Special Town Meeting

• Set a tentative date for the STM discussed last meeting for moving money from another account to pay for the overage in the legal account caused by unanticipated legal fees from the AT&T lawsuit. 

6:15 p.m. Heath Historical Society
5 Ledges Road

• HSS needs a place to build a climate control building, 20 x 20
• Ledges Road is a non-conforming lot, there are wetlands, but building would be far enough away from them
• If auctioned, the HHS would be interested in bidding for the land. Have in hand half the estimated cost to build.
• Sue asked if the building inspector or other authority has been consulted on the feasibility of a building on the non-conforming lot

 
7:00 p.m. Budget Hearing~~Municipal Light Board
Cebula Alarm System for the broadband hut by the basketball court on South Road.

• Was a $13,000 capital cost, and installed. The card access entry and tracking to be installed in the next couple of weeks.
• There is an outstanding  invoice for $576
  • Already paid $6000, and not fully covered yet.
  • The MLP Board needs to ensure that that all items in the hut are covered.

Broadband Loan

• Heath can apply now for the state  money and reconcile in the spring when there are more drops. Amount expected is  $214,682
• Expect the budget amount for MLB Plant Manager will stay the same and likely go down in next fiscal year
• The board is working with other towns to create resiliency.  WG &E has provided a design.  The hope is that this will  reduce cost.
• Asked that the SB agree that Heath will work with 4 other towns on a proposal to get grant money for the resiliency  project. Towns are Leyden , Rowe, Colrain, and Charlemont.

 
FinCom – Tom Lively
Review of Budget Requests
Highway dept

• Jeff Johnston could only get 1 bid for an expensive truck which was very high and out of our price range.
• Jeff was unable to get a response from other sources that he contacted.
• Will Emmet, Finance Committee member, to meet with Jeff to over some of the other highway budget items
• Budgeted amount of $7000 for a plow seems reasonable

Police and Fire seem to be ok
Broadband

• Options for the $2 and a half million $2,450,000 loan repayment options are 18 yr or 15 yr.
• Decided to go with 18-year payback.
• There will need to be principal and interest line items for 3 broadband loans on the spring warrant. 

 
Potential Capital Expenses
Salt Shed replacement:

• Robyn and Jeff continue to work on pricing the project and what type of structure to consider.

 
MTRSD FY’23 operating assessment:

• School committee member Barbara Rode was reported to be very concerned about the MHTRS budget vote to be taken on Feb 22 when they are only getting a budget the day before they need to vote. Barbara has several questions regarding the budget.

• $90,000 error:  Heath was reported to have been underassessed last year by $90,000 last year. The majority of time at the meeting was spent on the  call Hilma received from a representative of the Mohawk Trail Regional School District to say there was a calculation error in last  year’s assessment.
• Their budget left out the 33 Heath children going to the Hawlemont school.
• Ned Wolf, former FinCom chair, had questioned the assessment when the FinCom received the budget last year He was assured our assessment submitted at town meeting was correct.
• FinCom response to the $90,000 error: Heath cannot be responsible for this money. We voted on our assessment last ATM and cannot go back.

Brackets [ . . . ]  indicate my comments or information outside of the meeting.
 
Discussions about next week’s finance committee meeting:

• The need for a Special Town Meeting to pay for legal fees that have exceeded the budgeted $10,000 due to the AT&T lawsuit.
• MLB recommendations about finances.
• Board of Directors of the Historical Society on lease/use of 5 Ledges Road
• Need to appropriate funds for salt shed project
• Overages on culvert grant and bridge project. Hilma to check if there are extra monies available from the state.

 
Town buildings professional assessment—fairly lengthy discussion:
Robyn:

• We have evaluations from town groups and committees regarding repairs and use of the buildings. Robyn discussed the possibility of having a consultant pull together all that information, all the ideas generated on building use,  and  expand on it to look at our buildings and properties on a larger scale and advise as to the best use, a big picture approach.
• All the information we have needs to be pulled together. An outside entity could bring in ideas not previously thought of.
• Just an idea at this point. Taking care of all our town properties is a daunting task.

Sue:  We don’t want  just a band aid approach, the Facilities Task Force Committee just looked at immediate needs. Town needs a more holistic and long term approach.
Brian: This sounds like a feasibility study which would include the physical condition assessment  and  what should best be housed in various building.  It is a professional discipline and would be beneficial. Need to look at cost of effort.
 
The Board needs help from the Building Facilities Committee if they are willing to pull back together. The Select Board can’t do all that is needed.  The Building Facilities Report  is on the town website.  The Board needs help:

• Looking at grants for needed work that are available (accessibility projects are eligible for grants)
• The salt shed project
• Track down persons to hire for required work.

 
Open meeting law complaint - KP Law has responded
Robyn is working on a  Summary of AT&T lawsuit pulling together public documents into one.  Click on this link for the Select Board Public Statement on the town website.  
 
Job Classification discussion in relation to these positions

• Senior Program Director
• Board of Health Clerk
• Assistant Assessor letter in regards to position title, no financial implication at this time

Need to look at the broader picture of all positions, look at surrounding towns,  and discuss with the finance committee.
Wages to be discussed at future FinCom meeting.
.
Should Heath have a clerk position for other boards, the Plnannng Board has requested one.  Should there be a Clerk of the Boards?  The ability to combine the positions might make for an attractive position. Would help getting minutes in order and posted. Hilma to check with other towns and group for a position description. Hilma requested a task list from the Planning Board for the position.
 
COVID 19
No update from BoH on how to move forward on masking.
Hilma reports school testing indicates fewer cases.
 
Green Communities
No updates, meeting coming up with FRCOG
 
Town Coordinator

• Sent out numerous notices on Branch Brook closing as well seeing that there is signage.
• Bill Fontes worked with Tim running cable and installing connections for Fax at Jacobs Road  for which Hilma is very appreciative.
• Lining up substitutes for cleaning and snow shoveling the week of Feb 20 while Tim is away, if needed
• Lee lively filling in for Police Chief John McDonough who is away Feb of Feb 20
• There is a significant increase in the FY23 Mohawk Budget. [The Feb 9 draft budget shows an increase of $1, 132,316]

Some of the Mail

• Recognition by Sheila Litchfield of work done by Jan Carr over the years on broadband.
• Five letters on AT&T tower
• COA sent updated survey in relation to request for use of Rm 135 at Jacob's Rd. There is also a request by the MLB for a room.
• Contract amendment to extend time frame for spending the CDBG grant . SB voted to approve the extension.
• Request by Special Commission on Rural Schools for support on initiatives which the SB will respond to with their support.. 

 

 Apologies, but these are not edited against the meeting recording which I normally do.  There could be significant gaps and some inaccuracies.

6:15 p.m. Budget Hearing~~Highway Dept.~~Superintendent Jeff Johnston

• Capitol item – plow $7600
• Jason’s truck – sound for now, no trade-in value, keep for summer use and backup
• Capitol Item - Trade-in 2012 International which has had $29,000 repair  over last two years. A replacement would cost approx. $200,000
• Capitol replacement plan – grader needs replacement , cost over $400,000

 
7:00 p.m. Budget Hearing~~Fire Dept.~~Chief Nick Anzuoni

7:30 p.m. Budget Hearing~~Police Dept.~~Chief John McDonough

• Asking $2000 budget increase to pay for state mandated training

Other Business
Special Town Meeting possibility –

• current and upcoming legal bills for AT&T issues
• $5000 over budget if we pay current bill
• If interveners prevail, we will need more funding
• Need to go to STM in March and estimate increased cost. May have to go up to $20,000
• Ask Mark for an estimate of what costs might be
• Sand & Salt coming in -spent  $16,000 , 571 tons salt, 1100 tons sand
• Need overall increase in budgets due to account for increases in materials and equipment
• Overage on bridge  project- even with 500,000 grant cost estimated to over
• Culvert just before Ingram Drive, grant is estimated to go $18,000 over grant of $100,000
• Salt Shed – should demolish current structure, clear trees, sue concrete walls and a Quonset style roof

Colrain—Heath Capital Expense agreement

• Brian and Sue met with two Colrain Select Board members and have reached an agreement modeled after area schools using a rolling 5-year average.
• Will be on spring town meeting
• School Committee members in favor
• 
  Review of Budget Requests
  Potential Capital Expenses—Salt Shed, Other
  • Robyn to contact Building Facilities Committee regarding needs for the buildings
  • Need to engage that committee in the Salt Shed and other projects. Drainage is important for the salt shed.
  • Need to be sure we have a building in place in time to get salt under cover
  • What would we do if we needed to transport salt to another town
  • Need to work on Sawyer Hall egress issues. Brian: we need to see how we can address that

Heating problems in SH need to be addressed. Glen White has replaced some fixtures and should be contacted for input.

• Need to figure out windows on Community Hall
• Robyn: we have a lot of information on the buildings and we need to determine use of the buildings
• Should town hire a consultant to help gather information and help create a plan.

• 
  Ledge Road – a non-conforming lot, not buildable, would have to go to town meeting, would need to go to town counsel. HHS should come in to speak on it.
  • Need to talk about lease vs sale. We own the property, but not the building and this could be a problem.  Should be able to just auction it.
• Broadband Loan Repayment Schedule

Alleges criminal conspiracy

• Brian: we have absolute proof of the falsity of allegations

 Public Comment – 40 minutes

• Mostly regarding the AT&T tower
• Some concerning a possible move of the library to Jacobs Road

Senior Program Director job classification

• All agreed on the job description as written
• The position needs rating per job description to give the position a pay grade
• The proposed grade needs to be reviewed in relation to other positions in town that require more skills and in relation to employees who have been in their position for a significant period.

Parks & Recreation Committee charge 

• tabled

Council on Aging Request for room

• Needs to be part of a larger conversation about building use
• MLB has requested office space
• A survey done by the COA was submitted to the SB to assist in making choices regarding space

Special Town Meeting possibility

• Legal fees – voted $10,000 at ATM, only $1000 left
  • Some monies have been spent on small matters
  • Legal cost for the AT&T law suit so far Nov - $4500,  Dec - $5380.
  • We do not have money to pay the current bill
  • $9880 has been spent on the lawsuit as of Dec 31
  • The remaining $1000 is not enough money to pay the current invoice for December. 
  • Thousands more will be needed by July 1.
  • We either need a Special Town Meeting to allocate more money or overspend
• Long term lease of land on Royer Road to Historical Society would need to be voted on and could be done at a special town meeting.
• Have requested input from the Finance Committee

COVID-19 Municipal concerns

• Board of Health has submitted a letter with positive news on COVID
  • Number of cases have gone done in Franklin County
  • Based on the Heath zip code we have 80% vaccination rate

Colrain—Heath Capital Expense agreement

• Hilma gathered information on shared capitol expense agreements used by Buckland-Shelburne and Ashfield-Plainfield.
• The recommendation would be to use the same method between Heath and Colrain.
  • First year it goes by percentage of students in each town.
  • Second year would use the average of the first two years together and then the percentage of students.
  • Continuing this method for year 3 and 4.
  • On the 5th year it goes into an ongoing 5-year average and percentage of students.
• This has already gone through many districts and should not cost much in legal.
• Recommended by the Heath School Committee members.
• Select Board to meet with Colrain on the agreement

 
Green Communities update: Brian

• Asked Roger Harris, project engineer for Rise Engineering, for estimates on the remaining energy projects
• Met with Alison Gage at FRCOG and others for input on prioritizing our remaining DOER (Dept of Energy Resources) approved energy projects.
  • Possibilities are  insulation and air sealing at Jacobs Road
  • Lighting at Jacobs Road for which the tech school gave an estimate. The school may not be able to do the work given COVID has cut them back to 50% capacity.

Scheduled an Executive Session on a personnel matter. 

• In person meeting
• Looking at  Wed, Feb 16, 3:30 PM or later

Salt Shed

• Facilities Task Force identified the salt shed repair/rebuild as the most critical town project
• Sue asked if the Building Facilities Committee could help.
• Robyn will pass the material already gathered by Jeff  Johnston and herself to that committee.

E911 Enhanced Services

• Provided by the Commonwealth of Mass, Communications section of State Police
• It is time for the town of Heath to decide if it wants to continue to be serviced by 911 enhanced service
• Heath needs to extend the agreement  which is 5-year memorandum of understanding with no cost to Heath.
• Heath has had this service since 2006.
• Select Board voted to accept the agreement.

Mail Not Covered Above

• Letters from residents in favor of cell tower in Heath.
•  Sue Lively feedback from meeting she attended on on meeting on Animal Control.  Bernardston and Leyden expressed interest in joining. Heath increases will be minimal.
• Sue Lively email on visit to Colrain Central School.
• BUC email with questions on ventilation in Community Hall.
• Mass DOT inspection report for review.
• Town nurse report from January

7:30 Trustees of the Library Meeting
           Deb Porter, Maureen O'Malley, Emily Cross

• Trustees have had a lot of questions about the possibility of moving the library
• A move requires a lot of thought and planning
• Consideration of move came from discussions on what kind of place was needed some of which were a place where everybody could meet, learn, share ideas, and for everyone to have access.
• Needs trustees have been committed to right along: ADA accessible space, a space for families and children, and to accommodate an aging population.
• Trustees cannot do it alone, would need help of townspeople.
• Have not reached out to the community yet.
  • Have not expressed vision yet or invited the community into the conversation.
  • Have scheduled an informational meeting for Feb 10.
  • May have letters and a survey to send out as suggested by Friends of the Library.
  • Have not done a full cost assessment yet of the cost of changes needed in Sawyer Hall or to move to Jacobs Road.
  • Have $50,000 to spend—any location will have financial considerations.
• Trustees will continue to use Jacobs Road library as an annex at this time.
• Need a better understanding in the long run of how all our buildings will be used.
  • Jacobs Road: Would library have use of the open space and storage.
  • Jacobs Road: How would library fit in to the overall use of the building.
  • Sawyer Hall: What would be the plans to upgrade to meet fire codes and become ADA compliant.
• Robyn:
  •  Select board would like to have an open meeting on what the plans are for all the buildings.
  •  Would like an opportunity to do some needed work on our center buildings.
  • We cannot keep putting off repairs and renovations for fire egress and ADA compliance.
  • Building space planning will be a step by step process.
• Nick Anzuoni:
  • Egress at Jacobs Road from the library would require a second door and a paved path to the parking lot.
  • Egress at Sawyer Hall does not empty onto a ramp, no way for a wheelchair to exit if front door is blocked.
  • Use of upstairs room in Sawyer Hall for expansion would require an upgrade to the fire escape.
• Would like to consider a presence in both buildings.

 
Town Coordinator Work Not Already Discussed

• A lot of time spent with town council.
• Repair to RT 8A Branch Brook bridge just before Sumner Stetson Road – Thanks to Jeff Johnston who has been working with Mass DOT, Nick Anzuoni, and Mohawk School Transportation office to limit the impact on school transportation.
  • The work will be done during school vacation week (week of Feb 20th)  so bus routes will not be impacted
  • Bridge will be closed  3 to 4 days – possibly Tuesday thru Friday, Feb 22 thru 25.
  • Detour will be up Number 9 Rd to VT  and down 8A . It’s a 10-mile detour.
• Jeff has problems getting salt mix for paved roads. The problem is not with Highway Dept. The company supplying the salt mix cannot get drivers to deliver the salt.  Jeff has had to use sand because that’s all he has.
• Attended a webinar on final rules with officials from DOR attending on COVID relief money.   
• Town has received the first half of funding - $106,000 of $213,000.
• Second half to be released this summer.
• Senator Hines has filed a promising bill on behalf of all towns to recoup funds spent on road repair from July storm.  Many small towns did not spend enough to meet FEMA requirements. Hilma followed up with Senator Hines to determine if Heath is included.