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HomeMy WebLinkAboutmin brd of selectmen 07/18/01 Present: o I AUG - 2 AM 9: 2 I ~1ANSFIELO MASSACHUSETTS Vice Chairman Bradford E. Wills; Clerk Michael W. McCue; and Selectman Daniel Donovan. Town Manager John D'Agostino Board of Selectmen Minutes of July 18, 2001 RECEIVED TOWN C! ERKS OFFICE r The meeting was called to order at 7:30 p.m., followed by the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag. Acting Chairman Wills announced that Selectman McCarter is on vacation and Chairman Amoruso is home with a broken arm. · Warrant No. 55 in the amount of $369,463.64 Motion: To approve and sign (' (Donovan-McCue) 3-0 Passes · Warrant No. 03 in the amount of $3,070,916.41 Motion: To approve and sign (Donovan-McCue) 3-0 Passes · Warrant No. 04 in the amount of $2,030,340.96 Motion: To approve and sign (Donovan-McCue) 3-0 Passes · Minutes of July 9, 2001 Motion : To approve (McCue-Donovan) 3-0 Passes Town Manager and Staff Correspondence · Memorandum from DPW Director Lee Azinheira with draft Water Audit Report r prepared by Woodard & Curran in response to the Norton disputed bill. There will be a table of definitions added. The report is favorable to the Town of Board of Selectmen Minutes of July 18, 2001 1 r Mansfield and will be shared with Norton's Counsel in an effort to reach a resolution. Motion: To table until everyone's had an opportunity to read it. (Donovan-McCue) 3-0 Passes · Memorandum from Shaun P. Burke, Director of Planning and Development updating the Selectmen on the Village at the Pointe filing fee unused balance · Letter from Lt. Walter Crickard of Mansfield Police Department with an announcement that must be read regarding the award of a Federal grant of $47,370 from the Bureau of Justice Assistance. Clerk McCue read the announcement. r · Memorandum from Shaun P. Burke, Director of Planning and Development, and concurring memorandum from Town Manager D'Agostino suggesting the Town sponsor the street acceptance articles at the Fall Special Town Meeting for those street acceptance articles that were withdrawn at the Annual at the request of staff. Motion: To waive the 100 signature requirement and accept the signatures (Donovan-McCue) 3-0 Passes · Memorandum of Agreement for Wastewater Treatment between the Town of Mansfield and Town of Foxborough/YMCA - two copies must be signed. The agreement was signed · Memorandum from Bert Cook as Zoning Enforcement Officer to the Town Manager with forwarding memorandum to Ptlm. Lance Lawson for his review and comments W/Ï/ wait for Ptlm. Lawson's comments · Purchase and Sale Agreement for Winslow property on Essex Street prepared by Town Counsel Mangiaratti Motion: To sign the purchase and sale agreement (Donovan-McCue) 3-0 Passes Board and Committee Correspondence · Letter from Constable James A. Carey responding to complaint of Michael Marram Forward letter to complainant. r Board of Selectmen Minutes of July 18, 2001 2 r State and Local Government · Letter from Massachusetts Local Election Districts Review Commission approving the six precincts submitted by Mansfield Residents · E-mail from Karen M. Kane regarding a parking ticket received and her experience with the Town Clerk's Office and the Parking Clerk. We wJ1/ look into additional signage regarding the procedure and notify her. · E-mail from Kay Clare regarding an "unneighborly act" done to her elderly in- laws at 194 Central Street and asking for the Town's assistance in resolving the matter. Staff has sent a letter to Gale Farrugia who will be getting volunteers together to clean it up. Selectman Donovan noted the business owner should not be allowed to get away with dumping lawn debris onto someone else's property. r · E-mail from a resident questioning the purchase of a trailer mounted radar display unit for which he states funding was denied at Town Meeting. Were investigating the issue and the individual has been responded to. If there is money within the budget of the Police Department and the Selectmen choose to approve that purchase for public safety purposes, it is an expenditure allowed by the Department of Revenue. The Chief will be asked to come in to discuss this further. Finance Committee Chairman Gazzolo noted it was denied twice because it was determined the need was not there. If there's extra money in the budget, it should be returned to Free Cash. Finance Committee member Dennis Grady noted it was originally in the Police budget for $15,000. and it was not supported by Board It was pulled out and put to Town Meeting voters to decide and it was voted down twice. Although it may be within the power of the Selectmen to authorize it, a contradiction of policy would result. Clerk McCue noted he was not aware that it was turned down twice at Town Meeting. Table and further investigate. · Letter from Heidi Eckhart requesting the closure of James Street on August 18th from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. for a block party - recommendations from Police and Fire Chiefs attached Motion: To approve with proper signage and emergency access (Donovan-McCue) 3-0 Passes r' Board of Selectmen Minutes of July 18, 2001 3 r Other Correspondence · Letter from Jim Adams, Chairperson of the Expansion Committee for Our Daily Bread Food Pantry, requesting a fee waiver to include demolition permit fees, building permit fees, ZBA fees, and any other fees that may be applicable. The Board has the authority to waive the Towns portion of any fees set by them. We will advise him of the fees we can waive and request proof of non- profit status. · Complaint from Stephanie Martin of Foxboro regarding her experience at the Tweeter Center on June 30th Forward to Tweeter Center, Board of Health, and Building Inspector r · Applications for Ad Hoc Town Meeting Committee Steve MacCaffrie, 236 Mill Street Lou Andrews, 255 Fruit Street Maureen Doherty, 3 Darby Drive Motion: To appoint Maureen Doherty (Donovan-McCue) 3-0 Passes Motion: To increase the committee to seven people (McCue-no second) · Memorandum from DPW Director Lee Azinheira recommending approval of a water connection at 43 North Main Street Motion : To approve (Donovan-McCue) 3-0 Passes Steve MacCaffrie of 236 Mill Street - took exception to the way the Town Meeting Conduct Committee appointments were handled at last week's meeting. He pointed out that he was the one who suggested the committee, the Chairman commented that he'd put his name down, and thought he was going to be a member. He noted his haste to complete the application, combined with his personality, resulted in an application the Board was not happy with. He also noted the application, as a public record, requests too much personal information and suggested it be handled in a different manner. r Board of Selectmen Minutes of July 18, 2001 4 r Present were Town Treasurer/Collector Richard Boucher; Town Accountant Bea Kearney; Finance Committee Chairman Andres Gazzolo, Finance Committee Member Dennis Grady; and Brown and Company representatives Robert Brown and Chris Laviolette. Mr. Brown presented the three parts of the audit: Government Auditing Standards, General Purpose Financial Statements, and the Management Letter. He advised the Selectmen of the changes that will be taking place in the future as the result of recent changes. Mr. Brown directed the Board to page 5 of the Financial Statements - Combined Statements of Revenues and Expenditures - and noted there might very well be budget restraints in the future. Page 25 was also reviewed with regard to collections. There were no findings on the Federal Grant Audit. The Management Letter contains six comments, none of which are new. Two are repeat and remain unresolved; two were resolutions in process; and two were resolved last year. r Selectman Donovan noted the report to him seemed to praise the Town. Mr. Brown stated there has been a lot of good work and progress is being made, but there are some items that still need to be worked on. The problems experienced in Mansfield are being experienced nationwide, with less than three percent not facing the same issue with the financial statements. The new requirements will compare revenue and expenditures in categories. r' Acting Chairman Wills asked about unreconciled balances. Mr. Brown explained the issue is the process rather than the numbers. A good list of outstanding checks has not been satisfactorily established and that in turn affects the reconciliation process. They do not believe the balance is incorrect, but it appears there are checks listed as outstanding that are not outstanding. Town Manager D'Agostino noted the problem goes back ten years. Mr. Brown pointed out the problem is procedural in the reconciliation process. They have made recommendations in each instance. They are confident that it is not a matter of money missing, but of untimely reconciliation. The accounts need to be reconciled both accurately and in a timely fashion. His recommendation is that the check registers be cleaned up and the reconciliations done within thirty days. The day-to-day documentation is good and the reporting from the Accounting Department to the Treasurer/Collector's Office is not a problem. As some point an adjustment should be made for the variance. As of the end of May there's a variance of approximately $30,000. At the end of the June report we'll have better information. There were some checks listed as outstanding that went back to 1989. The Collector's side is working fine; the Treasurer's side is not yet working as effectively as it should be. The reconciliations are now up-to-date and we should not fall behind again. Board of Selectmen Minutes of July 18, 2001 5 r r r Acting Chairman Wills asked the Town Accountant if the payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT) being increased is something she should have brought to the Board's attention. She explained it is based on charges for the current year, and it is not possible to determine the amount until the end of the year. The Light Department gets a copy of the budget and the charges are a part of the budget. Town Manager D'Agostino explained additional communication has been established with the Light Department to prevent this problem from occurring in the future. Costs have to be established and categorized correctly by actual expenditures and PILOT payments. Mr. Gazzolo asked if we have software to handle the fixed assets and how capitalization is being handled. He also asked if the contract with the accountants will be handled by a competitive bid. Mr. D'Agostino noted that when we go to GADSBY34 we would want to do that. Frank Gay, Administrator for the Greater Attleboro Taunton Regional Transit Authority (GATRA) was present to update the Selectmen on the progress of the Train Station Project. An Executive Session was suggested for August 15'h to discuss landtaking. Town Counsel w/Ï/ be asked to attend The preferred plan that was adopted was displayed and discussed, with Mr. Gay pointing out the two phases of the project. The first phase is at the 100 percent design stage and has gone to Amtrak for review. This will be the first project adjacent to the new high speed corridor that will require modifications to the track. Issues relative to the signal system are still being discussed between the MBT A and Amtrak. The platform edge on the north side of the track remains an issue, in addition to issues remaining on the curvature of the track on the approach to the station. Additional funds have been appropriated for a study of the Route 106 underpass and testing is being done in preparation of recommendations being made. A third issue is a piece of the handicapped walkway that encroaches on Cleveland Twist property and they have denied us an easement. If need be, it will be taken by eminent domain, if grant money is available to deal with the issue. Mr. Ditchman threatened to close off Allen Street in an attempt to force GA TRA to deal with him. The value of the property has been determined to be approximately $3.5 million; however, Mr. Ditchman wants much more than the appraised value. It is hoped that the construction of the building will be ready to go out for bid this fall. They agreed today to get "big" Amtrak and "little" Amtrak people together with the MBT A to attempt to work out the problems. Board of Selectmen Minutes of July 18, 2001 6 r Acting Chairman Wills asked how the GA TRA commuter bus is working out in Norton. Mr. Gay reported it is going well and he would like to report on that service and the Mansfield Connection service in August. r r The Town Manager reported the following: · Lou Andrews has donated his time to improve the website and it is being updated and new information added. Clerk McCue asked if the Selectmen's approved minutes could be put on the website. · Chief O'Neill reported the Tweeter Center decided not to use the One Day License granted by the Board. The Town Manager recommended the Selectmen develop a policy and criteria for the issuance of such licenses to include the amount of liability coverage, the need for a detail officer at the distribution point, and if we want to get into the business of issuing such licenses. · Discussions have taken place regarding a change in the State Law relative to the solid waste contract that have increased the tipping fee charged to NEED. We believe we have an obligation to pay this increase. We are currently in negotiations with them and anticipate the need to stabilize our tipping fee with the current contractor. Many municipalities have contracted with SEMASS for 20-year terms and have locked into very favorable rates. Our trash contractor never informed us of the change in law in Rhode Island that affects our rate. The SEMASS rate will be $75/ton for a ten-year contract, with adjustments based on the Consumer Price Index. Acting Chairman Wills asked to see the contract with NEED that enables them to charge more. The tipping fee is not affected by the economy as much as it is by the number of places available for disposal. SEMASS operates on a trash to energy concept and will allow us flexibility. An Executive Session will be needed after the Town Manager's return from vacation to work out the details. · DPW Director Lee Azinheira will be serving as Acting Town Manager during the Town Manager's absence due to the on-going discussions regarding solid waste. He has spoken with Jack Beliveau who has served as Acting Town Manager in the past, and he is very busy right now with the substation work going on. Board of Selectmen Minutes of July 18, 2001 7 · . r Clerk McCue noted his appreciation for getting the Town Meeting Survey on-line and asked people to respond. If people don't have access to the internet, there are copies of the survey available at the Town Clerk's Office. Acting Chairman Wills thanked the Town Manager for getting all the information he requested. He noted total legal expenses for 2001 of $185,901.20. Clerk McCue stated he was approached by an elderly homeowner and asked if the grant program would take care of a lead paint problem. The grant deadline date has been moved from August to September, with notification of grant awards to be made in October or November. Mr. D'Agostino briefly reviewed the issues that are being looked at. r Acting Chairman Wills responded to a comment made by Steve MacCaffrie that left the impression with the public that the Selectmen read letters on a selective basis. The issue referred to by Mr. MacCaffrie was dealt with very publicly with the discussion of the tool lending policy and there was no need to read the letter referred to. It is the Board's decision as to what needs to be read. Clerk McCue noted that he makes a decision as he' s going through the synopsis of each letter whether or not to expound on a letter and honors the requests of other Selectmen to read correspondences in their entirety. Motion: To adjourn at 10:15 p.m. (Donovan-Wills) 3-0 Passes ~tÝtt/.¡¿£ Signature of Clerk I AU6 0/ Date of Approval ,--. Board of Selectmen Minutes of July 18, 2001 8