Bolton looking at a third School Committee seat

BOLTON – Selectmen were focused on schools last week, including a move that would give the town a 50-percent boost in representation on the Nashoba Regional School Committee.

With Bolton’s population growth, the town’s numbers may now be close enough to the other two communities – Lancaster and Stow – that there is too little difference to justify the representation – three members each for Lancaster and Stow, but only two for Bolton.

Town Administrator Don Lowe told selectmen that he, Town Accountant Ninotchka Rogers and Town Clerk Pam Powell had looked at the figures and realized the district agreement states the population should be determined every five years with a general census to see if the numbers are within a 10 percent to 16 percent deviation.

The concept is to ensure proper representation under the state’s One Person-One Vote court ruling.

The district agreement was last amended in 2003, Lowe said.

“I would think it would be appropriate to do as soon as possible,” he said.

With the most recent population numbers, Bolton is at 5,518, Lancaster at 6,868 and Stow at 6,853, which Lowe said increased Bolton’s percentage from 25 percent in 2003 to 29 percent; the other towns dropped from about 38 percent to around 36 percent, for a difference of 7.02 percent, dropping from the 12.5 percent difference in 2003, so that it now falls below the standard deviation referenced in the agreement.

Selectmen voted to ask Lowe to request the Nashoba Regional School Committee place the issue on its next agenda to begin the discussion.

The School Committee could confirm Bolton is eligible for a third seat; it would increase the total committee to nine members instead of eight.

“It’s in Bolton’s interest to try to pursue this,” Lowe said.

If the population numbers are confirmed, each town would have to vote a change at the spring annual town meeting to approve the third seat for Bolton

“The calculation should take all of five minutes,” Selectman Chairman Stan Wysocki said.

The membership was last changed when the 13-member committee was reduced in size to eight members.

Lowe reported that, at the Tri-Town meeting last week, the schools were the topic. The meeting brings together officials from Bolton, Lancaster and Stow to discuss issues.

“We delivered the message that based on finances, we need a 3 percent (maximum increase) assessment for Bolton. The message was delivered; Lancaster delivered the same message quite clearly,” he said.

He added that the district representatives acknowledged they had heard the towns’ message.

Lowe said the towns wanted to set expectations as early as possible.

Selectman Robert Czekanski noted the school budget, which is a major part of the town spending, was to be discussed at a district presentation on Jan. 25.

He encouraged people to attend or watch it, then contact their School Committee representatives with input.

“We’re in budget season now,” Czekanski said. “Looking over the budget for the past couple years, the entire town budget increased $2.26 million.” Of that increase over three years, the municipal budget increased by $151,000.

“The remaining $2.1 million has all gone to the Nashoba Regional School District,” he said. “It’s not the town budget but the school budget driving high taxes.”  He clarified he had backed out of his calculations the increases attributable to the vocational school students attend.

“Minuteman is flat,” Lowe said of that school’s impact on the budget, adding that Minuteman superintendent believes costs there will trend downward, including debt for the new school building.

“That’s the kind of math we need,” Czekanski said.

Updating the board on the Main Street and Wattaquadock Hill Road intersection project, Lowe said he had explored the concept of a truck exclusion on Wattaquadock.

He said he met with the administrator in Berlin and DPW in Clinton seeking a letter in support of the plan that the state would want to see from those towns.

It is on an upcoming agenda for the Berlin selectmen, he said, and the Clinton Traffic Committee will discuss it. “The initial feedback has been pretty positive. They’re going to evaluate it. I’m hopeful.”

In other business

• Selectmen appointed Jonathan Paiva as a patrolman on the Bolton Police Department.

• Angie Tollesson was appointed to the Agricultural Commission; Lowe, Scott Powell, Rebecca Longvall, Brooke Clenchy, Joe Lynch, Warren Nelson and Ali Webb were appointed to the Mosquito Response Committee

• Sharon Shepela and Lynn Dischler were appointed to the Community Choice Aggregation Subcommittee.

• The board appointed Alan Santos and Omid Gharony to the Economic Development Committee and also reduced the size of the committee from 11 members to nine members at the committee’s request.