MINUTES
BOARD OF SELECTMEN MEETING
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
7:00 p.m.
The meeting of the Board of Selectmen was held at 7:00 pm in the Community Center Ballroom with Chairman William Heitin, Selectman Walter “Joe” Roach and Selectman Richard A. Powell and Town Administrator Benjamin E. Puritz
The meeting was called to order at 7:15 p.m.
CANDIDATE FOR THE WATER MANAGEMENT ADVISORY COMMITTEE – KURT BUERMANN
Kurt Buermann, a resident of Sharon for fifteen years, would like to be considered as a member of the Water Management Advisory Committee. His interest in water issues began working in the Florida Everglades relating to flow and salt water intrusion. Since moving to Sharon in 1995, Mr. Buermann has become interested in and involved with environmental and conservation efforts in the Town.
DISCUSSION OF SHARON HILLS PROJECT ON RATTLESNAKE HILL
In attendance were Town Counsel Richard Gelerman and Associate Town Counsel Cindy Amara, for Brickstone: John Twohig, Esq., Bob Daylor, John Kusmierski, Tim Sullivan, Esq., Marty Spagat, Chris Regnier, Esq., and Bob Vanasse.
Chairman Heitin called upon Brickstone for an update on the Sharon Hills Project and a number of open items i.e., finalizing the details for the Fire Sub-Station and finalizing details associated with the waterline built into Memorandum of Understanding (MOU).
Attorney John Twohig discussed the proposed Fire sub-station. He related that the Fire Chief he has asked Brickstonee to consider a larger building than originally planned which would raise the cost from approximately $1.5 million to $3.8 million, increasing the size of the proposed building from 7,000 square feet to about 9,000 square feet. The Selectmen are working with the Developer to establish a finance district consisting of the Site, which finance district will allow the issuance of bonds to fund the acquisition by the Town of the water improvements and potentially the cost of the fire sub-station (paid for by the Sharon Hills residents).
A power point presentation by Attorney John Twohig included Project Information, Development Agreement Amendments, Project Overview, Development Plan, Fiscal Impact, Land Preservation, Project Benefits, Site Design Overview, Design Considerations, Zoning Clarification, Zoning Amendments.
Selectman Roach felt that in view of the fact the company was consolidating all the buildings on one foundation and would be saving money, he urged Brickstone Developers to sit down with the Board of Selectmen to work something out re the fire sub-station before the Fall Town Meeting on November 9, 2009.
Discussed was also the “Updated Traffic Report” re Mountain Street, which has been reviewed by Tom Houston and the Traffic engineering staff. It was requested that the “Updated Traffic Report” be placed on the Sharon Web Site.
Chair William Heitin invited audience questions re the Brickstone Project.
Ivars Apse of Coach Lane asked “Can you tell me what the total height of the buildings will be since the plan shows that part of them will be underground?” Mr. Apse stated that the buildings would appear large on his view of the skyline.
Brickstone agreed to provide those numbers for him at the urging of Chairman Heitin.
Elizabeth Essex of Mountain Street wanted to know if the Town had adequate fire equipment for a fourteen-story building. Chair Heitin replied in the affirmative stating that the Town of Sharon does have adequate fire equipment specifically the ladder truck has height capacity similar to Boston.
Paul and Judith Bookbinder of Mountain Street, as well as many others, was concerned about the estimated truck traffic on the street during construction and questioned the safety of “jogger, walkers and cyclists.”
Judith Phillips of East Street and Leslie Koval of Briggs Pond wanted to know what the various truck routes would be in Town.
Tom Houston responded that a traffic plan for truck activities had been discussed. An average of 275 construction trucks during the day will be making trips to the project six days a week (one every two minutes), thirty-three (33) trucks per hour at peak time, for eighteen to thirty-six months. The peak hours will be from 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. The major streets to be affected would include Deerfield Road, Wilshire Drive, Hampton Road, Bay Road and streets around the center of Town, as well as Mountain Street. The heavy truck traffic on Mountain Street will last for eighteen months or until such times as the Bay Road extension to the site is created. Monitors will be stationed at the various roads for the safe utilization of the roadways by the construction vehicles.
Steve Kelley of Mountain Street was concerned about the blasting times during the early construction stage and also what would be done if water resources such as Briggs Pond were affected by waste water from the project.
Attorney Twohig responded that the blasting company being hired was a leader in the field. The blasting company will document everything in homes prior to the blasting and then document it afterwards and that will also include video taping. The times have not been set yet for blasting times.
In answer to the waste water question, Attorney Twohig said that special tanks would be used to ensure that no pharmaceuticals, for example, would enter the watershed and other precautions would be in place and that there would be monitoring of Briggs Pond.
Chairman Heitin announced a five minute recess
The Board reconvened at 8:45 p.m.
SCHOOL COMMITTEE: DISCUSSION OF MIDDLE SCHOOL PROJECT
In attendance were Dr. Barbara Dunham, Superintendent of Sharon Public Schools, Principal Kevin O’Rourke of the Sharon Middle School; School Committee Members: Alison Rutley and Chair Glen Allen; Chair of the Standing Building Committee: Gordon Gladstone; Operation Project Manager, Richard Marks of Daedalus Projects, Inc. and Architect Michael McKeon of Kaestle Boos Associates, Inc.
The Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) Board of Directors voted to approve the Middle School Project scope and budget at the reimbursement rate of 52.68%.
Michael McKeon, Architect, gave a summary power point overview of the Sharon Middle School Site Plan i.e., main floor and upper level (six grade wing and Central Administration) plan of the two-story addition. The estimated costs are as follows: Total Project Cost $50,540,287 – MSBA Reimbursement ($23,153,039) – Sharon Pre-Investment ($6,017,075) – Sharon Net Funding $21,370,173.
Richard Marks, OPM, discussed the items that would be reimbursable and items not reimbursable from MSBA. Anything outside the building is considered site cost and not reimbursable.
Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Dunham, explained why the School Administration should be moved to the Middle School. The current Central Administration building is old and needs a lot of work and is not adequate in its present form. Dr. Dunham said that the plan for the administration space in the Middle School was so designed that should enrollment be greater than the 840 students, there would be room to add classes reconfiguring the administration space.
School Committee member, Alison Rutley informed everyone that there will be a Public Forum regarding the Sharon Middle School Addition/Renovation project on October 14, 2009 in the Sharon Middle School library at 7:30 p.m. The architect and administration will be there to present the project and to answer any questions. A walkthrough of the building will also be part of the evening. The second forum will take place on October 27, 2009 at 9:00 a.m.
OPEN AND CLOSE 2009 FALL TOWN MEETING WARRANT
VOTED: (Roach/Powell) Voted unanimously to open the Warrant for the November 9th Fall Town Meeting.
Discussion
Standing Building Committee Chair, Gordon Gladstone, said in order to keep the Middle School project on schedule, the School Committee is requesting that a separate article be added to the Fall Town Meeting Warrant to appropriate funds to pay for the Architect and Owner’s Project Manager in the amount of $360,000.
VOTED: (/Roach/Powell) Voted unanimously to add a separate article be added to the November 9th Fall Town Meeting Warrant for the purposes of funding the Middle School Project Architect and Owner’s Project Manager.
VOTED: (Roach/Powell) Voted unanimously to close the Warrant for the November 9th Town Meeting
ENGAGEMENT OF AUDITOR
Selectman Heitin as Chair of the Audit Committee said they had met and discussed the scope of work that the audit firm had done. It was the consensus of the Audit Committee to engage Melanson Heath & Company, PC for the audit FY’09.
VOTED: (Roach/Powell) Voted unanimously to engage Melanson Heath & Company, PC
to do the FY’09 Annual Audit ($42,000), School End of Year Report ($6,000) and the Fixed Asset Depreciation Schedule ($5,500) and to authorize the Town Administrator to sign on behalf of the Board.
AWARD OF SOLAR SALT AND ROCK SALT CONTRACT FOR SNOW AND ICE CONTROL
As a result of bid opening by the Medfield Consortium, the following companies, the lowest bidders, be awarded the contract as follows: Morton International, Inc. (Solar Salt) at $64.63 per ton and to Eastern Minerals, Inc. (Rock Salt) at $64.00 per ton.
VOTED: (Roach/Powell) Voted unanimously to award the contract to Morton International, Inc. (Solar Salt) at $64.63 per ton and to Eastern Minerals, Inc. (Rock Salt) at $64.00 per ton.
VOTED: (Roach/Powell)) Voted unanimously to adjourn for the evening
The Board adjourned at 9:40 p.m.
Heitin: Aye
Roach: Aye
Powell: Aye