Dudley selectmen: educate voters on $500,000 override

Town Hall to close on Wednesdays;
2-way opening for Lower Perryville  

Janet Stoica
Patriot Correspondent

DUDLEY - After much discussion by Sean Gilrein, Dudley-Charlton Regional School Superintendent, Police Chief Stephen Wojnar, Fire Chief Dean Kochanowski, and various others regarding the upcoming $500,000 budget override and departmental needs for state, personnel, and equipment requirements, the Board of Selectmen strongly advised all town departments to enlighten and educate the voting public.

Chairman Jonathan Ruda said that “State education funds and state-mandated student assessment dollar amounts should be provided to Dudley residents regarding the $250,000 school budget override. Additionally, this has to be a mutual effort by each town department to get as much information out to the public as possible at every opportunity. Public outreach is essential to show residents what will be lost or gained by override passage.” Selectman John Marsi added that each department “use whatever means you can to get word out to the public.”

Police Chief Wojnar stated “we must all find a way to work together as the Dudley Police Department has also been funded sparingly for quite some time.” Selectman Peter Fox noted that “Dudley has not customarily passed overrides and educating the public (voters) about the specific needs that the override would be expensed for is a positive approach.”

Appointments

Running down the night’s agenda, the board quickly swept through unanimous approval of regular board minutes and executive minutes from their last meeting of June 18^th. Selectmen also unanimously appointed Nancy Oleszewski to the Personnel Board and P. Jim D’Auria to the Council on Aging with both terms expiring on 6/30/15. Reappointments included George Slingo to the Conservation Commission, Donald Wayman to the Capital Improvement Planning Committee, and Jo-Ann Szymczak to the Economic Development Committee also with terms to expire on 6/30/15.

Public Comments

Public comment/citizen comment issues included Kristan Mallet addressing the board to discuss an ongoing situation regarding rights to a portion of Sixth Avenue and drive access to same.

Former Dudley selectman Joseph Sendrowski’s then gave a public reading of his letter to selectmen regarding their recent appointment of Town Treasurer Richard Carmignani to the additional post of Tax Collector. Mr. Sendrowski’s position was that due to “the recent ruling of Judge Lemire of the Massachusetts Appeals Court in Boston regarding Mr. Carmignani’s procurement of an affidavit’s signatures and notarization that were determined to be of a fraudulent nature,” he requested that “Mr. Carmignani not be considered for a permanent appointment as Tax Collector or as a combined Treasurer/Tax Collector.”

Mr. Sendrowski had written and stated that “this appointment would not be in the best interests of the citizens of Dudley.” Following Mr. Sendrowski’s public reading of his letter, Chairman Ruda indicated that the reading was now part of the meeting record.

Public Hearing

A public hearing was then held regarding a Class II-Second Hand Motor Vehicle License to Teodor and Thomas Chojnacki d/b/a Lucky Car located at the Smart Plaza, 99 West Main Street. After review of auto placements to be located at the rear of the building, selectman unanimously approved the license with the caveat that 10 vehicles are the maximum allowed and none were permitted in the front of the building.

Lower Perryville Reopening

Also discussed, with many residents coming forward to express their opinions, was the Lower Perryville Road reopening. Dan Gion, Dudley Highway Superintendent, presented his views on the road’s ability to handle two-way traffic, as it had in the past, and the fact that much roadside brush clearing had been done by the Dudley Highway Department. The Board voted unanimously to reopen the road to two-way traffic.

Selectmen then voted to table Staff Evaluation Summary Reports for further review and listened to a solar energy buy-back program presented by Robert Babcock, co-owner of EPG Solar, LLC.

New Town Hall Hours

The Municipal Complex will be closed to the public on Wednesdays beginning in August. The move was triggered by staffing pressures in the town treasurer/tax collector office, and will give the employees a chance to catch up on their work backlog.  The new Town Hall hours  of operation would be Monday, Tuesday, Thursday (day & evening), and Friday until 1 p.m. Publicity would be achieved through local newspaper notices, public access television channels, and flyers placed in Town Hall departments. It was noted that these hours of operation are temporary only.

Selectman Paul Joseph commented that he did not want people to think that the tail of the town treasurer and town collector's offices is now wagging the entire municipal complex.

Town Treasurer Richard Carmignani spoke to the board regarding the commencement of the process to either elect a new Tax Collector for the next year or combine the position with the Town Treasurer’s responsibilities.

Fire Chief Kochanowski then came before the board to present his initial findings on a replacement ladder truck for the existing 32-year old vehicle currently in (partial) use due to constant breakdowns. Mr. Kochanowski spoke about how he had located a used low-profile ladder truck that would fit into the low-bayed Engine Building. Chairman Ruda then invited the Fire Chief to the next public hearing to discuss the need for the new ladder truck. Selectman Joseph confirmed that “the current ladder truck is, indeed, on its last legs.”

Selectmen then revisited the streetlight shut-off listings and tabled the issue for further discussion until August. Lastly, town-owned properties located at One Village Way and 63 Main Street (the former highway garage) were declared surplus properties and the board instructed Town Administrator Peter Jankowski to begin the process of assessing and selling the two parcels.

Selectmen in attendance were Jonathan Ruda, Chairman, Peter Fox, John Marsi, and Paul Joseph. Absent was Steven Sullivan. Also attending the meeting was Peter Jankowski, Town Administrator, and Michelle Jervis, Administrative Secretary.