Board of Selectmen January 17, 2012 Memorial Town Hall Approved: February 21, 2012

Transcription

1 Board of Selectmen January 17, 2012 Memorial Town Hall Approved: February 21, 2012 Chairman Edward W. Lesko, Jr. Selectman Jan Joseph Adamski Selectman Marcus J. Boyle Mr. Jeffrey Ritter, Town Administrator Mr. Phil Genovese, DPW Director Chairman Lesko called the meeting to order at 10:30AM. Announcements: N/A Community Forum: N/A Minutes Vote: Selectman Boyle moved to approve the minutes of Selectman Adamski seconded. Approved. Vote: Selectman Boyle moved to approve the minutes of with amendments. Selectman Adamski seconded. Approved. DPW Items Mr. Genovese distributed paperwork regarding the hazard mitigation grant for dike repair. This is to go out to bid in the spring. Community Forum: The Chair announced that the Board would revisit the topic of Community Forum since there was a request. Christopher Smith informed the Board that a grant is available for a solar thermal study on Smith Academy. Paradigm Partners will do preliminary research and will do the application but needs to have signoff from the chief financial officer. Selectman Boyle or Selectman Adamski can sign in Chairman Lesko s absence. Up to 10k from Mass CEC may be available. They might also help with the grants to actually do the project. Mr. Smith is to communicate with the school committee. A structural study must be done by engineers before any panels are installed. Mr. Smith is to tell John Robert, School Superintendent, about the structural study requirement. The study should include the engineering requirements. Assistant Building Inspector Mr. Stanley Sadowski, town Building Inspector spoke about the position of Assistant Building Inspector and distributed a letter from Mr. Bob Bartlett, who is fully certified to conduct inspections. Vote: Selectman Adamski moved to appoint Mr. Bartlett as Assistant Building Inspector. Selectman Boyle seconded. Approved. Chairman Lesko discussed with Mr. Bartlett a possible conflict of interest since he is on the Planning Board. Mr. Bartlett said currently, he and Mr. Sadowski sometimes work on questions together. Any buildings put up by him would have to be inspected by someone else. Selectman Boyle said Mr. Bartlett has to check with the Ethics Commission. Chairman Lesko said that for pay, Mr. Bartlett is to get whatever Assistant Building Inspector, Stanley Szewczyk was getting since that s the way it is already set up in the budget. Mr. Sadowski is to put any necessary changes into his future budget ASAP. Mr. Sadowski is to get back to the Board of Selectmen next week. Mr. Ritter asked if Mr. Bartlett has project management experience or experience as a construction management supervisor. These roles are outside of the building inspector role but this would bring extra value to the town. Mr. Sadowski informed the Board that he has been working without a contract for a year and a half. He distributed a copy of a contract. Selectman Adamski mentioned that Stanley Szewczyk, Assistant Building Inspector, is retiring on January 31 st. Selectman Adamski moved to send a letter to Mr. Szewczyk for 16 years of service. He has told Mr. Sadowski that he would fill in for an emergency but would not otherwise be available.

2 Chairman Lesko asked if Mr. Sadowski had a copy of the policy voted for travel reimbursement for the assistant inspector. Mr. Ritter said there was no motion regarding this, though there was discussion. It would have paid mileage for the assistant inspector to come in to do work since he doesn t live in town. Vote: Chairman Lesko moved to have mileage paid to the assistant inspector who lives outside of town, when they use their own vehicle. Selectman Boyle seconded. Approved. Library Grant: Eliza Langhans, Library Director, dropped off a copy of the library grant application in town hall on Friday. Selectman Boyle explained it was repackaged and has a new scope. They are looking for board approval in order to go to town meeting. Selectman Boyle went over some of the points. Clerk of the works question and awarding authority needs to reflect Chairman Lesko not Selectman Boyle. Also, remove Mr. Ritter s name. There appears to be a comment in the application that the Board of Selectmen endorsed the application but the Board has remained neutral. The town has 6 months to vote for the item or not. There is a debt exclusion possibly. Ms. Langhans said she could make all the administrative changes. Vote: Selectman Boyle moved to authorize the Chairman to sign section 4 of the application assurance and certifications for the MA Library Association grant. Selectman Adamski seconded. Approved. Chairman Lesko will sign the page and someone from the Board will call Ms. Langhans after the meeting. Town Administrator Applications Board members are to look through the applications received. Ambulance Rates Vote: Selectman Boyle moved to approve an ambulance/medical fee rate schedule at 150% of the 2012 MA Rural Medical Rates, effective January 1, 2012 as per the 2012 Ambulance Special Fee Schedule which he presented. Selectman Adamski seconded. Approved. PVPC Local Technical Assistance Town Master Plan The Board addressed the matter of a letter received from PVPC which is an invitation to submit requests for no cost local technical assistance. The letter went also sent to the Planning Board. Selectman Boyle said they already met with the Planning Board. He said he was not aware of any regionalization initiative that the Board would ask for help with. Mr. Ritter suggested the town ask for support for the remake of the master plan. Selectman Boyle asked who the lead was on the previous master plan work. Chairman Lesko answered there was a committee and the Board appointed a chair to that committee. Selectman Boyle said we need to meet jointly with the Planning Board to talk about this. Selectman Boyle is to contact Mr. Bartlett. Vote: Selectman Boyle said subject to coordination with the Planning Board Chair, the Board of Selectmen endorses a request to PVPC for district local technical assistance for work on the town master plan. Selectman Adamski seconded. Approved. Hatfield Redevelopment Authority Appointment Selectman Boyle explained that the HRA should come to the Board if they request someone to replace Mike Cahill. Reappointments Incumbents should be notified and current vacancies should be put on the website. A list should go to the HCTV Chair to post on the scroll. Also a list should be in meeting packets for the next meeting, 1/24 th 6pm. Union Contract Negotiations Selectman Boyle is to get with Mr. Genovese today and talk with Ralph Galarneau. Selectman Boyle would like to limit negotiations to COLA. The town would have to vote to change the 50% health insurance. Selectman Boyle talked about language regarding the probationary period needing cleanup. Some titles, namely the mechanic, need to be changed. Chairman Lesko said if we give a COLA then we will have the DPW employees switch to uniforms. Selectman Boyle said we ought to pay the COLA. Other towns are saying 2% for non teachers, office help and janitors. Chairman Lesko said we re restructuring this year just like we did with the Fire Department 2 years ago. Chairman Lesko said it s the non-union people that we haven t been taking care of. Selectman Boyle

3 will come back to the Board with the issues and the recommended approach. Selectman Adamski said put in the yearly performance reviews. This is in our HR policy but should be in the contracts. Selectman Adamski said there should be provision for written reprimands. Selectman Boyle read a portion in article 4 which says it is management s right to determine performance standards. Selectman Boyle talked about a provision which says that if the HR policy does not conflict with the contract, the provisions of the HR policy apply. Regarding the new uniform policy, Mr. Genovese said everything is included. They will get $525/year for shoes and clothes. Mr. Genovese will provide numbers for the uniforms. Selectman Boyle summarized topics as changing titles, incorporating HR policy reviews which would apply to all town employees, COLA, uniforms, and some language around probationary period. Town Meeting Articles Ms. Slysz, Town Treasurer wants to move money in regards the sidewalk settlement for the purpose of paying down the note. This will be about 40k shy of payoff. CORI Check Chairman Lesko requested having every employee and appointed board member have a CORI check. Selectman Boyle suggested putting this into the HR policy and feels it needn t go to town meeting for a vote. Chairman Lesko requested having elected officials get CORI checks saying this would have to go to town meeting. The board discussed security checks saying the employees already get CORI checks. Chairman Lesko said COA need to have CORIs. Mr. Ritter said the board could adopt policy that anyone appointed by them would have to be CORI checked including staff but said this would be a town meeting vote. Mr. Ritter said the Board could keep this in the folder and not decide until it closes on the warrant. Vote: Selectman Boyle began to make a motion but changed his mind. The Board discussed CORI as being an all or none proposition. Selectman Boyle said he could back this for select committees where there is a rationale. Mr. Ritter suggested the board take a look at which committees they d like to check, and make a recommendation. Chairman Lesko instructed this be done at the next meeting. Capital Items The final report of the Capital Improvement Planning Committee will be available Monday. Other items to be considered are; Change Town Clerk/Treasurer and Town Collector to appointed, the Home Rule Petition, Linseed Road excess property and the Bike trail from Northampton, i.e. the small portion of land to be donated/exchanged. Sampson Costs Mr. Ritter discussed with the Board the matter of these medical costs. Selectman Boyle said there is no money set aside for this so the reserve account could be considered. Mr. Ritter noted the town has paid nothing so far. Chairman Lesko said workman s comp needs to pay. Mr. Ritter advised that the workman s comp claim was closed, but he chose to have a second and then a 3 rd surgery. Mr. Ritter said perhaps have a contingency to put some money in or have an off-the-record discussion with the Finance Committee about putting in 15k from the reserve account for this. Mr. Ritter said the town is likely to hear from the Hampshire County Retirement Board in FY13. Selectman Boyle asked if an article could be created such that no individual is specified. Chairman Lesko suggested additional salaries for unanticipated items, and he used vacations as an example. Mr. Ritter told the Board that they could intentionally not fund this and then have to call a special town meeting. Salary Adjustment for Elected Town Officials Chairman Lesko said the town should adjust all salaries this year. The board then discussed town bylaws and salary. Chairman Lesko informed the Board that each elected official s salary is voted on at town meeting as line items. The Board then discussed stipends with Mr. Ritter. Chairman Lesko said the HRA is like the Housing Authority. Community Preservation, Cultural Council, and Historical Commission also don t get stipends. Mr. Ritter said that the School Committee gets $100 and the Board of Health gets 4k. Chairman Lesko said a part time health agent would cost 30k. Selectman Adamski asked where the money would come from. Chairman Lesko suggested going through the budget process and then see what is needed. Selectman Adamski asked about the Inspector rate and Mr. Ritter said it is 30-32/hr. elsewhere. The current contract for Mr. Sadowski would be 27. The board discussed dollar amounts

4 for Fire and Police Chiefs. Chairman Lesko said that if the Finance Committee doesn t know what the different jobs entail then they can t know what to give for raises. Selectman Boyle asked that the Board close on articles for town meeting and said also that the Board needed to close on salary adjustments and budget items. Chairman Lesko agreed saying the Finance Committee makes decisions but doesn t know what s needed and that he is tired of spending money for studies and not salaries. Selectman Boyle suggested scheduling a time and date for budget items. Mr. Ritter said regarding elected officials salaries; decide if you want a town meeting article. Chairman Lesko said all salaries, elected or not, have to be gone over. Schedule Contract Reviews Selectman Boyle said that previous to contract reviews the Board needs to share performance expectations with people. Mr. Ritter said why not imbed performance requirements in the contracts. Chairman Lesko said we went over expectations at the last meeting. Chairman Lesko discussed a generic list of expectations and then a specific one for each individual s contract. Selectman Adamski said not to bother with one for Mr. Sadowski now since his will be up in July. Chairman Lesko said we need to put something in the budget now. He also said Mr. Ritter hit the nail on the head bringing people up to rates they should have been at 5 years ago. Mr. Ritter explained the firm hired back in 2000 did the salary study, looking at comparable towns for an average. Selectman Adamski said he would like to see the grades and salary ranges. Mr. Ritter said the job complexities from year 2000 to year 2012 might be different. Chairman Lesko noted there is no grade on part time people. Selectman Adamski asked if the Board meets with the Finance Committee in March. Mr. Ritter said the budget should be done by the middle of April and said the Board can look at contract review and expectations in March. The Board needs to have a budget discussion and address COLA and salary items. Mr. Ritter said the Board might put aside the ones they know they will approve and then work on the others. The Board can act independent of the Finance Committee which can really only recommend. Mr. Ritter said the Board can communicate with the Finance Committee but doesn t need their advice and counsel at this point. Selectman Boyle suggested scheduling contract reviews for mid-march. Chairman Lesko abstained from the conversation regarding the COA Director. Mr. Ritter said if the Board does the 4 contracts they would have addressed all except the COA Director. Chairman Lesko asked about ATM articles other than the budget - the land swap was mentioned. Performance Review Forms Selectman Adamski said the form Mr. Genovese has is the same one Selectman Adamski had gone over with previous Administrative Assistant, Marlene Michonski. All that needs to be done is to start using it. Expectations should be separate from the review form. The form should be the same for everybody, though expectations will be different. Selectman Boyle said we ought to test the system and give all employees a blank form as a heads up that a performance rating system will be instituted, then initiate discussion about expectations. Mr. Genovese will set up a list of expectations for employees. Selectman Boyle said we have to start somewhere and also asked if people had been trained to do performance ratings. Chairman Lesko said you have to give people the tools to meet the expectations. Mr. Genovese suggested a department heads meeting to talk about this. Mr. Ritter said departments are looking for feedback to the communication meeting. Mr. Genovese suggested giving everybody the form then sitting down with them because they re going to have questions. Possibly this could be a topic at the follow-up to the November meeting. Entertainment License The Old Mill Vote: Selectman Boyle moved to approve the entertainment license application of the Old Mill subject to payment of fee, and satisfactory completion of any inspection of premises by fire department and subject to payment of any outstanding taxes. Selectman Adamski seconded. Approved.

5 MEGA Insurance Company This is the workers comp insurance company that the town had in Mr. Ritter explained that MEGA Insurance is a self-insurance company. Rates were initially lower since the group assumed the risk. Audits have shown there were inadequate reserves. For claims that occurred during the time period when the town was a member there is now, an additional assessment. This has already gone through the state insurance commissioner. Selectman Boyle said this is self insurance so the members are liable. Chairman Lesko suggested sending this to a workman s comp lawyer. Selectman Boyle said it s a contract issue and we would have to give town counsel, Bill O Neil, a copy of the contract. Mr. Ritter suggested not paying this and told the Board they were welcome to read the file MEGA sent. Selectman Boyle said if the town is liable for this then it should meet its obligations. He said this could perhaps be another town meeting article. Chairman Lesko advised putting this in a folder marked MEGA and sending it to Bill O Neil. Property Sale Request Mr. Ritter is in receipt of a request from Joan Bartlett regarding town-owned, small unbuildable lots which she desires to purchase. Chairman Lesko said the Assessors office has a list of property the town owns and Ms. Slysz has a list of properties taken for taxes. The Board discussed this property, which is adjacent to Ms. Bartlett s house. Selectman Boyle suggested deferring this to discussion of a possible ATM article around surplus property. Letter regarding 60 North Hatfield Road The Board discussed this item which is a complaint regarding an assessment, but decided it is not a problem for the Board but rather, the Assessors Office. The Assessor s Office put out a CTY announcement concerning this. If a homeowner won t allow assessors in then they can be assessed at the highest valuation. Clearwater Properties Selectman Boyle recused himself from this discussion. Selectman Adamski said Mr. Genovese should be working with Fran Spellacy on this. Chairman Lesko said he has no desire to put a street there that is up to the owners. Selectman Adamski said the town is not going to buy property in order to make a road, but if the owners buy the extra property and they put in the drainage they could donate it back to the town. Selectman Adamski and Chairman Lesko discussed possible road improvements and how they would affect the town. Chairman Lesko summarized that the town is being asked to put in infrastructure. Mr. Ritter said a serious investment of money would be necessary to put a road in there. Chairman Lesko said the purpose of the letter is to get an opinion from the town regarding installing water and sewer and other lines. He said it s not up to the town to bring in the water and sewer. Selectman Adamski said the town had done this before and wouldn t do it again and used Scotland Road as an example. This road is owned by private citizens, not the town. Chairman Lesko said they re asking if the town will improve the first 300. Mr. Ritter said they re looking to put in a big development. Selectman Adamski suggested asking Mr. Genovese if he has suggestions. Chairman Lesko said widening is the developer s responsibility. Electricity and telephone utilities have nothing to do with the town. Mr. Ritter said the Planning Board and Building Inspector have approved building on 4 lots there. Mr. Ritter suggested a turn around or widening of the road. Mr. Ritter said you can t let someone build a house unless fire engines can reach it. He said whatever you do in the 1 st 300 you ll have to continue. Chairman Lesko would like to call Town Counsel, Bill O Neil about how far the town should go on this. Vote: Chairman Lesko moved to take this under advisement. Selectman Adamski seconded. Approved. HCTV Surplus Equipment Vote: Selectman Boyle moved to declare as surplus the equipment listed by the HCTV chair and included in the meeting packet. Selectman Adamski seconded. Approved. Town Administrator The Board discussed how to handle the Town Administrator phone messages and . Chairman Lesko said these should be checked once per week. Mr. Ritter gave the Board the voic password and login account. Mr. Ritter gave the Board some information about the Town Administrator . The secretaries are to notify the Board of any relevant calls. All records regarding Mr. Sampson records are in a box. Chairman Lesko said a formal letter should be sent to Hilltown Charter School about the spill near the property. The town clock request is withdrawn. However, continue with the basketball court request with a note that this is not a repair.

6 Mr. Ritter informed the Board that a Green Community Act report is due quarterly, the next one to be sent the first week of April. Selectman Boyle said Christopher Smith will need to do that. Mr. Ritter is to leave a package of information. Chairman Lesko is to post Monday the 23 rd for a meeting on Thurs. 1/26 th 9am. Under posted business put 1. budget issues, 2. vacancy list for review, 3. list of committees for CORI check. Selectman Boyle thanked Mr. Ritter for everything. Vote: Selectman Adamski moved to adjourn. Selectman Boyle seconded. Approved. Meeting ended 1:25PM. Respectfully submitted, Ki J. Eno