The Board of Finance, meeting Wednesday, April 1, placed $90,000 in the Legal Fees line item and placed the other $90,000 in a contingency fund.

Money in the contingency fund would be available for legal fees if needed, but the Board of Finance would have all the details and control over the amount.

First Selectman Thomas Gormley said legal costs were $200,000 for the fiscal year 2007-08 and $195,000 for the fiscal year 2006-07.

He wanted selectmen to ask the Board of Finance to reinstate the original figure of $180,000 in the Legal Fees line item, so as not to misrepresent what the actual figures are likely to be.

He said the town has to deal with ongoing lawsuits and "nuisance suits."

A review of the Town Hall's telephone system/communication system is underway by Selectman Elaine Strobel and resident Tom Sweda and also by Chief Financial Officer Lawrence Hutvagner.

Mr. Sweda, who works for Biblomation, is working with Ms. Strobel as a volunteer consultant.

Ms. Strobel submitted a break-down of the town's telephone costs and upgrades for the town's voice and data system highlighting the benefits of a private DSL and VoIP (Voice over IP).

VoIP is a terminology used for a family of transmission technologies for delivery of voice communications over IP networks.

Mr. Hutvagner said he has been working with AT&T to upgrade the telephones. Mr. Hutvagner said he had no knowledge about Mr. Sweda's role and was looking at land lines of the Town Hall's telephone system.

Mr. Gormley, who said the current telephone system at Town Hall was archaic, thanked Mr. Sweda and his team for their efforts. He said it was important to study and look at other competitive systems to ensure what is best for the town.

Mr. Sweda responded that his project was less of a system and more of an architecture with a strong probability of vendors who could fulfill the overall requirement. However, he said the overall architecture needs to be approved first.

Ms. Strobel said it was important to understand what kind of architecture would be appropriate since the Board of Finance would then be able to put aside the money involved for such a system.

Mr. Gormley said selectmen needed concrete numbers, a total amount, to present to the Board of Finance.

He suggested forming a committee to research the matter.

Ms. Strobel suggested Mr. Sweda lead such a committee since he is familiar with the architecture.

"We're not going to go back to the old way of doing things. I'd like to move forward," she said.

Mr. Gormley asked Mr. Sweda to work with Mr. Hutvagner in finding a concrete number and architecture for the Town Hall's telephone lines.

Ms. Strobel asked about revenue the town earns from two cell towers which are used for communication purposes. One cell tower is located at the fire and police department, and another at public works.

The Board of Selectmen also approved a contract with Omnipoint Communications, Inc., as per the standard license agreement, for the town's communications towers; one is located at the fire and police department and the other at the public works department.

Ms. Strobel asked about the revenue the town earns from the towers.

Mr. Gormley said he wanted to put the revenue, which is about $300,000, into the general fund.

Ms. Strobel said the agreement, approved at a Town Meeting in 1999, stipulated that the revenue can only be used for maintenance of the buildings that house the towers.

Selectmen unanimously approved the license agreement and revenue from the leasing of both towers going towards maintenance of the respective buildings.

Resident Ned Love told selectmen he wanted to see the public library open on Saturdays and offered a solution which he said would not cost the town any additional expenditure.

His suggestion was to keep the library open from Tuesday to Saturday; the library would be closed every Sunday and Monday.

Mr. Gormley said he would look into the matter and would have an answer in a couple of weeks.

John Cookson, co-chairman of the Economic and Development Commission, was concerned about the appearance of the town along Route 64 near a Shell gas station where an abandoned dairy and pizza restaurant used to be.

Mr. Cookson asked if a blight law could be established for the town.

A blight law is a legal process to demolish and possibly charge the landlord for abandoned and broken buildings.

Selectman Robert Desmarais said the Beautification Commission is also discussing the issue. He said it is probably a planning and zoning issue and that perhaps something can be done through an ordinance.

Mr. Gormley said he would speak with town counsel regarding the matter.

Fire Marshal Jack Proulx, the chairman of the Water Commission, asked if the town could be classified again for insurance purposes to help save taxpayers money.

Mr. Proulx later told Voices, he was following up on a request the Board of Selectmen made to the Internal Service Organization two years ago for a review of the town.

"The organization sets the ratings for the insurance company," Mr. Proulx said, "and that impacts people's properties and insurance. We developed a Class A water system in town and tried to take advantage of that. Where does that stand?"

Mr. Gormley said Selectman Desmarais is coordinating with the Fire Department and will work with Chief Perrotti to complete process.

The board signed a state and federal requirement, Fair Housing Resolutions, which gives the town eligibility to apply for a grant and unanimously approved the Natural Hazard Pre-Disaster Mitigation Plan resolution.

The next Board of Selectmen meeting is at 6 p.m. Monday, April 20, at Town Hall.