Board of Selectmen
Meeting Minutes
July 14, 2008
Present: Selectmen; William Martell, Edward Martin and James Huber, Administrative Assistant Kim Leahey,Chief Fleury, Judith Eiseman, Fred VanDerbeck, Jacob Braun, David Goldin, Mary Carey of the Gazette, Mr. and Mrs. Heplar and other members of the public.
Meeting called to order at 6:02 p.m.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
For each of the following dates: June 2, 2008, June 16, 2008, and June 23, 2008, Ed Martin made a motion to accept the minutes of the Selectmen’s meeting held on that day and James Huber seconded the motion. All motions passed unanimously and the minutes were accepted.
KESTRAL TRUST/GOULD PROPERTY
Judith Eiseman, as a representative from the Kestral Trust, attended the meeting to solicit the Board’s support for, and signed endorsement of, a state grant application which would allow the Town to purchase a Conservation Restriction. Mr. Gould, the owner of the land in question on South Valley Road, will retain title to his property while the town will hold a Conservation Restriction in perpetuity.
Ms. Eiseman assured the Board that taxes will continue to be paid on the property and that the townspeople will have access to its trails, whose upkeep the landowners and the Conservation Commission will be responsible for.
Warren Hall, chairman of the Planning Board, reported that he had spoken with each member of the Planning Board and the majority opinion was that the purchase of the Conservation Restriction should move forward. He added, however, that it is the Board’s feeling that there needs to be further documentation regarding the maintenance of the property. He emphasized that the language should be made “more clear” regarding whose responsibility it will be to do the mowing of the “meadows” and other routine property maintenance tasks. Mrs. Eiseman stated that “standard conservation restriction language” had been used. Mr. Hall felt that, at the very least, language regarding “prohibitive acts” should be struck from the agreement as he felt that it would negate routine mowing of the property.
Mr. Hall stated that there is also a concern that there is no specific language regarding the preservation of an historic barn located on the property. He wondered if specific language could be included which would serve to protect the structure. Joe Larson, of the Historical Commission shared with the Board that the only way to achieve legal protection of historic buildings is to establish a local historic district; the National Register does not do it. Mr. Hall reiterated that preservation of the historic barn and of the fields are the primary concerns of the Planning Board. Conservation Commission chair, Tilman Lukas, said that it is difficult for the Conservation Commission to impose restrictions on a landowner’s property.
Ms. Eiseman further stated that application for the grant does not guarantee funding. She stated, however, that the Trust has a high degree of success when applying for grants. The Kestral Trust would loan the Town $300,000 to facilitate the purchase of the restriction and then, when the grant is awarded, the Town will pay the Trust back by June of 2009.
It was noted by the Selectmen that this would make it necessary to present a warrant at the Fall Town Meeting asking residents to approve borrowing $300,000 from the Kestral Trust, contingent upon grant reimbursement, for this purpose. Ms. Eiseman emphasized that the grant being applied for is a reimbursement grant; the expectation is, therefore, that the restriction will have already been purchased by the Town before the grant can be awarded.
At the end of discussion, Selectman Ed Martin motioned to sign the application, Jim Huber seconded. Motion passed unanimously. Ms. Eiseman stated that, given that the deadline for application is the very next day, she would be driving it to Boston herself.
APPOINTMENT OF RESERVE POLICE OFFICER
Police Chief Edward Fleury presented candidate Leona Mann to the Selectman as a potential reserve police officer. Fleury noted that in the past six months the department has lost a reserve officer and therefore has an opening. He spoke highly of Ms. Mann, noting that she has a Certificate of Completion from the Basic Reserve Intermittent Academy in Springfield and has also participated in, and completed, the Belchertown Citizen’s Police Academy. In addition, Ms. Mann is CPR Certified and also holds a certificate in Suicide prevention. Currently, she is working at Subway Sandwich Shop in Belchertown but hopes to someday become a full-time law enforcement officer. Fleury feels that Ms. Mann will “be a good fit” for the department; he spoke of her ability to handle difficult people and situations and also mentioned that a CORI check has been run and came back “squeaky clean”.
James Huber made a motion to appoint Leona Mann as a reserve officer on the Pelham Police Department, Ed Martin seconded; motion passed unanimously.
COMPUTER SECURITY
Jacob Braun attended the meeting to discuss the options for backing up the information on the Town’s computers. Jacob is the owner/operator of Wakadigital, a company that advises and consults in regards to technology, security and communications. He is also a volunteer firefighter for the Pelham Fire Department.
Jacob stated that he would address two issues; the backing-up and security of the Town Hall computers and the Town Hall internet connection, which frequently fails. At this point, Administrative Assistant Kim Leahey informed Jacob and the Board that she had managed to resolve the internet issue by downloading updates for the Linksys router. Leahey reported that there have been no problems since she was able to do that.
Selectman Huber then expressed his growing concern around the issue of security of the information stored in the Town’s computers. He feels that a single, or several, “stand-alone” hard drives should be purchased and then kept in a secure location, such as the Community Center, away from the Town offices. His plan would have every person in the Town Hall responsible for taking the information from their own computer weekly, using a ‘flash drive’, and then bringing it to the secure location and loading it onto the hard drive backup.
Braun’s plan, which was fully supported by Assistant Leahey, would be to utilize an online/offsite service. Jacob reported that it would cost $30 per computer per month for a company he represents that would supply ‘industry-standard back-up security’ which is currently used by both State and Federal governments. Their method is to back up, through the internet; encrypted information which is then stored offsite. Jacob emphasized that it is encrypted and very secure; should anything happen to the Town computers such as a lightening strike or vandalism, the company would provide the encrypted information to be downloaded onto new computers and the Town would be up and running quickly.
Braun cautioned that he feels the system that Huber has suggested is problematic in that external drives are susceptible to shock related damage and also questioned the security of a locked room in a different location within the town. He also offered that the Town could try out the offsite/online option at no cost since the first thirty days are not billed.
Mr. Huber again expressed his distrust of any online system but Ms. Leahey strongly advocated for the offsite/online plan. Selectmen decided to wait to make a decision until Assessor’s assistant Martha Leamy and Collector/Treasurer Edna Holloway, whose computers would also be involved, could be polled as to their preference.
OTHER BUSINESS
Leahey presented to Selectmen a document for their signature. DPW Rick Adamcek had supplied the document, generated from the Hampshire Council of Governments, which was an award of contract for trap rock, sand, etc. for the coming year. Ed Martin made a motion to accept Adamcek’s recommendations and to sign the bid award; Jim Huber seconded the motion; motion passed unanimously. Leahey will write letters to the companies involved, notifying them of the award of contract.
LIAISON REPORTS
All liaison reports were unremarkable, though positive. Selectman Huber informed the Board that the Library would soon undergo an energy audit.
CRUISER COMMITTEE APPOINTMENTS
The Board reviewed the names of the citizens who had expressed interest in serving on the committee which will determine if the Town will buy or lease a new vehicle and what new vehicle would be the best option for the town.
After discussion, Ed Martin made a motion to appoint the following: Gordon Palley, Rich Hall, and Tony Cohn-Haft. Jim Huber seconded and the motion passed unanimously.
These people will join Chief Fleury and Selectmen Martin on the committee to make a total of five members.
Leahey was instructed to write letters to the people who had expressed interest and not been chosen.
FISCAL
Leahey presented to the Selectmen a request from the Library Trustees to transfer funds from one line to another; Ed Martin made a motion to approve the requested transfer, Jim Huber seconded; motion passed unanimously.
Leahey also presented a request for transfer of funds from the Town Office wages line to Legal and to Selectmen’s Expense to cover some remaining FY08 invoices. Ed Martin made a motion to approve the requested transfer, Jim Huber seconded; motion passed unanimously.
ENERGY COMMITTEE
The Selectmen asked Gazette reporter Mary Carey to publish a plea in the newspaper for volunteers to serve on the new Energy Committee. It was mentioned again that an energy audit is planned for the Community Center this month, and there was some discussion regarding the idea of combining energy consumption of town buildings if possible.
Jim Huber made a motion to appoint Stan Swiercz, Avi Gladstone, Adam Novitt, Rick Adamcek and himself to the Energy Committee; Ed Martin seconded, motion passed unanimously.
OTHER BUSINESS
Chief Fleury mentioned that he would be teaching a Firearms Safety Class at the Police/Fire headquarters on Sunday, July 20 at 5pm. The training will be taught by Fleury and Sgt. Kevin Fournier.
Ed Martin made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 8:07pm. Meeting adjourned.
Respectfully submitted,
Kim Leahey
July 23, 2008