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HomeMy WebLinkAboutBOS MINUTES 1-02-13 Board of Selectmen Minutes January 2, 2013 ?Ei Y DIED Present: Olivier Kozlowski, Chair; Kevin Moran, Clerk; Jess Aptowitz, Doug'A j d ?u 3 OFFICE William Ross, Town Mana:er Mr. Ross distributed a draft of a "bring your own bottle"policy from town counsel, based on Northbridge's policy. He suggested the first question should be whether the board thinks it appropriate for businesses without common victualer licenses to allow customers to bring their own alcohol onto the premises. Mr. Kozlowski asked how this could expand to allow alcohol consumption in public, noting the Commonwealth's public intoxication by-law. Mr. Ross said that by-law is rather vague. He said he has spoken with the ABCC, which indicated the Commonwealth has no regulations on "BYOB," and suggested communities adopt a policy to either allow it or not. He said if the establishment charges a corkage fee, it would profit from the sale and should be licensed; if the employees handle the bottle, there should be regulations to cover that. Mr. Ross said the Northbridge by-law seems to address those issues. Mr. Kozlowski welcomed visitors from Pack 7/Wolf Den 4 and Pack 7/Wolf Den 3. Mr. Moran said there was one establishment in town, now closed, that allowed customers to bring their own bottles. He said if that is going to be allowed, the employees should be TIPS trained and the practice should be tightly regulated, or it should not be allowed at all. Mr. Aptowitz said he agreed "BYOB"has to be either regulated or not allowed; he said he had not been aware the Commonwealth does not regulate the practice. He said the Northbridge policy does not include a corkage fee, which he said would not benefit the business because it would not make any profit. Mr. Annino said the practice should be regulated. He said he has been to restaurants where "BYOB" seems to work well, but said he is concerned about who would be held responsible. Mr. Kozlowski said the policy would not be regulating the customers, but rather the businesses. He asked if this would allow public drinking, and said he would be concerned about issues with public intoxication. Mr. Ross said town counsel suggested a two-step process; a policy of the Board of Selectmen and a by-law adopted at Town Meeting. If the by-law did not pass, the board's policy would still stand. Mr. Kozlowski said there is currently at least one establishment that wants to allow"BYOB." Mr. Ross said the restaurant that allowed it, which is now closed, charged a corkage fee. Mr. Aptowitz said restaurants are charged for their common victualer's licenses and asked if the fee stays with the town or goes to the state. Mr. Ross said most goes to the state. Mr. Aptowitz said the town would have costs to administer a"BYOB"by-law and suggested there should be a fee to help the town deal with intoxicated patrons. Mr. Ross said the fees are intended to pay for administrating the by-law; he said the same inspections would be done as are currently done for common victualer licenses. Mr. Aptowitz asked how the town knows an establishment is TIPS certified; Mr. Ross said that is part of the annual liquor license renewal. With a "BYOB"policy, the town could require an annual permit. Mr. Ross said if there is a violation, the town could take the restaurant's common victualer license. Mr. Aptowitz said he doesn't see much difference between selling alcohol and allowing patrons to bring alcohol into a restaurant. Mr. Annino said allowing customers to bring drinks will help restaurants without liquor licenses attract customers. Mr. Moran said restaurants using the "BYOB"policy should not be less regulated than establishments with liquor licenses. Mr. Annino said he thinks a policy would help restaurants manage patrons. Mr. Kozlowski asked what the process would be; Mr. Ross said the town would develop a "BYOB"policy, and noted the town already does inspections for common victualer licenses, so there wouldn't necessarily be additional inspections. Mr. Ross said the draft policy requires all employees to be TIPS trained; the board discussed requiring management and waitstaff in"BYOB"establishments be TIPS trained. Mr. Kozlowski asked what would happen if a non-restaurant establishment applied for a "BYOB"license. Mr. Ross said this would be limited to restaurants without liquor licenses. Mr. Ross noted the policy would prohibit restaurants from charging corkage fees. Mr. Kozlowski said because the restaurants would not be profiting from patrons bringing their own alcohol, prohibiting corkage fees would require restaurant owners to decide whether allowing the practice would be worth doing. Mr. Ross suggested the board consider the draft policy and think about possible fees. Mr. Kozlowski asked to find out how much of the current license fees go to the state. Mr. Aptowitz noted the entire "BYOB" fee would stay with the town. Mr. Kozlowski asked how many liquor licenses are currently available; Mr. Ross said there are two all-alcohol licenses available in town. The board will review the policy and discuss it at the January 9, 2013 meeting. Mr. Ross said town counsel will be at that meeting. Mr. Ross said the report is a draft, but said he believes the basics are there and it includes enough for the board to work with. He said he would supply the School Committee and Finance Committee with copies and suggested scheduling a workshop. He said if there are any items that will have to go to Annual Town Meeting, the workshop should be done soon because the warrant closes March 1. He said one of those items may be the creation of a Finance Director. He said the state law allowing the creation of that position gives the Town Manager the authority to make the appointment, but he said that may not be in keeping with the Town Charter. He said another option is the Finance Director could be either the Town Accountant or Town Treasurer; with the Finance Director portion of the position appointed by the Town Manager, and the Town Accountant and Town Treasurer positions appointed by the Board of Selectmen. The other option would be to have the Finance Director appointed by the Board of Selectmen. Mr. Moran said the first option seems like the cleanest to implement. Mr. Ross said the statute says Town Meeting can adopt the section to allow the creation of the position, which should be followed up with a by-law establishing the process. He said if the suggestion to create the position is brought to Town Meeting, it should be accompanied by a by-law. Mr. Ross said the purpose of the Finance Director would be to provide oversight of all the town's financial processes by creating a consolidated department of finance with one person in charge. There would still be Town Treasurer and Town Accountant positions under the Finance Director; he noted one of those people could also be the Finance Director. Mr. Aptowitz suggested the report should be made available to the public. Mr. Ross said it can be, but noted it is a draft document. Mr. Aptowitz asked where the Finance Director would fit with the School Department's finances; Mr. Ross said that would have to be worked out with the School Committee. Mr. Aptowitz said he thinks it is time to move forward with this. Mr. Kozlowski asked about a timetable; Mr. Ross suggested holding a workshop in the next few weeks. Mr. Aptowitz said there are a lot of changes in the draft, which will impact a number of departments. Mr. Ross said there are some policy items for the Board of Selectmen and Town Meeting to decide, but there are also some simple things, like cleaning up old capital accounts. Mr. Kozlowski suggested scheduling that workshop on January 16 or 23, 2013. Warrants 1. Town Warrant 13026T $1,608,976.15 Motion: To approve Town warrant 13026T $1,608,976.15 (Aptowitz-Annino) All in favor. PASSES 2. Electric Department Warrant 13026S $87,931.38 Motion: To approve Electric Department warrant 13026S $87,931.38 (Aptowitz-Annion) All in favor. PASSES 3. School Department Warrant 13026 $410,420.17 Motion: To approve School Department warrant 13026 $410,420.17 (Aptowitz-Annino) All in favor. PASSES 4. Payroll Warrant 13026PT $305,120.12 Motion: To approve payroll warrant 13026PT $305,120.12 (Aptowitz-Annino) All in favor. PASSES 5. Town Warrant 13027T $216,733.49 Motion: To approve Town warrant 13027T $216,733.49 (Aptowitz-Annino) All in favor. PASSES 6. Electric Department Warrant 13027E $15,209.20 Motion: To approve Electric Department warrant $15,209.20 (Aptowitz-Annino) All in favor. PASSES 7. Town Payroll Warrant 13027PT $305,292.68 Motion: To approve Town Payroll Warrant $305,292.68 (Aptowitz-Annino) All in favor. PASSES 8. Town Payroll Deductions Warrant ($90,272.92) Motion: To approve Town Payroll Deductions Warrant ($90,272.92) (Aptowitz-Annino) All in favor. PASSES 9. School Payroll Warrant 13027PS $1,451,486.09 Motion: To approve School Payroll Warrant 13027PS $1,451,486.09 (Aptowtiz-Annino) Three in favor. Annino opposed. PASSES 10. School Warrant 13027SV $481,126.66 Motion: To approve School Warrant 13027SV $481,126.66 (Aptowtiz-Annino) All in favor. PASSES Correspondence 1. December 20, 2012 and December 24, 2012 letters from Comcast re: price adjustments 2. December 21, 2012 letter from Verizon re: price adjustments 3. Thank you letters from Donna Harrington, leaf raking coordinator 4. December 27, 2012 memorandum from Capital Improvements Committee re: FY 13-14 capital plan The November 14, 2012, November 28, 2012, December 12, 2012 and December 19, 2012 minutes were tabled until the January 9, 2013 meeting. Mr. Ross said the first snowstorm of the season was very well handled. He said there was one issue with a downtown restaurant, and he has met with the owner and DPW to work it out. He said the town needs to get the information about a snow emergency out to downtown establishments in advance of the plowing beginning. Mr. Ross said he has made an offer to someone for the Executive Secretary position and hopes she will begin on January 18. Mr. Ross said the Commonwealth has approved Mark Morris as the company to conduct the police chief search. Civil service has to approve the job posting. Mr. Ross said he hopes to begin work with the assessment center in late January-early February and begin reviewing candidates in March. He said he hopes to make an appointment by mid-March. He said he has informed current Mansfield Police Department employees about the process and encouraged them to apply. Mr. Ross said he will have the municipal budget prepared next week, and the Electric Department budget will go to the Light Commissioners. He said the municipal budget has no proposal for added staff and no major additions in hours; it also includes capital items. Mr. Ross said he will be out of town April 24-30 and asked to avoid scheduling Annual Town Meeting during that time. • Mr. Ross said he has received a draft of School Department telephone system study and hopes to have the final report with numbers next week. Mr. Aptowitz said he, Mr. Ross and Mr. Kozlowski have begun meeting with Comcast and suggested scheduling another meeting. He asked the members to let him know of any additional questions or comments. Mr. Aptowitz said he met with Bob Brown, who is working on the June town audit. The Electric Department audit is complete. Mr. Ross said he is forming an audit committee. Mr. Moran said the budgets will be presented next week, and he suggested residents get involved early. He said towns will probably not be getting additional state funding, so the budget season will be difficult. He said the town has to manage its way to a better position and keep an eye on the long view. He said the board will try to keep residents informed prior to Town Meeting. Mr. Annino asked about the capital budget; Mr. Ross said that will be part of his budget presentation. Mr. Annino said he would like to see the justifications for the capital requests. Mr. Moran said the capital improvements committee tries to prioritize the requests from each department, and said he would be happy to further explain that list. Mr. Annino said he is concerned about the funding for the Highway Garage. He said he supports it, but is concerned about the approach and the cost. Mr. Moran said the construction has been put off for years, and the longer it is delayed,the more expensive it becomes, and more repairs to existing buildings are required. Mr. Ross said there is quite a bit of excluded debt coming off the rolls in the next few years, which will give the town an opportunity to move forward with large projects like the Highway Garage without any tax increase. Mr. Annino said he would like to see the explanation of the Highway Garage request. Mr. Kozlowski said he is pleased the board is meeting with other boards more often. He said he would like to have a chairman's meeting at the end of January. Mr. Aptowitz said there are three new pay boxes at the train station building and asked if all three should be in the same place. Mr. Ross said he is looking at moving one to the southwest corner of the large lot and one to the Winthrop Street lot. Mr. Ross said he has downloaded and used the new MBTA app for buying tickets, and it works well. Mr. Kozlowski said that app does not work to buy train tickets to Patriot's games. Mr. Ross asked the board to let his office know if they are planning to attend MMA. Motion: To adjourn at 8:15 p.m. (Aptowtiz-Annino) All in favor. PASSES evuz Vixneut Paaucaiuy 99, 2013 Signature of Clerk Date of Approval