The Selectmen named three members to the Town Administrator search committee. Each selectman nominated one individual at the suggestion of Denis Keohane. They are Leroy Walker (nominated by Hurley), Kevin Keating (nominated by Sweeney), and Bill White (nominated by Denis Keohane). These three will be joined by John Carroll, a Milton resident and current General Manager for the town of Norwood, and an appointee to be named from the Government Review Committee.
In addition the Selectmen will retain a consultant to assist the committee. This individual will likely be tasked with assisting in reaching out and identifying potential candidates. The search committee will conduct the interviews. The board agreed that the next step is to clearly define the consultants responsibilities. They will then select from a group of candidates that interim Town Administrator Annmarie Fagan is putting together.
The board also met with Town Planner Bill Clark and Building Inspector Joe Prondak to discuss the demolition of the Hendries building. Hurley apprised the group of a tour he had taken of the building which he characterized as “very enlightening . . . very dark . . . and very scary.” There are holes in the ceiling and floor. He described where the steel had rusted through. When asked by Prondak on buildings risks, Prondak said the portion owned by Connelly was higher risk than that owned by town. However, he did acknowledge that the town’s portion was most susceptible to wind damage. The MBTA was brought into the process and Prondak said they are assessing what specifically will need to be attended to regarding T service. It is clear that the trolley service will need to be suspended and that buses will run in their stead. At some point Central Ave and Eliot Street will need to be closed. The sequence and duration of all of this is yet to be determined. Prondak estimated that he could have a draft RFP within a couple of days from when he hears back from the T on their requirements.
Hearing this Keohane said, “We need to get it down.” How the town will finance their portion of it is yet to be determined. It may need to come out of the reserve fund according to Hurley.
The Selectmen were also informed by Mr. Clark that earlier in the evening the Planning Board had voted to deny Mr. Connelly a special permit for his proposal. The board had also voted to deny the bonus. Both votes were 3-1 to deny with Member Lynch voting not to deny the permit.
In other business the Selectmen voted an MWRA rate increase of 7.85% retroactive to July 1, 2012 that will be applied across all 4 rate tiers. They also discussed the need for the town to have a formal motor vehicle policy. At the moment there is none and town employees who have town vehicles can use them for whatever they want. Member Sweeney said that he expected employees would welcome such a policy. It will be taken up at their next meeting.