Present: Selectmen Grimes, O’Donnell, Ward, Chairman Angley, Town Administrator LaFond and A.T.A. Bouchard. Absent Selectmen Casey.
The Chair opened the meeting at 7 PM with the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag. Announcements were read.
Selectmen Casey arrived at 7:06 PM
Swearing in Ceremony:
Assistant Town Clerk Burgess gave the oath of office to Marc Duphilly who was appointed as a Permanent Police Sergeant. Sgt. Duphilly’s family was present for the ceremony along with Chief Parker. The Board congratulated Duphilly on behalf of the citizens.
Jamie Ferreira – Commercial Garage Show Cause Hearing:
The Board has received a letter from Mr. Ferreira requesting a postponement of his show cause hearing until after the 14th of July as he has previous engagements and will be out of Town. Motion by Grimes to continue hearing until July 24, second Ward. O’Donnell amended motion that this will be last time that the Board will consider a continuation of the hearing. Ward seconded the motion. Vote unanimous.
North Carver Water District – Public Hearing:
Will Sinclair, IDC Chair, came before the Board to solicit comments from the public regarding the Town’s intention to apply to the Department of Housing and Community Development for a CDAG Grant in the amount of $1 million to provide infrastructure facilities for the development of the North Carver Water District. The PHN was read by the Chairman of the BOS and stated that it was published on June 8 and June 15. Sinclair stated the new commercial development in the district will create 300 to 400 new jobs over the next two years.
Motion by Ward to proceed with project, second by Casey. Ward commended the IDC for their hard work Sinclair stated that the Town is already pre-approved for this and the application will be submitted on July 10, 2007. Vote unanimous.
Interviews – Board of Assessors:
Chairman Karen Bell and Member Charles Hamilton of the Board of Assessors joined the Board of Selectmen for the following interviews of applicants to fill a vacancy on the Board of Assessors until the next annual election.
Francis Muscato, 98 South Meadow Road, stated he has served the Town as a Selectman and Chairman of the Finance Committee and feels his experience would be an asset on serving on this very important Board. He is planning on taking the necessary courses to be certified.
Francis McGonagle, 77 Crystal Lake Drive, stated he has been a resident for the last fifteen years and became aware of the vacancy and he applied. Angley asked his background and McGonagle replied that he was a Town Meeting Member in Weymouth.
Ward thanked candidates for their interest in serving. Karen Bell stated that both candidates met with the Board of Assessors a couple of weeks ago and after interviewing both the Board of Assessors were recommending Mr. Muscato due to his background and experience with the Town. Mr. Hamilton went along with Bell’s feeling based on the experience of the two candidates.
Resident Paul Johnson urged the Board to bring in new blood – the Town needs new people with new faces.
Grimes requested secret ballots on the vote from members of both Boards, with A.T.A. Bouchard tallying results. Bouchard verbally gave vote results: Muscato – 4 votes; McGonagle 3 votes.
Grimes urged Mr. McGonagle to submit his application to serve on another committee(s)
SRPEDD Appointments:
Frank Muscato stated that he has been the Selectmen’s Representative for three years to SRPEDD and wished to continue to work on various issues of importance to the Town such as the casino issue. Also Allan C. Kingsbury has asked to be appointed to the JTPG Planning Group at SRPEDD. Ward stated he is in favor of both individuals being appointed to three year terms. Motion by Ward to appoint both individuals, second Casey. Vote unanimous.
Buz Artiano – Police/Fire Station Study Committee:
Artiano unable to attend tonight. Motion by Grimes, second by Ward to postpone. Vote unanimous.
Animal Shelter Needs Committee:
Motion by Ward to establish an Animal Shelter Needs Committee made up of the following: One Selectmen, Health Agent, Animal Control Officer, Town Accountant and one citizen at large with a background in construction business to report back to the Selectmen by December 4, 2007. Ward further stated he is not opposed to a full size animal shelter, but the animal shelter needs do need to be studied from both sides based on facts and come back to the Board with their recommendation at a later date. Motion seconded by Casey. Grimes stated that this should not be a needs committee we need a committee to raise money, and pursue BATG for breach of contract. Researching whether we need an animal shelter gets BATG off the hook. We had a shelter and now we do not. Town should try to get labor
and donations to build a shelter and a few people questioning the need of a shelter is not enough to sway him. Resident Brian Lauzon stated their committee has started to look at where it should be located and have looked at the site on Rochester Road, 99 Main Street and North Carver at the landfill. They have two sets of plans. They plan on fundraisers and donations to get the shelter built. There are a lot of citizens looking to get involved. This is not a needs committee – it is going to be an action committee. We had a shelter before and we should have one now. ACO Seery stated we have seen an increase in homeless animals.
Ward stated he had been to the Lakeville Shelter and talk to the people which is his only course of information. There have been only two animals placed there since January 1. The costs are going to be high to build a shelter and the Town needs to see if one is needed and look at alternatives. The Lakeville Shelter is clean and the animals well taken care of. The Town is under contract with Lakeville and can continue with the contract. Other towns are wanting to take our place boarding their animals there. Lakeville has one full time and three part time employees and we need to look at overall dollars. We need an objective committee to study the need before we jump in. He has been advised by many people including the Heal Agent we should not go ahead and build a shelter
without studying the need. The Town needs to look beyond volunteers and donations.
ACO Seery stated at the 5/22 meeting they were told to go forward, and told Mr. Ward that he never called her. Ward stated he felt he is not in position to call her right not due to the claim Seery has against him. Seery stated he can talk to her attorney about that and it is litigation and abruptly left the room.
Grimes stated they were not going to build the Hilton, and our population is nearing 12,000 along with the pet population growing. Mike Grant of 156 Center Street stated the Town has had services taken away, and he has met with people and this is not a political agenda. They want an animal shelter. Let us citizens build a shelter, and they do not want to get stonewalled. Citizens want to get back something they had. Angley stated no one is denying anyone, but how are we going to run a shelter with volunteers. It is not an efficient way to run a shelter.
Donna Fleet, Jane Forrester, and Brian Lauzon (residents) spoke in favor of building a shelter, the reasons why they felt one was needed and their commitment to volunteering.
Ward once again, stated he is not opposed to an animal shelter and stated his reasons for a committee to study the issue.
O’Donnell stated the need to get Town Counsel to move on the lawsuit. We will be remiss not to take advantage of help offered by citizens, and we need to move forward with this right now.
Casey stated he does not discourage anyone from coming forward, but did suggest the results of the committee be brought to the Board before November 1st due to preliminary budget discussions starting on that date. Resident Karen Bell remarked this discourages people from coming forward to help, and encouraged the Board to include some other people on the committee.
Ward amended his motion to submit report back to Board no later than September 1st, second by Casey.
Lauzon asked the feasibility of taking the proceeds of sales of surplus property and putting it in the Stabilization Fund.
Vote on the amended motion for the committee to submit their findings to the Board by September 1, 2007: Unanimously passed.
Motion by Grimes to amend the makeup of the committee to eleven members with seven of them being citizens at large, second by O’Donnell. Vote 2-3 – Motion did not pass.
Grimes motion to amend name of committee by eliminating the word “Needs”, second by O’Donnell. Vote 4-1 (Ward no).
Motion by Ward on makeup of committee: One Selectman, Board of Health Agent, ACO, Assistant ACO, Health Agent and four citizens at large. No second.
Vote on original motion by Ward: Motion by Ward to establish an Animal Shelter Needs Committee made up of the following: One Selectmen, Health Agent, Animal Control Officer, Town Accountant and one citizen at large with a background in construction business to report back to the Selectmen by December 4, 2007. Resident Lauzon brought up the BATG litigation and how the Town can get go about getting the money. This money could help run the animal shelter. LaFond explained there are no funds involved regarding the contract BATG has with the Town to build the animal shelter. DEP let BATG substitute an insurance policy for funds on the financial insurance mechanism without notifying the Town and their own Lakeville office. He estimates the cash value of the Town’s contract
with BATG for the animal shelter at $350,000. Vote on Ward’s motion 3-0-2. Motion by Ward, second by Angley for Casey to be Selectmen’s Representative to Committee 3-0-2. Motion by Ward for citizen membership to be decided next meeting, second by Casey. Vote unanimous.
Special Town Election:
LaFond stated the selectmen needed to set a date for the Special Town Election for the Police and Fire Station construction to begin. This vote would be for a debt exclusion, and suggests Saturday, September 8, 2007. Motion by Ward to set September 8 for the Special Election, second by Casey. O’Donnell stated that Monday, September 3rd is Labor Day and his concerns that a lot of people will be on vacation and suggested September 15th. Motion amended by Ward to September 15th, second by Grimes. Vote unanimous.
Budget Line Item Transfers:
John Adams explained the Budget Line Item Transfers. Motion by Grimes to approve as presented, second by Casey. Vote unanimous.
Special Police Officer Appointment:
Chief Parker recommended the appointment of Walter Benoit for a Special Police Officer. Benoit has been a special with the force for the past fourteen years. Motion by Ward, second by Grimes to appoint. Vote: 4 yes with O’Donnell abstaining.
Annual Appointments:
Motion by Ward to approve the attached annual appointments with the exception of Dick Ward to become an Associate Member, second by Casey. Vote unanimous. Motion by Ward to make Mike Nash a voting member of the Agricultural Commission, second by O’Donnell. Vote unanimous.
Acceptance of Gifts for Affordable Housing:
Planning Board Member Lauzon stated that the Town had received an additional $1,500 in donations to create an Affordable Housing Plan. Motion by Grimes, seconded by O’Donnell to accept gifts. Vote unanimous.
Old Home Day Requests:
Motion by Grimes to approve the use of town property for antique car show, second by Casey. Vote unanimous. Motion by Ward and second by O’Donnell to approve the Crusader Athletic Booster Club Annual Road Race. Vote unanimous.
Minutes:
Motion by Ward, second by Grimes to approved the minutes of 5/8 and 5/15/07 as written. Vote unanimous.
Citizen’s Participation:
Will Sinclair spoke on the casino gambling issue and the potential impact on the Town. The IDC will holding a community forum on the issue on August 8, 2007 to educate the citizens. He was looking for the Board to endorse the forum. Motion by Ward to endorse the forum, second by O’Donnell. Vote unanimous.
Resident Paul Johnson asked mechanism regarding the internal investigation on the sexual harassment complaint. Angley stated that the Board could not respond to that, as this was an Executive Session. Johnson stated there are concerned citizens on what is going on. Angley stated no point in going forward with this questioning.
Jean Gavoni brought up issue of foreclosure of One Braddock Way. LaFond stated the Tax Collector position is elected and not under the director of the Town Administrator or the Board of Selectmen. The property in December was given to the Town in tax foreclosure. Mrs. Gavoni has disputed the fact, and stated the property was given to her by a relative and her lawyer has appealed the decision to have it reversed. This was granted. The court gave Gavoni 60 days to pay the back taxes, penalties and interest. Gavoni presented a list of items she claims were taken from the property by the Town. LaFond stated that he had talked to B & G Superintendent Farquharson regarding this matter. Mr. Farquharson returned the very small amount of building materials removed from the
property and anything of value was returned. LaFond will inquire with Farquharson again and show his Gavoni’s list.
Selectmen’s Notes:
Ward spoke on the yard sale fundraiser for the family of a resident involved in a tragic accident. The family and concerned residents are also looking to have a fundraiser in Shurtleff Park to benefit the injured resident. Motion by Ward to approve fundraiser to be held on July 7th, second by Grimes. Vote unanimous. Ward also gave an update on the Farmers Market.
Grimes stated that since we now have CPA in place, he thinks that now is the time to have the Chapter 61A roll back taxes be put to replenish the Stabilization Fund rather than going to the ConCom to purchase open space and would is thinking about the feasibility of ways to go about it by the next meeting.
Ward stated MMA recommendation is that a Town have 5% of total budget in Stabilization.
Casey stated that tomorrow the Plymouth County Advisory Group will be meeting on their budget.
Town Administrator Notes:
LaFond updated the Board on the fiscal policy meeting that he attending today.
At 9:30 PM a motion was made by Franc Casey and seconded by O’Donnell to go into Executive Session pursuant to MGL Chapter 39, §23B, section #2 and #3 and to return to open session at t he conclusion. Roll Call Vote: Yes – O’Donnell, Grimes, Casey and Angley.
At 12:05 Open Session was reconvened. Angley stated that the Police Chief contract was extended through June 30, 2012.
Motion by Ward, seconded by Casey to adjourn. Vote unanimous.
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