Board of Selectmen, August 13, 2018
HOLDEN BOARD OF SELECTMEN
MEETING MINUTES
August 13, 2018
6:35PM Senior Center
Present: Chairman Geri Herlihy, Jeremy Kurtz, Anthony Renzoni, Tyler Gibbs, Robert Lavigne
Others Present: Peter Lukes, Town Manager
Stephanie Bacon, Assistant Town Manager
Liz Fotos, Town Recorder
Brian Falk, Town Counsel
Chairman Herlihy called the meeting to order at 6:35PM. The Board stood to recite the Pledge of Allegiance.
- Appointments, Licenses, and Permits
None
- Vote to Adopt Order of Taking Re: Easement Wachusett Woods Subdivision
Mr. Lukes stated that this was voted at Town Meeting. He stated that Mr. Falk was present to explain this matter further.
Mr. Falk stated that ordinarily when they accept a public way the Town gets an easement from the developer. He stated that in this case, the developer did not reserve those rights and the developer was unavailable so the Town would be doing an easement order for taking.
Sel. Lavigne asked if they could adopt the order without anything happening.
Mr. Falk stated that Town Meeting had already given approval and this was the final step.
Sel. Lavigne asked if notice had been given to the residents.
Mr. Falk stated that notice goes out when the streets are laid out which was done at this past Town Meeting. He stated that this final step gives the title to the underlying property.
Motion by Sel. Renzoni, seconded by Sel. Lavigne, it was UNANIMOUSLY VOTED TO ADOPT THE ORDER OF TAKING FOR EASEMENT/ WACHUSETT WOODS SUBDIVISION AS PRESENTED.
- Town Manager Update
FY18 EEA Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness Program Action Grant: The Town was awarded a grant in the amount of just under $25,000 from the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs that will study the possibility and potential to use “green” power backup for our water facilities (Brattle St Vault Interconnection, Salisbury St Connection, Mill St Wellfield, Mason Rd Wellfield, Spring St Well, Spring St Treatment Facility, Chapin Water Tank and Jefferson Tank). Thanks to Ryan Mouradian and John Woodsmall for their work in securing this grant
Holden Days: Holden Days will take place on Saturday, August 25 from 9:00AM to 3:00PM. All of their permits have been approved an thanks to Holden Police, Fire, Emergency Management and Public Works for working closely with the Wachusett Area Chamber of Commerce in this annual event. The Board of Selectmen will have their own table in front of Miles Funeral Home as usual. The DPW Facility Committee will also have a booth in the miles parking lot. The Master Plan Committee has a booth along the Highland Street side of the vendor area, and the Community Garden Committee will be setting up a booth at the border of the Town Hall/ First Congregational Church lawn where they plan to give our herb plants and provide information regarding Community Garden Plots.
Sel. Renzoni stated that the Master Plan Committee should be on site; he stated that the Town hit almost 1000 surveys so they had a lot of data. He stated that CMRPC was going through the data and that they would be presenting the community findings and advertising for a workshop in September. He stated that the next meeting was on September 17 and that there would be a workshop on September 22nd.
Chairman Herlihy asked how the Community Garden Plot was going.
Mr. Lukes stated that they had been donating extra to the seniors at the Senior Center and that they were doing well.
Chairman Herlihy asked if individual people had purchased plots.
Mr. Lukes stated that he believed they were sold out for the season.
Life Skills Cookout: Congratulations and thanks to Chief Armstrong and the Holden Police for hosting the Wachusett High school Life Skills group at their annual cookout held at the Public Safety Facility. Chief Armstrong works all year with the group of students, providing them with opportunities in our Public Safety Facility and a fun way to interact with the Police Department and Town of Holden. It was well attended and the students definitely enjoyed themselves. Also thanks to Holden Fire for participating with staff and equipment.
Chief Armstrong thanked the people that made this event possible; his guys that do clean up and grills, the Superintendent, and all those involved. He stated that they started this over 10 years ago and now there were over 100 people. He stated that it meant a lot to have the support and thanked everyone for their help.
Mr. Lukes thanked the Chief and stated that it was a great event.
18 Industrial Drive Demolition Update: The town received 13 bids for demolition and hazmat removal at 18 Industrial Drive. The low bids were very favorable to the Town. Owners Project Manager Gary Kaczmarek and I met last week with representatives from the firm that submitted the lowest bid. We have been proceeding with background checks and exercising our due diligence to insure that the contractor meets the responsive and responsible bidder standard. We anticipate having a final contract in place shortly. The contract will require work to start within about 30 days from the point. If all goes accordingly we will remain on schedule from demotion and hazmat removal to begin by mid- September.
Mr. Lukes stated that they had met with the low bidder at the end of last week and they were able and responsive and responsible. He stated that they met with them and their subcontractor and they felt confident that they would do a good job. He stated that he had sent out the award letter and expected them to start within 30 days.
Chairman Herlihy asked how long it would take.
Mr. Lukes replied that they wanted it entirely done by November.
DPW Facility Committee: The DPW Facility Committee has arrived at a schematic and cost proposal that they will be presenting to the Finance Committee on Wednesday, August 15th at HMLD. This plan is the culmination of over two years f work by this committee and our designer, Weston and Sampson. The DPW Facility Committee will meet with the Board of Selectmen at your next meeting when they will present the same plan for you edification and answer any questions the Board may have.
HMLD General Manager Search Committee: The Search Committee for our next General Manger of Holden Municipal Light Department held their first meeting last week. They were provided with a model matrix for skill assessment, timelines, proposed schedules of benchmarks, resumes of applications, and other relevant information to conduct a thorough review process of candidates. We would like to conduct final interviews by early October and hopefully have a new General Manager in November.
Sel. Lavigne stated that there were a lot of really good resumes and some decisions made up front as to who would be pushed through the second round. He stated that they were moving along and he thanked the Assistant Town Manager for her help with the process.
Sel. Kurtz stated that he believed that when the Board authorized the Town Manager to fill in for the General Manager at the Light Department they gave him a 90 day window which bought them to the end of September. He stated that it was his recommendation that at the first meeting in September, the Board gets back together to do their due diligence and either extend that or come up with another plan.
Sel. Lavigne suggested putting it on the agenda to have the discussion but he would hate to rush through something and would prefer to extend the time to a point where they were comfortable.
Chairman Herlihy asked Mr. Lukes for an update on the Water Project.
Mr. Lukes stated that the water aspect of the Shrewsbury Street Water Project was completed at this point. He stated that all homes were reconnect to Town water. He stated that the sewer phase of the project would begin next week. He stated that there would be construction detours at different times through October.
Sel. Lavigne asked if bus routes would be rerouted.
Mr. Lukes stated that he would talk to the director but that he did not think it would impact bus routes.
Sel. Lavigne suggested letter parents and schools aware of this construction.
The Board agreed to work with the school to ensure that buses, parents, and walkers were all aware.
- Selectmen Miscellaneous
Sel. Renzoni stated that the Master Plan would be meeting on September 4, 2018 at 6:30PM and again on September 17th in front of the Board of Selectmen to discuss their next steps.
Sel. Renzoni stated that the VA had not met since Memorial Day and they were looking at ideas for Veterans Day. He stated that there was also a vacancy on the Board and that you did not need to be a Veteran to sign up.
Sel. Renzoni stated that there was a Fin Com meeting at 7:00PM as well and that it would be televised and that he planned to attend it.
Sel. Lavigne stated that the Light Department Search Committee met.
Sel. Lavigne stated that the Town Manager sent a draft of the EDC charter but he did not get to it and would have it back to the Board later in the week.
Sel. Lavigne stated that August 25 would be Holden Days and that he hoped to see everyone there.
Sel. Lavigne stated shortly after that was the first day of school and he wanted to remind people to leave a little extra time to get to school or work due to the added traffic.
Sel. Gibbs stated that the Band Stand Committee was looking for volunteers if anyone was interested.
Sel. Gibbs asked if there was any update regarding money for the Study at Eagle Lake and if anything was decided or discussed.
Mr. Lukes stated that he believed there was an engineer that was consulting and looking for the contractor.
Sel. Kurtz asked if they were doing the Winter Festival.
Sel. Lavigne replied that it would be part of the EDC.
Sel. Kurtz stated that many of the Board stopped at the ribbon cutting for the new photography studio in Town. He stated it was a great studio and that they were doing deals for senior pictures where they were giving back to the school. He stated they were doing a nice job up there.
Chairman Herlihy stated that the DPW Committee met. And that she had attended the ribbon cutting. She stated that they had a beautiful studio and hoped that people would use them.
Sel. Lavigne asked where they were with the DPW Outreach Committee.
Mr. Lukes replied that they were not going to do that based on the short amount of time they had and how involved the project was. He stated that they had a plan in place to move forward with the outreach.
Sel. Renzoni asked when DPW Building Committee was set to come into the Board.
Chairman Herlihy stated that the Board was meeting on September 17, 2018 as the only meeting in September.
Mr. Lukes replied that it was a long agenda and perhaps they could discuss adding a meeting. September 10 and September 17 were discussed.
- Selectmen Minutes
Motion by Sel. Renzoni, seconded by Sel. Kurtz, it was UNANIMOUSLY VOTED TO APPROVE THE JUNE 4, 2018 BOARD OF SELECTMEN MEETING MINUTES AS CORRECTED.
Motion by Sel. Renzoni, seconded by Sel. Lavigne, it was UNANIMOUSLY VOTED TO APPROVE THE JUNE 18, 2018 BOARD OF SELECTMEN MEETING MINUTES AS PRESENTED.
- Citizens Address
None
Motion by Sel. Lavigne, seconded by Sel. Renzoni, it was UNANIMOUSLY VOTED TO ADJOURN THE AUGUST 13, 2018 BOARD OF SELECTMEN MEETING AT 7:06PM.
APPROVED: __October 10, 2018______