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HomeMy WebLinkAboutBOS MINUTES 11-7-1979BOARD OF SELECTMEN /LIGHT COMMISSIONERS UNARMILM., November 7, 1979 7:00 p.m. - Meeting opens 7:30 p.m. - Regular Business Warrant Minutes, October 31, 1979 Clerk's Folder Two names to be chosen for jury duty 7:45 p.m. - Malcolm Post - Bristol Arms Apartments (Individual Metering) Department Heads to meet with Board on Annual Budget Town Manager's Report Board's Report Signing of Proclamation for EMS Week November 12 through 18, 1979 PENDING ITEMS Traffic Lights at 140 & Forbes Water Rates Foxboro Mall Traffic Pattern Railroad Station Parking Downtown Traffic Pattern Recreational Facility BOARD OF SELECTMEN /LIGHT COMMISSIONERS Minutes of the Meeting November 7, 1979 Present: Selectman Robert M. DeLong, Frank Colella, Norman Mahana and Antonino Caponigro, Jr. Town Manager William P. Metropulos. Selectman Lyman C. Avery is on vacation. The meeting was called to order at 7:25 p.m. Selectman Caponigro moved that Selectman Mahana be Acting Chairman and Clerk, * seconded by Selectman DeLong. Voted 4 -0. A warrant in the amount of $391,689.19 was read. This was approved on a motion by * Selectman Caponigro, seconded by Selectman DeLong. Voted 4 -0. A Revenue Sharing warrant in the amount of $183.77 was read. This was approved on * a motion by Selectman DeLong, seconded by Selectman Caponigro. Voted 4 -0. The minutes of October 31, 1979 were noted. They were approved on a motion by * Selectman DeLong, seconded by Selectman Caponigro. Voted 4 -0. Clerk's Folder Jurors- Selectman picked the names of three jurors for jury duty. Cristine C. Pfeil - Rhonda L. Perry - Jeanette Travis 14 Coach Road 421 Gilbert Street 18 Bonney Lane Correspondence The weekly report from the police department was noted and no report of disturbances in any of the local liquor establishments was reported. Correspondence was noted from Self -Help, INc. with a report of the number of direct services and dollar outlays per program, per community served by Self Help, Inc. A bill was noted from Attorney Bradford Johnson for his time spent on the Victory Realty, Inc. vs. theTown of Mansfield case. Selectman Mahana noted that he would like to make a comment on the various suits against the Town. He would like to have the Town recoup what it cost them for legal expenses in cases that the town wins. This will be checked out with the Town Counsel to see what procedure is taken. A letter was read from the County Commissioners of Bristol County requesting that we advise them who the person will be to represent our Town on the 1980 Bristol County Advisory Board. Selectman DeLong moved Selectman Mahana. No Second. Selectman DeLong moved that the Town Manager be our representative, seconded by * Selectman Caponigro. Voted 4 -0. Application for a sewer connection permit was noted from Carmen Cardinute of 18 Highland Ave.. Approval was given on a motion by Selectman Caponigro, seconded by * Selectman Caponigro. Voted 4 -0. A letter from a resident, Barbara Jones, Ware Street was read complaining about night flights at the airport and the dangers with them. She would like to know if the Board can do anything about having them stopped. Bristol. Arms Apartments - Mr. Malcolm Post, President of Bristol Arms met with the Board to discuss individual metering for Bristol Arms. -1- BOARD OF SELECTMEN /LIGHT COMMISSIONERS Minutes of the Meeting November 7, 1979 Page 2 Mr. Post noted that one of the reasons for wanting to change to individual metering is to allow each tenant to pay their own utility and prevent the misuse of electricity by some tenants which in turn is passed onto other tenants via rent increases. Mr. Post noted that when electricty and other utilities are included in the rent people tend to be very wasteful, leaving heat and air - conditioning on when no one is home. The change over will not occur until a lease has expired and the tenant will be given the choice of individual metering or having his utilities included in the rent. Selectman DeLong asked Mr. Post how much he would be willing to contribute toward the cost of the change over and the meters. Mr. Post noted that he has talked this over with Mr. Hall, light director and he would be willing to share the cost of the meters 50% and he would also have to pay for the electrician. Mr. Post was then asked if he would be willing to assume the responsibility of col- lecting the "guarantee deposits" from each tenant? Mr. Post noted that he sees no problem with this. Selectman Caponigro noted that the Board received a memo on this from Mr. Hall and before a decision could be made they would like to discuss it with him due to the fact that the memo also mentions the need for extra manpower. Select - man DeLong noted however,' -that he agrees 100% with the idea of individual metering. Selectman Mahana noted that he would like to see what advantage this will be for the Town since they would be on a different rate structure. It was decided that Mr. Post would again meet with the Board next week when Mr. Hall could also be present. The following department heads met with the Board to discuss their budget for the next fiscal year: Council -on- Aging, Recreation /Parks & Commons and Fire Department. Police Officers - Vincent Guerrini and Arthur O'Neill were in the audience but not on the agenda. Officer Guerrini spoke up and noted that the reason he was here tonigh was to find out some general information. He noted that the police association informed the Town Manager that they would like to meet with the Board of Selectmen to see if they can sit down and settle the contract. Officer Guerrini also noted that he does not belong to the police association, also that he has not had a raise in two years and wants to know why the Board of Selectmen does not want to meet with them. The Town Manager noted that he would like to answer that and noted that the Town has a negotiating team which they have had since the beginning. An agreement could not be reached between the police and town negotiators so it went before a factfinder. The factfinder'-s decision was rejected by the police and they filed before the Joint Labor Managment Relations Board. The Town Manager noted that the police have been told that the Town is willing to meet with them at any time but has not heard from the. Arthur O'Neill, president of the police association came into the office the other day and wanted to be on the agenda to discuss this with the Selectmen. The Town Manager informed him that this is not proper procedure and circumventing the way it should be done, that he and the town's negotiator is willing to sit down at any time with the police negotiating team. -2- BOARD OF SELECTMEN /LIGHT COMMISSIONERS Minutes of the Meeting November 7, 1979 Page 3 Selectman Mahana noted that he feels if the Board of Selectmen can be a catalyst to settle it he would just as sooido it. He feels that we have used the accepted method of outside negotiations for two years and it has not done any good. Selectman Colella noted that he wanted to bring one certain issue to the table tonight for discussion. This was not favored by the Board. Officer Guerrinl noted that the only reason he brought it up tonight is because he thought they were on the agenda and came here tonight as a taxpayer and employee and feels that it is a waste of money to have the negotiators. He also said that the Tpwn Manager has never made a proposal to them as far as wages. He sees no reason that this cannot be settled like it was two years agowith former Town Manger Dennis Hannon. The Town Manager noted that at the last meeting held with the Board it was decided that they would go 'with the factfinder's decision, this was presented to the police negotiating team and they did not respond to it, instead they filed before the Joint Management Labor Reglations Board. The Town Manager also noted that he feels it is out'of order to discuss this here tonight. Selectman DeLong noted that no way did the Board contribute to the settlement of the fire department's contract as it was mentioned earlier by someone and also 'feels that the Town Manager is correct, he only reflects the board's wishes as to what they hear from our negotiator and we do have the decision from the factfinder. Selectman Colella noted that he would like to have the Board go into Executive Session and Selectman Mahana said no, that he would not do this with the Chairman absent, that it would not be fair. Arthur O'Neill noted that the Town Manager said that a counter offer was never made, and that he (the Town Manager) knows what the request is. Selectman Caponigro noted that this can be discussed with the Town Manager. Selectman Avery is on vacation and not present, had he been told_' that this would be on the agenda he would have made an effort to be here, but he was told that nothing of importance was on the agenda for tonight's.- meeting. The Town Manager will attempt again to get a meeting with the police and town negotiators. Town Manager's Report The Town Manager noted that he received four quotes on engineering services for in- vestigation of a well site at Maple Park. The quotes ranged from $2500 to $4000. Freeman Engineering of Attleboro quoted $2590. and noted that they will be able to start the work now. The Board voted to go with Freeman Engineering the second lowest bidder for $2590. Motion by Selectman Caponigro, seconded by Selectman DELong. * Voted 4 - -0. Gas /Oil Bids - Bids were advertised again, the first time no bids were recieved, this time one bid was received from Carl Oil Corp: for both diesel and regular. A motion was made by Selectman Caponigro, seconded by Selectman Colella. to award the ( bid for diesel and regular fuel to Carl Oil Corp. Voted 4 -0. -3- BOARD OF SELECTMEN /LIGHT COMMISSIONERS Minutes of the Meeting November 7, 1979 Page 4 _Brush Truck Award - The bid for the fire department brush truck was opened on hurs ay, oven er 1, 1979. Three bids were received °ranging from $46,095 to $53,215. A motion was made by Selectman Caponigro to award the bid to the low bidder, Emergency One from Florida for the $46,095. seconded by Selectman Colella. * Voted 4 -0. The Town Manager noted that on October 19th, he and Chad Maurer met with Camp Dresser & McKee on the WWTP project. The discussion was mainly on the filter system and sludge removal. These will be discussed further with the Board at a meeting being scheduled for Tuesday, Nov. 20th at 4:00 p.m. in Boston. On the filtering system the added cost'is the issue, if under $1 million it can be reviewed locally; if over it must be reviewed in Washington, D.C; the sludge removal item is a matter of economics; on site removal is much more economical than off site disposal and transportating of the sludge. The report from the auditors should be in a week from Friday and hopefully a meeting can be scheduled to go over it. No preliminary report has been sent yet. The building construction report for the month of October indicates that as of October 31, the total estimated construction cost is $19,162,180. and for the month of October it was $270,183. The Town Manager noted that he wanted to discuss the hiring of Selectman Coelld for the foreman's job at the highway. After reviewing the material and information and also interviews with Town Counsel, Labor Counsel, DPW Director and Mr. Colella's attorney, Peter O'Brien , he has approved the hiring of Mr. Colella if he agrees with the following conditions: 1) that he resigns as a member of the Board, since case law prohibits board members from holding positions within the system and since there appears to be no exception which would allow a board member to hold an employee position on the basis that a person not participate in board discussion affecting the position. 2) that he will be treated the same as any other employee. 3) that he will be placed on 6 months probation. 4) that he will'be evaluated during this time and if his performance is satisfactory he will be retained; if not he will be terminated. 5) that his employment will be effective November 5 and 6) that he agrees to waive any legal action now or in the future relative to this present situation. Selectman Caponigro asked if there is any way that a man can stay on the board until he fills out his term. The Town Manager answered that there are no exceptions where a board member can hold an employee's position. The Town Manager noted that this decision is taken from another case of conflict of interest in another town. Selectman Caponigro noted that he would like to see if there is any way that Selectman Coella can stay on the board to finish out his term. Selectman Mahana wanted to know if the Town Counsel was aware of this court ruling and the Town Manager noted that he received from Arthur Murphy the town's negotiating team and that the Town Counsel had not seen it, and also that he did not want to be involved with the case. Selectman Caponigro wanted to know what the Town Manager would do if Selectman Colella refuses to resign. The Town Manager noted that he does not think he can put him on. Selectman Colella noted that he wanted to clear something up. The Town Counsel has never represented him as his attorney. Selectman Colella then noted that he would like- to take this under advisement, he feels that he has given the Town 11 years and that he should be able to finish out his term. M BOARD OF SELECTMEN /LIGHT COMMISSIONERS Minutes of the Meeting November 7, 1979 Page 5 The Board then asked for a 10 minute recess to see if the Town Manager could get in toubh with Town Counsel at 10:10 p.m. Theyreconvened at 10:20 and the Town Manager noted that he could not reach Town Counsel and left word with him to call him tomorrow. Selectman Delong then noted his feeling is, at least as he sees it, is that as of tomorrow it is another ballgame and a new application for the position since Select- man Colella has refused it. Selectman Caponigro noted that he feels he has said his piece. Selectman DeLong then noted that it is not the Board's decision anyhow, it is the Town Manager's. Selectman Colella then asked if his lawyer, Peter O'Brien could be heard. Attorney O'Brien noted that he is somewhat surprised at what the Town Manager broughtout on the conflict of interest and he wouldlike to hold this up for anotheh week to check out the case law referred to, he feels that it is not conflict of interest and he can stay on the Board, the case that the Town Manager referred to involved a school department case. Selectman Colella then noted that he has put 11 years of service in with the Town and that he should have the courtesy of filling out his term and not have to resign. Selectman Caponigro then noted to Selectman Colella to remember one thing, no one can force him to resign or kick him off the board. The Town Manager then updated the Board on the ICMA Conference he attended in Phoneix, Arizona. Board Reports Selectman DeLong asked the Town Manager what the status on the water rates is? The Town Manager noted that Arthur Stocktus will be meeting'with him next week and then they will all get together for a meeting the week after . Selectman DeLong noted that he feels that problem with the highway foreman's job could have been avoided if the Board had established a policy relative to the hiring of Selectmen , however, it does not apply to this case, and would like to see the Board establish a policy for the future. A motion was then made by Selectman DeLong that the Board establish a policy that no Selectman is eligible for employ - mentin the Town of Mansfield except the school department within two (2) years after completion of his term of office with the Town. Selectman Mahana passed the gravel and second the motion. Discussion: Selectman Colella noted that he feels a Select- man has the right to work for the town and opposes the motion. Selectman Caponigro noted that he was voting in opposition only because the Chairman is not here tonight but does agree with the principle. The motion failed 2 -2. There being no further business the meeting adjournedat 10:40 p.m. on a motion by Selectman Caponigro, seconded by Selectman DeLong. Voted 4 -0. -5-