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Selectmen Discuss the Future:
By Jessica Aker Police Chief Thomas Irvin
(File photo) attended the meeting to discuss the Central Massachusetts
Law Enforcement Council
"Fire departments have been doing this independently for years," said Chief Irvin. "If a town near us needs additional people for an urgent search and rescue operation, then they would have it immediately. If we sign onto this, then we would be eligible for grants from the state that would help promote this regional effort."
Town Manager Anthony Troiano responded, "There is a standard in effect for solid waste collection, but it's not always enforced. The cutoff for residential solid waste collection is at 3-unit areas. Anything over that is considered commercial. The only way to include your property is to change the policy or maybe discuss the policy for commercial enterprise. You can go to a DPW meeting to discuss the issue more in depth."
Mr. Maloney listened to other
options such as putting a dumpster on the property, but he went on to
explain that there would be "increased trespassing for access to the
dumpster, and illegal dumping of garbage on his property." While no immediate resolution was found, Chairman Brian J. Herr added, "We will be negotiating a new contract for waste disposal soon.
The discussion on the Strategic Initiative Tracking List began with Town Manager Anthony Troiano. The list that was presented showed various ideas, both completed and in progress, for revenue enhancement in Hopkinton. It also contains who is working on each idea, due dates, and any deliverables associated with these ideas. While the Strategic Initiative Tracking List contained almost 40 items, some key initiatives stood out.
One item included the School Committee increasing fees or adding new fees to student parking, bus fees, usage of facilities for after-school programs, and other related activities associated with functioning school properties. An initiative by the Board of Selectmen will focus on working with Hopkinton's Grants Committee to implement joint training and opportunities to obtain grants. This initiative continues with the potential consolidation of Information Technology, Human Resources, Facilities, Food Services, Purchasingfunctions, and Procurement functions through the School Committee and the Town Manager. Additionally, The Fire Department and Town Manger will work to peruse regionalization for large pieces of equipment, especially with neighboring town Ashland, Massachusetts.
Lastly, the Town Manager and Human Resources Director completed negotiations of lower health care insurance premiums through an agreement with unions regarding the changes.
Chairman of the BOS, Brian J.
Herr, said, "This topic has long been a priority. The issues have become
bigger than these dedicated volunteers. In order to make this happen, we
need better communication and coordination between departments in order
to pull together all the initiatives." Next, the Town Manager Report focused mainly on action items for the Fruit Street recommendations. They included the plausibility of a Waste Water Treatment Plant, conservation restrictions, defining the objectives of both the town and contractors for the project in order to define a concrete overall plan, quoting how much capital investment is required to develop the area, and the completion of an access road.
Michael Shepard announced that local developer Ron Nation agreed to be the general contractor of development for the Gazebo Building Committee.
Ashland Fish and Game Ponderosa Road, Ashland Families are welcome. The event is being held to help
Featherstone's 2 sons with their college funds. The selectmen voted in favor of
appointing Dr. Paul Wright as the newest
member of the Board of Health for the remainder of the year. Dr. Wright
has lived in Hopkinton for 30 years, and he has been practicing internal
medicine in town for 26 years. In addition, Mr. Wright was an Associate
to the Board of Health from 1982-1995. When asked about his top
priorities, Dr. Wright replied "I will focus on the mobilization of
resources to administer flu vaccinations. I need to look into
demographic
changes in the community in order to see if residents are increasingly
exposed to new diseases. Last year was a horrible year for Lyme Disease,
so I should also look into that." Although Dr. Charles F. Bobeck, a retired member of Hopkinton community,
was the only other candidate present for interviews, he spoke highly of
Dr. Wright. He insisted, "I will not be upset I do not get appointed
tonight. I was on the Board of Health when Dr. Wright was a consultant,
and he did good work." Both candidates were asked about
hypothetical changes to the Hopkinton
Town Charter regarding whether the Board of Health position should
continue to be an appointed position, or if an elected position would be
a
better choice. Both Dr. Wright and Dr. Bobeck agreed that an elected
position would be preferable. The structure of the Sustainability Committee was discussed by the BOS.
Originally, the committee would consist of 9 members. However, a
suggestion to raise the membership to 15 residents was made at a
previous
meeting. Nineteen interested residents had applied to sit on the
committee. The ultimate decision was to appoint 15 Full Members and 4
Associate Members to the committee. The Associate Members would be able
to attend meetings and they could temporarily replace any missing Full
Member at a meeting in order to meet attendance guidelines. BOS member R.J. Dourney was pleased with the interest and enthusiasm of
residents regarding the Sustainability Committee. He said, "{These folks
want to help out in any way they can. Even if someone is appointed to
the committee but still wants to do more, they can volunteer their time
to other efforts related to the committee's goals." |
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(CMEC). The CMEC is composed of 72 towns from Worcester County and
Middlesex County that will provide additional law enforcement, EMT
services, and fire department services to neighboring communities in
extreme situations.
Chair
of the Downtown Revitalization Committee Anne Mattina and Vice Chair of
the Planning Board Joe Markey (Photo), updated the BOS about the activities and
vision of the Downtown Revitalization Committee. They expressed
that they wanted to look for state funding for improvements in
infrastructure, such as crosswalks. The 10 key aspects of the initiative
include: traffic, parking, building characteristics, signage,
landscaping, pedestrian flow, street lighting, utility lines, street
furniture, and attractions or events. Ms. Mattina said there were "about
35-40 small businesses in the downtown area that would be affected by
any development."