Selectboard Minutes

Town of New Salem Selectboard

Meeting Minutes

 February 22, 2022

Held Virtually via Zoom

Convened: 7:00 pm

Present: Randy Gordon, Wayne Hachey, Hugh Mackay, Selectboard; Kathy Neal, Town Coordinator; Joe Cuneo, Fire Chief; Zara Dowling, Energy Committee; MaryEllen Kennedy, MLP Director; Jen Potee, Board of Health; Gosia Sponer; Marny Ashburne; Kyle Dragon

Selectboard Reviewed & Signed the Following:

• Payroll & Vendor Warrants

Discussion Items

Update on Police Cruiser

Hugh reported that the cruiser is in line for paint and graphics. Right now they have some equipment on order. The original target date was April, but that’s slipping given backlogs in parts. Randy asked about the plans to repurpose the existing cruiser for the Fire Dept. Hugh responded that’s on hold until we have the new police cruiser.

Swift River School Committee Vacancy

Randy reported that there is a vacancy on the committee. A member on the committee resigned informally a few months ago. The problem is that the School Committee needs an official resignation sent to the Town Clerk. The entire situation is difficult. The Town Clerk is still assessing the options. There is also a question of whether the member was officially on the committee. This person was elected by write ins and it may be that they never properly accepted the position in the first place, so there may have been a failure to elect. Wayne asked if this person was paid as the committee is a paid position. Randy responded that they never filed the paperwork with the Treasurer. So they were never paid. It was agreed to ask the Town Clerk to provide a formal opinion. Wayne asked why the email that was sent doesn’t constitute a resignation. Jake interjected to say if it wasn’t submitted to the Town Clerk it isn’t official under MGL. Kathy confirmed the email wasn’t sent to the Town Clerk but rather in a blast to many other people involved with the school. Discussion finished with the request for an opinion from the Town Clerk. Action can then be taken subsequent.

Energy Committee Update

Zara began by opening to questions. Wayne asked a few including some maintenance for solar panels owned by the town including the solar meters. Zara outlined some steps being taken in regards to that and other matters including the town’s annual Green Community report. She expressed some frustration with a vender that’s kind of the only game in town. For example, she can read the solar meter on her own home. But that’s different with the town’s case. Still she contacted National Grid about the town’s options. National Grid was unfortunately not very willing to assist. A lot of solar meters are run off 3G and that’s going away. So it’s possible the meter will stop working. It used to be systems under 10 kilowatts could self-report. But that’s changed and it may open options for the town to pursue a new meter. So it’s all very much in the works. It makes sense to monitor as it helps us ensure that the panels are working. We’re likely to lose some of our SRECs, but still the town will benefit from the solar panels remaining in good condition. Wayne asked if the SRECs will go away later in the year. She responded it will go away in October, but we’ll still get some RECs that will bring in a little money. The big question is whether our current buyer/reseller Hampshire Power will continue to buy our energy. A number of entities will be coming off SRECs so they might. She noted that we have the panels, they can remain in use, and they’ll be good for about another 20 years. She suggested we could add more panels. Still in the interim we should have someone to check on them and help with maintenance concerns. Zara then turned back to the report. A lot of our energy use is driven by Swift River Elementary. The town’s energy use has stayed rather static, but the school has gone up do to various COVID precautions taken like extra ventilation. She then asked in regards to a new police cruiser if it is a hybrid. Wayne responded it should be. Zara noted we should hear from the Commonwealth about Green Communities funding soon and there could be some funds allocated for hybrids. Jen noted there are a number of electric options too that can be leased. Concord has actually acquired a fully electric cruiser. Tesla makes a four-wheel drive vehicle, but of course there are other brands. Jake interjected to note that according to the Treasurer, the new police cruiser is a hybrid. Wayne noted that the next step after electrifying police fleets is fire trucks. In the meantime, Zara asked that she be kept in the loop so that she can report on efforts to buy hybrids or electric vehicles for our reports.

Discussion on Replacement of Animal Control Officer / Animal Inspector

Randy reported that the towns ACO has resigned and the town needs to determine its options. If it wants to advertise for a new one or contract with a regional service. Kathy expressed the opinion that a regional option would work well for New Salem. Franklin County has such a person with the cost being around $4,000. Kyle then took the opportunity to introduce himself. So there are two programs. One is a dog kennel one and the other being the regional animal control. The programs are run through the Sheriff’s Office. The program would assign a person to the town. This is all they do, they’re full time and on call for towns. They have a kennel that ACO’s have 24/7 access to. Hugh asked Kyle about requirements for kennels. Kyle responded that he can’t speak to every element, but certainly there are programs like the one he’s involved with. Kennels should be inspected regularly, both public ones and ones that exist as a matter of statute (automatically defined based upon the number of dogs present). MDAR is usually the authority that does inspections for public kennels, the ACO for private ones. Hugh asked how many employees are in the two programs. Kyle responded that there’s at least 3 at the kennel including himself. He assists all the ACO’s with various enforcement actions and complaints. Hugh asked about the Animal Inspector duties for domestic farm animals. Kyle elaborated on what that entails usually for most towns. Hugh asked if the cost of the two programs are annual. Kyle responded they are. The town can sign on to either program or both. So the town could hire a new ACO and still participate with the kennel program. In fact, several towns do just that. Wayne asked about the Animal Inspector piece. Kyle responded that they have limits to what they do and the town likely would have to appoint a separate Animal Inspector which is done between the towns Board of Health and MDAR. Randy asked about on call and availability.

Kyle detailed the various hours and how they respond. In an emergency situation a person would respond. Zara asked about wild life with rabies noting that the town’s police are reluctant to put the animal down and the past ACO typically didn’t respond to those. Kyle responded that they respond and take steps for exposure situations. Zara asked that the town consider including a provision, if it hires an ACO directly, that they be responsible for taking action with such animals. Wayne asked if they take cats as well. Kyle responded they do take them, but their kennel can’t take them. Still they have partners that can take cats. Wayne asked if there are extra charges. Kyle responded everything is included. Randy clarified as to the domestic farm animals. Kyle responded is that he can assist with many of those situations, but he doesn’t do the barn inspections. So that would require an Animal Inspector to be appointed. Randy suggested before making a formal decision on the Franklin County service that we fist find out if anyone in town would be interested. In the meantime, Jen agreed to have Board of Health look into the Animal Inspector part since that falls under their jurisdiction along with MDAR. It was agreed to wait until the next meeting in order to allow for public response. Wayne noted that the cost of these programs isn’t much different than what our costs where with an in house. So he felt it prudent we consider these programs seriously. Hugh felt the Franklin County program to be a good one. Zara expressed the feeling it would be a prudent to have someone whose full attention is devoted to this sort of work. The consensus was that it would be better to go with the service now than wait. Wayne felt it would be the best direction at this point. Kyle then briefly went over the steps for joining the two regional programs. He promised to start the process right away. Randy asked about whether this would be prorated for the remaining fiscal year. Kyle responded that they’ll access how their budget is working and make a determination including projections for FY23. So they should be able to prorate and then provide a cost for FY23.

A motion was made by Hugh to accept the regional program providing both Animal Control Officer and kennel services provided by the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office. The motion was seconded by Wayne and passed unanimously.

Board of Health Update

Jen began by noting the next meeting of the Board of Health which is on February 28, 2022. The Board of Health will be discussing the Governor’s latest mask mandate changes. Many residents are anxious about the matter and they will be making some decisions and providing guidance to town bodies. Randy noted that the change really is about public schools and even if one thing happens there are several more parts like masks on buses and the like. Jen reminded anyone can wear a mask if they are feeling concerned. So if parents wish their children to continue wearing masks, they have that right. Hugh asked about the towns case numbers. Jen reported they’re doing much better than they were a few weeks ago. Kathy asked about COVID tests noting the Acting Library Director has asked. Jen responded that New Salem wasn’t allocated any tests. Wendell, Athol, and Orange were, but not New Salem. So residents need to sign up for the federal program and the tests can be found in most pharmacies in the region. There’s been a lot of red tape for Boards of Health to obtain tests and often New Salem doesn’t qualify. Randy noted some progress on the PFAS problem and its solution at Swift River Elementary. Jen responded things are indeed progressing on that front.

ARPA Funds Discussion

Zara noted that one idea for ARPA funding would be green technology where permissible. Randy noted there may be some flexibility but asked Zara to meet with Kathy to better determine what would or would not be covered. Kathy agreed to send Zara some information beforehand. MaryEllen then brought up some broadband topics that may qualify. That includes a monitoring system for their hut that will help make the network more robust. The likely cost would be around $15,000. She stressed we’re dependent on some things done by the Commonwealth as a provider. Broadband continues to work on having multiple providers and making that diversified would likely cost another $30,000. Then she turned to National Grid and one of the last areas still being built out. That cost is likely around $50,000. So depending on what the town is willing to spend on, there are certainly broadband options to spend on. Hugh asked if these projects would essentially finish our network. MaryEllen responded they would. We’ll still be adding houses, but yes it would more or less finish things off. Wayne asked if the town had lost connections anywhere. MaryEllen responded that we really haven’t. We’ve had fiber come down, but no one lost connectivity. MaryEllen then reported that in FY23 we will receive a $55,000 a year reimbursement from the FCC. There’s also talk about a municipal broadband grant that could assist. But that appears more for adding public buildings to networks. She noted that the town’s broadband can keep functioning without ARPA funding, but any free up of broadband funds could allow more money to be shifted to the debt service. Randy asked if the $55,000 annual amount could be used for debt service. She responded that likely it could. Randy asked MaryEllen to obtain quotes. She agreed to do so. Randy then asked Kathy about process. Kathy responded the Selectboard approves the expenditures of these funds and then we just have to report it properly. Randy suggested approving up to a certain sum of the funds for broadband. Kathy felt that prudent. But it could wait until the next meeting as there are other public bodies planning to bring proposals including Tree Committee. Jen reminded that these funds can also be spent on public health activities. For example, the Public Health Nurse is paid from some of these funds. She suggested discussing this with the Treasurer as well. Wayne then followed up on the generator proposal. Osterman will provide the tank for free unless you use less than half a tank and even then they’ll only charge a flat fee for the year. So we may be able to save some funds there. Randy asked that any quote to that effect be submitted.

Old Academy Building

Randy asked for an update on this front. Hugh responded things are still in the works. Randy reminded we have some funds, not unlimited, but some funds we can expend on this building and we should do work to improve it.

Minutes

The Selectboard reviewed the minutes for February 7, 2022. The Selectboard saw no reason not to accept them as written and determined to do so.

A motion was made by Hugh to approve the minutes of February 7, 2022 as written. Wayne seconded the motion and it passed unanimously.

A motion to adjourn at 8:15 pm was made by Wayne. The motion was seconded by Hugh and passed without objection.

Respectfully Submitted

Jakob K. Hamm, Selectboard Clerk