APPROVED 1/28/2002
TOWN OF HAMPDEN, MASSACHUSETTS
BOARD OF SELECTMEN/HEALTH
MINUTES
January 22, 2002			Town House
7:00 P.M			625 Main Street
Roll Call:	The meeting was called to order at 7:00 p.m. Board of Selectmen Austin G. McKeon, James D. Smith, and Duane Mosier were in attendance.

Old Business:

1. Minutes from January 14, 2002 for approval

Pg. 1, Section 2: divide paragraph

Pg. 2, Section 5: delete “the” in paragraph

Pg. 3, Section 11: replace recommended with voted, omit “but” in sentence.

James Smith made a motion to accept the minutes as corrected. Austin McKeon seconded, Duane abstained, Austin McKeon and James Smith were in favor and so voted.

2. Police Negotiations

The Board discussed the letter from Stanley Weinberg regarding overtime for dual positions. A letter will drafted to Chief Adams to confirm the statement in the letter dated 1/10/02, that a person would be paid consistent with the understanding of the wording in paragraph 3, “occasional and sporadic”.

3. State Ethics Board

A motion was made by Duane Mosier to make Patricia Smith a special circumstance employee for the multiple positions she holds with the Town of Hampden. Austin seconded, James Smith abstained, as he is a relative of the employee. Vote: Austin – Yes, Duane – Yes, James – Abstained.

Appointments:

4. Inspectors

The Board of Selectmen welcomed Mark Feeney, Building Inspector, Lorri McCool, Health Agent, Robert Lague, Electrical Inspector, and Michael Ford, Plumbing Inspector. James Smith brought up several areas for discussion; the first was timeliness of inspections, is a turnaround time of 2 business days appropriate for a return phone call. All inspectors agreed that was sufficient. The next point of discussion was appointing alternates if an inspector was away and would not be available for an inspection. Each inspector will submit a name of an alternate inspector to the Board of Selectmen. The last item discussed was fees, the inspectors agreed to compile a listing of comparable fees that surrounding towns charge for inspections and submit it to the Board of Selectmen by 2/4/02. A subsequent meeting will be held once all the information has been gathered.

New Business:

5. Compliance with Subregion Housing Plan

Duane Mosier initiated discussion on a letter received from the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission that states that in order to be eligible for a number of state grants the Town of Hampden must become certified. The Board agreed to proceed with the housing certification process.

6. Joint Meeting with Advisory Committee

A tentative date is scheduled for 1/28/02 at 8:15 to meet with the Advisory Committee to discuss the salary survey for elected officials.

7. Transfer Station Operations

The Board of Selectmen discussed three options for rubbish removal: the first would be instituting trash bags, second option is to contract for curbside rubbish removal, and last to stay with the sticker program and increase the price. The Board agreed to institute the bag program and is waiting on samples to be submitted by a competing company. Discussion regarding the recycling center and hiring a fulltime attendant for recycling days and only using the scouting organizations on limited basis for bottle drives. An article will be sent to area newspapers advertising for an attendant.

8. Police Chief

Discussion on what approach to take when the police chief’s contract expires 6/30/02. Should the chief be re-appointed for a fixed period of time or a new search begun to hire from outside the department or appoint from within.

9. Warrant Question

A motion was made by Duane Mosier to submit the following language to the Town Clerk as a ballot question for the March 18, 2002 Special Election.

Shall the Town of Hampden be allowed to exempt from the provisions of proposition two and one-half, so called, the amounts required to pay for its apportioned share of the bonds to be issued by the Hampden-Wilbraham Regional School district in order to finance constructing additions to and/or remodeling and making extraordinary repairs to the Green Meadows elementary school, including the cost of architectural and engineering services for plans and specifications and of original equipment and furnishing related thereto?

James Smith seconded, all in favor and so voted.

Austin McKeon moved, seconded by Duane Mosier to adjourn the meeting. The motion was adopted as unanimous (3-0). The meeting adjourned at 11:45p.m.

Respectfully submitted:

Karen Desmarais

Administrative Assistant