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HomeMy WebLinkAboutmin brd of selectmen 01/09/02 , . )~ ,~ ( \ r I' - " /" Board of Selectmen Minutes of J' anuary 9, 2002 t~\ \10~ \ <1 1\\\' ~l\ (\'7 J f\\~ ,'\ Present: Chairman Louis P. Amoruso; Vice Chairman Bradford E. Wills; Clerk Michael W. McCue; and Selectmen David W. McCarter and Daniel Donovan 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. Town Counsel Robert S. Mangiaratti was in attendance to discuss the Selectmen's decision not to renew the Class II Auto Dealer license of Transport International Pool (TIP) at 390 West Street due to non-payment of excise taxes. Attorney Mangiaratti noted to deal in trailers, as TIP does, a Class II Auto Dealer license is required. According to the Assessors' records there are over $38,000 in unpaid excise taxes. The question arose as to whether the license can be withheld for that reason. The excise taxes are due for the calendar year 2001 and will not be twelve months overdue until March of 2002. It would therefore not be advisable to withhold or revoke the license at this point. Questions remain as to whether these vehicles are still registered in Mansfield. Thus far the Assessors have not received proof that the registrations have been cancelled. The Deputy Collector, David Alward, is in the process of marking all these registration numbers at the registry and they will not be renewed if the taxes are overdue. TIP is a Pennsylvania corporation. He suggested the Board advise them of the abatement process and then notify them of the statute regarding revocation of the license for taxes in arrears twelve months or more. Attorney Mangiaratti recommended the license be renewed, then revoked if the tax situation is not straightened out by March 16th. Karl Clemmey, whose property TIP is located on, noted TIP is a subsidiary of General Electric and came to Mansfield twenty years ago. They are in the leasing business, but indicated they may want to sell a trailer. He advised them they would need a Class II license to do that. Mr. Clemmey noted the Treasurer is the one who collects the money. David Dumouchal has been dealing with the Deputy Collector and Mr. Clemmey commented that it's not a matter for the Selectmen. Chairman Amoruso noted there is a license involved, and that is why they are involved. Mr. Clemmey suggested an issue is being made of it because they are located on his property. Board of Selectmen Minutes of January 9,2002 1 , . ), r ( \ r-- 1" . /" .."- \\lfD ~.. \rt \..' ,"¡ "4 ..... r r, Í" V v \.:;\~.~ .\ r \ Board of Selectmen Minutes of January 9, 2002 ~'(\ \10~ \ ~ J~(\ ~l\ .\ '-'- Present: /?: . ... 1\~·¡:It.l.. ~"'~.~~USËTTS ~~"¡L c::r - . IL/ L ~ . ~d. c-<' -ý.~ '- '- ~d"~ . c:? -.e-z__~. ~ ~~.7~ ~~~ ~.~ ~ (?~e~ - ð --C-é /' Chairman Louis P. Amoruso; Vice Chairman Michael W. McCue; and Selectmen David Donovan Town Manager John O. D'Agostino The meeting was called to order at 7:30 p.m., followed' to the Flag. Town Counsel Robert S. Mangiaratti was in attendanc decision not to renew the Class II Auto Dealer licen! Pool (TIP) at 390 West Street due to non-payment I Attorney Mangiaratti noted to deal in trailers, as TIP doe::», ... _ license is required. According to the Assessors' records there are over :þ,)u,__ unpaid excise taxes. The question arose as to whether the license can be withheld for that reason. The excise taxes are due for the calendar year 2001 and will not be twelve months overdue until March of 2002. It would therefore not be advisable to withhold or revoke the license at this point. Questions remain as to whether these vehicles are still registered in Mansfield. Thus far the Assessors have not received proof that the registrations have been cancelled. The Deputy Collector, David Alward, is in the process of marking all these registration numbers at the registry and they will not be renewed if the taxes are overdue. TIP is a Pennsylvania corporation. He suggested the Board advise them of the abatement process and then notify them of the statute regarding revocation of the license for taxes in arrears twelve months or more. Attorney Mangiaratti recommended the license be renewed, then revoked if the tax situation is not straightened out by March 16th. Karl Clemmey, whose property TIP is located on, noted TIP is a subsidiary of General Electric and came to Mansfield twenty years ago. They are in the leasing business, but indicated they may want to sell a trailer. He advised them they would need a Class II license to do that. Mr. Clemmey noted the Treasurer is the one who collects the money. David Dumouchal has been dealing with the Deputy Collector and Mr. Clemmey commented that it's not a matter for the Selectmen. Chairman Amoruso noted there is a license involved, and that is why they are involved. Mr. Clemmey suggested an issue is being made of it because they are located on his property. Board of Selectmen Minutes of January 9, 2002 1 , ' ¡ . r, Motion: To accept the recommendation of Attorney Mangiaratti and approve the license with a letter going to TIP explaining the situation. (Donovan-McCarter) 5-0 Passes Attorney Mangiaratti said he spoke with David Alward about the situation and the Board is doing its job in questioning the renewal of the license when there are unpaid taxes due. · Warrant No. 29 in the amount of $1,204,574.67 Motion: To approve and sign (Wills-Donovan) 5-0 with Selectmen McCarter abstaining from Municipal Building Committee payroll · Minutes of December 19, 2001 Board of Selectmen's meeting Motion : To approve (McCue-Donovan) 5-0 Passes r Request from TimeOut Productions to hold their 18th Annual Massachusetts Triathlon to pass through Mansfield on Sunday, August 18th. Police and Fire Departments have reviewed and recommend approval. Motion : To approve (Wills-Donovan) 5-0 Passes License approved last week for Exxon Mobile Fuels Marketing at 189 Chauncy Street for storage of flammables - needs signature of chairman Letter from Rodman Ride for Kids with a check for $3,000 to be used for Mansfield Youth programs. Motion: To accept the gift to be used for Mansfield youth purposes (McCue-Donovan) 5-0 Passes r Board of Selectmen Minutes of January 9,2002 2 , . r Memorandum from Lorilee Fish, Park & Recreation Director, requesting the Mansfield Recreation Department Youth programs be considered for use of the donation. Motion: To designate the funds to be used by the Recreation Department youth programs. (McCue-Donovan) 5-0 Passes E-mail from Planning Department requesting two Selectmen be named to the Capital Improvements Committee to meet on Tuesday or Thursday evenings. Motion: To have Selectmen McCue and McCarter represent the Selectmen on the Capital Improvements Committee (Donovan-Wills) 5-0 Passes Announcement from the Mansfield Gridiron Club of the 6th Annual Wheelchair Football Game to be held Thursday, January 10th at the Mansfield High School Gymnasium starting at 7:00 p.m. Admission is $1.00/person, with all proceeds being donated to the Massachusetts Hospital School Recreation Department. The Massachusetts Hospital School in Canton will be competing against the Mansfield High School Senior Football players in this game and the M.H.S. cheerleaders will be cheering and putting on a half-time show. The Senior r Cheerleaders will also be playing in the game. The purpose of this experience is for Mansfield High students to heighten their sensitivity of awareness around student-athletes with disabilities. Steve MacCaffrie of Mill Street - spoke about his water bill, which he read for the first time. On 8/23/01 the water rate was $24.18 per thousand and $27.22 the next bill. He also noted a charge for the meter and questioned why they're not included in the operation of the Water Department. He suggested the only service received from the Water Department is reading the meter and replacing it if it goes bad. He further noted he used less water, but the bill went up because the rate was raised. Mr. MacCaffrie noted comments made by Selectman Donovan at a previous meeting about the high rate of cancer and sickness in East Mansfield and the water being bad. He suggested the liability assumed by the Town when statements such as that are made and asked if he should send medical bills to the Town for payment. Selectman Donovan noted he was only indicating his desire to make the water better. Mr. MacCaffrie then re-addressed the e-mail issue regarding the policy for fulfilling requests for public information. Town Manager ¡--. D'Agostino read a memorandum sent to Department Heads on December Sh that noted all residents should be treated in the same manner when requesting public Board of Selectmen Minutes of January 9,2002 3 · , . r information. Mr. MacCaffrie raised the objection that the previous e-mail was never rescinded. Peter DeTrolio of Elm Street - spoke regarding the sound levels at Tweeter Center. He noted Mr. Montgomery's comment that they're raising the wall twelve feet and his engineer telling him it should decrease the noise. He questioned if there is any proof of that and also what equipment they are using to test the sound levels. He stated sound levels have been reduced once in sixteen years, when the level was changed by the state from 116 to 95 dB's. He stated that if Tweeter Center is the good neighbor they say they are, they would lower the sound levels so people can live in their homes. He questioned if we will bring people in with the right type of equipment to test the sound levels. Town Manager D'Agostino said we will. George Dentino of Gladiola Terrace - noted the e-mail should have been retracted, but it wasn't. He then commented on the evaluation of the Town Manager done last week. He gave Selectman McCue an A+, Chairman Amoruso an A-, Selectman Wills an A+; Chairman McCarter he noted interjected his own thoughts when Selectman Wills was giving his comments and he gave Mr. McCarter a D for this reason. He took Selectman Donovan to task and gave him an F, noting it was not a debate. He marked Chairman Amoruso down from an A+ because he didn't gavel Selectmen r- Donovan and McCarter down when they were interrupting Selectman Wills. Karl Clemmey of South Main Street - presented a copy of the e-mail on the TIP matter. He then left photos of trailers in a parking lot at 31 Forbes Boulevard with refrigerated units and asked that someone be sent out to look at the situation. He suggested that's why we're not getting any new business in the business park. John Alex, 164 Franklin Street - has been a resident for twelve years and was also a former employee of the Town. He asked who the Town Manager reports to. The Board of Selectmen. He questioned if there was some notice that was not given to the former trash collector in a timely manner. Chairman Amoruso addressed the question, noting we were one of several towns in the same situation and the contract d/ä not require that written notification be given. He asked how discipline is given when something is done wrong. He noted a Town employee used a cup of sand on his driveway and was given three days suspension without pay. He suggested there is a double standard and asked that the Selectmen take a look at what's going on. Bill Gerber of Central Street - thanked the Town Manager and his staff for their cooperation in providing information whenever it has been requested. He suggested r- that if other people have not had the same experience, it may just be that they're Board of Selectmen Minutes of January 9,2002 4 r getting back what they're giving. He also noted living in New Jersey and the water was full of manganese. He stated the solution is to get a water softener. Town Manager D'Agostino reviewed meeting with staff and holding a public comment session. Bruce Montgomery, Executive Director of Tweeter Center, was present at the meeting to discuss the items agreed to. The result was suggestions were offered and minor changes were made. On page 4, in addition to a minor change to (f), we've added a iii) to have Tweeter Center provide emergency contingency plans for all hazards, and changed the former iii) to g). Paragraph 17 of the former license has been deleted, as it dealt with a zoning matter that has been addressed. With the change in the configuration of the lawn area, noise abatement issues were discussed, and the dB levels will be monitored and addressed in the next license if the problem continues. They will be providing us with records of the dB levels at the edge of the lawn by time and they will be compared with complaints received on a weekly basis. If need be, we will hire a sound consultant to review the records. The new wall will be higher than the top of the building, and Mr. Montgomery said he expects that will eliminate some of the noise complaints. A r letter of commitment to fulfill five items of agreement was provided by Mr. Montgomery and will be attached to the license agreement. Motion: To issue the license as presented (Donovan-^^cCarter) 5-0 Passes Several applicants were present to discuss their interest in appointment to the newly formed Ad Hoc Advisory Committee to Monitor the Cable License. A three- year position on the Registrars of Voters also remains to be filled. An application for that position was received from Shawn C. Dooley of 95 Union Street, along with a letter noting his inability to be present for an interview because he has classes on Wednesday nights. Applicants for the Ad Hoc Committee to Monitor the Cable License were Stan Ivas, Bruce Fallows and Bill Gerber. Mike Healey and Vincent Cutone also expressed an interest, but were not able to be present. Bill Gerber, 362 Central Street, noted he is currently chairman of the board of r Mansfield Cable Access and as such is current on what they should be doing and would like to see that they comply. Board of Selectmen Minutes of January 9,2002 5 r Stan Ivas of 19 Lantern Lane said he has worked in the telecommunications industry for many years and has an interest in the cable industry. He is interested in the quality of the cable delivery and what features they bring to the town. He noted such things need to be monitored and addressed. Bruce Fallows of 15 Avon Street - is currently chairman of the Committee to Review the License and believes his experience there would be useful in monitoring the license he has been working on for the last year and a half. Selectman McCue noted they all have indicated experience in doing a critical analysis and imposing sanctions. All three candidates noted they have no problem imposing sanctions and going after someone who is not doing their job. Selectman Wills asked how they would handle a situation of fines imposed and not being paid. Mr. Gerber noted that in the license there should be performance bonds that can be pulled to cover payment of fines. Our current license stipulates a letter of credit to cover such situations. If we hit them for $10,000 in violations, they have to replace that amount in the credit line. Mr. Gerber noted the necessity of being specific in the contract that they can't pass back the fines imposed on r them to the subscriber. Selectman Wills asked Mr. Ivas if he's in favor of towns having their own cable companies. Discussion ensued, with Mr. Ivas noting it's the only way to control content, but is a significant expense to run all the fiber. Mr. Gerber noted it's usually about a third of the expense that AT&T Broadband says it would be. Selectman McCarter noted the number of cable boards and the overlap of some members, questioning if there would be conflicts. Mr. Gerber reviewed the differences in the functions of the committees and stated there is no overlap in the duties and responsibilities. Mr. Fallows indicated the Committee to negotiate will be disbanding upon completion of the process and the Committee to monitor would be an extension of it. Chairman Amoruso noted we have three additional applicants who he hopes to interview at another time. He suggested the Board be comprised of five members and two alternates. Motion: To appoint William Gerber, Stanley Ivas, and Bruce Fallows to the Ad Hoc Committee to Monitor the Cable License (Donovan-^^cCue) 5-0 Passes r-- Board of Selectmen Minutes of January 9,2002 6 r The Town Manager: Spoke of a review and analysis provided to us by Woodard and Curran of the water main on Route 106 between Pratt Street and Stearns Avenue. The indication is there are no significant changes in fire flows or system pressures if the 12 inch diameter main is removed from service. There is a parallel 16 inch main. All the laterals would come off the larger main and the smaller main would be used to carry water back for treatment. Selectman Wills asked if it would reduce water pressure. A smaller diameter meter would actually increase water pressure. The money spent on obtaining the report saved us volumes in not having to dig up the road again. We are scheduling a rate hearing on February 4th at 7:30 p.m. at the Light Commissioners meeting in Town Hall. r Have received a letter from the State regarding the acquisition of State-owned property at Routes 106 and 140. They are interested in the Town's response on or before January 31st. He asked the Board if they would like him to proceed with the request for additional information on that parcel. It was suggested staff take a look at the parcel to see if it is accessible. Initial review resulted in recommendations for a Cable Access facility or Animal Shelter. The State wants to know, among other things, if the Town plans to pay the fair market value for the property. Mr. D'Agostino indicated he would proceed if the Board indicates their intent to do something without paying anything for the land. The Board suggested he come up with some plans for the parcel for further discussion and we should do whatever is necessary to protect our rights and interests. They also expressed interest in finding out if the parcel is potentially buildable. Updated the Board on the status of the Rails to Trails project. It's on the TIP and ready for funding. It's ready to go to bid and we believe construction will start in the spring or early summer. r We have recently received a donation of furniture from Motorola. It is high quality furniture and we are very grateful for their generous donation to the Town. Motion: To accept the donation of furniture for Town Hall use (Wills-McCue) 5-0 Passes DPW employee Vinny Tighe was praised for the work he is coordinating in the layout and installation of the modular office systems. Board of Selectmen Minutes of January 9,2002 7 .r-- r (' .. There is a strong possibility that additional funding will be needed to complete the Fisher Richardson project to 100'Yo. The money that has been earmarked is a good start to a very long and costly project. We've talked to the state about going back for additional money and perhaps will be able to get an addition $10,000. We have a donation from Mansfield Bank for $15,000 and will be looking for additional funding. It is our hope that we will be able to get it to the point that it can be used in the schools' history curriculum. Will be out of the office on Thursday and Friday attending the Mass Municipal Conference. Selectman Donovan: Asked how many private ways we have in town, noting an article in the paper that Foxboro turned down a petition to plow private ways. Selectman McCue: Replanted the seed of thought regarding Saturday Town Meeting Spoke to Rep. Coppola about having our Representatives in to discuss various matters. He said he's interested in getting input from us that he can bring back to Ways and Means. He also mentioned to Rep. Coppola our concern in getting senior tax breaks and he indicated that issue is still on the table. The Town Manager will send a memo to staff asking for input on capital programs for State funding they would like to see pursued. Chairman Amoruso: Would like everyone to review the prioritized goals for the Town Manager for discussion at the next meeting. Selectman McCarter: Requested Ed O'Neil be asked to provide an analysis of what effect passage of the Community Preservation Act would have on the tax rate at 1'Yo, 2'Yo and 3 'Yo. Asked if it's time to update the Master Plan Board of Selectmen Minutes of January 9,2002 8 r Asked when we will have a better handle on the budget figures and stated as we go through the budget process he would like to hear more from our State representatives on what we can reasonably anticipate. There will be a budget deficit of $3.8 million with the numbers currently anticipated. The School budget increased $2.1 million, the overall budget increases slightly under 8;0 with $958,000 of the costs for health insurances. The budget as presented has very few expense increases. Selectman McCue asked if carriers have increased their rates to cover additional liability they may incur due to acts of terrorism. The Town Manager suggested we haven't seen that effect on the rates yet. He noted a recent major increase that through negotiation resulted in only a slight increase with better coverage. We will be going out for requests for proposals in the early spring for property, casualty and liability insurance. Selectman Wills: Asked how the budget affects our five-year projection. They will be revised and presented to the Finance Committee next week r Chairman Amoruso: Noted we need a representative for the MMA meeting. The resolutions are in the packet. Selectman Wills nominated Selectman McCarter, who agreed to do so. Town Manager D'Agostino has arranged for the Berkley Room at 5:30 on Friday to meet with other communities of the Southeastern Regional School Committee. Motion: To adjourn at 9:40 p.m. (Donovan-McCue) 5-0 Passes ~.ðt Signature of Clerk 1(; J¢)/ ()~ Date of Approval r- Board of Selectmen Minutes of January 9,2002 9