Westminster Board of Selectmen
Monday, Dec. 4, 2006
Compiled By Karen Mann Journal Correspondent

Top Story:

Selectmen voted to hold a special town meeting on Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2007. The issue: funding the hiring of a new architect for the Forbush Memorial Library repair project.

Board of Selectmen Chairwoman Lorraine Emerson said the Library Board of Trustees terminated the contract with Russo Barr Associates, the company originally hired for the project. Voters at a town meeting in November failed to re-affirm a vote taken in the spring of 2006 to fund the library construction.

The proposed repairs are meant to find a permanent solution to the leaks infiltrating the building by creating a new exterior. Before voting against the re-affirmation, residents

expressed concern about the expense, the materials and the design.

Emerson said they will try to retrieve some of the money paid to Russo Bar Associates.

Town officials will put out bids for the contract then bring a recommendation to town meeting for voter approval. Emerson said officials have to go with the lowest bid submitted.

In Other News:

• Selectmen agreed to write off the $4,500 in unpaid ambulance collection fees at the advice of Fire Chief Brenton MacAloney.

MacAloney told selectmen he is learning how to deal with unpaid collections, and is working with the department's billing company on how to minimize the amount that is uncollected. One of the main changes they are trying to make is to develop a way to address the customers who don't respond after receiving a bill. MacAloney wants to get a credit-reporting service involved, so if someone does not pay an ambulance bill, it will affect his/her credit rating.

Emerson said compared to other towns, Westminster is above the norm for collecting fees.

• Resident Michael Morin was appointed to the Capital Planning Board. Morin had expressed interest in filling vacancies on a few different committees. Emerson said the Capital Planning Board stood out as the best fit based on Morin's resume.

• Selectmen approved transferring $3,000 from the fiscal year 2007 budget from the Wetlands Protection Fund to the town clerk's salary fund.