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HomeMy WebLinkAboutmin brd of selectmen 01/17/01 .E _ Present: RECE'VED TOWN CLER~S OFF ICE Board of Selectmen Minutes of 0 I JAN 25 AM 10: 31 January 17, 2001 . U-¡--IELO t'1Aíi~ . MA~S¡\CHUSETTS Chairman David W. McCarter; Bradford E. WlI1s,Uerl<; Selectmen Louis P. Amoruso, and Daniel Donovan. John O. D'Agostino, Town Manager r The meeting was called to order at 7:30 p.m., followed by the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag. A moment of silence was observed for Linda Lipson, a Mansfield teacher and the wife of former Selectman Doug Ronald, who passed away yesterday at the age of 51. · Minutes of January 10, 2001 Motion : To approve (Amoruso-Donovan) 4-0 Passes r- · Executive Session Minutes of January 10, 2001 Motion : To approve as amended, but not release (Amoruso-Wills) 4-0 Passes · Warrant No. 30 in the amount of $3,422,290.62 Motion : To approve (Amoruso-Donovan) 4-0 with Chairman McCarter abstaining from Municipal Building Committee payroll Common Victualler License · The Bagel Train - Michael DiMascio dba DiMas Corp. at 350 North Main Street Motion: To approve and sign (Amoruso-Donovan) 4-0 Passes Restaurant- Wine and Malt License · The Bagel Train - Michael DiMascio dba DiMas Corp. at 350 North Main ~ Street , Motion: To approve and sign Board of Selectmen Minutes of January 17, 2001 1 r (Amoruso-Donovan) 4-0 Passes Town ManaQer and Staff · Memorandum from Kurt Gaffney, Water Operations Manager, updating the progress of the Morrison Well No. 10 permitting process · Memorandum from Arthur M. O'Neill, Chief of Police, regarding police bicycle repairs, with request that the Selectmen approve accepting $544.30 from the Tweeter Center for reimbursement of the repairs Motion : To accept the check (Wills-Amoruso) 4-0 Passes · Memorandum from John D. Sullivan, Jr., Town Engineer, summarizing the public hearing held on the Route 106 Improvement Project State and Local Government r · Letter from Frank Gay ofGATRA requesting approval of their commuter bus to run through Mansfield from Norton to bring passengers to the Mansfield Train Station Motion: To approve Brown & Trevitt Transportation Management and Consulting, Inc. going through Town, provided Mansfield does not receive an assessment, with service from Norton to the Mansfield Train Station only, with no downtown stop at this time, and subject to further review by the Town Manager (Wills-Amoruso) 4-0 Passes John Robbins, President of the Mansfield Firefighters - recognized individuals responsible for putting together a blood drive for the wife of Lt. Normand Bellavance. They collected 68 pints of blood. Richard Brady of DMG-Maximus presented the Police Department Management Study recently done by his firm. The study was commissioned by the Town with approval of Town Meeting at a cost of $18,000. Also present were Chief Arthur M. r O'Neill, Lt. Walter Crickard, and Lt. George Figueredo of the Police Department. A copy of the study will be available at the Mansfield Public Library Reference Desk. Board of Selectmen Minutes of January 17, 2001 2 r Mr. Brady noted he was project manager of a three-person team specializing in law enforcement and criminal justice issues. He summarized how they conducted the project, how they evaluated key findings, and explained their recommendations. How services were provided to the public, the management systems utilized by managers and supervisors, the organizational system, staffing levels for each function of the department, policies and procedures were all evaluated. In conducting the study many interviews were conducted, including each Selectman, the Town Manager, the command staff of the Mansfield Police Department, and they reviewed data collected describing operations and services. In all, 33-35 people were interviewed in a variety of settings, including patrol ride-alongs. Following data collection and interviews, a summary was created and included in the appendix of the final report. Interim documents were generated prior to the creation of the final report. Some issues, upon additional investigation, turned out to be unimportant, while others led to more questions. It was an interactive process throughout. Significant conclusions and recommendations were: · The Department's staffing levels are appropriate to its size, workloads and r service level expectations. · Patrol operations need to be more proactive. · The Tweeter Center's impacts on other law enforcement needs in the Town are not great. · The Department should reorganize itself to better group functions, particularly at the Lieutenant level. · Managers and supervisors need to adopt formal management approaches. The patrol staffing analysis revealed: · The MPD has adequate time to provide a very proactive service to the Town - about 84'0 of the total field time. The proactive service can be used to reduce some costs to the Town by 1,000 to 1,500 hours per year, particularly on paid details for traffic management at the Train Station. · Field workloads, service level targets and officer safety guidelines support shift staffing of a sergeant and three officers; therefore, no additional staff are required in patrol. · Field operations need to be better supervised and managed to ensure that optimal services are provided. To improve the management of field operations they recommended: r- . Ensuring that sergeants are in the field at least 50% of the time. · Sergeants should be charged with developing patrol plans. Board of Selectmen Minutes of January 17, 2001 3 r · Officers should keep logs of activities. · Sergeants and the Lieutenant should meet weekly to review results. · The Department should develop formal patrol performance standards. The impacts of the Tweeter Center were summarized as: · Mansfield officers are only filling 22'0 of the Tweeter details. · Service levels in the Town are not impacted during concerts. · Details at the Tweeter Center do not impact next day availability for duty. · The Tweeter Center reimburses the Town for the wider ramifications of providing the service. · All changes to the service should be expressed in writing between the Tweeter Center and the Town. · The Administrative Lieutenant should continue to have primary responsibility for the contract and operational planning with the Police Chief, while participating somewhat, should be insulated from those responsibilities. r The analysis of the Detective function showed: · The Detectives are adequately utilized providing investigations as well as other services. As a result, current staffing is appropriate. · The Detective Sergeant should utilize the automated case management system which is available. · Case management practices should be revised so that the Detective Sergeant is involved at each step of the process. · The court officer should be made responsible for the property and evidence function of the department. Communications and Other Services Analysis resulted in the following recommendations: · Current approaches to staffing the Communications Center are at a minimum to be "in the business" - however, communications workloads are relatively low. · Communications staff should continue to be involved handling administrative activities. · The new part time position is required principally to handle financial processes in the Department · The DARE officer should not cover patrol during a school year. Management Systems: · Managers and supervisors need to improve the planning and evaluation of services provided. r . The MPD should better use data to evaluate operations. Board of Selectmen Minutes of January 17, 2001 4 r · A system of performance measurement should be developed as a basis for this new management system. · Regular and formal manager and supervisor meetings need to occur to review operations and increase accountability. · The Town Manager and Board of Selectmen need to be regularly apprised of service issues and trends. Departmental Organization: · Both Lieutenants should work on the day shift. · The Department should reorganize selected staff functions. The Administrative Lieutenant should oversee DARE, the detectives, animal control and the court officer. · The Operations Lieutenant should oversee patrol and traffic as well as communications. · The Chief should be freed to provide overall management, planning and external communications. At the conclusion of the presentation, the Board took a five minute break, after which followed a period of questions and comments of Mr. Brady as follows: ,,--. · Selectman Donovan asked him to expand on the agreement between the Tweeter Center, the Chief and the Department - Mr. Brady characterized it as "risk management." He noted most things are reimbursed and, because the situations are constantly changing, the Chief should be insulated, with changes to the service in writing. Negotiations should be between the Town Manager and the Tweeter Center. · Chairman McCarter asked Mr. Brady if his organization has experience with other communities and venues. Mr. Brady noted a venue in Mountain llíew, CA, and said he would provide additional information on how those relationships are handled · Selectman Donovan asked about the hiring practices within the department. Mr. Brady looked at them in comparison with the hiring process of the Town and felt they were in line and needed no further review. r · Clerk Wills thanked Mr. Brady for preparing such a thorough report and expressed his hope that the Chief would want to work on the recommendations to improve his department. He noted some recommendations that he agreed with strongly-the two lieutenants on the same shift and details at the Train Station. Board of Selectmen Minutes of January 17, 2001 5 r · Selectman Amoruso said the study makes a good starting point for the work of the department, with the intent of the study being to improve the department's efficiency. He asked additional questions regarding the minimal staffing levels and how they compared with Massachusetts communities of similar size. Mr. Brady noted the current minimal staffing is necessary to provide for officer safety. Selectman Amoruso questioned the minimal staffing and availability of free time on their part. Mr. Brady said it's necessary to separate the analytical number of how many you need from what you need for officer safety. He reviewed time necessary with the "call for service" work, separating it from the time left for proactive service. If these factors were taken out of the equation, we would need the manpower hours of only 1.5 officers per shift. · Selectman Donovan questioned the dispatcher staffing findings. r · Chairman McCarter thanked Mr. Brady for addressing some of the issues that have been raised consistently over many years, particularly the impact of the Tweeter Center. He asked how he would rate Mansfield with regard to the crime rate, in particular if the Police Department provides adequate public safety for the Town. Mr. Brady said definitely. Their focus is how the department can do things better and more efficiently. He stated the crime rate in Mansfield is low by any standard Chairman McCarter asked if the study took into account the time taken to write reports. Mr. Brady said they are usually done during their shift with some overtime required on occasion. He noted proactivity targets are typically in the 50% range in communities such as Mansfield The largest target in controlling expenses is the officer details. · Selectman Donovan asked about comments regarding the "confusion of the roles of the Town Manager, Board of Selectmen, and Chief of Police." Mr. Brady commented on the various organizational structures of towns throughout the Commonwealth. He noted their reVIew of Mansfleld's Home Rule Charter to clarify the relationship in this matter. His conclusion is that the Police Chief is under the Town Manager according to Charter. Police Chief Arthur M. O'Neill and Lts. Walter Crickard and George Figuerdo addressed the Board in response to the Police Management Study. The Chief noted the study provided guidelines to enhance services to the community and his intent to implement the recommendations in areas needing .f' improvement with the help of the Town Manager and the Board of Selectmen. He said they continue to digest the report, pledged to do all within his power to Board of Selectmen Minutes of January 17, 2001 6 r improve the delivery of service to the people of Mansfield, and accepted any responsibility cited for shortcomings of the department. He also noted a survey he is preparing to go out to all residents of Mansfield to gather the community's input regarding their expectations. He noted the Mansfield Police Department is already a different department than it was at the start of the study, with many of the recommendations already being implemented. Town Manager D'Agostino stated his intention in relationship to the report-to make a good department better. He stated unequivocally that the report was never designed to hurt anyone, go after anyone, or discredit anyone. He noted it is important to look at other departments as well. He communicated that he looks forward to working with the Chief, the Lieutenants and the citizens to make the department the best it can be - because that is what the community deserves. He thanked DMG-Maximum and Richard Brady for putting the report together and stated he would like it to be living document, with a follow-up audit of the progress made as a result of the study. He pointed out that the Chief and his staff have the best interests of the townspeople in mind and he committed to working with them. r Selectman Amoruso stated he did not see "mistakes made" noted in the report, but saw only areas where suggestions were made for improvement. The Chief reiterated that any shortcomings are his responsibility and pledged his effort in making the improvements necessary. He noted it pointed out major shortcomings in their logging practices discovered by the study and their need to properly keep track of their activities. r- Selectman Donovan asked the Chief if both lieutenants on the same shift would free him up some. The Chief noted that is one area where he and Mr. Brady have "agreed to disagree" and said Lt. Crickard's duties are heavily responsible for programs conducted evenings. Working 6:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m. makes him available to two shifts. Mr. Brady noted the sergeants are effectively running the shifts, but the Lieutenants are not on duty seven nights per week The Chief said we do not have enough sergeants to cover all shifts; however it is a rare situation when one of the lieutenants or he as Chief are not available if needed Mr. Brady noted the rotation of responsibility is typical in departments of this size. Clerk Wills asked how a sergeant on nights would effectively communicate with court officers and day sergeants. The Chief noted 75% of the sergeants work concurrently with Lt. Crickard Clerk Wills questioned the survey the Chief is planning to send out to the community. The Chief said he would like to see what the community is looking for and feels it needs. Town Manager D'Agostino agreed on the need for input regarding all departments, but said it would be overwhelming to survey residents on all departments at once. Board of Selectmen Minutes of January 17, 2001 7 r Motion: To initiate the improvements the Town Manager and Police Chief agree on and to evaluate the improvements a year from now. (Wills-Donovan) With regard to the police detail at the Train Station, the Chief noted commuters have come to rely on an officer there. If it were not a paid detail, he could not guarantee there would be an officer there at all times because there would be times they would have to be pulled away to respond to emergency situations. He noted people looking to commit crimes watch communities and would take note if all the police officers were in one place at a given time. If a job is of such a nature that a police officer is required, they need to be there on duty. On a short job it is not a problem. Mr. Brady agreed these are situational matters, but the information needs to be available to know what is the best use of people's time. He agreed there would be times they would have to be pulled from a detail, but the decisions need to be made based on data. Chairman McCarter noted the study was initiated to see if we need more manpower and asked the Chief if he agrees with the finding that we do not. The Chief agreed that there was a major weakness in their logging practices which did not allow them to present Mr. Brady with an accurate picture of the department's workload He r agreed that Mr. Brady's finding is accurate based on the information they were able to provide him. Mr. Brady said they believe in a workload/service level approach, but it was clear to them that even if they tripled the amount of the workload presented to them, the department would still fall into an acceptable ratio level. Chairman McCarter asked how much the survey to residents would cost, noting he's not sure we really need to go that route. Lt. Crickard said he does not anticipate any cost. The Chief said it is being done because the police want to know what the people think. Town Manager D'Agostino said he would not discourage any department that wants to get feedback regarding the effectiveness of their work. He noted their attempt to change negative behaviors is often not met with positive feedback from the community. Selectmen Amoruso offered an amendment to the motion to evaluate the improvements in 18-24 months. Chairman McCarter said he is troubled by the words "what they agree on" and believes it should be what is in the best interest of the Town of Mansfield, noting they may not agree as professionals. Vote on Amended Motion: r In favor: Wills and Donovan; opposed: Amoruso and McCarter Motion Fails 2-2 Board of Selectmen Minutes of January 17, 2001 8 r The Chief suggested a semi-annual report to the Board would be in order. He noted our Charter is a business-like format that he appreciates. The Town Manager reported on the following: . A meeting was held in Boston with Senator Joanne Sprague regarding the Morrison Well. The purpose of the meeting was to impress upon Senator Sprague the purpose of, need for, and the expense incurred thus far in the development of the Wellsite. Attending the meeting with him were DPW Director Lee Azinheira, Water Operations Manager Kurt Gaffney, and Selectman Dan Donovan. An attempt was made to ascertain the cause of the delay in issuing the permit, which was expected in November. Legislative relief was discussed. Issues between Executive Office of Environmental Affairs (EOEA), Department of Environment Protection (DEP) and the Water Resources Commission were reviewed. Chairman McCarter suggested that if it becomes necessary, we could bring action against State Departments to force them to issue the necessary permits previously approved by the Water Resources Commission. Selectman Amoruso noted the Natural Heritage Trust was represented on the Water Resources ,,--. Commission that granted the permit. Senator Sprague called EOEA during the meeting . Thanked Selectmen Wills and Donovan for attending the two-day conference "Future Search." He noted Meredith Holford of the Mansfield News also participated in the conference one day. He thanked the Rotary Club for financially sponsoring the event and said the issues discussed were of paramount concern. The School Department, Recreation, Police, Fire, West Side Benevolent Society participation were testimony of the concern our community has for their youth. He is working on getting a report to have on file at our library and hopes to also get it electronically for inclusion on the Town's website. He noted the one element missing was the youth and our need to get them together to learn what they need and how we can provide it. Clerk WJ1Is spoke of his participation, noting his belief that it was run efficiently and was very worthwhile in planning for the future. The effort was to project Mansfield's existence in the year 2011 and the function of the community in the future. Selectman Amoruso said in the future he would like to see at least one of the days on a weekend to allow more people the opportunity to participate. He noted that it is difficult for people to take two days out of their work schedules. r Board of Selectmen Minutes of January 17, 2001 9 ~ r · Spoke of the "Customer Service" seminar he attended at the Annual MMA Meeting and spoke of the need for a greater commitment to providing it. Selectman Amoruso stated that he is writing goals in working on the Town Manager's evaluation and will be including the delivery of customer service as one of them. · Selectman Wills reported briefly on the MMA meeting and "The Seven Deadly Sins for Municipal Government" seminar that he found very useful and informative. He also advocated for a GIS system for the Town. · Selectman Amoruso reported on the seminar he attended on "The Virtual Town Hall." He noted all boards and committees should have minutes and agendas on the Town website and have them all indexed for public access. r · Selectman Wills said he spoke with representatives of law firms at the conference and suggested it would not hurt to talk to two or three law firms to be sure we're getting the most we can for our money. Chairman McCarter suggested we could solicit information from some of those firms for review. The Town Manager suggested soliciting a "request for qualifications" prior to proceeding further. Selectman Amoruso noted we took a vote recently not to do this and suggested it sends a mixed message. He stated he would be willing to review packages for comparison, but is not sure at this point in time if it would be wise to take the time needed to sit down and talk to firms. Clerk Wills asked for information from Kopelman & Paige, Wynn & Wynn, and others. Selectman Amoruso noted the importance of finding out each firm's area of expertise. · Selectman Donovan brought up the Jackson School roof, noting the Jackson School in Plainville is also having problems with their roof after only a year, resulting in thousands of dollars in damage to their computers. He noted we have been struggling with this for eight years and there are no results. Selectman Amoruso noted those responsible have been on top of the situation since before the project was completed and suggested we get an update from the Municipal Building Committee. We will have Attorney Volterra and the MBC in to discuss the situation in executive session. · Chairman McCarter asked about the alcohol policy needed from Town Counsel. r' Board of Selectmen Minutes of January 17, 2001 10 ~ r · Selectman Amoruso suggested the Board get updates from time to time on positions, such as the MIS Director, that are not filled. Town Manager D'Agostino noted the need for an MIS Department consisting of more than one person. Chairman McCarter suggested increasing the salary, combining the position with the Light Department, and getting a stipend from them for the position. The Town Manager said we had forty-five applicants for the position and have narrowed it down to six, with intervIews to begin the end of the month. · Chairman McCarter noted receiving a report from the Police Department regarding an alleged violation. He also asked about the budget process, noting he does not want to hear the word "override." The Town Manager agreed, stating we will be able to put forth a budget without an overrläe. Motion: To adjourn at 10:25 p.m. (Wills-Amoruso) 4-0 Passes r- r' Board of Selectmen Minutes of January 17, 2001 11 --"