TO: Board of Selectmen
FROM: Carter Terenzini, Town Administrator
RE: Administrator’s Weekly Report
DATE: October 11, 2018
CC: All Departments

Fall Town Meeting – October 18th – 7:00 p.m. 

Business Meeting or Workshop: This is to expand upon items where the attached memos may need some expansion or where a full memo was not required. 

Weekly Report: John Driscoll and I met with our MIIA representative to review our Medex rates for January. It will be flat at 0% over the 6% estimate we had used in the budget. Some of this comes from a savings change in the RX formulary. We worked with Town Counsel and others to finalize the motions and summaries for the Voter Information guide. Evans Circle has been cleared for winter plowing as has Laurel View. Adam led the team to get our MS-4 Notice of Intent. The final application is due 06/30/19 and sections of it may be beyond our in-house capabilities.

Town Accountant: Nothing reported. 

Treasurer/Collector: We have been working with Bill Trust on the new template to bill Q3 and Q4 real estate in one billing (two coupons) and come to learn that there is another area vendor that may save us those template costs and be a lower billing rate. We will be meeting with them next week on their services and may find it best to switch vendors completely.

Administration & Finance 

Assessor: Short but very busy week in the office. I worked with the Collector/Treasurer on Land of Low Value Takings and imputing information into Gateway. Also, a letter will be going out within the next couple weeks to sewer users from the Collector/Treasurer in regards to a lien that was placed on their properties back in 2006 for betterments apportioned on their tax bills for WWTF Upgrade. The sewer department was made aware of this letter as there may be questions from sewer users in regards to it. Reached out to our Light, Water & Sewer departments for any liens they will need to have placed on the upcoming actual real estate billing in January. I attended the department head meeting on Thursday morning. Posted the agenda and preparing for the upcoming board meeting on Tuesday the 16th. Exemption applications are still coming in and residents are reminder to get the application and paperwork in ASAP so that they can be applied to the 3rd & 4th quarter tax bills.

Town Clerk: Nothing reported.

Public Works 

Highway Department: The new 2018 Mack truck is on the road and is a welcome addition to the fleet. There are 4 vehicles still red lined, H3, H35, M11 & H10. H11 is being transformed into a plow/sander. The cemetery truck # CD5 had work done to the brakes, including the emergency brake. The Council on aging vehicle 3005 came in because it was pulling to the right. The caliper had to be repaired and preventive maintenance done while it was in the shop. The paperwork to request funding to repair Pail Factory road through Chapter 90 has been prepared for signatures. We are hoping for emergency approval on this so the road can be repaired in early November. A culvert on Brooksvillage road had a 10 wheeler load of beaver debris cleared from it allowing the water to flow. The sidewalk near Lee’s hot dog stand was repaired where a tractor trailer had damaged it. Cold patching was done on Main St, Winchendon Rd, Gray Rd and South Street. The bush and trees around Laurel View were trimmed. A catch basin at the entrance of Laurel View was rebuilt as well. Some roadside repair was done on Cook Rd and Haskell. Trees were cut on Conti Ave and Harley Hill. The Notice of Intent (NOI) was completed /and filed with the state. This is part of the storm water management plan.

Buildings & Grounds: A burial in Pine Grove cemetery occurred Saturday and there are planned burials on Saturday for the entire month of October and into November. Bush trimming was done in Green Lawn cemetery. The picnic tables and trash barrels that were brought to the middle school were picked up and put away. Clean up of leaves and other debris has begun as the autumn season is upon us.