Board of Selectmen Meeting February 19, 2013 Hatfield Memorial Town Hall Approved: March 5, 2013

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1 Board of Selectmen Meeting February 19, 2013 Hatfield Memorial Town Hall Approved: March 5, 2013 Jan Joseph Adamski, Chairman Marcus J. Boyle, Selectman Phil Genovese, Director Department of Public Works Paul Boudreau, Town Administrator Chairman Adamski opened the meeting at 9:10AM. PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENTS Selectman Boyle reminded that the Zoning Board of Appeals public hearing is Weds at 6:30PM at Smith Academy. The Board of Selectmen has a range of appointments for various committees and boards and Selectman Boyle encouraged people to apply by the end of March. PVPC will hold a public hearing March 19th regarding an update to the town s Community Development Strategy, a requirement for a Center School grant application. He welcomed input. COMMUNITY FORUM N/A MINUTES Vote: Selectman Boyle moved to approve the Board of Selectmen Meeting minutes of Chairman Adamski seconded. Approved. POSTED BUSINESS: Town Accountant Management Letter Status Report Selectman Boyle prefaced this topic by explaining that the Board asked Mr. Lyons, Town Accountant to come and update where he is in addressing the recent audit findings. Mike Lyons, Town Accountant said in regards to the readaheads he didn t mean to imply he would have all this done, but instead wanted to give an update. Mr. Lyons went over several topics saying for most of them, he either has a procedure set up or has them done except for number 8 accounting financial policies and procedure manual Internal control program he gave this to Mr. Scanlon, who was satisfied with it. He said he is halfway through policy procedure for the treasurer, collector, and assessor because they handle receipt of money. When this is finished he will do the risk assessment report. After that he can prioritize monitoring in the future. Mr. Lyons related that the GASB (Government Accounting Standards Board) 45 and 54 are all set. Contracts and bids procedures are in place, Grant awards folks need to send copies in to Mr. Lyons when issued, and/or finalized He is meeting with Marie Chmura, Town Collector, Brenda Kempisty and Ron Williams, Food Services Dept. Enterprise direct costs this is done Capital assets is a project for Jenni Williams, who will go back through invoices and check for capital items. Timely submission of balance sheet for Schedule A Mr. Lyons said this looks good for FY13. Reconciliation procedures are in place so he hopefully won t spend too much time after finishing paying the last bills in July, balance sheet by 9/30 and Schedule A by Oct 31 of 14. Selectman Boyle discussed Schedule A with Mr. Lyons. Mr. Lyons said this is an electronic filing. He will finish this work while in Florida. Selectman Boyle said the DOR says that this is critical. The snow and ice report is done. Balance sheet Mr. Lyons said some was sent electronically to Terry Williams, DOR. However, he is also going to Florida for a week. 1

2 Free cash - this is not yet certified Mr. Lyons said it will be done within 2 weeks. Selectman Boyle asked about free cash certification to which Mr. Lyons responded that it would be at least 445k. Mr. Lyons is going to bring some paperwork to him which cannot be sent electronically. Chairman Adamski said the first part of March for free cash and Mr. Lyons agreed. Mr. Lyons will come back the 13 th with a completed Schedule A. Mr. Lyons will get a copy of the Internal Management control program to Selectman Boyle. Accounting policy manual Selectman Boyle pointed out that this has been around since way back, around Mr. Lyons suggested the latter part of April to have this done. Once this is done it s done, except for monitoring. It was decided that Mr. Lyons would come back for the board meeting of April 19 th. The Board thanked Mr. Lyons for his report. FY14 Capital/Operating Budget Issues Selectman Boyle said we ve identified the way ahead, listening to various groups and we re mostly in synch with the Finance Committee which met Thurs night. They have a couple of questions but no major disconnects. He suggested meeting next Tuesday to go over this as we have nothing today to move forward with. Mr. Boudreau said he will hopefully get information from Ms. Slysz by next Tuesday and send something to the Finance Committee in advance of the March 5th meeting with them. We need to go forward with bundling debt since we are not getting the CRF loan for the water main project. Regarding the state budget, the governor has presented his budget but we are waiting to see what the House has to say. Selectman Boyle proposes that Mr. Boudreau use the information from Ms. Slysz and run the numbers to see what adjustments we ll have to make in the timing of capital projects. Then we can forward our position on to the Finance Committee in advance of the joint meeting. Warrant Articles Selectman Boyle questioned article 5 but Mr. Boudreau said this came from Louise Slysz so these are good numbers. Selectman Boyle questioned the Bridge St project. Chairman Adamski said we ve got 1.4 mil which hasn t been used. Selectman Boyle said we re not talking about real money because this was an authorization not an appropriation. This is to rescind those unused authorizations. The Board discussed other monies with Selectman Boyle explaining that Mr. Lyons has a list of closed out projects with amounts of money still available, i.e. tailings. Chairman Adamski asked if that has to go to town meeting. Selectman Boyle said the Board can act on those. Mr. Boudreau said the 03 funds the Selectmen can do but the capital project tailings need town meeting action. Selectman Boyle said we need to deal with capital project tailings which can be used for comparable projects. Article 7 Selectman Boyle asked if there is language to use such as as on file with town clerk. The Planning Board had drafted a mixed use article, there was a public hearing. Selectman Boyle said it s the same thing with the solar bylaw - there should be some decision tomorrow night. Article 11 Mr. Boudreau said you can put in a sum of money and amend the article from the floor at town meeting. Overlay surplus funds might be used to cover senior and vets work off program. Mr. Boudreau suggested the certified Board of Assessors overlay surplus be used, or for other capital projects. He talked with Mr. Genovese regarding the highway garage roof which could maybe be less than 50k. Selectman Boyle said he d thought Mr. Bob Wagner had brought in the CPA articles. Numbers are blank. Mr. Boudreau said he did. This is a first cut and he has to get together with the town accountant to figure out their balances. Mr. Boudreau said the following page listed certain projects already approved. Some projects have not been decided on yet. Mr. Boudreau said the windows not on there. Article 16 Selectman Boyle asked if this is something the board wants to continue to pursue. He explained to viewers that the Board was looking at a rough warrant of articles for town meeting. He talked briefly about C&S truck traffic and agreed upon changes which came out of earlier meetings: a change to ship-to address, more lighting and signage. MA Dept. of Transportation doesn t usually support putting up signs but our DPW has worked at this and DOT has approved 2 signs which should be a big help. C&S has agreed to pay for the signs. 2

3 Mr. Genovese said changing their address is up to them though, not the town. He suggested taking it off the warrant until next year to see if the signs work. Chairman Adamski asked if anyone knows how to get the GPS system corrected. He said truck drivers should have truck GPS. Chestnut St Bridge is posted by the State. Selectman Boyle said we need to coordinate with C&S. Chairman Adamski and Selectman Boyle agree with Mr. Genovese on holding off. Selectman Boyle suggested deferring this one. Selectman Boyle asked Mr. Boudreau if he needs something from Mr. Genovese. Mr. Boudreau some numbers are just placeholders. Article 18 Mr. Boudreau said is all set. Article 19 Selectman Boyle asked if there s still a question about what goes in this one. Mr. Boudreau said he needs to coordinate with Bill O Neil. He needs to find out: 1. who issues the permit, and 2. who is the enforcement authority on this. The bylaw that was passed is silent on both these issues. Selectman Boyle said the town clerk has the attorney general s comments. Mr. Boudreau has these comments. Article 20 Mr. Boudreau got from the town clerk last week regarding fines issued by the animal control officer. These can be no less than $50. So we ll have to amend the bylaws to address this. Selectman Boyle asked what Attorney O Neil said. Mr. Boudreau said one dealt with setbacks and side-yards and another talked about the right to farm which applies to commercial, not hobby farms. Mr. Boudreau noted this is actually a pet. Chairman Adamski said some people would maybe want a half dozen chickens and you can t tell people they can t do it because they re not full time farmers. Mr. Boudreau said zoning amendments are among the things we re talking about so that should be the Planning Board. Selectman Boyle said we need to look at sequencing articles. They re supposed to be all in by now. Mr. Boudreau pulled out the medical marijuana issue. The Board of Health will be discussing this at their next meeting. Selectman Boyle said establishing local controls about restrictions/guidance cigarette sales can be used as a model. Classification Management: Committee Letters were sent out to folks who worked on the classification study. Mr. Boudreau said if 4 people are willing to serve then he would be the 5 th on the committee. He is waiting to hear back from them. C & S Truck Issue/ MassWorks Application DPW will take care of these. A debrief will be done on the 25 th since Massworks was not supported. Next Tues. 8AM will be a working session for the Board of Selectmen. Ambulance Abatements Mr. Boudreau said he is trying to get abatement policies and has attached a policies form for the Town of Medway. Vote: Selectman Boyle moved to approve an ambulance abatement in the amount of $ for January Chairman Adamski seconded. Approved. REPORTS: DPW Director Sewer & Water Abatement Mr. Genovese recommended an abatement because of a faulty meter. Vote: Selectman Boyle moved to approve an abatement in the amount of $ for 65 Main St. Chairman Adamski seconded. Approved. DPW pulled the meter out of the building and the company has replaced it. Mr. Genovese congratulated the DPW crews who worked through the blizzard. He said he drove elsewhere and Hatfield roads were some of the best. He congratulated the guys for hard work and long hours. Chairman Adamski said to keep up the good work. Selectman Boyle asked about the MIIA loss inspection control report items for DPW to which Mr. Genovese replied that most of the items on the report were cleaned up. Selectman Boyle asked about the tree program. Mr. Genovese said a letter will go out this week. 3

4 Rocks Road Plowing Mr. Genovese said Williamsburg has no problem with Mr. Aquadro doing the street but we won t change the agreement in case Williamsburg has to go plow that road. Mr. Aquadro came to see Mr. Boudreau last week and was informed that the town is not officially changing the agreement and he was happy with that. Selectman Boyle asked about the equipment repair question. Mr. Genovese requested this be taken up at a working session. Selectman Boyle said ok. The town mechanic and Chief Belden should look over the s. This item is to go on the agenda. Town Administrator IT Support Contract with HCOG (Hampshire IT) Mr. Boudreau brought to the Board s attention an from HCOG and Paragus. The town s current contract with Paragus expires at the end of this month. The old contract was a good deal for the town. This contract is not to be offered anymore so we will do better with the HCOG program. A question was raised regarding an HCOG and Paragus pricing discrepancy and Mr. Boudreau explained there is a difference in pricing for new vs. current clients. The more communities join the more the rate goes down. Hatfield would be the 3 rd to join - Hampshire COG and the Town of Hadley being the other two current members. Selectman Boyle said Westhampton will also join. Mr. Boudreau said this should then cost us less. He has had HCOG draw up a contract which is now ready for signatures as town counsel has reviewed and is fine with it. Selectman Boyle asked about the period of the contract which Mr. Boudreau said is 1 year. Selectman Boyle asked if there is a withdrawal option and Mr. Boudreau responded that there is a severability clause upon 30 days prior written notice. Vote: Selectman Boyle moved to approve the contract with HCOG and Paragus as submitted. Chairman Adamski seconded. Approved. Renovation Projects Town Hall plans are proceeding - schematic designs have been approved. Mr. Boudreau anticipates this going out to April 1 st. This is Phase 1 or, what was approved at town meeting, to build out some offices and a handicapped bathroom. Mr. Boudreau said there is not enough money to do the elevator. Mr. Boudreau said we need to replace windows in the gym area before construction. The application is in with CPC for the windows. Regarding sprinklers we don t have to do this in Phase 1 but if the elevator goes in this will trigger the sprinkler requirement which would be another 2-300k. Mr. Boudreau said substantial completion date for Phase 1 would be October. Selectman Boyle said we re packaging something for town meeting for Phase 2 to include HVAC and the elevator. Mr. Boudreau said the schematics are approved for the town hall garage. This will go out to bid around April 1 st as well. He said we ll see how the bids come in. A public hearing for Center School will be 3/19 regarding a study for best use and associated costs. Cable Station Manager Mr. Boudreau said 2 applications were received for the station manager position: John Novak and Tyler Geis. No official action has been taken on this yet but it will happen probably later today. Vote: Selectman Boyle moved to accept the resignation of Paul Duval from the Cable Access Committee. Chairman Adamski seconded. Approved. Chairman Adamski asked that Mr. Boudreau send a letter thanking him for his service. Selectman Boyle commented on a note from PVPC asking for updates to the Hatfield Town Profile and we do want copies upon publication. We ve closed the loop on CPA to restore the front of the Congregational Church. He said the preservation agreement finally has been completed. This is a lesson learned. Ms. Slysz gave Mr. Novak 6 or 7 board/committee vacancies to run on the scroll. Opportunities are also to be put on the website. 4

5 Selectman Boyle said he had provided comments on the Community Development Strategy. Chairman Adamski said the Board will meet Tuesday at 8am to go over budget figures. Vote: Selectman Boyle moved to adjourn. Chairman Adamski seconded. Meeting ended 10:14AM. Respectfully submitted, Ki J. Eno Town Secretary 5