TOWN OF ACTON SELECT BOARD MEETING

March 8, 2023

6:00pm

1.      CALL MEETING TO ORDER / PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

2.      WARRANTS/BILLS - Signed

3.      APPROVAL OF AGENDA

Selectmen Stacey-Horn made a motion to approve the agenda; seconded bySelectmen Winchell. All in favor.

4.    MINUTES OF LAST MEETING -

Selectmen Stacey-Horn made a motion to approve the minutes of 2/21/23 and 3/1/23; seconded bySelectmen Winchell. All in favor.

5.    TOWN ADMINISTRATOR WEEKLY UPDATE -

Need to determine when the next budget meeting should be scheduled. The Board will be meeting with a few groups tonight but will still need to meet with the Recreation Committee. Note - The Recreation Committee is meeting with Warrant & Finance on Monday night.

Selectmen McGurty asked to defer this conversation until after they saw how many budget presentations they could get through.

A call was received from a resident who was interested, at no cost to the Town, to place Acton signs at the border to welcome those coming into Acton.  The Selectmen thought it was a nice idea, but that they would like to see the signs before placement; 109 is a state road and the interested parties would have to check on guidelines from the state; Selectmen Winchell offered assistance with contact information if needed.  

Selectmen McGurty asked about the sign beside the pond; the Town Administrator indicated it was being looked at by a resident to repair but that it was on church property and the church's responsibility to handle.

6.    DEPARTMENT HEAD / COMMITTEE CHAIR UPDATES

A. Wayne Ham, Fire Chief, spoke to the Board about his department's budget to defend what was submitted and note the changes  which brought it down to a 9.9% increase; salaries were the biggest contributor to the increase, however, Chief Ham was able to streamline use of employees and save $17,000; two other targeted areas streamlined were the PPE and medical equipment/supplies lines.

B. Will Langley and Adam Doliber,Road Commissioners spoke with the Board about their budget and a fuel increase. Outcome of budget discussions was for the Road Commissioners to revisit their budget and give a detailed explanation/breakdown of salaries/ equipment and fuel.  Selectmen Winchell offered to sit down with the Road Commissioners and assist in the process; reminding them to review state rates.

Discussion ensued on Special projects (i.e. H Road) and how the costs should be depicted in the budget and asked of the voters; wording of the articles for presentation to Town Meeting.

C.  Transfer Station - Robin Ham, Superintendent came before the Board to present the Transfer Station Budget at a 4.83% increase.  Discussion ensued regarding hauling costs (which are increasing everywhere) and the demo debris budget line;shingles are being rolled into the demo line but removed as an individual budget line. Based on a $280,000 budget, an increase of $5,000 is negligible.  There are a few items to tighten up but overall looks good.

7. LIAISON UPDATES - Tabled

6. OLD BUSINESS

           A.  Investment Policy -

Sent to legal for review; minor changes made included citing a statute located at the top of the document further down in the appropriate area; incorporating words giving the municipal officers the ability to either appoint their Treasurer or a third-party investment manager to oversee it and then the Board would make the decision. 

Selectmen Stacey-Horn made a motion to accept the Town of Acton’s investment policy; seconded  by Selectmen Winchell. All in favor.

Selectmen McGurty noted that this policy will be an agenda on a Special Town meeting still to be scheduled.  The question would be to allow the Town to invest funds pursuant to said investment policy; this is just an action of the Board at this time which will allow them to bring it forward at a Special Town Meeting.

           B.  West Shore Culvert -

No update. The contract was sent to legal for review. All FOAA requests have been completed; both individual and state. Email was sent to the engineer to respond to the state directly on the Town’s behalf. Minutes are being reviewed and we’ll present some amendments if the videos show that there was a conflict in the minutes published.

C. Special Town Meeting - Date to be set. 

The Town Administrator recommended either April 12 or 19, 2023 which will permit timing for another Board meeting to get things contracts signed. Discussion ensued regarding Road Commissioner work to be placed on a warrant; a placeholder will be made until number is provided. The Board agreed on April 19, 2023. Posting of recommendations should be done by the April 5, 2023 meeting; special town meeting warrants can be reviewed with Warrant & Finance on the night of the 20th when the General Government budget is discussed.

9.     NEW BUSINESS 

A. Resignation - 

The Town Administrator received a letter of resignation from the Town Administrative Assistant Sue O’Brien due to complications with recent surgery.

Selectmen Stacey-Horn made a motion to accept the resignation of Susan O’Brien effective immediately; seconded by Selectmen Winchell. All in favor.

B. Eagle Scout Project

Junior Firefighter Michael Cousino proposed an Eagle project to work on some of the dry fire hydrants. This would include general maintenance, brush/weed removal, painting and proper signage where necessary. A letter was attached from his Scout CEO indicating  that they have general liability and that he will be doing this project on his own time as a volunteer. Chief Wayne ensured one of the Fire Department members will accompany at all times.

C. Building Permit Refund

Pool is no longer being installed; no work has been done. Request is for $127 to be refunded.

Selectmen Winchell made a motion to refund $127 on Tax Map 237 Lot 8; seconded by Selectmen Stacey-Horn. All in favor.

D. Abatement -  Tax Map 229 Lot 48

The Town inadvertently was charging for 2.4 acres when in reality it was 0.4 acres; abatement is $50.37.

Selectmen Stacey-Horn made a motion to accept the abatement on Tax Map 229 Lot 48 in the amount of $50.37; seconded by Selectmen Winchell. All in favor.

E. Credit Card Authorization

Amazon no longer offers their credit card to small businesses to use which means the Town Debit card must be used when ordering from Amazon. Generally not an issue but Code Enforcement needed to order $752 worth of books and the policy states anything over $500 must receive Boards approval and authorization.

Selectmen Stacey-Horn made a motion to authorize the use of the Town debit card for the Code’s purchase of $752 and change for code books; seconded by Selectmen Winchell. All in favor.

F. RHR Agreement

This is an agreement for a member of the RHR staff to assist the Town with some outstanding accounting tasks that needs to be addressed. Scope of work is to help catch the Town up on bank statements; journal entry support to the Treasurer to make sure carry forwards go into the accounts correctly, plus some miscellaneous training for the Treasurer. Contract rate is $125/hour. 

Selectmen Winchell made a motion to approve the RHR Smith contract to perform the services as outlined and detailed in the contract effective immediately (as written); seconded by Selectmen Stacey-Horn. All in favor.

10. PUBLIC COMMENT

Susan Meehan -

 Asked if there was anyone on the Recreation Committee who was CPR certified.  Discussion ensued regarding certification.

Asked about Town meeting rides, babysitting, etc.  Discussion ensued regarding advertising the meeting. Distribution method will be looked into. Town Meeting length, light refreshments, babysitting and other considerations are still being looked at. Further discussion ensued regarding the Town Meeting being on a Saturday; all would like to have greater attendance.

Paying taxes with a credit card. There is a municipal law where the Town can not charge the tax payers for the middleman the fees go to the user. 

Selectmen Stace-Horn, Recreation Liaison spoke that the recreation committee is going to continue doing the trophies versus the shits. They still have shirts and want to know if they can offer them for sale during signups (on the signup form). Selectmen Winchell thought it was a great idea but cautioned that pricing should reflect replacement costs for the next year’s shirt. No checks and balances are available; the Treasurer should be spoken to regarding this matter; financial policy needs to be followed and it done on the registration so that it can go back into the account.

11. PENDING

12.  ANNOUNCEMENTS

March 9, 2023 Planning Board Meeting 6:00pm

March 13, 2023 Warrant and Finance 6:00pm

March 15, 2023 Select Board 6:00pm

March 16, 2023 Planning Board 6:00pm

March 18, 2023 Mary Grant 9:30am

March 20, 2023 Warrant and Finance 6:00pm

March 22, 2023 Select Board 6pm

March 27, 2023 Warrant and Finance 6:00pm

March 29, 2023 Select Board 6:00pm

13.    MEMBERS PRESENT

Selectmen Tom McGurty, Selectmen David Winchell, Selectmen Kimberly Stacey-Horn and Town Administrator Jennifer Roux

14.     ATTENDANCE

Joyce Bakshi, Susan Meehan, Dennis Long, Will Langley, Adam Doliber, Wayne Ham, Robin Ham, Jason Sevigny, Joe and Dan