TA Blog: 2009-06-29 BOS

Below is the TA's summary of what transpired at the Board of Selectmen's meeting of June 29, 2009. Questions or comments? Contact the Town Administrator. Official meeting minutes will be posted when approved by the Board.

June 29, 2009 Board of Selectmen Meeting Summary 

1. Recognition: Assistant Town Accountant - vote to offer its congratulations to Assistant Town Accountant Mary Barrett on her recognition by the Massachusetts Municipal Auditors and Accountants Association as a Certified Governmental Accountant.

2. Read Mail/Sign Warrant

• Town Boards - letters of thanks to Ken Banks for his service on the Agricultural Commission, and Mark Mizzoni for his service on the Permanent Municipal Building Committee.
• Spectacle Pond Aquifer - have the Board of Selectmen send a letter to Congresswoman Niki Tsongas asking for her continued assistance 

3. Public Input

• Permament Municipal Building Committee reported its unanimous recommendation that the Board of Selectmen not accept the proposed donation of engineering consulting services by Tetra Tech Rizzo for the track feasibility study; and instead proceed with its current process of inviting requests for qualifications.

4A. Russell Street School Repair Project - Temporary Classrooms - vote pursuant to Article 4 of the May 4, 2009 Special Town Meeting, and as chief executive official and "eligible applicant" under 963 CMR 2.02, to accept the June 25, 2009 recommendation of the School Building Committee and award a contract in the amount of $188,800 with low bidder New England Builders and Contractors, Inc. of Methuen, MA for temporary classrooms construction and related work at the Russell Street Elementary School; and, further, to authorize execution of said contract by the Board upon receipt of all required bonds and insurance.

4B. School Building Committee appointment - vote, as chief executive official and "eligible applicant" under 963 CMR 2.02, to amend its vote formulating a School Building Committee for the Russell Street School building project by adding the name of PMBC member Carl Bryant, subject to approval by the Massachusetts School Building Authority.

5A. Revised Open Space & Recreation Plan - The Selectmen voted to authorize submission to the Division of Conservation Services of a revised update of the Town of Littleton’s Open Space and Recreation Plan, as prepared by the Open Space & Recreation Plan Implementation Committee.   Update: The Commonwealth approved the Plan on July 1, 2009.

5B. Yapp Conservation Land - The Board of Selectmen executed the confirmation of acceptance of agreement as to eminent domain taking between the Town and the Lucy L. Yapp Nominee Trust for the Town's acquisition of the George and Lucy Yapp Conservation Land for the sum of $930,000 on June 29, 2009. 

6A. Appointments

• vote to reappoint Eliot Putnam to a three-year term on the Community Preservation Committee expiring June 30, 2012.
• the Board amend its vote of June 1, 2009 and establish five-year terms for Permanent Municipal Building Committee members Richard Crowley and Carl Bryant expiring on June 30, 2014, rather than three-year-terms expiring June 30, 2012.
• vote to schedule an agenda item in executive session under MGL C.39,s.23B clause 1 on Monday, July 27, 2009 at 6 PM with Joseph Gaffney and Diane Crory [4-1]

6B. MART Advisory Board member - vote to appoint Town Administrator Keith Bergman to serve as the Town of Littleton’s designated representative on the MART Advisory Board for a term of July 1, 2009 through June, 30, 2010, and to so notify Montachusett Regional Transit Authority.

6C. NMCOG - Sealer of Weights and Measures - vote to appoint the Northern Middlesex Council of Governments (NMCOG) as the sealer of weights and measures for the Town of Littleton, and to schedule a hearing for July 13, 2009 on the adoption of a fee structure as recommended by NMCOG.

7A. FY 2010 Budget Update - vote to accept the Administration’s proposed plan for FY 2010 spending cuts dated June 24, 2009, with the exception of the $20,000 for the track feasibility study, and to schedule further action on cuts for the Board of Selectmen's next regular meeting on Monday, July 13, 2009.

• The proposed spending cuts totalled $200,000. By not reducing the track study by $20,000, the amount cut to date is $180,000. The remaining $20,000 will be addressed at the Selectmen's July 13, 2009 meeting.

7B. Highway Department FY 2010 Contracts - vote to award the following contracts for the Littleton Highway Department for the fiscal year commencing July 1, 2009 and ending June 30, 2010: (a) to low bidder Murray Paving of Holliston, MA in the amount of $50,178.15 for road reconstruction; (b) to low bidder Superior Seal Coating of Wilmington, MA in the amount of $73,085.49 for crack sealing; and (c) to low responsive bidder Poirier Guidelines of Athol, MA in the amount of $5,833.29 for reflective line painting.

7C. Goldsmith Street Reconstruction Project Update - The Board heard a progress report on the Goldsmith Smith reconstruction project, and remains committed to completing all of the Goldsmith Street scope of work.

• Roadway Improvement Plan update - next steps are to put Crane Road out to bid; then to procure engineering design services for Whitcomb Avenue and Bruce Street.
• Schedule a future discussion about the engineering capacity for roadway design services (include in FY 2010 goals).

7D. Littleton Common Overlay District – Public Forum Update - The Planning Board and Board of Selectmen hosted a public forum on the Littleton Common Overlay District Study on Wednesday, June 17, 2009. The forum was led by Mark Racicot of the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) to begin setting the stage for creating a potential overlay district for Littleton Common, the nearby properties to the west, including those owned by IBM and Cisco, as well as possibly areas to the east of the existing business district. Mr. Racicot used a PowerPoint Visual Preference Tool that MAPC has successfully used in Bedford, Millis and other communities in preparation for discussions of mixed use bylaws.  See the PowerPoint presentation.  See the Visual Preference Tool presentation results.

• Next meeting is on Thursday, July 23, 2009 at 7 PM. The Board of Selectmen would like to have that meeting televised on local cable.

8A1. Sign By-law Review Committee – extend deadline - amend its vote of January 26, 2009 and extend from July 1, 2009 to September 30, 2009 the date for the Sign By-law Review Committee to report back its set of written recommendations to the Board of Selectmen.

8B. Minutes Approval - vote to approve the minutes of June 15, 2009.