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HomeMy WebLinkAboutBOS MINUTES 10-24-1984BOARD OF SELECTMEN MINUTES OF MEETING OCTOBER 24, 1984 PRESENT: Chairman Wills; Selectmen Dunn, McNair; Town Manager Selectman Levine arriver at 8:07 P.M. 1. The meeting was called to order and the Flag saluted. MOTION: To appoint John Dunn Clerk for.the evening. Wills /McNair VOTED;: 2 -0 2. Minutes of October 17, 1984 MOTION: To approve the Minutes of October 17, 1984. McNair /Dunn Selectman McNair pointed out that under Item 8a, he had first asked if tree removal had gone out to bid; he was told it had. He then inquired about disposal of the wood. VOTED to approve as amended: 3 -0 3. Warrant #18 MOTION: To approve Warrant #18 in the amount of $420,726.62, dated October 24, 1984, broken down as follows: General Fund - $377,050.44 Special Revenue - 5,607.01 Motor Pool - 13.70 Sewer Enterprise - 3,574.01 Water Enterprise - 13,050.61 Electric Enterprise - 21,430.85 McNair /Dunn VOTED: 3 -0 4. Licenses and Permits a) Application for Common Victualler License for Happy China, Inc., 30 Chauncy Street, Wing Sum Chui, President. MOTION: To approve the Happy China, Inc. Common Victualler License. McNair /Dunn VOTED: 3 -0 b) The Preservation Restriction for the Fisher- Richardson House was signed, having been voted by the Special Town Meeting. c) Memo from the Town Clerk asking for a vote of approval for the hours, 6:00 A.M. to 8:00 P.M. for the November 6th Presidential Election. MOTION: To approve the hours of 6 A.M. to 8 P.M. for the November 6th Presidential Election. McNair /Dunn VOTED: 3 -0 BOARD OF SELECTMEN MINUTES OF MEETING OCTOBER 24, 1984 PAGE 2 * d) MOTION: To sign the Presidential Election Warrant. Dunn /McNair VOTED: 3 -0 5. Correspondence a) Letter from Planning Director requesting the Board to endorse their request to SRPEDD for municipal planning assistance. * MOTION: To endorse the Planning Director's request. Dunn /McNair VOTED: 3 -0 b) Letter from Vincent C. Strother requesting to be named a constable in Mansfield; referred to Police Chief for recommendation. c) Letter from John E. Bender re: Housing problem on Ware Street. d) Copy of letter to Town Manager from Kassler & Feuer, attorneys for the Great Woods Performing Arts Center, explaining the reasons for their suit in the Land Court, simply to clarify the Mansfield Zoning By -law. e) Request of Boy Scouts to use land next to the War Memorial for sale of ( Chiistmas trees December 7 -23, 1984. * MOTION: To approve the Boy Scout Christmas tree sale. Dunn /McNair VOTED: 3 -0 f) Letter from Attorney Alexander E. Drapo.s requesting extension of the liquor license hours for Cheng -Du Restaurant to 2 A.M. * MOTION: To change all licenses to 2 A.M. Wills /Dunn Chairman Wills explained that if one restaurant has hours to 2 A.M., he feels all should. FAILED: 0 -3 * MOTION: To modify the hour to 1:00 A.M. Dunn /McNair VOTED: 3 -0 g) Letter from State Auditor re: Local Mandates. h) Notice from DPU re: Public Hearing for First Phone, Inc. i) Letter from MMA re: Technical assistance program designed to promote energy efficiency in local government buildings. j) Copy of letter from Town Counsel to the Town Manager re: Fisher- Richard- son House repair. BOARD OF SELECTMEN MINUTES OF MEETING OCTOBER 24, 1984 PAGE 3 k) Memo from Rep. Richard T. Moore, Chairman, Committee on Taxation re: Financing Infrastructure Needs. 1) Letter from Executive Office of Energy Resources re: Energy conserva- tion and alternative energy measures. m) Memo from Police Chief re: Liquor disturbances and radar citations. Bruce Willox Bruce Willox and David Grant came before the Board to present a petition, signed by 45 residents of the Central Street area, requesting an Article be inserted in the next Town Meeting to change the zoning classification of a described land from Industrial to Residence A. The petition has an attached legal description and map. There was some discussion, after which the Board accepted the Article. Old Business - Town Manager a) The Town Manager reviewed his Pending Items Memo, the first item cover- ing the Easton water connection for William Upham. Mr. Upham is asking for a waiver of the labor charge, $175, indicating that the poor quality of water in his well is the Town's fault. The Town Manager feels that the Town has done enough in securing the Easton connection for Mr. Upham, and to waive this charge could be admission of fault. Also, the others who have also tied into Easton water have paid the labor charge. The Board agreed with this policy. b) The Town Manager had given copies of the recommendation and bid awards for the Wastewater Treatment Plant vehicles, consisting of 2 dump trucks, 1 front -end loader and 1 crawler loader.- CDM had reviewed the bids and recommends the award for the 2 dump trucks to Mack Trucks, Inc. in the amount of $172,855, with the crawler loader and front -end loader going to Schmidt Equipment Co., in the amounts of $92,330 and $55,511, respec- tively. The bids have to be approved by the Board because there is Fed- eral and State funding as part of the Wastewater Treatment Plant project. They will also have to be approved by EPA. Some discussion followed, with the decision that no vote be taken until next week after the Board members have had time to compare the specifi- cations to the bids. c) A Memo covering Contract Operation of the Wastewater Treatment Plant was reviewed, as prepared by the Town Manager. Proposals on Contract Operation were received on October 11th, and a Selection Review Commit- tee has been formed and will be assisted by Mark Bartlett, P.E. in eval- BOARD OF SELECTMEN MINUTES OF MEETING OCTOBER 24, 1984 PAGE 4 uating the proposals in order to come up with a formal recommendation. The Memo listed dates for the committee with December 12th as the time of formal presentation to the Board of Selectmen. Discussion followed; Selectman Dunn offered his feeling that it is a clear and democratic approach, and also cautioned those present that it is the Town Manager who awards the bid. Old Business - Selectmen a) Selectman McNair asked the Town Manager why the traffic light pattern had been changed at Rt. 106; he feels it is now very dangerous. The Town Manager will look into it. Department of Public Works Status The DPW Director, Joe Zeneski, was present for this review and discussion. The Town Manager had prepared a comprehensive package covering the various aspects and sections of this department, the largest municipal department. a) Reorganization was discussed, as fine - tuning the plan as approved in September 1983, covering the Motor Pool section with a Chief Mechanic and 2 mechanics. There is need for at least 1 Maintenance man (carpen- ter /handyman) in addition to the Town Hall janitor, which would allow the department to segregate the Public Buildings maintenance function from Highway. There is need for a Foreman for the Construction Section which has been separated from the Water Department, which would free the Construction Engineer to better lay out and organize the work load. Joe Zeneski would like to have an Operation Manager for the Water Supply Section, and there was a Memo to back up his reasoning. Selectman Dunn asked if there was a chart to show this updating of the Reorganization, as had been used in the presentation before; he said he felt it would be helpful before the Board made any decision. b) There was a section on Water, showing recent pumping records as well as billing and cash receipts. There seems to be no indication of a need for increased rates at this time. c) Under Water Projects, the DPW Director explained the reason for delay in completing the lime injection program. The telemetry system, which has been installed, has been waiting for the phone company to adjust the phone lines; this is expected to be done November 7th. There was discussion concerning the Water Projects II funds balance of $170,000, with several suggested uses in various parts of town. MOTION: That we concentrate our efforts in the West Mansfield area, with regard to Gilbert Street. Dunn /Levine FAILED: 0 -4 BOARD OF SELECTMEN MINUTES OF MEETING OCTOBER 24, 1984 PAGE 5 It was suggested that the Essex and Ware Streets area is likely to be dug up in the near future for development so, possibly, water main in- stallation at that time would be an economical use of funds. The DPW Director felt this would be worth looking into. At this point the Town Manager was asked to come back to the Board with options for the use of the Water Projects II funds, rather than the Board make a quick decision tonight. d) Water Quality, Leak Detection and Land Acquisition were covered briefly; as well as the latest on the agreements with Norton and Foxboro for the Wastewater Treatment Plant. The Town Manager reminded the Board that it needs to make a decision on the points of Foxboro's letter of a week ago, and that he is still trying to get in touch with Bill Jordan, of Norton. The Chairman asked that the Board members have a chance to review the Town's response to Foxboro before next week's meeting. It was estab- lished that the Board will take action on something for Foxboro at next week's meeting. e) There will be continuation of the DPW Memo next week, as there was an Executive Session scheduled at this time. MOTION: To go into Executive Session for discussion of contract negotia- tions, and to come out to close only. Dunn /Levine VOTED: 4 -0 MINUTES APPROVED A9 C erk_ tai / Date signed