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RECEIVED & FILED
OCT 0 3 2017
LUNENBURG TOWN
CLERK OFFICE
BOARD OF SELECTMEN
MINUTES
Joseph F. Bilotta Meeting Room, Town Hall
September 19, 2017
Board of Selectmen: Robert Ebersole, Vice Chairman; Paula Bertram, Clerk; Phyllis Luck, Member
Not present: Jamie Toale, Chairman; Damon McQuaid, Member
Also present: Heather Lemieux, Town Manager
The meeting commenced at 7:00 p.m. with the Pledge of Allegiance.
PUBLIC COMMENT:
Chris Letarte, 282 Whalom Road, has formed a group which includes his neighbors called Friends of Wallis
Park. He is working with the Department of Public Works, the Lunenburg Turkey Hill Lions Club and the Parks
Commission on the revitalization of the Wallis Park Playground located in the Whalom area and adjacent to the
basketball courts. On September 21 and 22 from 8 am to 3 pm they will be starting a cleanup of the area and if
anyone is interested in volunteering, they welcome the support. There will be a check-in area in the basketball
courts. DPW Director Rodriquenz noted Letarte got the neighborhood interest going for the clean up and
reported they would be moving a large amount of sand with the big equipment. The Board thanked Letarte for
his efforts.
Charter Review Committee Designees:
• Town Moderator Appointment - Nancy Gray, 45 Rangeley Road
• School Committee Appointment - Kathryn Adams, 45 Williams Drive
Motion: P. Bertram
To ratify the designees for the Charter Review Committee
2"d: P. Luck
Vote: All in Favor
Town Manager Appointment:
Motion: P. Bertram
To ratity the appointment of Leeann Normandin as MART Van Driver
2nd, P. Luck
Vote: All in Favor
Warrants
The Board signed an accounts payable warrant in the amount of $1,096,586.56; a Middle/High School
construction warrant in the amount of $110,234.99; a payroll warrant in the amount of $768,294.50 and a
payroll deduction warrant in the amount of $156,734.15.
First Amendment to Telecommunications Lease with Celleo Partnership d/b/a/Verizon Wireless
The Board signed the first amendment to the agreement. It addresses relocation of the tower site on the
Middle/High School property.
Mr. Ebersole announced the Board would not be entering Executive Session this evening. These will be moved
to October 10"*
Cable Access Committee Request for Board of Selectmen to vote to issue Preliminary Assessment of Non-
Renewal
Chair Tom Alonzo provided an update on their progress. At the last meeting with Comcast on September 7'
we did not reach an agreement. Lunenburg is seeking 5% of Comcast's gross annual revenues as annual
operation support for Lunenburg's local access programming (up from 2.5% in the current license) and
$240,000 in capital grants over the 10 year license term (up from $115,000). Comcast responded with 5% and a
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$130,000 capital grant. The current license expired on September 30.
• The committee believes that its present
demand is reasonable, bringing only a modest increase in current subscribers rates; it also believes Comcast's
last offer was not sufficient. Because the license expired, the next step is to secure extra time from the Dept. of
Telecommunications and Cable to continue negotiations. Legal counsel submitted a request for an additional 90
days in which to conclude negotiations or deny Comcast's license application.
If during the 90 day period we reach agreement, the Town can grant a renewal license on the agreed terms. If
during the 90 day period we remain unable to reach agreement, the Town has the option of denying Comcast's
license application. This would trigger an administrative hearing by the Board of Selectmen with witnesses,
subpoenas and discovery. At the conclusion of the hearing, the Selectmen would have to issue a written
decision, granting or denying the license. If at that time their decision remains to deny the linese, Comcast can
appeal to the Dept. of Telecommunications and Cable or court.
Since that letter came, we have received a letter from Dept. of Telecommunications and Cable that the 90 day
extension has been granted. Comcast is being notified of that. Right now we have the gap between what we are
asking and what they are offering. We have been working with Public Access Cable Committee (PACC) on
their business plan which covers their future needs over the next ten year period. We have asked for an
educational channel as well which requires additional equipment.
Ms. Luck asked what the increase is to current Comcast subscriber rates. Mr. Alonzo stated it is currently $2.60
per month per subscriber. If agreed upon, it would go to $5.20 per month per subscriber. The second part is the
capital amount; that would raise the rate from 29 per subscriber per month to .62 per subscriber per month. This
is the first increase in ten years. Discussion ensued on what the increase in subscriber rates would provide: the
educational channel, a mobile unit for PACC, rent for the studio to name a few. Mr. Alonzo stated he will come
back to the board when he has more to report.
Lunenburg Water District Commissioners
Superintendent Fran McNamara noted Chairman Mark Bursch and Commisioner Mark Flagg were also present
tonight concerning questions about their agreement with the Town of Lancaster. He assured those present that
Lunenburg's access to water is their first priority. Everything they have done is to offset the costs to improve
infrastructure and update tanks and wells. Without the Lancaster revenue we are looking at a significant
increase in water rates. Ms. Bertram asked if businesses are exempt from water restrictions. Mr. McNamara
stated yes, we cannot impact the core function of the business, but we can restrict them from watering their
lawn, things like that. Ms. Bertram's concern is we are already seeing water restrictions. If our permit
withdrawal amount is lowered and we are supplying to Lancaster, the increased water usage will go up, isn't
that going to impact Lunenburg? He responded it is two seperate things. Our current permit has expired and we
are in the process of renewing with the state. The idea is we continue on the current permit which allows
540,000 gallons per day. That is an average day per year. Last year we exceeded it by 7000 gallons per day; this
was due to it being a dry year. People need to realize that with new environmental conditions coming down the
road, you are not going to have green grass like you have now. There are going to be significant restrictions on
water use. On the permit we use the residential usage number. We exceeded the 65 gallons limit per capita.
That set off a more restrictive usage on the permit. The new permit review gives Lunenburg an average of
505,000 gallons per day, based on historical use from 2010-2015. There will be a separate segment of the
permit for Lancaster. It is anticipated Lancaster will use 250,000 gallons per day but the actual figure is around
175,000.
Discussion about the rate charged to Lancaster ensued. Mr. Bursch stated Lancaster would be paying the same
rate as Lunenburg residents but they will need to cover their overhead expenses on top of that. There is a
Memorandum of Understanding between the Water District and Lancaster but there is nothing binding at this
time. Mr. Ebersole asked if the two towns would have two separate permits from DEP. McNamara stated it
depends on how it is written. Mr. Ebersole asked if the Water District could restrict selling pool water in order
to reduce usage. McNamara stated in the future, if needed due to more residential development, we could
eliminate it. Question was asked if more development came along, could the permit amount be increased.
McNamara stated yes, but it is not easy.
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Mr. Ebersole asked what the Water District is doing to help people conserve water. McNamara stated they did a
toilet replacement program where they gave a rebate. They also do a lot of leak detection. Public outreach on
water conservation practices was encouraged.
Mr. Ebersole asked if they are able to do any analysis of the number of people on the census in the home versus
their usage and look at that average to see if it is 65 per person. McNamara stated he uses the census numbers to
come up with that 65 on a special spreadsheet. Can you look at a particular home and see who is using excess
water? McNamara said he didn't know if they could do that, they do look at all the bills.
Mr. Ebersole stated the town approved a $5 million override for the pavement management plan. He
encouraged McNamara to communicate with DPW. McNamara stated he has been planning accordingly.
Ms. Luck referred to the MOU (3.) regarding permitting, design and construction and agreeing to allocate the
cost of these items in affair and equitable manner. McNamara stated we are not paying anything for that.
Ms. Luck referred to (4), regarding payments being subject to appropriation or other available funds. What if
Lancaster says they can't pay? It was noted this was standard contract wording. Ms. Bertram asked if a letter of
support could still be sent after the grant submission deadline. Ms. Lemieux will look into it. The Board
thanked the Water Commissioners and Superintendent for coming in tonight.
OLD BUSINESS
1. Board of Selectmen's Goals
• October 10t Boards & Committees Goals Workshop agenda discussion
Ms. Lemieux requested more definition of what the Board's expectations are for the workshop. Suggestion was
made to ask boards what they have they done in the last year; what their goals are for this upcoming year and in
what ways can we work together?
Ms. Bertram stated at the August 16, 2016 workshop there were discussions, suggestions and ideas such as the
need for more expansion of the talent bank form to get a better idea of what the committees do to solicit
applicants.
Ms. Bertram created a committee/ board overview template and will email it to Ms. Lemieux. Having the
standard talent bank form but also having information available about every committee; how often they meet,
what is the average meeting length, how many hours are needed outside of the meeting, what kind of education
and training should they be looking at as well as skills and qualifications, etc. It was suggested to send it out to
the committees before we meet. Ms. Luck did not believe there was enough time before October 10" for the
committees to meet and if all the boards come, that will be too many people to get anything done. Discussion
ensued on how to proceed. It was decided to keep the October 10 workshop to start the conversation and to
send the boards the Selectmen goals in advance and request what are their current goals and to have one
designee to speak on behalf of their committee at the workshop.
• Economic Development - Next Steps
Ms. Bertram suggested setting a regular schedule and making it available to foster more participation. Ms.
Lemieux asked who are the stakeholders to be invited to the next meeting and what do we want to accomplish.
Ms. Bertam stated the building reuse and economic development are tied together. We talked about scheduling
charrettes and getting public information and doing a survey and that is why we need a calendar of how often
we are going to talk about this. Mis. Lemieux suggested the Water Commisioners, Sewer Commissioners,
Conservation Commissioners, Parks Commissioners, IT Director and Planning Board as stakeholders. It was
suggested to invite someone from the Chamber of Commerce and it was noted the Agricultural Commission
might be involved too.
2. Disturbances of Newly Paved Roads Policy Fee Schedule
DPW Director Rodriquenz presented a fee for opening a road based on the function of the fee. Currently the
road opening fee is $100 and the trench opening fee is $40.00. He was recommending $50.00 per household per
lateral cut and $100 per longitudinal cut. The property owner will also have to pay to restore the road. It was
suggested to find out if other towns have fees for road inspections and how additional inspections are charged.
More work is needed before finalizing the fee schedule.
Request from Police Chief for Letter of Support for Traffic Study performed by MRPC on West
Townsend Road, Highland Street and Main Street
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Ms. Lemieux directed the Board to the letter from Police Chief Marino requesting support for a truck traffic
survey by MRPC in order to establish truck exclusion zones. Ms. Lemieux presented a draft letter to Glenn
Eaton, Executive Director at MRC requesting the truck traffic study be performed.
Motion: P. Bertram
To approve Police Chief Marino's request and send a letter of support for the commercial truck traffic
study and truck exclusion zones
2": P. Luck
Vote: All in Favor
Ms. Lemieux reported she had contacted MassDOT regarding getting approval for the updated Traffic Rules
and Orders and the process has changed. Only traffic speed zones and truck exclusions zones would have to be
reviewed and approved by MassDOT. The Traffic Rules and Orders can be posted on our website. Ms. Lemieux
will send a copy to MassDOT for their files.
Action File Issues
Ms. Bertram reported Planning Board Chair Bittner was asking for input from the Board regarding the Nexamp
proposal. Town counsel will be providing an opinion to the Planning Board at their public hearing on
September 25'h. The Board stated they would not disapprove the Planning Board taking any legal action as
necessary regarding the special permit. The Planning Board has the ability to place a condition on the special
permit stating they requested the applicant enter into a PILOT if the applicant agrees and there are no appeals.
Ms. Luck requested 24/7 coverage at the Police Department be an agenda item. It was noted additional coverage
would affect the current budget and should be discussed during the next budget making process.
Committee Reports:
Ms. Luck reported the School Committee is meeting tomorrow night. Storm Water Task Force is meeting on
September 28.
Ms. Bertram stated the MPO meeting for this month has been cancelled. Conservation Commission met on
September 6. Lunenburg DPW and the Lions Club requested to place sand on the Town beach. It was approved
with the condition any sand going in the water be moved back to the shore. There were several hearings that
were continued; one because abutters notices weren't submitted, another for clarification on drawings. The
Settlers Solar, 994 Northfield Road hearing was continued for further engineering because they want to look at
impacts to the buffer zone on the clearing and the potential moving of the project outside the buffer zone.
Mr. Ebersole reported the Charter Review Committee met and all members attended. They meet again
September 27th in the Ritter Building. They are attempting to have meetings televised from the Ritter Building.
Town Manager Report
Summer Street TIP project:
As a follow-up to the September 5* meeting, Selectman Bertram asked for verification that the Summer Street
project had been advertised. I checked MassDOT's website that lists all the projects by community and it had
been advertised for construction bids on August 19, 2017.
E-Permitting:
As a follow-up to a question about whether a technology fee can be imposed on building permits, Building
Commissioner Garry Rhodes and Land Use Director Adam Burney confirmed that we can place a technology
fee on building permits. 780 CMR Section 109.2 refers individuals to the municipality for the fees owed prior
to issuance of a municipal building permit.
DLTA Business Town Partnership Grant:
As discussed at the Economic Development workshop, Land Use Director Adam Burney and I have been
working with Montachusett Regional Planning Commission to discuss the scope of services MRPC will provide
using the District Local Technical Assistance funds we received that will to foster a business-town partnership.
This grant will provide consulting services from MRPC to host workshops with the business community in
Lunenburg, as well as workshops with residents to hear their ideas about fostering business development.
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Besides the workshops, the grant will include performing a preliminary market analysis, identifying gaps of
businesses. Letters will be mailed this week to approximately 420 businesses to invite them to the kick-off
meeting on Monday, October 2'd at 9:30 a.m. and it will be advertised in each of our town buildings, on the
website, and has been sent to The Ledger. This first meeting will focus on gathering information from business
owners but there will be future ones to hear from the public and interactive meetings with both business owners
and the public.
DOER Technical Assistance Grant for Green Communities Grant Administration Services:
The Town received notification last week that we were awarded a $5,000 Department of Energy Resources
technical assistance grant. This grant will provide consulting services from MRC to prepare the application
for the Competitive Green Communities Grant. The first Green Communities grant has been fully expended on
a variety of projects and the final report was written by Facilities Director John Londa. The Green
Communities Task Force has tentatively set up a meeting for Wednesday, October 4"' to discuss the next steps.
Town Hall Mold Abatement and Air Ventilation:
Air samples were taken by a hygienist on the first and second floor office spaces to test for mold spores and
none of the samples came back with elevated spore levels. There is one additional mold spore air sample test
scheduled for the basement area to confirm that the mold was abated. The next phase of this project began last
week. A ventilation engineer was out on Thursday to perform testing on the air exchange system. We will be
contracting with a HVAC contractor to clean the air ducts to eliminate any buildup of dust and allergens. The
approximate cost of that will be $3,000. Once that is complete the ventilation engineer will return and balance
the air exchange system. The last phases of this project will be to clean the records that are currently being
stored in a trailer that were removed from the basement and to seal all the spaces around the foundation so
moisture cannot get into the basement again.
Records Retention Space:
The Worcester County Sheriff's Office will be able to assist us with moving records from the attic over to a
designated room at the TC Passios. This will likely occur in the next month or so which will provide staff time
to mark boxes that are able to be destroyed according to the Public Records Retention Schedule.
Worcester County Sheriff's Office Community Service Program:
The Worcester County Sheriff's Office will be assisting painting at the Boys and Girls Club. They were
scheduled to start yesterday but due to the damp/wetness will begin that either later this week or next week.
Due to limitations of the inmates on ladders and lifts, they will be painting the porch and fire escape in the back
of the building. They will work from the hours of 8:30 a.m. until 1:30 p.m., which is outside the operational
hours of the Club. The remainder of the painting will be done by an independent contractor. This week the
inmates have been doing clean-up at Marshall Park.
Town Hall Painting Project:
The Invitation to Bid is available and will be due on Wednesday, October 11" at noon. This will be advertised
in a local newspaper, in the Central Register, and on the town's bulletin board. This will also be placed on the
town website.
T-Mobile Communications Lease/Use and Occupancy License:
Attorney Costa is awaiting a response from T-Mobile on the proposed Use and Occupancy License that the
Town can grant T-Mobile until town meeting provides authorization to enter into a 25 year lease agreement and
the use of town property for the communications equipment is properly awarded through proper procurement
procedures.
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Nashoba Valley Regional Dispatch Center Update:
The previous Executive Director of the Nashoba Valley Regional Dispatch Center resigned in June and the
Administration Board appointed an Interim Director that same day. Since June the Administration Board and
Uperations Board has been meeting bi-weekly to discuss outstanding issues and the hiring plan for the
Director's position. Three administration board members, including myself, conducted the initial interviews
and recommended two finalists to the full Administration Board. The finalist interviews were conducted two
weeks ago and the interview panel recommended Mr. Ross Klun for the position. This was ratified by the
Administration Board on September 13t
. Myself and two other members of the Administration Board will be
negotiating a contract with Mr. Klun. We expect this to be concluded in a couple of weeks.
Town Counsel Office Hours:
As a reminder, Town Counsel will be holding office hours on Monday, September 25"* from 4-7 p.m. and will
be attending the Planning Board meeting that evening.
Special Town Meeting:
Due to some pending issues that cannot wait until the Annual Town Meeting, a fall Special Town Meeting will
be required. The proposed date would be Monday, November 27, 2017. This would be an agenda item for the
October 3d meeting.
The Board requested to see if the town meeting could be held on Tuesday, November 28" instead. Ms. Lemiuex
will check with the availability of Town Moderator, Town Clerk and Legal Counsel.
Town Facilities Update:
At the August 15' "Current and Future Use of Town Buildings" workshop, there were a number of items that
required follow-up. I will address each one in as much detail as possible, given the information received to
Strategic Plan for School Buildings: After speaking with Superintendent Calmes, she confirmed that
the School Committee does not intend to utilize the TC Passios, the Brooks House or the old Primary
School for future school building space. The vote by the School Committee to give these buildings to
the Town and the town meeting approval are evidence that the School does not intend to request these
buildings be used for future schools. The Tappe Study Space Needs did include the Superintendent's
Offices but did not include all the district central offices, IT offices, and special programs like School
Linked Services or the ACE program that are currently housed between the TC Passios and the Brooks
House.
• Capital Costs for Turkey Hill Elementary School: Facilities Director John Londa presented a capital
plan at the last two School Committee meetings that included replacement of the roof at Turkey Hill and
major renovations to extend the life of Turkey Hill including window replacement and HVAC upgrades
that Mr. Londa estimates will cost approximately $4M. Mr. Londa estimates the Turkey Hill roof was
put on around 1998 and, given a typical life expectancy of 25 years, is identified for replacement in
FY24 for $1M and if the Town receives reimbursement through the MSBA (approximately 50% of cost
of project), this would push the estimated $4M in major renovations to Turkey Hill out another 10 years
to FY34.
• Updated Space Needs Assessment: The Tappe Space Needs Assessment has been updated and now
includes all the current square footage for all the offices proposed to be in one municipal office building,
including the school offices that were not included in the original Tappe Study. If we do not consolidate
office space, the school administration offices, special program spaces, and IT offices will still require
space. The 2015 LPS Capital Plan designated $15,000 to update space at Turkey Hill for district central
offices. Depending on where district offices and programs are located, the estimated space needs is
between 23,355 SF- 28,560 SF. The original Tappe Study figure was 19,695 SF.
• Comprehensive Building Condition Assessment: The DPW Director and I have met with two firms
that will be providing proposals to do a comprehensive building condition assessment of the Town Hall,
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TC Passios, the Brooks House, the Ritter Building, and the old Primary School. The final product
would be an objective look at the current condition of these buildings, what projects are considered
priority to maintain the integrity of the buildings, and include estimated costs for each of the identified
items. Their team would include Mechanical, Environmental, Structural, Electrical, Plumbing, and
Building Envelope specialists and they would also assess if the building is structurally sound. There is a
cost to perform these services and we are awaiting those figures which we should have within two
weeks. Attached are some preliminary figures for the Town Hall.
RFP Process for Architectural Design Services: The Board inquired about the steps to procure the
services of an architectural designer to provide conceptual drawings, which could be used to produce
final drawings and construction documents to consolidate town offices at the TC Passios.
1. Update the Designer Selection Procedures: Last updated in 2005.
2. Receive estimate from Architect to proceed to Town Meeting.
3. Approval for funding at Special Town Meeting.
4. Put out an RFP for Architectural Design Services.
PUBLIC COMMENT:
Katey Adams, 45 Williams Drive, wondered if there might be future space needs for students at Turkey Hill
Elementary. She referred to the Tappe Building Space Needs Study and asked what the new total square footage
number was for needed space. Ms. Lemieux stated the new number is 28,560 SF. Ms. Adams disputed the space
needs numbers and believed we are looking for more space than needed
Mr. Ebersole noted regarding space calculations, there is space based on office needs and a factor is applied for
space needed for boiler room, circulation, etc. It is important when we look at space needs for a particular office
the factor may be higher based on a traditional calculation; there may be a different calculation based on an
open format and we can look at that. Part of that would be the design process by experts versus the informal
survey that we have done so far. Ms. Bertram noted there is a spreadsheet that is available that identifies the
current square footage and the projected square footage and the numbers do add up. A copy can be requested
from the Selectmen's office.
Motion: P. Bertram
To adjourn themeeting
2nd. P. Luck
Vote:All in Favor
The meeting was adjourned at 8:27 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Elaiiem Pelesor
Elaine M. Peterson
Executive Assistant to the Town Manager