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Home My WebLink AboutSELECTMENminutes11122008-20090202134416 Town of Mansfield Board of Selectmen Minutes of November 12, 2008 Present: Chairman Sandra Levine, Vice Chairman Ann Baldwin, Clerk Kevin Moran, Selectman George Dentino, Selectman Jess Aptowitz, John D'Agostino, Town Manager Mary Barton Rau: Request for list to be shared with thep951i bos business. Motion: To create such public list. (Dentinol~ptowit Jim Lazzara: Would still like to see the board impose spending/hiring it is necessary so the town can be in the best financ.i.al positiQn it can be. now before Andy Gazzola: Concerned that the financial actions 0 to a political situation. The FinComml I of frustration are not and despite our efforts they h unable to h board take these steps. Steps need to minimize t the town. We recommend a hiring and spen<;Jing fl"eez~. oard are being held hostage owing as the town revenues e town manager and the pact of a recession on Selectman Moran respQtldedthCltwe should nqve precisec:ontrols on cuts rather than a blanket spending fr.~~~~. Rest clp5ured that finances are not being ignored. Pam Gagnon: Spoke her or> Selectmen on ces to th dstino's presentation to the Board of classification. Don Cleary, TIF 0 regarding supporting ittee>Chairman, presented the committee's recommendation Osby Valves TIF agreement at town meeting. Robert Foley of Crosby Valve also was present to provide the board an overview of the final agreement crafted between the town and the company. (18 years and 45% exempt) The company has been in Wrentham since the 1940's and is looking to move to and stay in Mansfield for the foreseeable future. Both the TIF committee and the board are in support of this TIF agreement and recommend it to special town meeting. It is noted that the valves manufactured in the Board of Selectmen Minutes of November 12, 2008 facility are used by both utilities and nuclear power reactors however on/ythe manufacturing of valves will be done in Mansfield. Motion: To make 55 Cabot Blvd an EOA (Moran/Baldwin) 5:0 passes Motion: To support the TIF agreement between the Town of Mansfield and Tyco Controls LLP. (Aptowitz/Baldwin) 5:0 passes Eric Hart, Town Accountant and John DO Agostino, Town Mangg a 5 year historical revenue comparison. YTD October 31. While revenues are down from last year they are higher-Or dh par wit trend. Tight financial controls are in place and w.i<be monitored closely year. The current P.O. system has a $2,500 tpld and s been restric:' expenditures over $1,000 and now need to go thro . system. Thei;. Items must go through both the town manager and the town acco before any approval is given. 5 year historical gh out the These controls in addition to monthly committee controls their own budget. for muni(;jpgl\.~xp~nditures as the school The approval of TIF agr~~tl1~~ts at town meetinqwill have-an imp-act on the FY09 budqet as building fees and co..structi' .costs will add to FY09 revenues (that have not been previously factoreq ~<controls implemented within enterprise s would be an issue this years for the schools SelectmanM.oran thanked Mr. D'Agostino for the hard work in putting this analysis togeth~r. He woulcflike the board to look at targeted budget cuts instead of an across the board cut. Selectman Baldwin is'itlfavor of a spending freeze however will wait until after town meeting to discuss it further. Selectman Dentino noted that last years revenues were much higher than projected. This was due to the fact that Mansfield Crossing was built and infused the town with additional revenue. Chairman Levine asked Mr. Hart if he would be able to provide a financial report for school expenditures as well. He would be able to provide regular expenses and payroll only as Board of Selectmen Minutes of November 12, 2008 2 these are the only things processed through his office. All others expenditures would have to be requested from the superintendents office. · Warrant No. 19B in the amount of $2,367,535.25 Motion: Approved (Aptowitz/Baldwin) 4:0:1 passes (Dentiqoabstains) . Warrant No. 20A in the amount of $1,542,751.82 Motion: Approved (Aptowitz/Baldwin) 4:0:1 pass~s(:~entino . FYI from the DOR that a city or town cannot dispose or dispose of property at less than fair market value to a non profit group. More info to follow. . Several letters have been receiv~efl"()~~~sidents an ards from surrounding towns regard our area being in the<')rovid;~q A.:'F ere will be a community wide meeting to dis ss this issue with the N. Oro board on November 17th at am. eetiJJg catea: Emergency Operations Center (in the N. Attleboro Police Station) 102 S. Washington Street. No. A ttleb 0 MA . R~.~uest to postty\ansfielqvvomen of :'Foday "Homes for the Holidays" house tour sigq.on the South Common. The tour will be December 7th from 1-5pm Motf91'1: :'Fo approves'gn on the s. common. (Aptowitz/Baldwin) 5:0 passes . Pre town meeting meeting. An omission was made on article 1 that caused the sum of the article to be inaccurate. :'Fhat will be corrected at town meeting. Article 8: Police :'F ASER request from Chief O'Neill. CIP approved this expenditure out of a revolving account line item. However this cannot be done at a special town meeting (and the warrant article asks for a transfer from a salary line item anyway.) Chief O'Neill will go before the FinComm tomorrow night to ask for their support. Motion: :'Fo support article 8 as written in warrant. (Moran/Baldwin) 5:0 passes . Board of Selectmen Minutes of November 12, 2008 3 · Motion: To support article 14 as written in warrant. (Baldwin/Moran) 5:0 passes · Audit committee language from Atty. Mangiaratti will be finalized soon. This language must conform to the language used in the town bylaws. If there are any conflicts that cannot be resolved the bylaws must be petitioned to be changed at town meeting. · This RFP has not gone out as the secretary has not bee"1 given the information yet. Selectman Baldwin will email the combined RFP lang~B reement and docket information to the seven attorney firms selectedqyt and it will be due back in two weeks. · Old business from Chairman Levine: Children e ~;tnlcrossing the rqads in the school district between cars and not utilizingc walks and it is a real hazard. Questions about I& I program. · Old business from Selectman Dehtino:e.~'y'~qrs9f rofessional development and travel costsested from Mr; gostin6ti~~lectman Dentino further stated that been spenfgn professional development and dues. He does no el that ne should g()for professional development training unless it is dlq;tly reld~~d to a license 01". certification required for the job. Motion: Immediately sto all professional development (licenses/dues/travel) nding and eques 0 come through the Board of Selectmen for approval xcept for Iicen certification requirements. (Dentino/Baldwin) Lohgi~I~Fussion on ~.~y certain out of state travel expenditures were approved. The boa.rdwill revi.~1!II the expenditures and take it up again next week. Motion withdrawhB~q h~ld until next week contingent upon Selectman Dentino providing the document~iin question for the rest of the board to review. The possibility of discontinuing the printing of the live wire newsletter was discussed. This will be discussed at the next weeks Electric Light Commissioners meeting. Selectman Dentino also does not feel a board member should be consulting legal counsel without a vote of the bos. If one board member has contact with legal, Board of Selectmen Minutes of November 12, 2008 4 they should all know about it. Chairman Levine stated that after the consultations, the cases referred to were settled favorably for the town. · Old business for Selectman Moran: Verizon will place Mansfield in the Boston DMA However FOX channels will not broadcast Boston HD channel so if you watch early news on FOX it will be Providence news. Boston news is broadcast at Wpm though. The town has not yet been able to formulate a plan to give.Mansfield residents a break on the $4 a day parking fee so all spaces will go tg$4sT:grting November 14th. The town will be reviewing its contrg~twith the MBTA to see what our options are. Selectman Dentino added that he though Winthrop St. was 0 wn lot and we could charge less. A long discussion foll~,~ed but then concluded ' ;J;Wi~throp was not ours, it belongs to the MBTA,blJtWgs reser:'yed for town r ts only. · Old business from Selectman Aptowitz: Parking/i~sues at the schools. People are parking down both signs of th~rI~,eets (including<ffl~~:~o parking areas) leaving little space for pubic safety vehiRJ~? ifn,eeded. Plea~~~~~k in the designated spaces to ensure room for public?afetYY~hicles if nee9~d. · Old business from'?~J~ctman Baldwin: Her questiql'ls were covered in the TM report. · New Sel an Baldwin: . Questions about liquor license violations. Request for upda e oogan property on School St. The Fire Dept. has used the house f rarnl rposes and is all done with it. Pinnacle Partners has declared ban ruptcy and we don't want the tear down expenses. Issue sent to Nick Riccio and the property has been completely boarded up. · Ne ?iness fromi$electman Aptowitz: Update on recycling program. Place on future da. Attended progress. finance meetings this morning with staff and is happy with Issues with green cross walks on East St. coming from rails to trails. Ask DPW for more signage to alert pedestrians of traffic. He would like to be in on meeting with Mass Highway to discuss problems with lights at School St./140 intersection. Board of Selectmen Minutes of November 12, 2008 5 Jess office hours. 6-7pm on bos meeting dates. · New business from Selectman Dentino: None · New business from Selectman Moran: None · New business from Chairman Levine: Would the bos like to meet the Wednesday before Thanksgiving or a different date? Tuesday, Novemp 25th seems the best. /e:>> ~~~ Signature of Clerk Cost cutting measure: Possibility of not supplying re Motion: To adjourn at 10:31 PM (Baldwin) 5-0 Passes Board of Selectmen Minutes of November 12, 2008 6