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HomeMy WebLinkAboutmin brd of selectmen 07/09/02 r Board of Selectmen Minutes of July 9, 2002 'n I 8ECEIVED \;, t' I. f' (,11:- ¡:: I "'E .. f i '-.J. û2 JUL 25 MilO: 09 f:·l'~ ; '+-, ~,..~. , I·",,· .' I····; 0 .. '" J. . t"1 A (' C' ' r' " -, - , :)'-'/\,.1'1 ,.lSETTS Present: Chairman Daniel Donovan; Clerk Steven W. MacCaffrie; Vice Chairman Michael W. McCue; and Selectman David W. McCarter and Louis P. Amoruso. 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. . Warrant No. 54 in the amount of $1,898,072.16 Motion: To approve and sign (MacCaffrie-McCue) 5-0 with Selectman McCarter abstaining from Municipal Building Committee payroll Passes r · Warrant No. 01 in the amount of $1,483,589.26 Motion: To approve and sign (MacCaffrie-McCue) 5-0 with Selectman McCarter abstaining from Municipal Building Committee payroll Passes . Minutes of June 26, 2002 Selectmen's Meeting Motion : To approve as amended (MacCaffrie-Amoruso) 5-0 Passes · Drainlayer's Licenses - Recommended for approval by Town Engineer John Sullivan Cat Alley Farm, 158 Gilbert Street, Mansfield Motion : To approve (McCue-MacCaffrie) 5-0 Passes r'" Guerrini Landscape, Inc., 703 East Street, Mansfield Motion : To approve (Amoruso-McCue) 5-0 Passes Board of Selectmen Minutes of July 9,2002 1 r Peter DeGirolamo & Sons, Inc., 631 East Street, Mansfield Motion : To approve (McCue-Amoruso) 5-0 Passes Boards and Committees · Memo from Health Agent Scott Leite with update on status of food certification of C. J. Scooters, 16 Old Colony Way Motion: To have Stephen Cerullo in on July 24th to discuss his compliance with the regulations because he's serving alcohol without food according to the memo of Scott Leite dated July 9, 2002, with a possible suspension or revocation of his alcohol license (MacCaffrie-McCue) 5-0 Passes Residents r · Request from George Dentino to be placed on Agenda Boy Scout Andrews Inglis presented plans for his Eagle Scout Project and asked for the support of the Board of Selectmen. Andrew, who is 17 and starting his Eagle Project, plans to build bocce courts at Memorial Park. He will put in two courts for the Council on Aging down by the tennis courts where the stone wall is. They will be built with landscape timbers and contain gravel, topped with artificial turf filled in with sand. He showed the plans for the courts and a sample of the turf to be used. The turf comes from a company in Tennessee which makes it especially for bocce courts. The cost is projected to be approximately $5,000 and donations can be sent to Andrew at 1 Darby Drive, Mansfield. He has discussed the project with the Town Manager, Town Engineer John Sullivan, and Building Inspector Bertram Cook. He's looking for a donation of 100 8'x51x5" landscape timbers. Andrew credited Selectman Amoruso for coming up with the idea last year. Selectmen praised Andrew for his initiative and invited him to come back and report on the project. (' Motion: To support the project (McCue-MacCaffrie) 5-0 Passes Board of Selectmen Minutes of July 9,2002 2 r The Town Manager reported: · On the need to follow-up on Community Development Block Grant received for $545,000 for home repairs for residents that meet the guidelines and said he will be asking the Board to formally vote on July 24th on the composition of this committee. He recommended it be comprised of the Council on Aging Director, Executive Director of the Housing Authority, a Planning Board member, a Fair Housing Member, and a member of the Zoning Board of Appeals--with the members of those committees selecting their representatives--and two citizens at large. He asked the Board to vote to establish the committee based on the recommended composition. Motion: To support the Town Manager's recommendation for the composition of the committee (Amoruso-McCue) 5-0 Passes · Announced a joint venture with the School Department of a letter sent to approximately 350 business owners to participate in a breakfast at the High (' School at which the new track will be unveiled. The track will be ready for use tomorrow. The breakfast we are hosting is designed to raise funds to purchase and install bleachers for the track and athletic field. Corporate sponsorships will be sought for a Golf Tournament to be held September 20th at the TPC Golf Club in Norton. The breakfast will be held tomorrow. · He will be absent from the Light Commissioners meeting on July 22nd and offered a memorandum from Jack Beliveau for the Commissioners review prior to the meeting. The memorandum discusses the need for another substation on the east side of Mansfield, noting we have reached capacity eighteen years earlier than expected which our studies did not anticipate. The problem appears to be distribution beyond the Gilbert Street Station. · On July 11th staff will be meeting with MassHighway regarding several projects the town has in for funding over the next few years. The meeting is scheduled for 10:00 a.m. and Norton Town Manager Chris McCabe has been asked to attend, since he is interested in the Route 495 southbound ramp issue which will be one of the items discussed. He congratulated Representative Poirier for her efforts in putting the meeting together. The meeting is expected to last about an hour, with a possible visit to the Williams Street Bridge site. Selectman r Amoruso indicated he will be there. Board of Selectmen Minutes of July 9,2002 3 r . Will be on vacation starting July 22nd and has entrusted Lee Azinheira with full duties and responsibilities during his absence. · The sidewalk sale is tomorrow beginning at 6:00 p.m. George Denti' r George Dentino of Gladiola Terrace asked about year-end revenues and shortfalls mentioned at the last meeting. He spoke of obtaining copies of the memoranda regarding budget and year-end procedures, noting his belief that year-end revenues were anticipated far too late. He also noted our revenue is not "sporadic" as stated, since 60 percent comes from real estate property taxes. Only three items were projected to have revenue shortfalls. He also spoke of the "reimbursement of benefits" attributed to the Light Department shortfall, noting that should be a wash if they're being charged at their exact cost. He noted internal service charges have been discussed many times and it was determined that it is inappropriate to be charging for services not rendered. He noted it appears we are charging twice for the same services to cover shortfalls in anticipated revenue. He pointed out the solution is to keep the spending down. Mr. Dentino then spoke of investment income being $200,000 under budget. He questioned how it could be $200,000 short when it was initially projected to be $150,000. He also questioned why it would be a "surprise" when news reports have been constant regarding returns on investment income. Mr. Dentino next spoke of "Municipal Medicaid Reimbursement" noting a reimbursement can only occur if it's something we've contributed to. He noted it's on the School side of the budget and we pay a person from the Municipal side to go after Medicaid reimbursement. Town Manager D'Agostino noted the sudden drop in interest rates and stated the line item was reduced at Town Meeting. Reimbursement is planned for based on the amount received in previous years and we budgeted $175,000 on the revenue side and actually received only $110,000. r Mr. Dentino noted "shortfall" is not the proper definition. He spoke of losing money because the tax bills went out late and that cost us money, stating one of the Selectmen suggested at the time sending out estimated bills. The Treasurer/Collector, however, noted it would cost $5,000 to do so. Mr. Dentino said a shortfall of $276,350 is indicated. Town Manager D'Agostino noted a $200,000 shortfall in investment income, $15,080 in local receipts and property taxes. It does not include $37,500 for transportation reimbursement that we did not receive. Selectman MacCaffrie indicated his desire to have the actual school costs paid from the town side of the budget broken out. Mr. D'Agostino spoke of Board of Selectmen Minutes of July 9, 2002 4 (' the various items this includes, the rising costs associated with insurance and benefits, and the difficulty in obtaining some types of liability insurance coverage. Mr. Dentino asked where we will come up with the money. There is $507,000 that will revert to Free Cash. Mr. Dentino noted a spending freeze was instituted four months ago, and the only area over which we had control was materials and supplies. The Town Manager suggested the figure is not yet certain as the year-end closing process is not yet complete. He also noted a spending freeze does not mean there is no spending, as there are expenses that continue with operating departments. It will be another two weeks before all the bl1/s are paid and the figures are accurate. The Light Department is not being charged for internal services this year. We are living by the V3 vote in V2 for a PILOT of $300,000 plus 10% if they make a profit. They operate on a calendar year and the Town operates on a fiscal year- resulting in a six-month overlap. Selectman McCarter suggested the need for a vote of clarification. A lengthy discussion ensued regarding the accounting procedure used in determining the PILOT and the payment thereof. r Selectman McCue: · Asked about the Tyco lighting situation. There is a memorandum in the reading file from Town Engineer John Sullivan regarding his meeting with Tyco. · Suggested at the meeting with MassHighway on Thursday we request a coat of paint on the Route 106 train overpass. MBTA is responsible for this and not MassHighway. We have a work order issued for it. Selectman MacCaffrie: · Asked about the project overtime list. It has not been completed · Asked when we'll be removing the loam from Essex Street. It is not high on the list of priorities and wl1/ be done when we get the approval from Conservation Commission. We can ask Conservation about it. r · Asked about who will be paying to build the parking lot. It's being done within the DPW budget. He said it should be done on regular time where it's not a special project like fields for which we are getting reimbursement. They have $35,000 in the overtime budget and it's not the Board's decision on how they spend it unless they are spending more than appropriated Board of Selectmen Minutes of July 9,2002 5 r Selectman Amoruso: · Noted the need to establish policies and procedures for the Local Housing Partnership. Asked for people to volunteer. Selectman McCarter noted the need to establish guidelines for reviewing Chapter 40B applications also. Town Manager D'Agostino suggested a pro-active long-term approach be taken, looking at what other communities are doing in the way of by-law changes. Selectman McCarter: . Asked about the letters on the Town Hall sign. · Asked if the Morrison Well is operating yet. Not yet-the State has required another time-sampling of the Cedar Swamp. The report has been submitted to DEP and we're waiting for them to give us the go-ahead If water level problems become severe, the well will go online. · Asked if the burying of the wires downtown has started. It was scheduled to begin tomorrow, but wHI be delayed a day due to the sidewalk sale in the area tomorrow. r Selectman Amoruso: · Asked about the alcohol license hearing scheduled at the next meeting, noting it is a serious case and asked if it should be sent to the ABCC. If need be, a letter will be sent by Attorney MangiartlHi outlining the specific charges. Selectman MacCaffrie: · Asked the status of the abandoned house on Mill Street. The Building Inspector wH/ be sending out a notice. The abandoned car is a Police issue. He asked if the taxes have been paid on the property. The Town Manager will check. If it's tax title property, he suggested proceedings be initiated as soon as possible. The Town Manger noted there is a process we follow in such situations. · Asked what benefit we receive from being a part of the Southeastern Regional Services Group (SERSG). By pooling purchases with many other communities we realize significant savings on purchase of gasoline, asphalt, office supplies, etc. · Asked if all the arrests made at the Tweeter Center go to Court. The Town r Manager said he does not know, but we do bill Tweeter Center for Court time. Board of Selectmen Minutes of July 9, 2002 6 r He asked if we could get a report broken down by concert, showing how many went to Court and what the charge was to Tweeter. · Highlighted items in the budget report on which he has questions and presented it to the Town Manager for clarification. The Town Manager noted there are many line items that make up the bottom line and movement therein is aI/owed, provided the bottom line is not exceeded Line items are tracked to assist in establishing the subsequent year's budget. Selectman McCue: · Noticed a note in the reading file with regard to a traffic light at St. Mary's School. He asked if SRPEDD could be asked to do the traffic count at the site. The Town Engineer's Office is looking into the request. Selectman McCue asked who would take on the cost of the study. It would be the Town if we want a light there. We could request assistance from SRPEDD, but if it's an engineering issue, we need the bear the cost of it. · Asked if we have an estimated time for the ground breaking on the Rails to Trails project. Senator Sprague would like to get a proclamation prepared for the event. He asked that we get back to her with a date. r Selectman Donovan: · Asked if we've ever heard back from the Judge who was going to look at the land off Jewell Street in the adverse possession claim. · Noted stop signs have faded out in some sections of town. (Fuller Place). · Asked that the Town send a letter to Patsy DePillo, thanking him for taking care of the memorial uptown and watering the flowers, and to Howard Fiske also for the flowers. Richard Devine, 6 Morgan Road - told the Board they've been doing a good job lately. Spoke of the outages happening in Town and stated he was surprised about the estimate of $15-20 million for a new substation. He questioned if we've actually determined what the problem is and suggested money would be better spent hiring businesses that can detect the spikes in the system. The Town Manager noted they're not referring to spikes in a system causing the increase in r- demand We increased the capacity of the Gilbert Street Substation, but we're finding with the SCADA system that there's a spike residentially in the morning, Board of Selectmen Minutes of July 9,2002 7 r then it goes down when people leave for work. The spike is now occurring and staying there. During the day there's more demand on the distribution system from the Industrial Park. As the commercial people go home, the residential peak continues. People are paying the extra money to leave air conditioners on all day so the house wH/ be comfortable when they come home from work. Most of the new houses being bul1t are installing central air now. The demand is increasing at a far greater rate than was anticipated because of these factors. Before we spend any money, the studies will be verified Mr. Devine noted the decline in the number of homes being built annually, yet the outages were not happening during the time of the significant growth spurts. He suggested that the problem be identified before a solution is sought. Selectman Amoruso explained there are distribution problems that are caused by too much demand on a particular feeder, and feeders are being replaced Nationwide there was also a supply of bad feeders that were distributed We can meet the demand, but we cannot always distribute it. The Light Department has done an admirable job in identifying the problems and working toward a solution. It was suggested that Mr. Devine come to the Light Commissioners meeting on July 2Z"'. He also asked about "Free Cash", noting it's been his experience that whenever we've had a revaluation, it's a million dollars or more. r Motion: To adjourn at 9:58 p.m. (MacCaffrie-Amoruso) 5-0 Passes r Board of Selectmen Minutes of July 9,2002 8