Board of Selectmen’s Meeting

October 1, 2007

A meeting of the Board of Selectmen was called to order by Chairman William Audette at 6:00 PM, Northbridge Town Hall, 7 Main Street, Whitinsville, MA. Present: Messrs. Davis, Montecalvo, Marzec and Ampagoomian. Also present: Theodore D. Kozak Town Manager.

The Board convened at 6:00 P.M. to conduct a walk through of the Cable Studio and Aldrich School Buildings.

The Pledge of Allegiance was recited by those present.

Approval of Minutes.

September 24, 2007

Selectman Davis would like the following added under the Fall Annual Town Meeting #2: “Mr. Davis asked Ms. Burns and Dr. Kittredge if the funds the petition sought for the generator were in the budget and if the School Committee was looking for reimbursement. Selectman Davis said that Ms. Burns responded to the question but did not answer it and asked if the Town Manager would follow up with her. A motion/Mr. Davis, seconded/Mr. Ampagoomian to approve the September 24, 2007 minutes as amended with the readings omitted. Vote yes/Unanimous.

Public Hearing – 7:05 PM: 1) Liquor License Transfer from San-Fran Corp. d/b/a The Grill [Francis Carelli] to The Pardee Group, Inc. d/b/a The Grill [John A. Pardee]. A motion/Mr. Davis, seconded/Mr. Marzec to open the public hearing. Vote yes/Unanimous. Present: Frank Carelli and John Pardee. The Board of Selectmen thanked and wished Mr. Carelli well in his future endeavors. Mr. Pardee mentioned that he would be making some changes to update the grill. A motion/Mr. Davis, seconded/Mr. Marzec to close the public hearing. Vote yes/Unanimous. A motion/Mr. Ampagoomian, seconded/Mr. Davis to approve the liquor license transfer from San-Fran Corp. d/b/a The Grill [Francis Carelli] to The Pardee Group, Inc. d/b/a The Grill [John A. Pardee]. Vote yes/Unanimous. 2) Transfer of Common Victualler License from San-Fran Corp. d/b/a The Grill [Francis Carelli] to The Pardee Group, Inc. d/b/a The Grill [John A. Pardee]. A motion/Mr. Davis, seconded/Mr. Marzec to approve the transfer of Common Victualler license from San-Fran Corp. d/b/a The Grill [Francis Carelli] to The Pardee Group, Inc. d/b/a The Gill [John A. Pardee]. Vote yes/Unanimous.

Citizens’ Comments/Input. None

Street Acceptance Articles: Vote to layout the following roads or portions thereof as public ways: Present: Ed Palmer, George Martin, Members of the Planning Board and Barbara Gaudette, Chairman of the Planning Board. 1) Forsythe Farm Road; 2) Ash Street; 3) A portion of Brookway Drive. Town Manager Kozak mentioned that the Planning Board has voted to approve the acceptance of the above streets and noted that the plans and mylars are here tonight to be signed. That said, the legal descriptions have been forwarded to town counsel with minor changes. Attorney Henry Lane stated that there is an alteration to Ash Street and should be noted in the minutes. A motion/Mr. Ampagoomian, seconded/Mr. Marzec to layout Forsythe Farm Road, the alteration and extension of Ash Street and a portion of Brookway Drive there of as public ways. Vote yes/Unanimous.

Fall Annual Town Meeting Warrant Articles: 1) Planning Board – Articles 10-14, 18-21; Chairman of the Planning Board, Barbara Gaudette read aloud the Planning Board warrant articles and then presented their recommendations to the Board of Selectmen. Ms. Gaudette mentioned that the Planning Board only voted to passover Article 11. Selectman Davis asked whose responsibility is it to present the Planning Board articles the night of Town Meeting. Ms. Gaudette mentioned that the Planning Board would handle if the petitioner wasn’t present and then asked if there was a policy in place. The Board of Selectmen agreed that the petitioner should be responsible; that said, Town Manager Kozak mentioned that he would have Sharon Susienka contact the lead petitioners to advise them of this. 2) Conservation Commission – Article 15; Chairman of the Conservation Commission, Wyatt Mills was present to discuss Article 15. Mr. Mills mentioned that his committee proposed some significant changes to the Conservation Commission by-laws and has provided a copy of them to the Board of Selectmen. Attorney Henry Lane stated that there isn’t enough time for people to review the proposed changes before the Town Meeting and then referred to the conservation commissions document and suggested that these by-law changes never be adopted. He respectfully asked the Board of Selectmen to take some time to review the provisions and not address this article at the Town Meeting scheduled for October 23, 2007. The Selectmen agreed and suggested to Mr. Mills that his committee pass over this article and present it at the next Spring Annual Town Meeting so the Board of Selectmen have more time to review.

Town Manager’s Report – Town Manager Kozak 1) Blackstone Valley Bikeway – received some correspondence that the project has moved forward for $4 million. 2) M.O.R.E Meeting Update – Town Manager Kozak provided the Board of Selectmen with an update on a M.O.R.E meeting that he went to. At the meeting, a discussion took place on budgets, grant funds for energy programs, working towards regional purchasing of office supplies, energy supplies, telecommunications, and computer supplies. He said they were also looking into programs for power contracts in different communities to see if they could save money, along with solid waste and recycling programs. Town Manager Kozak then mentioned that the Town of Northbridge has applied for a grant to help with the recycling area behind the Fire Station. That said, he mentioned an interesting workshop took place on casino gambling. 3) he attended a Building, Planning and Construction Committee meeting and mentioned that the Fire Station roof bid came back higher than originally estimated. That said, he spoke to Mark Anderson from Heritage Design to discuss the site for the new fire station and plans to meet with him sometime in the near future. He also mentioned that he and Richard Sasseville, Director of Public Works went on a site visit to the Sewer Department.

Selectmen’s Concerns. Selectman Davis 1) will the Building, Planning and Construction Committee have the cost for the fields and detention basin on October 15^th? Town Manager Kozak said the committee is going to ask for the full $366,000.00; 2) Tour of the Aldrich School Building and what are we going to do with it; 3) Status of the Cable Contract; 4) School Committee appointment and have we received any applications. Town Manger Kozak informed him we are received a number of inquiries. Copies of the talent bank applications will be provided to the Board of Selectmen as soon as they are received by Town Managers office; 5) update on Oakhurst Road future truck stop. Town Manager Kozak mentioned down by WalMart there is a proposal for a truck stop in Sutton, however a portion of it is in Northbridge. He spoke to the Sutton Town Administrator to advise him that our town would like to be involved in the development. Our Town Planner, Gary Bechtholdt is aware of the project and mentioned that there would be a Public Hearing on October 22, 2007 in Sutton. He mentioned that a Public Hearing would be held sometime in November in Northbridge. 6) letter sent to other commissions regarding the West Street site - future fire station. Selectman Marzec 1) tour of the cable studio and Aldrich Building – is there a grant out there the Town could apply for due to the building being historical; 2) asked the Town Manager to see if there is any interest in putting together a group of businessmen to discuss ideas for business development in town; 3) could the fields be cut one more time? Chairman Audette 1) Yard Sale signs – he read aloud the sign policy and asked that residents in town adhere to the policy. He also mentioned that if you hang a sign up, you are responsible for taking it down.

A motion/Mr. Ampagoomian, seconded/Mr. Montecalvo to adjourn the meeting. Vote yes/Unanimous.

Meeting adjourned: 8:07 PM

Respectfully submitted,

Joseph Montecalvo, Clerk

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