Drivers on Boylston's South Sewall to be held to 30 mph

BOYLSTON – As South Sewall Street continues to see development, drivers will have to slow down a bit, with a maximum speed of 30 mph on the road.

Selectmen voted the lower speed limit at their Feb. 22 meeting after Highway Superintendent Steve Mero sought approval to reduce the speed limit in its entirety, from Route 140 to the Shrewsbury line.

The exception is the school zone, where cars will have to slow to 20 mph.

Mero explained the road qualified as thickly settled under state law given businesses or dwellings less than 200 feet apart for over a quarter mile.

“It’s because of the new development there that it triggered this,” Selectmen Chairman Jamie Underwood said. “We just now triggered that statute that allows us to do this.”

“I’m sure the resident will be happy down there,” Selectman Matt Mecum said of the change.

Police change

Officer Matthew Ryel is now Detective Patrolman Matthew Ryel after selectmen approved upgrading his position.

Police Chief Anthony Sahagian said the position on the second shift would allow for investigations and interviews on the 3-to-11 shift and not limit them to daytime hours.

“The workload is definitely there,” Sahagian said, and the change is more cost efficient than bringing someone in for that work at overtime rates for a four-hour minimum.

“I think it's a win-win,” he said, noting Ryel had returned to the department last year. “He wants the position and wants the added responsibility. He has a good reputation out on the street” and was already doing initial work for the detective.

He stressed it was not a new hire, but an additional duty covered by a stipend.

“I believe it personally is a great idea,” Underwood said. “I’m fine with it; I’m going to defer to the chief. For that stipend it’s not a deal breaker for me.”

“I’m definitely in support of it and the chief and I met for a lengthy meeting to dig into the budget,” Selectman Seth Ridinger said.

Election hold

As towns head into election season, candidates are pulling papers. But in Boylston and Berlin, that process is on hold.

 “I know we’re caught in a bit of a quagmire with what’s going on with the regional school committee,” Underwood said.

Town Administrator April Steward said Town Clerk Dawn Porter had been working with her counterpart in Berlin, Eloise Salls, to open it up so papers can be pulled for the normal election cycle.

“We’re trying to find out if we can open the slots for School Committee at this time even though it’s not approved and pull them if the act is not approved before town meeting, or if we have to hold the School Committee as special election at separate time,” Steward said.

The School Committee seats were supposed to be on the ballot as part of the state election in November and the towns are trying to get legislative approval for a fix to hold the first election to the newly-reorganized combined district seats at the regular town elections.

Steward said the clerks reached out to the state elections division, and now it has been referred to town counsel, with the town awaiting his opinion.

“We don’t want to pay for a special election if we don’t have to,” Underwood said, adding, “It would fall squarely on the School Committee and its budget. And we don’t want to hold up any people interested in the spots by not having things available for them to move forward.”

In other business

• In a move that is “almost a rite of spring,” Underwood said, selectmen approved overspending the snow and ice account in the town budget. Because of the unknowns in winter road clearing, the state allows only that budget to be deficit-spent. It is made up the following fiscal year, once the actual spending totals are known.

•Selectmen discussed the posting of meeting notices and agendas and if they should be required to be posted on the town website.

Currently, the notices are posted on the town clerk’s bulletin board as required under state law. The town meets the state requirement that the notices be available at all times by putting copies in a box outside the entrance to town offices. However, there is no requirement that boards post on the town website.

Mecum said the town had to do better than that to keep people informed.

Selectmen several years ago had voted to make the box at town offices the official second location, with selectmen saying people would go to town offices to get that information and citing concerns of having to delay meetings if the website was down.

When the Open Meeting Law and regulations were revised several years ago, a provisions was added that if a website, and access to the postings, is down for longer than six hours, meetings posted at that time would have to be rescheduled.

Most towns use their website as the official second posting.

Underwood said one option would be to keep the box, but also require postings be added to the website.

“It’s 2021; we should be getting more accessible,” Mecum said.

The board is seeking advice from town counsel before making any changes.