SELECTMEN’S MEETING
July 22, 2020

6:00pm - ZOOM

1.         CALL MEETING TO ORDER / PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

2.         TOWN ADMINISTRATOR WEEKLY UPDATE

· Committee Openings -
The Town Administrator updated the Board regarding Committee openings:

o Board of Assessment – to be advertised.

o Capital Improvement Committee –

§ 4 interested parties; will advertise to get another member. 

§ Selectmen David Winchell reminded the Board that they needed to set a policy in place (such as guidelines on what the committee is expected to do before making any appointments.

§ Treasurer, Michelle Rumney advocated that this was needed and the Board should look into job descriptions established in other Towns. Treasurer Michele Rumney also stated she had some sample policies the Board could review; the Town Administrator, Jennifer Roux also reiterated that MMA had samples too. 

§ Chairman Kimberly Stacy-Horn scheduled a meeting with the Treasurer and will bring the information back to the Board to discuss next week as there was no rush to put this committee together.

o Cemetery Committee – 3 out of 4 members indicated they were still interested in continuing on the committee; appointments of two members were ready to be made.

o Mary Grant – recommended the Board hold an Executive Session to discuss.

o Recreation Committee - to be advertised (can advertise longer with no activity occurring). Due to Covid-19 there are currently no sports being conducted in the Town. The Town Administrator recommended the Board reconsider whether they wanted to advertise for a Director (stipend position) when they advertised for committee members. There is $1,500 in the budget for such a position. The Board agreed.

o Planning Board – All Planning Board members are interested to continue except one member.  Yoli Gallagher, an 18 year member has made the personal choice not to be re-appointed.  Selectmen David Winchell commented that the Town of Acton was going to miss Yoli’s service on that committee.

The Town Administrator continued stating that there were openings on the Planning Board to be filled and that three newly interested parties stepped forward to be considered for those seats. It will be verified that they have no connection to what is going on with the Planning Board’s work. 

Appointments need to be done by June 29, 2020 to have a legal Planning Board. The Planning Board is expecting the Martel public hearing to possibly run over and need to be continued on a second day.

Discussion ensued.  The Select Board will meet Monday, July 27, 2020 at the Town Hall for 1 item only, an Executive Session.

· FEMA Reimbursement -
The Town Administrator announced that word came from the Treasurer that $8,500 in expenses will be reimbursed 100% through FEMA.

· “No Mask” complaint -
The Town Administrator stated two complaints were received regarding staff not wearing masks in the offices. One complaint was related to upstairs and one to downstairs. The Town Administrator indicated one of the incidents was a staff member working at their desk without a mask and no one else near them.

The Town Administrator asked the Board for direction and clarification of when masks are expected to be worn in the Town Hall especially with staff. 

Discussion ensued regarding the following:

o Staff does not need to wear a mask if alone in their office without anyone else in the room.  The minute someone enters, a mask goes on. The Town Administrator will send an email to all staff regarding the Board’s ruling.

o If employee can not wear a mask due to health reasons, a doctor’s letter must be received and a form completed to receive special accommodations.

o Committee members must wear masks and avoid leaving their respective area of business.

o Servicing people who come into the Town Hall without masks - customers should be offered a mask before business is conducted; the Town has several alternatives to accommodate masking/shielding.

· Planning Board Meetings at the School -
The option proposed last week for the Planning Board to meet at the School is not a viable option; it opens a myriad of issues with contamination and cleaning. The meetings should continue to stay as Zoom meetings until further notice.

o Selectmen David Winchell commented that the Board may have jumped the gun in trying to reopen the Town Hall for meetings in August.  The Board agreed and rescinded its decision and decicded to leave all meetings as Zoom meetings until further notice. The Board will revisit this decision towards the end of August.

· Fire Extinguisher Inspection –
The Town Administrator updated the Board that the Fire Extinguishers were inspected and all is clear.

· Sealed envelopes/Gelia related letters -
The Town Administrator went on record to state that she received several emails which have been passed onto the Board of Selectmen for review and recommended the Board attend the public hearing on July 29, 2020.

· Article 43 Applications to Langley/Lakeside
The Town Administrator updated the Board that she sent the new Article 43 applications along with a memo stating what they needed to do to resubmit to Langley/Lakeside.

· Durwood Call -
At the Board’s request, the Town Administrator reached out to Durwood to get clarification on plowing 13^th Street which is a private road.

Durwood’s response was, even though the Town of Acton has voted twice on this issue, the Town has every right to plow this road because 13^th Street as it is the only way into Covewood which is a public road.  Durwood will put this together in writing to be a permanent record of the Town.

· Board Signatures -
Chairman Kimberly Stacey-Horn reminded the other Board of Selectmen members that when something is voted on and signatures are required, to please make sure they go into the Town Hall offices and sign those document prior to the next meeting.  The sooner the better as the office staff needs to process after signatures are in place.

3.         WARRANTS/BILLS  - Signed

4.         APPROVAL OF AGENDA

A motion was made by Selectmen Ed Walsh to approve the agenda as written; seconded by Selectmen David Winchell.  No discussion. All in favor.

5.         MINUTES OF LAST MEETING 

A motion was made by Selectmen David Winchell to approve the minutes from July 15, 2020; seconded by Selectmen Ed Walsh. No discussion. All in favor.

6.         DEPARTMENT HEAD / COMMITTEE CHAIR UPDATES  - None

Selectmen David Winchell asked if the Road Commissioners could join in the meeting at this point as he needed an update:

· Both Road Commissioners were asked to review the ordinance as they need to heed to what is written.

o Will Langley updated the Board regarding his plans for the roads which included plans for road prep for paving, shoulder work, ditching, culverts and tree clearings.

o Mr. Langley indicated he had two scope of works to submit to the Board after he met with Pike Industries tomorrow.

o Once projects are underway, Mr. Langley expects to be able to provide weekly updates.

o Selectmen Kimberly Stacey-Horn asked if any thought has gone into 3, 5 and 10 year plans. Discussion ensued. It was decided Spring (April/May) is the best time for those plans to be submitted as most road work is in a slow down period and it was right before budget season.  The Town Administrator reminded the Board that the deadlines listed in the Ordinance was September 1 and November 1. September 1 was for the Annual Report and November 1 was for a list of all roads needing repairs after the Road Commissioners inspected them. Further discussion ensued and it was determined that the 3, 5, 10 year plan information was not cited with a deadline in the ordinance and Spring was an acceptable time for those submissions.

o Time cards were discussed. Selectmen David Winchell commented it was good to see details on the time cards.

o It was noted that in the ordinance, the Road Commissioners needed to provide an inventory of Town equipment to the Board of Selectmen yearly. This deadline is fast approaching. The Road Commissioners were asked to provide this list by July 31^st for the Board to review. It was further noted that as the policy goes into effect changing the way the Road Commissioners doe business as subcontractors, there will be less and less Town equipment inventory.  The Town Administrator will send an email to Road Commissioner Joe Letourneau stating the Board’s request.

7.         OLD BUSINESS

A. Horn Pond Sign -
The group requesting a sign for the Horn Pond area asked to have 2 signs and wanted to come up with their own verbiage. The Board decided 2 signs were ok but they would be stock “no littering” signs.

B. Personnel Policy -
Tabled 1 week.

8.         NEW BUSINESS

o Health Insurance -
The Treasurer Michelle Rumney updated the Board that new figures came in for the Health Insurance Plan and presented those numbers for the Board to review. The Treasurer recommended the Board stay with the same plan as already in place as the budget is tight. Discussion ensued on the plans and their associated costs and benefits.  The Board decided to go with the middle plan (Silver PPO 3250 with 80/60 HAS) which is currently in place.

Selectmen Ed Walsh made a motion to keep the Aetna Health Plan currently in place as recommended by the Treasurer; Selectmen David Winchell seconded. All in favor. The Treasurer will sign.

o Goat Hill -
Three River’s Land Trust presented a Memorandum of Understand (MOU) for land by Hanson Pond for the Board to sign. Carl Davis updated the Board and discussion ensued. The Board asked the Town Administrator to list as a bullet item that the Land Trust would be responsible for any liability.

Selectmen Ed Walsh made a motion to sign the MOU with addition of bullet regarding liability; Selectmen David Winchell seconded. All in favor.

o Tanker Bid -
The Fire Chief apologized that he was unable to present the Tanker bid in person and asked the Town Administrator to do so.  Truck Specs were provided for the advertisement to receive bids. All sealed bids will come before the Board.  The Town Administrator will draft the bid for publication for the Boar d to review.

o Road Policy -
The Town Administrator presented the final drafted Payment of Road Wages Policy for the Board to review and sign.

A motion was made to approve the Payment of Road Wages Policy by Selectmen David Winchell; seconded by Selectmen Ed Walsh. All in favor. Policy is now in effect.

o RSMS -
Selectmen Kimberly Stacey-Horn brought up the RSMS system for the Board to review and discuss. Currently, the:

· Inquiries have been received on whether this system is currently in use.

· The Board did vote to implement it.

· The system was purchased and the Road Committee did the base work with collecting data.

· Now it is time to start utilizing.

Discussion ensued. Selectmen David Winchell commented that the Road Commissioners should be informed with what they are getting into and that this was a great tool for them when setting up projects and/or their 3, 5 and 10 year plans.

It is not a difficult program to learn to input information. The Town Hall had allocated a person to do this work however Selectmen David Winchell would like to keep it out of the Town Hall.  He suggested the Road Commissioners take a class on the software and ask the Road Committee for assistance if needed. Now is the time, start with July 1, 2020 and get the information in. The Town Administrator will look and see when the next class is offered. 

Time sheets were discussed in conjunction with using RSMS. They might need to be changed with the addition of subcontractors in place. It will be valuable to place subcontractor details on the bottom of the sheets with actual descriptions of what was done during the week and where (example from pole number X to pole number XX) and charge by the hour.

The Treasurer Michelle Rumney will draft an example for the Road Commissioners to review.  Details to be included will be:

o When start

o When stop

o Itemized hourly

o Road Commissioner’s sign off.

o Do not pay until they give the hours they have worked.

The Town Administrator asked Selectmen David Winchell (Road liaison) to assist with presenting and reviewing in a workshop to create the right timesheet.

o Recycler Permit -
The Town Administrator presented Lake Region Auto’s Recycler Permit. The Town Administrator will make sure the CEO has no concerns.

A motion was made to accept the Recycler license for Lake Region Auto pending approval of CEO; seconded by Selectmen David Winchell. All in favor.

9.         PUBLIC COMMENT:

 None, Public Comment will be open next week via Zoom. The Town Administrator will post and send out an email indicating this change.

10.       ANNOUNCEMENTS: 

11.       MEMBERS PRESENT

Selectmen Kimberly Stacey-Horn, Selectmen Ed Walsh, Selectmen David Winchell, Treasurer Michelle Rumney and Town Administrator Jennifer Roux.

12.       ATTENDANCE (screen names as designated on Zoom)

Dan Krampetz, Rollin’s iPad, Carol’s iPad, Rich Hart, Deb Anderson, Susan Meehan, Samsungt3, K105, Joyce Bakshi, iPhone, Will Langley, Linda Peterson, Molly Springer, iPhone, Nancy Ruma and Dan Drisko (Cheryl).