MINUTES

BOARD OF SELECTMEN MEETING

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

7:00 p.m.

 

The meeting of the Board of Selectmen was held at 7:02 pm in the Sharon Town Hall with Chairman Walter “Joe” Roach, Selectman and William A. Heitin

 

Chairman Roach explained that Selectmen Powell and Town Administrator Puritz were taking part in collective bargaining.

 

approval of request by Recreation Director Brett MacGowan to attend the National Recreation and Parks Association (NRPA) Congress and Exposition

 

It was explained that the Board needs to approve all requests for out-of-state travel.  Chairman Roach explained that the Recreation Director customarily attends this conference.

 

VOTED: (Heitin/Roach) Voted to approve the request of Recreation Director Brett MacGowan to attend the National Recreation and Parks Association (NRPA) Congress and Exposition in October at a cost of $1,934.00.

 

WATER QUALITY AWARD

 

Selectman Heitin announced that the Town had received an award from the U.S. Center for Disease Control for water quality.

 

7:06 p.m. - Selectman Powell and Town Administrator Puritz join the meeting

 

Sharon Cheerleaders reqest to fundraise on Town owned land on Friday October 1, 2010 and Saturday October 2, 2010 

 

Chairman Roach reviewed the list of places that the cheerleaders had provided.  He said that the only two places included on the list that are Town owned are the sidewalk outside of the Post Office and French Memories in the Square.  He asked that the Cheerleaders notify the Sharon Police about their activities and recommended that the Cheerleaders contact the other landowners on their list.

 

VOTED: (Heitin/Powell) Voted unanimously to approve the Sharon Cheerleader’s request to fundraise on October 1st and October 2nd on Town owned land and request that they receive approval from other landowners to fundraise at other locations

 

APPROVAL OF REQUEST BY DEBBIE MILLEY TO CLOSE OFF WOODLAND STREET FROM SEPTEMBER 12TH FROM 2:00PM TO 7:30PM

 

VOTED: (Powell/Heitin) Voted unanimously to approve the request of Debbie Milley to close off Woodland Street from September 12th from 2:00pm to 7:30pm.  upon notification of the Sharon Police Department and the Department of Public Works.

 

BID NOTIFICATION OF AWARD FOR THE WALTER GRIFFIN PLAYGROUND REPLACEMENT PROJECT BID NOTICE OF AWARD

 

VOTED: (Heitin/Powell) Voted unanimously to award the Notice of Award for the Walter Griffin Playground Replacement Project to Blue Diamond Equipment LLC of Foxboro for $32,340.00

 

SUPPLEMENTAL AGENDA

 

awarding of bid for containerized rubbish disposal to E.L. Harvey for $351,621.34

 

Chairman Roach announced that Health Administrator Linda Rosen had provided the Board with the results for the containerized rubbish disposal bid for Town dumpsters. 

 

VOTED: (Heitin/Powell) Voted unanimously to award the bid for containerized rubbish disposal to E.L. Harvey for $351,621.34.

 

REVIEW OF POTENTIAL ARTICLES FOR 2010 FALL TOWN MEETING

 

Town Administrator Puritz reviewed the three potential articles with the Board.  He explained that Finance Committee Chair Joel Lessard would be coming in later in the evening to discuss timing of the Selectmen’s approval of Warrant Articles. 

 

Selectman Heitin asked that since there are only three potential articles for the Town meeting if we needed to move forward with the Town Meeting and the associated expenses.  Town Administrator Puritz said that the way the by-law is written the Town must have both an Annual and a Fall Town Meeting.

 

SOLAR VOLTAIC PANELS ON FORMER LANDFILL

 

George Aronson and Silas Fyler of the Energy Advisory Committee explained to the Board that they have been looking into the possibility of placing Solar Voltaic Panels (SVP) on the former landfill.  They recently met with state officials regarding this initiative.  The SVPs would generate a maximum of 2 mega watts of electricity – which is enough electricity for 2,000 homes.     

 

They said that typically municipalities go out to bid and then utilize a site lease.  There is a state program in place which includes incentives if the Town has broken ground or otherwise initiated the project by December 31, 2010.  They also said they need to check with the Department of Environmental Protection regarding placement of the SVPs on the landfill.  George Aronson said that they also would need to go before the Town Boards to make sure that this use is consistent with allowed uses.  They plan to stay away from any wetlands. Silas Fyler said that the SVPs would most likely be located on the meadow portion of the landfill which is flat and would take up approximately 50% of the site.  George Aronson said that installation of the SVPs would not penetrate the cap of the landfill as there is a base of 6” of soil above the landfill.  George Aronson said that the Town could expect annual revenue from the SVPs of approximately $100,000. He also added as of now no Town has moved forward on this type of project although a number of projects are pending.

 

Aronson and Fyler said that the next steps are:

1 – Pre-application with DEP and landfill engineers

2 – Review of electrical inter-connection issue with NSTAR

3 – Resolve issue with Trans Canada who contract extends for another 1 ¾ years

4 – Develop a Request for Proposal

 

The Board was in consensus that this is an interesting proposal and that they would like to obtain more information about the feasibility of implementing the program.  Due to the state incentives associated with the project and the timely nature the Board asked that this item be placed on the next agenda for further consideration.

 

Finance Committee’s request regarding deadlines for Warrant Article information

 

Finance Committee Chair Joel Lessard spoke about the Finance Committee’s desire to provide more complete and better information in the Warrant.  He asked if the Board of Selectmen could take positions on their Articles earlier.   Currently they take the positions less than one week prior to Town Meeting.  The Board said that on most items they could comply.  However, with selected articles the Board needs flexibility because of negotiations with both unions and regarding to property acquisition.  The Board agreed in principal that they would try to take positions on as many of the articles as possible one month prior to Town Meeting.

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VOTED: (Powell/Heitin) Voted unanimously to adjourn to Executive Session for the purpose of discussing

collective bargaining, pending litigation and real property and at the end thereof to adjourn for the evening.

 

The Board adjourned to Executive Session at 8:05 p.m.

 

Roach:    Aye

Powell:  Aye

Heitin: Aye