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HomeMy WebLinkAboutmin brd of selectmen 01182006 Present: Town of Mansfield Board of Selectmen Minutes of January 18,2006 l:LO Chairman Roger Achille, Vice Chairman Bernard DbtatS ~,l~tHiQ~"f!4 MFCarter, Selectman Louis Amoruso and Selectman Michael McCue Town Manager John D' Agostino r; " (' ~_ t :\ 9: II The Board of Selectmen's meeting was called to order at 7:30 p.m., followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. Mr. Achille asked Mr. Richard Feeley from the Municipal Building Committee to come forward. He noted that Mr. Feeley has completed thirteen years on the MBC. Mr. Feeley noted that he worked on almost every building in the Town of Mansfield. Mr. McCue thanked Mr. Feeley for his hard work and noted that the Town will miss his service. Mr. Amoruso also thanked Mr. Feeley for his service and his dedication and dependability. Mr. Dolan echoed the sentiments of the members of the Board. Mr. McCarter noted that he got to know Mr. Feeley over the years and he hopes that Mr. Feeley is taking a break and hopes he will return to public service. Mr. Feeley wanted to publicly thank his fellow Committee members and Eleanor McCarter. Mr. D'Agostino noted that Mr. Feeley worked tirelessly and has looked out in the best interest of the r town. He added that Mr. Feeley and the MBC members should be proud and they have left an indelible mark on the Town. Mr. Achille presented Mr. Feeley with a plaque. Mr. Liddick thanked Mr. Feeley for his service and presented him with a picture of the Committee. Items discussed at the meeting included: . Financial Statements for November 2005 . Termination ofCalpine Energy Services Contract . Residential Conversion Services & Appliance Rebate Program for 2005 . MMED Reliability Indices Results for 2005 The Board of Selectmen reconvened at 8:35pm, at the conclusion of the Light Commissioners Meeting. ".- Board of Selectmen Minutes of January 18, 2006 r · Decision from the Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission regarding Touma Inc. and corresponding letter from Town Counsel. ACTION (Board needs to decide whether or not to appeal the decision of the ABCC to the Superior Court - appeal must be filed by January 2r~ Mr. Dolan questioned why the Board needs to appeal the decision. Mr. Achille noted that the ABCC remanded the decision to the Board of Selectmen. Mr. Amoruso noted that the Commission disapproved the decision of the Board. Mr. Achille questioned whether or not an appeal to the Superior Court is even needed. Mr. McCarter read a portion of the decision. Motion: To grant license (McCarter - Dolan) for discussion Mr. Dolan feels that the ABCC doesn't have the authority to tell the licensing authority how to handle licenses. Mr. Achille said that he will entertain a discussion of granting the license until a motion is made otherwise. Mr. McCarter said that he looks at the ABCC as an Appellate Court and he doesn't feel that the ABCC is telling the Board what to do. Mr. Amoruso noted that the original decision was made by the Board as to whether or not there was a need for two facilities in close proximity and that the convenience store is frequented by underage individuals. He doesn't feel that it has anything to do with competition. He questioned the need for two stores so close on the edge of town and not in the center of town. This was his issue then and his issue now. r Mr. Dolan noted that we are allowed a certain number by the ABCC based on the census. Mr. Amoruso said that the decision did not note that this issue should go back to a five-member board. Mr. McCue said that based on the decision, it transcends the granting ofthe license. He noted that his opinion has not changed. Mr. Achille noted that he watched the video and read the minutes and feels that the applicant can handle and will vote in favor of this motion. Vote: 3-2 Passes (with Mr. Amoruso and Mr. McCue voting in the negative) Mr. McCue said that he was surprised that the applicant's attorney did not ask for the hearing to be continued when they saw that there were only four members. . Appointment to the Recreation Commission (for a three-year term ending January 1,2009): o Kevin Kemp, 15 Sawmill Court o Rosemarie Bryant, 14 Shiloh Drive (Board interviewed both candidates at the January 4, 2006 meeting) Motion: To appoint Kevin Kemp (Dolan) Vote: 3-2 Passes (with Messrs. McCue, Achille & Dolan voting in the negative) Motion: To appoint Rosemarie Bryant (McCarter) ".- Board of Selectmen Minutes of January 18, 2006 2 r Motion: To send letter to the ABCC regarding this issue (Dolan - McCue) Board members discussed the issue of whether or not the ABCC overstepped the authority of the local licensing authority. Vote: 3-2 Passes (Messrs. Achille & McCarter opposed) The Board took a one-minute recess, whereby Mr. McCue left the meeting. Board reconvened at 9: 11 pm Motion: To open the public hearing and continue until after the water conservation program discussion (Amoruso - Dolan) 4-0 Passes Mr. D'Agostino informed the Board that this plan has not been reviewed by staff or the Town's consultant. The group will go back and will work with staff on this proposal and return to the Board. Mr. Achille noted that this is not the final project. Lou Masiello of W IS Development, the developer for Mansfield Crossing and David White of ESS Group, were present for the discussion. Mr. Masiello wanted to give the Board an understanding of the project and offer some background. The project as currently proposed totals just fewer than 400,000 square feet of retail shopping center space. It includes significant r restaurant space as well. The project gravitated to an upscale facility and smaller size stores. The Planning Board process was about two years, and quite a bit of mitigation took place. He discussed community benefits with respect to this project. Mr. Masiello said that $4-5 million of public infrastructure improvements will be paid with private funds, including sanitary sewer system, roadway improvements ($1 million in roadway; $2 million in sewer improvements). He is proud to be bringing employment opportunities to the Town of Mansfield, approximately 1,200 new jobs. With respect to common area maintenance (snowplowing, landscaping, cleaning), WIS Development has a policy of relying heavily on local vendors. After the expenses of the town, there is a net positive effect of $700,000 a year. ESS Group filed a Water Conservation Policy application a year ago. At the time, they were working under the current water conservation policy. Ultimately, that application went nowhere. Staff told them that a leak detection program was "missing the mark." ESS Group has a series of other water savings measures and would like to begin a dialogue with the Board and/or staff. Mr. Dolan asked if private security will be used, as this project will generate more calls. Mr. Masiello said that they used the estimates that were created by the discussions of staff and the consultant hired by the town and that private security will be used. The Planning Board said in the permit that emergency call boxes must be installed and that the security program must be reviewed every year with Police and Fire. He discussed the controlling of signals for the Fire Department. ".- Board of Selectmen Minutes of January 18, 2006 3 (' Mr. Amoruso said that a discussion took place regarding withdrawal permits at the MMA Conference and noted that we would have to work with our third party consultants on this issue. Mr. Amoruso brought up the issue of outdoor watering. Mr. Masiello said that there is an irrigation system planned that will draw water from the pond and not from the municipal system. Mr. McCarter questioned if the restaurants will be the highest users and Mr. Masiello said that they anticipated that the restaurants will be 60% of the usage. Mr. D'Agostino said that reclaimed water could be an issue in the future ifthe Town needs to pipe the water. Mr. McCarter asked if any prospective tenants will be selling landscaping materials. Mr. Masiello said that there aren't any businesses such as that going in. Mr. Amoruso and Mr. D'Agostino suggested the discussion in mitigation of piping effluent water for public restrooms. Mr. Masiello said that they will look at doing "double plumbing", but there is a cost associated with that. Mr. Masiello added that the fixtures used will be low-flow sinks and toilets. Mr. Achille thanked Mr. Masiello for coming in and discussing the program. Mr. D'Agostino encouraged Mr. Masiello to present this program to staff and Woodard & Curran. Mr. Masiello said that there is a permit under appeal - all three Zoning Board variances and the process could take up to two years. Mr. Masiello noted that his attorneys said that important decisions could be coming in 3-4 months. Motion: Re-open the Comcast Right of Way Public Hearing (Amoruso - Dolan) 4-0 Passes r Mr. McCarter read the public hearing notice from The Sun Chronicle. Dave Flewelling of Comcast was present. Mr. D'Agostino said that this has undergone a utility review meeting and the recommendation of the group was to approve. Mr. McCarter asked how long this will take and Mr. Flewelling said that it depends on when the permit is issued, but it could take a couple of days. Mr. Amoruso stated that this project will go past his business. Mr. Flewelling said that it would be minimal impact. Seeing no public comment, there was a Motion: To close the public hearing (Amoruso - Dolan) 4-0 Passes Motion: To approve the application provided by Comcast to locate or extend a utility in the Town Right of Way for underground cable and conduit in Francis Avenue as shown in the plan provided (Amoruso - Dolan) 4-0 Passes (' Board of Selectmen Minutes of January 18, 2006 4 r The Town Manager reported the following: . The Town will be sponsoring a public meeting, called a design charatte, to have residents sit down at the meeting to assist with the master design plan for the train station area redevelopment, also knows as the TOD project. The workshop will take place on Monday, January 30th at 7:00pm at Town Hall. Notification is posted on the web site and the cable scroll. A similar meeting was held for the development of the Train Station and that meeting was quite successful. Constructive input is needed from the residents, commuters, business owners and the landowners to make this work. . He is hosting a Senior Coffee Hour this Thursday at !0:00am at the COA. Nancy Hinote from the Assessors Office will be present to discuss abatements, exemptions and the senior work write-off program. . Provided a copy of the Bluestone Report to each member of the Board, which was released at the MMA Conference this past weekend. The report was commissioned by the MMA to evaluate the condition of cities and towns and to determine the need for additional state aid. Mr. D'Agostino highlighted findings ofthe Report, including the need to diversify revenue by permitting cities and towns to obtain a percentage of the income tax and not to solely rely upon property taxes to fund the local delivery of services; the exodus of families and young professionals between the ages of25 and 40 (those who are prime to contribute toward the older workers retirement) from Massachusetts; and the need for affordable housing. He r noted that Massachusetts is the most expensive state to live in. He is requesting copies of the Report for the School Committee and the Finance Committee. . The Massachusetts Housing Partnership will be holding an "Affordable Housing Partnership Seminar" on January 27th at Mansfield Town Hall. Mr. D'Agostino will be providing opening remarks. The event is being held on a Friday and will run the entire day. While Town Hall is closed on Friday afternoons, the building will be open for the participants only. . The Governor's budget numbers are preliminary and were provided by Rep. Betty Poirier. We believe there is an additional $330,345 in additional state aid. We do not have the Chapter 70 figures yet and noted that the Governor is restoring lottery aid to 100% or a little more than $2 million to Mansfield from $1.7 million last year. The Governor is recommending "additional assistance" aid at $761,000, up from last year. The total municipal aid amount outside of Chapter 70 is up from $2,487,214 to $2,817,559. The Governor's budget numbers are not final and we will continue to monitor the state aid numbers and periodically report back to the Board. . Prepared a request for the Board to renew the Town Manager's employment contract and read the request. ".- Board of Selectmen Minutes of January 18, 2006R 5 r . Revote of Warrant No. 28 in the amount of $625,897.20 Motion: To approve (Amoruso - Dolan) 4-0 Passes (with Mr. McCarter abstaining from check # 350085) . Warrant No. 29 in the amount of$4,815,610.52 Motion: To approve (Amoruso - Dolan) 4-0 Passes (with Mr. McCarter abstaining from check # 350200) . Warrant No. 30 in the amount of$2,018,053.29 Motion: To approve (Dolan - Amoruso) 4-0 Passes (with Mr. McCarter abstaining from check # 350321) . Regular Session Minutes of January 4,2006 Selectmen's Meeting Motion: To approve Amoruso - Dolan 3-0-1 Passes (with Mr. Achille abstaining) . One-Day Beer & Wine License for the Tri-County Beagle Club's Annual Game Dinner, which is scheduled for Sunday, February 19th from Ipm-8pm (Routing slips and documentation are in order) Motion: To approve (Dolan - Amoruso) 4-0 Passes r . Water Installers License for Riccio Builders & Developers, P.O. Box 807, Mansfield (All documentation is in order and the Water Operations Manager is recommending approval) Motion: To approve (Dolan - McCarter) 4-0 Passes Board asked for clarification on what the difference is between a water installer's license and a drainlayer's license. . Reappointment ofD. Marie Smith, 267 So. Main Street, Mansfield, to the position of Constable for a three-year term ending January 1,2009 Motion: To approve (Amoruso - Dolan) 4-0 Passes . Sign the warrant for the Special State Election to fill the vacancy for Representative in the General Court for the First Bristol District Motion: To sign (Amoruso - Dolan) 4-0 Passes ".- Board of Selectmen Minutes of January 18, 2006 6 (' . Letter from the Office of Town Counsel regarding the Mansfield Youth Soccer Agreement. Motion: To sign (Amoruso - Dolan) 4-0 Passes . Letter from a resident asking the Board to publicly thank the Mansfield Emergency Management Agency and its volunteers for their continued hard work. Mr. McCarter read the letter from the resident, Shayna Goldberg. Mr. McCarter noted that the Board echoes her sentiments. . Letter from the Department of Housing & Community Development regarding the FY06 Action Plan Drafts. . Copy of letter from COA Director Gale Farrugia regarding the next Lunch Bunch program on Friday, February 3rd at 11 :30am. SRPEDD has been invited and speak to the seniors on issues related to transportation in the Mansfield area. . Copy of second certified letter sent to the Village at Willow Crossings regarding the expiration of their 2005 Common Victualler license. Board members discussed how to handle this situation and Mr. D'Agostino said that he will speak with the management. r . Letter from Police Chief Arthur O'Neill regarding a follow-up to his letter of December 20th concerning Catman Cafe. . Memo from Town Manager John D' Agostino regarding the Campbell Street conveyance from the state to the Town of Mansfield. Mr. D'Agostino said that Town Counsel is scheduled to close on the property on February 7th. He noted that the Trust Fund legislation was signed into law and that the legislation regarding the Housing Corporation was sent back to the Legislature by the Governor for changes, as public funds cannot be given to a privatelreligious non-profit. . Copy of a memo from Town Engineer John Sullivan regarding a request for determination of applicability for a sewer extension at 91 Branch Street. . Email from a resident regarding the dog license process. Mr. McCarter noted that Mr. D'Agostino met with the resident. Mr. D'Agostino said that some of the suggestions could be implemented. He noted that more dogs were going unlicensed in the Town of Mansfield and something had to be done. . Letter from the Animal Welfare Committee in response to the Board's request as to the circumstances surrounding the writing of a "Letter to the Editor." The letter written to the newspaper was not representing the A WC; it was the members' personal opinion. There was no official meeting held by the A WC, they apologize for the misunderstanding and it was an oversight not to include the word "members" on the letter to the newspaper. ".- Board of Selectmen Minutes ofJanuary 18,2006 7 ".- . Letter from the Department of Conservation and Recreation regarding proposed changes to state regulations that address Areas of Environmental Concern (ACECs). . Letter from the Department of Conservation and Recreation regarding Dam Safety Regulations and Registration. Information was forwarded to the Town Engineer. Mr. Amoruso: Attended a cable television seminar at the MMA Conference and noted that some changes could be coming that would allow competition for cable. He is looking forward to speaking to the Cable Access Corporation on this issue. He also attended a seminar on the Mass. Water Authority and discussed potential restrictions with respect to withdrawal. Mr. Dolan: Attended seminars regarding the open meeting law and the disclosure of public records. He will be meeting with the Town Manager on this issue. r Mr. McCarter: . Welcomed back Cable Access cameraman Martin Swartz after a fourteen-month absence. . Asked if the Town Accountant has made a determination on how to handle the Deutsche Bank money. Mr. D'Agostino said that he is waiting to hear backfrom the Town Accountant. . He will likely recuse himself from the Catman Cafe hearing due to his friendship with the owner, but he will make that determination soon. Mr. Achille: The Selectmen will be holding office hours on Wednesday, February 1 st from 7:00pm to 8:00pm. Office hours were designed to make residents more comfortable to bring issues to the Board. It was designed to encourage people to come in. It was a good faith experiment. The results were encouraging after the first two and some concerns were raised. At the next office hours, two selectmen will be present - no town business will be done; it will be an avenue to discuss issues, ask questions with Selectmen. Mr. Dolan said that the attorneys who were at the seminar at the MMA Conference gave praise to Mr. Achille for the idea of office hours; the appearance may have been there, and they suggested have two members at a time. (' Board of Selectmen Minutes of January 18,2006 8 (' (' (' Motion: To adjourn at 11 :OOpm (Amoruso) 4-0 Passes /J~~cY 23~~ ~~1T~~ I:~ ( 2~~~ Date of Approval Signature of Clerk Board of Selectmen Minutes of January 18, 2006 9 . .