Meeting Notes: Medfield Board of Selectmen, July 19

The Medfield Board of Selectmen had a full agenda of town business to discuss Tuesday night that included a eight items requiring vote of approval, a report from selectmen chair Osler Peterson on the town’s meeting with DCAM and the state regarding the site and information sharing.

Action:

• The Selectmen ratified and signed the police contract. Assistant Town Administrator Kristine Trierweiler said this action was “just a formality of signing.” Town Administrator Michael Sullivan asked if there were fire contracts yet and Trierweiler responded “no.”
• The Selectmen received a letter from Blanchard Warren regarding a planting by the Medfield Garden Club at the intersection of Hartford and Main Streets. Warren said it is difficult to see over the planting. Sullivan said the town has received another complaint about that intersection as well. “Unfortunately, the type of planting, it is mounted up to begin with and the planting materials like grasses and flowers,” said Sullivan. “Highway did go out and try to cut it down and I think in the next year we suggest they [skip] over it. “[Warren] is absolutely right, it is a problem.”
• The Selectmen approved Mary McCarthy’s request to be appointed to fill the vacancy on the Conservation Commission.
• Selectmen appointed Ted Wolfstich to the Capital Budget Committee and to the Board of Water and Sewer.
• Selectmen approved proposal from Solid Waste Study Committee for Electronix ReDux to hold CRT collections each month at the transfer station. “It’s a great idea,” Selectman Ann Thompson said. “Our Solid Waste Committee is very much in favor of it.” Trierweiler said the collections would be for every type of electronic, except for household appliances. Stereos, TV and computer monitors are examples of what would be accepted. The collection will be held the first Saturday of every month.
• The Selectmen discussed the potential for a subcommittee at the Transfer Station swap area after Thompson talked with several volunteers at the transfer station. “They are very interested in being an active group that will be down there all the time because they are down there almost all day Saturday anyway,” Thompson said. The selectmen opted not to vote on this, agreeing that more discussion was needed.
• The Selectmen adopted the resolution in support of updating the Massachusetts Bottle Bill and authorized Peterson to execute that request. “This was something Megan Sullivan [of Medfield Green] brought up,” Sullivan said. “There’s around 200 towns that will endorse the extension of the bottle bill. This would extend to water bottles, non-carbonated bottles, wine bottles, etc. and there is proposed legislation and the committee voted to recommend to the selectmen that they endorse the legislation.”

Licenses & Permits:

• The Selectmen approved MEMO’s request to hold Medfield Day, 2-1, pending approval from Town Counsel Mark Cerel, who was not present at Tuesday’s meeting. The vote was split, 1-1 between Peterson (opposed until condition of permit was clear) and selectman Mark Fisher (in favor of request as is). Thompson opted to be the deciding third vote, after originally abstaining from voting and discussing the request because she is currently a member of MEMO. .
• Selectmen approved Medfield Youth Basketball Association’s request to post signs from Aug. 25 to Sept. 19 announcing 2011-2012 registration.
• Selectmen approved the Student Council’s request to hold a car wash behind Town Hall on Saturday, Aug. 27 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. “I think it is a good idea,” Sullivan said. “I think we should suggest to them that they be somewhat careful of their use of water.”

Pending:

• Selectmen voted to designate Board of Selectmen as regular municipal employee, recommended by Cerel under GL. Chapter 268A, State Ethics Law. “This is something Town Counsel [Cerel] has recommended that we do periodically,” Sullivan said. “[Determine] which boards are special and which boards are regular municipal boards. By law, the Board of Selectmen has to be considered regular municipal employees. The other boards can be designated ‘special’ municipal employees and the eight town employees must be considered regular municipal as well.”
• Selectmen scheduled a special election for next meeting to fill the vacancy on the Medfield Housing Authority.

Medfield State Hospital Update:

Peterson followed up on the July 11 meeting he attended with Sullivan and Trierweiler in Boston to discuss the Medfield State Hospital site with DCAM Commissioner Carole Cornelison and Administration and Finance Secretary Jay Gonzalez.

Cornelison, according to Peterson, reiterated that she wanted to take a “fresh look” at the whole concept of what gets built at the former state hospital site.

“As a new commissioner, she wants to take a new look at things,” Peterson said. “I asked her specifically why they were changing courses from the housing proposal and she said they just want to take a fresh look.”

While Cornelison or Gonzalez did not specifically mention any ideas for possible reuses or developments of the site, Gonzalez mentioned he had spoken to the group interested in bringing a college to Medfield and asked if the town had spoken to them as well.

“The plan was DCAM would do a new market feasibility study to see what is possible up there,” Peterson said. “They asked what we thought the town might be interested in there.”

In terms of timing, Peterson said DCAM and the state would like to do something very quickly.

“The secretary said a couple different times he is thinking in terms of 10 months rather than 10 years,” Peterson said.

For more on Peterson’s thoughts from the meeting, .

Informational:

• Sullivan shared a copy of the request for a Certificate of Exemption from the Mass. Department of Housing and Community Development regarding the sale of Wilkens Glen apartments on Brook Street. Sullivan said even under new ownership, the housing complex will remain affordable housing.
• Sullivan reported there were no changes to the Town precinct lines by Local Election Districts Review Commission. “The precinct you belonged to for the past 10 years, you will belong to for the next 10 years,” Sullivan said.
• Sullivan reported transfer station stickers for fiscal year 2011 brought in $124,000 and to date for fiscal year 2012, stickers have brought in $39,000.