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BOARD OF SELECTMENMINUTES

JANUARY 19, 2010

Present: Mary Blanchard, ChairmanScott GarieriHal White

Thomas CreamerMichael Racicot, Town Administrator

Ted Goodwin was absent.

The Chairman called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. following the Pledge of Allegiance.

MOTION: To convene in executive session under MGL Chapter 39, 23B, Paragraph#3: To discuss strategy with respect to collective bargaining or litigation;to reconvene in open session, by S. Garieri.

2nd: H. White

Roll call vote: H. White in favor; T. Creamer in favor; M. Blanchard in favor; S.Garieri in favor.

The Board reconvened in open session at 7:10 p.m.

Attorney Joel Bard, Kopelman and Paige

J. Bard reviewed the Supreme Court Judicial decision in the case of District Attorney for theNorthern District v. School Committee of Wayland regarding staff evaluation procedures.Employee work evaluations are exempt from public disclosure under the public records law,G.L. c. 66, 10, pursuant to G.L. c. 4, 7, Twenty-sixth (c).

J. Bard noted that the Open Meeting Law was significantly rewritten, and will take effect onJuly 1, 2010. Town Counsel is working with the Attorney Generals Office to reach a commonunderstanding of this and other provisions before July 1, 2010.

Recreation Committee Recreation Fields Design

Lynne Girouard, Recreation Coordinator and Al Jones, Chairman of the Recreation Committeeand Mary Lou Volpe of the Recreation Committee appeared before the Board. They requestedthat the Board review the information they submitted regarding the proposal ofWaterfield/Crowe for the design of the Town Recreation Fields and accept theirrecommendation.

T. Creamer stated that he was encouraged that the plans favored natural turf, as opposed toartificial surfaces. L. Girouard said that there were pros and cons to both. A. Jones said thatthey would rather put the money into drainage and go with natural turf.

T. Creamer expressed concern about maintaining the fields, citing the Towns somewhat poorhistory with overall maintenance. L. Girouard said that some communities charge usage feeswhich go into an account for maintenance. A. Jones said that the Sports Booster Club couldraise money for improvement of the fields.

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T. Creamer suggested that they ask the people at Waterfield/Crowe to produce an electroniccopy of their design to put on the Town website, in secure PDF form, which would be a greatway to generate support within the community.

MOTION: That the Board of Selectmen adopt the proposal of Waterfield/Crowe forthe Recreational Fields, for a fee not to exceed $100,000, by H. White.

2nd: S. GarieriVote: All in favor.

Approval of Minutes

MOTION: To approve the minutes of December 7, 2009 as amended, by H. White.

2nd: T. Creamer

Vote: All in favor.

MOTION: To approve the minutes of December 14, 2009 as amended, by T. Creamer.

2nd: H. White

Vote: All in favor.

MOTION: To approve the minutes of January 4, 2010 as amended, by T. Creamer.

2nd: H. White

Vote: All in favor.

MOTION: To approve the minutes of January 11, 2010 as amended, by H. White.

2nd: T. Creamer

Vote: All in favor.

Town Administrators Update

Financial:

M. Racicot informed the Board that he has been working with staff and departments on thevarious budgets. He noted that there are various assumptions that need to be made,especially on the expense side, as some of the numbers are not known at this time. Revenueis also based upon best estimates, especially regarding State Aid. He gave Barbara Barry,Finance Director, a lot of credit for all of the work she had put into it, and for her patience.

M. Racicot said that he had signed the contract for the technology park water line and workedon the notice to proceed. He noted that the project should start in the early spring.

M. Racicot said that as part of the Town Hall project, there continue to be items which wereunforeseen or which require attention beyond the initial contract. These changes are carefullyreviewed by the Town Hall Building Committee and brought forward after their affirmative vote.

MOTION: To approve Change Order #8 in the amount of $25,154.93 as recommendedby the Town Hall/Center Office Building Committee, and have the TownAdministrator execute the necessary documents, by S. Garieri.

2nd: H. White



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Vote: All in favor.

M. Racicot has been gathering and providing documentation for borrowing on the loanauthorizations authorized at the last Special Town Meeting, as required by Bond Counsel.

M. Racicot said that the Mass. Highway representative notified him that though theCommonwealth does not require designer services to follow the procurement process, the

Federal government does; therefore, it will be necessary to advertise for design services forthe Grand Trunk Trail project in order to have it funded through a grant.

M. Racicot received notification from DEP that the Wastewater Treatment Plant improvementproject documentation has met their guidelines in order to qualify for stimulus funding. Hethanked Greg Morse, DPW Director, Ian Catlow of Tighe and Bond and Rick Holland ofKopelman and Paige for their solid work on this matter. He noted that the contracts with R.H.White fall within the deadlines.

Personnel:

M. Racicot met with the Department Heads for their annual performance reviews. He notedthat Sturbridge is very lucky to have high caliber staff working for the citizens, and said that heenjoyed the opportunity to work with them. He said that as part of the performance evaluationprocess, they discussed possible staffing needs in several of the departments. Sturbridgeneeds to take a good, hard look at the services it provides and whether more staff will benecessary to continue these services. T. Creamer noted that at least one Department Headwas missing from the document provided, and asked about the status of that performancereview. M. Racicot indicated that the Department Head in question was on vacation when thereviews were conducted, and that it would be completed shortly.

Legal:

M. Racicot continued to prepare the list of articles for the Annual Town Meeting. He submittedto the Board the first draft.

M. Racicot received a response from Metro PCS on a draft lease for a cell tower on Townproperty. He is researching possible zoning questions with the Town Planner, and discussingproposed locations with the DPW Director.

M. Racicot responded to public record requests from various union organizations for theprojects going on in Town, which was a significant draw on administrative time.

General Government:

M. Racicot attended the Town Hall Building Committee meeting, and spent considerable timeworking on details of fiber optic connection between the Center Office Building and Town Hall,and how to make it happen in the most efficient way. He went up onto the Town Hall roof toreview the suitability of the sheathing to support the new slate.

M. Racicot received a request from A-1 Parts Inc. and the Hamilton Rod & Gun Club to holdmotorcycle ice races on their property from 10 a.m. until sunset.

MOTION: To allow motorcycle ice racing on Sundays at the Hamilton Rod and Gun



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Club property from 10 a.m. until hour after sunset, January through March 7, 2010 asdetailed in the letter dated November 10, 2009 from A-1 Parts Inc., by S.Garieri.

2nd: H. White

Vote: All in favor.

M. Racicot said that the Cable TV Advisory Committee held a meeting with a representative ofCharter Communications to negotiate the renewal contract details. They presented a list ofrequests in response to Charters Jan. 9 proposed contract. They agreed on some details, andwill be receiving a revised draft contract along with the dollar impacts of the requests. T.Creamer said that he would like to see the proposal contract language and have the Boardweigh in on it several weeks in advance of the final vote of the Board.

M. Racicot received a request from the Northern Bass Association for a special fishing event inthe spring.

MOTION: To allow a bass fishing event on Alum Pond from 6 a.m. until 3 p.m. onMay 16, 2010 as detailed in the application dated January 4, 2010 from

Michael Bessette of Southwick, by S. Garieri.2nd: H. White

Vote: All in favor.

M. Racicot said that the process has begun for preparing the 2009 Town Report, and JudyKnowles will be dedicating considerable time to the effort.

M. Racicot attended the Burgess School Building Committee meeting. They are working onthe various building and site details at this time, with the architect and consultants heavilyinvolved in the actual design. They covered topics such as environmental requirements,utilities, site work constraints, existing trees, heating and cooling and wiring.

Correspondence

T. Creamer commented on the letter of complaint from Bob and Melissa Evans regarding ahome viewing by a public official at their home on McGregoryRoad. He noted that the publicofficial was there in uniform in an official vehicle during working hours. He considered it to bea failure in policy by the Town and not specifically the individual involved, and suggested therebe a policy to let town employees know that when they are on duty, they should refrain fromputting themselves in situations where a resident could misconstrue the situation. Hesuggested that the Board implement a policy stating that during the course of a regular workday, when town employees are in uniform and in an official vehicle, they should refrain fromattempting these types of appointments so that people are not confused by their presence.

M. Racicot said that as soon as Mr. Evans had come into the office and complained, he wentto the Fire Chief and asked him what had happened. He said that Chief Senecal had beenwearing a sweatshirt with the Sturbridge Fire Department logo on it. The incident had takenplace late in the afternoon. He noted that the Fire Chief is never off duty. M. Racicotexplained to him that in the future he should not wear clothing with the Fire Dept. logo in sucha situation. Chief Senecal did not write anything up when at the Evans home; it was merely aninspection for the benefit of his brother-in-law, who was interested in purchasing the home.



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T. Creamer noted that nothing was said or done by the Chief that was detrimental. Theresident was unable to determine whether or not he was making an official pronouncement.He felt that it was inappropriate for a Town employee to be in that situation.

H. White suggested having the Personnel Committee take it up. H. White felt that the Boardshould not have to write a policy for every single issue that comes up, but agreed that this wassomething that the Personnel Committee should consider. M. Blanchard agreed. M. Racicot

noted that municipal staff also have certain rights, and Chief Senecal had not committed anegregious violation. T. Creamer said that the resident expressed concern about whatappeared to be misuse of an official position. M. Blanchard said that M. Racicot did not feelthat an apology was necessary, and he had answered the homeowner. T. Creamerapologized to Mr. Evans, that he did not get a better response from the Town Administrator.

M. Blanchard noted that there had been a question regarding the senior municipal serviceprogram. T. Creamer said that individuals are allowed to resubmit an application and work offan additional amount up to $750, and wondered if it were possible to allow separateapplications per senior household. M. Racicot said that if a couple were to apply for theprogram, they could get up to $750 off their taxes, not $1500. However, they could split the

work hours between the two of them.

Old Business

T. Creamer asked whether all of the members of the Board of Selectmen had seen and readTown Counsels opinion that was issued on September 7, 2009 regarding the conflict ofinterest issue. S. Garieri, M. Blanchard and H. White all indicated that they had been incustody of the legal opinion since it was first released. He asked why up until January 13,2010 there had been no disclosures filed by them regarding this particular issue, asrecommended by Town Counsel.

M. Racicot said that he had received Town Counsels opinion in email form on September 7

th

(Labor Day), so the members of the Board did not receive it on the Friday before the meeting

on September 8th. He submitted copies of the opinion to the Selectmen on Sept. 8th. T.Creamer said that there has been an ongoing discussion regarding M. Blanchards conflict, butM. Racicot never reminded the Board that they had Town Counsels opinion. M. Racicot saidthat he never referred to it because it was never questioned. T. Creamer reminded him thathe has been questioning this process since the very beginning.

M. Racicot further stated that he sought this opinion himself; it was not requested by CharlesBlanchard, it was not requested by Mary Blanchard, the Chairman of this Board. He did itbecause he felt it was necessary to protect the interests of the community and to know exactlywhere we stand and to find that out from Town Counsel. T. Creamer then questioned why M.Blanchard had indicated on September 24 that she had not seen an opinion from TownCounsel. M. Blanchard said that this opinion was not new to her, and that she had receivedthe same opinion from State Ethics; she would have to recuse herself from anything involvingher husband. T. Creamer asked if she had that in writing. M. Blanchard said no. She saidthat there was no conflict of interest in choosing the first Town Administrator SearchCommittee, since at that time she didnt know whether her husband was going to apply or not.

After he had applied, she had nothing to do with the search from then on. On Sept. 8th whenthe Search Committee came before the Board, she was ready to recuse herself. The SearchCommittee did not present any candidates that evening, so the applications remained in the



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Judy Knowles

____________________________BOS Clerk Date


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