MINUTES OF THE SELECTMEN’S MEETING

MONDAY, MAY 12, 2008

PRESENT: Terry H. Finnegan (Chairman), Donal P. Anderson (Vice-Chairman), Hilary P. Wilson (Clerk), Arthur P. Boyle, Jr. (Selectman), William J. Boulter, Jr. (Selectman), Diane M. Tobin (Executive Assistant), John Mattson (Comcast), Steve Annear (Mariner/Reporter), , Becca Manning (Pembroke Express), , Lewis Stone, Linda Osborne, Mark Moneypenny, Frank Costa, Neil Chapman, George Bent, Jim Kilcommons, Paul Whitman, John Walsh, and others. Town Administrator Thorne was away on vacation.

The meeting commenced at 7:00 p.m. in the Veterans’ Hall.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

South Shore Business Roundtable: Mr. Anderson moved, seconded by Mr. Wilson, and it was unanimously voted to acknowledge and accept the donation of three folding tables from the South Shore business Roundtable group that meets here in the town hall on alternating Thursdays. They donated the tables to express their gratitude for permission to use the Veteran’s Hall for their meetings.

The Pembroke Board of Health has issued an alert to residents to take precautions regarding mosquitoes throughout the coming summer season and until the first frost.

River Clean Up Day: The North and South Rivers Watershed Association is sponsoring a “River Clean Up Day” on Saturday, May 17^th from 9 a.m. to Noon with a cookout to follow at the Driftway. Volunteers are welcome. Mr. Boyle also noted that a landscape design program will be held at the South Shore Vo-Tech sponsored by Greenscapes beginning on April 28, 2008 and continuing for the following four Mondays.

Fish Fry: Mr. Wilson announced that the Annual Fish Fry will be held on Sunday May 18^th from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Council on Aging Membership: Mr. Wilson noted that the annual re-appointments will be made soon and encouraged anyone interested in serving on the Council on Aging Board of Directors to submit an application and letter to the Selectmen.

MINUTES: A draft of the minutes of the last meeting was emailed to all members of the board. The Selectmen agreed that as long as it is marked “draft” this would be an acceptable practice for the future in order to conserve paper.

Mr. Wilson moved, seconded by Mr. Anderson, to approve the minutes of April 28, 2008 as amended. So voted.

TOWN MEMORIAL COMMITTEE: Mrs. Osborne outlined the Memorial Day Ceremonies and Parade schedule and Neil Chapman read the proclamation from Governor Patrick to recognize Monday, May 26^th as Memorial Day. Mrs. Osborne also announced that the island at the intersection of Oldham and West Elm St. will be dedicated to PFC Matthew Bean on Memorial Day at 3:00 p.m. Mr. Boyle and Mr. Boulter were requested by the family of PFC Bean to speak at this ceremony.

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BOY SCOUT CROSSOVER: Mr. Boyle moved, seconded by Mr. Wilson to approve the request of Boy Scout Troop 105 to use the Herring Run Park for their annual crossover Cookout on Saturday, June 14^th from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., contingent upon the approval of the Conservation Commission. So voted.

BREAST CANCER WALK: Amanda Cavallo and Mary Rose Blandino requested permission to hold a Breast Cancer Fundraiser Walk on Saturday, June 21, 2008 from 8:00 a.m. to 12 Noon on the Town Green. They plan to have school bands to provide entertainment to participants. They have secured permission from the Recreation Dept and plan to work with the Police and Fire Dept. also.

Mr. Boyle moved, seconded by Mr. Anderson, to approve the request to hold the Breast Cancer fundraiser walk subject to the approval of the Pembroke Police Chief. Voted unanimously in favor.

SIGN PERMIT APPLICATIONS: The Selectmen voted to approve the following signd as per applications and plans/sketches submitted:

a) Pembroke Recreation, 128 Center St – temporary sign to advertise their Open House on May 17^th

b) Tan-talizing Experience, 300 Oak St. – temporary 2’x 21/2’ standing sign

c) Donnie Smith Memorial Basketball Tournament – temporary 2’ x 4’, A-frame to be displayed on Town Green

d) KLS Tae Kwon Do, 808 Washington St – temporary 2’ x 3’ A-frame

e) South Shore Diamond Exchange, 254 Church St – temporary 2’ x 1’ vinyl sign on metal stakes

f) The Winery Restaurant, 625 Washington St – permanent 4’ x 6’ wood and aluminum, standing sign to replace old Bobby Hackett’s sign.

ONE-YEAR ACTION PLAN: The objective is to discuss and prioritize the ideas brought forth by the Selectmen regarding items they would like to address.

Chairman Finnegan would like to look into a new position for a Town Planner. Even a part-time position might be acceptable because it could be a savings to the town by taking advantage of grants and other planning activities. The Planning Board would need to be part of any of these discussions. She would like to see if the Board could even just get a job description and pay scale in place and possibly find alternate funding.

Another idea from Mrs. Finnegan is to finalize the method or methods of funding the Capital Plan. All capital assets are being put together but the town needs to find funds to do any needed repairs or replacements. Possible ways might be through cell tower revenues, passport services, raising fees, etc., and dedicate these revenues to use only for capital plan items.

A third idea is to finalize the numbers for an actuary for post employment services.

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Mr. Anderson’s ideas included a review of the Town Hall build up concept. He feels this would be a pre-cursor to the Community Center Task Force Plan. He would like to explore finishing off the attic expansion of the town hall. Previous designs could be updated and since the roof is already approaching need for repair and re-shingling, it might be a good time to pursue expansion of the attic. This would provide more needed space and might help with energy efficiency. Mr. Anderson feels we should not wait for the Task Force to get their plan finalized because we need to move forward with the updates to the town hall now.

Mr. Anderson also would like to see the Board of Selectmen behind a change to take the budget up as the first item of business at Annual Town Meeting. He suggested that the problem this year was either because of confusion over the Advisory Committee motion or because of fatigue of the quorum and feeling the need to just get it done in one night. He believes it is important to take up this item with a full quorum.

Offering the service of doing passports in the Selectmen’s Office is another idea that Mr. Anderson feels the Board should look into.

Mr. Boulter suggested that he would like to see how the Town can help with the problem of illegal distribution of drugs and alcohol. He would like to see the Selectmen partner with the schools and local businesses and the Youth Alliance Committee. He feels parents and the community need to be educated on these issues and encouraged to work together with the police. He also would like to start an action plan for better communication equipment to include telephones, emails, text messages, reverse 911, cable, community cameras, traffic monitoring, and other ideas. He suggested setting up cameras around town. He said that traffic monitoring is cost free and revenue generating and only takes one police officer to monitor the cameras. Mr. Boulter is interested in establishing a reliable form of radio communication with the School Dept and the Council on Aging. He also suggested an email address for each town employee and he would like to establish a Community Citizen’s Academy that would involve all town departments. This would be to familiarize residents with the purpose and function of each town department.

Mr. Wilson’s goal is to work with Town Administrator Thorne and the Board of Selectmen to bring transportation to Pembroke. He is waiting for clearance from GATRA regarding an assessment through the State. He would start with dedicating the Council on Aging as the provider and would eventually like to expand the bus routes to the commuter trains and into other towns.

Mr. Boyle said that all these ideas are a good effort in getting things out in the forefront. He agrees that transportation is huge. He suggested that the practice be re-established of having each board and committee come before the Selectmen to give a

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status report of what is going on in their department. He suggested maybe doing this once a month. He is also in favor of a Town Planner. Ponds are a great concern to Mr.

Boyle and he would like to get more momentum and coordinate with other departments on this issue. He would like to try to get the Army Corps of Engineers involved as well. Mr. Boyle would also like to develop a contact list of all office personnel.

Chairman Finnegan noted that she is looking for new items and will continue with the items already being worked on. During the discussion of these ideas, Mrs. Finnegan stated that she and Mr. Boyle have been attending the Youth Alliance meetings over the past several months. She will forward any email communications to the other Selectmen regarding the group’s activities. Mr. Boulter explained that the Youth Alliance involves every department in town and feels it is good for the Selectmen as a whole to be onboard with them. Town Administrator Thorne has been researching the idea of a Citizen’s Academy. He has samples from a town in Florida and one from Michigan. He is also working on the RFP for a new telephone and communications system. Mrs. Finnegan suggested that community cameras should come under the jurisdiction of the Police Chief. GATRA transportation is a very important issue and Mr. Wilson will keep the Board updated on the progress.

Regarding the budget as first action at town meeting, Mr. Anderson would like to do this by the fall town meeting. Selectmen would like to hear reasons why advisory is resistant to this. Maybe all players including the Moderator should be invited to a discussion meeting on this issue. Mr. Walsh was present and said he was willing to meet with the Board and Advisory regarding this issue and further to put forth another idea to have the Advisory Committee Report and Motions prepared at a minimum of 7 days prior to town meeting.

Mrs. Finnegan pointed out that with regard to post employment services, an actuary is required by law. She also noted that the Selectmen will have to continue to discuss ways to generate revenue to pay for Capital Items.

The items that will be looked at on the One-Year Action Plan will be:

Action plan items will be kept as part of the regular agenda items.

JAMES KILCOMMONS: Mr. Kilcommons requested that the Selectmen pay the $1,632 bill that he received from Atty. Bob Galvin in order to get the names of the incumbent candidates back on the ballot for the last local election on April 26^th. Mr. Boyle said that he sent a substantial check to Mr. Galvin to pay his portion of the bill and said that it was his choice to seek counsel on this matter.

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Mr. Kilcommons feels that he should not have to pay to run for office and the practice of having the Town Clerk obtain signatures on a blanket ballot has been historically done

for many years. The Town did not object to the incumbent’s court complaint because there was no intent to spend town funds to fight the plaintiffs on this. Mr. Kilcommons claims his rights were violated and he should not have had to go to court.

Mr. Anderson explained that the town is not responsible and he noted that his earlier statement was that it was an alternative choice for incumbents to seek council at a probable cost of about $200 apiece but that the town did not want to incur any more expense. Mrs. Finnegan commented that the town should not pay this bill and Mr. Boulter stated that it was his understanding that the town would be responsible for the bill. Mr. Walsh was also present and said he was willing to pay for his part of the bill and is not looking to sue the town for the privilege of serving as moderator.

CIVIL SERVICE PATROLMEN’S LIST: Mr. Boyle moved, seconded by Mr. Anderson, to call for a certification list for a patrolman from the existing civil service exam list. Voted unanimously in favor.

It was recognized that Mr. Boulter should not have voted on this issue, so a motion to reconsider was made and seconded. Mr. Boulter abstained.

Mr. Boyle repeated the original motion and it was seconded by Mr. Anderson to call for the list. Vote: 4-0-1 in favor with Mr. Boulter abstaining.

HOUSING AUTHORITY: In response to a letter received from the Housing Authority relative to their request to acquire more affordable housing, Mrs. Finnegan would like to schedule a meeting with them during a Selectmen’s meeting. They are suggesting that the town might be able to offer them a donation of land on which to build an affordable home. Mr. Boyle will find the address of a possible piece of town property. Mrs. Finnegan would also like to discuss resident’s concerns at the housing authority complexes.

COUNTY RETIREMENT ASSESSMENT: Mrs. Finnegan will ask the Town Administrator about continuing the practice of a one-time payment to try to save money in this area.

RETIREMENT OF POLICE OFFICER WOODS: A memo was received from Chief Ohrenberger announcing the retirement of Detective Frank Woods effective May 10, 2008. An certificate of recognition will be prepared from the Selectmen’s Office.

OLD BUSINESS:

Key Policy: Mrs. Tobin explained that the key policy was adopted by the Selectmen in January of 2008. A new alarm system was installed and a list of key assignments is being kept in the Selectmen’s Office. Town Administrator Thorne had solicited bids for new locks on the interior office doors of town hall but he is awaiting direction on whether or not the new community center task force plan will be put into

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effect. It was suggested that we probably should proceed with updating the town hall even if the building ends up being changed for use by another department.

Telephone RFP: Mr. Thorne is working on a less specified RFP for communication services.

Legal Services: After receiving input from other towns, the Board would like to advertise for legal services in the MMA circulations. It was noted that there is no personal problem with the services of Kopelman & Paige but purely a financial exercise.

WAGE & PERSONNEL: Mrs. Finnegan feels that the Wage and Personnel Board serves an important function and would like to make people aware that we need volunteers to serve on this board.

TOWN ACCOUNTANT SPREADSHEETS: Grant information was received from the Town Accountant’s Office. Mrs. Finnegan noted that Mr. Buckley and Mr. Thorne will be aware of these grants and their status but will give a report to the Selectmen for their knowledge of these grants.

An Operating Budget spreadsheet was provided and Mrs. Finnegan requested that Mr. Thorne provide an explanation of the items noted that were over 100% spent. This will be on the agenda again for the next meeting under Old Business.

SIGNATURES ON WARRANTS: Mr. Anderson asked the Board of Selectmen to consider authorizing the Town Administrator to sign the weekly payroll warrants and accounts payable warrants. He feels the Board of Selectmen’s signatures are just symbolic. Mr. Wilson agreed.

Mr. Anderson moved, seconded by Mr. Wilson, to have Mr. Thorne look into whether it can be authorized by just a vote of the Board or if it needs town meeting vote. Voted unanimously in favor. Further input will be requested from Mr. Buckley and Ms. Mulrain.

ENERGY CONSERVATION ARTICLE: Mr. Lew Stone was present and inquired about who would be implementing the details of the energy conservation article that was passed at the annual town meeting. The response was that department heads will be monitoring office temperatures. Mr. Anderson noted that the Energy Committee meets tomorrow night and all are welcome. Their efforts are to recognize those departments that are making great strides in conservation, not necessarily in dollars but in usage.

The meeting was adjourned at 9:00 p.m.