by Nancy Farrell
11/20/2014

Attending the late afternoon meeting were Chair Kevin Conley, Jay Marsden, Jay Leary and Town Administrator Paul LeBeau.

During the Public Comments section of the agenda, Selectman Jay Leary commended Sean Reese and the DPW for quickly arranging to keep the Marshall Street Transfer Station open on Sunday, November 16, to accommodate leaf drop-off for town residents. Jay Marsden offered thanks to Tom Smith of the highway department for responding quickly to fill in a "teeth-rattling" pothole on Adams St.

Meeting minutes were approved and released for October 27 and November 12, 2014. Executive Session minutes for November 5 and 12, 2014 were approved but not released.

A one-day alcoholic beverage permit was approved for the Hopkinton Parent Teachers Association for an event at the Lutheran Church.

The resignation for Michael O'Brien from the Open Space Committee was accepted with thanks to Mr. O'Brien for his participation.

Emily Kingston was appointed as an Associate Member of the Conservation Commission. John Beck was appointed Citizen Member of the Other Post Employment Benefits Trust Committee. Jay Marsden pointed to the excellent background and experience of both appointees in the respective fields of the Committees they now sit on. He also expressed his appreciation for the consistently high quality of the candidates who step forward to participate in Town government.

The request for the display of a Menorrah at Town Hall from the Chabad Center was approved for December 8 through December 28, 2014.

The Trash Fee Waiver was discussed. The Trash Fee was instituted 10 years ago, and scheduled to be removed by next year. The fee was reduced to a proposed $35. annually earlier this year. Mr. LeBeau proposed at this meeting the postponement (and possible elimination) of the fee until January when the Town would know what the State would provide in local aid. He also said that the increased revenues of Motor Vehicle Excise Tax would cover the loss of $120,000. from the elimination of the trash fee. Jay Marsden suggested collecting the fee one last time rather than delaying and revisiting in January. Kevin Conley suggested that since the loss of revenue from the Trash Fee was offset by the increase in Excise Tax, the Board should waive the Trash Fee without postponement. Jay Leary pointed out that the delay in sending out Trash Fee bills would save work for the Collector and save money for Town residents. A motion to delay was approved. The Selectmen will discuss the matter with the Finance Committee.

Downtown traffic and signalization was next on the agenda. Jay Leary, leaning toward the solution offered by the McMahon Traffic Study, gave a summary of the Downtown Vision Committee meeting. "I don't want to lose traction on project," he said. Jay Marsden advocates picking one of the plans and moving forward. "We have lights downtown," he said, "the McMahon plans are tweaking the design that could have been done better." Jay Leary suggested a simpler solution, shared with him by Mary Greendale, might be 6-8 stand-alone, solar-powered, signal poles at Hollis, Central and Exchange Streets, at an estimated cost of $50,000. Kevin Conley suggested two restrictions on turning -- a right-turn only lane, eastbound at Central and a left-turn only lane, westbound at Exchange -- to improve traffic flow. The Board will contact Maureen Chlebek of McMahon Associates to discuss these possibilities. Paul LeBeau told the Board that Ms. Chlebek had offered to submit their traffic plans for downtown Holliston to Massachusetts Highway for possible funding.

The Board discussed plans for the Andrews School. With the goal of having three to four proposals to present at Town Meeting, the Board is looking to publicize the building's availability for development. To that end, Servicemaster will be looking at the building on November 20 to see what needs to be done to present the opportunity at an Open House in the near future.

The meeting went into Executive Session to discuss a contract negotiation with non-union personnel.