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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSELECTMENminutes09102008-20081002111951 Town of Mansfield Board of Selectmen Minutes of September 10, 2008 Present: 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. Resident Gil Lahum wanted to formally thank the fire fighters who saved his life. Mr. Lahum also thanked the board for allowing him this opportunity. Mr. Lahum spoke with great gratitude to Eric Blanchette, James Devine, Wayne Jackman and Justin Sliney for providing him the care that was so critical to saving his life this past summer. The board and the Town Manager also individually thanked the fire staff for all their hard work and dedication. They truly appreciate all the dedication that the department provides the town. Chief Boldrighini is also thankful for the excellent staff that he has and is also so proud of the fire department. . Coffee hour at the COA with John and Fire Chief Neal Boldrighini on Sept 11th . Levesque disability retirement request should have a hearing before the bos. . Open space/planning meeting in rm 3a/b for rail communities on Sept 29th . TIF committee meeting for the Covidien proposal is scheduled for Sept 17th at 5:30pm in rm 3a/b . IDC will need to meet to discuss decertifying the Sperics property. . MCAD hearing re: Beliveau appeal on Sept 18th. . Triad pasta dinner will be held at COA on Sept 22nd at 5pm . Sept 19th at 9am Rep. Poirier will be coordinating a meeting with staff regard the home heating crisis. . September 11th Garden Club anniversary party will be at the Edgewood Church of Christ at 7:30pm · Quarterly budget reports will be published soon. Hopefully the school committee will participate in this as well. Board of Selectmen Minutes of September 10, 2008 . Mary Barton-Rau, Concerned Citizens member, thanks for having q&c back and posting agenda on website. . Pam Gagnon, Gladiola Terrace. thanks for having q&c back as well. She would like to continue seeing agenda posted on web by Monday. Selectman Aptowitz gave a brief recap of what was covered last week in a joint meeting between the Board of Selectmen, Town Manager, School Committee and FinComm. The Town Manager will start composing quarterly budget summaries for the public to review in hard copy and on the town's website. The school committee will be asked to participate in this effort. FYlO will be even leaner than this year so the town is really looking to find any avenue to contain costs. Selectman Aptowitz would still like to have a weekly/monthly financial recap in the meetings. Selectman Dentino also stated that the upcoming union contract negotiations are coming up and we need to address this as soon as possible. All employee benefits and perks need to be looked into and possibly cut back. Employee use of town vehicles was discussed again. There appears to be two different policies in place. An administrative policy set by the town manager and a policy set by the Board of Selectmen. Some job descriptions require use of a town vehicle, such as on call personnel. Jim Lazzara, Fincomm member, also spoke about upcoming preparations regarding budget forecasts for the next few years. Public hearing notice read into record. Reclamation is under way at the old ISPO property at 251 Branch St. and there will be limited propane stored at the site. Motion: Open public hearing. (Dentino/Moran) 4:0 passes A plumbing permit and inspection will be applied for with the Building Dept. for the propane tanks. The soils will be cooked with the propane in order to be cleaned of vfc's. The site will be monitored twenty four/seven for site conditions and security. The hours of operation will be 7:30am to 4pm Monday through Friday. Board of Selectmen Minutes of September 10, 2008 2 Roseanne Smargon, 12 Newton St., asked who will be monitoring the site and for how long. Personnel from Tibet will be monitoring the site for the duration of the project. (This will be 3-4 months long.) Motion: To close public hearing. (Moran/Dentino) 3:0:1 (Aptowitz abstains) Motion: To approve license. (Dentino/Moran) 3:0:1 (Aptowitz abstains) · Warrant No. 11 in the amount of $2,498,753.73 Motion: To approve warrant No. 11 in the amount of $2,498,753.73 (Aptowitz/Moran) 3:0:1 passes (Dentino abstains) · One day beer and wine license from Tri County Beagle Club for event on 9-27-08. 12pm to 9pm. Approval from public safety back. Motion: To approve license. (Aptowitz/Moran) 4:0 passes · Request for restricted water installers license for Oliveira Construction. Motion: To approve waiving of fee. (Aptowitz/Moran) 4:0 passes Motion: Approve license (Moran/Dentino) 4:0 passes · Letter from resident GiI Lahlum, 189 Union St. regarding his extreme thankful thankfulness to the fire dept for saving his life during a recent medical emergency. · Rescheduled block party request. Mayflower Drive this Saturday, September 13th from 2pm to 11pm. (Cancelled from last weekend and approved by public safety) Motion: Request approved (Aptowitz/Moran) 4:0 passes · Request for "no parking here to corner" sign from Franklin Street resident due to school bus stop traffic congestion. Forward to Superintendent Hodges. · Old business from Chairman Levine: Not present · Old business from Selectman Dentino: none Board of Selectmen Minutes of September 10, 2008 3 · Old business for Selectman Moran: none · Old business for Selectman Baldwin: the issue of the water dept. trucks John: Outside of power windows and locks there were no additional items that were not part of a package. This is needed for constant locking and unlocking of the vehicles in addition to other reasons. Heavy duty trucks are necessary for the type of work that these trucks are needed for. Selectman Dentino still does not believe that these large trucks are necessary and a car would often suffice for travel back and forth to the water dept. · Old business from Selectman Aptowitz: Lights on Rt. 140 and School St. (turning left towards mall) don't light up exactly with the lanes. Mass Highway has not been able to change due to load problem with light pole. Mr. D'Agostino will call Mass Highway to discuss again. Thanks to Lauren for work on job classification list. . New business from Selectman Baldwin: Asked the board members for their recommendations for law firms to conduct contract review. A final review of law firms will be available for next week. . New business from Selectman Aptowitz: Went out with Mark Cook to look at curbs and catch basins and a lot of them are falling apart. When to health care discussion with John and found it very information to see what other towns are doing. Interviews for a new town accountant are underway and a decision will be made soon. Let it be known that everyone on the steering committee did an excellent job. · New business from Selectman Dentino: Sink holes on School St. bridge work are a problem that Mass Highway needs to address asap. Issue of white goods that need stickers being dropped off at green without them. Mr. D'Agostino will consult with DPW about this. Also the issue of residents that would like to go to the green and pick up used parts there. This practice is no longer allowed due to insurance requirements. Some towns do issue liability waivers for residents who want to do this but some of those towns have also had issues with lawsuits for injuries as well. Board of Selectmen Minutes of September 10, 2008 4 Mr. D'Agostino will also consult with Lee Azinheira about this issue as well. Selectman Dentino would also like see out of state travel vouchers for municipal employees. He has requested this several times and has only received parts of it. Also, the list of employees who use pool cars. Which depts. use which vehicles. How many pool cars do we have and who is eligible to use them. The issue of the town managers car repainting came up. Selectman Dentino would like to know why two different dept's paid for this and why. Why did this car need a complete paint job and work? Selectmen Baldwin and Aptowitz also had questions about this and Mr. D'Agostino stated the car needed the work and considered it an investment in town resources. Selectman Dentino would also like to know how many blue tooth ear pieces has the town bought and for whom. · New business from Selectman Moran: Would like to see unfunded retirement benefits addressed like the health care issues have been. The SE group that Mr. D'Agostino heads will be meeting soon to discuss this. The Verizon contract will be addressed at the meeting of September 24th and is available for bos review in the reading folder. He has noticed that recycling really seems to be up since the town went to single stream recycling. Mr. D'Agostino noted that recycling is indeed up and the town has already saved costs to that effort. · New business from Chairman Levine: Not present Motion: To adjourn at 9:46 PM (Aptowitz) 5-0 Passes !:er-in- ~-t-~ &dOk t 2~~~ Signature of Clerk Date of Approval Board of Selectmen Minutes of September 10, 2008 5