TOWN OF SHERBORN
PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE
January 9, 2017 Committee Meeting,
Sherborn Town Police Station,
Attendees:
Voting Members Present: Arthur Fenno, Henry Fontaine, Ed Wagner, Jon Dowse, Rick
Thompson, Brad VanBrunt & Jim Campbell
Non-voting Members Present: Dave Curtis, EH; Rebecca Hunnewell, BOH
Others present: Charlie Blaney
1.0
Opening and Approval of Minutes
Chairman Arthur Fenno opened the meeting at 3:40 pm. Chairman Fenno asked if there were
any changes to the agenda as posted. Chief Thompson requested that the subject of Snow
Plowing during the most recent storm be added. The committee voted 6-0 to so amend the
agenda. The committee then voted to dispense with a reading and approve the agenda as
amended. The vote passed 6-0. The committee then voted to dispense with a reading of the
minutes of November 21st and approved them as presented. The vote passed 6-0.
2.0
Old Business
a. Public Safety Radio System Expansion
Jim reported on a successful meeting with the Selectmen at which they approved the
added expense of installing a T1 landline for communication between he two cell
sites required for the radio system expansion. Jim said the Selectmen suggested he
fund the Verizon installation charge of $1,694 and recurring monthly charge of $395
from the warrant article until the reserve is used up. Jim also reported that Verizon
hopes to have the Lake St. cell site operational in January. Chief Thomson said the
Police would be monitoring cruiser cell reception around Town to see if Verizon
offered better town-wide coverage than Sprint for the cruiser mobile data system.
b. Tree Removal and Pruning with Respect to Storm Preparedness and Response
Ed joined the meeting at this point in time to report on the status of the town-wide
street tree survey funded by a grant from the Town’s insurance company. Ed said the
survey being conducted by Urban Forestry Solutions was 2/3 completed. He said the
purpose of the survey was to identify all hazardous trees with limbs > 3” diameter. He
expects to receive a preliminary report in the next several weeks and present the final
report to the PSC at our next meeting.
Rebecca joined the meeting at this point.
Ed was asked to provide an overview of his approach to removing hazardous and
threatening street trees. He said the hazardous trees are removed upon identification,
but that threatening trees are added to an annual list for removal during the winter
months. Some discussion followed as to whether the more aggressive power line
pruning by Eversource had reduced power outage frequency in Sherborn. The
committee thinks that, even though the Eversource data has not substantiated it, the
residents think sustained power outages are less of a problem. Ed said there has been
no response from letters he sent to residents who have hazard trees on private
property near the street. Chief Thompson suggested that, based on Police experience,
such letters should be sent certified.
c. Equestrian Crossing and Associated Safety Issues
Continued - on hold.
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3.0
4.0
d. Appointment of New Fire Chief
Chairman Fenno reported that the Fire Chief Selection committee had recommended
a final candidate Erron Kinney from Tennessee to the Selectmen who then voted to
appoint him pending completion of a background check and salary negotiation. The
starting date is TBD at present. Chief Dowse reported the at the use of Fire Chiefs
from surrounding towns to do the technical portion of the interview was quite
worthwhile with Chief Kinney excelling in this phase of the interview.
e. Impact of Residential and Commercial Development on Public Safety
Chief Dowse gave an update on the status of development applications for Coolidge
St., 59 N. Main St and the Fitzpatrick Property. Some discussion ensued on the public
safety impact of the development of the Fitzpatrick Property including potential
improvement by using the western entry to the traffic light at the Rte. 16/27
intersection for development egress.
New Business
a. Capital Requests for 2017 Annual Town Meeting
Chairman Fenno solicited the committee to see if anyone had public safety related
potential warrant articles. Chief Dowse reported that the Fire Dept. is requesting
$50K for dry hydrant repair and another $15K for more pagers. Jim enquired as to
whether Traffic Safety was pursing paving the Pine Hill emergency access road. was
Brad responded that Traffic Safety decided not to pursue it because the Sherborn
School Committee has higher capital priorities.
b. 2017 Annual Town report
Chairman Fenno said he would be drafting an annual report for the PSC which was
due before our next meeting in February. Brad encouraged him to circulate it to
committee members via email for comment as other Town committees do.
c. Snow Plowing during recent snowstorm
Chief Thompson expressed his concern that the Sherborn streets were not safe early
on Friday morning 1/6/17. He cited a rollover accident on Lake St. that occurred on a
road that had no yet been plowed. CM&D Director Wagner responded that he had
been monitoring the weather forecast throughout the night, but that the forecast had
had called only for flurries. In contrast the brief but intense accumulating snowfall
began at 6 am at the start of commuter rush hour. He said the normal CM&D day
starts at 7 am and that because of the misleading forecast he had not called the crew
in early on overtime.
There was some further discussion of the adequacy of the plowing at Pilgrim Church
which had two events during the Saturday snowstorm and another Sunday afternoon
in addition to its regular Sunday morning church service. Jim offered to check with
the church’s administrator to see if the church had any issues with the plowing that
was done and suggest that the administrator notify both CM&D and Police of any
major events scheduled for a time other than Sunday morning. Arthur suggested to Ed
that he should request that all similar organizations in Town notify him in advance of
major events.
Committee Members’ Status Reports
a. Brad VanBrunt reported that Traffic Safety is seeking a new member to fill a vacated
committee slot.
b. Ed Wagner reported that his “Complete Streets” grant application which he submitted as
part of the Community Compact program had received initial approval by the State, but that
the Town was still waiting for initial funding.
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c. Chief Thompson reported that the Town Administrator had added a placeholder to the 2017
ATM Warrant for a Speed Limit Safety Zone Program, but that no specific zones had been
defined as of yet
d. Building Inspector Fontaine reported that the Solar Panel array at ADESA is ready to tie in
to the power grid. He also said the Library permitting process has been established.
5.0
Topics Not Reasonably Anticipated by Chair
None
6.0
Schedule Next Meeting & Adjournment
The next PSC meeting date was scheduled for Tuesday February 7th at 4:30 pm in the Police
Station. Chairman Fenno adjourned the meeting at 5:05 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Jim Campbell
Secretary
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