Selectmen’s Meeting Minutes
The Board of Selectmen met this evening at the Easton
Public
Participation
None
Approval of Minutes
On Less’ motion,
seconded by Haederle, the board voted
unanimously to approve General Session
Minutes dated
On Haederle’s motion,
seconded by Less, the board voted
unanimously to approve Executive Session Minutes dated
Release of Executive Session Minutes
On Marsan’s motion, seconded by Haederle, the board voted unanimously to release Executive Session Minutes dated 3/4/96 & 9/16/96 (2nd set only).
Announcement of Senator Brian A. Joyce’s Office Hours
White announced Senator
Joyce’s office hours on
Approval of Contract with Eastern Contractors, Inc. for
OAHS renovations
White indicated that
the contract is not quite ready and should be ready for board signature mid
week.
On Less’ motion, seconded by Haederle, the board voted unanimously to approve
the contract with Eastern Contractor’s subject to Municipal Building Committee’s
Counsel approval.
White updated the
board on progress with the contract.
White also noted that the board will be the signature authority on the
construction project. Change orders will
be expected periodically and the procedure proposed is to authorize the Municipal
Building Committee Chairman to authorize change orders if they fall below a
certain amount of money. As change
orders are needed, they will be combined into one document for the board’s
review for contract amendment. King
questioned the maximum amount of change orders.
White explained the process and assured the board of the proposed
procedure when authorizing change orders.
It was noted that the change orders will go through the Project Manager
and the Municipal Building Committee.
White’s role is to keep the board informed. White suggested that the Municipal Building
Committee can email their minutes after they are approved to the Selectmen in
effort to keep the board informed.
Marsan referred to the most recent large construction project of the
Olmsted/Richardson School and the process which change orders were
approved. Marsan requested to see information
on how the process worked for the prior project and review to see if the same
process should be used for this new project.
Continuation of
Class II Application - Five Corners Petroleum, Inc. – 490 Foundry Street
White updated the board and noted the previous concerns on the application. White summarized the issue of the proposed added use for this property; the owner of the property may have to give a small amount of land to the town in conjunction with the five corners intersection change; the applicant has not yet begun the site plan process and it was agreed at the last hearing that the application be continued until site plan approval was granted.
On Less’ motion, seconded by King, the board voted unanimously to continue the class II hearing to November 1, 2004, 7:15pm in the Selectmen’s Office.
Acceptance of
Review/approval of Local Initiative Project Initiative Project (LIP) Saw Mill Apartments
40B project
Nick Mirrione and Christina Mirrione were present. White gave background on the 40B project and referred to the draft letter to the DHCD. (see attached). White referred to an amendment to the document as it referred to the Chair of Planning Board instead of the Chair of the ZBA. White felt that this issue can be easily remedied.
On Haederle’s motion, seconded by King, the board voted unanimously to approve the LIP project as proposed subject to the minor amendment in the document as indicated above.
Review and
Discussion re: Town’s Fiscal Crisis
See attached memo. The board discussed the recommended board actions as suggested in the memo.
On Haederle’s motion, seconded by Less, the board voted unanimously to support additional debt exclusion authorization to fund the Easton Junior High renovation/addition project.
White noted that she would be updating the board at most
every meeting to come to a recommendation on an override amount. White discussed the facilities issues on the
municipal side. White referred to a
large package of information of which some will be as a recommendation as part
of the override. The board discussed the
need to begin the budget subcommittee again.
On Corona’s motion, seconded by Haederle, the board voted unanimously to nominate Less to the budget subcommittee.
White noted the time she will be spending time on the town’s operational override issue. Less noted that the question should be brought before the taxpayers on what the town can afford and what the needs are for the community. White discussed the loss of personnel over a period of the last few years. The override would support additional staff for the community. White also plans to develop a budget for everyone to see if there is no override. White suggested that the FY’06 budget, without an approved operational override, would be devastating to the community.
Bob Hicks of 1 Daniel Drive agreed that the state would not
be coming forward to help the situation further.
White referred to the additional debt exclusion vote and
that process of time. White predicts the
sooner the better for the vote so that it does not delay the project. It could take 4 months to get to the point of
signing the contract. White suggested
November town meeting and a January election.
White feels it is best to propose the overrides together as a package,
operational and debt exclusion. Less
suggested recommendations from the Municipal Building Committee on the debt
exclusion time frame as the concern may be with the project manager contract. White referred to an extension.
Discussion re: Town Counsel Services
Franklin and Medfield share their town counsel
services.
Discussion re: Statement of Ethics and Statement of
Values for Board of Selectmen
White spoke on this issue and noted that the board’s comments have been incorporated into the document. The board made a few minor changes to the document which White will incorporate.
On Less’ motion, seconded by Haederle, the board voted unanimously to approve the document as amended. White suggested renewing this document each year after each election.
Declaration of “Unique Acquisition” – Property near
Moreau Hall
White explained the need to declare the property unique acquisition.
Marsan commented on a change to the language in the second paragraph of the proposed vote. White will adjust the wording accordingly.
On Corona’s motion, seconded by King, the board voted unanimously that the property located on Washington Street described as “Remainder of Lot A, on a subdivision Plan entitled “Subdivision Plan of Lot A being shown on Land Court Plan No. 16147 F1 in Easton, Massachusetts prepared for Town of Easton”, dated July 14, 1981 and prepared by C.A. Pickering Associates, Inc., abuts a Town school and is ideally situated for accessory parking and playing fields for the school/playing fields in general and also may be suitable for a Wastewater Treatment Facility.
Town Administrator’s Notes
None
Press Notes
None
Selectmen’s Notes
None
On Corona’s motion, seconded by Marsan, the board voted unanimously by roll-call
to discuss real estate negotiations, not to return to open session. (
Corona yes, Less yes, Marsan yes, Haederle yes, King yes.
Respectfully submitted,
Mary Southworth
____________________________
Approved
____________________________
Date