Board of Selectmen, September 17, 2018

HOLDEN BOARD OF SELECTMEN

MEETING MINUTES

September 17, 2018

6:30PM                                                                                               Memorial Hall

Present: Chairman Geri Herlihy, Jeremy Kurtz, Anthony Renzoni, Tyler Gibbs, Robert Lavigne (6:37PM)   

Others Present:            Peter Lukes, Town Manager

                                    Stephanie Bacon, Assistant Town Manager (6:46PM)

                                    Liz Fotos, Town Recorder

Chairman Herlihy called the meeting to order at 6:30PM.  The Board stood to recite the Pledge of Allegiance.

1. Appointments, Licenses, and Permits

None

1. Selectmen Subcommittee

Sel. Renzoni stated that the Visioning Day for the Master Plan was coming up on Saturday at 5:00PM at the High School.  He stated that the Committee would be taking public input to try to add it into the Master Plan.  He stated that they were picking up the old stuff and adding new goals so they can have a comprehensive idea for the updated Master Plan. 

Sel. Renzoni stated that Fin Com did meet but he was not there.  He stated that they took position on the DPW Building and they felt that it was appropriate for Town Meeting and they also took a positive vote to endorse the Town Manager’s plan to accept the SAFER Grant. 

Mr. Lukes stated that the Town needs to meet standards and have people ready for the Academy by February.  He stated that Chief Hall accepted the grant through FEMA and they were ready to move forward. 

Sel. Renzoni stated that the VA did not meet but that they wanted to do something for Veterans Day.  He stated that each year they do something and they were trying to put something together for November.

Sel. Gibbs: none

Sel. Kurtz: none

Chairman Herlihy stated that they will have the DPW Building Committee on the agenda for an October meeting.  She asked if anyone had any questions or wanted to talk about anything before then.

Sel. Lavigne entered the meeting at 6:37PM.

Sel. Renzoni asked if they could have an update on the site contractor and on the hazmat.

Mr. Lukes stated that they were about 10 days away from hazmat being completed.  He stated that they had been there daily and they were taking everything offsite. He stated that the OPM was on site full time and after this the demo will begin.

1. WRSD Chapter 71 Reimbursement Discussion

Sel. Lavigne asked if there was anyone from the District present.

Chairman Herlihy replied there was not.

Sel. Lavigne suggested tabling the matter until someone from the District was able to be there so the Board could have the conversation with them directly so that they would know what was being done to fix it.

Mr. Lukes stated that Dr. McCall was able to make the October 1, 2018 Board of Selectmen meeting and that he extended his apologies for not being available this evening.

Motion by Sel. Lavigne, seconded by Sel. Renzoni, it was UNANIMOUSLY VOTED TO TABLE THE WRSD CHAPTER 71 REIMBURSMENT DISUCSSION TO THE OCTOBER 1, 2018 BOARD OF SELECTMEN MEETING.

Ms. Bacon entered the meeting at 6:46PM.

1. Recognition of Community Garden Committee and DPW Workers

Sel. Herlihy invited the Community Garden Committee up to the podium.

Jessica Cosenza, Community Garden was present at the meeting.  She stated that the Community Garden had received some help from the DPW Workers to build 3 rain water collections and they wanted to recognize them for their efforts with the project. She thanked Michael Kendrick, Chris Dooley, and JT Esterick for their help with the project.

Sel. Renzoni stated that this was a great community project.  He stated that when it began three years ago they knew it would take time to get Davis Hill up and running and they worked on a lot of outreach and that it was up and running.  He stated he appreciated the time that they took to do this. 

Chairman Herlihy asked how the plots were doing.

Ms. Cosenza stated that they have 11 active plots that are community harvested.  She stated that every week there was food donated to the Senior Center and the VA Shelter in Worcester.  She stated that there are 7 people renting plots and there is more interest as well.  She stated that there have been a few Eagle Scout projects as wells as Boy Scout and Girl Scout projects.  She stated they appreciate the community support and none of this could have happened without it.  She stated that with the rain collection it is becoming a self sustained project.

Chairman Herlihy asked if the people who rented the plots were able to use that water.

Ms. Cosenza replied they were.

Sel. Lavigne thanked the Community Garden and DPW workers for their efforts.

Chairman Herlihy presented the DPW Workers with a Certificate of Recognition for their work in the community.

Mr. Lukes stated that this was a project that started with the Kramer Property.  He stated that they did a controlled burn and had a lot of help from the Fire Department and DPW Workers to clear the land.  He stated that was why the Town was recognizing the DPW Workers, because they had put their heart and souls into the work and the Town wanted to thank them.

Chairman Herlihy called a short recess at 6:48PM.

Chairman Herlihy called the meeting back to order at 7:00PM.

1. Citizens Address

Dan Marinone, 37 Village Way was present at the meeting.  He stated that he wanted to come and publically thank Ms. Adams as she was the leader for the Eagle Lake Fall Fest.  He stated that 200 people showed up and it was a great event.  He thanked the Board of Selectmen and Mr. Lukes for their support as well.  He stated additionally, they had a flat water race in April and the bath house was painted.  He stated that they had sand donated for a volley ball court as well. 

Mr. Marinone stated that they had an event scheduled for July 4^th but there was an issue with the Geese population and the water.  He stated they also had a number of scouts earning bronze awards and doing projects on the property.  He stated that he wanted to come to the meeting to thank everyone for their support.  He stated that the Friends of Eagle Lake were excited about the changes and looking to do more with a temporary drawdown in the future.

1. Master Plan Committee Community Visioning Session Announcement

Jessica Millikan was present at the meeting along with Scott Morrison.

Ms. Millikan stated that she was the Co-Chair of the 10 person volunteer steering committee to redo the Holden Master Plan.  She stated that they were finding out from people who live in Town what they want to see happen, what was important to them, and what issues they feel like are occurring.  She stated that the Committee works with a group of consultants from CMRPC as well and thanked them for their help.

Ms. Millikan stated that they opened the survey on June 18 and they received 979 responses on the 75 question survey.  She stated the next event would be a visioning day on September 22 from 3PM-5PM at WRHS.

Ms. Millikan stated that the demo of the group age range was decent along with the location in Town from where people responded and how long people had been living here and planed to stay.  She stated that over 60% of the people who answered the survey intended to stay in Holden for over 20 years.

Mr. Morrison stated that the survey found Holden’s great assets to be the schools, locations, and small Town.  He stated that the survey revealed that the greatest need was growth management, roads, traffic, sidewalks, and schools.

Mr. Morrison stated that the survey found that what was desired was small retail shops, galleries, agricultural based businesses and services and clean energy. 

Mr. Morrison stated that the most undesirable businesses would be shopping malls, hotels, and rental houses.

Mr. Morrison stated that the question as to whether the Town was affordable or not had about a 50/50 split which the Committee found interesting.

Sel. Renzoni interrupted Mr. Morrison for the 7:15PM Public Hearing.

1. Public Hearing- Liquor License Table and Vine –Change of Manager

Motion by Sel. Lavigne, seconded by Sel. Kurtz, it was UNANIMOUSLY VOTED TO OPEN THE PUBLIC HEARING FOR LIQUOR LICENSE, TABLE AND VINE/ CHANGE OF MANAGER.

Karen Sulton, the current Director of Operations in the Holden location was present.  She stated that she had been at the location for 7 weeks and in the business for 30+ years.  She stated that she was TIPS certified and had retail management experience.  She asked if there were any questions.

Chairman Herlihy asked if she had been with Big Y since March.

Ms. Sultan stated that she had been with Big Y since March of last year and Hannford prior. 

Chairman Herlihy asked if there were any questions.

Sel. Lavigne stated that it looked very straight forward.

Mr. Lukes stated that the ABCC would also check the application.

Chairman Herlihy asked if there were any members of the public that wished to speak; no members of the public stepped forward.

Motion by Sel. Lavigne, seconded by Sel. Renzoni, it was UNANIMOUSLY VOTED TO CLOSE THE PUBLIC HEARING FOR LIQUOR LICENSE/ TABLE AND VINE/ CHANGE OF MANAGER.

Motion by Sel. Lavigne, seconded by Sel. Kurtz, it was UNANIMOUSLY VOTED TO APPROVE THE CHANGE OF LICENSE AS PRESENTED.

Cont. Master Plan Committee Community Visioning Session Announcement

Mr. Morrison stated that the natural resource that survey fillers valued most were water, forests, fields/open space, and farms.

Mr. Morrison stated that they looked at traffic and intersections as well and that Main Street and Shrewsbury Street were both identified. 

Mr. Morrison stated that they wanted to invite the public to come on Saturday to the Visioning Session.  He stated that it was a time for people to voice their opinions as to what the Town should look like in the next ten years.  He stated that the more public involvement they have the better the plan will be.

Sel. Renzoni asked what people can expect if they show up to this meeting.

Mr. Morrison stated that it would be a round table set up to look at different areas that were included in the questionnaire.  He stated they would be looking at what was the highest priority and getting more information so that they could take the survey results and generalize it to create a Master Plan. 

Sel. Lavigne asked who the target audience was for this.

Mr. Morrison replied it was anyone with interest in Holden.

Chairman Herlihy thanked everyone for coming out and for all their hard work.

Sel. Lavigne stated that he knew that they had identified clean energy as something that was important, he asked if anything else jumped out at them as of yet.

Ms. Millikan replied housing affordability was something that they were looking at and why the population was split on that question.

Sel. Lavigne asked if there was a way to see what the issues people felt versus where in town you lived.

Sel. Renzoni stated that there is about 1,000 responses.  He stated that Eagle Lake drummed up a lot of responses so they do have to look at the location of where people live and weigh the data based on that.

Sel. Lavigne asked how they calculated some of the statistics.

Sel. Renzoni replied that CMRPC did that and that he could ask specifically at the next meeting.

Chairman Herlihy asked if the next step was implementation.

Ms. Millikan stated that they were going to have 3 or 4 additional events in the winter and then compile the data and look at the last Master Plan and update what currently exists.

Sel. Renzoni stated the last time this was done they Town Manager set up an Implementation Committee to see things through.  He stated that it was a great way to see how government worked and a great committee to be apart of if anyone was interested.  He thanked the Committee for coming out.

1. Response to Citizens Address

Sel. Lavigne thanked Mr. Marinone for coming out. He stated that they had worked hard to drum up a lot of support and it is rare that you see a citizen committee really get going and they are making Eagle Lake great.  He stated that he appreciates their willingness to work together on this.

1. Public Hearing-Liquor License Mexicali Grill- Stock Ownership Transfer

Motion by Sel. Renzoni, seconded by Sel. Lavigne, it was UNANIMOUSLY VOTED TO OPEN THE PUBLIC HEARING FOR LIQUOR LICENSE/ MEXICALI GRILL STOCK OWNERSHIP TRANSFER.

Sel. Renzoni asked the Town Manager what this matter pertained to.

Mr. Lukes replied it was a change in ownership.

The representative for Mexicali Grill was present.  She stated that this was a change of ownership between family members.  The current owners was transferring ownership to his nephew who had been running the operation for several years.

Chairman Herlihy stated that it looked as though everything was in order.

Sel. Lavigne asked if there were any issues from the Chief of Police.

Mr. Lukes replied he did not believe so but that he was not sure if a full background had been completed.

Sel. Renzoni asked if there were any comments from the public; no public comments were made.

Motion by Sel. Lavigne, seconded by Sel. Renzoni, it was UNANIMOUSLY VOTED TO CLOSE THE PUBLIC HEARING FOR LIQUOR LICENSE// MEXICALI GRILL-STOCK OWNERSHIP TRANSFER.

Sel. Lavigne stated that the business had been in Town for years and had been fantastic neighbors that added value to the community. 

Motion by Sel. Lavigne, seconded by Sel. Kurtz, it was UNANIMOUSLY VOTED TO APPROVE THE APPLICATION FOR TRANSFER OF LIQUOR LICENSE// MEXICAL GRILL/ STOCK OWNERSHIP TRANSFER PENDING CLARIFICATION FROM CHIEF ARMSTRONG, HOLDEN POLICE DEPARTMENT.

The Board thanked them for coming in.

Motion by Sel. Lavigne, seconded by Sel. Renzoni, it was UNANIMOUSLY VOTED TO ADJOURN THE SEPTEMBER 17, 2018 BOARD OF SELECMTEN MEETING AT 7:41PM.

APPROVED: __December 17, 2018 as Amended____________