by Matt Ristaino
9/17/2019

The Select Board officially approved a plan for the creation of a facility manager position at its meeting Monday evening. The Town had first voted to approve the hiring of a facility manager at Town Meeting in May.

Vice-Chair John Cronin presented a document to the Board that included a job description and a plan for the development of the position. Cronin said that for the first couple of years, the facility manager will operate under the Department of Public Works, but they will eventually transition to having their own department that reports directly to the Town Administrator.

Cronin will present the proposal to the finance committee at its meeting on Tuesday, and said that ideally the position will be filled by the beginning of January.

Jay Robinson of the Pinecrest Clubhouse Advisory Committee speaks with the Board.

The Select Board then heard from Jay Robinson of the Pinecrest Clubhouse Advisory Committee, who presented a report detailing options for renovating and expanding the golf course’s clubhouse. 

Robinson said that his committee recommended a plan that would expand storage space and the kitchen. The other, more expensive option would be replacing the on-site tent with a permanent building that would serve as a function hall.

There was some miscommunication, as Board chairman Mark Ahronian said that the Board wanted to hear from the Golf Course Advisory Committee about their preferred course of action before voting on which option to approve. Robinson said that he would share his report with the Golf Course Advisory Committee, and report back to the Select Board in two weeks with their recommendation. 

The Select Board met with all three candidates to fill the Board of Health's vacancy.

The Board also met with the Board of Health about temporarily filling their vacancy until next year’s elections. The Select Board had previously said that they wanted to interview the candidates themselves, even though the Board of Health had picked Sean Fay to fill the spot.

All three candidates were present at the meeting, and, after answering questions from the Select Board, the other two candidates, Jay Leary and Barbara Peatie, both withdrew their names from consideration, saying that they respected the decision of the Board of Health to go with Fay. Both Leary and Peatie said that they would consider running for the position in next May’s election. 

Later in the meeting, the Board approved a request from Parks and Recreation Director Mark Frank to add $20,000 to the department's budget in the Town Meeting warrant for an infield groomer for the town baseball fields, which are in desperate need of repairs. 

DPW director Sean Reese then met with the Board to present a proposal for a comprehensive water and sidewalk study, which in total would cost just shy of $200,000. However, about half of that could be funded by the water department’s savings account. Reese will present the proposal to the finance committee on Tuesday.

DPW director Sean Reese presents the plan for a comprehensive water and sidewalk study to the Board.

In other business, the Board approved the transfer of ownership of the Depot Package Store, which is being sold to a new ownership group. The Board also approved a one day alcoholic beverage license for the Lions Club Historical Society (thank you Bea for the correction) Oktoberfest on October 18th, and an event permit for the Great Pumpkin Walk on October 27th. 

In his report, Town Administrator Jeff Ritter said that Holliston is now a Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness certified community, meaning the Town can receive grant money from the state under the M.V.P. program. 

He also said that, at the direction of the Board, he will set up a meeting with officials from Sherborn about the Sustainability Manager position that the two towns will share. Sherborn recently made a job posting for the position, despite not reaching out to Holliston about creating the job description. The Board emphasized its desire to be a part of the interviewing process, and expressed their disappointment with Sherborn’s decision to go ahead with the posting without consulting them first.