Upcoming Agenda
   
Minutes

 

SELECTMEN’S MEETING

April 11, 2017



1. APPROVAL OF AGENDA: Moved by Elise Miller, seconded by Ed Walsh, to accept the agenda as presented. The motion passed 2-0.

 

2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF LAST MEETING: Moved by Elise Miller, seconded by Ed Walsh, to approve the Minutes of the Meeting of April 4, 2017 as written. The motion passed 2-0.


3. DEPARTMENT HEAD / COMMITTEE CHAIR UPDATES

A, Cemetery Committee: Lois Michaud reported to the Board that she is working with the Land Use Department to identify the locations of the graves on the list.


Mrs. Michaud also noted that the mowing bids will be coming up soon and that according the State Law, only one third of the budget can be used for mowing. She stated that the Town owns five of the sites and requested that maintaining these sites be included in the lawn bids. Mrs. Roux explained that the Town’s lawn bids, which span May 1 through October 1, will be presented to the Board at the next meeting.


Mrs. Roux suggested meeting with Steve Parello to discuss the concerns Mrs. Michaud had in regards to the Acton Shapleigh Historical Society.


B. Warrant and Finance: William Williams reported that the Committee has met with representatives of the many agencies that requested town donations. The Fire Chief will meet with the Committee to discuss the request for purchasing a new ambulance; The School Warrant is not yet finished because there are still some important points regarding terminology. However, the Committee is aware of the Tuesday, April 18th deadline so that the School Budget Warrant can be finalized. He will schedule another meeting if this is not accomplished at the upcoming meeting.


Mrs. Roux requested that the Committee prioritize the ambulance purchase and the School Warrant.


4. OLD BUSINESS:


A. MMA Action Plan: Mrs. Roux reported that she was successful in getting a quote from a painter which came in at $6500 for pressure washing, painting the exterior of the building and the trim. She reminded the Board that this project should be included in the upcoming budget but that the work can’t be done prior to budget approval. The Chairman noted that MMA has typically been patient as long as the Town is actively working towards resolving the issues identified on the list.

 

B. Dog Warrant: Mrs. Roux reported that the fourteen outstanding licenses has been reduced from the original fourteen to eleven. She is working with MMA to determine if listing the owners of the unlicensed dogs on the website is allowed because serving notifications is very difficult and time consuming.

 

C. BCN Contract: Mrs. Roux recommended switching the contract from BCN to Fairpoint . The existing contract with BCN charges $31.95 per line and .02 cents per minute for long distance usage. Fairpoint is offering a three-year contract for $17.50 per line and no long distance charges. They will waive the activation fees. Mrs. Roux has read the entire contract and feels it would be a good move to accept the contract offer. She will have the contract for the Selectmen to review at the next meeting. Mrs. Miller noted that Fairpoint is the Library’s provider and they have experienced no problems.


D. Road Committee Ad Hoc: Mrs. Roux read an email that was sent to the Selectmen, Paul Poyant, William Williams, Tom Gore and the two citizens that have expressed interest in working on this ad hoc committee:


“Good afternoon all, you are getting this email because you have shown interest in assisting the Board of Selectmen in drafting a possible ordinance to put before the voters of Acton regarding the Road Committee and their duties. With that said, at last week’s Selectmen’s meeting, the Board agreed that putting it before the voters this June was probably not feasible. So they decided to step back and think about an ad hoc committee that might be able to assist. The Board then discussed one of the ways to move forward was to create a small survey, ten questions or less, hoping to get direction from the voters.” And it went on the ask what would be a good time to meet.


Elise Miller, being the Road Committee liaison, will work on developing some initial survey questions.

 

E. Ambulance Bids: The Chairman noted that the bids have been referred to the Fire Department for review and recommendation.


5. NEW BUSINESS:


A. 229-042 Building Permit: Mrs. Roux announced that the Jim Fiske provided the design for the ramp and thanked Mr. Fiske generosity and for his ongoing support of Town’s various projects. She is working on donations for the materials and labor involved.


Moved by Elise Miller, seconded by Ed Walsh, to waive the Town’s permit fees for this project, which will be about $200.00. The motion passed 2-0.


B. Tanker 1 Documentation: Mrs. Roux presented the Bill of Sale and the Purchase and Sale Agreement for the sale of the 1990 GMC 7000 Tanker to Richard Levesque. The documents were signed by Selectmen Ed Walsh and Elise Miller.


C. Town Warrant - May 9, 2017: Mrs. Roux requested that the Selectmen review Article 19 regarding appropriating up to $280,000 for the purchase of the new ambulance. She suggested appropriating $73,200 of the purchase price from Acton Ambulance Reserve Fund and up to $206,800 from Undesignated Funds to make the appropriations more clear.


Moved by Elise Miller, seconded by Ed Walsh, to approve Article 19 requesting to purchase a new ambulance appropriating $73,200 from the Acton Ambulance Reserve Fund and up to $206,800 from Undesignated Funds. The motion passed 2-0.


D. Girl Scouts Presentation: Some of the members of Acton’s Girls Scout Troop 2254 were present at the meeting to donate $100 that they raised from the sale of Girl Scout cookies to the Neighbors Helping Neighbors Fund.


6. PUBLIC COMMENT: William Williams spoke with the Board about an automobile accident that occurred on H Road past the Goat Hill entrance during a torrential rain storm. He noted that the sign approaching that section of road cautions of a curve to the left but it should advise of an S curve. He requested that Board review the signage at the curve. The Chairman asked Mrs. Roux to contact the Road Commission and the DOT if necessary to review the signs in that area.


7. ANNOUNCEMENTS:


A. Bean Supper on Friday, April 14 from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m.: Mrs. Roux thanked the many people that have helped with this project including the Town Hall staff, the Church, the Lions Club, the School Committee, Rosa’s Deli, Hannaford, Shapleigh Corner Store as well as various individuals, such as Jim and Lori Driscoll.


Jim Driscoll announced that on Friday, May 12th at 6:00 p.m. some members of the Sheriff’s Department will play against the School’s faculty in a basketball game to raise money for 1242 Foxes Ridge Road.


B. Planning Board Site Walk, Saturday, April 15th at 10:30 a.m.


C. Traffic Incident Management Training on Monday, April 17th at the Fire Department from 6:30 to 9:00 p.m.


D. Liquor License Hearing Iron Tails on Tuesday, April 18 th at 5:00 p.m.


E. Nomination Papers Available until April 28th


F. Acton’s Got Talent on May 20th, register by April 28 th


G. YCCAC Transportation offers transportation for $4.00 round trip to Sanford. Elise Miller noted that the trip tokens offered by Hannaford can be used for this service. Jennifer Roux requested that people that spend $25.00 or more at Hannaford, request the tokens to be used by Acton citizens that use the transportation resource.

 

8. MEMBERS PRESENT: Ed Walsh, Elise Miller


9. OTHERS PRESENT: Jim Driscoll, William Williams, Lois Michaud, Girls Scout Troop 2254.