Minutes of meeting held March 13, 2008, 7:00 P.M. at Town Hall College Highway, Southwick, MA, with attendance as follows:
|
|
Voting |
Present |
Absent |
Dick Grannells |
Chair |
Yes |
X |
|
Ray Reardon |
Vice-Chair |
Yes |
|
X |
Sue Hepburn |
Secretary |
Yes |
|
X |
Gerry Crane |
Associate Member |
No |
X |
|
Tom Fabian |
Member |
Yes |
X |
|
Scott Graves, Sr. |
Member |
Yes |
X |
|
Scott Graves, Jr. |
Associate Member |
No |
|
X |
Steve Legault |
Associate Member |
No |
|
X |
Bill Murty |
Associate Member |
No |
X |
|
Chris Sears |
Member |
Yes |
|
X |
Norm Stolzenberg |
Member |
Yes |
X |
|
1. Norm made a motion to accept the minutes from the 1/24/08 meeting. Scotty seconded the motion and the minutes were accepted 4:0 as written.
2. S-319 - There was nothing new to report on existing S319 grant. The Town is planning to seek a new S319 grant to address the following new areas: Outfalls and associated erosion issues at the ends of Castle Street, Eagle Street, Lakemont Avenue, North Lake Avenue/Summer Drive and at 9 Berkshire Avenue and 136 Berkshire Avenue.
3. The DEP addressed the 300 and 600 square feet requirement adequately and has accepted the LMC's "final" version of the LPP. Dick will forward it to the BOS for their review and request to conduct the necessary public hearing.
4. 168 Culvert Project - MIG has a few punch list items to address once the warm weather arrives.
5. Sewer Expansion - Bill Murty advised that Suffield is pursuing sewering the eastern shoreline homes. Suffield, CT DEP, MA DEP and Westfield Wastewater Treatment officials have been having discussions on this subject.
6. The FBA's ramp reconstruction project design is being modified to reflect using one of the existing floating docks just south of the boarding docks to provide a "10-minute" tie-up for people who need to use the facilities at the North Ramp. All agreed that this was a good idea.
7. The Penguin Plunge was a great success, and Plunge officials were very appreciative of the volunteers (Sue, Tom & Dick) who worked from early morning to late afternoon to assist in parking and general traffic control.
8. The subject of the $0.25/hour general pay increase and associated proposed increase of the launch fee to $6.00/boat was revisited due to strong concerns about "how" to implement a $6.00 fee without having a change handling (lots of singles) nightmare. Without the increase in the launch fee, the $0.25/hour increase will not fit within the operating budget. During earlier discussions, Sue Hepburn, Ramp Supervisor, expressed her strong concern about handling so many singles to make change, especially during foul or windy weather. A system needs to be developed (i.e., punch cards, prepaid tickets…) to minimize the "loose" bills that would have to be handled. The fee started at $4.00/boat in 1992, and has been $5.00/boat since 1995. Karl
Stinehart and Linda Carr provided comparative hourly rate data for numerous seasonal positions in Town, most of which were lower. The recommendation was to not increase the Ramp Attendants rate at this time. Accordingly, Scotty made a motion to rescind the previous (1/10/08) recommendation for a $0.25/hour pay increase and to also rescind the previous (1/10/08) recommendation for increasing the launch fee to $6.00/boat that would have covered the raise. Norm seconded the motion and the motion passed with a vote of 3:1.
9. There was a general discussion of some reported lake safety and excessive noise issues, especially those issues that occurred this past winter. The plan is to address these issues at a future meeting once the winter season is over.
10. Dick reported that there will be a public information hearing on the Route 168 (Congamond Road) Reconstruction Project on Tuesday March 25, 2008 at 7:00 PM in the Southwick Town Hall auditorium.
11. Tom made a motion to adjourn. Norm seconded. All in favor.
12. The next regular meeting will be held on March 27, 2008.
13. The meeting was adjourned at 8:05PM.
Respectfully submitted,
______________________
Richard Grannells - Chair
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