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Select Board reviews draft master fee schedule and operational issues including meters, trash contract and sewer odor
Summary
Staff presented a consolidated draft master fee schedule; Board members asked for top revenue/ frequency items, requested more consistent templates and said they will evaluate notary fees, parking stickers and cemetery fees. Liaisons also raised sewer treatment plant odor complaints and discussed maintenance and replacement schedules for odor‑control media. Meter rollout status and a Republic trash contract were also discussed.
Staff presented a first draft of a consolidated master fee schedule that pulls departmental fees into a single master document and asked the Select Board for guidance on next steps.
Members queried which fees had not been updated (some entries list "last updated October 2016") and asked staff to return with a prioritized analysis that includes: the top 10 revenue‑producing fees over the last five years (by revenue and frequency), proposed changes, and whether fees cover the cost of service or are intended to alter resident behavior. The Board emphasized consistent formatting and legal authority references across departments.
Several specific items were raised during the discussion: notary services (whether to charge a modest fee or limit availability to reduce staff interruptions), resident beach parking stickers (the Board suggested reconsidering distribution rules to prevent multiple stickers per household), police fees (questions about distinctions between firearms identification cards for minors vs adults), and cemetery fees (board members questioned current pricing for single graves, infant burials and opening/closing fees).
On operational matters, liaisons reported ongoing complaints about odor from the sewer treatment plant. DPW staff said routine maintenance items — including gasket changeouts and replacing wood‑chip media used in an odor mitigation bin — are on a 2–3 year cycle and that odor control performance degrades toward the end of that cycle. The Board directed staff to evaluate replacement intervals and budget implications.
Water meter rollout status was updated: roughly 700 meters remain to be installed with about 100 scheduled in the coming month. Staff discussed administrative options to encourage timely installs (for example, surcharges for late installs or higher contractor costs for one‑off returns) and noted current benefits: leak notifications from the new metering system have already helped identify repairs.
On refuse procurement, staff reported receiving a contract proposal from Republic; the Board discussed contract term length, a proposed 5% annual escalation and absence of a sympathy‑strike clause in Republic’s union language. Staff will continue to negotiate terms and evaluate other providers who have expressed interest.
Ending: Staff will return with more detailed fee analyses (top revenue/frequency items), consistent fee templates and recommendations on notary and resident parking policies; DPW will report back on odor‑control maintenance costs and options for meter follow up costs.
