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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSELECTMENminutes04072010 Town of Mansfield Board of Selectmen Minutes of April 7, 2010 Present: Chairman Baldwin, ,Clerk Jess Aptowitz, Selectman Dentino, Selectman Sandra Levine, William Ross, Town Manager Absent: Vice Chairman Moran arrived at8:12pm, Selectman Sandra Levine arrived at 7:10pm SE Regional School District William Flannery, Mansfield representative and Supt. Louis Lopes are present for meeting. The proposed FY11 budget is $20,437,639 Chapter 70 aid for Mansfield is $18,773,984 with required net school spending to $43,208,293 for a student population of 4,874 from Mansfield). Bringing the total 2011 assessment to $380,672 Selectman Aptowitz asked the question about the spending formula the state uses every year. Supt. Lopes stated it boils down to the fact that wealthier towns pay more than less affluent towns/cities. The formula is not dependent on student population from each town. Selectman Levine asked how many or what percentage of the school pop. is special education? 1/3 of the total students are special needs. While extra staff for this population is needed, cuts have been made to teachers and administration alike. Staff is taking unpaid furloughs and shortened hours during the summer months. The school has been able to actualize savings as the only union they have is the teachers union. All administrative staff is non union. (Thus easier to negotiate with.) Lou Andrews, Town of Mansfield volunteer webmaster The town received an award from Common Cause of Massachusetts for displaying key governance documents (minutes, agendas, budgets) on our website. The Board of Selectmen and town manager felt that Mr. Andrews was the person that really deserved the award as he created and runs the website for the town. Mr. Ross presented the award to Mr. Andrews with the heartfelt thanks of the town hall staff. The board also thanked Mr. Andrews for his service to the community. Board of Selectmen Minutes of April 7, 2010 Youth Soccer - Fields of Green project William Wilk and Kelli Kemp are present for meeting with their project designer. The group has been fundraising for years and is ready to finally purchase and install a turf field on Plymouth St. They are in the process of securing a loan from N. East Savings Bank and need approval at town meeting to install the turf as the field is owned by the town. The synthetic turf will last twice as long as natural grass and will significantly improve the drainage problems they have experienced over the years. When the field isn't being utilized by the soccer organization other sport groups are welcome to use it. All games are booked through the Park and Recreation Dept. While the purchase of the turf is more expensive that laying grass, maintenance is far less expensive and labor intensive than natural grass turf. The youth soccer group will be responsible for all maintenance of the field. The warranty is 8 years with average use going to 10 before replacement. Mr. Ross is checking with town counsel to see if they need to go to town meeting for approval or if the bos can approve it for town. Either way, the group has submitted a place holder on the special town warrant. Selectman Aptowitz is concerned about liability issues with contractors working on town land while installing turf. Mr. Wilk stated that they will have the appropriate liability insurance in place by the time the work starts. Motion: To support the Mansfield Youth Soccer "Field of Dreams" project pending town counsel approval. (Aptowitz/Levine) 4:0 passes ZBA discussion David Rapoza and Kevin Mackie, ZBA members are present for discussion on the placement of cell phone towers. T Mobile had placed a cell tower in a residential area (Gilbert St) and when the ZBA asked them why they didn't approach the town about placement, they said they did, they approached the MMED and they weren't interested. When ZBA first denied the application, the decision was appealed and T Mobile won against the town. Boord of Selectmen Minutes of April 7. 2010 2 ZBA has been trying to encourage companies to apply to the town and they feel they are not getting the support of the town. So, they are looking to the bos to assist them in getting cell towers on town property (or at least talking with them about it) as it is a great source of revenue. Mr. Ross stated that he will speak with Mr. Babin about this issue and get back to the board. Q & C Barry Meehan, injured DPW employee was present at meeting. He updated the bos on the progress of his recovery and thanked the board and the town at large for their support. Gary Forget has questions about how the ZBA deals with cell phone tower requests. Mr. Forget is uneasy with the term used by ZBA member Mackie. "We make the applicant jump through hoops" before approval. Mr. Mackie clarified the comment and Mr. Forget appreciated it. Mr. Forget also has comments about last night's bos meeting with the school committee. He found the meeting very informative and thanked the bos and the FinComm for all their hard budget work. Employee handbook/policies The personnel subcommittee has developed a new employee handbook and Affirmative Action Policy for the town. The policy has been approved by legal and is being presented to the board for approval. Motion: To approve Affirmative Action Policy for the Town. (Aptowitz/Moran) 5:0 passes Amendment: To allow the town manager to sign the policy on behalf of the Board of Selectmen. The employee handbook/personnel policy will be discussed at a later time. Weekly Business Warrant No. 10040T in the amount of $105,663.55 Motion: To approve. (Levine/ Aptowitz) 4:0:1 passes (Dentino abstain) Warrant No. 10040E in the amount of $1,760,954.61 Motion: To approve. (Levine/ Aptowitz) 4:0:1 passes (Dentino abstain) Boord of Selectmen Minutes of April 7, 2010 3 Warrant No. 10040S in the amount of $237,630.25 Motion: To approve. (Levine/Moran) 3:0:1 passes (Dentino abstain) Warrant No. 10040PT in the amount of $297,630.29 Motion: To approve. (Levine/Moran) 3:0:1 passes (Dentino abstain) Warrant No. 10040TV in the amount of $87,482.37 Motion: To approve. (Levine/Moran) 3:0:1 passes (Dentino abstain) . Water Installers license application - Brunelle Contracting Motion: To approve. (Moran/Levine) 5:0 passes . Entertainment license app MMAS: Motion: To approve (Moran/ Aptowitz) 5:0 passes . Mansfield High School Booster Club request for 5k walk and run on May 23rd. Police detail has been secured. Motion: To approve pending fire dept. approval (Aptowitz/Moran) 5:0 passes Correspondence . Letter from Lou Andrews, 255 Fruit St. regarding lowering the speed limit and adding dangerous curve sign. Officer Lawson and Chief O'Neill responded with approval for dangerous curve signs. However, only Massdot can reduce the speed limit. Motion: To approve road sign's for each end of curve. (Levine/Moran) 5:0 passes . Request for parade permit from New Hope. Sunday, May 16th at 8:30am from Holiday Inn, Cabot, Forbes, West and back onto Cabot to the Inn. Police detail has been secured. Motion: To approve permit pending fire dept signoff. (Aptowitz/Moran) 5:0 passes . ANNOUNCEMENT: Household hazardous waste collection at the Comcast Center this Sat, April 10th from 8:00am to 1:00pm. Town Manager Report . Mr. Ross has met with GATRA officials and they are very interested in expanding bus service through out town. Covidien is also interested in seeing bus service to business park. Boord of Selectmen Minutes of April?, 2010 4 . The bushes have been trimmed on the commons as Selectman Dentino had requested. . Health insurance committee meetings have been occurring regularly and there will be two public forums on how any changes will affect employees on Thursday afternoon and Friday morning. Mr. Ross is hopeful that the proposal will be favorable, however, the unions still need to accept the changes before we can move forward. Board of Selectmen old and new business . Old business from Selectman Dentino: Mr. Ross will be speaking with Selectman Dentino about overtime and comp time policies. . Old business from Selectman Levine: None . Old business from Selectman Aptowitz: Mr. Aptowitz wanted to state "for the record" that he is opposed to any operational override. Residents have been asking him for his opinion and he wanted the public to know that while he supports the town and the services they provide he cannot support an override. . Old business from Selectman Moran: Please thank Mr. Babin about pole work that was done for a resident earlier in the week. . Old business from Chairman Baldwin: None . New business from Chairman Baldwin: None . New business from Selectman Aptowitz: None . New business from Selectman Dentino: None . New business from Selectman Moran: None . New business from Selectman Levine: Attleboro is temporarily waiving inspection fees for storm damaged homes and businesses. Would this bos be interested in doing such a service for Mansfield residents? Motion: Have the tm and building inspector formulate a policy for this purpose with a cut off inspection date of May 31st and to have appropriate town fees waived. (Levine/ Aptowitz) 5:0 passes Board of Selectmen Minutes of April 7. 2010 5 Who is paying for any police detail, janitor detail, etc for budget forum next Wednesday? The town usually pays for a police detail and the schools will most likely pay for the janitors but Mr. Ross will check. Adjournment Motion: Adjourn at 9:09pm (Aptowitz) 5-0 Passes f~ ~N~ Signature of Clerk ~'Ic~ ctilti Date of Approval Board af Selectmen Minutes of April 7, 2010 6