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HomeMy WebLinkAboutmin brd of selectmen 10/27/04 ,I . r'~: t~ ~ ,,~ i' ',' "! j ,I,,~ ". ~,.-1 t,'. I Pr/r. ii '.' OFFICE' rìr U',/ NO~! -4 M1 II: ~ 0 (,! ' . MA 'ìjjÁ", IELO Present: Chairman Steven W. MacCaffrie; Vice Chairman Roger S. Achille; 'ÒÆflChUS£TTS Bernard J. Dolan; Selectman Louis P. Amoruso; Selectman Michael McCue and Town Manager John O. D' Agostino Board of Selectmen Meeting Minutes October 27, 2004 The meeting was called to order at 7:30 p.m. followed by a Pledge of Allegiance. · Warrant No. 17 in the amount of $4,150,801.25 Motion: To approve and sign (Achille/McCue) 5-0 Passes · Warrant No. 18 in the amount of $2,102,325.06 Motion: To approve and sign (Achille/Amoruso) 5-0 Passes · Minutes of October 13, 2004 Motion: To approve with amendments and release. (Amoruso/Achille) 5-0 Passes · Notes of meeting from October 20, 2004 were discussed and it was recognized that since it was not a formal meeting (no quorum), there were no minutes to approve. · Vote on Ware St. Sewer Extension/Ware Street Motion: To deny the sewer extension project on Ware Street, based on the fact that the criteria was not met; the Engineering Department did not receive the requisite number of signatures (2/3 of the property owners) to proceed with the project. (Achille/Amoruso) 5-0 Passes · Vote to authorize the Chairman to sign the Rosewood Realty Trust Regulatory Agreement (Comprehensive Permit - Chapter 40B) on Copeland Street. Motion: To have the Chairman sign the Rosewood Regulatory Agreement. (Achille/Dolan) 4-1-0 (Amoruso abstained) Passes · Vote to formally appoint Mary Andrews, 255 Fruit Street, to the Animal Welfare Committee. Mrs. Andrews had come to last week's meeting and understood there needs to be a quorum to vote on it. Motion: Move to appoint Mary Andrews to the Animal Welfare Committee for a term to expire January 1, 2006. o 5-0 Passes Board of Selectmen Minutes of October 27,2004 1 .' · Vote to send letter to Tweeter Center for curfew violations on 8111 (phish concert) and 8/27 (Kenny Chesney concert) and offer option of paying the fine or appear to request show cause hearing. Motion: To authorize a letter to be sent to Bruce Montgomery, General Manager, Tweeter Center, regarding the curfew violations on Aug. I 1 and Aug. 27, 2004. (Dolan/McCue ) 5-0 Passes Licenses and Permits · Hackney License Applicant: Florence Taddeo, 30 Riggles St., Franklin, MA (Sharon Taxi) - All paperwork completed - COR! approved Motion: To approve the hackney application for Florence Taddeo. (McCue/Amoruso) 5-0 Passes . Tri-County Beagle One-Day Beer & Wine License for November 7,2004 for a Pig Roast from 12-6 p.m. at the 144 School Street location. Application approved by Police Department. Fire Department has no jurisdiction. Motion: To approve subject to Police and Fire Department conditions. (McCue/Amoruso) 5-0 Passes Correspondence · Letter dated October 15,2004 from Mass Housing re: final approval of Bay Brook Village, Comprehensive Permit / MGL 40B project. · Letter from Gail Farrugia, Council on Aging Director, regarding the article in the Sun Chronicle about senior bus fares to events. · Memo from John D'Agostino dated October 19th regarding the November 3rd Tax Classification Public Hearing and the possibility of small businesses exemptions. - Selectman McCue received the information; it is unwieldy and does not seem to be applicable to the Town of Mansfield. · Letter from John D'Agostino to John Blundo, Chief Engineer of Mass Highway Department, regarding the Otis Street Bridge and Dam Replacement over the Wading River and remaining safety and environmental concerns around the failure of existing bridge components. - Selectman Dolan noted that Mass Hwy does not build dams anymore. · Letter from Rich Kelly, Troop 17 Scoutmaster, announcing Michael Bibby's Eagle Scout achievement. The ceremony will be held on Dec. 20th. Motion: To send a proclamation to Michael Bibby. (Amoruso/Achille) 5-0 Passes Board of Selectmen Minutes of October 27,2004 2 · Letter to Michael Souza, Boy Scout Troop 17, from John D'Agostino authorizing the Annual Christmas Tree Sale fundraiser to be held next to the Police Station from Nov. 17th - Dec. 19th. Motion: To support John D'Agostino's aPEroval of the Boy Scout Troop 17 Annual Christmas Tree Sale from Nov. 17 - Dec. 19th. (Amoruso/McCue) 5-0 Passes · Letter from James R. Johnson, Mass DOR, dated October 21,2004 certifying the amount of "free cash" as of July 1,2004 (for Mansfield) is $79,177 and the amount of available funds for the Water Enterprise Fund is $837,161 and in the Airport Enterprise Fund is $77,190. · Notification of Williams Street Bridge Official Opening, from John D'Agostino, for Thursday, October 28th at 2 p.m. - Selectman Dolan noted it had been in process for the past 15 yrs and they have done a fabulous job. He will try to attend and Selectman McCue will also attend, along with John D'Agostino. · Memo from Lee Azinheira regarding the request from No. Washington St., Norton, and the interceptor of the Mansfield sewer). The DPW Director stated the Town's position has always been against additional crossings of the sewer line. The property owner is advised to work with the DPW and Engineering to develop appropriate language to develop a Town Meeting article to grant an easement across the right-of-way. This issue will be on a future Board of Selectmen meeting agenda to discuss and either support or not support. · An invitation from the Hockomock YMCA to a breakfast meeting on Tuesday, November 16th at 7:30 a.m. at the Mansfield Holiday Inn. - Selectman are supportive of this undertaking. 8:15 p.m. Downtown Xmas Parade - Sunday, Nov 28th at 2:30 p.m. Jay Barrows presented the application and noted Mansfield High School Band, Oliver Ames High School Band; Dighton-Rehoboth Band; Norton High School Band and Bishop Feehan High School. The five bands are being sponsored by the Downtown Business Association and the event is in conjunction with the tree lighting on the South Common at 4p.m. They are expecting Santa Claus. Mr. Barrows hopes to get community support; many businesses have already supported the bands; the neighborhood floats are in competition (any civic group, organization can participate). The Route is from Rte 106 (near the train station) to the South Common. He noted it's the 15th year and a great event! He invited the Board to lead it off the parade. He stated Lt. Crickard of the Police Department will handle the convergence of traffic at Rte 106 and West Street. Parade has been approved by Police Chief O'Neill and Fire Chief Bellavance as long as emergency access is allowed. Motion: To approve and grant the parade application for the Downtown . (McCue/Amoruso) 5-0 Passes Board of Selectmen Minutes of October 27,2004 3 .' 8:00 p.m.: The Recreation Committee update was cancelled per Chairman MacCaffrie and will be rescheduled at a later date. Sump Pump Inspection: Courtemache. 238 Branch Street: Selectman Dolan asked John Sullivan, Town Engineer, to clarify the issue that the Department has to see that the sump pump has been removed. Mr. Sullivan explained that a routine inspection was allowed at fIrst, but the homeowner has not allowed access to verify the removaJ of the sump-pump. The Chairman noted that the issue involves an interpretation of the regulations and a clarification has been proposed to tighten up the regulations to be more specific. The suggestion is from John Sullivan's memo of October 26,2004, but he does not feel the regulations need to be changed. The Chairman noted there is no accusation here; but 2092 residents did not challenge the request. Mr. Sullivan noted that all that is left to do is to inspect that the sump-pump has been removed. The Chairman noted it is no different from other town departments being allowed in to enforce town regulations: Building Department, Assessors; Fire Department. It was discussed that if you insert an amendment to the regulations as of today; you cannot fme for past activities. Selectman Achille said the clarification would be prospectively enforceable" fined. Selectman Amoruso agreed. Selectman Dolan noted this issue has been ongoing since January 2003, and that Mr. Courtemache works for the town and he has a problem with the changing of the regulations. Selectman McCue noted the regulations need to be addressed to avoid the "gray" area. Selectman Achille had a concern in that he agrees with the enforcement and being allowed to go into re-inspect. Mr. Sullivan noted if there is a change in the regulations; the DEPcmayneed to review any changes. The Chairman spoke on the broad discretionary interpretation in relation to building and plumbing codes and that the regulation needs to be clarified. Selectman Amoruso also thinks the language needs to be clarified and he feels the proposed addition of the words "hard-piping" would be. appropriate. The Chairman notes the Engineering Department has every right to conduct sewer inspections. John Sullivan noted that the proposed clarification would not affect the other five people who are not allowing the Department to inspect inside; and does not affect the other four people who had unconnected sump pumps since they have either removed them or hard-piped the pumps and allowed re-inspection without fmes. Motion: To make a clarification to the sewer regulations by adding the words by "hard-piping" after the words "These discharges shall be made only... .", to Paragraph 2.2A on this date. (McCue/Achille) 5-0 Passes Motion: To send notice to Mr. Courtemache that he needs to arrange for re- inspection by the Engineering Department to verify the pump is removed, or hard- piped to an allowed discharge point. The clock will start 14 days from the date of the notice. The previous fine is moot. (Amoruso/Achille) 5-0 Passes The Chairman noted we are reaffirming the position of the Engineering Department that they have the right to enter the premises and the resident will be subject to fine from this time forward ifhe does not allow a reinspection. Board of Selectmen Minutes of October 27,2004 4 J Questions & Comments William Gerber spoke on the ComCast Cable License and asked how to contact the Cable Committee as there is no phone number published. He noted it is a non-profit organization and, as such, were to give back a channel to the community; he feels they are playing books and music in violation of copyrights; Channel 17 is doing nothing and Channel 98 is all pre- recorded; thus not locally generated. The cable fees are $277,500 and he does not think the Mansfield residents are getting their money's worth. Mr. Gerber passed out the financial statement that he obtained through the Attorney Genera.!'s office. $277,500 for 2002 & 2003 (Professional fees and dues: $7,606; Postage: $156.) He stated the group is accountable to no one and they have less than half their members. He seriously urges Board of Selectmen to look at this group. He would like to see some programming from the community - the Eagle award is an example. He asked what are they doing with the money for the highest cable rates in Mass. The Town should get 5% oftotal and again said the people are not getting their money's worth. Peter Detro/io stated he had been listening to the earlier conversation and noted the Town does have some leverage but no one has the right to come onto your property without your permission with the exception of 1) surveyor and 2) There are other ways to get around the issue: by notifying the homeowner and asking permission. Chairman MacCaffrie stood corrected and said he should have clarified 'after due notice'; however, the courtesy was extended by a letter from the Engineering Department. Chairman agreed that he should have clarified this. Selectmen's Old and New Business Selectman Achžlle: He received the memo date October 20 from the Special Project Manager regarding the Mansfield Green opening. He thanked staff and stated he is interested in the hard numbers i.e to open on Monday 8-4 via Sunday 8-12. This is the 'heavy season as is spring/summer with brush. He asked about using the "offenders" for community service (county chain gangs) and John D'Agostino noted it had to be 'project specific as they are not consistently available. Mr. Achille asked about using the Senior Tax Write-off participants. For November there will be Sunday openings for leaves. Selectman Dolan: He noted the recent Skate Park break in and how the town tries to do the right thing but if that is how they will treat it (breaking locks, etc.), he has a problem with the vandalism and is sure it is a handful of kids that will ruin it for everyone. The Board will not let it be ruined after all that was put into it. He will motion to close it if need be. Chairman MacCaffrie: He said he will close it if the kids cannot take care of it; he knows who did the recent vandalism; he stated it must be monitored and policed better. John D'Agostino noted it was to open at 2:00 pm in the paper; it was supposed to be 2:30 pm; and will be staffed (up to Nov 7th - it will be closed) must have supervision. John said the liability issue is capped. We can now introduce a bylaw to prohibit skating on the street. Selectman Amoruso: None. Board of Selectmen Minutes of October 27, 2004 5 Chairman MacCa.ffrie: Noted he had attended the Monday evening Lottery of the 7 affordable Rosewood units; 5 units were drawn for Mansfield residents; all 49 names were drawn showing there is a need for affordable housing in the Town of Mansfield. It was a most enjoyable event. He attended the Bristol County budget meeting last Thursday night. The Homeland Security Grant of $128K was discussed. There were creative ideas. They also passed a regulation with an amendment for recreation and health issu; an amendment for_Senior programs so that Ms. Farrugia could obtain some of what she needs. The argument was made not to give back to cities and towns in the form oflower taxes. An new monument dedicated to past, present and future Mansfield sports players and youth, donated by Karl Clemmey is a very nice entrance to Memorial Park. He urged people to view it. Selectman McCue: He noted the requested information concerning opinion on the last 40B project: that the 20 day period is still open for an appeal by us or some other. He has received the information that there is still some time. He has no opinion right now. · John D'Agostino noted Selectman Amoruso asked about the completion of the School Street Bridge; the basin binder will occur on Nov. 1st. The punch list will be completed by the end of November. The developer will be asked about the signalization and Selectman Dolan asked if DPW could put up warning signs of caution 'Fire Apparatus ahead'. (The Chairman noted one property in Norton does not want to use that access as the property 62.4 feet at the corner) ask John @ this??? · The ribbon cutting ceremony for the bridge which is the first project of Mass Highway in conjunction with the community is at 2 p.m. Thursday, October 28th; the bridge project has a number of design standards that are unique via melding the interest of the local community and intergrating the community interests. · The MIS staff will be meeting with the Easton MIS Department as they are interested in implementation of our GIS system there. This will also be beneficial to us and can get a "flyover" cheaper. It is a program that other communities will be adopting as well. Adjournment Motion: To adjourn at 9:15 p.m. (Amoruso) 5-0 Passes ~ '-<)~ Ignature of cg? /)~¿-tf9 Date of Approvaí Board of Selectmen Minutes of October 27, 2004 6