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HomeMy WebLinkAboutmin brd of selectmen 04/13/05 / \./ i' '(' I"" j'il...t. r Present: Town of Mansfield Board of Selectmen " 2 I 9: 3 I Minutes of April 13, 2005 . ;, ".' i 'hi' .ILLU Chairman Steven MacCaffrie; Vice Chairman Roger Aci1ln~ bi~rttIM~I;liS Dolan; Selectman Louis Amoruso and Selectman Michael McCue Town Manager John O. D' Agostino The Board of Selectmen's meeting was called to order at 7:00 p.m. Motion: To enter into Executive Session at 7:00pm, with the purpose of returning into Regular Session at the conclusion of the Executive Session (Amoruso - Dolan) 3-0 Passes Roll Call Vote: Chairman Steve MacCaffrie - aye, Clerk Bernard Dolan - aye, and Selectman Lou Amoruso - aye. Regular Meeting resumed at 8: 12pm ".- . Warrant No. 42 in the amount of $2,755,702.77 Motion: To approve (Amoruso - McCue) 4-0 Passes . Regular Session Meeting Minutes of April 6, 2005 Motion: To approve (Amoruso - McCue) 4-0 Passes . Hackney Drivers Licenses for Cheryl Christie & John Moore Town Manager noted that one of the individuals was originally not approved but the person met with the Town Manager and he is now recommending approval Motion: To approve these two hackney licenses (Dolan - Amoruso) 4-0 Passes . Live Entertainment Weekdays Only License for Driscoll's Restaurant Motion: To approve and sign license (Amoruso - Dolan) 4-0 Passes ".- . Check from Cedar Heights LLC in the amount of $12,500.00 Motion: To accept check for deposit into the Local Housing Partnership Fund (Dolan - McCue) 4-0 Passes Board of Selectmen Minutes of Apri113, 2005 r . Hackney Carriage Licenses for Vehicle Number's 3,8 & 22 from Sharon Taxi (Vehicles inspected by Officer Lawson and all documentation is in order) Motion: To approve and sign licenses for Vehicles 3, 8 & 22 (Amoruso - McCue) 4-0 Passes . Letter from SRPEDD received March 24th asking the Board to appoint delegates to the SRPEDD Commission and the Joint Transportation Planning Group (JTPG). Motion: To appoint Bill LeBlanc as the SRPEDD Commission Representative & Lee Azinheira and John Sullivan to be the Delegate and Alternate for the JTPG Committee. (Dolan - Amoruso) 4-0 Passes . Letter dated April 5th from A-I Autobody & Sales, Inc, regarding Class II Auto Sales License, demonstrating full repair facility at business location. . Letter from Town Counsel Robert Mangiaratti dated April 5th regarding the revised alcoholic beverage license policy. Motion: To approve and sign alcoholic beverage license policy (Amoruso - McCue) 4-0 Passes r . Memorandum from the Department of Revenue's Division of Local Services dated April 6th announcing the development of a new Financial Management Assistance web page. . Memorandum from the Board of Assessors to Town Manager dated April 6th regarding the overlay surplus. . Notice from the Bristol County Commissioners dated April 7th announcinj a public hearing at the Bristol County Retirement Office in Taunton on Tuesday, April 19 at 4:00pm to determine priority needs in Bristol County for the Fiscal Year 2005-2006. . Action Alert from the Massachusetts Municipal Association dated April 7th regarding the MMA Local Aid Lifeline Plan. . Memorandum from the Town Manager to Superintendent John Moretti dated April 7th concerning a budget analysis and projected expenditures. . Letter from the Town Manager to Louis Masiello ofW/S Development Associates LLC dated April 7th regarding School Street and the Mansfield Crossing development project. . Agenda for the Southeastern Massachusetts Metropolitan Planning Organization Meeting on Friday, April 15th. ".- . Invitation dated April 8th from the League School for a Community Open House on April 30th from 9am-12pm. Board of Selectmen Minutes of Apri113, 2005 2 (' . Email from the Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission dated April 8th inviting local licensing authorities to attend a training seminar on Thursday, April2Sth from 11 :30am- 1 :30pm at the Freetown Senior Center. Lauren Barnes will be attending. Selectman McCue: Commented that he attended the Massachusetts Municipal Association Executive Board Meeting yesterday and the Massachusetts Selectmen's Association meeting today. The discussion yesterday took place with Lt. Governor Kerry Healey and was about the budget. The MMA discussed the possibility of 50% reimbursement for snow removal for cities and towns and associated costs. The Lt. Governor said that she will take those comments back to the Governor. Selectman McCue noted there was a survey from the MMA about the costs for cities and towns relative to snow removal and asked the Town Manager if we can check to see if the questionnaire was filled out. Town Manager said that either Mr. Azinheira or Bea probably filled it out and will check on that. Selectman Dolan: He read an article in the newspaper about lottery funds and wondered how they are distributed to cities and towns. Selectman McCue noted that the State Treasurer is advertising that the revenue generated from the Lottery is going to back to cities and towns, which is not the case. r Selectman Achille returned to meeting at 8 :25pm. Chairman MacCaffrie: Last week, he, Selectman McCue and Selectman Achille attended the Bristol County Selectmen's Association meeting. The Northern Bristol County Registry of Deeds is developing a series of new programs to assist towns for GIS, planners/group planners, etc., which Chairman MacCaffrie believes will benefit taxpayers. Chairman MacCaffrie suggested that it might be good to have the Registrar of Deeds come to an upcoming meeting to describe the various programs. Selectman McCue thought he was very interesting and provided a lot of services. Chairman MacCaffrie suggesting having him coming on May lh for about 20 minutes. Present: Kurt Gaffney, Operations Manager, Water Department; Lee Azinheira, DPW Director & Chris Woodcock, Woodcock & Associates Mr. Azinheira wants to focus on the financial aspects that affect the upcoming budget and said that he doesn't expect the Board to read the whole thing and if the Board has any questions, feel free to talk to Mr. Azinheira or Mr. Gaffney or they could also come back to a future meeting. r He also noted that this is information that DPW looks back to often - it is a good collection of resources and information about the Water Department does. Board of Selectmen Minutes of April 13, 2005 3 r r Selectman Amoruso asked if he could make a suggestion for next year - could we do a series of years as we go along so we can see much water is pumped each year on an ongoing basis. Mr. Azinheira said that we could do a five-year graph. Mr. Gaffney noted that there are a few graphs throughout the book. Selectman Dolan noted that he was surprised to read that with an old toilet, one flush uses 5-8 gallons of water and that new toilets use 1.6 gallons. Mr. Gaffney noted that there is a rebate program is in effect and so far 310 $100 checks were given out to people who got rid of their old toilets and bought one of the new ones. Town Manager said that it was cheaper to do this in the long runfor the town. Selectman Dolan said that a low-flow showerhead saves 3-5 gallons per minute and Mr. Azinheira noted that the town gives those out for free. Mr. Gaffney said that each year, the town sends out a consumer confidence report with the light bill. This year, we are sending out a separate letter in May, directly from the Water Department. Mr. Gaffney said that the report is done each year and it is good history. Chairman MacCaffrie asked when the Board needs to vote on the water ban. Mr. Gaffney replied that he believes around the middle of May. He also mentioned that there are some changes in the water business that will affect the town's revenue - under the new water management act, a town can't receive more than 25% of their winter consumption in the summer months. This is described in Section 1.3. Town Manager noted that this is a horrendous number and Mr. Gaffney said that it affects our revenue. Mr. Gaffney said that on May 13th, the local legislative delegation is being asked to meet with other area water departments so the departments can express their concerns. Mr. Gaffney said that other communities are already being affected, like Foxboro. Mr. Azinheira said that this issue will come up as we enter the next fiscal year. Chairman MacCaffrie asked about the water rate and Mr. Azinheira said that they are proposing 6%. Mr. Azinheira said that the growth hasn't been as much as it has been. Mr. Azinheira prepared that rate sheets for the Board to vote on - he took last year's and added a column for the 6%. Town Manager noted that most of the residential units are %". Selectman McCue asked Mr. Azinheira how much these increases cost the average taxpayer. Mr. Azinheira said that the average person will see an average increase of $6-7 a quarter - some will see less. Mr. Azinheira introduced Chris Woodcock, an expert in water and sewer rates. Motion: To accept the 6% increase the water rate per the request of the Water Department (McCue - Amoruso) 5-0 Passes Mr. Azinheira said that he would like to discuss a follow-up item relative to a revised water meter change. He was asked to look at other communities about the reading of meters. Selectman Dolan asked about the problem of reading meters and Mr. Gaffney said that we downsized the size of the meter and we have over 7,000 meters and most of them have been replaced - 510 residential meters still need to be done. ,-. Mr. Azinheira pointed out Section 6 of the Water Rates book - there is a copy of the memo that Mr. Azinheira submitted in 2004. Mr. Azinheira passed out the updated water connection fees. Mr. Gaffney said that they need a vote by the Board on the issue of the schedule of water connection fees. Mr. Woodcock said these proposed fees are in line with what other Board of Selectmen Minutes of Apri113, 2005 4 r communities are charging - he did a survey of 64 communities in Massachusetts. Mr. Azinheira said that we tried to put some technical basis behind the numbers. Motion: To approve the proposed schedule of Water Connection Fees, based on memorandum from Lee Azinheira from Jan 30, 2004, effective May 1,2005 (Amoruso - Dolan) 5-0 Passes Motion: To put Phase 1 water restriction in effect from July 1, 2005 to last until September 1, 2005 (Dolan - Achille) 5-0 Passes Selectman Achille asked about the status of the new Water Department building and Mr. Azinheira said he believes they will be able to move in by July. Chief Arthur O'Neill noted that he is pleased to make some introductions of new officers to the Board and the Town. He said that the Mansfield Police Department lost several officers to retirement and commented that the newest officers all came off the local list. .r-- Chief O'Neill introduced Officer Marc Zeph, who has worked as for the Randolph Police Department as a Special/Auxiliary police officer for 5 years and served in the US National Guard and deployed for Operation Enduring Freedom to Afghanistan with the 772nd Military Police Company from July 2002 - April 2003 and received the Army Achievement Medal. Town Clerk Helen Christian administered the oath to Officer Zeph and Chief O'Neill pinned Officer Zeph with his badge. Chief O'Neill introduced Officer Nicole Newport, who moved to Mansfield with her family 21 year ago. Officer Newport holds an Associate's Degree in Science from the Community College of Rhode Island and plans to return to school to further her education. She has worked a Public Safety Dispatcher in Mansfield for almost two years. Town Clerk Helen Christian administered the oath to Officer Newport and Chief O'Neill pinned Officer Newport with her badge. Chief O'Neill spoke of Detective Larry Crosman, who began is career in law enforcement as a dispatcher for the Sharon Police Department at 18 years old and was assigned as a Detective in Mansfield at 1996. During his 9 years in the detective division, he has received extensive training in homicide investigations, FBI fingerprint and evidence recovery, arson investigation, DEA narcotic enforcement and hostage & crisis negotiations. Town Clerk Helen Christian swore in Sergeant Crosman and a family member pinned Sergeant Crosman with his badge. Chief O'Neill spoke of Sergeant James Seekell, who began his career in law enforcement in January 1979 and was promoted to Sergeant in August 1989. Sgt. Seekell served as supervisor of the Domestic Violence Unit and is a RAD Woman's Self-Defense Instructor. Town Clerk ".- Helen Christian swore in Lieutenant Seekell and his wife Rosemary pinned Lieutenant Seekell with his badge. Board of Selectmen Minutes of Apri113, 2005 5 ".- r-- ,-- Chief O'Neill commented that these people are the department's future. Chairman MacCaffrie noted that is always nice to see that we are employing our own and replaced those who have served. He thanks the present officers and those who are new and said that everyone looks forward to seeing you stay with the Mansfield Police Department for years to come. He noted that the Mansfield Police Department is the best department in the area and he added that he appreciates the time and service of the offers and their families. The Board members greeted the four officers and their families. The Town Manager said that we are challenged by a budget that started with a $5.9 million deficit and now we are at $2.3 million deficit. He is not comfortable with a lot of the cuts, particularly with respect to Police, Fire and DPW, but he feels they are necessary. We are looking at a 2.5-3% net increase in revenue. We need to wean ourselves off of stabilization because next year, as state revenues increase, we can count on that money to increase the departments, particularly DPW. The $2.3 million deficit will be very difficult to cut. We are looking at a reduction in the schools of about $900,000 (that is a reduction of what they were asking for). He added that the town is challenged by this budget - next week, he will report to the Board on the downgrading of the insurance rate of our homeowners because the insurance industry doesn't believe that the town has enough firefighters and the town's rating was downgraded from 4 to 5. Selectman Achille noted that if 1 is the best, then we are in the middle. The Town Manager noted that he just got it last night and he has talked to the Fire Chief. Selectman Dolan commented that it makes him wonder what other town's ratings are and Chairman MacCaffrie asked if we can find out what the other town's ratings are. Selectman Amoruso noted that he took a quick look at the letter and it said that we should have 4 dispatchers and he said that will never happen. The Town Manager said that the last time the rating was done was in the early 1990s, but added that these critical reviews are welcomed - it gives us a chance to look at our weaknesses and we will go through it. He noted that the town is trying to maintain a level of service. Selectman Dolan noted that we have a well-equipped Fire Department and believes we need to get into it and wants to know the criteria that they use. The Town Manager asked Police, Fire, DPW, etc. to look at where we are now and do we meet our current calls for service levels / meet the demands now and what the Fire Department will look like in 10 years and how it is going to be manned/staffed. Selectman Achille hopes that we will get a chance to see how much the homeowner's policies will go up. The Town Manager said that this review started in September/October and then all of a sudden, this report was done. Selectman Dolan asked that someone come in to discuss the criteria. The House Ways and Means budget came out today - the local aid figures are the same as the Governor's. On April 4th, the MMA put together an Action Alert that proposes an increase in local aid. The Town Manager believes that the Senate will come in higher. If we can balance the budget without stabilization, next year's budget will be far easier to begin to look at where to Board of Selectmen Minutes of Apri113, 2005 6 r-- commit those resources. He noted that our revenue is off a bit but isn't too concerned at this point. Selectman McCue said that we can hope for the best and we need to take care of our affairs. Selectman Amoruso mentioned that he went to the Finance Committee meeting last week with the Town Manager and said that the FinCom, School Committee, and Board of Selectmen need to meet soon. Selectman Achille asked if we should meet with the School Committee one- on-one first before we bring in the FinCom and that we should be engaging the School Committee much earlier. Selectman Amoruso said that we could have a couple of representatives from each group get together to discuss budgetary issues. Selectman Achille and Selectman Dolan both volunteered to discuss budget issues with representatives from other committees. The Town Manager noted that he will speak to the Superintendent tomorrow and Chairman MacCaffrie noted that we did agree to do this last year. (Amoruso) 5-0 ~~ Signature of Clerk JIpril20, 2005 Date of Approval r--- -- Board of Selectmen Minutes of April 13, 2005 7