.
Mr. Vito updated the Board on the Route 115 TIP Project noting the Federal Government had cut back on funding submitted to the States for roads, he continued by stating that there was a meeting with the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) last week and he was informed that the 115 TIP Project did get pushed from the FY-2006 funding to FY-2007, we will continue with the 100% PS&E and will be in contact with our engineers through this process. He assured the Board that the Town of Norfolk was a priority for funding in FY-2007.
At 8:45 p.m. being no further business Mr. Melanson made a motion to adjourn the meeting; Mr. Winslow seconded and it was so voted.
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