Cheshire Town Meeting Will See Petition on Expanding Board
 The Selectmen dealt with a citizen's petition, concerns over a cow crossing, and the problematic Sand Mill Road Bridge. |
CHESHIRE, Mass. — A citizen's petition will ask town meeting to consider increasing the Board of Selectmen to five members.
Resident Richard Scholz gave the board the citizen's petition on Tuesday with 31 signatures to request that an article be placed on this year's annual town meeting warrant that will see if the voters would put an item to expand the board from three members to five on next year's annual election.
Selectman Paul Astorino said he felt Scholz was doing this because he failed to get elected as selectman last year.
"You lose an election last year so now you want to move the goal post so you can get in in two years ... it's a joke," Astorino said.
Astorino also was concerned if the Planning Board would have time to change the bylaws to allow this.
"They have more important things to do in this day and age," he said. "Do what you want, the people over there will make the decision for you."
Scholz said he felt the time in-between the town meeting article and the election would allow ample time for preliminary bylaw changes to be made.
Chairwoman Carol Francesconi said the board will discuss it further when the members have a better understanding on how the process would work.
In other business, Franseconi said a farmer on East Harbor Road requested that the town change the speed limit to make it safer for his cattle to cross the road. She said he has had a few close calls.
"He said he had more than a few incidents where his cows almost went to heaven without his approving of it," she said.
Highway Superintendent Peter LeFebvre said he can put up "Slow" signs, which are not enforceable, but he does not expect that to help because the residents of the road are the ones who are speeding. He said he should put up flashing lights when the cattle cross, which is four times a day, or park a tractor in the road.
He said this is a problem Cheshire has seen before.
Town Administrator Mark Webber said the Berkshire Regional Planning Commission group, which is providing counsel for communities affected by the proposed Kinder Morgan natural gas pipeline, has asked Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to delay its formal public comment scoping session until Kinder Morgan provides more information in its resource report.
He said the current maps do not show aquifers, wetlands, the Appalachian Trail, and where exactly the compressor stations will be.
"They have been a little sketchy and they need to be more clearly defined," Webber said.
Webber added that Clarksburg has requested that the town pay a portion of the health insurance of Cheshire's previous town administrator.
He said that even though the individual retired from Clarksburg, new legislation says all municipalities a public employee has served in are responsible for paying a portion of his or her health insurance so the full price is not pinned just on the town from which he or she retired.
Clarksburg asked for $9,000 but did not provide a breakdown of the cost that has been requested in the past. Webber said he will ask for more detail.
LeFebvre said he contacted two engineers to see if they can survey the closed bridge on Sand Mill Road to see if it can be repaired instead of completely replaced.
He said he has yet to hear back from them and expects the process to take two to three months at the very least.
"It isn't going to get done tomorrow no matter what happens," LeFebvre said. "We are going to try to get it fixed as soon as possible with the amount of money that we have."
He said the engineer may say repairing the project is not an option and the town may not be able to find the money needed. He said any plans would have to pass state inspection.
Selectman Robert Ciskowski did not accept last week's minutes because he felt it may have been a violation of open meeting law. The Selectmen met with the Advisory Board to discuss the budget and the minutes only reflected that they met with the board.
"I think we need a little more detail on how we deliberated on the budget other than the statement that we just went there," he said. "I am concerned and want to make sure we met the requirements."
When the Selectmen met with the Advisory Board on Tuesday night, the secretary went with them to take notes.
The board also reorganized after Monday's election. Franseconi will remain chairman, Ciskowski will be superintendent of buildings and grounds, and Astorino will now be the clerk.
Tags: bridge project, citizens petition, cows, traffic,
