Selectmen Discuss Town's Website, MWRTA Contract

The held a 35-minute meeting at Monday night.

Among other things, the board discussed desired upgrades to the town's website. Selectmen have established a Website Development Committee, which has three members with a fourth person possibly coming aboard soon. Selectman Chairman Jay Marsden said the board would like to have five members on the committee before any specific adjustments to the website are made.

At some point, the town will post a community satisfaction survey, which will solicit opinions from residents about the town's operations and what improvements can be made.

Meanwhile, Town Administrator Paul LeBeau spoke about the cost of repairs to the Town Hall's damaged chimneys. According to LeBeau, a local mason estimated the cost of repairing and reinforcing  the chimneys at $20,000-25,000.

Tearing down and rebuilding the chimneys, LeBeau said, would cost considerably more than simply repairing them. In addition, a complete overhaul may encroach on the state's historical preservation guidelines.

LeBeau mentioned the possibility that the repairs could be included in the exterior work that will soon start on the Town Hall. , approving $695,000 in Community Preservation Act money.

The Town Hall Renovation Committee is meeting with a historical preservation architect - one of the conditions of the deal approved in May - at its meeting Wednesday.

LeBeau then talked about another expense the town may have to incur. Tree Warden Mark Ahronian and Highway Superintendent Tom Smith have found several trees along Winter Street and High Street that posed a safety risk and need to be cut down. The estimated cost of the work is $20,000-25,000, the funding for which would likely be requested at October Town Meeting, according to LeBeau.

In other business:

• The board agreed to a one-year extension of the current contract with the MetroWest Regional Transit Authority. In addition to providing bus transportation from Holliston to Framingham and other towns, the MWRTA works extensively with the , recently donating .
• Selectmen honored the 's request to have a "No Parking" zone on the eastbound side of Washington Street near Linden Street. HPD asked for the ban because traffic becomes congested when cars park on either side of Washington Street during events at the .
• Marsden announced that the state recently approved Holliston's proposal of a four-town .
  
  In addition to Holliston, the district will include Ashland, Hopkinton and Medway, allowing the four towns to share the cost of a veterans service agent instead each town hiring its own.
  
  The new agent will work primarily out of Ashland Town Hall but would move between towns when necessary.
  
  Selectmen have said that if the proposal is accepted but proves too great a task for one agent, the towns would revisit the arrangement to meet the demands.
• John Love was appointed to a three-year term on the Zoning Board of Appeals, while Scott Stanwood was selected for a one-year stint.
• Meanwhile, Lixy Carey and Mike O'Brien each were picked for three-year seats on the Open Space Committee and James Mitro will take on a one-year term on the .
• Selectman Jay Leary complimented the , which held . Johnson is the .
• Alfred Kampersal, who died on Aug. 11 at age 89.
• "Camel" graduated from Holliston High School in 1940 before serving in World War II as a member of the U.S. Army veteran. He was also a member of the Holliston Fire Department for 41 years in addition to owning and operating Nystrom Engineering Company in Dedham with his brothers Richard and George until he retired in 2004.