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HomeMy WebLinkAboutBOS MINUTES 10-2-1985BOARD OF SELECTMEN MINUTES OF MEETING OCTOBER 2, 1985 PRESENT: Chairman D'Onofrio; Selectmen Dunn, McNair, Mahana, Levine; Town Manager The meeting was called to order at 7:00 P.M. MOTION: To go into Executive Session for the purpose of discussing liti- gation and contract negotiations. McNair /Dunn POLLED: 4 -0 The meeting was opened to the public at 7:30 P.M. and the Flag saluted. The Chairman then asked James J. McLaughlin, Sr., who was in the audience, to come forward and receive some recognition for his many years of service to the town as a Fireman. Mr. McLaughlin just recently retired after near- ly 34 years of service. Chairman D'Onofrio praised his unselfish, loyal and dedicated public service to the Mansfield Fire Department and expressed deep appreciation and gratitude on behalf of the Board of Selectmen and the citizens of Mansfield. He presented "Jim" with a plaque, which he read. Foxboro Terminals Recommendation Chairman D'Onofrio opened by saying after reviewing the many discussions and expressed points of view regarding the Foxboro Terminals proposed pro- ject, he had prepared a draft of a recommendation to the Planning Board, which he then asked the Clerk to read. MOTION: To approve the recommendation and carry it to the Planning Board meeting. Mahana /Dunn VOTED: 5 -0 Jeff Greer, of Granada Circle, and the Board for its prudent decision ways acts in the best interest of Levine then reminded those present ity will not be built there. Town Accountant a loyal protestor of the project, thanked Chairman D'Onofrio said the Board al- the citizens of Mansfield. Selectman that this vote does not mean the facil- Barbara Hagg had been asked by the Chairman to come in for a review of the "free cash" available for Mansfield, as specified in a letter from the De- partment of Revenue; as of 7/1/85 the amount is $627,147. Asked to explain why the Town has these funds, she said the largest portion comes from motor vehicle excise taxes. Asked what the most important way is to allocate this resource, she said the Stabilization Fund. This will affect the Town's bond rate, which went down this year instead of up as had been hoped for, due to the Town's involvement with the Seabrook project; interest rates are higher when the bond rating is lowered. The Chairman asked Barbara to prepare a recommendation prior to the Special Town Meeting, and thanked her for com- ing in. BOARD OF SELECTMEN MINUTES OF MEETING ( OCTOBER 2, 1985 PAGE 2 5. Public Hearing /Lawndale Road Speed Limit The Clerk read the Notice of Public Hearing; the Chairman then asked for comments from those present in support of, then any who opposed, the sug- gested speed limit reduction to 20 MPH. John Buchanan had a diagram show- ing the area and roads affected, and pointed out the areas where curves and hills exist, etc. He strongly supports the reduced speed, as do sever- al other residents who were present. Reasons given included 45 MPH on Rt. 106 and 40 MPH on Franklin, and Lawndale Road is wide, which promotes speed- ing; sidewalk on only one side; many children in.the development; sandy curves which -are dangerous. One resident suggested STOP signs at the inter- sections as an alternative, and a posted 30 MPH; also that Darby, Cushing and Tanya Drive be included. The entire development includes approximately 100 homes. The Town Manager read a Memorandum from the Police Chief indicating no ob- jection to the suggested reduction to 20 MPH, but also his doubts that it will have the desired result. He mentioned his lack of manpower to cover all areas with problems at all times and suggested removal of the NO TURN ON RED signs at the traffic lights at East & Franklin Streets, which should reduce some of the transient traffic on Lawndale Road trying to avoid the red light at Franklin Street. One resident implored the Board to do something before there is a serious accident. The hearing was closed, after each Board member was given the opportunity for comment; the overall consensus was approval of the reduced speed limit. * MOTION: That the Board of Selectmen petition the State DPW to allow the Town of Mansfield to reduce the speed limit on Lawndale Road from the unposted 30 MPH to a posted 20 MPH. Mahana /Levine VOTED: 5 -0 6. Minutes of September 25, 1985 * MOTION: To approve the Minutes of September 25, 1985. Dunn /McNair Selectman Mahana asked for clarification of his intent under 8.c), to indicate his concern was for Water Dept. appropriations to be used for Water Dept. expenses only. VOTED as amended: 4 -0 Levine abstained BOARD OF SELECTMEN MINUTES OF MEETING OCTOBER 2, 1985 PAGE 3 7. Warrant #15 * MOTION: To approve Warrant #15 in the amount of $789,047.82, dated Octo- ber 2, 1985, broken down as follows: McNair /Mahana 8. Licenses & Permits General Fund - $634,655.43 Revenue Sharing - 1,540.69 School Lunch - 5,963.92 Special Revenue - 13,315.05 Motor Pool - 67.89 Sewer Enterprise - 94,157.50 Water Enterprise - 13,740.35 Electric Enterprise - 25,606.99 VOTED: 4 -0 Levine abstained Application for transfer of an existing liquor license, by Bristol Manage- ment, Inc., d /b /a Bristol Package Store.; present license held by Catalano's. * MOTION: To set a hearing date for the transfer application for October 23rd, Dunn /McNair The Chairman asked David DiMarzio, President of Bristol Management, Inc., who was present, if they had any written indication of the sale by the present licensee; also did they have counsel. The ans- wers were no to both, so the Chairman advised Mr. DiMarzio to ob- tain both, and that the hearing would not be scheduled until the Board had the additional information. Selectman Dunn withdrew the motion until it is evident that the paper work is completed. 9. Correspondence a) Interim Report from Army Corps of Engineers re: Inspection of WWTP Sept- ember 17th. b) Notification of amount of available funds, or "free cash" as of July 1, 1985, from Dept. of Revenue. c) Copy of Municipal Data Bank Reports from Dept, of Revenue. d) Letter from Counsel for Mass. Municipal Wholesale Electric Co. re: Peti- tion requesting The Approval by The Dept. of Public Utilities of Addi- tional Borrowing ... ". ( e) Speed Message from Assessor's office to Town Manager re: Tax rate of $20.60 approved in Boston for TY -86. BOARD OF SELECTMEN MINUTES OF MEETING OCTOBER 2, 1985 PAGE 4 f) Announcement of Regular and Annual Meeting of The Pilgrim Resource Con- servation & Development Area Council, Inc., Oct. 15th. g) Letter from New Bedford Safe Energy Alliance re: "Low -Level Radioactive Waste Management Act ". h) Memos from Police Chief re: Radar Citations and Disturbances Related to Licensed Liquor Establishments, Weeks Sept. 18 - Oct. 1, 1985. i) Memo from Town Accountant requesting carry -over of 3 vacation days. * MOTION: To approve carry -over of 3 vacation days for the Accountant. Levine /Mahana VOTED: 5 -0 10. Old Business a) The Town Manager told the Board he has appointed a Right -To -Know Coordin- ator, the new Health Agent, Scott Leite; also an Acting Coordinator to cover if and when the official Coordinator is not available, Chief Ed Sliney. b) Selectman Dunn reported on the sub - committee activities for the Dedica- tion and Open House of the new Wastewater Treatment Plant. It has been decided to have the dedication ceremony, with invited dignitaries, Satur- day, October 19th. Sunday, October 20th will be Open House for the gen- eral public, with conducted tours. The October 19th ceremony will be followed by a buffet luncheon. Selectman Dunn spoke of former Town Man- ager, Chad Maurer's, time and dedication on the project, and said Select- man Levine had worked on the list of people involved over the years who are to be included in the dedication ceremony. They asked Chairman D'Onofrio to be Master of Ceremony for the event. c) Chairman D'Onofrio then asked that the Executive Minutes, which were dis- tributed to each Board member some weeks ago for review, be, hopefully, approved. Selectman Mahana voiced concern over such minutes being held so long. * MOTION: To approve and make part of the public record Executive Minutes for the following dates: January 5, 1983, March 2, 1983, April 6, 1983, April 20, 1983, March 23, 1983, June 8, 1983, September 7, 1983, October 5, 1983, February 8, 1984, May 2, 1984. Dunn /McNair VOTED: 5 -0 11. New Business a) Chairman D'Onofrio referred to the Memorandum each member had received from John Larch, Manager of the Light Department, covering Highlights of BOARD OF SELECTMEN MINUTES OF MEETING OCTOBER 2, 1985 PAGE 5 Electric Service Restoration From Hurricane Gloria Damage, which he then read for those in the room and watching via cable TV. The Chairman said he feels the Electric Department, the DPW, Civil Defense, and Police and Fire Departments did an excellent job coping with the problems, and that the Electric Dept. had 80% of the town back in service in 24 -36 hours. He commended them all. Selectman Dunn added that the residents of Mans- field should also be commended for the way they handled themselves and the understanding exhibited during the problem days. Selectman Mahana said he felt the Town Manager should be given credit for coordinating it all, as well as John Larch. b) The Town Manager said he has been working on plans for clean up of the hurricane's aftermath; the crews have been working on clearing the main streets first, and he authorized renting a chipper. He had the Landfill open last Sunday and expects to extend the hours the rest of this week, to 10 - 4, and open it again this Sunday. He also is going to ask DEQE for permission to burn some debris and hopes to organize a Clean -up day for a Saturday, with help from the Jaycees, Boy Scouts, etc. c) The Town Manager reported to the Board that he has appointed a new Plan- ning Director, Richard Callanan, someone with a variety of experience and presently serving the Town of Dennis. He will start October 28th. d) Selectman Mahana returned to the Lawndale Road issue and made the follow- ing motion: MOTION: That we remove the "NO TURN ON RED" signs at the traffic light intersection of East Street and Franklin Street. Mahana /McNair VOTED: 5 -0 12. Executive Session MOTION: To go into Executive Session for the purpose of contract negotia- tions, only to come out to adjourn. Levine /McNair POLLED: 5 -0 f'l i (, Date signed October 2, 1985 MEMORANDUM TOWN OF MANSFIELD MUNICIPAL ELECTRIC DEPARTMENT MANSFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS 02048 To: Richard P. D'Onofrio, Chairman Board of Selectmen From: John H. Larch, Manager J Re: Highlights of Electric eryice Restoration from Hurricane Gloria Damage Thursday,September 26 I had a meeting with my senior department personnel to agree on our restoration strategy. If the whole town was flattened, we would start at Gilbert Street Substation and clear main lines along West Street and School Street to the substation at the center of town. We would cut off any side streets and single house services that were down to restore the largest number of customers as quickly as possible. Friday morning I met with the DPW Director to discuss availability of heavy equipment in case streets to Gilbert Street substation were impassable. Friday afternoon after the storm passed, we started at Gilbert Street to follow the plan we had previously prepared. When we knocked off around 3:30 A.M. Saturday morning, we had cleared West Street almost to Grove Street and energized that residential feeder. We had cleared Otis and School Streets to Rt. 495 and energized that residential feeder. The tree work that we had to do was much heavier than the type usually associated with a snow or ice storm because of the number of trees that were uprooted. Saturday morning we requested the DPW to use their people and heavy equipment to remove large trees and help us with the heavy trimming. During the day Saturday, we were able to clear West Street all the way to the High Street station, get most of the industrial park going, get the North end going and get East Street energized from Hope Street to a point out past the East Mansfield Common. We were able to get Fernandes Supermarket restored Saturday morning so that there would be a food store open in town and we had to get the North end going for the pumps at the North Main Street underpass. Sunday we were able to restore the remaining three major areas that were out of service. Those were the South Main, Spring Street area, Maple and Franklin Street area and Fruit and Ware Street out to Essex Street. When we quit for the day Sunday, the only major area remaining out was the Essex, Mill Street area. Richard P. D'Onofrio October 2, 1985 Page 2 Monday, one crew spent all day getting the Essex, Mill Street area back in service and the other two crews worked on the approximately twenty smaller sections and side streets that we had cut off in order to get the main lines going. By the end of Monday, there were only four small areas left out of service other than individual house services or transformers. Tuesday, we restored the four small areas and began working on house services. It should be noted that the four "small" areas that were left this long were four areas that required a large amount of work to get a few customers going. When we left Tuesday night at 3:00 A.M. the restoration was for all practical purposes complete. The twelve or so remaining customers still without power were customers who needed an electrician to fix their equipment first or they were individual houses that were set way in off the road or that had some other unique problem. My personal feeling is that the restoration proceeded very well and that percentage wise, we probably had more customers back sooner than most, if not all, of the other utilities. Our own crews rested only three hours Friday night and six hours each night on Saturday, Sunday and Monday. Meals for the most part were quick breaks for a sandwich and they were able to really move the job along. The DPW contributed substantially to our effort by the amount of heavy tree trimming that they did for us. We were also fortunate to have an electrician in town, Dave Conley, who has a bucket truck and with his crew, put up over fifty house services for us. All told, there were over one hundred house services torn down. JHL:jc Attachment