Leverett Town Seal

Massachusetts

Leverett

Town of Leverett
9 Montague Road
Leverett, MA 01054
Town Clerk: (413) 548-9150
Tax Collector: (413) 548-9666
Assessor: (413) 548-4945
Town Hall Fax: (413) 548-1035
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Select Board

Tuesday, October 1, 2019, 7:00 pm until 9:00 pm
Town Hall, 9 Montague Rd
A meeting of the Selectboard

Meeting of Selectboard

Members: (Quorum)

  • Present: Peter d'Errico, Chair, at 7:00 PM
  • Present: Tom Hankinson, at 7:00 PM
  • Present: Julie Shively, at 7:00 PM

Also Present:

  • Margie M.
  • Lisa S.
  • Rob for the Montague Reporter
  • Leesa
  • Roxann
  • and Rachel Crocker and some of their neighbors
  • Jono N.
  • Pat D.
  • Steve N.
  • Skip F.
  • Virginia G.

See original Agenda Final Minutes

Meeting opened: 7:00 PM

Meeting closed: 8:45 PM

  1. Meeting Preliminaries

  2. New Business

    • Approve minutes from Sept. 3 and 17

      General Discussion...
      The minutes of Sept. 3 and 17 were approved as written.

    • Community Compact

      General Discussion...
      Margie reviewed the options for the Community Compact Grant: regionalization of police; Narcan for first responders; and bike lanes in town.

    • ConCom Account

    • Highway Dept. Update

      General Discussion...
      Matt Boucher, Highway Supt.
      Matt Boucher came in to sign his contract as the new Highway Supt. His start date will be October 15. He may have couple of people interested in full or part-time work for the department. He wondered if there was someone on the police or fire departments with a CDL who may be interested in plowing. Matt would like to have 5 people plowing during a storm for a timely clean-up. Margie updated Matt on the Coke Kiln Road bridge project and the culvert replacement on Shutesbury Road. Matt can decide if he wants to continue with uniforms or not.
      Will Stratford was able to have the $500 fee waived for failure to have the vapor recovery system checked last year and completed the paperwork for this year.

    • Newsletter items from "unofficial" entities

      General Discussion...
      Lisa mentioned that 2 organizations active in the community each asked for 1 page of space in the Newsletter. Lisa will determine how much money that adds to the total cost to produce the Newsletter and charge for space in the future.

    • Payroll Request Scam

      General Discussion...
      Margie reported that Jason received a scam request for direct deposit of a Town employee’s paycheck into a scammers account. The Police Chief is investigating.

    • Remote Participation at Meetings Policy

      MOTION, moved by Tom Hankinson, seconded by Julie Shively: Motion: To approve the Remote Participation at Meetings policy, presented. Vote: 3-0 in favor. Applies to all town boards and committees.

      Pass: Aye: Tom Hankinson, Julie Shively, Peter d'Errico.

    • Tax Title Status

      General Discussion...
      In a follow-up from last meeting Margie said that 1 Dudleyville Rd. owes taxes to the Town from 2013. Jason will proceed to take the property for back taxes. Fire Chief and Building Inspector are proceeding with an inspection of the outside of the site. Select Board is in support of both avenues.

  3. Old Business

    • Teawaddle update

      General Discussion...
      Tom informed the meeting that Wilcox and Barton have completed tasks 1-3. They will collect water samples from the Goodale and Eddy properties next time they come to Leverett. ACT, the company that does the current testing of the wells will collect the water samples and take them to UMASS for testing for Aclarity. Skip asked if there had been a response to the list of questions he and Tom emailed; there had not been but Tom said he would ask again. The board will schedule a meeting with the Town Council in Amherst.

      The board told Pat D. that her well is not being included in the study because her well has already been replaced by the town and is being monitored by DEP accordingly.

  4. Mail

    • Jim Hawkins letter re: shipping container on Dudleyville Rd.

    • Notification to Abutters, MA Wetland Protection Act

    • Walk and Talk Historical Commission Events

  5. Newer Business

    • King Property - In order for the licensing money from leasing the Gordon King farmland to into the Gordon King Memorial Fund the license needs to be re-written. The board agreed.

    • Misc. - Margie gave the Board disclosure for accepting tickets to the Big E from Collins Electric. She left the tickets on the table and did not use them herself. Select Board asked that the Energy Committee draft a CTY message about private green energy suppliers soliciting residents.

    • Crocker/Eversource

      General Discussion...
      Eversource recently asked Leesa Crocker to pick up the greenhouse that she has had on their land for years. Her property also abuts the Plainview Cemetery property. Members of the Cemetery Association have complained for years that she has failed to keep her farm-related equipment, piles of dirt and mulch, etc., out of the Cemetery right-of-way and has made the property messy abutting the Cemetery. Leesa came to ask the board to intervene on her behalf. Leesa claims that since the town has a Right-to-Farm Bylaw that she should be able to leave her greenhouse where it is. The board said she did have a right to farm but not on someone else’s property. The board suggested that she try using the process outlined in the Right-to Farm Bylaw. Also they offered to help defray the cost of mediation if she could get the Cemetery Association and Eversource to agree to attend a mediation session.

  6. Meeting Wrap-up

The listing of matters is those reasonably anticipated by the Chair which may be discussed at the meeting. Not all items listed may in fact be discussed and other items not listed may also be brought up for discussion to the extent permitted by law.

Minutes prepared by Lisa Stratford

Minutes approved on Thursday, Nov 7, 2019