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HomeMy WebLinkAboutmin brd of selectmen 08302006 RECEIVED ro' i ) CLFR)\(>~ OFF ICE ~ Present: i'''iAiISFIELO MASSACHUSETTS Vice Chairman David McCarter, Clerk George Dentino and Selectman Louis Amoruso John D'Agostino, Town Manager Town of Mansfield Board of Selectmen Minutes of August 30, 2006 06 SEP I 4 M1": 4 2 (' The Board of Selectmen's meeting was called to order at 7:30pm, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. Roxanne Donovan, new Treasurer/Collector for the Town of Mansfield, was present. Mr. D' Agostino passed out the resume of the new Treasurer/Collector, Roxanne Donovan. Ms. Donovan hails from Norton, where she lives and has worked as Treasurer for the past five years. She is certified as Treasurer and is being certified as Collector. She has a tremendous amount of experience in the private banking industry. She will be a good fit for the Town. The interview process was long and included a team of department heads as the search committee. Mr. McCarter welcomed Ms. Donovan to the Town. Ms. Donovan noted that the office is r running smoothly and looks forward to working for the Town of Mansfield. Mr. Dentino said that he has heard from many constituents that she is related to former Selectman Dan Donovan. He believes a search committee of an outside group should have been taken place. He also believes that we should have an outside company do an audit of the department before she starts. Ms. Donovan noted that her personal life is separate from her work and that her record speaks for itself. Mr. D' Agostino noted that there is an internal report that will need to be done, that he will share with the Board, when we transition from one Treasurer/Collector to the other. Mr. Amoruso said that it is unfortunate that some people think the way that Mr. Dentino reported. Mr. Amoruso said that the process that occurred was fair and above-board. He pointed out that the Town Manager is the person who has the final say in hiring and welcomed Ms. Donovan to the Town. Mr. Amoruso pointed out that if we were to hire an outside firm to do the search, people would accuse the town of wasting money. He believes that we have taken the same approach this time that we have done all along. The Board welcomed Ms. Donovan and thanked her for coming in. r Board of Selectmen Minutes of August 30, 2006 1 r 8J'l/ Clemmey, 9 Deer Path Circle - He is here to discuss Question 1 on the ballot, involving the sale of wine in food stores. He has information for the Board to review and suggests that the Board hold a meeting with liquor store owners on the impact if the ballot question was passed. Steve MacCaffrie, 236 Mill Street- Was interested to watch the discussion on the parking expansion at the train station at the Board's last meeting. He believes that the Board could be doing a disservice if they choose to disapprove the license for 100 spaces. He believes that if Mr. Ditchman applies for additional parking, he should also have to pay for part of the detail, as Mr. Clemmey agreed to do should he be granted the additional spaces. He believes that since the town is taking money in, he finds it interesting that money for the police detail is coming in from the Police Department budget. He doesn't believe that the 100 spaces will increase the traffic that much. Motion: To enter into Executive Session at 8:00pm to discuss pending litigation and return to open session upon conclusion (Amoruso - Dentino) Roll Call Vote: Amoruso, aye; Dentino, aye; McCarter, aye 3-0 Passes r Lorilee Fish, Parks and Recreation Director, Charlotte Falkner, Chairman of the Recreation Commission and Dave Todesco of Midget Football were present. Ms. Falkner said that the Recreation Commission held a public meeting on Monday and invited neighbors. She noted that the Commission is sympathetic to the neighbors and the vote passed 4-1 to have the temporary lights on from September 1st to October 19th, with the stipulation to have the lights out by 8:00pm. Mr. McCarter asked if there was Planning Board comment. Ms. Fish said that a legal opinion was rendered by Town Counsel that said that the Recreation Commission is the Commission responsible for granting permission for temporary lighting. Mr. McCarter noted that no one is in favor of granting permission for permanent lighting. Mr. Dentino asked about protection of the kids running into the machinery. Ms. Fish replied that DPW Highway Operations Manager Mark Cook suggested installing snow fencing around the perimeter of the unit. Mr. Todesco added that the rental company will provide such equipment. Mr. Dentino said that the vote that came down when the fields were being developed, the vote protected the neighbors by stating that there would be no lighting. r Board of Selectmen Minutes of August 30, 2006 2 r Mr. D' Agostino explained that there was a municipal review process when the fields were being developed. He said that the vote by the Board was to concur with the Planning Board. Now the fields are built and there is a need for lighting because Midget Football has no home. Mr. Dentino expressed concern that a decision was made by a previous Board that stated that there would never be lighting, now and forever. Mr. D' Agostino said that we are trying to help Midget Football temporarily. Mr. Dentino believes that we should take the vote away from the Recreation Commission. Mr. D' Agostino said that their vote was temporary and the lights will not be there next year. Ms. Falkner noted that only two residents attended Monday's meeting and one person wrote a letter. Mr. Todesco brought up the issue of the cost of the lights. The cost of rental from United Rental is $4,720. He would love to ask for some help. The payment is expected upon return of the lights. Mr. McCarter asked about payment of fuel. Mr. Todesco said that the cost of the fuel can be paid for by Midget Football. Mr. Amoruso suggested writing a letter, requesting money from the Deutsche Bank Championship, and their request would be processed. r Mr. McCarter thanked everyone for attending and wished Midget Football good luck. Ken Butler, MMAS and Gary Hendren of Hendren Design Associates. Mr. Butler thanked the Board for allowing the Mansfield Music and Arts Society (MMAS) to come before the Board tonight. Mr. Butler provided an overview of MMAS and its history. He believes that the downtown needs MMAS as a presence and the Fales property is an ideal location. It is within walking distance to municipal parking lots and near the Rails to Trails. The arts center will have an art gallery, and will have 12 art shows a year. The gallery would be open during business hours for people to pop in, view and possibly buy a piece of art. The next component is a 140-seat theater, with removable seats for extra flexibility. He is proposing 6-8 shows per season in the theater. When not being used as a theater, it could be used for rehearsals and functions. Another public space is the studio space, which could be used for various functions. A new component for the center for the arts is artist living spaces. The resident artists would be an active participant in MMAS. The income from the rental units would provide revenue to MMAS. r Board of Selectmen Minutes of August 30, 2006 3 Mr. Hendren noted that the site is unused. The good aspect of the site is that it is one block from the main street. The site is approximately 1/3 of an acre in size. We have ,r arranged the site as multi-purpose. There will be 16 rental units and there will be 32 parking spaces underneath the building. Mr. Hendren showed renderings of the proposed buildings, noting that the side of the building that is closer to the residential neighborhood, the building becomes more residential looking where the rental units will be, with wood and residential-sized windows. He noted that parking is an issue and believes that we can develop an additional 25 spaces between Shawmut Street and the parking further down Old Colony Way. He noted that there is parking available on North Main Street as well as the municipal lots. Mr. Butler is requesting that the Town sell the property to MMAS for below market value, as MMAS has brought a lot to the town. He admitted that MMAS will need to apply for grants and loans to bring this arts center to Mansfield. Mr. Dentino said that it would be dependent on state laws if we can sell the property below market value. Mr. Butler said that he has spoken with the Inspector General on this matter and the Board could authorize the sale for market value. Mr. D' Agostino said that it was Town Meeting who authorized the Town to sell the property for no less than fair market value. Mr. Dentino believes that it should be a community question and go on the ballot as a referendum question. Mr. D' Agostino said that could present a burdensome task for a non-profit organization and doesn't believe it is necessary. It was Town Meeting .~ that allowed for the sale of the property. Mr. Butler believes that a warrant article is appropriate in this instance. Mr. Amoruso asked why so much glass because he doesn't feel it fits in with the downtown at all. Mr. Hendren said that at the front, that is the gallery and the type of art varies from sculpture to paintings. It was designed to attract people from the public side of the building. Mr. Amoruso asked how this project will make financial sense. Mr. Hendren replied that we are pushing for the residential component of the building, which will support $3.5 million of debt. The total building cost will be approximately $5 million. There are several programs to get the remaining $1.5 million, including construction loans, grants, etc. Mr. Amoruso asked how the parking underneath the building will work. Mr. Hendren replied that the parking is five feet below grade. Mr. Amoruso asked why only 140 seats. Mr. Butler said that it will keep the performances more intimate and will keep in line with the area. Mr. D' Agostino noted that Mr. Buckland spoke of an arts center during the TOD discussions. It is possible that we could have two locations. Mr. Dentino asked about parking for patrons and performers. Mr. Hendren said that he is estimating 65-70 cars on a busy night. Mr. Hendren noted that the Old Colony rail line area has about 47 spaces and that the public lot across the street has 40 spaceS. Mr. r Board of Selectmen Minutes of August 30, 2006 4 r (' r Dentino believes there will be a fight for spaces in the downtown. Mr. Butler has also suggested a possible valet service, run by volunteers. Mr. McCarter brought up the issue of the vote from the 2003 Town Meeting and he noted that we cannot sell the property to MMAS or anyone else for less than the assessed value and that MMAS would have to go to Town Meeting. He noted that he fully supports the idea of an arts center. Mr. McCarter brought up the issue of noise. Mr. Butler said that there would be a lot of soundproofing done on the buildings. Mr. Hendren noted that the auditorium section is pretty insulated with other spaces before you get to the exterior skin of the building. Mr. Butler asked about the next step and Mr. McCarter pointed out that a petition would need to be submitted with 100 signatures. The Board thanked Mr. Butler and Mr. Hendren for the presentation. Postponed until September 13, 2006. Mr. D' Agostino said that he put together criteria for the distribution of the Deutsche Bank gift funds. He reviewed the explanation sheet. Grantees must be organized and operated exclusively for charitable purposes, qualifying under the Internal Revenue Code 501 (c)(3). The organization must currently be in compliance with all state and federal regulations. The Town will give weighted preference to the following organizations: Not- for-profit organizations exclusively serving Mansfield residents shall receive a higher weighted vote or consideration. Charitable organizations that are locally based in the Town of Mansfield who award funds greater than 70';'0 of their total charitable budget to Mansfield based organizations will receive the next highest weighted vote or consideration. Awards will be limited to organizations geographically located within the Town of Mansfield. Grantee organization must be self-supporting and grants will not be awarded to cover routine operating expenses. The purpose of the grants is to provide for special one-time projects not otherwise affordable by the organization. Grants will not be awarded to religious organizations except for non-religious purposes benefiting the general public or the citizens of Mansfield. The majority of the grantee's board membership must be comprised of Mansfield residents and the volunteer board must reasonably represent the Town of Mansfield or the area served. The board must have primary authority for the organization's policy and fiscal control. There must be a specific period of time during which the grant funds will be expended. Funds not spent during this Board of Selectmen Minutes of August 30, 2006 5 period of time must be returned, although the applicant can apply for an extension which will be considered by the screening committee. Upon completion of the project, the r grantee must furnish a report detailing actual expenditures and the results achieved. Matching grants are encouraged. Applications for grants that are not dispersed for lack of funding may be resubmitted. Grants are awarded by a majority vote of the Board of Selectmen upon a favorable recommendation from a screening committee of residents who will review all requests and provide the Board of Selectmen with a prioritized list of potential grantees who meet the policies and criteria of the program. He believes the screening committee will offer recommendations to the Board. Mr. Amoruso said that he didn't find anything wrong with the idea and general intent. He feels the discretion should fall with the Board of Selectmen for the distribution of the money. Mr. Dentino believes it is a step in the right direction. He wondered why we would want to know if they are a United Way affiliate. Mr. D' Agostino believes that we should know the organization's other sources of funding. Mr. McCarter asked why we are limiting the criteria to the Deutsche Bank gift monies. Mr. D' Agostino said that we could remove the Deutsche Bank name off the criteria. Mr. Dentino agrees that the policy should be for all general gifts. Mr. McCarter expressed concern whether some organizations have 501(c)(3) status. Mr. Amoruso suggested that if money is given out, the organization would have to state that they received money from this fund. Mr. D' Agostino said that we could list the companies/organizations who r contributed to this fund. Mr. D' Agostino said that the Board will need to establish the screening committee. Mr. McCarter suggested 5 people. Mr. D' Agostino said that he will incorporate the changes and come back to the Board next week. . Warrant No.8 in the amount of $4,508,277.78 Motion: To approve (Amoruso - Dentino) 3-0 (Mr. McCarter abstaining from check # 356894) Passes . Warrant No.9 in the amount of $1,582,356.87 Motion : To approve (Amoruso - Dentino) 3-0 (Mr. McCarter abstaining from check # 357236) Passes . Minutes of August 16, 2006 Selectmen's Meeting Motion : To approve (Amoruso - Dentino) 3-0 Passes r Board of Selectmen Minutes of August 30, 2006 6 . Water Installers License for Browning Excavators Inc., P.O. Box 310, Marshfield Hills, MA 02051 - Water Operations Manager is recommending approval r Motion: To approve (Amoruso - Dentino) 3-0 Passes . BLOCK PARTY REQUESTS - Police & Fire have reviewed and approved al/- emergency access and proper signage must be provided o Block Party request for Saturday, September 9th (with a raindate of Sunday, September 10th) for Bella Vista Avenue from 1:00pm to 8:00pm Motion: To approve subject to requirements by Police and Fire (Amoruso - Dentino) 3-0 Passes o Block Party request for Saturday, September 9th for Janet Lane, from the corner of Brookside Road to just before the next house on Janet Lane from 2:00pm to 10:00pm Motion: To approve subject to requirements by Police and Fire (Amoruso - Dentino) 3-0 Passes o Block Party request for Saturday, September 9th from the end of Central Street to the beginning of High Street from 3:00pm to 11:00pm Motion: To approve subject to requirements by Police and Fire (Amoruso - Dentino) 3-0 Passes r . Memo from Planning Board Chairman Tom French ~equesting $5,000 to fund a Request for Qualifications to conduct a traffic study for the TOD study area. Mr. McCarter asked where we are going to get the money. Mr. D' Agostino said that if the Board was to grant the money, we could find it. Part of it could come from a reserve fund transfer and some could come from the Town Manager's budget. Mr. D' Agostino said that the study would be from Route 140/Route 106 to Route 106/Hope Street. This money would enable us to get someone to put together an RFP so that Town Meeting would fund the actual traffic study. Mr. Amoruso noted that we need a traffic study of the area, but he doesn't want a traffic study based on the plan. Mr. D' Agostino said that the traffic study is not predicated on the Cecil Group plan. Mr. Amoruso said that there is no justification for the $5,000. Mr. McCarter suggested having the Planning Board Chairman come in to the next meeting to discuss this. Mr. D' Agostino suggested getting clarification from Mr. Burke. . Memo from Conservation Planner Michele Grenier informing the Board that a law was passed to help municipal boards avoid quorum problems when a member misses a hearing. This new law must first be adopted by a municipality for one or more types of r" Board of Selectmen Minutes of August 30, 2006 7 adjudicatory hearings. The Town Manager believes that this will need to be adopted by Town Meeting and not the Board of Selectmen. r . Memo from the Town Manager to Town Engineer John Sullivan regarding a reserve fund transfer request in the amount of $3,500 for an emergency dam inspection. Mr. D' Agostino said that the Finance Committee wants this to come out of the operating budget. He is now up to $15,000 for three dam inspections and we will need a reserve fund transfer at some point. Mr. Dentino asked about the $7,000 on the reserve fund transfer request sheet. . Follow-up email from Bill Clemmey of Foundry LLC regarding the Foundry parking expansion discussion at the Board's August 16th meeting. . Letter from the Police Chief to the Town Manager commending MIS Director Lou Costa for his response and skills when the Police Department's server crashed late on a Sunday night. . Letter from the Police Chief reporting an overage at the August 16th Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young concert. The concert went until 11:12pm. Motion: To send letter to the Tweeter Center for the Performing Arts (Amoruso - Dentino) 3-0 Passes r · Invitation from the United Chamber of Commerce and the Norfolk County Commissioners' Office to attend their quarterly regional breakfast forum on Tuesday, September 12th from 8:30am-l0:30am at Tri-County Regional Techical HS in Franklin. Guest speaker is State Treasurer Tim Cahill. . Memo from the DPW Director providing the Board with a list of bad roads. . Letter from Susan Jacobs of the Office of Town Counsel regarding the inquiry of Selectman Dentino. . Memo from the COA Director to the Town Manager regarding the Fuel Assistance Coordinator position and the job description. Mr. D' Agostino said that we have an opening and would like to improve the skill set of the position. Motion : To approve (Amoruso - Dentino) for discussion Mr. Dentino asked why the person would have to report to the COA Director and not to the head of Social Services. Mr. D' Agostino believes that the head of social services reports to the COA Director. Vote: 3-0 Passes r Board of Selectmen Minutes of August 30, 2006 8 · Memo from the Animal Welfare Committee requesting that the Selectmen waive the Town's portion of all building permits, site plans, and connection fees for water and r sewer that are associated with the new animal shelter. Motion: To support (Amoruso - Dentino) for discussion Mr. Dentino asked how we can waive a site plan and Mr. DO Agostino believes that the site plans are submitted to the Planning Office. Vote: 3-0 Passes The Town Manager reported the following: · We need to establish a timeline with which to submit the Town Manager's evaluations. · As of August 9th, the Housing Corporation has been established. · Read notice from Lt. Walt Crickard, Mansfield Police Department regarding a phone solicitation. Callers are representing themselves as Mansfield MADD Mothers Organization. There is no such organization and Lt. Crickard called the Massachusetts Chapter of MADD in Boston and they are aware of the collection being conducted and they said it's a private organization that is conducting the collection for the national (' chapter of MADD. The Police Department is reporting that they are receiving checks that people are sending to Mansfield MADD C/O the Police Department. The Mass Chapter wanted me to send the checks to them, but Lt. Crickard sending them back to the owners with an explanation and then they can do what they want. But there is no Mansfield MADD Mothers Organization and very few of the dollars they are sending in will be used in Mansfield programs, if at all. · SRPEDD has compiled their list of the worst 100 roads in the SRPEDD region and we have four of them, which he listed as Route 106 and Forbes Boulevard; Chauncy Street and North Main Street; Route 106 and Route 140; and South Main Street and the Tweeter Center. Motion: To extend the meeting to 11:15pm (Dentino - Amoruso) 3-0 Passes r Board of Selectmen Minutes of August 30, 2006 9 . - r Mr. Amoruso: None Mr. Dentino: · He received a memo from MMED Director Gary Babin and doesn't believe that it should be considered "privileged and confidential attorney work product." Mr. McCarter noted that this can be discussed at the Light Commissioners meeting. · He referenced the operating procedures of the Board of Selectmen and the dissemination of public records/information. He intends to keep going to the departments who have the information readily available. Mr. Amoruso said that the operating procedures state that the Board of Selectmen must get communications from the Town Manager. Mr. D'Agostino said that information that Mr. Dentino has requested should be made available to all members of the Board. Motion: To extend the meeting to 11:20pm (Dentino - Amoruso) 3-0 Passes Mr. Dentino believes that it is foolish to go through the Town Manager for information and he will continue to go to department heads. r Motion: To adjourn (Amoruso - no second) · Mr. Dentino asked why the Town Manager, who reports to the Board of Selectmen, will not provide an organizational chart to Mr. Dentino. Mr. McCarter noted that the Town Manager gave him the organizational chart and Mr. Dentino said that he did not give him a complete chart. Mr. D' Agostino said that an organizational chart does not list individual people's names. ~ . i7~~ ~&ffl,k, ~ 2t't'~ Signature of Clerk Date of Approval r Board of Selectmen Minutes of August 30, 2006 10 1 ~