PRINCETON — Voters will not be asked to act on a proposed new Public Safety Building at a special town meeting in November.
At its Oct. 5 meeting, the Select Board said a proposed meeting on Nov. 15 was not yet penciled in to the calendar, but would be if it was determined that there were other matters that needed approval to “raise and appropriate” through taxes.
Generally speaking, November special town meetings are held for housekeeping reasons, such as taking expenditures from free cash that has been certified by the state.
The Select Board had debated in the past whether to ask for voter approval for building design and construction plans for a new Public Safety Building and to possibly include construction funding at a special town meeting.
Select Board members concluded that they should meet with the Public Safety Building Committee to better prepare presentations on the project, including which board will take ownership and drive the project to completion.
The board is scheduled to meet Wednesday, Oct. 26, to determine if a special town meeting is warranted to handle other matters. In order to hold the special town meeting on Nov. 15, it would need to be posted by Nov. 1 to meet legal requirements.
In other business at the Oct. 5 meeting, the board planned to appoint five volunteers from town to the Police Chief Selection Committee, to participate in the screening and interview process for the replacement for Chief Michele Powers, who has retired.
The committee will work with recruiting firm Municipal Resources Inc. and will name up to three qualified candidates to be finalists for the position. The finalists will be interviewed by the Select Board.
The selection process will include public interviews for semifinalists, as well as interviews with the assessment center to measure their skills, knowledge and abilities. Semifinalists will be evaluated based on interviews and the assessment, and finalists will be recommended to the Select Board.
The interview and assessment process is scheduled to be completed by Dec. 1.
The Select Board also agreed to require a bachelor’s degree as part of the position’s requirements, although they agreed that could be waived for an internal candidate.
Select Board chair Karen Cruise said she had received feedback from residents on the town’s sign policy concerning “wayfaring” signs, or signs that point the direction to local attractions, being located on town property.
Some residents argued that most people know how to get to various farms and markets, or can easily find them through mobile driving apps.
Highway Superintendent Ben Metcalf said that line of sight and roadside mowing need to be taken into consideration when placing signs.
The board decided that they will allow the signs on a seasonal basis and by request from the sign owner. Temporary signage will be allowed for seasonal agricultural products, they said.
Jane Weisman, Princeton Library Trustee chair, asked the board for $10,000 from the clock tower repair fund for a tune-up and other repairs. The account currently contains about $57,000.
The trustees are also looking at reclaiming $2,000 for an engineering mistake that the town ended up covering, Weisman said.
Weisman said the trustees were of the opinion that the town should not have to pay for the error.
Town Administrator Sherry Patch said she would follow up with the company responsible for the mistake.
