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HomeMy WebLinkAboutBOS MINUTES 11-7-1984M BOARD OF SELECTMEN MINUTES OF MEETING NOVEMBER 7, 1984 PRESENT: Chairman Wills; Selectmen Dunn, D'Onofrio; Town Manager 1. The meeting was called to order at 7:30 P.M. and the Flag saluted. 2. Minutes of October 31, 1984 MOTION: To approve the Minutes of October 31, 1984 Dunn /D'Onofrio Selectman Dunn pointed out that the motion under Item 7 should close after ". . Foxborough town line ", with Mr. Beatty's busi- ness and Cataloni's garage being mentioned afterwards. Selectman Dunn clarified that the vote under Item 9 was 1 -4, with all but himself opposed, and the two votes under Item 11 should read 3 -0. VOTED as amended: 3 -0 3. Warrant #20 MOTION: To approve Warrant #20 in the amount of $404,159.50, dated Novem- ber 7, 1984, broken down as follows: General Fund - $212,190.21 Revenue Sharing - 11,720.00 Special Revenue - 82,535.02 School Lunch Salaries - 286.00 Motor Pool - 241.16 Sewer Enterprise - 2,623.64 Water Enterprise - 73,845.31 Electric Enterprise - 20,718.16 Dunn /D'Onofrio VOTED: 3 -0 Wills abstained on Voucher No. 1455 4. Licenses and Permits a) Parade Permit for Veterans Day Parade November 12, 1984, 10:30 A.M. MOTION: To approve the Veterans Day Parade. D'Onofrio /Dunn VOTED: 3 -0 b) Application for transfer of ownership; Vachon Chevrolet, Inc., to Tom Flurkey Chevrolet, Inc. MOTION: To approve the transfer of ownership. Dunn /D'Onofrio VOTED: 3 -0 BOARD OF SELECTMEN MINUTES OF MEETING ( NOVEMBER 7, 1984 PAGE 2 5. Juror Selection a) Fall River Superior Court, Civil Session, December 3, 1984 - Kevin J. Bridge, 470 Maple Street - David G. Amoling, 1381 West Street, Apt. 1 b) New Bedford Superior Court, Criminal Session Grand Jury, Jan. 8, 1985 - Leroy Watson, 435 Gilbert Street c) Fall River District Court, Criminal Session 6 -man Jury, December 3, 1984 - David E. Day, 28 Oakland Street d) New Bedford Superior Court, Criminal Session, December 3, 1984 - Charles S. Stanfa, 23 Short Street - David B. Rathbun, 55 Angell Street - Kenneth F. Habich, 1 Granda Circle - James Mathews, 188 Central Street 6. Margot Jellinek Margot Jellinek came before the Board to read an Open Letter concerning the Town Manager, as Purchasing Agent to award the contract for manage- ment of the new sewer plant in Norton. The letter claims the Town Man- ager has violated Federal, State and Town laws, and the Selectmen will be equally guilty by retaining Chad Maurer as a Town employee. There was no discussion or vote taken. 7. Correspondence a) Letter from Attorney General's office re: Payment of $578 for Mansfield's share from Chicken Antitrust litigation; these funds may only be used for school lunch or elderly food assistance programs. b) Letter from Bristol Conservation District re: Grant program for recrea- tion in open space. c) Letter from Army Corps of Engineers re: Inspection of Wastewater Treat- ment Plant scheduled for November 14, 1984. d) Memo from Police Chief to Town Manager requesting a Hearing for Liquor License violation by.Hidden Country. * MOTION: To set the earliest possible date for a hearing. D'Onofrio /Dunn VOTED: 3 -0 e) Memo from Police Chief re: Liquor disturbances and radar violations for week of October 31 - November 6, 1984. BOARD OF SELECTMEN MINUTES OF MEETING ( NOVEMBER 7, 1984 PAGE 3 8. Bill Mackey /CDM - Spring Street - West Street Interceptor Bill Mackey was present to have a form signed by Board members which is to go to the State for authorization of the Wastewater Treatment Plant vehicles award. He then advised the Board that the Federal Government had put one condition on the grant for the Spring Street - West Street Interceptor, and that is that bids must be received in December of '84. He recommends bids be received December 19th, 10 A.M., and he needs auth- orization to proceed, which he was given. Mr. Mackey then presented the Amendment to Agreement Between Owner and Engineer for Professional Services During Bidding and Construction for the Spring Street - West Street Interceptor. He said they expect to start con- struction in the Spring and work through the summer. The Amendment docu- ments were signed. 9. Selectmen Business a) Selectman Dunn reported that he had gone to voting machine and he found they have quite said everything is handled very efficiently tion is a very timely fashion. He reminded Clerk had suggested this and would like to field. Norton to look at their an impressive system. He and they receive informa- the Board that the Town ;ee such machines in Mans- b) Selectman Dunn suggested televising the Electric Commissioners November 13th meeting, when they will be meeting with the group M.I.S.E.R.Y. to discuss their concern with rates and the Seabrook plant. At this point the Chairman suggested the advisability of a second Elec- tric Commissioners meeting for November 26th. This is to be checked through the Electric Department, who will then notify the Commissioners. c) Selectman Dunn then expressed concern for the increase in commuter park- ing, which lead to discussion for.handling of such when the Winthrop Street lot improvement work begins. Selectman D'Onofrio said it requires planning for 300 -400 cars. GATRA shuttle buses was a suggestion. d) Chairman Wills suggested an agenda item for the November 13th Electric Commissioners meeting should be defining the Electric Advisory Committee purpose, and recommended adding this committee to the list of boards and committees application form. e) Chairman Wills then brought up scheduling for December Board of Select- men meetings, suggesting December 20th, a Thursday, for Board and Com- mittee appointments; he explained that Wednesday, the 19th, is Hanukkah, which would preclude a full Board. There will, therefore, be no meeting BOARD OF SELECTMEN MINUTES OF MEETING j NOVEMBER 7, 1984 PAGE 4 on December 19th. It was decided, also, that there will be no meet- ing December 26th. 10. Joint Meeting with Boards and Committees Chairman Wills opened this portion of the meeting by welcoming the Chair- men and /or representatives of the Town's boards and committees, and say- ing this would be a "brainstorming" ses.sion to collect ideas on what the Town should be doing, from "your" point of view. George Wojtkiewicz, Chairman of the Zoning Board of Appeals, expressed con- cern for the existing process of reappointments, referring to unhappiness of two former members of his board. He suggested meeting with members prior to appointments being made, if there was dissatisfaction with them, explaining reasons, etc. Allen Willis, Chairman of the Airport Commission, advised that their big- gest need is land acquisition, for approach zones. Elaboration indicated any land so acquired would stipulate and restrict the use of said land for this purpose only. It is the hope of the Commission to acquire Federal funds. Otherwise, he said they wish to be able to follow their 10 -year Master Plan, which they are two years into. Alexander Salachi, Chairman of the Library Trustees, along with Marion Horton and Cynthia Seifert repeated their increased need for a new or ex- panded library facility. Mr. Salachi said that by October 1986 the Library is required to have handicapped accessibility, which will require new bath- rooms, as well as ramp, elevators, etc. He feels the present building is not conducive to handicapped access, and estimates at least $8,000 - $10,000 expense for the present facility. George Wojtkiewicz suggested combining the library with the High School Library. The Trustees have investigated alternatives, and their findings indicate this is not a good one, based on experience of other towns. Al Turinese, Chairman of the Board of Assessors, stated the Town is moving too fast, and reminded those present that money will be needed for recerti- fication in 1986, and either the Town does it or the State will; he esti- mated it will cost approximately $100,000. He also said he feels all real estate is starting to go "out of whack ". Mr. Turinese said the Assessors need new aerial maps. It was suggested that this could possibly be com- bined with the Planning Board's Master Plan; also that the Electric Depart- ment's computerized mapping might save some cost. At this point George Wojtkiewicz expressed the feeling that the form of government should be changed to a Representative Town Meeting. Some dis- cussion followed, with arguments for both sides. The subject was then changed by Allen Willis to the Capital Improvement Program which, he said, BOARD OF SELECTMEN MINUTES OF MEETING / NOVEMBER 7, 1984 PAGE 5 seems to have almost been abolished. He feels it should be brought back and made to work; it should be a major priority. Discussion followed, with the explanation that it has not been abolished but, rather, there simply has not been money for capital improvements, particularly since Proposition 22. Ralph Seifert, Chairman of the Industrial & Development Commission, referred to the recent SRPEDD traffic study, which the Board of Selectmen had asked both the IDC and DAC to appraise. He said the IDC has met with C C & F on this subject. He then went on to offer other needs for the Town; i.e., the need to expand parking facilities for commuters; a need for ideas pertain- ing to the Great Woods Performing Arts Center, such as widening Rt. 140, a ramp south to I -495. The Town Manager confirmed his belief that the resi- dential nature of S. Main Street is going to change and asked the Board of Appeals to be very careful when considering any variance requests for that area. George Wojtkiewicz suggested that Mansfield is a "transportation center" and, perhaps, the Town should have a special Transportation Board. Selectman Dunn pointed out that the.Town is assessed by the number of users of the railroad service, and this is a burden on the Town which needs to be considered. Mr. Seifert brought up the question of use of the Spaulding School, which is being studied. Also that the Post Office is going to move; where will it go, what will that building be used for; this needs to be looked into. Also, the high hazard area at Rt. 106 and North Main Street. Selectman D'Onofrio's recommendation concerning the commuter parking situ- ation is to return the $60,000 of grant money used for the Winthrop Street parking lot, which will return control of that lot to the Town; the grant money could then be put into the Rt. 106 traffic improvement area. Other suggestions included the new Public Safety facility, which will then leave disposition of the present Fire Station. A suggestion that a deprecia- tion schedule-:should be established was supported-., Chairman.Wills. raised the question of the future for the sanitary landfill and solid waste, which was followed by discussion of raising the elevation, another area, an inciner- ator type plant which would generate electricity; also consideration of a private enterprise to maintain the dump, Tony Durbano, Chairman of the Conservation Commission, reported that the Jackson /Gonsalves land acquisition is awaiting money from Chapter 805 funds. He then expressed his Commission's concern for the ability of the Town's waterways to handle drainage systems, stating the streams and rivers are cluttered with fallen and dead trees, etc., which makes areas subject to flooding (referring particularly to the Canoe River and Wading River). It was suggested that the Corps of Engineers might help with this; Allen Willis said he thought the mosquito control people would be glad to clean them. Bob Marshall, Chairman of the Council on Aging, together with Gale Farru- gia, Director of the COA, stressed the need for a mini -bus for the Town's BOARD OF SELECTMEN MINUTES OF MEETING NOVEMBER 7, 1984 PAGE 6 senior citizens. Asked about GATRA, they reported they found working with them totally unsatisfactory; they would not pick up door -to -door, go to areas Mansfield residents are used to, the drivers would be union members. Both also stressed their need for a larger facility, with some discussion following as to possibilities. Allen Willis inquired about the Planning Board's Master Plan, observing there was no one present from that Board (they were meeting next door). Mr. Willis said he would like to see cluster planning, or planned unit development incorporated in the Master Plan. Discussion followed with pros and cons; the Town Manager said this idea was rejected at a Town Meet- ing some ten years ago. Mr. Willis feels it was not presented in the right way. At this point Allen Willis commended the Board of Selectmen for this meet- ing's format and overall atmosphere, which was seconded by others. 11. Adjournment * MOTION: To adjourn at 10:25 P.M. D'Onofrio /Dunn VOTED: 3 -0 001 frov— ['77:ZITY"I Date signed