Above: Tuesday night’s BOS Meeting showcased new furniture in the hearing room. (Images cropped from SAM video)
The Board of Selectmen met this week.* Nothing major to report. But there were some highlights that Here are my meeting note highlights.
Hearing Room spruce up
Chair John Rooney started the meeting by pointing out the Town House Hearing Room’s new desk, presentation table and podium. The desk replaced a table that was over 30 years old. According to Town Administrator Mark Purple, the furniture was custom built for a price that was “very reasonable” through the Department of Corrections.
License to sell
Satisfied with improved plans presented, selectmen approved Custom Automotive’s license to sell cars. (The businesss is located at the corner of Woodland Road and Cordaville Road.) Used cars for sale on the lot will be limited to eight.
The owner has committed to the board’s conditions including completing improvements (plantings and repairs) to the lot by the end of October. The exception is a new fence along the northern property line, which must be installed by the end of next May.
Water connection fee waiver
Representing the Stewardship Committee, Freddie Gillespie requested the $1,600 fee be waived for a water connection to Breakneck Hill. A similar waiver was granted for the connection to the Community Garden and Cow Fund in the past. This time the stewards need one further down the road for the pollinator habitat they are installing.
Breakneck Hill Road is in midst of being repaved, so the committee was rushed to get the request in front of the board for approval. They still need to submit plans for approval by the Department of Public Works and the Conservation Commission.
Selectmen were concerned about the last minute request not being on the posted agenda. But Gillespie said that the water connection would be on the Conservation Commission’s publicly posted approval.
Gillespie further explained that if the fee wasn’t waived, the committee would likely have to drop the project. Their budget was already earmarked for other things. And she defended the importance of the pollinator work being done there, along with the public’s enjoyment of flowers and butterflies.
DPW Director Karen Galligan clarified that the connection fee didn’t represent the cost incurred by the town to install the line.
The board approved the fee waiver (though opposed by Selectman Dan Kolenda.)
DPW – Rte 9 and other roadwork
The board approved the Public Works’ selected vendor for a project to replace the 3-times broken water main along Route 9. The pipe will be relaid from Breakneck Hill Road to just before the Framingham town line.
The project is slated to hopefully break ground in September. It’s timed to be coordinated with the state’s repaving that that stretch of Route 9.
Selectmen took the opportunity to praise Public Works and Department Head Karen Galligan on the work they’ve been doing this summer. Selectwoman Bonnie Phaneuf said:
The volume of work that you’ve taken on in the last few months, in the roads that are being resurfaced in town, I’ve never seen the likes of it in this town. And I’ve not received one complaint.
Kolenda followed to give “additional kudos” that he had reached out to Galligan on one issue he saw:
and once again, Miss Galligan and her team were incredibly receptive and efficient.
Purple told the board that the DPW and Town make an effort to contact effected residents in writing about projects. He said the department goes out of its way to accommodate residents who contacted her with issues.
*Note: BOS Member Paul Cimino was absent.
