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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSELECTMENminutes08062008-20080827124931 Town of Mansfield Board of Selectmen Minutes of August 6, 2008 Present: Chairman Sandra Levine, Vice Chairman Ann Baldwin, Clerk Kevin Moran, Selectman George Dentino, Selectman Jess Aptowitz, John D'Agostino, Town Manager The Board of Selectmen's meeting was called to order at 7:00pm followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. Motion: To convene to Executive Session to discuss pending litigation. (Baldwin/Moran) 5:0 passes. Roll call vote to go into Executive Session: Chairman Levine aye, Vice Chairman Baldwin aye, Clerk Moran aye, Selectman Aptowitz aye, Selectman Dentino aye. Selectman Aptowitz left at 7:45pm District Manager Mr. Lloyd and proposed restaurant manager Suzette Landry present. Selectman Dentino asked how long Ms. Landry has been a manager and about her training. She has been a manager for 20 years and a manager with Bertucci's for 2 years. The Chief of Police had no problem with the change and the routing slip for taxes will be verified before processing. The rest of the board did not have any further questions not covered by Selectman Dentino. Motion: To approve Ms. Landry as the manager of Bertucci's at 280 School St. (Baldwin/Moran) 4:0 passes Mark Cook, Highway Division Manager and Lee Azinheira, DPW Director present for discussion. The number of roads in town have virtually doubled since 1985 and the number of Highway Division employees has decreased so the DPW has not been able to keep up with the work required to service all the roads and the upkeep of infrastructure has suffered. The number of catch basin failures has dramatically increased in the past few years. Employees have been taken off road work to address needs at municipal areas such as the parks. Two part time laborers have been hired for the season to assist with the seasonally heavy work load but it does not address the underlying problem of understaffing. Board of Selectmen Minutes of August 6, 2008 Paving work is also subbed out to support work with structural and cut basin repairs however DPW employees must still be at the work sites to inspect the work and assist with any problems that may arise. Selectman Dentino would like to see Mansfield Ave near the train station re-configured but Mark and Lee stated that it has been looked at as part of the downtown work and would have to go before the Planning Board before anything could be done. They also do not have the funding for this work at this time either. A list of road work has already been prepared for FY09 and perhaps this can be addressed during FYlO. Major work has been going on with Ware and Essex Sts. this summer and should be complete in the next few weeks. The dept. is focusing on getting major projects done this year before asphalt prices go up again and unfortunately the smaller projects around town have suffered. Selectman Dentino would like to outsource tasks such as line painting, brush cutting, etc And Mark stated that he has looked into this and it is usually not cost effective. Also, in order to outsource tasks the dept. still needs the money in order to pay the contractors. The board realizes that crumbling infrastructure is a problem all over the area and while they would like to see more done they realize that funds are limited and that the dept. is doing the best they can. Chairman Levine has been asking for bike crossing painting to be redone on park, East and Branch Sts. They are barely visible and people often do not look at the signs but paintings on the roads are more visible. They will be addressed as soon as possible. · The classification data requested by Selectman Dentino is currently being processed and will be available to the board as soon as it's complete. · I will be attending the NEPPA Conference along with Gary Babin, Light Dept. Director. Mr. Babin is being installed as the President of NEPPA, which is an honor for the Light dept. and the town. I will be attending as the Light Plant Manager. · On Friday, August 8th at 9:30am we will have a 5 year forecast meeting with staff and the FinComm in the bos rear conference room. · On Friday, August 15th at 11:30am there will be a COA barbeque in their conference room. Board of Selectmen Minutes of August 6,2008 2 . On September 9th, I have been invited to participate in a panel discussion about implementing changes in health care plans/coverage for municipalities. . On September 11th at lO:OOam I will be hosting my coffee hour with the seniors at the COA. · As of today, we have received 4 resumes for the Town Accountant's position. The deadline is August 12th and we will see what we get for resume's and decide how to go forward from there. . Lengthy discussion of 14 page opinion letter from School Dept. Attorney Wahl relative to the modular classroom contract. · We have been getting some positive feedback on the recycling program. . The town has maintained it's A-1 bond rating with a negative future outlook. We will be reviewed again in approximately 18 months. The reason for the negative outlook is the use of stabilization funds for the budget. We cannot do that going forward and the lost revenue will have to made up in FYlO or additional cuts will be needed. The revenue forecast for FYlO is bleak and cities and towns are at least a year and a half from realizing additional revenue from a rebounding economy. . The issue of the CVS shrubbery has been resolved with the ones in question removed. . Warrant No. 05 in the amount of $1,617,676.69 Motion: To approve warrant No. 05 in the amount,of $1,617,676.69 (Baldwin/Moran) 3:0:1 passes (Dentino abstains) · Warrant No. 06 in the amount of $4,719,355.78 Motion: To approve warrant No. 06 in the amount of $4,719,355.78 (Baldwin/Moran) 3:0:1 passes (Dentino abstains) · Minutes of May 7, 2008 Motion: To approve minute of May 7,2008 (Baldwin/Dentino) 3:0:1 passes · Minutes of July 9, 2008 Motion: To approve minute of July 9, 2008 (Moran/Dentino) 4:0 passes · Minutes of July 23, 2008 Motion: To approve minute of July 23, 2008 (Moran/Baldwin) 4:0 passes Board of Selectmen Minutes of August 6, 2008 3 · Request for one day beer and wine license from Tri County Beagle Club. Routing slips have come back positive. Motion: To approve license. (Baldwin/Dentino) 4:0 passes · Block party request from Bella Vista Ave residents for street closure on September 6th from 3pm to 8pm. Routing slips have come back positive. Motion: To approve request with proper signage. (Baldwin/Moran) 4:0 passes · Sign warrant for state primary on September 16, 2008 Motion: To approve warrant. (Baldwin/Moran) 4:0 passes · Accept and award bond bids from bond counsel. Sale of the $9,072,165 General Obligation Municipal Purpose Loan of 2008 for the price of $9,090,704.06. Motion: Voted: that the sale of the $9,072,165 General Obligation Municipal Purpose Loan of 2008 Bonds of the Town dated August 15, 2008 (the "Bonds"), to Fidelity Capital Markets Services at the price of $9,090,704.06 and accrued interest is hereby approved and confirmed. The Bonds shall be payable on August 15 of the years and in the principal amounts and bear interest at the respective rates, as follows: Further Voted: that in connection with the marketing and sale of the Bonds, the preparation and distribution of a Notice of Sale and Preliminary Official Statement dated July 22, 2008, and a final Official Statement dated August 5, 2008, (the "Official Statement"), each in such form as may be approved by the Town Treasurer, be and hereby are ratified, confirmed, approved and adopted. Further Voted: that the Bonds shall be subject to redemption, at the option of the Town, upon such terms and conditions as are set forth in the Official Statement. Further Voted: that the Town Treasurer and the Board of Selectmen be, and hereby are, authorized to execute and deliver a continuing disclosure undertakings in compliance with SEC Rule 15c2-12 in such forms as may be approved by bond counsel to the Town, which undertakings shall be incorporated by reference in the Bonds for the benefit of the holders of the Bonds from time to time. Further Voted: that each member of the Board of Selectmen, the Town Clerk and the Town Treasurer be and hereby are, authorized to take any and Board of Selectmen Minutes of August 6, 2008 4 all such actions, and execute and deliver such certificates, receipts or other documents as may be determined by them, or any of them, to be necessary or convenient to carry into effect the provisions of the foregoing votes. (Moran/Baldwin) 4:0 passes . Follow up from last week. Shaun Burke and Bea Kearney have confirmed that there are funds available for the Downtown business Association to use on flags. Shaun has also confirmed that this is an appropriate use of the money that was given as part of the special permit community benefits package. Motion: To expend funds for DBA flags from the vendor of their choice. (Baldwin/Moran) 4:0 passes . Letter from resident Mark Rushton regarding the East Street Common. He is requesting that items be cleared away from the WWII Veterans memorial. John Hogan has been consulted and would like to see this request forwarded to the DPW for assistance. Mr. D'Agostino will follow up with DPW. . Memo from Steve Simonds, Parking Enforcement Officer. Requesting parking restriction signs at the entrance to Memorial Park for no parking 6 AM to 8AM, Monday thru Friday. Chief O'Neill supports this request. Mr. D'Agostino will discuss this issue with Chief O'Neill and school personnel. . Old business from Chairman Levine: Would like to reschedule Great Woods Car Service discussion for future meeting. . Old business from Selectman Dentino: Has lingering questions and comments about employee salary and benefit packages. They increase every year and Mr. D'Agostino being the only negotiator has not done well with the unions (as they have more than one negotiator). Selectman Dentino states that bargaining only works one way. You tell the unions that there is X amount of money available and they need to make choices on how to use it. Board of Selectmen Minutes of August 6,2008 5 Mr. D'Agostino concurred with Selectman Dentino that salary and benefits do make up a large percentage of the budget. However, town operations and its municipal budget are of a service organization and with that it is inherent that employee salaries/benefits will always be a sizeable amount of the budget. Mr. D'Agostino further stated that by charter he has the duty of contract negotiations. He has been responsible for extensive cost cutting and savings from Blue Cross on employee health insurance costs. He has even been asked to speak at a conference regarding how Mansfield (as part of a regional health group plan) has been able to contain costs. Unfortunately for the town unions have a strong hold in this state and they always have a choice to arbitrate a contract provision if they don't like it. If the arbitrator decides for the union, and they often do, the town has to accept it. Selectman Dentino also believes that the merit raises, grade and step raises outside of the contracts are an even bigger issue. Mr. D'Agostino then stated that contrary to popular belief that only 6 or 7 employees out of 225 (that he is responsible in bargaining units) have received these raises. These particular employees have performed additional complex duties or received certain certifications in order to receive this compensation. Chairman Levine stated that it is 1O:30pm and if Selectman Dentino would like to continue he will need to make a motion to extend the meeting. Motion: To extend to llpm. (Dentino/Baldwin) 5:0 passes Selectman Dentino would like to discuss the memo from the Town Manager regarding an increase in mileage reimbursement. Mr. D'Agostino stated that the Town is in keeping with the IRS rate and the board has agreed to this in the past. Selectman Dentino would also like to revisit bringing up the issue of an employee going to the post office and getting the mail for town hall and the COA/library. He spoke with the post office and they stated that they would be happy to delivery the mail however it would not be first thing in the morning. Mr. D'Agostino stated that the DPW is in charge of the postage machine and mail delivery/pickup and he will discuss delivery options with Mr. Azinheira. Additional questions from Selectman Dentino about a memo from the Town Manager explaining fuel charges within the fiscal year. He believes that the figures are misleading. Mr. D'Agostino explained why he might think there would be discrepancies in the memo. Board of Selectmen Minutes of August 6,2008 6 . Old business for Selectman Moran: Winter St. repairs that Selectman Dentino brought up will be done by September. . Old business from Selectman Aptowitz: He would like to know if the DPW can address any of the carpet issues we are having here in townhall. Due to the age and condition of the carpet the humidity has caused waves and ripples that people could easily trip on. He is also interested in knowing if a preliminary 2010 budget will be presented at the FinComm workshop. Mr. Gazzolo stated that it will. . New business from Selectman Baldwin: Quarterly report due from Comstar. Please contact the Chief for an update. . New business from Selectman Aptowitz: Mansfield girls u14 won their championship this evening. (Came back at 1O:45pm) He took a trip to Taunton with Gary and Ann from the light dept. to see the electrical sub station. It is not in a residential area like Bird St but it was interesting to see. He would like to see a preliminary FYlO outlook. Chairman Levine stated that they will be reviewing that soon at a workshop with the FinComm. . New business from Selectman Dentino: He would like to revisit a motion that he made last meeting. Chairman Levine asked his why he waited until 10: 57pm to bring this up? Selectman Dentino responded that he forgot earlier. Motion: Hire independent legal counsel to investigate and advise us; and form opinions of our rights & options in regards to Mr. D'Agostino's contract renewal/non renewal. Indemnification of Mr. D'Agostino in regards to the Stoyle suit. A determination of whether Mr. D'Agostino violated anyone's civil rights. Research Mr. D'Agostino's contract to determine if we have legal grounds to terminate, determine if there is any vulnerability to the town from a counter suit from Mr. D'Agostino if the contract is not renewed or a settlement of the Stoyle case is agreed to by the Board of Selectmen. Especially in regards to any breach of contract. This list is not all inclusive and items may be added at any time by a majority vote of the board. (Dentino/Baldwin for discussion) 0:2:0 fails (Dentino, Baldwin, Aptowitz did not vote; Levine/Moran nay) Discussion: Selectman Baldwin stated that this motion is quite a bit different from the last one he made. Chairman Levine again asked Selectman Dentino why he chose to bring this up at llpm. It's inappropriate to be discussing such a topic at this hour. If he wanted to review the town managers contract like he stated in the last Board of Selectmen Minutes of August 6, 2008 7 motion that's fine but a review that involves possible termination discussion needs to be brought up in advance so Mr. D'Agostino can be notified of such and have legal counsel available. In addition such a task will be very expensive for the town and Selectman Dentino just got done talking about how we need to do everything in our power to save the town money. . New business from Selectman Moran: Pan mass challenge recently went through town and one of the riders hit a large pot hole. He lost his water bottle but retrieved it and was not hurt. . New business from Chairman Levine: She was just reviewing the Bristol County Retirement budget before the meeting and noted it was rather large. Is there anyway to control this or do we just have to pay it? The budget and the reasons for monetary changes from year to year will be discussed at a Bristol County budget meeting within the next couple of weeks. . 5 year forecast meeting with FinComm will be Friday at 9am. FinComm Chairman Gazzolo spoke briefly about the upcoming September budget workshop that they will be hosting with the board and the school committee as well. Motion: To adjourn at 11:02 PM (Moran) 5-0 Passes I:erm ~-t-~ Signature of Clerk au,~ 2tl, 2~~tff Date of Approval Board of Selectmen Minutes of August 6, 2008 8