Town Meeting Broadcasts

As many of you are by now aware, broadcast capabilities for town meetings are currently unavailable. At issue, is the cost associated with properly configuring the Senior Center - $11,000 per the Town Administrator - in order to accommodate televised broadcasts.

That money is perhaps best allocated to address other more pressing economic needs within the community. The Town Administrator is working on viable and economical solutions to the issue, which hopefully, will be remedied in the very near term. In the interim, audio recordings and summaries of the meetings will be available on this site.

It is my intention to utilize this forum as a means of generating ideas, discussions, and guidance from the residents and businesses of Sturbridge. I invite all who visit this site to reach out to me either by email or though comment postings to the site.

As well I will make every effort to provide audio recordings of selectmen’s meetings so that residents can maintain access to the workings of their elected officials. Once we have the capability to tape the meetings, broadcasts will be made available via our cable access and various sites.

In terms of last night’s meeting there were several items that may be of interest to residents.

Board Reorganization
(00:00:30 on the tape)
The Board did reorganize last night with Mary Blanchard, Scott Garieri, and Ed Goodwin being nominated for the following positions respectively, Chairman of the Board, Vice-chairman of the Board, and Clerk. The vote was unanimous.

Burgess School Committee Interviews (00:04:50 on the tape)

Two interviews were conducted last night for appointment to the Burgess Building Committee. The interviewees were Mr. Jeff Bonja and Mr. Dale Caldwell. Additional interviews with other candidates who have submitted letters of interest are scheduled for May 4, 2009.

Zoning Article (00:58:00 on the tape)

Mr. Michael Bergeron and Mr. Anthony J. Grossi of New England Land and Lumber of Brimfield appeared before the board to request reconsideration of a previous Board vote on Town Warrant Article 17, which seeks to rezone approximately 110 acres of land on Route 15 abutting the Union, Ct / Holland, MA town line from Rural Residential (RR) to Commercial District.

Previously, the Board had voted 4-1 (Blanchard) to recommend “That no action be taken on the article”.

After reviewing the request along with the plans submitted, the Board voted 3 (Blanchard, Garieri, Creamer) -2 (White/Goodwin) to offer a substitute motion to “Approve the article as written”.

To be clear, this zoning change – if approved by a 2/3rds majority of voters at the Annual Town Meeting - does not allow for, nor does it permit the construction of a “truck stop” as was reported. Truck stops – per Sturbridge Zoning Bylaws - are not permitted in a Commercial District.

My vote last night was consistent with the position I had taken on January 13, 2009 when this proponent appeared before the Planning Board during a Public Hearing pertaining to this zoning request. The Planning Board’s vote was 4-3 to support the petitioner’s request.

By way of background, the petitioner initially appeared before the Planning Board on 11-18-09 during a Public Hearing to request support for a zoning change from Rural Residential to Commercial II. Based upon the plans submitted, the zoning change requested, (which would have allowed a truck stop), the lack of adequate buffers, and the concerns expressed by the abutters, the Planning Board expressed its unanimity in not supporting the petition as submitted.

At that time, the proponents withdrew their petition without prejudice and indicated their desire to work with abutters to find a more acceptable proposal.

Two months later (January 13, 2009) during a subsequent Public Hearing, the petitioners presented a new proposal requesting a change to Commercial as opposed to Commercial II. This new proposal eliminated the possibility of a truck stop on the Sturbridge parcel and outlined a series of increased buffers, which would protect the integrity of the neighboring zoning.

In light of the modifications made by the proponents, which addressed many of the concerns that had been expressed by abutters and board members, four members of the Planning Board were sufficiently moved to a point to where they could find no reason not to support the request. Thus, my vote last night reflected my position that sufficient safeguards are now in place to provide the appropriate protection to the neighborhood.

New Business (01:40:23 on the tape)

I reminded the Board of my campaign commitment to voters regarding my 7-Point Plan for the First 12 Months of my tenure as selectman, and requested that the items be placed upon the upcoming agendas for discussion.

I also requested the scheduling of items from the Finance Committee’s Annual Report citing our responsibility from a policy standpoint to address those items and determine what if any action should be taken.