Board of Selectmen
Meeting Minutes
May 11, 2009

Present: Selectmen: Bill Martell, Ed Martin, Jim Huber, Joe Larson, Dave Goldin, Fred Vanderbeck, Chief Thomann, Matthew Lowney.

Approval of minutes: Martin motioned to accept the minutes of the April 13, 2009 meeting/Huber seconded/motion passes unanimously.

Liaison reports:

Police: Martin reported that Chief Thomann had provided the Board with statistics for the preceding months of March and April. Martin also reported that the new Cruiser Committee had tentatively scheduled a meeting for the following Tuesday. Thomann told the Board that he has looked at the possibilities and determined that an all-wheel-drive Ford Taurus would be his preference for a new vehicle. He reported that the vehicle would cost $27,000 “fully equipped” - $21,800 plus the cost of equipment. He also reported that the old vehicle may be traded in and that only the radios will be transferred to the new vehicle.

Fire: Statistics provided for previous month(s).

Town Offices: Martell reported that the Town Offices were “running smoothly” and noted that Admin Kim Leahey had been busy with all the preparations for the Annual Town Meeting.

DPW: Martell said that the department has been busy with street cleaning.

Library: Huber reported that there had been no meetings since the last BOS meeting.

School Committee: Huber reported that the committee will be presenting a budget at Town Meeting of approximately $1.64 million, of which Pelham will be responsible for $1.31 million. He further reported that Rob Dettweiler, Director of Finance and Operations for the Amherst Pelham Regional Schools, has advised the committee that Pelham needs to make a decision regarding school choice students. Dettweiler recommends “weaning off” of the number of School Choice students accepted by Pelham Elementary. The Committee, however, voted to raise the number of school choice students so that now forty percent of students educated in the Elementary school will be from out of town. Dettweiler projects that by 2012, Pelham will have 76 students from Pelham and 80 School Choice students. Huber suggested that the Selectmen should consider meeting with the Finance Committee to determine “where we’re going” in the next five years in regards to funding for the Pelham Elementary School. Fred Vanderbeck, of the Finance Committee, told the Board that the FinCom is scheduled to meet on May 21st at 6 p.m. at the Rhodes building and that the School Committee has been invited to attend.

Aside: Huber mentioned that a biomass study of the Community Center of Pelham building is scheduled to take place on May 28th.

Board Reorganization: The Board reorganized in the wake of the annual election:

Jim Huber motioned to appoint Ed Martin as the Chairman of the Board of Selectmen/Bill Martell seconded/motioned passed unanimously.

Bill Martell motioned to appoint Jim Huber as Vice-Chairman of the Board of Selectmen/Martin seconded/motion passed unanimously.

Jim Huber motioned to appoint Bill Martell as secretary of the Board of Selectmen/Martin seconded/motion passed unanimously.

Board of Selectmen Summer Schedule:

Chairman Martin, noting that the Board has traditionally met for only one meeting during the summer months, suggested the following dates for summer meetings: June 15, July 13, and August 17. The Board agreed.

Reserve Officer: Police Chief Gary Thomann introduced Matthew Lowney, his new Reserve Officer.

Thomann reported that Lowney had attended and just graduated from the Police Academy. Thomann also provided the Board with Lowney’s resume which stated that he had graduated in May of 2007 from Westfield State College with a Bachelors of Science degree in Criminal Justice.

Thomann reviewed that the reserve officers are volunteers, working eight hours every two weeks and receiving a yearly stipend of $100. He reminded the Board that the department is allowed to have five reserve officers and, with the addition of Lowney, the department now has four (the other three: Leona Mann, Christopher Provost and William Kimball). Thomann does not anticipate the need for a fifth officer at this time.

Selectman Huber motioned to appoint Matthew Lowney as a Reserve Officer/Martell seconded/motion passed unanimously.

Historical Commission: Joe Larson of the Commission attended and presented to Selectmen an article to address the repairs and painting at the Town Hall. The Article is for matching funds for a grant that has been applied for. Joe had been in contact with John Trickey and Kim earlier to determine if the article could be addressed at the continuation of the Annual Town Meeting on June 13th. Kim was able to contact Jeanne McKnight of Kopelman and Paige and counsel advised that a “Special Town Meeting” could be called just before/after/during the reconvened meeting to address the article.  The article presented by Joe reads:

“ARTICLE ___:
To see if the Town will vote to appropriate from the Capital Equipment and Expenditures Stabilization Fund the sum of $33,375 to be used as matching funds for a grant of $22,750 to the Town from the Massachusetts Historical Commission for repair to the fire escape and for painting the historic Pelham Town Hall, provided, that the total cost of the repairs and painting shall not exceed $45,500 and that upon completion of the project the balance of $10,625 shall be used to reimburse the Capital Equipment and Expenditures Stabilization Fund, and further provided, that in the event the grant is not awarded to the Town, the appropriation shall be reduced to the sum of $____________________________ and said reduced sum shall be used only for repair of the fire escape.

Recommended by the Historical Commission”

The blank will be filled in with the cost of just the fire escape repair. Joe said that Rick would have that amount soon and definitely by May 26, the date of the next BOS meeting.

Martell made a motion to convene a special Town Meeting at 10 a.m. on Saturday, June 13, 2009 at the Pelham Elementary School/Huber seconded/motion passed unanimously.

Appointments: Bill Martell motioned to appoint Rosemary Agoglia to the Pelham Cultural Council/Huber seconded/motion passed unanimously.

Old/New Business:

• Kristin DeBoer of the Kestrel Trust reviewed the Keyes Well Away Farm Land Grant project and presented paperwork to the Selectmen for their signature(s). The documents must be signed and returned to the State by June 30, 2009.  Selectmen asked Admin Leahey to send the documents to Kopelman and Paige for review and will address signing them at their May 26th meeting. Kristin reviewed that the Conservation Restriction is being purchased for $300,000. Kestrel is fronting the purchase price;‘gifting’ the town $102,000 and applying for a Land Grant for the remaining $198,000 which will be paid back to them when it comes through.
• Selectmen reminded Leahey to get the “proper language” for the Amherst Road article for the June meeting.
• Selectmen mentioned that Town Accountant had let them know that Chapter 70 money (school funds) would be cut again – she is not sure of the figures and stated that the money cut would be made up with so called “stimulus money”.
• Admin Leahey let Selectmen know that a transfer will have to be done from Reserves to the Legal account. Leahey reports that Treasurer Edna Holloway had let her know that the account was $600 short for the month of March’s payment. Leahey called Kopelman & Paige and spoke to billing; the anticipated amount needed for April through June will probably be at least $4,000. Selectmen told Leahey to get the appropriate form from Holloway and they will sign it so that it can be submitted to the Finance Committee.
• Huber motioned for Chairman Martin to be the liaison to the Highway Department and to the Town Office/Martin seconded/motion passed unanimously.
• Martell motioned for Huber to be the liaison to the Police and Fire Departments/Martin seconded/motion passed unanimously.
• Huber motioned for Martell to be the liaison to the School Board and to the Library/Martin seconded/motion passed unanimously.
• Selectman Huber brought to the attention of the Board a discussion that came up at Annual Town Meeting regarding compensation for (school) committee members. The discussion then included compensation for any committee member or for any elected or appointed position. Huber wondered if the Personnel Board could look into the issue. Martin replied that the Personnel Board is swamped with their current mission which is to craft job descriptions for all town positions. Huber made a motion to ask the Personnel Board to look into compensation for elected and appointed positions in other towns/Martell seconded/motion passed unanimously.  Selectmen also said that they would “make it clear” at the June 13th Town Meeting that it is being looked into.  
• Huber suggested that the Town should have a printed certificate/award to recognize and thank townspeople who serve the Town on Boards and such.

Huber motioned to adjourn/Martell seconded/motion passed unanimously.

Meeting adjourned at 7:20 p.m.