by Frank Schroth

The Board of Selectmen received updates and had discussions with a range of committee chairs and department heads at their meeting on Tuesday evening. These included Steve Morash of the Fire Space Study Committee, Joe Prondak, Building Inspector, Rick Neely of the Government Study Committee, Joe Lynch, Director of Public Works (related post here), and Kris Hodlin, Chair of the Library Board of Trustees (related post here). But two of the more interesting issues came up during Citizen Speak.

Steve Morash took advantage of Citizen Speak to alert the board regarding what he viewed as a public safety issue. He recounted an incident in which an individual claiming to be an electrical inspector for the town came to his home. When asked for an ID by Ms. Morash all he could produce was a drivers license and state ID. He had no town ID. The issue for Morash was having an individual request access to is home without proper proof. When Prondak sat down later that evening he said inspectors would have town IDs within two weeks. Chair Conlon asked that a “more global look” of all town departments be made regarding the issue.

Vivan Fleitman, along with daughters Sheryl and Beth, complained about the lack of action taken by the selectmen to address motorcycle noise in their neighborhood. She said if they did not do anything the Tucker Neigborhood Association would take over. Aaron Hatcher and his wife, residents of Brook Road, also spoke on the issue. He said that a neighbor with a loud cycle kept his daughter up late at night and asked what recourse he had to address the issue. He did not get a clear answer. During the Citizen Speak response portion of the meeting member Hurley said that motorcycles were allowed a certain decibel level and that if they passed inspection they were legal.

Steve Morash, Chair of the Fire Space Needs Committee, gave an update to the board. They discussed an RFI (request for information) that the committee has issued seeking input from companies with knowledge and expertise in the rehabilitation and construction of fire stations. One key question that the town will need to address, said Morash, is what the role of the Fire Department should be going forward. Will it be strictly fire suppression of will it include fire based EMS services. That decision will impact the design and functionality of the buildings. Member Hurley said “Our biggest problem is money.” The reconstruction would logically be funded through bonding. The town can only issue so many bonds. The strategy is sequence the bonds such that new bonds are issues as older bonds are retired. The committee is recommending 3 new stations in approximately same locations as existing stations. These locations enable apparatus to arrive in any part of town within acceptable response times. The committee looked at other town properties such as DPW yard but they will not meet the response times set for service. You can find the committee’s report here. Chair Conlon recommended setting up a process to solicit public opinion and input especially from people in the affected areas (i.e. Atherton, Canton Ave, East Milton)

Rick Neely, Chair of the Government Study Committee, reviewed items the committee is looking at and reiterated the committee’s support for recommendations made by the Department of Revenue (You can find their report here). Key among those was continuing to strengthen/broaden the authority of the Town Administrator to make day to day operational decisions and to have the Selectmen concentrate their efforts on more long term, strategic initiatives and policy. There was some discussion of expanding the board from 3 selectmen to 5. Neely said there are pros and cons to this. One con is that unless there is a corresponding shift in the Town Administrator’s responsibilities that having that function report to 5 rather than 3 members will over burden the position. A plus is that it provides more resource for work the current selectmen are doing and provides more balance in voting issues and would allow two members to talk offline without violating the open meeting law. There was agreement among the selectmen for the merit of centralizing more authority with the Town Administrator. However, transfer of certain responsibilities will require a charter change. Neely said the committee agrees with DOR on more centralized financial management, possibly a CFO and audit committee as well as performing a 3-5 year financial plan. The latter is underway. Possible consolidation of town functions is being looked at (i.e. Cemetery, Parks & Rec and DPW) with an eye toward more efficient use of resources. The committee is also recommending a thorough review and rewrite as appropriate of the town bylaw which Neely said was “long overdue.” Chair Colon asked that the committee look at the composition of the Capital Improvement Committee. The Library Board of Trustees has an article for fall town meeting requesting representation on the committee. Conlon noted other departments may seek the same and thought that more citizen representation might be worth looking at.  The board also informed Neely that Phil Matthews has been appointed to his committee.

Joe Prondak, Building Inspector, acknowledged that he was not as prepared as he would have liked to be due to some computer malfunction that resulted on faulty reporting. He mentioned some new housing starts (e.g. site of Woman’s Club) and other developments such as the hospice facility which has broken ground at corner of Reedsdale and Randolph Avenue. Member Keohane asked Prondak about enforcement of unregistered vehicles which he said there were an inordinate number of in his neighborhood. Prondak said resources did not permit going out and identifying such vehicles but that the office did respond to all calls reporting suspected unregistered vehicles.

There was a brief discussion of 0 Central Avenue, the town-owned portion of the Hendries building. The bid for demolition came in almost $100K higher than what selectmen had budgeted. Member Keohane said that the bid was “overpriced by $200K” and noted that 10 firms had taken out packets but only one was returned. He spoke with a Rhode Island firm that informed him that the seven day requirement to have the building down was one they did not think the could commit to. Keohane suggested that they revise the RFP and reissue it with the hope of obtaining additional bids. Member Hurley, sounding  aggravated, said that he would like to see more bids given the one received was so high. He said he probably vote not to accept the bid “as it is so much higher”. As it happened the the Conservation Commission was meeting downstairs at the same time to discuss demolition with Carrick Realty and the town. Joe Prondak, who was present at the meeting earlier in the evening, reported that the commission had asked for more information regarding the actual demolition plan and removal of hazardous materials. This would be supplied by the demolition company. The town has not contracted with a firm. Neither has Carrick Realty according to Steve Connelly. He said they are in discussions with Regional Industrial Services Corporation, the firm that bid on the town RFP, but to date no agreement has been signed. The Conservation Commission will be meeting with the town and Carrick again on September 9th. The selectmen will likely return to the issue when they meet next week. They went into executive session to discuss the matter.

Lastly, the selectmen also met briefly as Governor Stoughton Trustees. They authorized an increase in funding for further archeological study of the site. This stems from a request from the Massachusetts Historical Society for more information. The original study was budgeted at $8,300. This amount was split between Pulte and the town. The request it for an additional $12,836.20 for a revised total of $21,136 to be split by town and Pulte. The amount the each will contribute is $10,568.10. The purpose of the study is to determine whether or not the town farm was once a Native American burial ground and/or is site of artifacts.