Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutmin light commission 09/12/01 (""- Board of Selectmen/Light Commissioners Minutes of September 12, 2001 ; ~~~~\Y~~FF ICE 0\ SEP 21 Pt1 \2: 48 , , " """'r~lO ¡ ,Ii Jc" ¡C,¡ :.¡ t· \ t. H/\,SSACHUSETTS Present: Chairman Louis P. Amoruso; Clerk Michael W. McCue; Vice Chairman Wills; Selectmen David W. McCarter and Daniel Donovan. Town Manager John O. D'Agostino; Light Department Director Jack Beliveau; and Town Counsel Robert Mangiaratti The meeting was called to order at 7:00 p.m. An abbreviated Light Commissioners meeting was held within the Executive and Open Sessions of the Selectmen's meeting due to the cancellation of the Light Commissioners meeting scheduled for September 11, 2001. ("" Motion: To go into Executive Session for the purpose of discussing pending litigation and the possible purchase of property and to return to Open Session at the conclusion. (Wills-McCue) Roll Call Vote: McCarter, aye; Wills, aye; McCue, aye; Donovan, aye; Amoruso, aye. 5-0 Passes The meeting reconvened in Open Session at 8:14 p.m., followed by the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag. Chairman Amoruso offered the sympathy of the Town to the families of those who lost their lives in yesterday's terrorist attacks and asked that a moment of silence be observed. r Chairman Wills asked Mr. Beliveau to review the financials for the month of July. He noted page 2 shows net income of $556,000 due to several gratuitous situations. Year to date is $774,000 with a payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT) of $433,000. He anticipates next month making approximately $300,000 - working back to a slight losing position by the end of the year. He noted we're on track compared to where we expected to be. The other noteworthy event was that a new peak was reached at 50 Megawatts, up from last summer's peak of 38 Megawatts. Other municipals had large increases, but not as large as Mansfield. The growth appears to be coming more from the residential sector than the industrial. An open house is being planned for the third weekend in October, or around the 21st, at the new Gilbert Street Substation. The next meeting was scheduled for October 15th at 7:30 p.m. Board of Selectmen/Light Commissioners Minutes of September 12, 2001 1 r Motion: To adjourn the Light Commissioners meeting (McCarter-Donovan) 5-0 Passes r Attorney Edward Reservitz noted at the last meeting it was alleged that Mr. Smith is the owner of 500 School Street and the owners of 500 School Street and were delinquent in their taxes. He noted the property is owned by the School Street Corporation, owned by Jack Smith, Jr" and Robert DeMartino. School Street Corporation may owe taxes to the Town of Mansfield, but Jack Smith does not. Someone had commented that Jack Smith's wages should be garnished for 500 School Street. The statutory remedy is a tax foreclosure and taking-not garnishing wages. Accusing Mr. Smith of owing taxes he does not is defamatory and libelous and he's advised him that if he loses business he has the right to take action. Mr. Reservitz advised the Board that there should be a public letter of apology from the Board published in the paper for the comments made by an individual who is a member of the Board. Clerk Wills provided Attorney Reservitz with a transcript of the remarks made. Attorney Reservitz noted the transcription, done by Mr. Wills' wife, should be a certified document and it is not. Vice Chairman Wills asked if Town Counsel Mangiaratti would come up to the table. He did and indicated the Board should take the request under advisement and further discuss the matter in Executive Session. He also suggested an attempt could be made to review the tape and accuracy of the transcript. He noted the law of defamation allows privilege to public officials in their capacity as such and suggestion further discussion we tabled. . Warrant No. 12 in the amount of $3,508,758.26 Motion: To approve and sign (Donovan-Wills) 5-0 with Selectman McCarter abstaining from Municipal Building Committee payroll Passes . Minutes of September 5, 2001 Motion: To approve with the amendment made on page 8 (McCue-Wills) 5-0 Passes r Board of Selectmen/Light Commissioners Minutes of September 12, 2001 2 r . Hackney Driver License application of Clara Andrews - the driving record and CORI information are attached. The Town Clerk now issues the license following approval of Selectmen. The Police Department no longer gets involved in these licenses. Motion : To approve (Donovan-McCarter) 5-0 Passes . Drainlayer's Licenses for: DeJonco Construction Corp., P. O. Box 1277, Mansfield Catalano Construction, 10 Nate Whipple Highway, Cumberland, RI Both have been recommended for approval by Town Engineer John Sullivan. Selectmen McCarter requested that in the future a street address be provided Motion: To approve the license of DeJonco Construction (McCue-Donovan) 5-0 Passes Motion: To approve Catalano Construction (Donovan-McCarter) 5-0 Passes r Town Manager and Staff Correspondence · Copy of letter from Kurt Gaffney, Water Operations Manager, to Larry Dayian of DEP, requesting a name change for Well No.6, currently referred to as Witch Pond Well No.6, to Mahana Well No.6 · Memo from Kurt Gaffney, Water Operations Manager, advising that construction of Morrison Well No. 10 has been awarded to the lowest bidder, Dankris Building Corporation of Plainville. Request to schedule a groundbreaking ceremony for either Saturday, September 15'h or zr Motion: To hold the ground breaking September 15th (Wills-Donovan) 5-0 Passes · Copy of letter to Kurt Gaffney from Woodard & Curran with bid results for Morrison Well No. 10 Chemical Feed Facility r · Memo from Kurt Gaffney, Water Operations Manager, recommending approval of water main extension for Woodland Park II, a nine lot residential compound from the existing end of Marshall Avenue to Aspen Street Motion : To approve (Donovan-Wills) 5-0 Passes Board of Selectmen/Light Commissioners Minutes of September 12, 2001 3 r · Memo from Kurt Gaffney, Water Operations Manager, recommending approval of water main extension for Nicole Village, a four lot residential compound off Nicole Road in Eastfield Estates (Maple Street). Motion : To approve (Donovan-McCarter) 5-0 Passes · Memo from Kurt Gaffney, Water Operations Manager, recommending approval of water main extension for Park Place, a three lot residential compound off Eastman Street (Route 106). Motion: To approve (Donovan-Wills) 5-0 Passes Residents ( . Letter from Stephen M. Spilewski of 42 Howe Street requesting that the former Clemmey Tank site be sealed off from trespassers The Town Manager noted a discussion has been held with the Building Inspector regarding this parcel. He will be back from vacation the end of next week and is asking the Board if they intend to take action similar to the action taken against the former Homestead Restaurant. If not, his office wH/ be requesting funds to do so. Chairman Amoruso noted the problem is not having the money to do so ($60.,000) without first going to Town Meeting to request it. Temporarl1y it could be fenced off, but that would not clean up the area. Mr. Donovan noted it would probably cost $25,000 to put up a chain-link fence. Chairman Amoruso asked if Jersey barriers or other means could be used to block off the areas through which people are getting in easily. Selectman Donovan asked if ownership has been determined Both Mr. Clemmey and Mr. Ditchman claim to own the property. Moving the Jersey barriers and stepped-up enforcement by the Police may provide a temporary solution. . Letter from Rick and Claudia Rys requesting to close Cherry Street on Saturday, September 22nd, from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. for their annual block party - Approved by Chief Sliney Motion: To approve contingent upon Police Department approval (Donovan-Wills) 5-0 Passes r · Letter from Keith A. Purrier, Chairman of the Billy Kelly Memorial 5K Road Race, requesting permission to hold the race on Sunday, November 18th, at 11:00 a.m. in the Mansfield Industrial Park using the route shown - Approved by Chief Sliney and Chief O'Neill Board of Selectmen/Light Commissioners Minutes of September 12, 2001 4 ,-- Motion: To approve subject to the recommendations of the Police and Fire Chiefs (Donovan-McCue) 5-0 Passes Other . Letter from Bruce Montgomery, General Manager of Tweeter Center, announcing cancellation of an event previously scheduled for Saturday, September 15th, and requesting an amendment to their 2001 Entertainment License, valid only through October 15th, to accommodate this performance on October 20th from 2 to 6 p.m. Motion : To approve (Donovan-Wills) 5-0 Passes r George Dentino of Gladiola Terrace - commented on statements made last week. He took exception to Mr. Donovan's comments regarding his statements made last week about the trash contract with Mr. Vinagra. He noted Mr. Vinagra and his lawyers are fully aware of what is going on and anything he said is no surprise to them. He reviewed the comments he's made over the last several weeks, based on news releases published. He noted on two occasions the Town released information about the negotiations; therefore, there should have been no need to discuss the matter in Executive Session. It was noted there was no press release issued There was general knowledge picked up by the press, none of which was discussed in Executive Session. The Town Manager noted he is disturbed that Mr. Dentino had information regarding the performance bond, when that information was never made public. Mr. Dentino noted the accusations going back and forth between him and the board are unnecessary and asked that an end be put to it. r Mr. Dentino then commented on the statements regarding J. P. Smith about having Town employees working along with subcontractors, with the base preparation being done by the Town. Chairman Amoruso noted we had base estimates of about $300,000. When we reorganized DPW we established a separate division to do projects such as this to save the Town substantial amounts of money. A t Town Meeting it was stated we would be working hand and hand with the subcontractor. Mr. Dentino asked why we would have to go out to bid to work the athletic fields when the money was there. The Town Manager addressed the issue via a letter prepared by Rizzo Associates regarding the matter, noting the construction cost would have been approximately $700,000 more without the Town doing some of the work. He provided Mr. Dentino with their phone number if he has further Board of Selectmen/Light Commissioners Minutes of September 12, 2001 5 r r r questions. Mr. Dentino asked where the $400,000 is going to come from when the article was for $950,000. He was assured the project will come in under budget, which was $1.1 million. The project was explained to Town Meeting and approved It was noted that this includes all the field work. All the work has been inspected on a weekly basis and has been certified in writing that everything has been done according to their specifications and they wH/ guarantee the longevity of the field based on the work that has been done so far. It has, in fact, been so well done that several people have been sent to look at the project. Mr. Dentino further questioned what all these DPW workers do when they're not working as general contractors. Further examples were cited of work that has been done directly by DPWemployees, including a drainage issue of ten years at Lakeview Avenue. The practice was defended by the Board The Town Manager: . Assured the Town's people we had an emergency public safety meeting with all appropriate Town personnel to be sure our response team is ready with able communications in emergencies. What has happened over the last couple of days will probably change the way we live in this country. He's under the impression that this is only the beginning of events that may occur over the next several weeks, and is certain of our ability to communicate with all public safety concerns and welcome input from residents regarding any situations they see that are questionable. . Addressed questions raised at last week's meeting with a written response from DPW and Mike Ahern. The Town did pull a gravel permit as required for the material removed at the Highway Garage and all work has been done in accordance with regulations, with proper approvals from all boards and departments required. He praised the individuals involved in the School Department in going out to re-bid the work necessary in bringing the girls' locker room into conformance. The lowest bid was $288,000 and the work was done by our staff for $28,000. Selectman Donovan: . Noted information that was provided previously by the Police Department and suggested that if Mr. Wills had read the information provided, he wouldn't have Board of Selectmen/Light Commissioners Minutes of September 12, 2001 6 r had to question the number of rapes. He also took exception to Mr. Wills' request to have the auditors back again and noted the expense in doing so. He suggested that we know the corrective action suggested by the auditors and we can now get the information in-house without incurring the extra expense of having the auditors in again. Selectman Wl1Is sa/ä it's our duty to get that information or get new auditors. The Town Manger will get an update from Town Accountant Bea Kearney and Treasurer/Collector Richard Boucher and find out where we stand If we need to bring in the auditors, we will. With regard to the number of rapes, there were four-not 34 as reported Selectman McCarter: · Offered support and sympathy for those affected by the terrorism and offered hope that appropriate action would be taken. Town Manager D'Agostino noted one of those who perished on the plane was the brother of GA TRA administrator Frank Gay. Chairman Amoruso: · Asked if anyone was interested in discussing the letterhead policy. It w/Ï/ be put on the agenda for another evening. ( Clerk McCue: · Echoed Selectman McCarter's concerns about what happened in New York and Washington Motion : To adjourn at 9: 38 p.m. (Donovan-McCue) 5-0 Passes /#i~ r Board of Selectmen/Light Commissioners Minutes of September 12, 2001 7