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HomeMy WebLinkAboutmin brd of selectmen 09/14/2005 . ' (' Town of Mansfield Board of Selectmen Minutes of September 14, 2005 Present: Chairman Roger Achille, Vice Chairman McCarter and Selectman Louis Amoruso Town Manager John D' Agostino OFF fCE 05 294NIO:OII f'4( ~)~\,:FIELD D~lai;~ C~fi1ay~ The Board of Selectmen's meeting was called to order by followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. Achille at 7:40 p.m., Chairman Achille asked Chief O'Neill and Officer Roy Bain to come forward. Chairman Achille noted that we are honored to have Officer B in here for his life-saving actions on May 25, 2005. Officer Bain responded to a call of a own tree on wires and Mrs. Helena Souza approached Officer Bain to report smoke i her basement. As he entered the house, he noticed heavy smoke and began lookin for Mrs. Souza's husband Joseph. He yelled down the cellar stairs for Mr. Sou a and heard a faint call for help through the smoke. He proceeded to grab Mr. Souza nd pull him out of the cellar and the house to safety. Chairman Achille shared the c mments of others who praised Officer Bain's actions, including those of Chief Arthur O'Neill, Sgt. Martin, and ..-- Deputy Fire Chief Richard Towne. Chairman Achille mentio ed Officer Peppicelli, who administered first aid to the Souza's. I I I Chairman Achille said that the Board is honored to have Offi~r Bain here tonight. Chief O'Neill noted that the events unfolded quickly that eve 'ng and that Officer Bain used his head in entering the cellar. Chief O'Neill introduced oe and Helena Souza and said that they were very lucky but suffered property loss. He also introduced Roy's wife Karen and daughter Rachel. He was also recognized by e Southeastern Chiefs of Police Association earlier today for his actions. Selectman Amoruso said that Officer Bain has always acted w th great professionalism and that congratulations are in order for being the officer that e is. Selectman McCarter noted that he went above and beyond th call of duty and put others above him. He said that Officer Bain has given of hims If outside of the uniform and he thanked him for his continued service to the town. Selectman Dolan thanked Officer Bain for his service. Chairman Achille presented Officer Bain with a certificate of ~preciation for his courageous and selfless actions on the evening of May 25, 200~. ,-- Board of Selectmen Minutes of September 14, 2005 1 ~ , , ' r' Items of discussion included: financial statements for FY05; se urity deposit and collection procedure update; Mansfield High School robotics rogram; new record peak demand for MMED; and final payment of Stony Brook debt. . Warrant No. 11 in the amount of $4,550,550.61 Motion: To approve (Dolan - Amoruso) Three in favor. McCarter abstained from payroll. PASSES . Warrant No. 12 in the amount of $3,240,035.50 Motion: To approve (Amoruso - Dolan) Three in favor. McCarter abstained from payroll check #225470 PASSES . Regular Session Minutes of August 31, 2005 Selectmen's Meeting Motion: To approve (Amoruso - Dolan) Three in favor. Achille abstained. PASSES . One-Day Beer & Wine License for Tri-County Beagle Club's Pig Roast on Saturday, October 1st Motion: To approve license, predicated on payment of the outstanding real estate taxes r- (Amoruso - Dolan) All in favor. PASSES . Block party permit request for Deer Path Circle Cul-De-Sac for Saturday, September 10th Motion: To ratify the vote taken by phone permitting the block party (Amoruso - Dolan) Three in favor. McCarter abstained. PASSES · Block party permit request for Samoset Street, from Bristol Street to Hodges Street, for Saturday, September 24th from 3:00pm to 10:00pm. Police and Fire signed off on request. Motion: To approve block party permit, subject to providing emergency access and proper signage (Amoruso - Dolan) All in favor. PASSES . Block party permit request for Noreen Road for Saturday, September 17th from 2:30pm to 11:00pm. Police and Fire signed off on request. Motion: To approve block party permit, subject to providing emergency access and proper signage (Amoruso - Dolan) All in favor. PASSES r- Board of Selectmen Minutes of September 14, 2005 2 . ' ~ . Block party permit request for Cherry Street on Saturday, September 24th from 2:00pm to 8:00pm. Police and Fire signed off on request. Motion: To approve block party permit, subject to providing emergency access and proper signage (Amoruso - Dolan) All in favor. PASSES . Application from Michael Ahern for a Conservation Constable position. Application routed to and signed off by Police Chief. Attached is a letter from Michele Grenier, Conservation & Environmental Planner, on behaIf of the Conservation Commission, asking that Michael Ahern be appointed a conservation constable.) Motion: To approve application (Dolan - McCarter) All in favor. PASSES . Check from Assist 2 Sell in the amount of $233.75 for the Local Housing Partnership Fund Motion: To accept and deposit check into the Local Housing Partnership Fund (Amoruso - Dolan) All in favor. PASSES . Email from a resident regarding the Mansfield Animal Shelter. r . Email from a resident regarding the number of arrests at the Tweeter Center. . Memorandum from Town Engineer John Sullivan received August 31st regarding the placement of concrete for sidewalks and driveways along the Route 106 improvement project. . Memorandum from Lorilee Fish, Park & Recreation Director and Billie Siena, Cemetery Restoration Program Director, received August 31 st, regarding the restoration of Happy Hollow and East Street cemeteries. The Town Manager said that we have last years' monies that have not yet been earmarked. We are going to ask the Board to accept the money and put into certain accounts; for example, the payment of the consultant that is looking at the concept of the community center. The Town Manager said that we have $37,000 and Ms. Fish is looking for approximately $6,300. The Town Manager said that we don't have money appropriated for the restoration of graves. We could wait for the Special Town Meeting. The Town Manager said that the Board accepts the money from the Foundation and the money is allocated to specific accounts - it is like a gift account. r Selectman McCarter asked if we have gift accounts and if we have one set up for this. The Town Manager said that we could establish a gift account for these two cemeteries Board of Selectmen Minutes of September 14, 2005 3 . , ~ and then identify a source of funding. We are going to be asking the Board to consider $19,000 for the architects regarding the scope of services for the expansion of the high school. Chairman Achille suggested havihg Ms. Fish and Ms. Siena come in to discuss this issue. Selectman Dolan confirmed that we have to establish a gift account for this specific request. The Town Manager said that we have always talked about using the Tiger Woods Foundation money for the concept of a community center. Selectman McCarter said that he would like the Town Accountant to tell the Board that they can establish a gift account for this specific purpose. Selectman Amoruso said that this does lend itseIf to a gift account, but not necessarily for building expansion. It concerns him that we do not have any money appropriated for the restoration of cemeteries. The Town Manager said that we used to have money appropriated, but no longer. Motion: To establish a gift account up to $10,000 for the purpose of restoring the cemetery markers at Happy Hollow and East Street cemeteries, subject to approval of the Town Accountant (Amoruso - Dolan) All in favor. PASSES . Chairman Achille reported that MMAS is holding its annual auction this Sunday on Channel 9 from 6-9pm, live from the Selectmen's Meeting Room. The money raised r from the auction will benefit MMAS and their annual Arts Festival, which will take on September 24th and 25th. Antiques, gift certificates, art and other treasures will be auctioned off and donations are still welcomed by calling 339-2822. . Invitation from the Tri-Town Chamber of Commerce received August 31st to their Political Networking Roundtable on Wednesday, September 21st at the Holiday Inn. . Invitation from the Association of Town Finance Committees' Annual Meeting on Saturday, November 5th at Holy Cross College. . Letter from Foundry LLC regarding meetings for the TOD at the Train Station. . Email from a resident regarding Comcast and its HDTV. . Notice of funding availability from the Department of Housing and Community Development received September 7th for the Soft Second Loan Program. . Two memorandums from DPW Director Lee Azinheira regarding Board of Selectmen action items. Mr. Azinheira summarized the actions taken by DPW to address the issues brought forward by residents. r Board of Selectmen Minutes of September 14, 2005 4 . r . Letter from Chief Arthur O'Neill received September 8th announcing that the r' Mansfield Police Department has received a $33,333.33 JAG grant from the Department of Justice. . Invitation from Scholastic Books to attend a ceremony on September 16th at 12:45pm when Scholastic Book Fairs presents a national writing award to a group of 4th-grade students at St.Mary's Catholic School. Earlier this year, St. Mary's students conceived, wrote and illustrated a picture book entitled Haiku Hike. The book earned the 2005 grand prize for a nonfiction work in Scholastic's Kids are Authors program, a national book-writing contest for teams of student writers in grades K-8. Scholastic published the winning book and is distributing it nationwide at its book fairs this fall. Lee Azinheira, DPW Director, was in attendance for the solid waste/recycling discussion. r- Chairman Achille said that when we last met about this topic in July, we were talking about our trash options. We are here to continue the dialogue. Chairman Achille asked about the situation regarding the stickers. Mr. Azinheira said that we have ordered them and have given them out and we have ordered 100 of them and DPW Office Manager Betty Amicone is working on a grant to pay for more, as they are not inexpensive. Chairman Achille said that we were going to get an estimate on the cost of mailing them out as well as ordering them by the thousands. Mr. Azinheira replied that it is costly to mail them out - we are trying to find cheaper ways. Chairman Achille said that he was anticipating that this would be implemented at this point, as it was a policy of the Board. Mr. Azinheira said that we have ordered 100 at approximately $2.00 each. Even mailing the smaller stickers will be costly. Mr. Azinheira said that the Board discussed limiting the number of containers to get a reduction in weight - we told Waste Management last year not to pick up more than 6 barrels. He tried to quantify the potential savings with this option. If we limited to one barrel, we could see a 27% reduction in weight. If we do any limiting in the number of barrels, we need to provide an option for them to put out bags at $2 each. Selectman Dolan said that our costs right now is $1.5 million per year and if we limit the number of barrels to one, we will only see a cost savings of $235,000. Selectman Dolan would have thought the savings would have been more substantial. Mr. Azinheira said that he is using conservative figures - it could be higher, but in the first year, he wants to err on the side of caution. Until we do it, we cannot give a hard figure. Selectman Dolan said that the only way to save on tonnage is to recycle. Selectman Dolan said that if the average number of barrels used by most residents is 2 - if we cut it down to 1, we should see a savings of 50%. Mr. Azinheira said that the collection costs won't change much - we have some control over the amount of tonnage we put out there. The Town r Board of Selectmen Minutes of September 14, 2005 5 . T Manager said that fuel costs will drive up the bidding for next year's contract. ~ Whatever we save, the Town Manager proposes initiating an underride and give the money directly back to the residents. Mr. Azinheira pointed out that the amount for curbside collection and curbside recycling may change with the new contract. Chairman Achille said that our goal is to remove recycling from the general collection in order to decrease tipping. Selectman McCarter said that he came up with a new program - "Voluntary Modified Pay-As-You-Throw Recycling Program." Selectman Amoruso asked Mr. Azinheira what the inclination of Waste Management was to these alternatives. Mr. Azinheira said that Jim Nocella of Waste Management would be agreeable to both alternatives and suggested limiting it to one. Depending on what the Board chooses to do with respect to limiting barrels, we can continue to treat small businesses the same way as the residents as is currently done. With a reduced barrel limit, the impact of these small businesses would be minimized. If the Board chooses to charge them separately, that option remains. Selectman Amoruso asked Mr. Azinheira if we were to limit barrels, we would charge $2 per bag over the 1 barrel. Mr. Azinheira replied that we could charge $2 per bag with production and distribution handled by a private company at cost of approximately $0.20 per bag. For the average family, they would need 7-14 bags per year. If a family used 10 bags, it would cost them $20.00 for the whole year. r Mr. Azinheira said that we do not recommend a sticker program for the bulky items but would recommend charging a fee for a sticker for white goods to be picked up at curbside. Selectman Dolan asked about a grace period during Christmas for example. Mr. Azinheira said that if we adopt a policy, we should stick with it year round. Selectman McCarter said that limiting the number of barrels is essentially modified pay- as-you-throw. Mr. Azinheira referenced an article about Attleboro reducing tonnage- if we don't have some sort of control, we are importing trash from other communities. Chairman Achille said that any type of savings is good. Selectman Amoruso asked what the cost is per household for trash pickup. The Town Manager asked if the Board would be interested in doing an underride. Selectman Amoruso said that he isn't opposed to it, but he doesn't want the residents to get excited about something that may not amount to much. Selectman Amoruso said that the amount it costs for each household is $230.00. Selectman Dolan said that we provide outstanding services to the taxpayers and to reduce the barrels to 1 from 6, he doesn't think it is fair. ..-- Selectman McCarter asked about his option of not picking up trash if there isn't a recycling barrel out. Mr. Azinheira said that he is looking at it from an operational Board of Selectmen Minutes of September 14, 2005 6 ! , ~ standpoint. If we had trash sitting out there on a hot summer day, the Board of Health would order it removed. He doesn't think it would be productive. Selectman Amoruso said that he was thinking of looking at 3 containers for a period of time, then going to 2 containers for a period of time and seeing how it affects recycling. In general, that sends a message that we are serious and would encourage people to recycle. After implementing this, we could look at the reduction of tonnage and the increase of recycling. Chairman Achille said that people are thinking of this issue - we want to get to a place where we are saving money but there may need to be a learning curve. The Town Manager said that he likes the concept of specifying a certain amount of time to measure results. Mr. Azinheira said that we would need to specify the size gallon barrel - from a hauling perspective, the 33-gallon barrel is preferred. Selectman Dolan asked about construction waste. Mr. Azinheira said that we would recommend that any construction or building debris picked up at curbside would only be done as part of the allowed number of barrels. Selectman Dolan said that the educational timetable that Mr. Azinheira is suggesting is July 1, 2006 - he believes that this is a long time away. Mr. Azinheira said that implementing the 3 barrel limit would be a lot easier to handle. The Town Manager asked the Board if they were thinking of bags with this scenario and Selectman ~ Amoruso replied that with a 3-barrellimit, bags for sale are not needed. Selectman Amoruso said that we are trying to get the residents to do their own part. Selectman McCarter believes that there will be a pay-as-you-throw at some point eventually. Selectman Dolan doesn't think that there are enough households that would need more than 3 barrels per week. Motion: Limit the trash to 3 33-gallon barrels with a mass mailing, effective November 1 st - leave bulk items as is (Dolan - Amoruso) for discussion Mr. Azinheira asked the Board's inclination is regarding white goods collection. Selectman Amoruso said that we should wait on that Selectman Amoruso asked if we could establish a measurable goal. Selectman Dolan asked Mr. Azinheira to mention in the mass mailing that this barrel reduction is a step and could change to 2 or 1 in the future. Vote: Three in favor. (with Selectman McCarter voting in the negative - this does nothing for those who do not recycle - he believes in mandatory recycling) PASSES r' Board of Selectmen Minutes of September 14, 2005 7 r' We spoke last month about the status of the clock and the plaque at the Train Station. We have some agreement and movement on the issue between the Town and the MBT A. The agreement will be executed by GA TRA and it is essentially the same agreement between the Town and the MBTA, but will between the Town and GATRA. GATRA is going to assume full control of the train station. We went to Town Meeting a few years ago that transferred the property where the station sits from the Town of Mansfield to the MBT A. In turn, GA TRA will manage the building - manage and maintain the facility. The Town Manager has a redrafted agreement for the Board's review and signature. Town Counsel originally drew up the agreement that was sent to the MBT A over two years ago. The fire truck that was on loan to the Norwood Fire Department is at the N. Main Street fire station. We were authorized under the current FY06 budget to purchase new apparatus and with the reserve ladder truck there, there isn't enough room. Selectman Dolan looked at the reserve ladder truck recently and it looks like it is in good condition - he believes that there is a community out there that would be willing to buy it. The Town Manager said that you need to look at the useful life of the truck. Motion: To instruct the Deputy Chief to put old reserve ladder truck out for sale and look at all offers (Dolan - McCarter) 4-0 PASSES r On Thursday, September 15th at 10:00am, the Town Manager will be holding a senior coffee hour at the COA. He expects a good crowd due in part to an earlier School Committee meeting and a news article which discussed the possibility of a new senior center at the High School's newly renovated/ expansion project. We are working on identifying the number of parking spaces at the train station, by identifying the spaces and who they belong to. He has invited Ken Buckland of the Cecil Group to come before the Board in the near future so that he may update the Board on the citizen input meetings and the meetings with the landowners. The new ribbon cutting ceremony for the new Water Department Building is set for October 8th at 10:00am, located at 500B East Street. It is now treating the Prescott wells but not the Dustin wells because of the construction on Route 106. However, by October 8th, the plant will be fully operational and the Dustin wells will be treated. Selectman Amoruso said that he believes that the water will be improved even by next summer. There is a TRIAD pasta dinner at the COA on October 26th at 5:00pm. r Board of Selectmen Minutes of September 14, 2005 8 . , -, . . r- The Town Manager may be taking a series of days off as he deals with a personal family matter involving his brother and he may need to take time off and will let the Board know in advance if possible. If he is going to be out of town for an extended period of time, he will appoint Lee Azinheira as Acting Town Manager. Selectman McCarter: He was asked by a resident about the GA TRA bus parking on Mansfield Avenue -the resident feels it impedes traffic. Selectman Amoruso feels that we could find another spot for it during the peak times. The Town Manager said that he would look into the matter and speak to GA TRA. Selectman Dolan: He attended the WWII ceremony that the Veterans Agent John Hogan organized. It was well attended and Mr. Hogan did an outstanding job. Selectman McCarter said that he saw it on TV, and it was a moving ceremony. Selectman Dolan believes that we are the only community that did such an event. Motion: To adjourn at 10:41pm ~ (Amoruso) All in favor. PASSES ~~ ~~ ~ ;;1?/~t?~~ Signature of Clerk ~en.-k ?t!; ?~~5 Date of Approval r Board of Selectmen Minutes of September 14, 2005 9 . ,