by Frank Schroth

At their session on 4/3 The Board of Selectmen approved two contracts for the newly appointed Town Administrator, received an update on two additional recommendations from Rick Neely, Chair of the Government Review Committee, and discussed the status of the Hendries building with Town Planner, Bill Clark.

Member Bob Sweeney was “delighted” to make a motion to approve 2 contracts for Ms. Annmarie Fagan, the Town Administrator. One is for the balance of the current fiscal year and the second is a 3 year contract (July 1, 2013 – June 30, 2016). The first year of the contract pays $150,641.96. The salary may be adjusted for the subsequent years at the anniversary date but will not be less than that amount. The contracts were approved unanimously.

Rick Neely presented the Selectmen with two additional recommendations the Governement Review Committee are suggesting: 10 add an alternate member to the Planning Board. The committee’s principal reason for this is that the with the increased number of special permits the board is receiving and the requirements that 1) a permit requires 4 of 5 votes and b) a member cannot miss more than one hearing date that an alternate member reduces the risk that a hearing will be compromised by a lack of members eligible to vote. The board has had two recent hearings that were at risk of being jeopardized. The Hendries special permit had only 4 voting members when Pete Jackson stepped off the board and Mike Kelly was elected. Mr. Kelly could not vote as he had not been on the board when the hearing commenced. A hearing on a development on Hillside also had only 4 eligible members as Mr Whiteside recused himself from that hearing as he lived in the neighborhood of the property in question. The hearing needed to be postponed on at least one occasion when a second member of the board was absent. The Government Review Committee is recommending that there be an appointed 6th member who would attend all meetings and participate but would only vote if an elected member were absent for whatever reason. Mr. Neely noted that the Planning Board was not in favor of the idea. He said they did not feel it necessary and if  a member were to be added that the member be elected. The Selectmen discussed meeting directly with the Planning Board to discuss the issue. Neely said that they Gov’t Review Committee had hoped to meet with the Planning Board but that their respective schedules were such that they could not find a mutually convenient time.

The second recommendation requests that the Town Clerk make an aggressive effort through media channels etc to encourage residents to run for town meeting. Mr. Neely cited that there were some precincts in last election that were uncontested. A second concern was how well informed town meeting members were prior to town meeting. There was not a specific recommendation on this but there was discussion of ways to improve upon preparing town meeting members for town meeting and issues to be taken up. Neely said that the committee had discussed reducing the size of town meeting, perhps by 10%, if there were not sufficient candidates going forward; but that it was premature to make that call now. They also looked at alternate forms of government. Weymouth, Braintree, and Randolph have all moved away from Town Meeting. However, the committee continues to believe town meeting is the most democratic form of government and still is the best for Milton if enough residents run for office.

The Selectmen also discussed the most recent proposal of a 40B development for the Hendries site with Bill Clark, Town Planner. Mr. Clark asked the board to draft a letter asking for the comment period to be extended. Though it was mentioned that no one is sure when or if the comment period has commenced. Mr. Clark has not received a notice from Mass Housing. Typically a notice is sent to the town. This was the case with the pending development on Brush Hill Road. Regardless, Mr. Clark said he would need some time to collate the issues. The builidng is big and the developer is seeking waivers for height, set backs and use. Clark noted that there is a pending enforcement order from the Conservation Commission regarding the tree that was removed. The largest sticking point is whether or not the application can even be filed at this time. Typically there is a 1 year cooling off period between the time an application is denied (as was the case with the developer’s last proposal) and a 40B application is filed as a 40B application can be viewed as retaliatory. Former Planning Board member Pete Jackson spoke during Citizens Speak portion of the meeting and voiced this concern. Clark confirmed that there is a twelve month moratorium. The Connellys, the applicants, were denied their special permit application last August. What makes this confusing is that the Connellys formed an LLC and it is this entity that filed the 40B. According to Clark, an LLC is required to file a 40B. The previous entity was Carrick Realty Trust. As member Keohane noted the question is whether the 12 month moratorium applies to the entity or to the individuals within the entity. That issue needs to be resolved in consultation with Town Counsel. In the meantime the board agreed on extending the comment period. Mr. Sweeney reiterated his desire to see the building taken down and a solution put up that everyone is happy with. Mr. Hurley said the site was a prime location for smart growth and that affordable housing on the site made sense, though he did not endorse a 7 story building.