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Home My WebLink Aboutmin brd of selectmen 11/10/04 Board of Selectmen Meeting Minutes of November 10,2004 1{ËCfIV [' C" D Il ':;; n í C E 04 NOV I 8 AM II: 33 I'e¡j\¡~ ¡t.LD Present: Chairman Steven W. MacCaffrie; Vice Chairman Ro~~&H~~¡rkS Bernard J. Dolan; Selectman Louis P. Amoruso; Selectman Michael McCue and Town Manager John O. D' Agostino The meeting was called to order at 9:27 p.m. Weekly Business . Warrant No. 20 in the amount of$I,185,042.10 Motion: To approve and sign (Achille/Amoruso) 5-0 Passes . Minutes of November 3, 2004 Motion: To approve with amendments. (Amoruso/Achille) 5-0 Passes Licenses and Permits None Correspondence · Memo from Gale Farrugia, Council on Aging Director, re: her interest in serving on the GATRA Board of Directors. She would be replacing Mr. O'Neil. Motion: To appoint Gail Farrugia to the GATRA Board of Directors. (Amoruso/Dolan) 5-0 Passes · Letter from EnviroTrac Environmental Services dated November 5,2004: re notification of the completion of Class A-2 Response Action Outcome on the former Shell Service Station at 4 South Main Street. The Chairman noted taking the tanks out resulted in a Notice of Release and the Town complied. · Memo from Mansfield Housing Partnership dated November 8th re: establishing an Affordable Housing Corporation. Chairman asked John D'Agostino to find out the specifics. · Notification from Edward J. Rosenberg, Elks Secretary, that a TIPS course will be held at the Elks Lodge on Wednesday, December 1,2004 at 6 pm. Board of Selectmen Minutes of November 10,2004 1 · Letter from Mansfield Finance Committee seeking to meet with the Board of Selectmen to develop a five-year financial forecast plan. John D'Agostino said the staff will get together afinancial team and will develop the structure and then present to Town Meeting. The Board will have a meeting earlier to avoid any conflict at the actual meeting at which each member could present thoughts separately and come up with priorities. They will need to meet with Richard and Bea Kearney and the new assessor to come up with the plan. · Letter from Geeta McGrath, Senior Investigator, Ethics Commission, dated November 1 st re: David Young, Municipal Building Committee member, about a possible ethics violation. The entire letter was read into the record by Clerk. It stated that no violation was found; the matter closed and related records to be kept confidential. Ed Tartufo, 9 Brookside Road, informed that he had spent time (3 yrs ago) taking samples of 72 business properties (the values/tax bills/ tax rates) and he has done it again for the values for '05. He cannot accept the theories put forth by the Board - he states that market and location are valuable to people. Residentially and commercially - hope to see increase in more tax dollars Mr. Tartufo supplied a hand-out with information from past years showing a decrease in commercial tax bill from FY 01 - FY 05. He feels it is important to keep tracking these figures, otherwise 'The horse will be gone from the bam' . Participating / contributing businesses in town - understands the classification vote was already taken. Selectman Dolan spoke about putting small businesses 'out of business' and he agrees with the Mr. Tartufo that big businesses are not leaving town due to the tax rate, who stated Mansfield is an attractive community and a growth community. John D'Agostino noted No. Attleboro had a similar situation with tax rate. Mr. Tartufo asks that an equitable tax bill be considered. Selectman Amoruso noted he has never been asked if a town has a split rate, people want predictability. The Board will look at the issue very closely every year now with the revaluation process. He was thanked by all. George Dentino: Mr. Dentino spoke on his views that the tax rate is not chasing people out of town - the businesses might not be there shortly - being killed by growth. He feels the lack of parking will destroy the downtown. In his view, the vote the Board took regarding the accounting practices was not sound and would cost the ratepayers more. The DTE requires that a Light Dept. keep an accounting for a calendar year basis. Now there will be added costs incurred in changing the system. He cannot find any expenditure of money to do an extra set of bookkeeping and asks the Board to explain the benefit to the ratepayer. Selectman Amoruso explained that it is a budget goingforward and will cost a little at first but then will even out. He thinks there is an advantage in terms of planning - but not in the first six months. The Chairman stated the FinCom asked for a fiscal year accounting and he will ask the FinCom for the answer to why they requested this. Board of Selectmen Minutes of November 10,2004 2 Selectmen's Old and New Business Chairman MacCaffrie: (new) He referenced an article about consolidating polling places into one location such as Andover does. He also wants the school system to close during the next national election. Selectman Achille: None Selectman Dolan: (old) He asked if the School Street Bridge opening will really be by the end of November. He hopes that any damage incurred as a result of it not being finished will be paid for by the contractor. John D'Agostino will check on the status of the paving ofRte 140. Selectman Amoruso: Asked about the replacement of carpeting in the Town Hall and if it is the area that had not been previously replaced. John D'Agostino explained that a drain had backed up 10 years ago. The Chairman asked how many staff are needed (at time and one-half pay) to stand around watching the people work? Selectman Dolan also asked if it needs to be done on a holiday with overtime costs. John D'Agostino noted the building would be empty so it was a sensible time to complete this work. He also said they are looking into replacing the carpet throughout the building, as it had failed three years after installation. Selectman McCue: He spoke on the renovation of downtown and that mixed use seemed to be working well. He further noted this is the current method that works well as it serves a lot of good purposes. Mr. Amoruso asked about the taxing rates for mixed residential and commercial; as a single/split rate and how it will impact the businesses downtown. _.......*.'.....". .. ,!W.,~ . .... ............V"........, .........'Y_ Carpets are being replaced after a water leak in the Recreation & Planning Depts. The carpets will also be cleaned in most town buildings on the 11 th and 12th. He noted a thank you letter from the Library Board regarding the DPW efforts in fixing the HV AC system; it is very functional and pleases the building occupants. On Wed., Nov 17th at 11 AM (leaving Mansfield at 9:30) he will attend a meeting at the Transportation Department in Boston with Mass Highway Commissioner Cogliano. He said transportation could be coordinated if anyone wants to go. Selectman Amoruso plans to goand Selectman Achille may attend as he is already in Boston. At the Chairman's request, John D'Agostino will ask Rep. JoAnn Sprague for Rep-Elect Timilty to attend so he can be appraised (for transition purposes) on the situation as she has worked hard on this project. On Nov. 23rd there is a meeting of the Rte 495/95 committee to include 2 additional communities to the ETA (Economic target Area) - he has not been told which towns. Board of Selectmen Minutes of November 10,2004 3 The Town Manager stated he has allowed the meeting room to be used for a hearing at Town Hall for the additional parking at Rte 106/Copeland Street; the expansion is for 580 cars. The owner would have to come before the Board for a commercial parking permit (an extension of existing permit). This will open up the Hathaway-Patterson site for a Rte 106 access point. It is a very active parcel. The meeting will be on November 23 at 7:30 p.m. in Room 3AB. The Chrysler dealership (Jeep dealership) Foundry LLC/Ditchman may also apply for grant money for development for additional affordable housing _ commercial/mixed use to be linked to inter-modal transportation. The funding would go to a developer; Chairman mentioned it could be the Town that is the developer. Selectman Amoruso mentioned the Board had promised the neighborhood to work on this. John D'Agostino mentioned the Sunday, November 28th Holiday Parade at 2:30 pm. sponsored by the Downtown Business Association. He noted November 12th the Town Hall is closed due to a collective bargaining issue. The November 24th Board of Selectmen meeting was discussed. Motion: To cancel the November 24th Board of Selectmen meeting as Town Hall closes early. (Dolan/Achille) 3-2 Passes. John D'Agostino noted the Mansfield High School football game scheduled for Sunday. The Chairman directed the secretary to provide the Board with forms for the Town Manager yearly review. Motion: To adjourn at 10:47 p.m. (Amoruso) 5-0 Passes ~~()~ L----~- Signature of e /)-) )~[)V Date of Approval Board of Selectmen Minutes of November 10, 2004 4