Board of Selectmen’s Meeting
Minutes for Monday, May 23, 2005
The Board of Selectmen held a meeting in the conference room at Town Offices on Monday, May 23, 2005 at 7:30 p.m. Present were:
Sarah Cannon Holden, Chairperson
Sara Mattes
Gary Taylor
Tim Higgins, Town Administrator
Susan Harding, Recorder
Mrs. Holden called the meeting to order at 7:32 p.m. and announced the agenda. There were no announcements.
APPOINTMENTS
1) Verizon Representatives for New License
Mrs. Holden asked the representatives from Verizon to address the board. Ms. Carol Barabow is promoting Verizon’s Fiber to the Premises (FTTP) project in this area. Mr. James McPhail is a telecommunications consultant working with Verizon, and Mr. Paul Powell acted as outside counsel. Ms. Barabow described briefly the FTTP project, which brings internet access and cable television access as well as telephone services over fiber optic cable. She said it brings competition to Comcast, and will be better than both cable and DSL lines because it will not be on copper lines. They hope to overlay Verizon’s existing copper network, which is 83% aerial, and put conduits underground for the rest. Thirty passive boxes (approximately 16’ x 11’ x 5’) will be mounted on existing
poles determined to be safe enough to carry the new equipment. If the poles are deemed inadequate, new ones will be installed along side the old. Since NSTAR owns the old poles, Verizon can’t take them down, and thus the double pole sites are increased. They asked the Selectmen to vote to initiate the licensing process under Mass General Laws Chapter 166. Verizon recommended that the 60 day public notice period be waived, shortening it to 30 days, since no other bidder is likely to surface.
The Selectmen lamented over the double pole eyesores and speculated on ways to bring leverage to the utilities to solve it. They expressed concern about overloading utility poles and questioned the need for the waiver. The Board voted unanimously to initiate the new licensing process with the Department of Telecommunications and Energy, and did not include the waiver in the motion.
2) Lincoln School Committee’s Facility Needs Assessment
Mrs. Julie Dobrow, chairperson of the Lincoln School Committee, and Dr. Micky Brandmeyer, Superintendent, joined the Board at 8:05 p.m. to report on the outcome of the study initiated by the School Committee. The estimated $10 million to undertake all the repairs and upgrades requires long range planning and coordination with the rest of the town. They would like to see a planning committee formed that could prioritize the issues based on immediacy of need and fiscal impacts. Its charge would be to come up with an analysis by the fall of 2006 and a funding plan by Annual Town Meeting of 2007.
The Selectmen complimented the School Committee on its thorough and careful approach to the problems. They want to make sure that all the other town needs, to some extent competing with school needs, be assessed to the same standards so fair comparisons will be made. Mr. Taylor suggested that the new committee “think out of the box,” with the hope that some Community Preservation Act monies (matched by the state) can be used.
Mrs. Mattes asked for time on an upcoming agenda of the School Committee to talk with them about the implications to the schools of Hanscom Air Force Base’s remaining operational. Mrs. Dobrow welcomed the discussion.
3) Zoning Board of Appeals
Ms. Pam Green, Chairperson of the Appeals Board, described how she is attempting to make the appeals process more user friendly, both to the resident and the Board members. She is redesigning the application form to make it more complete so fewer continuances from lack of needed information must be scheduled. She wishes Education and Training to be a more consistent and formal process, and hopes to buy a few books for members to use for reference. She would like to organize their case decisions by subject matter, index them, and scan them onto the website for better access. Her goal is to make the process more understandable and easier so that the outcomes can be quicker for all concerned.
Ms. Green said that one full member wishes to leave (Buck Creel) since he has been elected to the Water Board; and one Associate (Win Quayle) wishes to become a full member; therefore, the Board would be short two Associate members. The Board discussed the time requirements (15 hours a month approximately), and the skills needed. They agreed to place a notice in the paper calling for applicants interested in the Board, and voted to approve the change in status of Mr. Quayle as soon as administratively expedient. Mr. Creel’s participation as a member of the ZBA was needed to complete a hearing that had been continued to June, since the panel of board members must stay the same throughout the appeal process.
OPEN FORUM
No one in the audience requested time to speak in the Open Forum part of the meeting.
TOWN ADMINISTRATOR’S REPORT
Mr. Higgins recommended that the Board vote to implement the provisions of the Municipal Relief Act, which allows the town to shift monies between departments to help balance the budget. This eliminates the two-year wait to have the monies declared Free Cash. The Board voted unanimously to use this provision.
The Pierce House patio repairs will get underway very shortly. The Fire Chief has sent a letter to the Water Commissioners asking for some new hydrants in high risk areas of the town after assessing fire response time and water availability. The Roadway Improvement Plan dating back to the 1980s is being re-circulated for comments and financial planning around bonding issues.
DISCUSSION ITEMS
Mrs. Mattes said that the Department of Defense is keeping confidential the information upon which the base closing decisions were made. The BRAC commissioners are coming to Lincoln on July 7, 2005, and no one yet knows how to prepare for them or what information they might want.
Mr. Higgins sent the petition to the FRA (Federal Railway Administration) to ban the train whistle. The town should hear ITS decision by June 24, 2005.
The Board agreed to postpone discussion of liaison assignments until the workshop meeting on June 13, 2005.
Mrs. Mattes said that the long-awaited booklet about the town to complete the 250th Anniversary celebrations is nearly done and will be mailed town wide thanks to money given by the Codman Trustees.
ACTION ITEMS
The Board agreed that the Community Preservation Committee appointments needed to wait until they knew who was going off or staying.
The Board of Selectmen voted unanimously to approve Summer Hours.
The Board voted unanimously to give permission to the Brooks School 8th Grade to hold a car wash at Town Offices on June 3rd (or 4th for rain), 2005.
The Board agreed to put senior housing on the workshop agenda for June 13, 2005.
SUMMARY OF APPROVED ACTIONS
1) Initiated licensing procedures for new telecommunications.
2) Help with School Facilities Committee formation; Mattes will talk with them about BRAC.
3) Advertise for now and appoint when appropriate new Associates to ZBA.
4) Authorized implementation of Municipal Relief Act.
5) Clarify membership of CPC.
6) Approved Summer Hours.
7) Approved car wash permit.
The meeting was adjourned at 9:35 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Susan Harding, recorder
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