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HomeMy WebLinkAboutBOS MINUTES 1-21-1976BOARD OF SELECTMEN A G E N D A January 21, 1976 o 7:30 p.m. - Treasurer's Warrant Minutes of the Previous Meeting Clerk's Folder Correspondence ® Peter Picciandra re Kennel License • James Hall, Light Director • 7:45 p.m. - Sue Adams re Girl Scout Fund Raising Event ® 8:00 p.m. - Mrs. Henderson • 8:15 p.m. - Richard Silva re Fowler Street • 8:30 P.M. - Community Development Hearing on Pre - application for Back Bay Brook Project ® 9:00 p.m. - Youth Council • Board Reports: West Street Dog Complaint Church Street ( ?) ® Toc-m Manager's Report: Police Department Audit Report BOARD OF SELECTMEN Minutes of the Meeting January 21, 1976 Present; Selectmen DeLong, Colella, Caponigro, Levine, and Titus; Town Manager Dennis A. Hannon Meeting opened at 7 :30 p.m. Selectman DeLong moved that the warrant be approved in the amount of $350,363.20. Seconded by Selectman Colella, voted 4 -0 (Selectman Titus not present for vote). Selectman.Colella moved that the entire paragraph on Page 4, second to last paragraph, be stricken from the January 14 minutes. ,Selectman Levine moved that the minutes be accepted with the change. Seconded by Selectman Colella, voted 4 -0 (Selectman Titus not present for the vote). Mr. William Flannery, representative of the Mansfield Jaycees, met with the Board. Selectman Levine read a proclamation naming January 18 -24 Jaycee Week. He then moved that the Selectmen pass this resolution. Seconded by Selectman Colella, voted 4 -0 (Selectman Titus not present for the vote). The Board discussed a license application for a kennel license for Peter Picciandra. John Gross questioned the Boar'd's authority in holding up any kennel. license. The Chairman answered that the Board has no legal authority, but was reviewing this in the .interest of the town's general health and wel- fare. There was further discussion, and Selectman Levine moved that the Board recommend to the Town Clerk that the license be issued to Mr. Picciandra for 4 dogs or less as requested. Seconded by Selectman DeLong, voted 4 -0 (Selectman Titus not present for vote). Sue Adams, representing the Girl Scouts, met with the Board to ask permission to send a letter asking for donations, There was discussion, and Selectman Levine moved that permission be granted. Seconded by Selectman Colella, voted 4 -0 (Selectman Titus not present for the vote). Fire Chief Bellavance met with the Board to discuss costs for ambulance re- pair. The Board discussed with the Chief and Town Manager repairs costs versus possible rental. After discussion, Selectman Levine moved that the Board of Selectmen authorize! the Town Manager and Fire Chief to repair 'Ehe existing ambulance using funds from the insurance company, and that the Town should not spend any more than the amount deductible. Selectman Titus seconded the motion, and it was voted 5 -0. The Chairman informed the Board that the Town Engineer and the Water Division had found an old line on Fruit Street near Mr. Goulet's property. There was discussion, and Selectman DeLong moved that Mr. Goulet be informed that the line had been found about 200' from his property, and that if he wanted to tie into this old water line, he could do so at his own risk. Seconded by Select- man Levine, so voted. Correspondence was read. This included a letter from Priscilla Douglas re- questing the use of the Town road map for her real estate business. She asked if she could use the or?ginal at the printers, adding her firm's name. The Town Manager said that since the'Town had borne the expense for the work in the first place, he would recommend passing along part of that chaaage. (1 BOARD OF SELECTMEN Minutes of the Meeting January 21, 1976 Page 2 There was further discussion, then Selectman Titus moved that the request be granted, at her :o4m expense. Seconded >:by Selectman Colella. Vote re- corded as 3 - 2, with Selectmen DeLong and'Levine opposed. (Selectman Titus had left room before vote, and the Chairman directed that the vote for Mr. Titus be recorded as in favor, as he had made the motion.) Letter of resignation received from John Crescetelli from,.the Board of Ap- peals. Selectman Levine asked that the Board wait one week before accept- ing this resignation. The Board again discussed extending.Fowler Street. Anna Prodhousky, another resident of Fowler Street, also reviewed with the Board a topo map with the developers. After discussion, Selectman Titus moved that this be approved by the Selectmen and forwarded to the Planning Board. Selectman Levine se- conded the motion, and the Chairman took the vote - 5 -0. Mr. Caponigro added that a letter should be sent to the,Planning Board recommending a 26' gravel road bed, 6 -inch water main with a hydrant at the end of the line. Reply from the Town Counsel regarding publication of names of births and deaths and marriages in the Annual Report. Mr. Grady: opined that a summary of such could be published. The Town Manager asked the Board to consider the publication of the summary in order to save on printing costs. After discussion, the Board's consensus was to. .continue publishing all the names as in the past. At 8:30 p.m, there was a hearing on the Pre - application for the Community Development project to improve Back Bay Brook area. The Town Manager out- lined the area on a map for the citizens, and discussed plans done earlier of the area - Whitman & Howard's plan in the early 1960's and Camp Dresser and McKee plan in the 1970's. Mr. Hannon discussed the $55,000 in grants already given to the Town, a portion of which might have to be paid back if the Community Development money is received. The Town Manager said that the grant would be for drainage improvements in the Back Bay Brook area, but that it would be up to the Board of Selectmen how to spend the money - whether to make improvements to street drainage or to make improvements to the Brook it- self. Mr. Hannon answered questions from Delores Benson and Joseph LaMarre, both residents of Pleasant Street. The second public hearing on this will be held on February 4. Members of the Youth Council met with the Board. Jay Creeden asked that the Board consider extending the Council into a permanent committee by means of an article in the Annual Town Meeting. He said that the terms run out then, and the appointments were not made until December 15, and the Council did not have very much time to get together a study and recommendations: After discussion, Selectman Levine moved that the Council be directed to proceed with theii wank and that the Board of Selectmen would insert an article to extend the Council for one year. Selectman DeLong pointed out that the ap- pointments had not been made because there were not enough applicants interested in the Youth Council. There was further discussion, and Selectman Titus moved that the Board of Selectmen endorse the Youth Council and that the Board will insert an article at the Annual Town Meeting in support of the Council. The (2) BOARD OF SELECTMEN Minutes (f the Meeting January 21, 1976 Page 3 motion was seconded by Selectman Colella, and voted 4 -1. Selectman Levine stated that he had no objection to supporting the Council, but would rather wait until the final report of the Council was ready. The Chairman asked the Board members if they wanted to discuss the reappoint- ment of the Town Manager. Selectman DeLong moved that Dennis A. Hannon be reappointed to a 3 -year term. He commented that Mr. Hannon was doing an ex- cellent and outstanding job. Selectman Levine seconded the motion. The Chairman asked if the Board wanted to go into Executive Session to discuss the matter. Selectman Colella moved that the Board go into Executive Session. Selectman Titus seconded the motion. The vote was 5 -0. The Chairman stated that under the new open meeting law, he would feel justified calling the Execu- tive Session under Chapter 238, Section 1. Stating that they would return to open session, the Board asked Mr. Hannon if he would want the discussion heldd in open session. Mr. Hannon said that he would.follow the wish of the Board. The Board went into Executive Session at 9:10 p.m. At 10:05 p.m. the Board returned to Open Session, and the vote was taken: 5 -0. The term will go from March 1, 1976 until March 1, 1979• The Town Manager reported on the prolonged pumping tests being done by the Sullivan Drilling Company. Mr. Hannon presented to the Board of Selectmen his findings and conclusions regarding the audit of the Police Department payroll and log records. He re- viewed the events and meetings leading up to the audit, Mr. Hannon stated that some of the conclusions reached were: that Sgt. Sliney was apparently using compensation time off (on an hour -for -hour basis) rather than being paid the overtime wage rate as called for in the Tovnl -Union contract, and that this was being done with the direct or implicit approval of the Chief; some of the earned, unused vacation days had been carried over from yeas to year; that he was satis£ieUthere had been no tampering with the records; that alterations or corrections in the daily log should be initialed to show authorization; that the Chief did not have a subsidiary record to validate the Sgt.'s index card record, which could not be reconciled with the payroll records; that the Mass. Police Institute has been asked to do a study and make recommenda- tions on record keeping and operations; that all supervisory sergeants will report directly to the Chief and be responsible to him only; work areas had been reassigned. Mr. Hannon noted that he felt the report from the Arthur Young Company showed no evidence of fraudulent intent. The Town Manager con- cluded that the record keeping was "sloppy ", but found no wholesale mismanage - ment, and that there was no evidence of a cover -up. He said that as.an ad- mistrative personnel action, a letter of censure would be presented to both Sergeant Sliney and Chief D'Afile. Selectman DeLong stated that he agreed with and accepted the report, that the report states the case accurately. and that he agreed with the conlusions. Selectman Colella stated he had no comments to make. (3) BOARD OF SELECTMEN Minutes of the Meeting January 21, 1976 Page 4 Selectman Levine commented that there have been "undercurrents" about the Police Department for years, and that the Patrolmen's association had enough confidence in the Board of Selectmen and the Town Manager to once and for all bring the matter to the surface. He cited from the Town Manager's report that one of the problems is getting the morale of the Department back to nor- mal. Mr. Levine said that with the quality of the men, both new members and men who have been with the Department for a number of years is such that this could be one of the best Departments in the Commonwealth, and that the Board of Selectmen would work with the Department to help this be accomplished. Selectman Colella then stated that he could not acdept the report, that there was still a bad morale problem. He stated that the report was not to the best of his satisfaction. Selectman Titus said that he would accept the report,although he did not particularly agree with some of the conclusions. Chairman Caponigro said that he accepted the report, although he would have written it a little differently. Sergeant Sliney said that there was no• question that the :force would work together. The Board agreed to release the report of the Town Manager, but not to release the letter of censure at this time. Selectman Levine reminded the Board of the Bristol County Selectmen's Associa- tion meeting on Thursday night. Chairman Caponigro stated that he would be out of town for the next three weeks, and that Vice Chairman Titus would preside over the meetings. Motion to adjourn at 10:43 p.m. by Selectman DeLong, seconded by Selectman Colella, so voted. (4)