BOARD OF SELECTMEN
February 14, 2006
Minutes
The Board of Selectmen met on Tuesday, February 14, 2006 in the Town Hall Clark Room.
Selectmen Douglas A.G. Stevenson, Richard A. Allison, Timothy F. Hult, William R. Tice, Jr., John
D. Williams were present for this meeting. Town Administrator Madonna J. McKenzie was also
present.
The meeting was called to order at 7:05 p.m. by Mr. Stevenson.
Town Administrator Report
A Public Hearing will be held on February 28th for the site plan review of the Banta Davis Fields Phase
II. The application is attached to this report.
The Minuteman Regional High School withdrew their warrant articles for the Annual Town Meeting.
The Board agreed however that they would like to meet with a representative from Minuteman after
Town Meeting.
The Board received a letter from the Drinkwater family notifying them that Jason Louis Drinkwater
of Troup 135 has achieved the rank of Eagle Scout. Further information will be provided to the
Board as to when the award ceremony will take place. Also, a Proclamation will be prepared for
Jason.
Mrs. McKenzie spoke about the Vivian Chaput Memorial Scholarship Fund. She suggested that the
Board replace the Scholarship fund with a new Vivian Chaput Memorial Fund. Right now there are
three pots of money. Mrs. McKenzie suggested narrowing it down to one fund. This would mean
eliminating Vivian’s Place and the Memorial Scholarship Fund. Mr. Hult suggested that at the next
meeting a motion could be put together in a way that all of their thoughts and ideas for the intention
of the fund would be put in place accurately.
An Easement, which was part of the agreement to allow the cell tower on the Anderegg property, was
presented for the Board to sign. Mrs. McKenzie explained that the easement is between Gretchen
Anderegg, the Town of Carlisle, and the Cell Tower provider to grant the Town a non-exclusive
right to use in common with the Owner, Cingular, for emergency access on, over and across the area
identified as the ‘Access Road’. On a motion made by Mr. Williams and seconded by Mr. Hult, it
was unanimously VOTED to adopt the emergency easement over the Anderegg property, dated
February 1, 2006, signed by Gretchen Anderegg (on that date) and by this Board on February 14,
2006.
A Proclamation was prepared for the Peckham family in honor of the passing of Alford S. Peckham,
a former resident, selectmen and active member of the Carlisle community. On a motion made by
Mr. Williams and seconded by Mr. Tice, it was unanimously VOTED to sign the (attached)
proclamation which he read.
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February 14, 2006
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Mrs. McKenzie gave a technology update to the Board. She said that she and Mr. Tice have been
working together on the following issues: a) sharing an IT person part-time with a neighboring
community; b) getting a Web Site up and running in the current fiscal year; c) inventorying what is
currently in place; d) establishing minimal requirements for computers; e) possibly renting computer
equipment vs. purchase; f) providing internet service to fire department; and g) researching
best/most cost effective method for internet access.
Mrs. McKenzie also spoke briefly about a demonstration she and Mr. Tice watched prior to this
meeting. It was entitled Virtual Town Hall. Mr. Tice explained how it is installed, how each
department would have their own section, some of the cost, and how it is updated.
Mrs. McKenzie said that she spoke with the Assistant Town Manager in Acton about the Bruce
Freeman Trail. He informed her that an RFP has been issued for the design of the Bruce Freeman
Trail. The Board asked Mrs. McKenzie to work with Mr. Cameron and Mrs. Belanger on an
agreement.
Chapter 70 Minimum Funding Proposal
Carlisle School Superintendent Marie Doyle was present to discuss the inequities of the Chapter 70
Funding Formula. She said that she recently attended a meeting of the CASE Collaborative Board
where the members jointly agreed to support the Acton Proposal to increase the minimum per pupil
funding, via a chapter 70 Minimum Funding Proposal. Ms. Doyle explained that currently Chapter
70 aid ranges from $576 to $9,917 per student. This new proposal suggests a minimum of $2,000
per student, to every community. Ms. Doyle prepared charts for towns across the state and she
pointed out that with this proposal, the Town of Carlisle would receive $932,264.00
Mr. Hult said he would totally support this proposal if it meant more money for the suburbs, but
not if it meant that the money was coming from poorer districts. Mr. Stevenson said that in reading
this material, it is his understanding that the state will have to come up with $266million dollars. He
said that he needed to have a better understanding of the legislation before he signed the agreement.
The other Board members agreed with him and therefore no action was taken on this matter.
General Obligation Bond
Finance Director Larry Barton was present to discuss the financing involved with the general
obligation bond for the Pathways debt, the Wastewater treatment facility and the Benfield purchase.
He prepared two (2) examples of schedules of repayment of the principal; one for a 6 year period
and the second for a 9 year period. Mr. Barton gave his reasons for his recommendation of the 9 yr
payment plan. However, he was asking the Board for guidance.
The Board expressed concern about following the repayment plan that was laid out in the Letter of
Understanding for the Benfield purchase. Mr. Barton explained that if he followed the order of the
Letter of Understanding, the payments for the Benfield purchase would be unequal, and he said that
it was not possible to obtain a general obligation bond with unequal payments.
Mr. Stevenson said that he would lean toward paying this off as soon as possible, since that seemed
to be going along with the spirit of the CPC. He said that he would like to talk to the Community
Preservation Committee and see what their preference is. Mr. Barton said that he has to have the
paperwork for the Bond ready by February 28th.
On a motion made by Mr. Allison and seconded by Mr. Tice, it was voted 4 yes and 1 no to
authorize the Treasurer to ask the Community Preservation Committee to agree to the repayment
schedule as outlined as Alternative #2 for the Benfield Purchase.
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February 14, 2006
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Mr. Barton briefly spoke about the Wastewater Treatment Facility and the contingency fee. Mr.
Barton will come back on the February 28th meeting to discuss the finalities of the General
Obligation Bond.
Joint Meeting with Finance Committee
Finance Committee chair Thornton Ash and Long Term Capital Requirements Committee chair
Don Rober were present for this discussion. Mr. Ash said that the FinCom has basically finished
the budget hearings. They have one more to go, which is the School Committee, and that is
scheduled during the first week in March. He presented an overview guideline plan and discussed
the revenue amounts and the levy limit number. He then moved on to the departmental budgets,
where he pointed out that the Carlisle Public School will most likely be $200,000 over the levy limit
number. Mr. Ash explained that in the Town Hall budget, there was a request for legal services that
was resolved by putting more money in the reserve fund.
Don Rober prepared an FY07 LTCRC Requests worksheet. It listed the departments and their
requests, a must do column and an Infrastructure Maintenance and Renewal Column. Mr. Rober
went into the requests from the CCHS, which were many and totaled about $321,000. He then went
on to other department requests; such as the police and their desire for a new cruiser, which he said
is good for every three years. He said however the windows, floors and the billing software were
perhaps items that could be postponed.
He then asked the Board what they wanted to do. Were they in support of the Wilkins Boiler
Replacement? He asked about the Fire Cisterns and Banta Davis. He said that he was just not sure
of the numbers for these. There was also a request from the DPW for a dump truck. Mr. Rober
suggested that some things could be moved out and others put on debt exclusions. The Board
suggested that he look at the ‘must do’ and the ‘Infrastructure Maintenance and Renewal’ columns
again and decide between which can be taken on.
Affordable Accessory Apartments
Mr. Stevenson spoke about the work that the Accessory Apartment committee has been doing in
order to establish an Accessory Apartment By-law. He presented an outline of a bylaw revision.
The revisions seemed more lenient, because the current regulations have been reduced. This was an
effort to make accessory apartments more attractive, bigger, and more affordable. Another change
was that they are allowed on any legal building lot. From a by-law perspective, he said they were
moving along. Mr. Stevenson said it is their intent to offer up to $15,000 as an incentive to anyone
who participates in this program. This incentive is intended to reimburse construction costs. Mr.
Stevenson said that they are working on an application to put before the CPC for $90,000 to fund
this. The few complications before them were the tenant selection issue and the deed restrictions.
He said that there are still some glitches in the by-law component and the incentives.
Mr. Stevenson said that along the same issue, the Housing Authority has an application in to the
Community Preservation Committee to transfer all of the (10%) housing money that is currently
sitting in a pot, which is $150,000, into a fund that would be controlled by the Housing Trust.
There is a warrant article to establish the housing trust coming forthwith. Mr. Stevenson said that
he would be attending meetings with the Housing Authority and the Community Preservation
Committee to explain these two issues further.
The Board discussed how they would like to draft a warrant article so that if the housing trust article
failed, then the Accessory Apartment Article would still have a chance and there would be at least
$90,000 to work with. Mr. Hult said that the Housing Authority will be our focal point.
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February 14, 2006
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Wilkins Road Layout
Mr. Stevenson said that the residents on Wilkins Lane have requested that Wilkins Lane be accepted
as a Town road and that the Board of Selectmen began the necessary process leading to Town
Meeting on this matter. On a motion made by Mr. Allison and seconded by Mr. Tice, it was
unanimously VOTED that it is the intention of the Board of Selectmen to layout as a Town way,
Wilkins Lane, in the Town of Carlisle, and further that this matter be referred to the Planning Board
for a non-binding recommendation.
National Incident Management (NIM) Proclamation
On a motion made by Mr. Allison and seconded by Mr. Tice, it was unanimously VOTED to adopt
the Proclamation of the Board of Selectmen for Homeland Security Presidential Directive.
Cemetery Deeds
The Board of Selectmen, in their role as Cemetery Commissioners, made the following deed
transfer. On a motion made by Mr. Allison and seconded by Mr. Tice, it was unanimously VOTED
to transfer to Anthony Wang of Carlisle, Massachusetts, Cemetery Lot D341, and Graves #1 to 6 in
the Green Cemetery.
Resignations
On a motion made by Mr. Tice and seconded by Mr. Allison, it was unanimously VOTED to accept
the resignation of Susan Evans as Out Reach Coordinator for the Council on Aging.
Minutes
The Minutes to the meeting of December 20, 2005, January 10, 2006 and January 24, 2006 were
approved as presented.
Executive Session
At 10:10 p.m. a motion was made by Mr. Hult and seconded by Mr. Williams, to go into Executive
Session for the purpose of considering the purchase, exchange, taking or leasing of real property,
not to return to open session.
The following roll call vote was taken: Stevenson – aye; Allison – aye; Hult – aye; Tice – aye; and
Williams – aye.
Respectfully submitted by Margaret de Mare
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