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HomeMy WebLinkAboutmin brd of selectmen 05/23/01 Present: RtCE\~~O f \C£ '!,IM rol. FB \ '.~) OF 10 \~ \' \" \ '1 \ M'\ 9~ 21 O\M~',J May 23, 2001 ., ì\ .··,~>¡-\£.LO t-'S~C\;USE11S Chairman Louis P. Amoruso, Chairman; Michael W. MccJ~~~lerk; and Selectman Daniel Donovan. Town Manager John D'Agostino Board of Selectmen Minutes of r The meeting was called to order at 7:30 p.m., followed by the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag. Chairman Amoruso noted Selectmen McCarter and Wills are absent from the Selectmen's meeting because they are representing the Town as Light Commissioners at a New England Power Company meeting this evening. . Warrant No. 48 in the amount of $3,460,581.47 Motion: To approve and sign r- (Donovan-McCue) 3-0 Passes · Minutes of May 16, 2001 Motion : To approve (Donovan-McCue) 3-0 Passes · Executive Session Minutes of May 16, 2001 Motion: To approve but not release (Donovan-McCue) 3-0 Passes · Applications for four (4) hackney carriage licenses expiring MClrch 31, 2002,for Foxfield Taxi Motion : To approve (Donovan-McCue) 3-0 Passes r Board of Selectmen Minutes of May 23, 2001 1 r- . Memorandum from Police Chief Arthur M. O'Neill with the report of Traffic Officer Lance Lawson relative to the request of Mansfield Children's Center at 1100 School Street Motion: To forward to Mansfield Children's Center a copy of Officer Lawson's recommendation and to offer his assistance in the implementation of the recommendations made. (Donovan-McCue) 3-0 Passes The Town Manager will set up a meeting with the Children's Center, Officer Lawson and the Department of Public Works. · Memorandum from Catherine Salisbury of Southeastern Regional Services Group requesting Selectmen to sign the corrected award sheet for DPW Supplies and Water Treatment Chemicals Motion To sign (McCue-Donovan) 3-0 Passes · Memorandum from Helen P. Christian, Town Clerk, regarding her survey of other towns holding Saturday Town Meetings - Clerk McCue thanked the Town Clerk r for her input, noting it will be helpful for him with the survey he is planning to put together and w/Ï/ bring to the Board in draft form next week. · Weekly Update Report of Mark Cook, Highway Operations Manager Don and Mary Brown, representing the Mansfield Sister Cities organization, were introduced. Mary is an original member of the Sister Cities Organization, of which Don is also a member. During the Millennium gathering in England of the Mansfields of the World, the Browns helped organize the trips to Nottingham, put together photo albums for each participant, and serve as a host family during the event. Don also led London tours for the participants. Keli Baker of the Mansfield Rotary Club introduced the Browns and spoke of the Mansfield Sister Cities organization. Chairman Amoruso presented the Browns with a proclamation signed by the Board declaring May 17th as Mansfield Sister Cities Day. Mary Brown noted their pleasure with the large delegation from Mansfield, Massachusetts, at their Millennium celebration and presented a picture of the r Mansfield, Massachusetts directional sign erected in Mansfield, England. Education links were discussed, with the promise of plans to be made. Board of Selectmen Minutes of May 23, 2001 2 r Motion: To open the public hearing at 8:15 p.m. (McCue-Donovan) 3-0 Passes Clerk McCue read the notice of public hearing. Mike Ahern, Manager of Buildings and Special Projects, Ken Hackett of the Waste Water Treatment Facility, and Ralph Penney of Penney Engineering were present to speak on the application. Mr. Penney presented photographs of a similar project in Brockton. He noted we currently have two grades of gasoline plus diesel and will now have only one grade plus diesel. The tanks will have a tank within a tank, as this is the current technology. The dispensers will be on the end of the tanks, with no underground piping whatsoever. There will be a canopy between the tanks. There is an alarm between the inner and outer tank to alert of any leakage. Peter DeTrolio of Elm Street asked if the tanks owned by the Town come under the r- same regulations as any others installed by anyone else. Mr. Penney noted they are not quite as restrictive because it is not a facility open to the public and the employees will be trained and monitored. A mid-grade gasoline will be used because we also have motorcycles to be fueled. Mr. DeTrolio asked if the waste oil will also be stored above ground and asked if it will be hauled away or used. The current plans call for it to be hauled away, but at some future time a heating system may be installed to burn that type of oil. Michael O'Brien of 444 Pratt Street asked where on the property the above-ground storage tanks would be located. Mr. Penney said they would be 260 feet from the road and directly behind the building. Mike Ahern showed the plan and photographs. Mr. O'Brien also asked if it has been determined that an above- ground tank is safer than an in-ground tank and asked about how it would be protected from damage by moving vehicles. There will be guardrails around the tank and above-ground is safer because it's visible if there's a leak and is more easily repaired. Mr. O'Brien asked about the feasibility of contracting with a local vendor rather than storing it ourselves. Town Manager D'Agostino noted we're a 24-hour operation and our price for gasoline is much lower than retail. Motion: To close the public hearing at 8:27 p.m. r- (Donovan-McCue) 3-0 Passes Board of Selectmen Minutes of May 23, 2001 3 r Motion: To approve the license for the storage of up to 19,999 gallons of flammables at the Town Highway Garage at 500 East Street (Donovan-McCue) 3-0 Passes Motion: To open the public hearing at 8:25 p.m. and continue until the end of the first hearing. (Donovan-McCue) 3-0 Passes Clerk McCue read the notice of public hearing. Mike Ahern, Manager of Buildings and Special Projects, and Ralph Penney of Penney Engineering were present to speak on the application. Mr. Penney noted up to 1,000 gallons of diesel fuel would be stored above-ground. Motion: To close the public hearing at 8:30 p.m. (McCue-Donovan) 3-0 Passes r- Motion: To approve the license for the above-ground storage of 1,000 gallons of diesel fuel at the Town Composting Facility at 175 Fruit Street (McCue-Donovan) 3-0 Passes Fire Chief Edward A. Sliney, Jr., introduced our new paramedics. They are: Mark Goyette, formerly of the Seekonk Fire Department, who is certified at the Fire 1 and 2 level and has both National and Massachusetts paramedic certifications; Ron Allard, formerly of the Marshfield Fire Department, who was certified as a paramedic in 1998 and graduated from the Mass. Firefighting Academy recently; Don Tebeau, formerly of the Rehoboth Fire Department, with Massachusetts and National paramedic certification and a recent graduate of the Firefighting Academy; and J eft Munroe, formerly of the Rehoboth Fire and Rescue, who was certified as a paramedic in 1995 and recently graduated from the Firefighting Academy. Also spoken of, but not present, was Wayne Jackman, who received his paramedic certification in February. Chief Sliney noted our goal is to reach the level of four more paramedics and to go from a paramedic basic waiver to r- a paramedic intermediate waiver. Board of Selectmen Minutes of May 23, 2001 4 r- Town Manager D'Agostino noted attending the recent graduation of three of the paramedics from the Firefightin9 Academy. He welcomed them and wished them well in their association with the town. The Chief spoke of the Town's decision to staff our ambulances at the paramedic level and reviewed the history of the hiring, training, and staffing. Chairman Amoruso called for questions and comments from the audience. Bill Gerber of 362 Central Street spoke as a resident and subscriber of AT&T Broadband. He noted in the recent issue of Cable World an announcement that the Playboy Channel has made the decision to go to full pornography. AT&T Broadband is conspicuously missing from the list of companies that have refused to carry the channel. Several towns in Massachusetts have put in an alternate cable system to give citizens a choice and he noted his desire to explore with our Light Department the possibility of Mansfield's doing so. He appealed to people to let AT&T Broadband know of their disapproval by not subscribing to it. He encouraged r everyone to subscribe to basic and then get a satellite service for the other channels. Selectman Donovan thanked Gale Farrugia for inviting them to the appreciation luncheon for the senior volunteers and noted the excellent program being conducted. Town Manager D'Agostino reported on the following: . A response to Mr. Gerber's concerns about the paving and sidewalks on Central Street with an explanation of changes in MassHighway's procedures for streets they plan to turn over to the Town. DPW Director Azinheira will be following up on the matter. . His visit to the Council on Aging for their monthly coffee hour. He reviewed with the Board concerns the seniors expressed to him regarding various road improvements they would like to see made. Representative Coppola has r indicated interest in attending next month's coffee hour with him. An eyeglass collection box is also being installed at the entrance in conjunction with the Board of Selectmen Minutes of May 23, 2001 5 r Lions Club. Chairman Amoruso noted most of the damage done on Francis A venue occurred during the construction that took place at National Lumber and suggested they be contacted regarding the repairs. · Provided the Board with an outline of the procedure used for the Homestead property and suggested it be reviewed if the Board is interested in pursuing the cleanup of the Clemmey Tank property. The current owner is Joseph Ditchman. Selectman Donovan suggested we go after Mr. Ditchman to clean up the property. Town Manager D'Agostino noted if it is not done, we then are responsible for payment of the cleanup and would have to put a lien on the property. A t the present time the cleanup costs are estimated at $155,000. Selectman Donovan, while wanting to take action, agreed to wait until we have a full board present to discuss it further. The matter will be scheduled on next weeks agenda. · Reported on the conditions of the water ban/restrictions in effect for various towns in the vicinity of Mansfield. Mansfield may consider issuing permits for the watering of new lawns. · received a letter from Attorney Mangiaratti regarding the New Beginning r- Christian Fellowship banner issue. The Board requested that Attorney Mangiaratti respond to the letter in the manner in which he has in the past. · Ptlm. Lawson would like an address for the request of the Fruit Street "blind driveway" sign. They could not find the 30 Essex Street address mentioned. · Is waiting for a status report on the house being built across from the Airport. · Has addressed the paving/street acceptance issues of South Main Street with Lee Azinheira. · The Judge Rotenburg Center on Aspen Street has expressed interest in forming a community group. Chairman Amoruso suggested providing them with a list of neighbors. · The Chief is scheduled to meet with the Board in mid-June regarding the recommendations of the Police Management Study. · Letters have gone out to our legislators regarding the award presented to our Water Department and also requesting their assistance in putting all Mansfield ,"-- voting precincts in one legislative district. Board of Selectmen Minutes of May 23, 2001 6 r- . The crosswalk painting has begun and there was a problem with it being done in the middle of the night. Chairman Amoruso suggested putting notification on cable of where the work will be conducted if it's being done during the night. · Is scheduling a conference call with Mark Smith of the Water Resource Commission regarding new issues that have come up in relationship to the permitting of the Morrison Well. We anticipate going forward with the June 11th meeting for our permit. He reviewed the time and cost factors that have resulted from the two-year process. · Has completed a draft policy in relation to travel expenditures and reimbursement and a draft policy on cell phone use and expenditure. He will be presenting them to the next staff meeting for input and discussion. · A grant in the amount of $14,000 was received, covering 50 percent of the cost of bullet-proof vests, from the Bureau of Justice Assistance. Chairman Amoruso asked if our old ones can be refurbished for use by another community not able to purchase their own. · Has been talking to youth organizations in regard to field space needs and would r like to establish a strategic planning committee to study field space needs for the next ten to fifteen years. He suggested the inclusion of the Recreation Department and a representative of each of the youth organizations on the committee. Chairman Amoruso suggested including the youth needs in addition to athletics and to round out the committee to include representation from other civic groups. This will be discussed further next week when we have a full board present. · We are considering a joint meeting with the Selectmen and School Committee to discuss the findings of the Future Youth conference. He will be meeting with Superintendent Moretti to form a report. · He is scheduled to meet with Motorola and staff in the next three to four weeks to encourage them to stay in Mansfield. They are moving from manufacturing to research and development and our new zoning changes may make it attractive to them to increase the height of their buildings and stay within the industrial park. They were under the impression that we have a moratorium on sewer expansion. Chairman Amoruso noted attending a seminar held by the census people at the MMA meeting and said they are available to do presentations regarding the demographics of the area if there is concern about r the pool of engineers available in the area. Board of Selectmen Minutes of May 23, 2001 7 r Selectman McCue noted: · the fla9 is back over the North Common · he will bring the draft survey regarding Saturday Town Meetings to the Board next week Selectman Donovan: · asked about the street sweeping routes. They are done systematically and should all be done over the next three to four weeks · Had a complaint about the stop sign at Pleasant Street and Chilson Avenue that is hidden by overhanging trees. The residents would also like a 4-way stop sign there if possible. Town Manager D'Agostino will have it looked at. Chairman Amoruso: · Reminded residents of the Memorial Day observance and parade Monday at 10:00 a.m. beginning at Memorial Park r Clerk McCue: · Asked who owns the land next to the North Main Station Fire Station and if there's any interest on the part of the Town to purchase it. The owner is not interested in selling, but is interested in a land lease. We could take it by eminent domain, but there are contamination issues related to the site. We would have to do a 2JE to determine what we could use the site for. · Asked what it would cost to get a coat of paint on the Route 106 underpass bridge. We had a commitment from the MSTA to do that last year. There is an issue, however, with the silver/lead-based paint. The Town Manager will contact them to see what their intentions are. Selectman Donovan: · Asked if we've had further discussions with the owner of the Hope Street parcel where we did a 21E. r- Board of Selectmen Minutes of May 23, 2001 8 r- Chairman Amoruso: · Suggested the possible re-use of the North Main Street Fire Station if the current station is moved out of the center of town. · There is an agenda item next week for a Toyota Class 1 Auto Dealer license. He briefly gave an overview of the situation. We will invite the Planning Director and the Chairman of the Planning Board to the meeting. Motion: To adjourn at 9:32 p.m. (Donovan-McCue) 3-0 Passes &~~ (/ . Signature of Clerk ?I))fIy ó/ Date of Approval r r- Board of Selectmen Minutes of May 23, 2001 9