BOARD OF SELECTMEN

JANUARY 26, 2004

REGULAR SESSION MINUTES

 “APPROVED”

 

Present:  Thomas D. Hartnett, Chair; George F. Dillon, Jr., Vice Chair; John L. Saball, Clerk; Peter S. Cunningham, Member; Virginia C. Wood, Member; Administrative Officer Jean E. Kitchen; and Kathleen Newell, Office Assistant.

 

The meeting was called to order at 7:03p.m.

 

Personnel Board – Regarding COLA’s

Ms. Alberta Erickson, Ms. Joan Hutchinson and Pam Keith of the Personnel Board were present for this portion of the meeting.

 

Ms. Hutchinson stated the Personnel Board was recommending a 3% Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) which fits within the standards of the Boston area.  Ms. Hutchinson stated the FY04 budget had been "hit pretty hard", she stated the 3% should keep the by-law employees even and avoid salary compression issues in the future. Ms. Wood asked what the Finance Committee was recommending.  Mr. Dillon stated the Finance Committee is currently going through budget hearings, but have not yet made a decision.  Ms. Erickson stated, "What is good for the School is good for the Town Employees".  Mr. Hartnett stated he would like to take some time to read the information and make the decision at the next meeting.  Mr. Cunningham stated he would also like more time to review the matter.  The Board reached a consensus to table the item until a later meeting.

 

Attorney Robert Collins Regarding Agreement between James M. Patierno, Trustee, Missick Realty Trust and Town of Groton

Attorney Robert Collins and Mr. Tom Delaney were present for this portion of the meeting.

 

Attorney Collins stated he had spoken with Attorney Besty Lane, of Kopelman & Paige, Town Counsel and made changes to the second page.  Attorney Collins reviewed the agreement with the Board.  Attorney Collins stated he would like to bring a corrected copy of the agreement to the office for the Board's signature.  Mr. Cunningham asked Mr. Delaney if the felt the language in the agreement addresses his concerns.  Mr. Delaney confirmed it did.  Ms. Wood thanked Attorney Collins for his preparation of the agreement.

Ms. Wood moved to authorize the Chairman of the Board of Selectmen to sign the corrected agreement.  Seconded by Mr. Cunningham.  Unanimous vote.

 

Agreement Between V.H. Shea Corporation and the Town of Groton

Mr. Robert Hargraves and Highway Surveyor Tom Delaney were present for this portion of the meeting.

 

Ms. Kitchen stated she had received an email from Ms. Betsy Lane, which was a version of an amendment to the agreement.  Ms. Wood asked what had changed.  Ms. Kitchen stated paragraph #9 had been duplicated in the original.  Ms. Wood stated she had heard there were tires on the property.  The Board discussed the past uses of the property.  Mr. Delaney stated that the Town of Groton has never used the property as a landfill.  Mr. Dillon suggested changing the verbiage to reflect that point.  Mr. Hargraves representing himself as a citizen, suggested the Board have a "live lawyer" work with this issue, and commended Ms. Wood on her attentive efforts.

Mr. Cunningham moved to execute the Agreement by and between V.H. Shea Corporation and the Town of Groton contingent upon the final draft being made available to the Board after being fully reviewed by Town Counsel.   Seconded by Mr. Saball.  Unanimous vote. 

 

Sewer Commission and Woodard & Curran Regarding Wastewater Needs Assessment

Mr. Karl Johnson, Mr. James Gmeiner and Mr. Harlan Fitch were present for this portion of the meeting.

 

Mr. Johnson stated the Commissioners wanted to bring the Board up to date and the study will be completed in March.  Mr. Johnson reviewed a plan showing the area of needs with the Board.  Mr. Johnson stated there are five areas adjacent to current sewer areas, which need sewer hookup.  Mr. Johnson stated the expansion of the Pepperell Treatment Plant would provide 970,000 additional gallons per day.  Mr. Johnson explained the capacity is calculated at 110 gallons per bedroom per day.  Mr. Dillon asked what indicates an area of need.  Mr. Johnson stated the criteria are location to wetlands and the number of failures.  Mr. Hartnett asked what the Town participation would be.  Mr. Johnson reviewed the following:

*the costs for treatment plant upgrade are closer to $1,000,000 instead of the projected $800,000,  * the Town would pay half and ratepayers pay half, * expansion of treatment plant $600,000 will be paid by the sewer district via betterments, * cost of construction of two extensions $1,500,000 paid by the ratepayers who would be served through betterments.

Mr. Johnson stated the Lost Lake areas need attention and engineers will be making recommendations.  Mr. Hartnett stated the Lost Lake areas appear to have a bigger problem and the cost will be totally born by the Town to get sewer there.  Mr. Johnson stated there would be no capacity available at the Pepperell Treatment Plant for Lost Lake.  Mr. Hartnett asked if the Commissioners have considered a treatment plant for Groton.    Mr. Johnson stated it would be unlikely the State would allow the Town to do it.  Ms. Wood asked about non-sewer projects.  Mr. Gmeiner stated Lost Lake and West Groton are non-sewer areas and there needs to be a committee formed to address these areas or the project will be orphaned.  Mr. Cunningham stated technology is evolving regarding package treatment plants and agreed to the need to form a committee.   Mr. Johnson stated there are water problems in Lost Lake due to nutrient loading coming from Martin's Pond Road, which make it a Town problem.  Mr. Johnson stated the Sewer Commission would be meeting on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.

 

Cell Tower Bids

Mr. Josh Webber of Gibbet Hill Tower LLC was present for this portion of the meeting.

 

Mr. Dillon stated he and Ms. Kitchen had been asked to review the bids and make a recommendation to the Board.  Mr. Dillon briefly reviewed the bids.  Mr. Dillon stated they had met with the Planning Board and based on the meeting determined the Board should ignore the heights, etc. and base the bid award on the financial gain to the Town.  Mr. Dillon stated he and Ms. Kitchen proposed Bay Communications LLC as the bid winner.   Ms. Kitchen stated Gibbet Hill Tower LLC had submitted a second bid, but the bids had been closed.  Mr. Webber stated it was unfortunate the tower height was not specified on the RFP.  Mr. Webber further stated if his second bid could not be reviewed, based upon the original bids he would also chose the bid submitted by Bay Communications LLC from a financial consideration.

 

Mr. Dillon moved to award the bid for the lease of certain space known as Site #1 for the sole purpose erecting, operating and maintaining Wireless Communication Antenna and/or related equipment, cables, transmissions and utility wires for a Wireless Communications Tower to Bay Communications, LLC, contingent upon checking references and any additional issues Mr. Dillon or Ms. Kitchen deem fit.  Seconded by Mr. Saball. 4 in favor, 1 opposed (Cunningham).

 

Groton Country Club Regarding Golf Simulator Presentation

Mr. Rod Van Guilder of the Groton Country Club stated he wanted to meet with the Board to present the indoor golf facility operating at the Groton Country Club.  Mr. Van Guilder stated he was leasing the facility from the Authority; he had bought two simulators and had been open for one month.  Mr. Van Guilder gave a detailed description of the simulator and its capabilities.  The Board thanked Mr. Van Guilder and wished him luck on his endeavor.

 

EMS/Fire Fighter Replacement

Mr. Cunningham moved to fill the vacancy of a fulltime Firefighter/EMT.  Seconded by Mr. Saball.  Unanimous vote.

 

Review Town Meeting timeline and Open Warrant

Ms. Wood moved that the Board Open the Warrant for Article submission for the Annual Town Meeting to be held on April 26, 2004 and to close the warrant Thursday, March 4, 2004 at Noon.  Seconded by Mr. Cunningham.  Unanimous vote.

 

Review/Approve Memorandum of Understanding between Service Employees

International Union (SEIU) Local 888 and Town of Groton

Mr. Cunningham moved to execute the Memorandum of Understanding between the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 888 and the Town of Groton for the contract operations of the Groton Dunstable Regional High School Drinking Water Facility.  Seconded by Ms. Wood.  Unanimous vote.

 

Review Regular Session Minutes of January 5, 2004

Ms. Wood moved to approve the Regular Session Minutes of January 5, 2004.  Seconded by Mr. Dillon.  4 in favor – 1 abstention (Hartnett).

 

Review Executive Session Minutes of January 5, 2004

Mr. Cunningham moved to approve the Executive Session Minutes of January 5, 2004.  Seconded by Ms. Wood.  4 in favor – 1 abstention (Hartnett)

 

Review Executive Session #1 Minutes of January 12, 2004

Ms. Wood moved to approve the Executive Session #1 Minutes of January 12, 2004 as amended.  Seconded by Mr. Cunningham.  4 in favor – 1 abstention (Hartnett)

 

Review Executive Session #2 Minutes of January 12, 2004

Mr. Cunningham moved to approve the Executive Session #2 Minutes of January 12, 2004.  Seconded by Mr. Saball.  4 in favor – 1 abstention (Hartnett)

 

Review Executive Session #3 Minutes of January 12, 2004

Mr. Cunningham moved to approve the Executive Session #3 Minutes of January 12, 2004.  Seconded by Mr. Saball.  4 in favor – 1 abstention (Hartnett)

 

Administrative Officer Update

Ms. Kitchen reviewed her AO Report stating she had met with Doris Chojnowski of GELD and an engineer regarding the lighting.  Ms. Kitchen stated Mr. Dillon had drafted a letter to the ZBA regarding Groton Residential Gardens and requested comments from the Board.  Ms. Kitchen stated Ms. Jane Bouvier had invited the Board to appear on her show "Around Town" on April 14, 2004.

 

Selectmen Liaison Updates

Mr. Hartnett stated Ms. Wood had prepared an Annual Report draft and requested the members send any suggestions or changes to Maria Casey by tomorrow.

Mr. Dillon asked Ms. Kitchen if a meeting had been set up with the banks, he asked for two options for meeting time, Thursday or Friday.

Ms. Wood stated she would like to invite the Town Government Study Committee to present its report.   Ms. Wood also wished to thank Mr. Kevin McKenzie and Mr. Al Collins respectively for letters they had written.

Mr. Cunningham stated he had met last Thursday with the School District and there are some hard choices which are going to have to be made.  Mr. Cunningham stated he did not believe an override would be a viable option this year.

 

Mr. Cunningham moved adjourn at 9:30 p.m.  Seconded by Mr. Dillon.  Unanimous vote.

 

 

 

                                                                                    ______________________________

Approved:  _____________________________        Respectfully submitted,

                      John L. Saball, Clerk                                    Kathleen Newell, Office Assistant

 

Date Approved:  March 1, 2004