Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutmin brd of selectmen 01/23/02 '''j'' " 'XCr\\P-O He ,f_ it., "," '(" nc-c: ICE '~., " -\,1 ~ 1.1 .. Present: 02JAN3\ Mi\O:05 ; ¡I'.\'"'' \~,LD '1/; S ~; f:\ C H USE T T S Chairman Louis P. Amoruso; Vice Chairman Bradford E. Wills; and Selectmen David W. McCarter and Daniel Donovan. Selectman McCarter served as Acting Clerk for the evening in the absence of Michael W. McCue. Town Manager John O. D'Agostino Board of Selectmen Minutes of January 23, 2002 r The meeting was called to order at 7:30 p.m., followed by the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag. . Warrant No. 31 in the amount of $1,979,242.39 Motion: To approve and sign (Wills-Donovan) 4-0 with Selectmen McCarter abstaining from Municipal r Building Committee payroll and Invoice No. 74502 . Minutes of January 16, 2002 Board of Selectmen's meeting Motion : To approve (Wills-Donovan) 4-0 Passes . Drainlayer's License application of Richard Staples of 21 High Street, Plainville - recommended for approval by Town Engineer John Sullivan Motion : To approve (Donovan-Wills) 4-0 Passes . Tahana decision to be signed with the suspension being 12:01 a.m. on February 4, 2002 to midnight February 25, 2002 Motion: To sign the decision (McCarter-Donovan) 4-0 Passes ,r- Board of Selectmen Minutes of January 23, 2002 1 r . Letters from Kenneth M. McCalsky and Kenneth E. McCalsky, with note from Kenneth M. McCalsky that he would like to set up a meeting. Peter De Tro/io of Elm Street - spoke of last week's meeting and of speaking with a resident who suggested that the next time there's a TIPS (alcohol) training session in Town, the Selectmen attend to learn more about it. Referring to an on-going practical joke, he also noted the Town Manager stopped him in the hallway and accused him of stealing his shovel. He requested that whoever stole the shovel return it so he won't be getting accused of stealing it. r George Dentino of Gladiola Terrace - said he saw Peter DeTrolio with the shovel. Mr. Dentino then spoke about the Board of Selectmen being the over-all authority of the Town and having the ability to hire and fire the Town Manager. He noted they can discipline and sanction him. Mr. Dentino reiterated the previous week's motion, which failed, whereby Town Manager D'Agostino was directed to rescind the e-mail discussed. He further stated the Selectmen, in not supporting the motion and in affirming their reasons for not supporting the motion, condoned and sanctioned what was done. Chairman Amoruso pointed out that Mr. Dentino is stating his opinion and, in so doing, is leaving out a major portion of the discussion in which the Town Manager said he would rescind the e-malZ Selectman McCarter stated he does not believe there was a violation of Mass. General Laws. Town Manager D'Agostino said he does not believe what he did constitutes a violation of Mass. General Laws and disagreed that the Selectmen have jurisdictional authority. They set policy in accordance with the Town Charter. He then read the e-mail in which he rescinded the previous e-mail regarding requests for information. r- Steve MacCaffrie of Mill Street - thanked the Town Manger for his e-mail rescinding the previous e-mail and for providing the information regarding the $2.60 charge on the water bill as a water service charge that was approved by the Selectmen as Water Commissioners in May of 2000. He likened the situation to the cable bill wherein they get the money one way or another. He noted the Water Department is an enterprise account and as such should be setting the rates to recover all their costs. He objected to salaries coming out of the service charge and stated there should be an end point when all the meters are changed. Chairman Amoruso further explained the matter. Town Manager elaborated on the charge, noting it's based on meter size and does not cover the entire cost of billing. Mr. MacCaffrie noted the Light Department operates at a profit every year, yet they Board of Selectmen Minutes of January 23, 2002 2 r a\so assess a service charge for reading the meter. The Town Manager will look into it further. The Town Manager: Spoke about a letter he's prepared to Rep. James McGovern requesting Federal assistance for the Route 106 underpass and the reclaimed water for irrigation project which would alleviate the need to expand the treatment plant. The possibility of the Tournament Players Club and related ancillary facilities being interested in the reclaimed water was discussed. r Attended a regional cable television meeting in North Attleboro regarding AT&T Broadband. The basic conclusion was there needs to be competition in the marketplace. Everyone came away from the meeting with the understanding that the best way to compete is through the local light departments. They are looking at ways to establish such a system in a cooperative arrangement. Selectman McCarter said he would like to see it presented to Town Meeting as a non-binding warrant article to learn if there is support to do so. Chairman Amoruso said he spoke with someone else who recommended hiring a consultant to do a scientific survey and get a more accurate cross-section of the population. Selectman McCarter noted a warrant article to fund such a study would be a good indicator of townspeople's interest. There is another regional cable meeting on March 11th at Taunton City Hall to determine the legality of cooperative arrangements and how they would work. There is evidence that bills are reduced 15-25'0 in communities where there is locally provided cable service. He noted putting an article on the warrant without sufficient information as to costs and anticipated revenue would not be doing the project justice. Motion: To add an article to the Town Meeting Warrant to raise and appropriate a sum of money to investigate cable television services being provided by the Town. (McCarter-Wills) 4-0 Passes r Met with several Boards of Selectmen last Friday in Boston to discuss how school board members are elected to the regional school board. Since the meeting it has been determined that Mansfield and at least a couple other towns have adopted the one man-one vote option. The Court organized several different options and chose the one man-one vote option. We believe there are issues that need to be reviewed in looking at the composition of the school district. The consensus of those in attendance was there is little or no Board of Selectmen Minutes of January 23,2002 3 r accountability of the school board members to the communities they are serving. As a follow-up he has sent a letter of request for information and records regarding the 1987 court order. Foxborough further amended Chapter 10 of the Acts of 1988 by adopting on March 29, 1988 the district-wide representation for elected officers and further amended it to allow regional school committee members to be appointed by local Boards of Selectmen. Other communities may want to follow this route if it is possible and it will be further explored. The Southeastern Regional School Committee has assumed the attitude that it doesn't matter what we think, they're going to do as they please. ,r Met today in Boston with Reps. Poirier and Coppola and a representative from Senator Sprague's office, as well as with Frank Gay of GATRA and Dr. Toye Brown who indicated that if we have 80'0 Federal funding the state will provide the additional 20'0 regarding the Train Station project. We're hoping to be able to go out to bid on the project in the spring. Selectman Wills suggested the project is being done backwards and the actual station could wait until the end. The Town Manager noted the Station and Platform are the most important components due to safety concerns with the high-speed train going by at 150 miles per hour and a narrow platform. The issue is determining the height of the platform based on Amtrak's decision regarding the height of their tracks. The project architect should have anticipated this based on his experience or designed the project in conjunction with Amtrak. An attempt is being made to schedule a meeting with Reps. Barney Frank and Jim McGovern and Amtrak to resolve this issue. This also needs to be coordinated with the Route 106 underpass project. ,r- Briefly reviewed the Town Budget and preliminary budget highlights from the State. The 2002 budget is not balanced and revenue is off by $200 million. The State economy is expected to begin to recover sometime in the spring or early summer. The projected deficit is now $1.7 billion with a 5'0 loss in revenue which translates into a loss of revenue in the 2003 budget of $2 billion. In the town budget, we're look at approximately a $3.8 million deficit based on revenue projections and expenditures. This includes an increase in the cost of health insurance of $937,000. The overall budget request is $60,690,Oot against a revenue estimate of $56,889,000. Revenue growth is down 2.97'0 which represents the PILOT agreement between the Town and Light Department. The biggest issues deal primarily with health insurance, a 20% increase in property and liability carrier insurance, and an over-all debt decrease of approximately $331,932,000 The town's share of the budget is approximately $25 million. The good news is the recommendation from the Governor for an increase in Chapter 70 money for education. Based on our Board of Selectmen Minutes of January 23, 2002 4 r growth she is recommending a $1.1 million increase in Chapter 70 money. resulting in a reduction in an approximate $750,000 reduction in our budget. The Town Manager stated it is his desire to work cooperatively with the Superintendent of Schools in reaching a balanced budget. He spoke of $1.2 million being in stabilization when he came to town in 1997 and reviewed the ensuing years, ending with the stabilization fund currently up to $2.9 million, which is one of the highest stabilization accounts in any community in Bristol County. We've done very well to put money aside while still building fields and providing for our children and families. Given our uncertain economic outlook, we feel confident we have the resources to meet the challenges in our 2003 to 2005 budget. No increase in local aid is anticipated until 2006, according to the Taxpayers Foundation. He stated he would not advocate an override or an early use of stabilization under any circumstances. He believes we'll reach our new growth expectations based on early indicators of inquiries received from companies interested in locating in Cabot Park. r 'i Cable Access Board of Directors had been scheduled to meet with the Selectmen at 8:30 p.m. to discuss various issues they're faced with. President Richard Devine had not confirmed his Board's availability to meet and arrived at 9:20 p.m. He stated they had felt the need to come before the Board because of various issues, but many of them had since been remedied. Chairman Amoruso stated we have to talk about the van and getting the fifth channel back. They are meeting February 4th and following that meeting will get back to the Selectmen to discuss what issues they'd like to talk about Selectman Donovan: Asked the Town Manager to find out why when the Light Dept. went out West Street they went down the middle of the street instead of the side. Selectman Wills: Asked if we should have the Airport Commission in to discuss their issues with contract/lease renewal coming up. (They are already scheduled February 20th) Selectman McCarter asked: r Board of Selectmen Minutes of January 23,2002 5 .. r About the Town's Master Plan. It has to be done by statute every five years. Were reviewing it now and the Town Manager will check with Shaun Burke, Director of Planning and Development. For a report on what tax increases would be for various households showing different scenarios for 1-3% tax increases. That we take another look at the Community Preservation Act The Town Manager to check on when the warrant opens and closes Selectman Donovan: Asked about Norton's request to hook up an eight-house subdivision to our sewers. We would like to hear from the Water and Sewer Commissioners in Norton. We have a request from a developer at this point. We need additional information for considering new requests and required Foxboro previously to provide such information. There is a letter in the reading folder. r Chairman Amoruso: Announced he is running for re-election and that nomination papers are available at the Town Clerk's office. Motion: To adjourn at 9:30 p.m. (Donovan-Wills) 4-0 Passes ~¡/ØL Signature of Clerk 3OJAAJoJ- Date of Approval ,,-, Board of Selectmen Minutes of January 23, 2002 6