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HomeMy WebLinkAboutBOS MINUTES 3-26-1975BOARD OF SELECTMEN March 259 1975 A G E N D A • Treasurer's Warrant • Minutes of the Previous Meeting • Correspondence • Clerk's Folder • 7:45 p.m. -- Jaycees Cleanup Day (Mr. Phil Sheehan) • 8:00 p.m. -- Street Acceptance Hearings (Joint Meeting with the Planning Board • Policy Review • Review Town Manager's Status Report • Set Dates for Bimonthly Meetings and Set Dates and Method of Distribution for Semiannual Report • Department Heads Reports • Town Manager Report Board of Selectmen Minutes of the Meeting March 26, 1975 Present: Vice Chairman Douglas Titus, Clerk Herbert Levine, Frank Colella, Robert DeLong, and Town Manager Dennis Hannon. Chairman Caponigro arrived shortly after the opening of the meeting. Vice Chairman Titus opened the meeting at 7:45 p.m. The Treasurer's Warrant was read in the amount of $229,817.96. Selectman Levine moved that this be approved, which was seconded by Selectman DeLong. Voted 4 - 0. Representative Phil Filosa met with the Board. He congratulated Mansfield on the $1800 Bicentennial grant, and "informed the Board that there would be a hearing at the.Delaney School on Taunton Street in Wrentham, March 31, at 7 :30 p.m, regarding the public power bill sponsored by.Representative Harrington. The Board members discussed this with Representative Filosa. As his contribution to'Mans£ield's Bicentennial Celebration, Representative Filosa presented the Town with a flag that had flown over the State House. The Vice Chairman accepted the flag on behalf of the Tom, and thanked Mr.. Filosa. Other items discussed with Mr. Filosa included: regional sewer question, sponsoring special legislation should the regional sewer project fail to be passed by the three towns. Chairman Caponigro:, arrived during this discussion. Mr. Phil Sheehan of the Jaycees met with the Board and Town Manager to dis- cuss the annual cleanup day. This year it will be on April 26 (rain date, April 27). Clerk of the Board read the correspondence: 3 decisions from the Zoning Board of Appeals (Leon C. Grant, Earl C. Goodwin, and Mansfield Industrial Park Realty Trust); copy of the Town Treasurer's memo to the Town Manager regarding 50% funding of insurance costs for retirees (total $99000); letter from the Board of Health advising the Board of Selectmen that they support the regional sewer program unanimously; copy of Supt. John F. Collins' letter to the FinCom regarding Articles 34 and 35; letter from the London Wax Museum in Boston commending the group of children under the supervision of Mr. Paul Split, Recreation Director; summary of bids received for the South Main Street Water Services; request from the United Methodist Church to use the South Common for a sunrise service on Easter Sunday; Selectman Levine moved that the permission be granted for the request for the use of the Commoryon Easter Sunday. This was seconded by Selectman Titus, and voted 5 -0. From SRPEDD, request that Mansfield certify the appointment of a new mem- ber or reappointment of the former member to the Commission. Selectman Levine moved that the Board send a letter confirming that Allen L. Willis, Jr. was Mansfield representative, and that his term be made concurrent with that of SRPEDD's, to expire March 31, 1976. This was seconded by SelectmatTitus, and voted 5 - 0.,. Also from SRPEDD, notice regarding Annual Awards. Letter,from Senator Robert McCarthy, replying to the Board of_Selctmen's letter to him about bills enacted for cities and towns for State - mandated costs. -1- Board of Selectmen Minutes of the Meeting March 26, 1975 Page 2 From the Bristol County Selectmen's Association, notice of the March 27 meeting. Received from Mr. and Mrs. Gerald Hallett, letter of thanks to the Police and Fire Departments regarding an auto accident their daughter had been in. Letter to the Board of Fire Engineers from the Fire Chief inviting them to join the Mansfield Firefighters for their annual banquet. This will be held on April 12 at 7 :00 P.M. Four Board members will attend with their wives. Letter from Self Help regarding the changing of clusters for the toms. There was discussion regarding the representative from Easton and Mansfield, and the Chairman asked that the Town Manager check with Easton in this regard. Copy of a letter from James W. Storey, Executive Vice President of Codex Corporation, to Thomas C. McMahon, Water Pollution Control Division Director, regarding the state approval for their sewer connection. Letter from the Environmental Protection Agency advising that they had ap- proved another $24,800 for the Mansfield Sewage Treatment Plant. Regarding the minutes of the previous meeting, Selectman Titus stated that on Page 12 fourth paragraph, the vote should read 2 -2 -0 (Selectmen Colella and Caponigro opposed, Selectmen DeLong and Titus for, and Selectman Levine abstaining). He moved that the minutes of March 19 be accepted with that change. This was seconded by Selectman DeLong, and voted 4 - 0. Selectman Levine abstained from the vote, stating that he thought the vote had been recorded correctly the first time. Chairman Caponigro opened the Street Acceptance hearing at 8:20 p.m. and postponed it until later in the meeting. The Board discussed policy decisions. Regarding the annual updating of the Town> Clerk's list from which appointments are made by the Board of Selectmen for Board and Committee positions, Selectman Titus moved that this list be updated once a year, by, the end of November, and that the Town Clerk would do this by contacting the applicants to see if they were still interested in being appointed. This was seconded by Selectman Colella and all Board members were in favor. Regarding the policy on conflict of interest laws, after discussion, Select- man Titus moved that a letter regarding this be sent to all newly- appointed board or committee members. This was seconded by Selectman Cdella, so voted. Regarding attendance of board and committee members, Selectman Titus moved that if a member missed four (4) consecutive meetings, except in cases of sickness or another valid reason, he should be asked to resign. This was seconded by Selectman DeLong, and voted 5 - 0. Regarding the policy on board and committee bylaws being filed with the Town Clerk's office, Selectman Levine asked to check to see how many boards and -9- Board of Selectmen Minutes of the Meeting March 26, 1975 Page 3: committees have ever filed these with the Town Clerk. Regarding the policy set on September 25, 1974, for various license applications, the Board was in agreement to leave the policy as is: the applicant would be asked to appear at the initial hearing for the license. If the applicant was not able to meet, then a letter of explanation or their counsel's appearance would be acceptable. Mr. Van Horn and Mr. Carpenter of United Engineers met with the Board and the Town Manager to discussr. the cost overruns on the engineering contract for the rate study and the cost of service study. They explained that the extra costs were for work done outside the scope of work defined in the con- tract, such as the detailed comparison of Mansfield's electric bills with those of other towns, and presented the Board with a detailed breakdown of the costs. After discussion, the Chairman advised Mr. Van Horn and Mr. Car- penter that the Board would take this cost analysis under advisement. The United Engineer Representatives said that if the Board members or the Torn Manager and Light Department Director had any further questions or needed an explanation of any more detail, that they would be happyyto answer any questions by phone. The Planning Board and the Board of Selectmen held a joint hearing on the acceptances of portions or all of the following streets: Bonney Lane, Leonard ( Street, Leonard Circle, Brookside Drive, Oakleaf Drive, Heritage Lane, Bellview Drive, Barbara Road, Fisher Lane, Judy's Lane, Lawndale Avenue, Pineview Ter- race, Cushing Lane, and Darby Drive. Chairman Caponigro asked if there would be any objection to the dispensing of the reading of the discriptions. There was none. Planning Director Maurer explained that most of these were new subdivision roads, with the exception of some that were accepted in part at a previous torn meeting but were never recorded properly at the Registry of Deeds. After further discussion, the Chairman declared the hearing closed. Selectman Titus moved that the Board of Selectmen recommend acceptance of these roads at the Torn Meeting (Articles 259 269 27, 289 29, 30, 31, and 32'), This was seconded by Selectman Colella, and voted all in favor 5 - 0. The Town Manager, with Light Director James Hall and Office Manager Geraldine Lemieux, reviewed with the Board the report that must be submitted to the DPU for 1974 operations of the Light Department. The Board as Light Commissioners must review and send the signed report to the DPU by March 31. After detailed discussion of the,report, Selectman Levine moved to sign and submit the report as submitted. This was seconded by Selectman Titus, and so voted. For the agenda next week, discussion of fire alarm maintenance. The Town Manager reviewed his status report of major programs and projects with the Board. He updated the report, discussing the chlorinator building and comminutor, Williams Street reconstruction layout, and CETA positions. He said that he would have a recommendation for the Board regarding the CETA positions for next week. He also further ^explained the additional $24,000 grant from the EPA for the Mansfield sewage treatment plant. Also in regard to the treatment plant, there was a discussion of sludge de- watering and CDM's proposal to do the preliminary engineering for the project. -3- Board of Selectmen Minutes of the Meeting March 269 1975 Page 4 After discussion of the article in the upcoming town meeting warrant for sludge dewatering (.article 8), and discussion of the accounts from which the money would come for engineering fees, Selectman Titus moved that CDM be authorized to proceed with the engineering plans as outlined in their February 25, 1975, letter to the Town Manager. This was seconded by Select- man Levine, and voted 5 - 0. The Town Manager further reported that the South Main Street water services bid had come in at at approximately $10,000 less than the first bid, due to the lengths of the services being reduced. He said that Whitman and Howard would have a recommendation in this regard for two weeks from tonight. Mr. Hannon also discussed the StateIs conditions to the street excavation permit which would require that Mansfield bear the entire cost of repaving that portion of the road. He stated that this was the time to get the State rep- resentatives to help get those conditions changed, and that possibly the Gas Company might be made to pay a portion of the costs. The Chairman asked the Town Manager to draft the necessary letters. Other items reported on by the Town Manager: beautification projects, bicen- tennial events, police and fire salary negotiations, and the completion of the annual report. Bimonthly meetings will be held with board and committee chairmen in accordance ( with the Town Charter on the following dates: April 30, June 25, and August 27 (or September 3, should the Board be on the "summer schedule "), The Board's secretary will notify all chairmen. Also discussed was the substance and method of distribution of the "semi- annual report" called for in the Charter. The Town Manager will look into this. Regarding the Board's meeting with Department Heads, the Town Manager shall set a schedule. A sewer connection application for a single home on Hall ;Street house, #619 was approved by the motion of Selectman Titus and the second of Selectman Levine, voted all in favor, The Town Manager explained the sewer connection moritorium to Selectman Be- Long. Selectman Colella discussed traffic problems on Church Street and Cottage Street. The Town Manager will refer this to the Police Department. Selectman Levine asked that the schedule of fees for all licenses over which the Board of Selectmen has jurisdiction be prepared by the Town Clerk's office and this will be brought before the Board for review two weeks from this meeting. Selectman Levine discussed with other Board members the money in the budget proposal for insect pest control (account #420 -1). The Town Manager reported that he had been trying to contact Paul Perideau from the State to get an esti- -4- Board of Selectmen ( Minutes of the Meeting March 26, 1975 Page 5 mate for peripheral spraying, and if the information could be gotten in time for next week's meeting, he would have a report prepared. Selectman Titus asked the Town Manager about the progress of the Penetryn System Company regarding the sewer sealing work. Mr. Hannon replied that he would check to see when that company's interim report would be done. Selectman Titus propo,sed'.a project as part of the Bicentennial celebration: he moved that as part of one of the bicentennial functions, that all the living selectmen from 1925 -1975 be honored in a program, and that each of the present board members would do the research on a decade. Selectman Colella seconded the motion, and it was so voted. Selectman Titus said that he would head the subcommittee if he had the board's full support. Selectman Titus said that since there was a position on "the Board of Library Trustees(the appointee declined the appointment), that this should be made public, and the appointment would be made in three weeks. Also discussed was the assigning of articles for the Board members to speak on at Town Meeting. After discussion, the consensus of the members was that the Chairman should speak for the Board. Chairman Caponigro reminded that other vacancies had not been filled on the Bylaw Study Committee, and the Town Manager also pointed out the Town Sewer Study Committee had a vacancy. WARA reporter Joanne wood discussed the following with the Board: consecu- tive Town Meeting nights (the Board's consensus was that they would favor this); the Recreation Commission having the power to regulate the activities on the Commons; and whether or not :there would be a special town meeting within the annual. Selectman Titus moved to adjourn the meeting at 11:40 p.m. This was seconded by Selectman DeLong, and voted all in favor. -5-