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HomeMy WebLinkAboutBOS MINUTES 5-23-1979BOARD OF SELECTMEN /LIGHT COMMISSIONERS w9dRalki M), May 23, 1979 7:30 p.m. - Call to Order Warrant Minutes - May 16, 1979 Clerk's Folder 7:45 p.m. - Charles Zgonis - Aide of Paul Tsongas Secretary for So. Eastern part of Mass. (get acquaintance meeting) FinCom to meet regarding the MDC Facility Mr. Noonan Town Manager's Report Board Reports Executive Session - Negotiations PENDING Traffic Lights at Franklin & 106 Traffic Lights at 140 & Forbes Blvd. Job Classification Back Bay Brook Phase 3 Water Rates Foxboro Mall (Traffic Pattern) Sanitary Landfill Oak St. Culvert Railroad Station Parking Fire Department banquet, Sunday, 6:30 p.m. at the Norton Country Club BCSA Meeting tomorrow evening at Georgio's Restaurant in Dighton BOARD OF SELECTMEN /LIGHT COMMISSIONERS Minutes of the Meeting May 23, 1979 Present: Selectman Robert M. DeLong, Frank Colella, Lyman C. Avery, and Norman Mahana. Town Manager William P. Metropulos. Selectman Antonino Caponigro, Jr. arrived after the meeting started. The meeting was called to order at 7:30 p.m. The Weekly Warrant in the amount of #306,097.60 was read. This was approved * on a motion by Selectman Mahana, seconded by Selectman Colella. Voted 4 -0. The minutes of May 16, 1979 were read. These minutes were accepted on a * motion by Selectman Mahana, seconded by Selectman Coella:. Voted 4 -0 Clerk's Folder A renewal'lieense was noted for Blane Chemical applying for a license for a David White of Taunton as their Sworn Weigher. The license was approved on * a motion by Selectman Mahana, seconded by Selectman Colella. Voted 4 -0. A renewal license was noted for Clemmey, Inc. 390 West St. for a Junk Dealer's license. This was approved on a motion by Selectman Mahana, seconded by * Selectman Colella. Voted 4 -0. A 1 -Day beer license was applied for by Leo LeFort, manager of the Airport to conduct a barbecue for pilots who have their planes parked at the Airport. This was approved on a motion by Selectman DeLong, seconded by Selectman Colella. * Voted 4 -0. A 4 -Day beer license was applied for by the Mansfield Softball League, this is for two weekends and the proceeds of this goes toward payment of the lights. This was approved on a motion by Selectman Mahana, seconded by Selectman * Caponigro. Voted 4 -0 -1 (Selectman Colella abstained as he belongs to this league) Correspondence A house moving permit request by D.R. Betts, Building Mover of No. Attleboro, was approved by the Selectmen after confirmation that this also meets with the approval of the Planning Board. The house is being moved from 22 Casa Drive to 362 Gilbert St. Selectman Mahana made the motion for approval, seconded by * Selectman Colella. Voted 4 -0. Selectman Caponigro arrived at the meeting. A letter was noted from Town Counsel regarding an inquiry on whether or not the Town could install speed bumps on public roadways maintained by the Town. The Town Manager explained how this came about and told the Board that a resident of Fulton Street complained of cars using this street as a shortcut to avoid the lights on West and So. Main Street. The Town Manager noted that he looked the ( situation over and found the street to be posted as a school zone and also that the length of the street prevent anyone from reaching a 35 mph speed limit and still be able to stop safely, he does not advocate speed bumps, but recommends enforcement of the traffic laws. Selectman Mahana agreed with the Town Manager, as did the other Selectmen. me BOARD OF SELECTMEN /LIGHT COMMISSIONERS Minutes of the Meeting May 23, 1979 Page 2 Reports on local liquor establishment disturbances was noted for the weeks of May 9, May 15 and May 23, 1979. Correspondence from the Civil Service Commission was noted. The Town Manager noted that this does not refer to us, it only refers to laborers, mechanics and craftsmen. The only Civil Service employees that we have are police and fire. Notification was received from the Governor's Highway Safety Bureau that we have been approved our request for funding of another radar unit up to $1,000. A letter was noted from the Sharon Board of Selectmen regarding our proposed wastewater treatment plant. They are interested in whether or not there is any excess capacity available to surrounding tons. The Town Manager answered the letter which was from Mr. Edward Bamber, Sharon's Executive Secretary. Charles Zgonis, from the office of Senator Tsongas, and the representative secretary for the South Eastern part of Massachusetts. Mr. Zgonis informed the Board and the audience that the reason for his being here tonight was more of a courtesy call and to introduce the Senator's office, Mr. Zgonis noted that there are seven representatives working out of the economic section in Massachusetts and one in Washington who works as a laison between the Washington agencies and here. Mr. Zgonis noted that their jobs are to help facilitate in the various plans, also to help expedite matters . They are meeting with industry and their executives to try to change the anti - business climate in the state and have been very successful so far, especially in the electronic and high technical industry. The Boston office employes twenty -two people and their job is to find out what the state needs and what projects the communities are sponsoring. Energy conservation is the main thrust of concern . The downtown areas are also of concern to them, they would like to see the downtown areas come back and grow again, they feel that there are cities and towns that have been around a long time and would like to see them revitalized. Mr. Zgonis suggest that a priority list be sent to them listing areas of the greatest concern. Selectman Delong mentioned to Mr. Zgonis the problem MMWEC is having in Ludlow and if there is anything he can do to help us out in this area. Mr. Zgonis noted that he was not familar with it, that this area is covered by another representative, however he will see what he can find out and report back to the Board. Selectman Delong informed Mr. Zgonis as to what the problem is. Other areas of concern discussed with Mr. Zgonis was the solid waste problem, the commuter rail problem , inflation and the oil crisis. Selectman Mahana mentioned that we did not receive the Small Cities Program grant that we applied for and Mr. Zgonis noted that it could be because Mansfield is considered an affluent area but he will find out just what HUD is looking for and arrange to have a meeting with them. Selectman Delong asked Mr. Zgonis what the Senator's stand is on nuclear plants, -2- BOARD OF SELECTMEN /LIGHT COMMISSIONERS Minutes of the Meeting May 23, 1979 Page 3 and Mr. Zgonis noted that the Senator is a very stong environmentalist & feels the nuclear generators have to be totally safe with :safeguards built in. The Board thanked Mr. Zgonis for meeting with them tonight Mr. Zgonis informed the Board that any problems or questions they may have not to hesitate in call- ing him and passed out his business card with phone number and address. Finance Committee - MDC SEPTAGE CONTRACT Finance Committee members, Calleen Cheney, Dave Clemmey, Ed Cooney, Joseph Houghton and Bill Flannery met with the Board and four of the licensed septage pumpers in the Town of Mansfield: John Noonan, Conrad Lajoie, Bob Parker and one unidentified. Ed Tartufo of the Board of Health was also present. The meeting tonightis to receive approval from the FinCom to enter into a con- tract with the MDC Septage Facility in Walpole, since the article to raise money for this was turned down at the Annual Town Meeting just past. The Selectmen need this approval because a transfer will have to be requested if not taken up at a Special in the meantime. Mr. John Noonan repeated what he told the Board at:last week's meeting that, there is not other place to dump the waste and if a septic tank overflows we will have problems, it will have to be pumped, there is no other way and once it gets in the truck it has to be dumped. The MDC told him that as long as a town is doing something about having their own wastewater treatment plant they will take them but a town that is not doing anything about it will have to make other arrangements other than Walpole. The problem also will be that if he is refused into Walpole, the further he has to take it the more hb will have to charge the customers. Mr. Noonan feels that the price is -right and we should be thankful that the MDC is willing to do it. Ed Tartufo, noted that he felt what Mr. Noonan was saying is correct and that the information he gave us last week was very helpful. Calleen Cheney felt that more information was necessary and wanted to know who is paying for the permits, it was noted that nine pumpers took out renewals with Mansfield, also that Walpole only has control over who they license not who the Town license: The permit from the Town of Mansfield is for permission to carry the septage waste over town roads. In checking with Walpole last week, five of the licensed pumpers with Mansfield are also licensed with Walpole. Mr. Noonan noted that there are pumpers working in Mansfield who are not license, with the Town and the only v(ay to enforce the law is by policing, that he does not carry his license with him at all times but thinks that it is a good idea. Ed Cooney, wanted to know when the bill from MDC has to be paid, and it was noted that last year's bill was just paid last week, however, a letter will have to be written to them that the intent to paid the bill is there. ( Calleen questioned that if the Town Meeting voted against this, do we have the, right to make a transfer and Selectman Delong noted that this is an "emergency" and could be done. -3- BOARD OF SELECTMEN /LIGHT COMMISSIONERS Minutes of the Meeting May 23, 1979 Page 4 Selectman Avery noted that the question here tonight is whether or not to trans- fer the money on the basis of an emergency or a Special Town Meeting? This is the question that the FinCom will have to answer. Selectman Avery also noted that if we do have a special and this is turned down then the FinCom will have to if this is an emergency . Calleen questioned why none of the pumpers were at the Town Meeting when this came up, -and Ed Tartufo noted that the blame should be placed on us for not doing our homework and not blame the pumpers because they did not attend the Town Meeting. Selectman Avery noted that he hopes that the FinCom will come back to us as soon as possible with an answer, Calleen noted that the next meeting of the FinCom is posted for June 4, and they will ack upon it then. Ed Cooney informed the Board that he will have to resign from the FinCom and the Audit Advisory Committee because he will be moving out of Town, he thanked the Board for having had the opportunity to work on the committees and hopes that he can find a Town as nice as Mansfield in which to live in. * * ** Correspondence I An application was noted from Robert Mangiaratti, 103 Gilbert Street, applying for the Downtown Advisory Committee. Bob was the Planning Bodrd's representative but has resinged from that board, effective, May 21, 1979. A transfer in the amount of $250.00 was noted from the Board of Health for engineering services of James Dunn. Approved on a motion by Selectman Mahana, * seconded by Selectman Caponigro. Voted 5 -0. A letter from the Planning Director, addressed to Mr. Edward Stivaletta, on acceptance of a portion of Erick Road was noted. The Planning Director informed Mr. Stivaletta, until items on this road are corrected it will hot be accepted by the Town. A notice from the 128 WRRC (West Resource Recovery Council)was noted. A meeting will be held May 23, at the Stoughton Town Hall and on May 30 in the Wellesley Town Hall. Notification was read from HUD on public housing and a new program under Section 8, Rental Assistance funds to stimulate the rehabilitation of privately owned units. A copy of this correspondence was forwarded to the Mansfield Housing Authority. A letter was noted from Marydee Flynn, Chairman of the Great Woods Study Committee, requesting permission to seek Town Counsel's opinion. The Board noted that the Town Manager will handle this. A transfer request in the amount of $1200. was noted for account #471 -1. This ( transfer is necessary because of the emergency work needed on the Leonard Street pumping station . Permission was granted on a motion by Selectman Mahana, second- * ed by Selectman Caponigro. Voted 5 -0. A letter was noted from the Bristol County Commissioners advising us of a major benefit change in Blue Cross -Blue Shield effective May 1, 1979. M BOARD OF SELECTMEN /LIGHT COMMISSIONERS Minutes of the Meeting May 23, 1979 Page 5 A letter of resignation was noted from James G. Blake, resigning from the Computer Advisory Committee, due to his moving out of Town. The Board ac- cepted his resignation and a letter of thanks will be sent. Motion by * Selectman Caponigro, seconded by Selectman Colella. Voted 5 -0. A letter was noted from Byron J. Matthews, Executive Office of Communities and Development advising the Board that a member of his staff has been as- signed to serve as the liaison to the Town of Mansfield. The liaison will be Sylvester Sylvia who will monitor local issues, as well as state and federal projects which affect Mansfield. A letter was noted from Southeastern Mass. Health Planning and Development, Inc. advising us that it is time again to elect new members to our sub -area council. A letter was noted from Senator John Parker, thanking us for the letter that was sent opposing proposed salary increases to the Governor and other state executives. A letter was noted from Fairfield Optical regarding the Landfill and the pro- posed new regulations that will ban commercial and industrial users from using the facility. Selectman Avery noted that with the Board's permission he would like to answer this letter and noted that if we don't do what we are doing, eventually none of us will have a landfill. * * ** Town Manager's Report A letter from the Governor's office was noted requesting information on the Town in order to promote Massachusetts for foreign business to locate in this area. A letter was received from St. Johns's Episcopal Church and signed by other clergy in Town complaining about parades being held on Sunday mornings while church is being held. The Town Manager noted that in researching this he could only find where one parade a year is held, the Firemen's Memorial Sunday, and this parade does not have any bands playing. However, further on in the meeting Selectman Delong noted that this should be settled, and a motion was made by Selectman Caponigro that the only parades that will be allowed on a Sunday is the Firemen's Memorial Sunday parade, seconded by Selectman Co.1ella. * Voted 5 -0. Regarding the lights at Rt. 140 and Forbes, the design has been prepared by CC &F and are in the hands of the state now for approval, when approved, Paul Dalton of CC &F will take them to Foxboro for their approval. In view of the gas shortage and in the event that we have to go to an "odd /even" plate implementation, the Civil Defense is requesting permission to have ID cards printed up. The request is -for 6,000 cards at a cost of $6 The Town Manager read the monthly police report detailing arrest, warnings, etc. during the month. The changes as mentioned last week on the postage machine have been made, the postage machine is wheeled out i-to the back room and mail ran off once a day. -5- BOARD OF SELECTMEN /LIGHT COMMISSIONERS Minutes of the Meeting May 23, 1979 Page 6 The status of the monument at the South Common is that work will begin this week, the delay has been caused by all the rain. The DPW is working on various berms preparing for the oiling program. The granite bounds have been placed on the Fisher Richardson property this past week. Board Reports Selectman DeLong asked the Town Manager if he spoke to Town Counsel regard- ing the contract on the computer , and he noted that he asked him to come in and look it over. Selectman DeLong also remarked on the motion that was made at the Town Meeting regarding salaries for the Assessors. Selectman DeLong wants to know if this affects the present ones and would like Town Counsel's ruling to see if we can change the status of the present assessors. Selectman DeLong also noted that beginning July 1, he would like to see a monthly report on the budget of any item that may be going over, especially in the overtime account, to prevent having to cut down so suddenly as we have had to do. Also the gas usage especially with police and fire and find out if all the runs are necessary and critical so that if the police department is running over their budgetwe will have to cut down on the runs. Selectman DeLong noted that budget making is policy making. The Town Manager noted that all departments have been alerted to check their budgets. Selectman DeLong noted that the Governor came on T.V. tonightand asked the Towns to institute some type of conservation program and would like to see the Town Manager come up with some sort of proposal for energy conservation before July 1 and to also involve the Town Planner. Selectman Caponigro noted that the Governor should clean up the state first, and told of seeing lights on at 3:30 in the afternoon on 495. Selectman Mahana noted that he wanted to asked Mr. Zgonis tonight what he thought about having a water wheel installed out back in the Rumford River to generate power, probably enough to handle the Town Hall. Selectman DeLong feels that it would be more costly to do this than it is now to generate power. Selectman Caponigro noted that we could put a grant in for this. Selectman Mahana noted that he would like to send a letter to the Governor asking him to fully fund commuter rail service, seconded by Selectman * Caponigro. Voted 5 -0. Selectman DeLong feels that it should also be sent to the committee chairman of the commuter rail service. Selectman Mahana noted that since we are now over the Town Meeting and the "rebate" question, he would like to see the Board send a ;letter of appreciation to the employees of the Town Hall for their patience, help and understanding during this period and their handling of the problem. Motion by Selectman * Mahana, seconded by Selectman Caponigro. Voted 5 -0. BOARD OF SELECTMEN /LIGHT COMMISSIONERS Minutes of the Meeting May 23, 1979 Page 7 Selectman Mahana noted that he feels civic organizations in Town should check with the Board before putting up any signs. The Town Manager noted that he will instruct the building inspector to follow through on this. Selectman Mahan asked what the status was on the lights at 106 and Franklin Street, and was told that the work is suppose to be done before the end of this month. It was noted that the DPW has started work up in that area, cut- ting back curbings. Selectman Caponigro noted that he hopes the Board is insistant on seeing the recap sheet before it goes into Boston to have the tax rate set. He does not want to read in the paper that the tax rate has been set and no one has seenthe figures. The Town Manager assured him that all precautions have been taken and that this sheet will be seen by at least 6 different groups before it is sent. Selectman Caponigro would like to see the commons looking good over the week- ends, especially the one in West Mansfield because of the crowds and people that frequent the Country Store. He would like to see have the Tom Manager check with Ted Robinson to see if the work can be rescheduled so that the commons are cut the latter part of the week, and he also noted that he hopes that the commons will be cut for Memorial Day. A request was noted by Selectman Avery that the Conservation Commission would like to meet with the Board on May 30 in Executive Session. Selectman DeLong noted that he will agree to go into Executive Session if the Town Manager is told the exact reason for it and then checks it out with Town Counsel for his opinion as to whether or not this can be done. Selectman Avery noted that he received a call from the Municipal Building Committee who were agast at the stand the Board took on the article submitted for the third Special . They noted that they came away from the meeting they had with the Town Manager and the different departments that the Board was going to support the article, (this is in reference to the proposed maintenance /storage building for town vehicles). The Town Manager informed Selectman Avery what he understood as a result of the meeting he had with them and that at that time the Parks /Commons did not want to be involved in it. There still is not enough information, and no design for the building only a list of materials from each of the departments that would be stored. Selectman Avery suggest that because he feels there is a need for a storage building that the Town Manager of or the Board direct the Town Manager to meet with the Municipal Building Committee and all the departments involved and spend sometime on this for the next meeting when called. Selectman Avery would like as a result of this meeting that the Board be informed of whatever concrete information they have arrived at. Selectman Caponigro would like the cost of what it now cost in maintenance re- pairs orther than the highway on all departments involved because we now only have two mechanics and will probably have to hire more. l Selectman Mahana noted that he felt the time was too little for the Board to make a decision on this before the Special was held. Selectman DeLong noted that he wojld like the plans before thaey are set in concrete, a preliminary proposal to see what they are going to do. -7- BOARD OF SELECTMEN /LIGHT COMMISSIONERS Minutes of the Meeting May 23, 1979 Page 8 Selectman Mahananoted that he would like a list of people who would like to volunteer their services to the Town such as, plumbers, carpenters, elec- tricians or engineers, etc. Selectman Avery reported on the meeting that was held today with Camp, Dresser & McKee and Taunton Town officials on the Wastewater Treatment Plant. He noted that Taunton raised a very serious question regarding the problem with odor, and waste material was passed around in !which the comment was made that it's not as bad as their's. Camp, Dresser & McKee noted that they would He happy to meet with Taunton's Council if this is agreeable with Mansfield. Selectman Avery questioned the Town Manager on the Emergency Preparation Plans and what the status is on each of the departments.. The Town Manager noted that each department is submitting annexs and a meeting will be held on June 4 to finalize everything. A preliminary draft will be ready soon. Selectman Avery asked if the area around Fruit Street where the children board the school bus had been checked out and Joanne Colella who was in the audience and on the School Committee noted that this area was checked out and that the children board the bus around the corner on Fruit Street standing in a driveway while they wait for !it. Selectman Avery asked the Town Manager who is responsible for the underpasses, and Mr. Metropulos said that we were. Selectman Avery said that the underpa% on Route 140 has piles of debris piled up against the walls. The Town Manager will look into it. Selectman AVery moved that the Board go into Executive Session to discuss labor negotiations, the Board was polled: DeLong, yes; Colella, yes; Avery, yes; Mahana, yes and Caponigro yes. The Board will not return to Open Session.