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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSELECTMENminutes06022010 Town of Mansfield Board of Selectmen Minutes of June 2, 2010 Present: Chairman Moran, Vice Chairman George Dentino, Clerk Douglas Annino, Selectman Jess Aptowitz, Selectman Olivier Kozlowski, William Ross, Town Manager Absent: COA update Gail Farrugia, Director and Sonia Walgreen, Chairman of the Council on Aging are present. Ms. Farrugia updated the Board of Selectmen on the various programs and activities the center is offering the seniors, both on an on going basis and one time special events. Ms. Walgreen stated that she has attended many events at the center and the residents of Mansfield are very fortunate to have the services they do. Chairman Moran asked a few questions about the senior tax abatement program. Ms. Farrugia answered that seniors can earn up to $750 off their taxes by volunteering a certain number of hours in town hall or other town locations. It is a very popular program and the seniors are always looking for ways to contribute. Mr. Ross will be continuing the Town Manager Coffee Hour in the fall. Selectman Annino is interested in attending one of these as well. Selectman Aptowitz stated he has been fortunate to be able to attend some of the COA events and has found them very educational and enjoyable. Selectman Kozlowski is also interested in attending a coffee hour as well. He enjoyed the candidates night that the COA had sponsored and is interested in learning more about the senior tax abatement program. Chairman Moran thanked Ms. Farrugia and Ms. Walgreen for coming in and sharing information on the COA with them. Ms. Walgreen stated that she has worked with the COA for several years and wanted everyone to know what fantastic staff the town has at the COA. Boord of Selectmen Minutes of June 2, 2010 FY10 budget update John Stanbrook, Town Accountant was present and provided the Board of Selectmen a recap of the FYlO budget. He reviewed the town FYlO general fund actual revenues by source thru 5-31-2010. Selectman Aptowitz thanked Mr. Stanbrook for his hard work and dedication to the towns financial health. Selectman Aptowitz also expressed concern over the issues the town has faced in consolidating services and purchasing. Mr. Ross has been working with Supt. Hodges on these items. Selectman Annino asked a few questions about how the budget is met and what the town manager does if there is a shortfall in the budget. Mr. Ross and Mr. Stanbrook gave a short explanation of how controlling expenses and watching revenue (on a daily basis) lets then meet the budget numbers. Selectman Dentino is pleased that Mr. Stanbrook is carefully controlling the budget; however he would like to see the town utilize a coding system in order to further analysis costs. Mr. Ross stated that the DPW has used a system of that sort in the past however, it is a time consuming effort that can add to the cost of using it. Selectman Dentino provided the Board of Selectmen with a few examples of projects that could work with breakouts. Mr. Ross will look into using such a system. Chairman Moran thanked Mr. Stan brook for coming in and explaining the budget process to the audience and the board as well. Audit Committee update Selectman Aptowitz briefed the board on the purpose of the Audit Committee, which was adopted at the 2009 annual town meeting as a town committee. Briefly, the purpose of the Audit Committee is to assist the Town's Board of Selectmen with the oversight of the town accounting and financial reporting processes and the audits of the town's financial statements. Selectman Kozlowski has a few questions about the terms of the membership. Most committees have staged terms and are on a calendar year, not a fiscal one. Board of Selectmen Minutes of June 2. 2010 2 Selectman Annino also had questions about some of the one year terms being too short. Selectman Aptowitz stated that Jack Goldberg, Finance Committee member has been the driving force behind this effort and the town is very fortunate to have his assistance. After a brief discussion of the proposed Audit Committee Charter, Selectman Aptowitz will bring these concerns back to the committee for reconsideration. Cable Advisory Committee/Cable Access Board interviews Lou Amoruso, Brookside Road resident, Mike Healey, Casa Drive resident have both been on the Cable Advisory Committee before and would like to assist with Comcast Cable contract this time around. Craig Richard, Elm St resident is new to town and would like to offer his services to the town in negotiating the Comcast Cable license agreement. He is an engineering manager in the IT field and has extensive experience in negotiating contracts. Mr. Amoruso explained for the audience and the Board of Selectmen the process they have followed in negotiating past cable licenses. The attorneys do most of the legal filings and proceedings however; the committee does have quite a bit of input in regard to the details of the contract. Selectman Kozlowski asked Mr. Richard about his IT background and his experience in negotiating technology contracts with vendors. Selectman Annino asked Mr. Healey what the biggest challenge was in negotiating with Verizon the last time around. Mr. Healey responded that the Verizon representatives were difficult to work with and they did not often follow the set process for negotiations. Hopefully the representatives from Comcast will be easier to work with. Chairman Moran stated that the Board of Selectmen is very fortunate to have Mr. Healey and Mr. Amoruso volunteer for the committee again. Mr. Healey expanded upon the fact that negotiations will be different this time with Verizon as FCC rules and regulations have changed in the past couple of years. Mr. Amoruso also stated that the committee will most likely meet once a week or so during negotiations. Board of Selectmen Minutes of June 2, 2010 3 Selectman Dentino thanked the applicants for coming in to talk with the board and welcomed them back. He also mentioned that Chairman Moran did an excellent job on the committee last time and hope that he will do it again. Chairman Moran stated that Richard Mahoney would like to volunteer again for the committee but was unable to be here this evening. Even so, the listing will stay on the cable and web to hopefully get more members. Motion: to appoint Lou Amoruso, Craig Richard, Mike Healey to committee (Aptowitz/ Annino) 5:0 passes Tom Buckley, Angelina Lane resident is also present and interested in being on the Cable Access Board of Directors. Selectman Dentino has watched some of the games that Mr. Buckley has narrated and is glad to see him willing to serve on the board as well. Selectman Aptowitz commented that Ms. Begin, President of Cable Access Board of Directors has sent in a letter of support in regards to Mr. Buckley's application. The rest of the Board of Selectmen welcomed Mr. Buckley to the board. Motion: To appoint Tom Buckley to the Cable Access Board. (Kozlowski/Dentino) 5:0 passes Recreation Commission update Lorilee Fish, Park and Recreation Director, Chairman Kemp from the Commission are present for the discussion. Chairman Kemp explained how the office has changed over the past year due to budget cuts. The department lost a full time assistant and has had to rely more on volunteers to get things done. However, they have been able to maintain most of the services previously offered. In addition, the commission has instituted a new fee structure that is bringing in more revenue to assist with park and field maintenance. Also as noted in the past, the fields get a great deal of use, making new field space a top priority for the recreation commission. They are hopeful that the Hathaway Patterson site will be able to be used in the near future as field space is very tight and growing tighter. Additionally, the EPA has indicated that the land will be suitable for recreational use. Board of Selectmen Minutes of June 2, 2010 4 After a few comments, Selectman Kozlowski thanked the Commission members and Ms. Fish for coming in and giving them an update. Selectman Dentino mentioned that he has wanted to see some of the land used for recreation for quite some time and fully supports them in their efforts to do so. Weekly Business Warrant No. 10048T in the amount of $1,174,745.10 Motion: To approve. (Aptowitz/Kozlowski) 5:0 passes Warrant No. 10048E in the amount of $27,244.09 Motion: To approve. (Aptowitz/Kozlowski) 5:0 passes Warrant No. 10048S in the amount of $344,462.70 Motion: To approve. (Aptowitz/ Annino) 5:0 passes Warrant No. 10048PT in the amount of $312,503.42 Motion: To approve. (Kozlowski/ Aptowitz) 4:0:1 passes (Dentino abstain) Warrant No. 10048TV in the amount of $87,622.95 Motion: To approve. (Kozlowski/ Aptowitz) 5:0 passes . April 28th bos meeting minutes. (held from last week) Motion: (Aptowitz/Dentino) 3:0:2 (Annino/Kozlowski abstain) . Request for appropriation transfer of funds. 6 year end requests from John Stan brook. The Board of Selectmen have many questions about budgeting and overages. Held for next weeks review. . Drainlayers license application for Callahan Inc. Payment for license has been received and Town Engineer recommends approval. Motion: To approve license. (Aptowitz/Kozlowski) 5:0 passes Correspondence . Request from Lorilee Fish, Recreation Director. They will need rm 3 a/b for inclement weather on Wednesday evenings. . Letter of support for Tom Buckley, applicant for cable access board, from Marjorie Begin, President of Cable Access. Board of Selectmen Minutes of June 2, 2010 5 Town Managers Report · Water improvements project updates at Kate Springs. Well had to be shut down for an e-coli incident and will be published in paper for resident notification. · Mr. Ross has talked with the residents from last week in regards to their wall being repeatedly hit and will be assisting them with resolving the problem. · Mr. Ross met with FEMA representatives this week to turn in figures from the March floods. The town is eligible for possible reimbursement of up to $90k in storm damage expenses. . Board of Selectmen orientation is tentatively scheduled for June 18th. · The Senate has passed a bill that greatly inhibits the town's ability to bargain health care coverage with employee unions. However, it still needs to go to conference before approval. BaS Old and New . Selectman Kozlowski: He had the honor of participating in his first Memorial Day parade Monday and thanked John Hogan, Veterans Agent for putting on such a great presentation. He has also been getting great feedback from residents in regards to the budget coverage during the meetings. Sheriff Hodges is also going to be in town at Willow Crossing this Saturday if anyone wants to meet or talk with the Sheriff. · Selectman Aptowitz: The Great Duck Race is June 30th and Family Fun date is July 13th June 9th is a combined meeting for the BOS/MMED. Announcement: If your carbon monoxide detector or smoke detector goes off please contact the fire dept. Better save than sorry. . Selectman Annino: None this week Boord of Selectmen Minutes of June 2, 2010 6 . Selectman Dentino: He has reviewed time sheets for some employees and has questions about compo time. Mr. Ross will review. . Chairman Moran: Mr. Ross has requested to go to a conference and the Board of Selectmen need to approve as his dept. head. Motion: to approve Chair to sign. (Aptowitz/Kozlowski) 5:0 passes Adjournment Motion: Adjourn meeting at 9:40pm (Aptowitz) 5-0 Passes !l3()14j!~?;: ~ Signature of Clerk ~e-.3"~ 2t?/t? . Date of Approval Board of Selectmen Minutes of June 2. 2010 7