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HomeMy WebLinkAboutmin brd of selectmen 10/02/02 I'..... ("~ ~""., . ~ I. r'" ty) I,.~. i ' l~ L ~ ;'~ftCE r- Board of Selectmen Minutes of October 2, 2002 OZ Del 10 PH 3: 32 f-'Î /\ S ~:; SETTS Present: Chairman Daniel Donovan; Clerk Steven W. MacCaffrie; and Selectmen David W. McCarter and Louis P. Amoruso Vice Chairman Michael McCue was attending the Bridgewater State College Board of Trustees meeting and was unable to be present. Town Manager John O. D'Agostino The meeting was called to order at 7:30 p.m. followed by the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag. Chairman Donovan announced that Town Hall employees would be taking pledges from the public until 9:30 p.m. in sponsorship of the Town Hall team participating in the 5.7 mile walk for breast cancer on Sunday. Karen Doucette, Tobacco Control Program Director, noted this is the 10th year the American Cancer Society has been doing the walk and is the 5th year Mansfield Town Hall has participated, raising over $15,000 in pledges over that time. She noted the female breast cancer mortality rate has declined 20'Yo since this program began; however, they still have much work r to do. · Warrant No. 14 in the amount of $1,142,799.85 Motion: To approve and sign (MacCaffrie-Amoruso) 4-0 with Selectman McCarter abstaining from Municipal Building Committee payroll Passes · Minutes of September 25, 2002 Motion: To approve and sign (Amoruso-MacCaffrie) 4-0 Passes · Minutes of September 26, 2002 Early Retirement Incentive Workshop Motion: To approve and sign (Amoruso-MacCaffrie) 4-0 Passes r Board of Selectmen Minutes of October 2, 2002 1 r . Application (approved by Police Chief) for the Mansfield High School Annual Homecoming Parade on Saturday, October 26th at 12:30 p.m. Motion : To approve (McCarter-MacCaffrie) 4-0 Passes . License Renewals - all have been reviewed and approved by the appropriate department heads r Common Victualler Council on Aging/Bristol Elder Services, 255 Hope Street · Approve (MacCaffrie-McCarter) 4-0 Passes Café on the Common, Inc., 12-14 South Main Street · Approve (McCarter-Amoruso) 4-0 Passes Mansfield House of Pizza Inc., 175 North Main Street · Approve (MacCaffrie-McCarter) 4-0 Passes Mansfield Ltd. Partnership dba Holiday Inn Mansfield, 31 Hampshire St. · Approve (MacCaffrie-Amoruso) 4-0 Passes Willowdale Golf Course Inc., 54 Willow Street . Approve (MacCaffrie-Amoruso) 4-0 Passes Mansfield Donuts dba Dunkin Donuts, 45 Chauncy Street · Approve (MacCaffrie-Amoruso) 4-0 Passes Auto Dealer Clemmey, Inc., 390 West Street (Class II and Class III) · Approve (Amoruso-McCarter) 4-0 Passes Lance, Inc. Buick, Pontiac, GMC, 2 Chauncy Street (Class I) · Hold until next week - printed as Class II Rodco, Inc. dba Auto Showplace, 30 Mansfield Ave. (Class II) · Approve (Amoruso-McCarter) 4-0 Passes Live Entertainment Weekdays Mansfield Ltd. Partnership dba Holiday Inn Mansfield, 31 Hampshire St. · Approve (MacCaffrie-Amoruso) 4-0 Passes Automatic Amusement Device Mansfield Realty Limited Partnership dba Holiday Inn Mansfield, 31 Hampshire Street · Approve (Amoruso-MacCaffrie) 4-0 Passes r Board of Selectmen Minutes of October 2, 2002 2 (' Public Entertainment on Sunday Mansfield Realty Limited Partnership, dba Holiday Inn Mansfield, 31 Hampshire Street · Approve (McCarter-MacCaffrie) 4-0 Passes Ms. Doucette announced the first challenge of the evening for $125 to the Selectmen. Chairman Donovan accepted the challenge. Representative Michael Coppola was introduced and spoke a few words in support of the Making Strides for Breast Cancer Walk on Sunday, raising awareness that there still is this problem with breast cancer and there are ways to protect against it. He presented a check for $250 on behalf of his wife Ginny and himself. Selectman MacCaffrie also accepted the challenge to match the $125 pledge. Town ManaQer and Staff: . Police Chief O'Neill re: revised parking violation and fine structure (those crossed off on ticket are being eliminated for the reasons stated in the memo; those being changed are highlighted on the memo - The Chief was called out of r Town and the Town Manager noted the Chief feels comfortable keeping the impeding snow removal fine as listed. The Chief also noted if the Board decided to go to the maximum on the handicapped parking fee he would not object. The Chief surveyed surrounding towns and based his recommendation on the survey. Motion: To change the revised parking fine structure as recommended by the Chief (MacCaffrie-Amoruso) 4-0 Passes Motion: To increase the handicapped parking fine to $150. (McCarter-MacCaffrie) 3-1 with Selectman Donovan opposed Passes . Letter from Town Counsel Robert Mangiaratti re: Petition for Partition of B. Benjamin Cavallo Motion: To sign on behalf of the Town of Mansfield an Assent to a Motion to Amend the Petition for Partition of B. Benjamin Cavallo, Bristol Probate and Family Court Docket # 02E0016-PP to add the Town of Mansfield as a party holding an encumbrance on the land in Mansfield that is the subject matter of that Partition. (MacCaffrie-McCarter) 4-0 Passes r Board of Selectmen Minutes of October 2, 2002 3 r . Letter from Pro-Home, Inc. requesting renewal of Mansfield's participation in the Soft Second Loan Program. If so voted, there is a letter attached for the Chairman's signature Motion: To renew Mansfield's participation and authorize the Chairman to sign the letter of renewal (Amoruso-MacCaffrie) 4-0 Passes Selectman Amoruso said he would like to know how many residents of Mansfield took advantage of the program last year. r . Request from St. Gregory the Theologian Greek Orthodox Church on West Street requesting directional signs at the intersection of Route 140 and West Street (the Police Department has reviewed and has no problem with the request) Discussion ensued as to whether this has been done for other churches and if it would need to be approved by the Building Inspector. Selectman Amoruso suggested we set them up on the temporary sign to be erected for the detour route and then address a sign of a permanent nature with the building inspector and others involved. Town Engineer Sullivan suggested this request be kept separate from the detour sign as it is not part of the detour plan. Motion: To refer to staff for a recommendation (Amoruso-McCarter) 4-0 Passes Ms. Doucette announced the total pledged of $600 as of 8:00 p.m. and invited everyone to walk with the team on Sunday. She reminded everyone the bus leaves at 8:00 a.m. from Vanguard's parking lot in the Industrial Park Selectman Amoruso pledged $100. The public hearing opened on September 18,2002 and was continued to tonight. Gary D'Ambra of the Light Department was present, but there was no representative of Verizon in attendance at the meeting. Motion: To postpone the Verizon Pole hearing indefinitely until a new application is filed (MacCaffrie-Amoruso) 4-0 Passes r Board of Selectmen Minutes of October 2, 2002 4 r Motion: To move the auditors up on the agenda because Verizon was not present for their hearing (Amoruso-McCarter) 4-0 Passes Auditors Bob Brown, Chris Laviolette, and Peter Paliulis, of R. E. Brown and Company and Town Treasurer/Collector Richard Boucher, Town Accountany Bea Kearney and Assistant Assessor Ed O'Neil participated in the presentation. Also in attendance was Andres Gazzolo, Finance Committee Chairman, in addition to Gary Eagan and John McNair of the Board of Assessors. Mr. Brown noted they conducted the audit for the Town of Mansfield and presented a report and management letter and a Federal audit report due to the amount spent in Federal aid. He reviewed the budgetary statement on page 5 of their report and noted we are budgeting tight. We returned $455,000 in the budgetary section, which also is not a lot of money. Items funded from free cash totaled $1,172,000. He stated we're very much driven year-to-year based on revenues, which makes us more vulnerable than the average town. Selectman Amoruso said he's read of many towns who are experiencing shortfalls because of decreased revenues. Town Manager D'Agostino noted with our growth figures it makes it difficult to hold back cash with the demand for services we're r experiencing. Mr. Brown went on to state Mansfield did transfer $2.9 million to Stabilization. He noted good reserves help with the bond rating. Mr. Brown pointed out our Stabilization amount is average based on comparable towns they work with. On page 25 of the Financial Statement they noted receivables of $700,000 that are in the acceptable range. The Single Audit Report showed there were no findings. Chairman Amoruso drew attention to page 6 "Government Auditing" where several instances of non- compliance were noted. Mr. Brown stated that only means there is a Management Letter as part of the audit package and refers anyone looking at the report to the Management Letter. The Management Letter of 5 pages contained no new comments. Two on page 4 and 5 are repeated only to show they have been resolved. The first comment has to do with cash. Cash reconciliations are being done in a timely manner and have improved each time they've looked at them. He noted although much improved, they're not yet where they would like to see them. Selectman McCarter noted he's seen this too many times and is tired of it being a problem. Town Treasurer Boucher noted the problem is in his office and when he arrived they weren't being done on a timely basis. Each year they feel they have satisfied the condition; yet when the auditors r- come in there are other issues. He stated it's getting better and believes it will be Board of Selectmen Minutes of October 2, 2002 5 r taken care of when the 2002 Audit is done. Many of the problems go back a number of years. This has been the main task of one individual and they are working on it. One of the problems is how returned checks are handled. We've come close to the variances they say we should have, but it varies from month to month, which indicates ongoing errors. The variance at one point was $30,000 and is now down to approximately $10,000. We're attempting to find the variances so we don't have to write them off, but need to establish a stable figure month to month in order to write it off. Mr. Brown moved to the GASB-34 program effective FY2003. It's going to require a complete set of new financial statements. Fixed assets have to be recorded, including land, buildings, equipment, infrastructure and other property. Also there's a financial synopsis that has to be written by the financial department with required disclosures to help the Town fill in the information on the document on an annual basis. He noted it will be more of a challenge than the town realizes. Mr. D'Agostino noted we're in the process of establishing an inventory control program and it needs to be made system-wide for the Town, Schools and Light Department. WeD'like to adopt a barcode system once we've established our fixed assets. Mr. Brown next referred to page 2 of the Management Letter. They have a philosophical difference in policy wherein they would like to see a more aggressive r approach to the collection of taxes. Treasurer/Collector Richard Boucher addressed the issue of putting property into tax title at the suggestion of the Auditors. He still attempts to collect prior to going into tax title because it saves everyone money, and has just sent out the first letter in the series of letters leading to tax title. If there is a legitimate inability to pay, they are referred to the Assessors Office to see if they meet any of the qualifications for deferral. If the taxes are not paid, it must be advertised in the paper and a lien filed against the property. They can then sit down and work it out. The oldest cases go back before his time and some have already been foreclosed on. There are others on which people are making payments, but there are some they are actively foreclosing on. He stated he would not foreclose on anyone who's making an effort to pay. Mr. Brown referred to page 3 (Police Detail) which was established as a new account and is being reconciled regularly. There is an older balance that is uncollectable. Mr. Boucher noted the ones not paid were Town details that were not processed for one reason or another. That has been cleaned up and closed out and now if it's a Town detail, their account is charged directly rather than cutting a check and paying the detail. If a contractor doesn't pay, they receive monthly statements and if it's not paid, the Police Station is notified and they don't get additional details until the outstanding bill is paid. Mr. Brown noted they're r comfortable with the new process. He next referred to School Bank Accounts on Board of Selectmen Minutes of October 2, 2002 6 r page 4 that contains the Student Activity Account. The last comment is also a resolved item and everything possible on the Town side is being done. Actual tax bills are impossible to send out until the State Budget is approved and we get solid numbers. Selectman Donovan asked Mr. Brown to address the Bristol County Retirement portion of the audit. Mr. Brown noted the State pays for Mansfield Retired Teachers and they must get the numbers from the State. It's a non-cash transaction. He noted they would not have caught the underpayments to the retirement system and it would be the responsibility of the auditors for Bristol County Retirement Board to do so. Selectman Donovan asked if there are many towns they audit that collect taxes quarterly. Mr. Brown said there are quite a few. They usually complain about it initially, but it turns out to be manageable. Approximately 90'Yo of their clients bill quarterly. Mr. Boucher noted he was against it because of the work involved, but the reaction of the taxpayers has been positive because the taxes have gone up and it makes the payment more manageable. He believes they could handle it. If the bills go out in the next 30 days we should get some money in and would be able to invest it. The printing and mailing would be the expense involved in billing quarterly. We would have fewer cash flow problems billing quarterly however. Taxes are 60- r 65% of our revenue. We lose revenue by not having the money to invest. In summary Mr. Brown noted the Town is in good shape and they're happy with the over-all financial operations. Our bond rating is A-I. Airport Commission Chairman Bob Andrews, Commissioners Lou Andrews, Howard Fiske, and Phil Finer; and Brad Wills, a member of the bid committee, were present to announce they accepted two bids concerning Airport leases - Casey Aviation for $18,000 per year for maintenance and King Aviation as fixed base operator for $33,000 per year for a five-year term. David Dinneen noted with the money the two business generate they will be able to put it back into the Airport and make improvements. Selectman MacCaffrie thanked Brad Wills for continuing to represent the Selectmen on this committee. Mr. Wills said he feels the bids awarded created a three-way win (Town, King Aviation, and the pilots). They're looking into re-opening the restaurant. The funds generated from the Airport wl1l go into a Revolving Account as proposed at the Special Town Meeting, with the intent of establishing an enterprise account at the Annual Town Meeting. Mr. .r- MacCaffrie thanked all involved in the process, noting it was contentious at times, Board of Selectmen Minutes of October 2, 2002 7 r but we were all working in the same direction and it was a great deal of work on the part of many people. The result was good all around. Howard Fiske reiterated that the Airport belongs to the people of Mansfield and encouraged everyone to visit. (' Town Manger D'Agostino noted there was a request from Selectman McCue to add an article to the Special Town Meeting Warrant. He's asking we include in the warrant the new exemption for seniors contained in Chapter 184 of the State Budget, Section 51 of Clause 41C that amends the sentence to reduce age of eligibility to 65 years or more; increase either or both the amounts of not more than 100 'Yo; and increasing the amounts in the sub-clauses. Selectman Amoruso noted he would like to be able to do it, but we have closed the Warrant. Selectman MacCaffrie concurred. Concern was expressed about creating a defect in the Town Meeting procedures if the article were to be added after its having been closed last week and before signing it tonight. The issue was discussed with Representative Coppola and it was ultimately decided to put the article on in the spring. Mr. D'Agostino added that the Senior Work Abatement Program, which is currently at $500 and has already been accepted at Town Meeting, could be increased to the amount of $750 by adopting the policy. Motion: To increase to $750 (MacCaffrie-Amoruso) 4-0 Passes Mr. D'Agostino noted Selectman McCue is donating $25 to the Breast Cancer Walk Motion: To sign the Special Town Meeting Warrant (MacCaffrie-McCarter) 4-0 Passes Mansfield Youth Soccer had requested three articles. The Town Manager concurred on two of them and agreed we need to engineer a better solution than what was proposed and come back with it in the spring. We will proceed with Articles 24 and 25 which deal with extending the term of the license agreement for the use of the athletic fields at Plymouth Street based on the contributions they've made for betterments to those fields. That has been agreed to and voted upon, but the authorization needs to come from Town Meeting and is being presented to Town Counsel for review prior to the Special Town Meeting. Selectman Amoruso noted he is interested in Article 25 - to protect it from being developed for any use other than what it's being used for now. It was given to us to be open space and cannot be changed. Bruce Freal noted if it's already secured for r that use, that would be fine. They simply want to insure that it remains open space Board of Selectmen Minutes of October 2, 2002 8 f for recreation and is never sold for industrial use. Selectman Amoruso suggested it is already protected and it was determined to get it settled. Selectman MacCaffrie questioned the procedure, noting the article is sponsored by the Board of Selectmen. Town Manager D'Agostino explained the procedure, noting if the Selectmen do not want the article on the warrant, they can remove it. It is done in this manner so the applicant does not have to get the requisite signatures to put it on by petition. Selectman McCarter noted he's uncomfortable having the Board of Selectmen as the sponsor of an article if they don't support it. Articles can be taken off tonight before the Warrant is signed and/or they can vote not to support an article. Once the Warrant is signed it is posted and advertised. Staff will then meet and the determination will be made as to whether it needs to move forward to satisfy the intent of the article. It can be withdrawn at Town Meeting if it is determined the article is unnecessary. A possible solution was suggested wherein all articles would be submitted to the Selectmen for their vote on whether to include them on the Warrant; however, it's possible that would create an administrative bottleneck. r The consensus of the Board was policies need to be put into place regarding what is put on the warrant. The suggested solution was for a night to be set aside to review articles before they get placed on the warrant, but it was agreed it would not be fair to require it at this point in time. The matter of the field became an issue due to rumors of the land being sold. This article gives the Town Manager permission to move forward with what needs to be done. Town Counsel will need to look at the wording of the motion to determine the intent is being clearly and adequately addressed in the motion. The intent in Article 25 is to use the property for recreation use only and the motion will be worded accordingly. Articles are approved based on the motion and the motion is what is reviewed and approved by the Attorney General's Office. Mr. Freal noted the issue is important, but not critical. He suggested they could wait until May and do the necessary preparation prior to that. An engineer will be sent out to evaluate the situation and establish a dollar amount to correct it. The Town Manager reported: . The State opened eleven bids on the Rails-to- Trails Project ranging from $430,000 to $750,000. The bids have been taken under advisement and we expect word from the State when the bid has been awarded. The Town Manager read the list of bidders and the bid amounts. Selectman MacCaffrie noted $434,000 does not seem out of line, as there were several in that range. .r- Board of Selectmen Minutes of October 2, 2002 9 · The Train Station bids are due October 3rd. Once he knows the bid amounts he r will share them with the Board. · Firefighters rededication of the fallen firefighters monument is Sunday at 2:00 p.m. on South Common and he will be back from the Breast Cancer Walk by 1:30 p.m. to participate. The monument was originally in Springbrook Cemetery. · He has spoken with John Walsh at the Bristol County Retirement Board and has confirmed in writing that the Town would not be responsible for the shortage. The entire system would be required to pay, as it would be an actuarial deficit. He outlined the agreement that has been worked out and he suggested inviting Mr. Walsh to a Selectmen's meeting to address the issue. Information on Mansfield has been requested under the Freedom of Information act. The Town Manager read the letter received from Mr. Walsh. · Has offered a memorandum on the Municipal Building Committee (MBC) projects that are outstanding which speaks to the balance in the Jordan Jackson account. The MBC is recommending that we hold approximately $20,000 of the $93,000 remaining in the account. The $73,000 could be made available to put a sprinkler system in the East Street fields. Selectman MacCaffrie noted his first impression would be that it would be contingent on approval from the r School Building Assistance Bureau (SBAB) that we could use funds approved for one project on another that was not approved for SBAB funding. Selectmen Amoruso and MacCaffrie agreed it would not pass an audit and the Town would end up paying for it. Town Manager D'Agostino noted that it's being sponsored by the School Department and he believes the Superintendent has looked into it. · We have proposed a draft policy to be used by the Board of Selectmen in their review of the application for the Festival of Lights. Their input and comments are requested prior to next week's meeting. The portions printed in red have been added by Town Counsel. The blue portions have been added by the Town Manager. We're attempting to assist Mansfield Music and Arts Society (MMAS) to get the process as smooth as possible. · Has copies of a filing permit survey completed by Southeastern Regional Planning and Economic Development District (SRPEDD). We participated in the survey and it's helpful to compare ourselves to the other communities participating in the survey. · We are in agreement with Nova Scotia on a 50 foot tree to be milled into a r- flagpole for the East Common to replicate the ship's mast flagpole destroyed by Board of Selectmen Minutes of October 2, 2002 10 r lightning and are working out the details as to how it will be shipped. We will responsible for transportation from Boston to the woodworker. They will film the tagging and cutting of the tree and we'll pick up the film here with the refinery and shipbuilding and Nova Scotia will be happy to participate in the dedication. · He has instructed DPW Director Lee Azinheira not to issue a road opening permit to the contractor working on the School Street Bridge until MassHighway issues a decision on the permanency of the traffic signalization at Forbes Boulevard and West Street. Within five minutes of that decision MassHighway District 5 was on the phone to Mansfield and they were a bit upset. He's hoping for a positive decision from District 5 for permanent signalization that was promised us by Commissioner Cogliano. This is the only leverage we have at the present time. · Chief O'Neill has formed a committee regarding the review and recommendation of the antiquated parking regulations. The committee includes the Chief, Shaun Burke, Bernie O'Malley, Shaun Burke, Scott Eames, Peter Fontanini and Jay Barrows. He would like like two people from the public at large to serve on the committee as well. We will advertise for them. r . Would like to add to next week's agenda the van offer from AT&T Broadband. There have been draft copies available for several weeks. · Reviewed the financial information regarding what we have available to spend at the Fall Special Town Meeting. We have Raise and Appropriate and Free Cash Amounts. We're proposing, based on the Warrant Articles before the Board, to use $86,961.81 to pay prior years bills. $1,070,521. has been certified as free cash and he recommended we put $760,109. into Stabilization. The State gave us an additional $467,808 and we have new growth in the amount of $196,000, bringing our total to $763,808. He reviewed the raise and appropriate amounts and explained what they are comprised of. If we go with all the articles proposed, we're looking at a balance of approximately $10,000 not appropriated. Selectmen's Old and New Business was waived to allow for Questions and Comments. r Board of Selectmen Minutes of October 2, 2002 11 r Paul Diette of 59 Lancashire Drive - thanked the Selectmen and Town Manager for the role they played to guide the Airport Commission to an open process bid. He noted everyone is satisfied with the process and looking forward to a good working relationship between the Town, the Airport and the pilots. He has developed an interest in serving on the Airport Commission and has taken out the paperwork to do so and looks forward to talking with them about his ideas for the airport. Karl Clemmey of 720 South Main Street - stated he has looked at the plans for the MMAS Light Show. He noted conflicts with the various hearings being held. In 1995 when he submitted his plans it was for $16,000 plus and the Town returned only $2,000. He noted the minutes state he withdrew the plan. He doesn't understand why the MMAS plan was not on the Planning Board's agenda tonight and spoke about the plan submitted. He figured out that approximately 45 acres is being used and their permitting fee would be in excess of $35,000 using the formula rather than the $385. fee established. He noted his support for the MMAS, but pointed out MMAS is only going to get a percentage of the money being brought in. He pointed out they plan to spend $120,000 for advertising and suggested more homework be done, stating the taxpayers of Mansfield should not be subsidizing this project. Selectman McCarter noted the explanation was there (' are no permanent changes being made to the land and there is minimal involvement of staff-there are no drainage issues or other issues requiring technical review. Mr. Clemmey noted this is a company that's coming in to put up 160 displays which are large enough to qualify as structures. He suggested they take a second look at the permit fee established. Ken Butler of MMAS - noted the permits Mr. Clemmey has been granted are not for temporary uses. They will be putting up temporary structures on property that has already been developed and for which fees have been paid. Selectman MacCaffrie stated the issuance of the extended entertainment license belongs with the Board of Selectmen and that everything else involved with the issuance of the Special Permit belongs with the Planning Board. He noted we're developing procedures two weeks before we will be asked to vote on something. He expressed his belief that hearings should have been held by the Planning Board. Selectman McCarter stated the same issues to be addressed are those that are addressed in an entertainment license and we do those all the time. He suggested it's been made more complicated than necessary. Town Manager D'Agostino noted this is the way it was voted at Town Meeting. r Board of Selectmen Minutes of October 2, 2002 12 r r '¡ (' . Motion: To adjourn at 11:00 p.m. (MacCaffrie-Amoruso) 4-0 Passes Board of Selectmen Minutes of October 2, 2002 /"/9-/62- I Date of Approval 13