Selectmen decide appointments at meeting

By Levon Kinney, Correspondent

WILBRAHAM Town committees received two new appointments while many members were reinstated for another term by the Board of Selectmen at the June 18 meeting. Three residents were interviewed by the selectmen.

Retired Wilbraham Fire Fighter Donald Bourcier was the first of several candidates the town will interview for the Fire Commission, which oversees the department.

"I have always had an active interest in the fire department," Bourcier explained. "I still have that interest and would like to play a role in how the department runs."

Selectman Chairman James Thompson thanked Bourcier for volunteering.

"I think folks who put on a badge, whether fire or police, have a remarkable perspective," Thompson said. "They certainly go above and beyond their call of duty wherever they go."

Raymond Burk came to the selectmen to volunteer for the Open Space Committee. Burk and his wife have lived in town since 1971 after living in New York City where he says open space is extremely hard to find. Since then they have slowly bought 38 acres on Wilbraham Mountain to save as open space.

Selectman David Barry asked Burk what he thought the committee could work for since many of the large parcels of land in town have already been claimed for open space or development.

"There are still many small patches of land throughout the town that are in jeopardy," Burk replied. "The committee can define these small 10-12 acre parcels and save them from development. I know we cannot stop development but there definitely has to be a healthy balance between the two."

Burk was then appointed to the Open Space Commission with his term ending in May 2010.

The next candidate to be interviewed by the selectmen was Patricia Gardner for the Historical Commission. An administrator at Kiley Middle School, Gardner has been an English Teacher for 20 years.

"About 10 years ago I decided to finish up my graduate work," she said. "I got a job with the Springfield School System and moved to Springfield from South Carolina. When I first was in school I spent some time up here, so I decided to stay in the area and moved to Wilbraham two years ago."

Gardner added that her father taught history and that, "It is important to all of us to remember the history of our land."

When it came time later in the meeting to reappoint several members of different committees the Board of Selectmen slightly changed the procedure by reappointing all members whose term ended in May of 2007.

Victor Varga, Dan Miles, and Mark Ducey of the Finance Committee will each have terms ending May 2010.

Robert Quintin of the Capital Planning Committee will serve a term ending May 2010.

Linda K. Fuller, Roy Scott, Richard Scott, Carolyn H. Zawacky, Daniel F. Cochran, and Thomas G. Magill, each will serve terms on the Cable T.V. Advisory Committee ending May 2010.

Rodney Fountain will serve as one of three Registrars in a term ending May 2010.

Leon Carpenter, Barbara Cooper, Kevin Dorsey, Gregory Chaconas, and Roy Scott will all serve on the Solid Waste Advisory Committee with terms ending May 2008.

Mark Ducey, Thomas Moran, Mary Baker, and Pawel Widor will serve on the Technology Committee again. When it came to placing the members in a term period the selectmen decided not to give a date.

"When the committee is finished with the Web site for the town and other projects they have taken on we can dismiss them then," Thompson said.

Thompson reappointed himself as representative to the Traffic Safety Committee since neither Barry nor Patrick Brady would volunteer themselves for the position.

Lance Trevallion, Tonya Basch, John Sternala, Caroline Cunningham, John Pearsall, Wendy Foxmyn, Dena Grochmal, Frank Shea, and Ronald Lavoie will all be serving terms on the Storm Water Permit Committee ending May 2008.

Sandra Belcastro, Edward Chapman, Linda Fuller, Kurt Moore, Thomas Nestor, Mary Ripley, Richard Scott, Mark Gregoire, and William Fogarty will all serve terms ending May 2008 on the Public Access TV Committee.