COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS
Sherwood Forest Road Maintenance District
Prudential Committee Meeting
Saturday, March 1, 2008
Committee Members Present: David Bonney, Chair (and Moderator for Special Meeting); Bill Brownhill, Co-Chair; Jerry Grondin, Jerry Summit; Marty Feit, Clerk-Treasurer
Absent: Gilles Beaudoin, Dennis LaChapelle, Road Superintendent
Public Present: Al Barvenik, Eva Bonney, Ron Boucher, David Devane, Nancy Devane, Sandra Labonbard, Howard Lerner, Robert Ronzio
- APPROVAL OF MINUTES FROM 2/2/08 AND 2/16/08
Motion made and seconded to accept the minutes of the 2/2/08 meeting; unanimous approval.
Motion made and seconded to accept the minutes of the 2/16/08 meeting; unanimous approval.
Mr. Feit reports on current balances, amounts spent, and amounts owed. Road tax bills should be going out next week. This has been held up waiting for the accountant and completing paperwork with the state.
· Warrant Approval: Motion made and seconded to accept the treasurer's warrant; unanimous approval.
Mr. Feit reads an email from the attorney saying that the A.G. would disallow the choice of White Wolf as the second lowest bidder and force the district to choose the low bidder. The contract has not yet been signed.
Input is solicited from the audience.
· Mr. Boucher is concerned about the assurance of pricing on an unsigned contract.
· Mr. Lerner speaks to the issue of the committee’s obligation to listen to professional counsel.
· Mr. Ronzio speaks to the attorney’s previous advice and damages that may be demanded by the low bidder.
· Ms. Labonbard speaks to the possibility of White Wolf not being willing to fight a decision to drop them.
· Mr. Ronzio speaks to previous dealings with the A.G.’s office.
· Mr. Lerner speaks to pragmatic vs. legal viewpoints.
A motion is made to rescind the awarding of the contract to White Wolf; motion seconded. Vote: Three (3) in favor; One (1) against.
A motion is made to accept the bid of B&B Landscaping. No second.
A motion is made to accept the advice of the lawyer. Discussion. No second.
A call is placed to the Atty. Rick Holland. He recaps his conversation with Assistant A.G. Deborah Anderson. She told him that if the award to White Wolf was protested, that protest would likely be upheld by the A.G.’s office but that a protest of an award to B&B by White Wolf would not likely be successful. The question of penalty for not doing what the A.G. says arises. Atty. Holland does not answer this question. He advises to award the contract to B&B. The issue of B&B being from Lee is raised and Atty. Holland relates that Deborah Anderson noted to him that the contract form contains no locality requirement.
A motion is made to accept the bid of B&B Landscaping. No second.
A motion is made to table the issue to a future meeting. No second.
- Mr. Lerner observes that “you [Mr. Brownhill] are playing the advocate for White Wolf and not for the Prudential Committee”.
- Mr. Ronzio agrees with Mr. Lerner and opines that the tapes from this meeting and the last meeting will be subpoenaed by the A.G.’s office.
A meeting is set for next week (Saturday, 3/8/08) at 11:00 a.m.
- Ms. Devane wonders who will supervise the work of the new contractor. The Road Supervisor.
Mr. Bonney says the contract issue will be tabled to a future meeting.
Road Liability Insurance: Mr. Feit got information on what the SFNA is paying ($8,300) and what they would ask the Road District to contribute ($3,500). Mr. Summit is pursuing a quote from an agent. Tabled.
Mail Box Responsibility: Mr. Bonney went to the Building Inspector and found that SFNA took out the permit for erecting the mailboxes. Mr. Ronzio says the property on which the boxes are located is owned by Alfred and Irene Moulton. They are not the Road District’s responsibility.
Bylaws: Annual meeting date will have to be revised.
Special Meeting Warrant: Discussion of budget figures. Agreement of what will be posted on the warrant.
- PUBLIC PARTICIPATION
- Mr. Lerner suggests waiting three more weeks to send tax bills out with the town bills to save money on postage.
- Mr. Ronzio explains why it happened that way last year.
- Mr. Lerner says he called at 10 p.m. 2 weeks ago because there were two cars stuck at Sherwood Drive and Mystic Isle Way and the roads were a sheet of ice.
- Mr. Lerner says the Mystic Isle Way sign still has not been replaced and it is a public safety issue.
- Mr. Ronzio says it is a liability issue.
- Mr. Ronzio wants Road District Meeting Signs being put up at the entrances.
- Ms. Devane speaks to her request that a sign be put upstairs when the meeting has been changed from upstairs to downstairs.
- Ms. Devane asks what is to be done about vehicles which block the road all night long. Mr. Bonney says this is a police issue.
- Ms. Devane says some people park their cars on other people’s property. Mr. Bonney says this is a police issue.
- Mr. Ronzio asks if a winter parking regulation was put out. Yes.
- Mr. Ronzio says the road district was named on SFNA’s policy a couple of years ago.
- General discussion of insurance.
There being no further business to conduct, a motion is made and seconded to adjourn. Unanimous approval.
The meeting is adjourned at 12:20 PM
Respectfully Submitted
Marty Feit
Clerk-Treasurer
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