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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSelect Board 03/15/2023Select Board Meeting Minutes March 15, 2023 Present: Mr. Michael Trowbridge, Chair; Mr. Frank DelVecchio, Vice -Chair; Neil Rhein, Clerk; Mr. Jess Aptowitz and Ms. Diana Bren were present in Meeting Room 3 A/B at Town Hall. Kevin Dumasmo iim@Dger and Mr. Barry LaCasse were also present. TOWN CI_F.RF\S OFFICE 1. Call To Order Select Board Meeting - Pledge of Allegiance 2013 APR -b A ' ' 48 Mr. Michael Trowbridge, Chair called the meeting to order at 5:30PM. He asked those present to state the pledge of allegiance. He then reminded everyone that the meeting was being broadc'fi;st�WA�{ for future broadcast on Mansfield Cable. hi: ,S$ACI`1IJ� T— 2. Town Manager's Report Select Board Questions and Comments on Town Manager's Report Mr. Dumas began his report stating that the Governor announced that the COVID-19 public health emergency order would end on May 11 and the Public Health Department would like to end the weekly COVID reports unless there is public health need. Mr. Aptowitz asked if there were a lot of test kits left that the Town had and if there could be additional messaging to get those out to residents. Mr. Dumas then continued his report stating that Ms. Sarah Raposa began as the Planning Director and had her first Planning Board meeting last week and she will be coming to the April 5th Select Board meeting along with Ms. Kelly Koska the Chief Assessor to meet the Board. Mr. Dumas then asked Mr. McDermott, Economic Development Director to come forward. Mr. McDermott stated that he had site tours with Tighe and Bond of several vacant spaces throughout the Cabot industrial Park. He also met with the Amazon team that is looking to sublease their building. Mr. McDermott updated them on a few others meeting he had with realtors and then provided an update on the TOD project. Mr. Dumas then asked Mr. Josh Reinke, DPW Director to come forward and provide three updates. First, he stated that the Williams Street project is going to start early due to the mild winter weather. He then stated that the State is going to begin work on George Street over Copeland replacing the concrete decking and adding a concrete barrier between the road traffic and the chain link fence and there will be temporary road closures and lane shifts. The third project is School Street and there will be a virtual public hearing on April 11th at 6:30PM. Lastly, he noted that all of this information is on the DPW projects website. Mr. Dumas continued his report stating the snow and ice is in the black at $89,408.14. Mr. Dumas then stated that he provided testimony on March 7th at the Statehouse on importance of Chapter 90 funding. He stated that the Town receives about $730,000 and MMA has requested an amendment to House Bill 52:to increase the bill to $330,000,000 instead of the current amount of $200,000,000 due to the increase in costs of materials. He then stated that Annual Town Meeting needs to be called for June 15th. He then stated that he has submitted a grant application for potential federal funding of $6,000,000 for the next PFAS well upgrades at the Albertini well. Mr. Dumas then noted that the EPA released their new regulations for PFAS amounts and the previous federal level was 70 parts per trillion new regulations are requiring .0004 parts per trillion which will affect communities throughout the country. He then noted that News Channel 5 wants to do a story on Cate Springs project. Lastly, he stated that the North Main Fire Station is on track to close by end of March. Mr. DelVecchio asked how the Towns water compares to this new federal requirement and Mr. Dumas responded that the water has no PFAS. Mr. Rhein asked do we know where the PFAS are coming from and are there fresh sources in Town. Mr. Dumas noted that there is not one hot spot for PFAS and evaluating the numbers of our sites the parts per trillion was very low at under twenty parts, if there is an active source the testing of water would have high amounts high hundreds or thousand parts per trillion. r Select Board Meeting Minutes March 15, 2023 3. Resident Questions and Comments Mr. Mark Corsillo 1604 West Street came forward and asked if Cate Springs provides all the water for the Town and Mr. Dumas stated that it did not and it was a blend from several sources as one place cannot produce enough that meets the demand. Mr. Rhein then noted that many of the mosquito spraying companies use a chemical that contains PFAS and is used by the State when they spray for mosquitoes. 4. Discussion and Consideration of the 2023 Xfinity Entertainment License Mr. Jason Sandoval, General Manager of the Xfinity Center was present and stated that they are looking forward to a great season and noted that they have twenty-two shows confirmed so far and three graduation ceremonies. He stated last season there were forty-three concerts and three graduations and he does not expect the number to get as high as last year and he noted that they were able to improve some operations last year that made it a smooth season. He then added they have already had two job fairs with 120 new hires and there are two more job fairs in the next couple weeks and is proud to hire many Mansfield residents. Mr. Trowbridge asked about Schedule A and when those rates were last updated, Mr. Dumas believed it was in the last couple years. Mr. Trowbridge asked for that to be looked at with next years renewal. He then asked on page three of the agreement ambulance services was being deleted. Chief Desrosiers came forward and stated that previously the venue had contracted with Brewster Ambulance and they have not been able to provide consistent service because of lack of staff and would not be notified about twenty-four hours' in advance and that left him scrambling to find ambulances. Chief stated that he has worked with thirteen surrounding communities to use their 31d ambulance that is an extra and not used for a regular shift. Mr. Rhein asked what happens when there is also a show at Gillette Stadium on the same night. Chief Desrosiers stated that they contract with Costal Ambulance which is a large company and they do not pull from local fire departments, Mr. Trowbridge noted that there was a record number of shows last year but no significant incidents and asked what that could be attributed to. Mr. Sandoval responded that the trouble shows of years past the crowd behavior has changed and they have matured and enjoy the show in a different manor then when they were younger. Motion: To approve the 2023 Xfinity Entertainment License. (Rhein/Aptowitz) Passes 5:0 S. Discussion and Consideration of Adding 100 Additional Commercial Parking Lot Spaces at Xfinity Center located at 885 South Main Street Mr. Sandoval stated that they are looking to convert 100 parking spaces from free parking to paid parking in a portion Lot 6. This would make it 852 total paid spaces at the venue. Motion: To approve an additional 100 commercial parking lot spaces for the Xfinity Center located at 885 South Mam Street. (Rhein/Aptowitz) Passes 5.0 6. Discussion and Consideration to Appoint Bryan Duarte to the Airport Commission Mr. Trowbridge stated that the interview was last night and hoped that every one had time to review it. He stated that Mr. Duarte sounded like a very qualified candidate. Mr. DelVecchio stated that he was pleasant and was a recreational pilot. He stated they discussed tension between people who want to use the airport and those that live close to the airport and he stated that he can be objective and overall, he was a strong candidate. Ms. Bren noted that he was very personal and understands the mechanics of the airport which is helpful. Mr. Trowbridge stated that he hated to see John Brant leave, but hopefully this is a great replacement. Motion: To appoint Bryan Duarte to the Airport Commission to an unexpired term to expire on December 31, 2025.(Rhein/DelVecchio) Passes 5:0 i ( k Select Board Meeting Minutes March 15, 2023 7. Discussion and Consideration to Appoint Robert Smith -MacDonald, Jeff Plante or Ryan O'Hara to the Conservation Commission Mr. Trowbridge stated that there were three candidates, but Mr. Plante withdrew his application because he heard how qualified the other two candidates were. Mr. Aptowitz thought it was very admirable of him to do that. Mr. DelVecchio stated that he is retiring after selling his own business and is very qualified and it is not often that you see that selflessness. Mr. Trowbridge stated that both candidates were well qualified. Mr. Rhein stated that both were great candidates and it is great to have a young person wanting to get involved and noted that he was very well spoken. Motion: To appoint Robert Smith -MacDonald to the Conservation Commission to an unexpired term to expire on December 31, 2025 and to appoint Ryan O'Hara to the Conservation Commission to an unexpired term to expire on December 31, 2026. (Rhein/DelVecchio) Passes 5:0 8. Consideration to Call for Town Meeting on June 15, 2023 per Massachusetts General Law Chapter 39 Section 9 Mr. Dumas stated that this was the third time talking about this at a Select Board meeting and as Town Counsel has stated MGL Chapter 39 Section 9 allows for a Town Meeting to be after June 15t. Furthermore, Mr. Dumas noted that this was being done to allow the Planning Board enough time to have the required public hearings. Motion: To call for Annual Town Meeting on June 15, 2023 per MGL Chapter 39 Section 9. (Rhein/Aptowitz) Passes 5:0 9. Vote to Direct Planning Board to Conduct Public Hearing for Zoning Article 13 of the Annual Town Meeting Warrant Mr. Dumas stated that under MGL Chapter 40A Section 5 requires this even though he knows the Planning Board is going to do this it is necessary for the Select Board to direct them to do so. Motion: To approve referral of zoning article number 13 of the Town Meeting Warrant to the Planning Board with a copy of this vote to be transmitted to the Town Clerk. (Rhein/Aptowitz) Passes 5:0 10. Consideration to Approve and Sign the 2023 Town Meeting Warrant Mr. Trowbridge stated that there is a total of fourteen articles and it may be the least number he has seen. Motion: To approve and sign the 2023 Town Meeting Warrant as presently prepared, and to allow the Town Manager to make any necessary, corrective or non -substantive changes thereto at the recommendation of Town Counsel. (Rhein/Aptowitz) Passes 5:0 11. Discussion and Consideration of Newsletter Mr. Dumas began the discussion by providing a draft printed copy of the newsletter that Ms. Nancy Griffin created. He stated that it is not complete and needs a few more items, but that it will be first issue of this monthly publication and it is better than what he originally envisioned. Mr. Rhein gave kudos to Ms. Griffin because it is more than he expected for tonight. He stated that he attended a session at MMA on communications and he was envisioning an e-newsletter and asked if this was going to be a printed version. Mr. Dumas responded that this would be electronic and posted to the Town's website and social media sites. Mr. Dumas then noted that because it is electronic the links within the document are clickable. Mr. Rhein then stated the challenges with finding recordings on Mansfield Cable's site. The government channel link is all the way at the bottom of the first page. Mr. Trowbridge asked if that could be changed to bring it to the top of the page. Mr. DelVecchio stated that communication has been discussed since before he was on the Select Board and it had even been discussed to have a communications committee. He stated that the Town has the content that it is getting better but people do not see it and hopefully this newsletter will help get the information out there in another channel. Mr. Trowbridge noted the importance of getting people to sign up Select Board Meeting Minutes March 15, 2023 to receive the news items. Mr. Dumas agreed and stated that long term the goal will be to have someone whose job is communication and making sure the web pages are up to date. He also stated that newspapers are going away and the Town needs to provide information to the residents. Mr. Aptowitz stated that he wouldn't want staff overburdened with more work and asked who will be deciding what goes in this document. Mr, Dumas responded that he will be the one deciding what goes in the document and going forward it will be plug and play into this template and format. He stated that he thought it was important to provide this information to the community. Mr. Aptowitz commented that no one is ever going to be 100% happy. Ms. Bren stated that she liked the format and volunteered to proof read and test links. She also noted that it is one voice together that the Board can share. She then noted that she wanted to make this document accessible and suggested having printed copies at the library and COA for those that don't have computers. Mr. Trowbridge thanked Mr. Dumas for this step in the right direction and if it becomes too much to do this monthly than he should let the Board know. Mr. Dumas appreciated that and stated that his office should not turn into a newspaper. 12. Select Board Member Committee and Liaison Updates Mr. DelVecchio stated that they did the Volunteer Advisory interviews last night, Finance Committee meets tomorrow night and Budget Subcommittee is scheduled for next week. Mr. Aptowitz had no updates. Ms. Bren stated besides the Budget Subcommittee meeting there is a Tri-Board meeting on March 29t1 here in 3 A/B. Mr. Trowbridge stated that CIP is meeting on April 13th, April 27" and if needed May 4'. Mr. Rhein stated that the Downtown Committee met and discussed how they are going to get the traffic control boxes wrapped with art. He also noted that the Waste Reduction and Recycling met and a new postcard will be mailed in the next month promoting the Waste Wizard Tool and they will be working to update the recycling bylaws. 13. Resident Questions and Comments Mr. Mark Corsillo of 1604 West Street came forward and asked about the graphic on the Hazardous Waste Day information because the graphic showed an aerosol can and batteries. He stated that batteries were not listed as acceptable or not acceptable in the flyer and aerosol cans are not allowed so he suggested a different graphic be used. Mr. Dumas responded that questions should be directed to the Health Department. 14. Review and Approve Consent Agenda All items on the Consent Agenda may be adopted with a single motion. Any member of the Select Board may request that an item be withdrawn from the Consent Agenda for separate consideration in which case that item will be voted on separately from the remainder of the Consent Agenda. All licenses have been routed through Town Hall Departments and any conditions have been noted below. A. Vote to Approve Meeting Minutes: • March 1, 2023 B. Vote to Approve Warrants: • Town Vendor Warrant No. 23036T in the amount of $1,780,587.08 • Electric Vendor Warrant No. 23036E in the amount of $2,023,852.07 • School Vendor Warrant No. 230365 in the amount of $453,513.35 • Town Vendor Warrant No. 23037T in the amount of $1,534,987.99 • Electric Vendor Warrant No. 23037E in the amount of $441,449.56 C. Consideration of Permits and Licenses: • Consideration of 2023 Farmers Market on Park Row June 24-October 21, 2023 (excluding October 7th) D. Proclamations and Certificates Motion: To approve the consent agenda. (Rhein/Aptowitz) Passes 5:0 15. Consideration and Approval of Town Payroll Warrants: • Town Payroll/Town Medicaid Payroll 23036PT in the amount of $406,752.47 Select Board Meeting Minutes March 15, 2023 Motion: To approve Town Payroll/Town Medicaid Payroll 23036PT in the amount of $406,752.47`. (Rhein/Bren) Passes 5:0 • Town Deductions Vendor Payroll 23036TV in the amount of $130,361.95 Motion: To approve Town Deductions Vendor Payroll 23036TV in the amount of $130,361.95. (Rhein/ Bren) Passes 5:0 • Town Payroll/Town Medicaid Payroll 23037PT in the amount of $393,521.95 Motion: To approve Town Payroll/Town Medicaid Payroll 23037PT in the amount of $393,521.95. (Rhein/ Bren) Passes 5:0 Town Deductions Vendor Payroll 23037TV in the amount of $126,544.98 Motion: To approve Town Deductions Vendor Payroll 23037TV in the amount of $126,544.98 (Rhein/Bren) Passes 5:0 • School Payroll/School Medicaid Payroll 23037PS in the amount of $1,826,767.09 Motion: To approve School Payroll/School Medicaid Payroll 23037PS in the amount of $1,826,767.09. (Rhein/Bren) Passes 4:0:1 Trowbridge Abstain • School Deductions Vendor Payroll 23037SV in the amount of $586,574.80 Motion: To approve School Deductions Vendor Payroll 23037SV in the amount of $586,574.80, (Rhein/Bren) Passes 5:0 16. Correspondence • Notification of Price Changes from Comcast Mr. Rhein read a letter from Comcast stating that the Broadcast TV Fee will be lower than stated in the December 20, 2022 letter. The monthly charge will be $24.80 and not $26.00. 17. Select Board Member's Comments and Questions Ms. Bren asked about an update on D, E & I Committee and Mr. Dumas responded that he had a conversation with consultant earlier today and he is setting up an internal meeting with Human Resources and then the Committee will meet in April. Mr. Aptowitz stated there will be an MMED meeting on Monday. Mr. Rhein thanked everyone on the communications topic and doing the videos at Mansfield Cable with Economic Development are very informative. 18. Any items not anticipated by the Chair 48 hours prior to this meeting There were no items. 19. Adjourn Motion: To adjourn the March 15, 2023 Select Board meeting at 7i13PM. (Aptowitz/DelVecchio) Passes 5 Sig ature Da e Minutes prepared by Carrie Champagne 9Y 0 Select Board Meeting Minutes March 15, 2023