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Town of Mansfield
Board of Selectmen
Minutes of February 11, 2009
Present:
Vice Chairman Kevin Moran, Clerk Jess Aptowitz, Selectman George Dentino,
Selectman Sandra Levine, John D'Agostino, Town Manager
Lee Azinheira, DPW Director and Ken Hackett, WW Treatment Plant Operations Manager
were present for this discussion.
Two weeks ago a three alarm fire broke out at the plant in an area that was under
construction. It is believed that the fire began in the ductwork however the cause of the
fire has yet to be determined and should be covered by our and the subcontractors
insurance.
There was a lot of smoke damage to the facility in addition to the fire, however no one was
hurt and the plant is operational.
Mr. Hackett contacted a cleaning company that evening and they started right away to get
the plant up and running. Plant Engineers are also going over the facility to determine if
any damage has occurred anywhere else in the plant.
None
. Warrant No. 33B in the amount of $2,254,458.13
Motion: Approved (Levine! Aptowitz) 3:0:1 passes
· Warrant No. 33A in the amount of $283,423.85
Motion: Approved (Moranl Aptowitz) 4:0 passes
· Meeting minutes from December 10, 2008
Motion: To approve. (Levine! Aptowitz) 4:0 passes
· Meeting minutes from December 17,2008
Motion: To approve. (Aptowitz!Levine) 4:0 passes
Board of Selectmen Minutes of February 11, 2009
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· Request for restricted water installers license from SL T Construction Corp
Motion: To approve and sign license. (Levine/ Aptowitz) 4:0 passes
· Letter from Lou Andrews regarding construction of town animal shelter. The
committee is thankful for all the support the town has given them over the years
and is in need of town assistance with water, sewer and electrical service in
addition to the waiver of permit fees.
Motion: To waive the town's portion of fees associated with permits for the
shelter. (Levine/Dentino) 4:0 passes
Motion: To assist the shelter with the requested services. The MMED can't do
electrical work free of charge so Mr. D'Agostino will check out the fee structure
and see if any of the work (in addition to the town fees) can be waived.
(Levine/Dentino)Motion withdrawn for further information.
In addition the board voted many years ago to donate town land off Fruit Street
for this project and since it has been so long the committee is requesting the board
vote to lire-donate" the land for shelter use.
Motion: To permit the Mansfield Shelter Friends to build a shelter on the town
owned land at 175 rear Fruit St. (Levine/ Aptowitz) 4:0 passes
· Memo from Scott Leite, Health Agent, regarding the $5000 municipal healthcare
award from Blue Cross that was given to the Healthy Initiatives Program. They
would like to return the funds to the town to be put towards more immediate needs.
Motion: To accept returned funds. (Levine/Dentino) 3:0:1 passes (Dentino abstains)
Discussion: If this money was designated to fund a wellness program should we be
using the funds for other general expenses? Blue Cross gave the town $5000 in
recognition of our healthy initiatives program. However the town can use the funds
for what ever they want.
· Letter from Eric Baldwin, Deutsche Bank Championship Director. They are pleased
to be able to present the Town of Mansfield with $35,000 to be used to fund the
non profit gift committee account.
Motion: To accept $35,000 donation with thanks. These funds will be placed in the
NPGF. (Aptowitz/Dentino) 4:0 passes
· Summary of budget reductions/turn backs against projected deficit for FY09.
Board of Selectmen Minutes of February 11, 2009
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· Memo from John Sullivan recapping the reasons that the purchase of a camera
truck was delayed for so long. Selectman Dentino had questioned why it took so
long at the last meeting.
· Jim Lazzara, FinComm member gave a brief update on FY09 budget projections.
He feels that any savings/reductions in certain areas, such as insurance and
interest payments, should be shared with the schools.
· Andy Gazzolo, FinComm Chair also added that he believes that the only way to
really reduce our budget deficit is to cut staff. The reductions should not come
from the operations of the town.
Mr. D'Agostino stated that while salaries and benefits are a big portion of our
budget, municipal work is a service based industry and you need employees to do
the work so he will be asking the unions for salary and benefit concessions in order
to avoid layoffs. He will be meeting with Brenda and Ed from school administration
to discuss budget reductions later this week.
Selectman Dentino had asked a number of questions at a previous meeting that the
town manager was unable to address without being able to do any research.
Chairman Baldwin asked Selectman Dentino to forward the questions to Mr.
D'Agostino in order to discuss them at this meeting.
Each of the 13 questions were discussed in detail with the board.
· Old business from Selectman Levine: Spoke with Atty. Torres regarding his work
on Mr. D'Agostino's contract review. Mr. Torres is requesting another week to
conclude his report as he still needs to meet with Atty. Kesten.
· Old business from Selectman Dentino: References about the Boston fire dept.
having problems with brakes on their fire trucks. He has checked with our FD and
the equipment is checked regularly by not only the men but mechanics to ensure
that everything is in working order.
· Old business for Selectman Moran: Lee Azinheira came back to the table to
discuss budget reductions through the reduction of street lights remaining on
during the evening. If we turned off every other light in town we would still have
comparable lighting to surrounding towns.
Board of Selectmen Minutes of February 11, 2009
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Motion: To shut off every other light in the industrial park, Rt. 106 and
Eastman St, Rt. 140, security lights on town property and proceed with the 401'0
turn off goal for town streets. 3:1 passes (Levine/Moran) Dentino nay.
'I
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· Old business from Selectman Aptowitz: Unfortunately a family was burnt out of
their house last week and all he could say was how wonderful the fire dept. and
everyone in town has been to them. The board all agreed that the Town of
Mansfield has the best fire personnel around.
Selectman Aptowitz reminded the viewing audience once again about the traffic
congestion at the schools during pickup and asked that people do not block the
fire lanes.
· Old business from Chairman Baldwin: Not present
· New business from Chairman Baldwin: Not present
· New business from Selectman Aptowitz: March 2nd and 23rd are the next Light
Commissioners meetings. Also the parking down at the schools is still a mess and
the police will start ticketing soon if the congestion does not improve.
· New business from Selectman Dentino: Questions about Albertini well bill.
The school put on a great cabaret last week and all the kids did a fabulous job.
5311 line item is for Town Counsel use. Selectman Dentino would like to use this
fund to assist the town manager with union negotiations. We need continuity in
our union negotiations and as Mr. D'Agostino is the only negotiator right now when
he leaves in October, if not sooner, it will be difficult for someone to pick up
where Mr. D'Agostino left off.
Mr. D'Agostino stated that the funds in line item 5311 are already spoken for as
the town has upcoming cases to deal with. Department heads are involved in
contract negotiations and they would be able to provide that continuity that
Selectman Dentino spoke of.
· New business from Selectman Moran: There is a fund set up at the Mansfield
Bank for the Barbaro family if anyone wants to donate.
Selectman Moran closed the meeting with a quote from Abraham Lincoln stating
the dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present. The occasion
is piled high with difficulty and we must rise with the occasion. As our case is
new, so we must think anew and act anew.
Board of Selectmen Minutes of February 11, 2009
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Also Chairman Baldwin had requested Selectman Moran remind the board that she
would like all the TM evaluations in by Friday for next week.
· New business from Selectman Levine: None
Motion: To adjourn at 10:15 PM
(Aptowitz) 4-0 Passes
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Signature of Clerk
'??1~~ 25, 2~~'1'
Date of Approval
Board of Selectmen Minutes of February 11, 2009
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