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HomeMy WebLinkAboutBOS MINUTES 12-7-1983* * BOARD OF SELECTMEN MINUTES OF MEETING DECEMBER 7, 1983 PRESENT: Chairman Dunn; Selectmen Wills, Levine, D'Onofrio, McNair; Town Manager 1. Meeting called to order at 7:30 P.M. 2. Introduction of New Provisional Fire Chief Town Manager introduced Edward A. Sliney, Jr. as Provisional Chief of the Mansfield Fire Department. The appointment is effective immedi- ately and has been made in accordance with the provisions and procedures of the Massachusetts Division of Personnel Administration. Mr. Sliney has been an employee of the Mansfield Fire Department since 1970. He thanked everyone for the opportunity to serve the Town and for their con- fidence in him, and he was congratulated by all members of the Board. 3. Minutes of November 30, 1983 Selectman D'Onofrio asked that the words "the resident" be inserted in the 4th sentence of the "Discussion followed...." paragraph on Page 2, after "He ", and on Page 3 the Vote of 3 -2 should show D'Onofrio and Wills opposed. MOTION: To approve the Minutes of November 30, 1983 as amended. Levine /McNair VOTED: 5 -0 4. Warrant #28 MOTION: To approve Warrant #28, dated December 6, 1983, in the amount of $110,893.69, broken down as follows: General Fund - $77,043.18 Federal Revenue - 2,723.65 Special Revenue - 2,200.81 Sewer Enterprise - 3,219.87 Water Enterprise - 14,464.77 Electric Enterprise - 11,241.41 McNair /Wills VOTED: 5 -0 5. Licenses a) Request from Council on Aging to waive the fee of $25 for their Common Victuallers license. * MOTION: To waive the fee of $25.00 for the Council on Aging Common Victuallers License. McNair /Levine VOTED: 5 -0 BOARD OF SELECTMEN MINUTES OF MEETING DECEMBER 7, 1983 PAGE 2 * MOTION: To approve the Common Victuallers License for the Council on Aging for 1984. McNair /Levine VOTED: 5 -0 b) Hidden Country All Alcoholic License * MOTION: To table this license until their appearance before the Board at 8:00 P.M. Levine /D'Onofrio VOTED: 5 -0 6. Correspondence a) Invitation to attend an Eagle Award Court of Honor for Albert Walgreen at St. Mary's Church, December 22nd, 7 P.M. Chairman Dunn advised the Board that Representative Bill Vernon will make a presentation at this ceremony. * MOTION: To appoint the Chairman to put together an award to present to Albert Walgreen the night of December 22, 1983. McNair /Wills VOTED: 5 -0 b) Copy of Town Counsel's fees for month of November. c) Notice from DPU of hearing re: New England Telephone rates and charges. DPU #1691). d) Notice from DPU of hearing re: New England Telephone rates and charges. (DPU #1702). e) Copy of letter sent to Hidden Country, Inc. re: Meeting with Board of Selectmen tonight. f) Copies of letters sent to VFW Post #3264 and American Legion Post #198 re: Club License regulations. g) Letter from SRPEDD re: District assessment for FY -85 in the amount of $2,017.95. h) Letter from Bristol County Office of the Sheriff re: County correctional institution inmates volunteer services. Town Manager was asked to look into this. i) Letter from George Wojtkiewicz re: Cost reduction in snow plowing. j) Letter from Mansfield Board of Assessors re: Reappointment of John D. Prescott. k) Letter from Easton Town Administrator re: Water Quality Symposium in January. BOARD OF SELECTMEN MINUTES OF MEETING DECEMBER 7, 1983 PAGE 3 1) MEMO from Chairman of Finance Committee re: Finance Committee meeting December 13th at 7:30 P.M. Town Manager advised he has asked the Town Treasurer and Accountant to attend this meeting. m) MEMO from Chief of Police re: Liquor disturbances during past year. n) MEMO from Chief of Police re: Liquor disturbance at Hidden Country on December 4, 1983. 7. Board of Assessors Al Turinese, Chairman of the Board of Assessors was present to announce that the tax rate has been ratified by the Department of Revenue; it is up $1.20. This year's rate will be $18.58. Town Manager explained that the Treasurer is putting an announcement in the paper advising that the tax bills will not be mailed out until after the first of the year, but that residents may make an estimated payment prior to the end of the year. * MOTION: That this Board resolve that Real Estate tax bills will be out April 1, 1984 for the next real estate tax period. Wills /D'Onofrio VOTED: 3 -2 Levine and McNair opposed. 8. Hidden Country, Inc., d /b /a Titus' Gilbert Stuart, President, and Wendy Goyea, Manager of Titus' appeared before the Board, at the Board's request, to discuss the closing hour for Titus'. They explained that since September they have been locking the doors at 1:00 A.M., because they do not want the patrons from other establishments; the bands play until 12:45, so that 15 minutes is too short a time to clear the establishment; that to be closed by 1 they would lose at least a 1/2 hour's bar time and; that the 2 o'clock license was written into their purchase agreement. They had talked with ABC and been advised that they are entitled to a two weeks' notice and public hearing before the hours can be changed. Chairman Dunn spoke briefly on the Board's rea- son for considering the change, and the matter was discussed. * MOTION: To have a hearing on December 28, 1983, 8 :00 P.M. Wills /Levine VOTED: 3 -2 McNair and D'Onofrio opposed * MOTION: To approve the Hidden Country, Inc. All Alcoholic License for renewal with the 2:00 A.M. closing time. D'Onofrio /McNair VOTED: 5 -0 9. American Legion Post #198 ( Stanley Hayner, Bob Payden and Father David Blessinger were present to protest the purported misrepresentation created by the newspaper article BOARD OF SELECTMEN MINUTES OF MEETING DECEMBER 7, 1983 PAGE 4 following last week's Board meeting in which Club License regulations were discussed. They explained their need to rent the hall in order to receive money for their expenses, their adherence to having guests sign the register, their hours; that their charter requires that those who rent must hire two police; the Legion always runs the bar. Selectman D'Onofrio explained that he had received a phone call from a neighbor of the Legion Hall complaining about the noise and questioning whether the Club was adhering to Club license regulations. Discussion followed, end- ing with the hope that the American Legion members understood the Board was only attempting to be sure license regulations were being followed. 10. Camp Dresser & McKee Bill Mackey, of Camp Dresser & McKee, together with DPW Director, Joe Zeneski came before the Board to advise that the EPA Federal Grant in- crease for design of the Spring Street /West Street interceptor has been received. Bill Mackey said the plan is to begin design immediately and to have it approved and start construction for completion as near the time the Wastewater Treatment Plant is activated as possible; at least within a few months of that time. He already has surveyors standing by, to start before there is snow. * MOTION: To approve the offer for a grant increase to design the Spring Street /West Street interceptor line. Wills /McNair VOTED: 5 -0 * MOTION: To amend the contract of Camp Dresser & McKee for design of the Wastewater Treatment Plant to include design of the Spring Street/ West Street interceptor line in the amount of $86,330. Wills /Levine VOTED: 5 -0 At this point the Town Manager reviewed the sewer connection status, and actions taken, to date, by the DPW Director to zero in on infiltration problems. Joe Zeneski offered his recommendations and elaborated somewhat on what he has and is doing to correct problems. He has monitored flow on West Street and will have a sealing company come in to seal cracks, mainly on Dean Street and Rumford Avenue. He has sent letters to large water users, has tested the entire industrial park, and placed 3 watertight manhole covers. He expects to present a summary report to the Board each month. * MOTION: To amend the sewer connection policy so that, effective tomorrow, we will consider applications for changing existing flow alloca- tions. The intent of the motion is, at this time, to allow no new connections, except in emergencies, and this policy is to continue until April 15, 1984, but to allow applications for modi- fications to existing allocations. Wills /Levine VOTED: 5 -0 BOARD OF SELECTMEN MINUTES OF MEETING DECEMBER 7, 1983 PAGE 5 11. Margot Jellinek Margot Jellinek appeared before the Board to discuss the pollution of the Canoe River area resulting from the landfill leachate. She emphasized the need for groundwater testing at least twice a year, as substantiated by a Whitman & Howard report in 1976, and reiterated her concern for the Town using Grant money to purchase land which is "an empty gravel pit ". Considerable discussion followed, with the Town Manager referring to the Lycott report, received and discussed in October, which shows that tests and investigations are being made. The Town Manager stressed also that the Canoe River area is an area where many studies have been made. Chair- man Dunn assured Margot that alot of the concerns she has enumerated are already being addressed by the Board and the Town Manager, and that he felt both she and the Board had the same concerns. 12. Old Business - Town Manager a) The Town Manager reported on last week's meeting with Brian Jeans, from the State, and the Foxboro Sewer Advisory Committee, together with Chairman Dunn, Selectman McNair, and DPW Director Joe Zeneski. Foxboro is going to prepare a revised proposal according to the State recommendations which will be presented at a second meeting December 15th. 13. Finance Committee Appointment MOTION: To appoint Jonathan W. Pierce to the Finance Committee. McNair /Levine VOTED :. 5 -0 MOTION: Contingent upon his acceptance, we appoint Kenneth G. Fraser, Jr. to the Electric Advisory Committee. Wills /McNair VOTED: 5 -0 14. Old Business - Selectmen a) Selectman McNair asked about progress on the Paul Marchessault situa- tion. Town Manager said Representative Barney Frank is working on it; nothing is definite at this time. b) Selectman D'Onofrio reminded the.Board that the questions posed at a Board meeting two weeks ago concerning Michael- Angela Estates still need to be answered. c) Selectman D'Onofrio received a call from a resident on Church Street who was concerned about a hole in the street which had been patched once, but had sunk again. d) Selectman D'Onofrio advised that he felt the parking lot is becoming a problem. BOARD OF SELECTMEN MINUTES OF MEETING DECEMBER 7, 1983 PAGE 6 e) Selectman D'Onofrio once more stressed concern for the lack of re- sponse from the Telephone Company concerning improvement of Mansfield's equipment, prompted this time by the two DPU Notices of hearings for New England Telephone Company rates and changes. He urged the Board to draft a standard letter indicating the Town's concern with changes to rates and other kinds of tariffs being submitted while Mansfield is still waiting for improvements to its now outdated basic service. MOTION: To make a formal protest to the DPU, under the guidelines of 20 or more names and, further, that we communicate with the larger industries in town and involve them with this listing with specific problems encountered. Wills /McNair VOTED: 5 -0 f) Selectman D'Onofrio would like to develop or determine what the respon- sibility is, for the Board, to boards and committees since Proposi- tion 2 -1/2, now in its third year; he referred to his MEMO of November 23rd. He feels the Board should begin to address this issue. The Board's role and responsibility for budgets and education received some discussion. g) Chairman Dunn advised the Board that the American Paper Company hear- ing, scheduled for January 11, 1984, has been postponed until January 18th, due to a conflict in scheduling. h) Chairman Dunn spoke about the Downtown Walk of last Saturday. He said the merchants are very concerned about the "temporary" barriers becom- ing permanent, and he feels parking in the downtown area is a very real concern. He suggested having the Downtown Committee look at an alter- native for taking the traffic out of the backbay area which presently comes down Samoset onto North Main Street, and direct it the opposite way, towards Court Street. The Town Manager suggested that the Selectmen, the Downtown Committee and the Planning Board get together to discuss the problems. 15. New Business a) Selectman D'Onofrio offered the following resolution: "The Board of Selectmen wishes to express its pleasure with the pro- cess that was followed by the Town Manager in selecting the Provi- sional Chief of the Mansfield Fire Department. That process involved, among others, a member of the Board of Selectmen in the interviewing process. The Board considers this a positive step in improving the working and functional relationship between the Board and the Office of the Town Manager. The Board of Selectmen would wish to encourage BOARD OF SELECTMEN MINUTES OF MEETING ( DECEMBER 7, 1983 PAGE 7 the Town Manager to develop and submit a policy, which the Board could accept, which would formalize the involvement of the Board of Selectmen in the interview process for all future department heads in Town government." D'Onofrio /Wills Selectman Wills then briefly told of his participation in the selec- tion of the Provisional Fire Chief and his feeling of the value of another opinion in the selection process. VOTED: 5 -0 b) Chairman Dunn advised that he will be meeting with persons involved with record keeping on December 30th at 9:30 A.M. c) Another Workshop was scheduled for Monday, January 9, 1984, 7:30 P.M. to identify goals for Selectmen, the Town Manager and Electric Commis- sioners. 16. Adjournment * MOTION: To adjourn at 11:20 P.M Minutes Approved: v1M� V Clerk i, /Jyl93 Date signed McNair /Levine VOTED: 5 -0