At the 7/13 session of the Board of Selectmen members of the America Legion Post reiterated their disappointment with the town opposing them in their effort to resolve their dispute with SBA Communications. Specifically they took issue with town funds being expended on Town Counsel. It’s a long story.
Attorney Robert O’Leary, one time Town Counsel himself, is representing the Legion. He reviewed the history of dispute. In short, SBA failed to renew their permit in accordance with the town bylaws. SBA filed for renewal late and continued to operate the tower. O’Leary felt this was a “slam dunk” in terms of a ruling in favor of the Legion before the Board of Appeals. That did not prove to be the case. After a series of continuances the Board ruled in favor of SBA. The Legion appealed to the courts who recently ruled in favor of the Legion. Now SBA is appealing. This has been going on for over 2 years.
O’Leary requested relief from the Selectmen. O’Leary said we “don’t need a town lawyer in defense of a cell tower company” and asked that he be withdrawn from the case. He also asked that the town building inspector issue a notice that they terminate operation. This would give them 2 weeks to negotiate with the Legion on continuing to operate on their property. O’Leary cited the Legions charitable efforts and the fact that the court ruled in their favor as evidence that town counsel time on this was not justified. “You have to lean over backwards to take the SBA over the Legion on this.”
Selectman Shields said the issue was not the town opposing the Legion as much as it was defending a town board (in this case the Board of Appeals) in a dispute. While O’Leary argued the Board decision was “flagrantly in violation of the bylaws,” Shields argued that was not for the Selectmen to decide. It was a dispute between a town board and outside entity and the Selectmen were defending a town board as they always have done.
Other business included but was not limited to:
Citizens Speak: Brush Hill Road and Milton Street traffic issue
Time Kernan of the Brush Hill Neighborhood Association sat before the board during Citizen Speak to voice his concerns about traffic changes to the intersection of Brush Hill road and Neponset Valley Parkway. He expressed his belief that the neighborhood association had been excluded from the discussion, that changes were made without due process and that proper process had been circumvented as evident by installation of a stop sign at the corner of Brush Hill Road and Milton Streets. The sign was removed after a neighbor complained. In his prepared remarks Mr. Kernan said, “we need to see specific data, a clearly defined problem, and a proposal with a clear objective.” He emphasized that any changes to traffic patterns needed to be done in an open dialogue with neighborhood associations.
Chairman Sweeney stated that the DCR had not performed a promised traffic study. “It hasn’t occurred and they have been sitting on it.” He acknowledged that there are legitimate safety concerns and said there was not intent to exclude residents. Mearn added later that the situation has been going on for over 6 years and that “utmost attention[has happened] to make sure people have been involved . . . It has been an open process . . . and no other intersection has received this amount of attention.”
Ulin Rink
Representatives from Curry College appeared before the board to say that the Ulin Rink given current situation is financially unsustainable. Curry has made a number of cosmetic and infrastructure improvements that include painting the facility, adding logos (including ice logos), updating fixtures, adding new rubber mats, and improved insulation. Curry has invested $190,000 in capital improvements which is above contractual committment. They expect an operating loss of $129,000 in the first year and $116,000 in year 2.
Curry officials believe that expenses are being managed very effectively and state that the issue is a revenue issue. They cannot effectively grow revenue unless they have flexibility in managing the peak and off-peak hours for the various groups that come to the rink. They gave the example of a figure skating group that would like to reserve time but they cannot provide enough peak hours to satisfy the group. Chairman Sweeney was reluctant to do anything that would “water down” the contract. Administrator Mearn pointed out that solutions to financial issue were limited: return the rink to the DCR, have the town subsidize to get to break even, raise the fees, or change hours to include more groups. He believed that last option was best choice and that various groups could come to agreement. Curry pointed out that they were providing 245 hours of community skating which was in fact well above the 176 the DCR provided when they managed the rink. By all accounts Curry has done a very good job in managing the facility. They have extended the hours, opening earlier in the season and closing later in the year.
In addition to the lack of flexibility is the absence of a long-term lease. There are two pieces of legislation pending that would enable the DCR to grant a lease rather than the permit which is currently in effect. The permit can be pulled at any time. While this is highly unlikely, the fact remains that Curry is investing significant sums into a facility it could lose at any moment. This is the reason why Curry was one of only two parties to respond to the RFP issued to solicit a firm to manage the rink. The Selectmen agreed to contact local legislators in an effort to move this along.
Apology
An apology from Mr. Shields to Mr. Sweeney. Shields and Sweeney had different motions for accepting the Pulte proposal at their last meeting as Trustees of the Governor Stoughton Fund. After the meeting adjourned Mr. Shields used some salty language in expressing his frustration over the motion introduced by Mr. Sweeney. He acknowledged that there was no place for that and offered Mr. Sweeney a sincere apology which was accepted. Though on the agenda, the selectmen opted not to discuss the Governor Stoughton Trust at this meeting.