All Board Report
December-January 2018-19
The Select Board completed a busy two months by reviewing the FY2020-24 Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) created by the Town Administrator with assistance from the Edward J. Collins Center at UMass Boston. The capital plan not only includes recommendations for the FY20 budget, but also for five years into the future, informing long-term decisions about how to spend the town's limited resources. The Board also approved policies for their revitalized Capital Improvement Planning Committee that will inherit the capital plan and update it annually as part of the budget process.
The Board signed two important agreements during this period to include a tax agreement with Borrego Solar to provide much needed revenue to the town for their solar project on 147 Williamsville Road. Additionally, the Board worked with members of the First Parish Unitarian Church of Hubbardston to sign a grant agreement partially funding the restoration of their historic roof. This Community Preservation Act project was approved at the 2018 Annual Town Meeting and helps the town protect one of its most historical buildings and the town clock.
Financial management continued to be a board focus, reviewing and approving several financial management policies, setting goals for the FY20 budget process and received a quarterly report from the Town Administrator on the state of the town's finances in FY19.
The Board of Selectmen also asked for a presentation from the DPW Director on the state of the town's winter operations and budget. Although the winter has not produced much snow, many freezing events continue to engage the department. The Board asked the Director to continue to provide updates as the winter comes to a close.
To see videos of Select Board meetings, follow this link.
December was a fun month with two large events drawing crowds to Hubbardston - Brunch with Santa and the 2nd Annual Hubbardston Light Fight!
Brunch with Santa had a large turnout at the Hubbardston Center School with lots of happy little children getting their pictures taken with Santa.
The 2nd Annual Hubbardston Light Fight was a huge success! Some great displays of holiday lights drew attention from local media outlets and regional residents in addition to an intense competition here in Hubbardston!
The first place winner was 1 Worcester Road, second place went to 80 Twin Hill rd and the Hubbardston Fire Station received 3rd place. Congrats to all who participated!
January brings on Frozen Assets! The outhouse is on the pond at The Country Hen located at 5 Williamsville Road. Keep an eye out for when it sinks through the ice!
This has been a busy couple of months for the Council on Aging.
Our holidays season was bright with many festive decorations at the Center in addition to a very successful caroling program to kick off the Town Common Tree Lighting Ceremony.
Despite holding many events and programs, we are continuing to update our Senior Center Kitchen and rearrange items to make the space more user-friendly for our Seniors.
This winter we held a program on Dementia to inform our residents and discussed purchasing three laptops to hold classes at the Center.
Even though it is far away, we are already beginning to plan the Foxwoods trip in October. We would love to have many many participants this year!
As a reminder, our Director will be leaving in February and returning April 1st, Residents who need to speak with the Director can still continue to do so by contacting our office.
Regularly scheduled monthly events included providing eggs and produce, cards, bingo, walking club, Meals on Wheels meals, singing and bowling!
To see our monthly newsletter, please click here.
December and January saw both unseasonal cold and warm weather, providing challenges for trail maintenance as well as the opportunity to get out and enjoy our open spaces.
Committee members continued working with the North Quabbin Trail Association to develop a trail at Malone Road Conservation area that is accessible for use by physically challenged individuals using the Freedom Chair, an all-terrain manually operated wheelchair developed by MIT students and their non-profit organization GRIT. This chair has been approved by the Veteran’s Administration for use by disabled veterans who will be provided chairs for their personal use.
We are investigating various trail improvement options to mitigate issues from low-lying areas that result in flooding and muddy conditions for the Malone Road Freedom Chair accessible trail as well as other trails in Hubbardston.
Work continues on updating our Open Space Plan that, once approved by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR), will allow us to apply for grants to fund needed projects for Hubbardston’s open spaces.
The five-year contract for the haying of the Mt. Jefferson and Malone Road Conservation area hay fields expired at the end of 2018 so the committee is working with Town Administrator, Ryan McLane, to update the text of the contract in preparation for soliciting bids for the next contract period.
The Committee is exploring the potential for creating the Conservation Restriction (CR) for the Malone Road Conservation area that was part of the requirements for its purchase. The CR would provide for protection and requirements for maintenance of the property as open space in the future.
Despite the vagaries of the weather this year, as sure as we live in New England, more snow will be coming for all cross-country skiers, snow-shoers, snow-mobilers, and yes – even hikers, to enjoy the unique beauty of winter. Hope to see you all out there!
The Board of Health has currently received 13 permit applications for 2019. Anyone can go to the BOH section of the town website to obtain forms needed for everything from kitchen food licenses to septic permits. The cost of permits was raised $5.00 per permit for 2019. The fees had not been increased for 5 years. We also now have an outdoor boiler policy for anyone (on the website) who is considering installing one (which follows the state regulations).
The Commission is working on updating our goals. We plan on continuing Farm Day at the Center School, and participating in the fall Field Day for educating our community about Hubbardston’s farms. The 6th annual winter farmer –to-farmer social was held Jan. 26th. Everyone brought great homemade dishes for the potluck event. This year it was combined with a winter party of the Hubbardston Historical Society. This event is open to everyone in town that is a hobby farmer, gardener, or commercial farmer. The Ag. Comm. plans to continue this activity so that folks can share ideas and improve our networking as a farming community.
The Finance Committee will meet in February to continue to review town financial management policies in addition to receiving the first draft of the FY20 for a detailed review.
Additionally, the Finance Committee is tackling several long-term projects to include a method for bench marking budget decisions to comparable committees, revitalizing the town's Capital Improvement Planning Committee (CIPC) and receiving quarterly reports from the Town Administrator to oversee town financial management.
The Hubbardston Cultural Council had a follow up meeting on January 17th and we examined and reviewed 24 grant applications for FY19 Cultural events and activities. We had a good variety including individuals and groups offering a diverse amount of services from concerts, pastel paintings, pottery class, a wizard's workshop and even a caterpillar lab.
With a budget amounting to around $4,800 we did our best and approved 12 grants. On Jan 23rd, 2019, we followed the procedure prescribed by the Massachusetts Cultural Council and sent the denial letters to 12 of the applicants. We must allow them a period of time to appeal but we will be sending our approval letters to the successful applicants.
We shall post these on our Hubbardston Cultural Council Facebook page in mid February.
About Us
Email: admin@hubbardstonma.us
Website: www.hubbardstonma.us
Location: 7 Main Street, Hubbardston, MA, USA
Phone: 978-928-1400
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TownofHubbardston/
Twitter: @hubbardstonma