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HomeMy WebLinkAboutmin brd of selectmen 07/09/01 r Board of Selectmen Minutes of July 9. 2001 RECEIVED TO\:V~I CI PH,S OFF ICE o I JUL I 9 AM 9: 55 Present: t'1td1Sr: IELO Chairman Louis P. Amoruso; Vice Chairman BMA$AIEH~J;T~erk Michael W. McCue; and Selectmen David W. McCarter and Daniel Donovan. Town Manager John D'Agostino The meeting was called to order at 7:30 p.m., followed by the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag. · Warrant No. 54 in the amount of $1,760,289.50 Motion: To approve and sign (Donovan-McCarter) 5-0 with Vice Chairman Wills abstaining from Voucher #64744 and Selectman McCarter abstaining from Municipal Building Committee payroll Passes ,- · Warrant No. 02 in the amount of $102,099.24 Motion: To approve and sign (McCarter-Wills) 5-0 with Selectman McCarter abstaining from Municipal Building Committee payroll Passes · Minutes of June 27, 2001 Motion : To approve (McCue-McCarter) 5-0 Passes I"- · Drainlayer's Licenses Jack Riccio/Riccio Builders Motion : To approve (Wills-Donovan) 5-0 Passes Peter DeGirolamo and Sons, Inc. Motion : To approve (Donovan-Wills) 5-0 Passes Roy DeGirolamo/Cat Alley farm Motion : To approve Board of Selectmen Minutes of July 9,2001 1 '. r (Donovan-Wills) 5-0 Passes Christian & Feck Motion : To approve (Donovan-Wills) 5-0 Passes Turner Brothers,LLC Motion : To approve (Donovan-Wills) 5-0 Passes Bella Construction Corp. Motion : To approve (Donovan-Wills) 5-0 Passes · Local Official Bond for Sandra Louise Larosee, Assistant Treasurer Motion: To sign (Donovan-McCarter) 5-0 Passes · One Day Beer and Wine License for Robin Pickette for July 18th at Tweeter Center (voted last meeting; needs to be signed) Motion: To sign the license (Wills-McCue) 3-2 with Donovan and McCarter opposed Passes r Selectman Donovan stated there should be some rules and regulations established regarding liability and other matters in connection with these licenses. He said he is also troubled with an individual taking out a license in her name for the profit of a corporation. Selectman McCarter stated he believes licenses such as this are a circumvention of the statute. The consensus of the Board was to have the Police Chief provide a detail at the gate to the Tweeter tent at the license holder's expense to be certain that no patrons purchasing alcohol in the tent area leave that area with it and that no patron purchasing alcohol under the other license enter the tent area carrying alcohol purchased outside the tent; to monitor that there is no intermingling of the alcohol purchased under the various licenses; and to advise the license holder that the license is subject to proof of proper liability coverage. Town ManaQer and Staff ~ · Letter from Robert B. Button, MEMA Director, regarding loaning of Town property Board of Selectmen Minutes of July 9,2001 2 ~ I · Letter from Gale Farrugia, COA Director, regarding loaning of Town property Boards and Committees · Letter from Nancielee Boyden, President of Mansfield Cable Access Board regarding picture quality issues. Letter to Frank Foss attached, along with various other e-maJ1 communications to him regarding other complaints. Ms. Boyden will be advised that the Board has referred the matter to Frank Foss. State and Local Government r-- · Letter from Southeastern Regional Services Group (SERSG) asking the Selectmen to vote to consent to Lorusso assigning its rights, duties, benefits, obligations, liabilities or responsibility under the contracts indicated on the enclosed award sheets to Aggregate Industries. The Town Manager noted this is the result of a buy-out. Motion: To approve Lorusso assigning its rights, duties, benefits, obligations, liabilities or responsibility under the contracts indicated to Aggregate Industries (Wills-McCue) 5-0 Passes · Letter from the Town of Wales, MA, thanking the Town of Mansfield and Petco for the donation of the animal control van Residents · Letter from Mary Beth Civetti requesting a barricade at Route 106 and the end of Clinton Street from 6:00 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. on Friday, July 20th for a neighborhood cookout. Has been sent to Po/ice and Fire Chiefs for review and recommendation. Recommendations from Pt/m. Lawson · Motion: To approve with recommendations (Donovan-Wills) 5-0 Passes Other Correspondence ~ · Letter from John P. McDonough of Abbott Real Estate Development requesting fees totaling $11,304.07 paid for Site Plan Review and Special Permit Application which were withdrawn be applied to their new applications when submitted. The Planning Director is on vacation and we have not received his recommendation on this. His policy is generally to recommend in instances such as this that any portion of the fee that remained unused at the time of Board of Selectmen Minutes of July 9, 2001 3 r- withdrawal be applied to the new applications. He has not, however, determined what that amount would be. Motion: To approve subject to the recommendation of the Town Planner (Donovan-Wills) 5-0 Passes - . Applications for Ad Hoc Town Meeting Committee Jim Donnelly, 14 Freedom Trail Ralph Penney, 336 Maple Street Steve MacCaffrie, 236 Mill Street Selectman Donovan suggested the application of Mr. MacCaffrie be removed due to the way the application was made out. Appoint Ralph Penney (Wills-Donovan) 5-0 Passes Appoint Jim Donnelly (Wills-Donovan) 5-0 Passes Appoint Dave McCarter (Wills-Donovan) 5-0 Passes Appoint Bob Saquet (Wills-Donovan) 5-0 Passes The application of Steve MacCaffrie and the memorandum from the Town Manager were read into the record. r - Chairman Amoruso said he realizes Mr. MacCaffrie can be abrasive and "flip" but believes he has the interests of the Town at heart. An application will be sought from Maureen Doherty who had expressed an interest in the committee. The applications will be left open and Mr. MacCaffrie will be asked to fill out the application in an appropriate manner. Helen Christian will serve as staff. Chairman Amoruso called for questions and comments from the audience. There were none forthcoming. The draft agreement was approved at last week's meeting. It will be put into final form and signed by the Board. ".-.- Board of Selectmen Minutes of July 9,2001 4 r- - Treasurer/Collector Richard Boucher; Light Department Director Jack Beliveau; and Kimberly Stoyle, Financial Director for the Light Department, were present to discuss the issue. Town Manager D'Agostino requested a six-month trial period for the continuation of bill payment and processing being handled by the Treasurer's office. Following that period, the process will be converted to a lock box function if it is not working out satisfactorily. Payment in lieu of taxes was also addressed, with actual costs being established. r' Mr. Boucher reviewed the history of the process and procedures used, noting that scan lines were added to the bills and were outsourced. About 60 percent of the collections of the Treasurer's Office are Light Department bills. His past experience proved to him that there were many circumstances whereby payments could not be processed through a lock box system with a bank. He also spoke of various changes to the procedure which have been instituted during his tenure. He acknowledged there have been some problems with proper coding. He stated his belief that the process is more efficient being handled in-house and his realization that he needs to treat the Light Department as a customer and not a Town department. Mr. Boucher noted his pledge to the Town Manager to try to provide what the Light Department is looking for throughout the next six months. - The budget process also needs to be looked at with regard to the percentage used in billing. At the current time the Light Department is being billed 50 percent of the costs of the Treasurer's Office. Director Beliveau said he gets a bill each June 30th from the Town for services rendered, which was $133,000., in addition to the PILOT payment. Since it was costing so much, he began looking at lock box services. He noted the figure keeps increasing each year and is now close to $500,000. and will be $600,000. next year. Town Manager D'Agostino stated we need to determine what the actual costs are and charge those costs appropriately. Of the $883,000. this year, $433,000. were actual. What the Light Department pays becomes part of the revenue in the Town budget, so if that is reduced the revenue has to be made up someplace else. Mr. Beliveau noted the Light Department cannot charge the ratepayer for services they are not receiving. The PILOT payment will have to be adjusted at the Fall ___ Special Town Meeting. It has been a political decision rather than being based on actual costs. Board of Selectmen Minutes of July 9,2001 5 r- - Selectman McCarter asked what impact going to a lock box system would have on the number of personnel needed in the Treasurer's Office. Mr. Boucher noted there would still be a percentage of the bills they would need to process. The Treasurer's Office also performs other functions and, although their workload would be lightened, it would not be sufficient to reduce the number of personnel. Mr. Beliveau elaborated on the lock box system and how and when they were instituted. They were originally established by large department stores, eventually moving to banks to handle the collection for increased efficiency and to get the funds into their accounts and earning interest faster. Currently sixty towns in Massachusetts are working through Century Bank's lock box system. The Light Department was experiencing problems with reconciliation and a high error rate through the Treasurer's Office and were experiencing customer service problems. There was a 1/2000 error rate with the Treasurer's Office and 1/26,000 with Century Bank. Mr. Boucher stated his belief that the error rate in his office is 1/14,000, but pledged his effort at improving. Mr. Beliveau noted banks process 100 percent of what is received the day it is received. The payment process at the Treasurer's Office closes at 2:00 p.m., with the window closing at 1:00 p.m. so everything can be reconciled and taken to the bank. r' Chairman Amoruso noted this does not address the use of credit cards to pay Town bills. Mr. Boucher said he has contacted the bank and they will be instituting the use of credit cards. He noted the problem has been the cost associated with using credit cards and how we will make up that revenue. Chairman Amoruso noted his concern that the Town expenses charged to the Light Department may also be happening with the Water Department and others. The PILOT will be increased, with the bill for expenses being decreased. The $146,000 bill from the Town cannot be paid as such, but can be approved as a PILOT if voted by the Light Commissioners. Motion: To give them until January 15th to straighten out the payment processing procedures and evaluate the situation then. (Donovan-Wills) 5-0 Passes Motion: To approve as Light Commissioners an additional $164,377.30 PILOT payment from the Light Department for the Town's FY '02 budget to $464,377.30 this year (McCue-Wills) 5-0 Passes The Town Manager asked Mr. Boucher for a report on the implementation of the .'-- use of credit cards. Mr. Boucher said he will provide that and hopes to have the program going within thirty days. Board of Selectmen Minutes of July 9, 2001 6 r - Police Chief Arthur M. O'Neill reported there have been three incidents to date of concerts going beyond the 11:00 p.m. curfew imposed by the license agreement. The incidents occurred as follows: Tuesday, June 26th, Aerosmith went 2 minutes over Thursday, June 28th Aerosmith went 11 minutes over Sunday, July 8th Tom Petty went 1 minute over The Chief noted that Aerosmith's lead singer, Steve Tyler, announced very vociferously their intent to go over the 11:00 p.m. curfew. r- Tweeter Center General Manager Bruce Montgomery noted they take the matter very seriously; however, last night's violation of one minute was a matter of seconds displayed on different watches. The eleven minute overtime he believes was a betrayal of trust on the part of the performer. He noted the cooperative efforts between the Police Chief and himself on other occasions to get the concert completed by 11:00 p.m. Motion: To have Tweeter Center pay the fines as spelled out in the license agreement for each of the three violations - $.05 per patron. (Wills-Donovan) 3-2 with McCarter and McCue opposed Passes The Town Manager noted certified attendance numbers are necessary from the Tweeter Center. Selectmen McCarter and Clerk McCue indicated they would have preferred to vote on each violation individually. Clerk McCue stated he was in favor of the two Aerosmith fines, but not the fine for the one minute overtime performance of the Tom Petty Band. - DPW Director Lee Azinheira reviewed the policy dated June 13th, as well as the interim policy that was instituted when the complaint was initially made. One change made was to no longer allow employees to use the Town garage to work on their personal vehicles. The policy contained an introduction and sections pertaining to the lending/borrowing of Town property by Town employees, the general public, and contractors. The Sign-Out Policy was also detailed and items that will no longer be available for loan were spelled out. Selectman Donovan asked if we charge the Light Department when they borrow our equipment, noting his concern that they charge us but we don't charge them. Mr. ,-- Azinheira said he will be tracking it this year, as well as the work done and equipment used for the Water Department as both the Light and Water Board of Selectmen Minutes of July 9, 2001 7 r Departments are enterprise accounts. He believes that in the past the Light Department has only charged us when we use a backhoe with an operator for snow removal. For proper budgeting and accounting, all work done for and with departments funded through an enterprise fund will be tracked from the start of the fiscal year to meet statutory requirements. We are charged the same rate as any customer for work performed for us by the Light Department involving parts. Selectman McCarter noted his statements regarding the loaning/borrowing of Town equipment were directed to the borrowing of equipment and tools by employees and the public. It was never his intention for it to affect MEMA or the Council on Aging. He does, however, disagree vehemently with Town employees taking home equipment despite the good intentions. r Clerk McCue noted his concern regarding the memo from the Council on Aging being in conflict with the "general public" portion of the DPW policy. Chairman Amoruso noted the benefit of reciprocal sharing with contractors under the control and direction of department heads. He did not agree with loaning small tools to either employees or the public except in appropriate emergency situations. He suggested the policy be re-written to allow reciprocal borrowing with contractors but not the loaning of equipment and tools to employees or the public. Selectman McCarter noted the difference between tools and equipment being used on a public project and the lending of equipment for personal use by either employees or the public. Motion: To adopt the policy of June 13,2001 (Donovan - no second) Consensus: To continue working on the policy and that non-registered small equipment and tools may not be loaned to employees or the general public for private purposes except in the case of emergency situations, public or neighborhood projects and then at the discretion of the department head. - The Town Manager reported the following: . Advised the Board of the receipt of the application from Maureen Doherty for the Town Meeting Review Committee and the fact that the application deadline was July 13th. ,-- . The Town completed a site visit with Joel Lerner seeking a grant for the purchase of the Essex Street land for passive recreation. The grant decisions are due in October and will be competitive, requiring us to provide supplemental information. We have 5.2 acres in the rear of the parcel which we may use for Board of Selectmen Minutes of July 9, 2001 8 r- additional water supply and will be looking for a crossing over the Essex Street land for access to it. An easement will be submitted to the Fall Town Meeting and is necessary prior to the grant application. · We have a management letter from our auditors, the Brown Company, and would like to schedule them with the Board on July 18th if they are available. He suggested Brown Company could be scheduled at 7:45 p.m. and the Train Station Update moved to 8:30 p.m. · We are preparing another 418 Certification form because the one we prepared, given to us by the State, was the wrong form. It will provide the Town extra points on our application for purchasing the Essex Street property. We will be going forward with the housing application and will be hiring a consultant to assist us. If we are awarded the grant, we will be eligible for $3,500 reimbursement for the grant application preparation. · We are exploring a new product to combat graffiti throughout town. There is a product that will allow us to apply a primer coat and an additional coat and then remove the graffiti with a soap and water method. The back of the garage at the COA will be used to test the product. r' · Plans to take his vacation from July 2pt through August 4th and will be appointing an acting Town Manager during his absence. Clerk McCue asked when the Town Meeting survey will be going out with the electric bills and about putting in a link on the website to download and print the survey. Vice Chairman Wills asked for the number of employees (198 full-time; 28 part- time employees); a breakdown of all attorney fees; how long it takes to sweep the town; when crosswalk painting will be completed (we ran out of funds and had to stop until the new budget and expect to have them done sometime in July); asked about weed-killers on sidewalks (We have been told by the State that we cannot use them on public sidewalks and must do it manually or with weed wackers.) If that is a priority of the Board, the Town Manager will have it done. He also questioned the work that needs to be done around town and the weekly reports presented which he does not believe cover the work he sees that needs to be done. -- He noted potholes and weeds as a concern. Board of Selectmen Minutes of July 9,2001 9 .r' Selectman McCarter asked for an update on the bikepath. We will schedule the Planning Director in August. Noted receiving an e-mail from a resident regarding the purchase of the radar trailer that was not approved at Town Meeting. The Town Accountant will not approve the voucher if the expense is inappropriate. Asked the status of the church banner issue. The Town Manager noted we allow them to use our common areas and are not denying them their freedom of speech. Motion: To adjourn at 10:58 p.m. (Donovan-Wills) 5-0 Passes .ß¿::M4 v Signature of Clerk Ig Jml r- - ,,;-- Board of Selectmen Minutes of July 9, 2001 10