MINUTES

BOARD OF SELECTMEN MEETING

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

 

The Regular meeting of the Board of Selectmen was held at 7:00 pm in the Sharon Town Offices with Chair Walter Joe Roach, Selectman Richard A. Powell, Selectman William A. Heitin, and Town Administrator Ben Puritz.

 

The meeting was called to order at 7:21 p.m.

 

CHARLIE HEALY: BUDGET REVIEW OF SEALER OF WEIGHTS AND MEASURES

 

Mr. Healey explained that his budget will be the same though his salary is going to be increased by 3% or $107.00 with expenses decreasing by $107.00.  The total budget is $4,354.00 for FY’09.

 

CONSIDER SIGNING EMPLOYMENT AGREEMENT FOR FINANCE DIRECTOR WILLIAM FOWLER

 

Chairman Roach introduced William Fowler, the Town’s new Finance Director.  The agreement includes a term of three years and a first year salary of $86,000.00.  Mr. Fowler will also receive standard Town benefits and his performance will be reviewed at the conclusion of his first year of employment.

 

VOTED: (Powell/Heitin) Voted unanimously that the board sign on behalf of the Town of Sharon a contract with William Fowler as presented.

 

LOU MODESTINO: CANDIDATE FOR DEVELOPMENT AND INDUSTRIAL COMMISSION AND HOUSING PARTNERSHIP

 

Mr. Modestino said that he moved to Sharon from Stoughton 10 years ago.  While in Stoughton he was involved in Town Government and served on various boards.  He is interested in serving on the Development and Industrial Commission and Housing Partnership because Sharon is lacking both in affordable housing and a commercial and industrial tax base.  He said he has no preference as to which committee he is appointed to.

 

DR. ELIZABETH BARNETT: REAPPOINTMENT TO THE BOARD OF HEALTH

 

Dr. Barnett said she works closely with the Public Health Nurse in issues related to disease control and prevention including flu clinics, lime disease, and the pandemic flu.  She brings to the Board of Health an expertise in infection control.  She would like the Board to become more involved in stopping teenage smoking, drunken driving, and bullying by creating programs to address these issues.  She believes that sometimes the Board of Health gets bogged down in the septage issues but it is also important for them to spend time on the aforementioned issues as well.

 

ENERGY ADVISORY COMMITTEE UPDATE

 

There were many members of the Energy Advisory Committee in attendance.  George Aronson reviewed with the Board a handout which detailed the energy use of both the Town and Schools, as best as could be estimated by building.  Mr. Aronson said that the School Department has an energy monitoring system helps to lower energy costs n the schools.  He also said that NStar, MassTechnology and other groups have grant money that the Town might be eligible for to encourage conservation and efficiency.

 

Mr. Aronson said that other Towns set a goal and aim to be as accurate as possible when charging back energy costs.  It is difficult for Sharon to charge back accurately as the electric meters do not accurately reflect electric usage by building.  He also said the Town needs to communicate with the Townspeople the importance of controlling carbon emissions. 

 

Selectman Powell asked if there is a way the Selectman would be able to assist the Energy Advisory Committee in their mission.  Ms. Wolbarst said that data collection was very difficult as the many meters were reviewed monthly over a twenty-four month period and therefore the collection of data was a challenging task.  

 

Energy Advisory Committee member Thomas D’avanzo who works for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said that the EPA has set up a Community Energy Challenge to assist communities in reducing energy use by 10% within a certain time frame.  In return the Town receives assistance from the EPA.  In addition, Mr. D’avanzo explained NSTAR also has programs to provide assistance.  There are also consultants who help the Town save money on electric consumption who receive a percent of the savings.  It was agreed that members of the Energy Advisory Committee would meet with Mr.  Puritz and representatives of NStar to move forward.

 

PAUL VITALE: AMTRAK ISSUE

 

Mr. Vitale, who lives very close to the train station, stated  that there are two issues: 1 – Each time the trains pass through the Train Station the trains blow the whistle loudly. He has spoken to AMTRAK about this and they told him that there is a federal or state law which mandates this action.  However, Mr. Vitale has looked into this and found it not to be true.  He discovered that it is an AMTRAK rule.  Chairman Roach said that the Town’s MBTA representative George Bailey had contacted him to say that he is in total agreement with Mr. Vitale.  Mr. Bailey said because Sharon has an audible system at the train station the whistle isn’t needed. 2 – Mr. Vitale further explained because the high speed and regional AMTRAK trains travel at such a high speed that as the whistle blows 20 seconds before the train reaches the station there would be no time for anyone to get out of the way should there be a problem.  Therefore, the whistle does nothing to improve safety for those standing on the train platform.  Mr. Vitale said that the whistle blows approximately 32 times per day between 7am – 11pm Monday through Friday and 24 times per day on Saturday and Sunday which totals 206 times per week.  The Selectmen said that they will refer this issue to the Transportation Advisory Board and asked that a meeting be set up with Senators Joyce and Timilty and State Representative Kafka.

 

ANNE BINGHAM – SPECIAL TOWN MEETING ARTICLES REGARDING BRICKSTONE

 

Ms. Bingham said she is representing Neighbors Against Destructive Development who are opposed to the Brickstone development.  She said that the area is inappropriate for a large dense development where pharmaceutical and personal care products will discharge into a wastewater treatment plant.  She said that wastewater treatment plants are not designed to treat medical waste.  She said that a paper has been submitted to the Board of Health regarding this issue.  She believes this is an important issue because many people in the area are on private wells and no arrangements have been made to provide these people with Town water.  Ms. Bingham also said that the blasting necessary to build an eight story building up as well as a three story underground garage would be extremely disturbing to both people and wildlife.  She said that that the Vanasse Traffic Report indicated that people will cut through Mountain Street even though the project’s access road is on Bay Road and that this traffic will impact Borderland State Park and the species that call it home. 

 

Ms. Bingham also spoke about the speed that the by-law went to Town Meeting as she said that this didn’t become a live issue until March 5, 2007 – which is essentially two months before the Town voted.  She also said that she feels that 74% of 1200 is not a resounding number of people.  She also believes that this wasn’t a good deal for the Town and that the Selectmen should have insisted on a Special Permit.  She reiterated her call for water protections for Sharon, Easton and Stoughton residents who are on private wells.  She also said that she believes the Development Agreement should have been brought to Town Meeting and objected to the fact that negotiations regarding the Development Agreement were done in Executive Session.  Ms. Bingham also said that she belies there is lots of new information to present at Town meeting and that she is supporting these articles on the conviction that this is not a project that should be placed in this location.    

 

 DOG HEARING

 

Chairman Roach opened the hearing under M.G.L. 140 Section 157 Art. 17 of the Town By-Laws and swore in anyone who wished to speak.  Animal Control Officer Malcolmson gave a brief summary and read a report outlining the situation.  James Castleman, the owner of the dog that was bit, explained that he had requested the dog hearing because he believes the dog should not be returned to his neighborhood.  He said that he was walking his dog and crossing the street away from the McCabe’s home, (McCabes own the dog that bit Mr. Cattleman’s dog.)  Mrs. McCabe was walking the dog and the dog ran from Mrs. McCabe and attacked Mr. Castleman’s dog.  Mr. Castleman brought his dog to the veteraniarn who said that wounds were very deep.  Mr. Castleman said that he spoke to Mr. McCabe who told him he thought the dog was trained even though it had attacked another dog the week before.  Mr. McCabe then returned the dog to the shelter where he had adopted it from.  A month later Mr. Castleman said the dog was back in the McCabe’s house.  Mr. Castleman also said that he had located the people, the Wassermans, whose dog had also been bit by the McCabe’s dog.  Mr. Castleman presented a petition signed by 24 neighbors asking that the Board of Selectmen remove the dog from the neighborhood. 

 

Chairman Roach then gave Mr. McCabe an opportunity to speak.  Mr. McCabe said that at the end of April 2007 his family adopted a dog from the Medfield Animal Shelter.  In early May they realized that the dog had aggressive tendencies towards other dogs.  In September he enrolled the dog in obedience classes and began individual sessions with a private trainer.  He said progress was slow and the dog had a fight with another dog at the Sharon Middle School.  It was the dog owned by the Wassermans.  He saw Mr. Wasserman the next Saturday at the Middle School and paid Mr. Waserman for the medical bills.  The next week the dog attacked the Castleman dog and the next day Mr. McCabe returned the dog to the Medfield Animal Shelter. 

 

McCabe reported after about a month his family went online to look for a new dog and saw their dog on the Medfield Animal Shelter website.  He called the shelter and the shelter said they had sent the dog to Canine College for a month of training.  He and his wife decided to take the dog back.  He said he told the Castlemans that the dog was returning and Mr. Castleman was not happy.  In addition Mr. McCabe took the dog to Canine Camp for evaluation by another trainer.  He said he also assured the Castlemans his dog would always have a pinch collar and an ecollar.  Selectman Powell pointed out that the evaluation by Mr. English of Canine Camp states that the dog evidenced modest aggression. 

 

Animal Inspector Ed Little said he is called whenever there is a dog bit as the bitten animal must be quarantined unless it is determined that the dog has the required vaccinations.  He became involved when the Wasserman dog was bit and spoke to the Medfield Animal Control Officer.  He was assured by the Medfield Animal Control Officer that the dog was going to be euthanized or that it was going to be sent back south.  He said he thought everything was OK until he heard from the Castlemans that the dog was back in Sharon.  Mr. Little said he feels Medfield should have notified him or the Animal Control Officer that the dog was being returned to Sharon.  Neither Mr. Little nor Animal Control Officer Diane Malcolmson has spent any time with the dog. Even though the dog has not attacked a person Mr. Little said he would not own the dog because if a person would get in the middle of a fight between two dogs a person might be badly hurt.

 

Selectman Heitin pointed out that dogs are outlawed at the Middle School or on any school grounds.  Animal Control Officer Malcolmson said that she had spoken to the Canine College trainer who said the dog had responded well to training and feels the dog will not be a threat. She said that should the Selectmen allow the dog to stay in the neighborhood it should be muzzled at all times when it leaves the house. 

 

Mr. Castleman said he is not comfortable with anything other than the dog being removed from the neighborhood.  He was concerned what would happen if the dog bolts from the house. 

 

There was further unsworn comment from Andrew Nebenzahl who said that he had heard that Mrs. Castleman had been bit by her own dog. 

 

VOTED: (Powell/Heitin) Voted unanimously to close the hearing and issue a finding within the appropriate deadline.

 

APPROVE MINUTES

 

VOTED: (Powell/Heitin) Voted unanimously to approve the Executive Session Minutes of October 2, 2007

 

CONSIDER AUTHORIZATION OF BOND/NOTE SALE

 

Town Administrator Puritz explained that these are General Obligation Bonds as authorized by the Annual Town Meeting in May 2007.  There is a memo from Interim Treasurer Todd Hassett that has been reviewed by Finance Director Bill Fowler.  The financing rate is just over 4%.

 

 

VOTED: (Heitin/Powell) Voted unanimously the sale of the $1,860,000 Municipal Purpose Loan of 2007 Bonds of the Town dated October 1, 2007, to Corby Capital Markets, Inc. at the price of $1,860,812.25 and accrued interest is hereby confirmed.  The bonds shall be payable on October 1 of the years and in the principal amounts and bear interest at the respective rates, as follows:

 

       Year

Amount

Interest

Rate

2008

    $375,000

4.25%

2009

      375,000

4.25

2010

      370,000

4.00

2011

      370,000

4.00

2012

      370,000

4.00

 

Further Voted:  to confirm the provisions of the Bond Purchase Agreement between the Town and Corby Capital Markets, Inc. dated October 11, 2007.

 

CONSIDER APPOINTMENTS

 

VOTED: (Powell/Heitin) Voted unanimously to appoint the following to a one year term:

·        Richard Gelerman – Town Counsel

·        Michael Polimer – Director of Civil Defense

·        Edward Welch – Fence Viewer

·        Joseph Petrosky – Measurer of Lumber

·        Charles Healy – Sealer of Weights & Measures

·        Robert Morse – Measurer of Wood & Bark

·        Edwin S. Little – Norfolk County Advisory Board Representative

·        Edwin S. Little – Animal Inspector

·        Paul Bergeron – Veteran’s Agent

 

VOTED: (Powell/Heitin) Voted unanimously to approve the request of the Sharon Youth Lacrosse Association to hang a banner from October 22 – October 29, 2007 (1st position)

 

CONTRACT AMENDMENT FOR HISTORICAL COMMISSION SURVEY & PLANNING GRANT

 

Chairman Roach explained that this is an amendment to a grant that was signed two weeks.  The amendment extends the amount of time to complete the grant.

 

VOTED: (Heitin/Powell) Voted unanimously to authorize the Chair to sign the amendment on behalf of the Board of Selectmen.

 

NEW BUSINESS/OTHER BUSINESS

 

The Board was pleased to announce that the Town has been selected for a $44,000 Water Conservation Grant from the Department of Environmental Protection.  The Water Conservation Grant program awards funds to municipalities and public water systems to encourage and enhance local drinking water conservation efforts.   The Board thanked Senators Joyce and Timilty and Representative Kafka.

The Board also thanked the State legislative delegation in their recent success in overriding the Governor’s veto of $75,000 for the Manns Pond Dam project.

 

The Board asked the Superintendent Hooper be placed on the agenda to discuss the proposed purchase of a small sidewalk plow.

 

VOTED: (Powell/Heitin) Voted unanimously to enter into Executive Session to discuss collective bargaining including collective bargaining with non-represented personnel, real property, pending litigation and at the end thereof adjourn for the evening.

 

The Board of Selectmen adjourned to Executive Session at 9:45 p.m.

 

Roach: Aye

Powell:Aye

Heitin: Aye