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HomeMy WebLinkAboutBOS MINUTES 3-21-1984BOARD OF SELECTMEN MINUTES OF MEETING MARCH 21, 1984 MAR 3 01984 PRESENT: Selectmen Mills, D'Onofrio, McNair; Town Manager; Selectman arrived at 7:35 P.M. 1. Meeting called to order at 7:31 P.M. MOTION: To appoint Selectman Wills as Chairman for the evening. D'Onofrio /McNair VOTED: 2 -0 MOTION: To appoint Selectman D'Onofrio as Clerk for the evening. McNair /Wills VOTED: 2 -0 2. Minutes of March 14, 1984 MOTION: To approve the Minutes of March 14, 1984. D'Onofrio /McNair VOTED: 3 -0 3. Warrant #44 MOTION: To approve Warrant X44 in the amount of $843,347.17, dated March 20, 1984, broken down as follows: General Fund - Federal Revenue - School Lunch - Special Revenue - Motor Pool - Seewer Enterprise - Water Enterprise - Electric Enterprise - D'Onofrio /McNair VOTED: 3 -0 4. Licenses $424,333.61 136.00 4,903.44 14,345.60 812.92 3,886.75 6,421.07 388.507.78 a) One -day Common Victualler License for Conservation Commission signed. 5. Correspondence a) Letter from State Dept. of Public Works advising of the Southeast Express- way Advisory Committee. Discussion indicated the Board did not feel Mans- field needed a representative at this time. b) Letter from Army Corps of Engineers presenting monthly inspection report on the Wastewater Treatment Plant. c) Copy of Memo to Supt. of Schools from Robert Saquet regarding the high school roof. BOARD OF SELECTMEN MINUTES OF MEETING ( MARCH 21,1984 PAGE 2 d) Notification from Dept. of Revenue regarding bonding of the Treasurer, the Collector and the Town Clerk. * MOTION: To approve the amounts of the three bonds. McNair /D'Onofrio VOTED: 4 -0 e) Letter from Keith Johnson advising of his resignation from the Conserva- tion Commission. * MOTION: To accept Keith Johnson's resignation with a letter thanking him for his four years service. McNair /D'Onofrio VOTED: 4 -0 f) Notice of meeting from Conservation Commission re: Determination of Appli- cability of St. James Lodge for project on Reservoir Street. g) Letter from Dianne Royle advising of her resignation from the Conserva- tion Commission. * MOTION: To accept Dianne Royle's resignation with a letter thanking her for her eight years of service. McNair /Levine VOTED: 4 -0 h) Letter from Board of Health re: disbanding the Hazardous Waste Advisory Committee. * MOTION: To table this until next week so that the Board may see the letter recommending disbanding the Committee from Chairperson Diane Mangiaratti. i) Copy of letter to the Town Manager from Town Counsel re: Telemetry System for Mansfield Wells. * MOTION: To include an article on this subject in a Special Town Meeting within the Annual Town Meeting. McNair /D'Onofrio VOTED: 4 -0 j) Announcement of the Southeastern Mass. Task Force on Environmental Manage- ment Industrial Plant Tour Thursday, March 22, 1984. k) Letter from Mansfield Cable Access Corp. re: Future coverage of Board meetings and alternatives for Town Meeting coverage. Selectman Wills felt it would be helpful to view last week's tape before making a decision as to further coverage. Selectman D'Onofrio felt the townspeople should be given the opportunity to see how the Board func- tions. Town Manager advised the Board that he had set a tentative time for Thursday, 4 P.M. to view last week's tape. BOARD OF SELECTMEN MINUTES OF MEETING MARCH 21, 1984 PAGE 3 N M MOTION: To direct the Cable Access Corp. to move with speed for arrange- ments to broadcast Selectmen's meetings as soon as practicable. D'Onofrio /McNair VOTED: 3 -1 Levine opposed MOTION: To employ the bulletin board format for the Town Meeting. Levine /D'Onofrio VOTED: 4 -0 I. D. F. A. Peter Saunders of the IDFA appeared before the Board, with Ralph Cain and Tom Crowell, of R.T. Engineering Service, Inc. Mr. Saunders said they were present primarily for approval of a bond issue. A hearing was held last night for a tax exempt bond status for R.T. Engineering Service. The busi- ness started in a garage 12 years ago, in Mansfield; they are presently rent- ing space from Cabot Cabot & Forbes. Their business has shown 85% growth this past year and they wish to construct their own building on ground on the right -hand side of Maple Street, just beyond Francis Ave. They currently have 40 employees. The I.D.F.A. is permitting R.T. Engineering to break ground, which assures them tax exempt bond status; this was given unanimous approval. MOTION: To approve a $600,000 Industrial Revenue Bond for R.T. Engineering Service, Inc. McNair /D'Onofrio VOTED: 4 -0 Paul Boyden The Acting Chairman announced a very pleasant duty, by tradition, was to pre- sent a plaque to residents who have served the town in some capacity for ten years or more. Tonight Paul Boyden was to receive one for his years of ser- vice, 1969 -1982. Selectmen McNair and Levine presented the plaque, and appre- ciation was expressed all around. Municipal Light Department Manager John Larch advised the Board of a conservation Energy program he was offer- ing the week of March 30th through April 8th, which he felt would be cost effective for Mansfield electric customers, and he passed out copies of the announcement. Participating merchants, as listed, will allow a 50% discount to those customers who present a Mansfield electric bill on the products as listed, and is for any kind of insulation, heat conservation product, etc. Paula Lane Acceptance Hearing The Chairman called a hearing into session for acceptance of Paula Lane, at 8:17 P.M. The Notice of Public Hearing was read, and then a letter from the Planning Board stating that all requirements have been met and they recom- mend acceptance. The hearing closed at 8:20 P.M. BOARD OF SELECTMEN MINUTES OF MEETING MARCH 21, 1984 PAGE 4 MOTION: That the Board of Selectmen recommend acceptance of Paula Lane. D'Onofrio /McNair VOTED: 4 -0 10. Municipal Electric Commission Heari A public hearing was opened at 8:30 P.M. regarding the petition of Robert Ledger, 50 Lantern Lane, to amend the Home Rule Charter for the purpose of creating a separate Municipal Electric Commission. The Clerk read the Notice of Public Hearing and the Chairman said he would first have the petitioner speak, then the Manager of the Electric Department, questions and /or comments from members of the Board, and then open it to the public. Mr. Ledger stated that in the 80 some years of the Municipal Electric Department things have changed considerably. He feels that the chief auth- ority for handling 10 million dollars a year should be delegated to a sep- arate commission. A separate commission would not have any more power than the present commissioners, and he has no intent to disrupt anything; he just feels it would release the burden of the present commissioners. A separate commission could devote all their time to electric department affairs, and the Board would have more time for its many other duties and responsibilities. In questioning it appeared that Mr. Ledger had this idea in mind when he became a member of the ad -hoc Electric Advisory Com- mittee; he said the committee did not draw up the petition, but were aware that he was doing it. Selectman Levine voiced her concern that the commit- tee had not come before the Board to discuss this amendment prior to its being put on the Town Meeting Warrant; especially when the Board.was.under the impression that the committee was researching computers. The Electric Department Manager was present and when asked if he wished to say anything, he offered figures on the number of municipal electric plants in Massachusetts (40); 32 have separate commissions, 2 are under public de- partments, and 6 under selectmen /commissioners, and said he would be glad to answer any questions. The Town Manager then stressed his concern that whether or not the town changed the control of the Electric Department, he felt certain that rates would not, could not be lowered, and did not want anyone to be misled. He also advised that he sees no need to change to a separate commission. Selectman Wills agreed with this, saying with a good professional manager, the Selectmen's role is not that great. Selectman McNair expressed concern for a separate commission (of 5 people off the street) being the ones to pick a Manager to handle 12 million dollars per year and Selectman Levine asked, "Who would they answer to ? ". Margot Jellinek then took the floor in support of the separate commission, among other things suggesting that perhaps the Electric Department should pay real estate taxes instead of the $80,000 in lieu of taxes payment each year, expounding on what this might mean to the municipal budget. Herbert Levine, of Walnut Street, felt that a Charter Revision Committee should have BOARD OF SELECTMEN MINUTES OF MEETING MARCH 21, 1984 PAGE 5 studied the question first, and felt there should be a public hearing so that the public would have the opportunity to hear all the pros and cons before being asked to vote on something they cannot, at this time, make an intelligent decision about. Selectman D'Onofrio asked Mr. Ledger if he felt the present Electric Com- missioners were doing a good job. Mr. Ledger said yes, but he felt that a separate commission could spend more time planning for the future. The Hearing closed at 9:39 P.M. * MOTION: That we refer this Article to Town Counsel to review for proper form. D'Onofrio /McNair VOTED: 4 -0 At this point the Tom Manager cautioned the Board that he had mentioned personnel in connection with a separate electric commission, because it would require a change and that this would be a critical issue that must be addressed. He also advised that a transition clause would have to be added, because there is no statement as to effective date as it presently reads. 11. Old Business - Town Manager a) The Board was advised, through a Memo from the Town Clerk to the Town Manager, that there are no approved manufacturers of voting machines in Massachusetts that rent same. The Memo again advised that the two manufacturers she had contacted would be glad to come out and demon- strate their machines. * MOTION: To have someone come to demonstrate machines and see what is available. McNair /D'Onofrio FAILED: 2 -2 b) The request from the Building Inspector for increasing fees was then touched on briefly; the decision was made to ask the Building Inspector to come in April 4th to discuss the increases. c) The Town Manager also presented reports from the DPW Director covering the landfill operation, sewer infiltration, and suggested increases in the water rates. Decision was made to ask the DPW Director to come in April 4th to discuss these issues. d) The Board was told that Mr. Colemen, from N.E. Telephone, will meet with them on April 18th. Discussion indicated a desire to ask Rep. Vernon to be present at that meeting also, and that a follow -up letter be written advising the phone company that we are looking for the survey showing customers who use other than Mansfield numbers. BOARD OF SELECTMEN MINUTES OF MEETING MARCH 21, 1984 PAGE 6 e) The Town Manager reported that the restricted commuter parking lot will become effective March 26th; notices are going to be placed on car windshields March 22nd, and will have a map showing location of all the available parking lots. Selectman D'Onofrio expressed the de- sire for a notice indicating that both the Town of Mansfield and the MBTA are making plans for improvements to the other lots in the future. 12. Old Business - Selectmen a) Selectman McNair reported he had heard that there is a problem with the dump stickers not remaining readable, after rains, etc., when they are placed on the front bumper. Town Manager was asked to research this problem. b) Selectman D'Onofrio presented a suggested letter, to go the Senator Locke and Representative Vernon, concerning an additional late train for the Mansfield - Attleboro line, to be accompanied by a petition con- taining 460 signatures obtained. MOTION: To send the letter and petition. D'Onofrio /McNair VOTED: 4 -0 c) Selectman Wills asked for input on his Memo covering his and Selectman D'Onofrio's Memo covering an evaluation instrument and process for the Electric Light Department Manager. The Board's opinion seemed to be overall approval of the presented suggestions. d) Selectman Wills had also given copies of a an Analysis of Public Safety Budget Proposals Memo; it was felt that this needed to be discussed at some length at a later date. e) Selectman Levine expressed concern for hers, and others, continued prob- lem with noise particularly, on her phone line, compounded of late by the wet weather. She asked the press to please print the need for all unhappy telephone users to call the Repair number each time they have trouble. Discussion followed. MOTION: That we contact the Chairman of the Board of Selectmen of Easton to make a joint effort, combine forces, to try to achieve better service. Levine /D'Onofrio VOTED: 3 -1 Wills opposed f) There was discussion concerning the meeting with the Finance Committee at next week's meeting. The Town tanager would like to have comments from members of the Board prior to the meeting; he expects to offer an overview first and then give specifics. He advised the Board that the budget must be ready to go to the printer on April 16th. BOARD OF SELECTMEN MINUTES OF MEETING �. MARCH 21, 1984 PAGE 7 g) Chairman Wills reminded the Board that a date should be set for a Joint Boards and Committees meeting. * MOTION: To hold a Joint Boards and Committees meeting April 11, 1984, 9 -10 P.M. Levine /D'Onofrio VOTED: 4 -0 h) Chairman Wills also reminded the Board that they need to set a date for discussion of the Personnel Policy and the Report on Administrative Positions. April 4th was established. 13. New Business a) Selectman Levine advised the Board that there had been a Capital Improve- ment Program Committee meeting on March 20th, but that they did not have a quorum. They spent some time looking at areas for possible cuts. 14. Adjournment * MOTION: To go into Executive Session for the purpose of discussing collec- tive bargaining units and land acquisition; to come out only to ( adjourn. D'Onofrio /Levine VOTED: 4 -0 Executive Minutes typed separately. * MOTION: To go out of Executive Session. Levine /McNair VOTED: 4 -0 * MOTION: To adjourn at 11:20 P.M. Levine /McNair VOTED: 4 -0 MINUTES APPROVED: J rk Date signed