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HomeMy WebLinkAboutmin brd of selectmen 10112006 Present: RECE\\fED r- I"" '7'" <', OFf \ee 06 OCT 26 AM 9; 48 ""IELO Ht.r~;.)r MASSACHUSETTS Chairman David McCarter, Vice Chairman Louis Amoruso, Selectman Michael McCue and Selectman Ann Baldwin John D'Agostino, Town Manager Town of Mansfield Board of Selectmen Minutes of October 11, 2006 r-- The Board of Selectmen's meeting was called to order at 7:30pm, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. A moment of silence was held for Robert Cronin, former Qualters Middle School principal, who passed away recently. Fire Chief Robert Bellavance was present for the swearing-in ceremony. He introduced two recent promotions to the Department. Chief Bellavance provided background on Lt. Boyette and informed the Board that Marc Boyette has been promoted to Fire Lieutenant. He said that Lt. James Puleo has been promoted to Deputy Chief and provided background on Deputy Chief Puleo. Helen Christian, Town Clerk, administered the oath of office to Deputy Chief Puleo and Lt. Goyette and their wives pinned on their badges. Mr. McCarter noted how great it is that so many of their fellow colleagues came to the swearing-in ceremony tonight. He congratulated both firefighters. r Steve MacCaffrie, 236 Mill Street · Provided the Board with his analysis of what goes in and out of the MBT A revolving account. He doesn't believe that any monies from the town budget should be used for paid details for the train station. He believes that the police officer should not be paid from the Police Department budget but should rather come from the revolving account. Mr. Amoruso asked if this takes analysis into account the fact that we give $1.00 of the $2.00 collected to the MBTA. Mr. MacCaffrie said it does not. Mr. D' Agostino said that he thinks Mr. MacCaffrie is right about the intent of all of this. We want to have money segregated so that we don't have taxpayer money supporting commuters. Mr. MacCaffrie thinks we should charge the residents $1.00 per day as opposed to the $2.00 we currently charge. He thinks this revolving account will be huge in the next few years. Mr. D' Agostino said that we will have a report for the next Annual Town Meeting of this revolving account. · Brought up with the issue of meeting with the town boards and committees and suggested that the Board meet with the boards and committees on the off- Wednesdays. /""" Board of Selectmen Minutes of October 11, 2006 r-- · Was watching a recent School Committee meeting and noted that Capital Improvements rejected two improvements for projects that it turns out have been built, including a concession stand. Now the School Committee is coming before the Special Town Meeting requesting more money. Mr. McCarter suggested that Mr. MacCaffrie speak with the School Committee. Peter De Trolio, 496 Elm Street · Asked who is in control of Route 140, from Route 495 to the Foxboro line. Mr. D' Agostino replied that the state is in control. He noted that there have been many different signs and the grass is outrageously high. Is there anything we can do? Mr. Azinheira suggested putting a letter from the Town Manager together. Mr. D' Agostino said that we have called District 5 in the past about these issues and MassHighway doesn't move quickly enough. Mr. D' Agostino said that he believes we can take down the signs. He noted that there are many signs that abut private property. Mr. Amoruso said that if people do not like it, people should go to the store that is going out of business and tell them they don't want the signs in their town. Mr. DeTrolio asked that the Blandori sign be removed from the fence at the intersection of School Street and Route 140. ,-.. Fire Chief Robert Bellavance was present for the ambulance fee collection discussion. Chief Bellavance has made some projections about the revenue collection and noted that the revenues have not met the projections. He noted that the record keeping software that was purchased has helped with unpaid bills. The billing agency partners with the collection agency. The numbers that they gave the Chief were not outstanding. He has spoken with the current Treasurer and the outgoing Treasurer and they suggested wiping out everything except for the past 18 months. In reality, the changes of recovering money more than 5 years old is unlikely. Mr. D' Agostino asked the Chief how much uncollected money are we talking about and the Chief replied that the amount is $250,000. He added that in the most recent 18 months, Mr. McCue asked the Chief what the percentage is that we are collecting and the Chief replied that we are collecting about 90'ro. Mr. McCarter said that we want to weed out those people, especially residents, who did not have insurance or the ability to pay, but we could be more aggressive with the others. Mr. McCarter said the difficult part is deciding who should be sent to collection. Chief Bellavance said that he has never been given the authority to enter into agreement with the collection agency. Mr. Amoruso noted that the monies collected in 2006 so far has been much better than in previous years and would ,-.. support erasing the uncollected bills up until 2005. Board of Selectmen Minutes of October 11, 2006 2 r Chief Bellavance said that if people don't have the ability to pay, the people are instructed to make that known and file an abatement and there are some people who ignore that. Mr. McCue said that one of his concerns is that he is under the impression that we granted him the authority to review cases/appeals. Chief Bellavance said that he doesn't believe that gives him the authority to wipe out the bad debt. Mr. D' Agostino said that he doesn't feel comfortable wiping the uncollectible debt without a public disclosure. Mr. Amoruso would like to discuss this issue in greater detail with the Finance Committee and the Town Treasurer/Collector. He doesn't think there will be a lot of objection because it is unlikely we will get the 5% back from the previous years. Mr. D' Agostino said that going forward, we need to have an aggressive collection method in place. Mr. McCue asked if we want to send the message that if they dodge us three times, we won't go after them. Mr. McCarter said that he is of the belief that if you are a resident and cannot pay, their taxes are already paying for that service. He noted that we are doing better because of the billing company. Mr. D' Agostino said that we should put together a policy for the Board to adopt, because these issues can be contentious. Mr. McCarter said that we owe a fiduciary obligation to the townspeople to get as much as we can. Mr. Amoruso asked what Mr. McCarter thinks we should do. Mr. Amoruso asked if one of the letters states that non-payment could affect the person's credit rating. Mr. D' Agostino said that we didn't want to go that approach. ,,-. Mr. D' Agostino said that we will develop a policy and we will discuss it more. Mr. McCarter asked if we will bill if an ambulance is summonsed to a residence and there is no transport. Chief Bellavance said that we do not bill for such action. Mr. Amoruso wants to make a determination, with the Finance Committee and the Town Treasurer/Collector, as to whether we can write off all outstanding debts from 2004 back. He would also like to see the letters that the collection agency is putting out. Mr. McCue asked that all of this information be given to the Finance Committee. Mr. McCarter thanked the Fire Chief for attending tonight. Greg Arnold, Jess Aptowitz, Jim Lazzara, Vice Chairman, and Jack Goldberg from the Finance Committee were present for the discussion. Mr. Lazzara said that the Finance Committee met with Mr. D' Agostino and Mr. Moretti on the five-year forecast. Mr. D' Agostino said that he is actively in contract negotiations and if the Finance Committee discusses percentages, it could undermine his efforts. Mr. r-- Lazzara said that we will not talk specifics. Mr. Lazzara showed the Board a slide that Board of Selectmen Minutes of October 11, 2006 3 ,-- ,-.. ,-.. projects revenues versus expenses to 2011. Mr. Arnold noted that the Town Manager is going through union negotiations and he noted that the Finance Committee has not heard from the Board on the forecast. Mr. D'Agostino said that he has informed the Finance Committee as to the negotiations. Mr. Lazzara said that going forward, the burden on taxpayers will be greater and pointed out that the money from the state will not help enough. Mr. Arnold pointed out that these projections do not include some of the capital projects coming up. He said that there will be some tough decisions to be made in the future. In response to a question by Mr. McCue, the projections that the Finance Committee put together were based on both town and school projections. Mr. Lazzara provided a timeline of key budget milestones. Mr. D'Agostino said that it is likely that the Governor's budget figures will be released in mid-February because it is an election year and the new Governor will need time to develop figures. Mr. Arnold said that we will base the figures on FY07 and project what the revenue will be. Mr. D' Agostino believes that the Finance Committee should wait to prepare their preliminary budget after the Governor releases his/her numbers. Mr. Arnold said that the Finance Committee doesn't want to lose November and December waiting for the Governor's numbers. Mr. D'Agostino said that he needs to know what his staff's needs are. He feels that it will prevent his staff from informing him of their true needs, if they feel their hands are tied with what the Finance Committee is projecting. Mr. Lazzara said that their budget is a working document. Mr. McCue said that he can see Mr. D'Agostino's perspective and urged the Finance Committee to reiterate that their numbers are simply projections. Mr. D'Agostino noted that the town side has always met the Finance Committee's projections. He simply wanted to caution that the budget is a planning document for the town and shows what the town's needs are. Mr. Goldberg said that this is an attempt to get closer at the beginning as opposed to the end. Mr. D' Agostino asked the Finance Committee to respect the budget planning process and develop their budget in February/early March. He believes it is a more valid exercise after the first budget numbers are developed. Mr. McCarter noted that he appreciates the Finance Committee's hard work. He noted that budgeting for this year is an inexact science so five years is even more inexact. He doesn't feel that their preliminary budget in November is not binding at all and added that the Finance Committee cannot make policy decisions. Mr. McCarter said that the Board will still need to go through the exercise of determining staffing levels as the budget process develops. Mr. Amoruso said that we need to be as realistic as possible. Mr. Lazzara said that we will be doing with the same with the School Committee. Mr. D' Agostino said that he doesn't want the Finance Committee to look at the town's budget on January 2nd and say that they don't work with their numbers that they came up with on November 30th. Board of Selectmen Minutes of October 11, 2006 4 r Mr. McCue believes we need to have an appreciation of what is driving the costs up over the next five years. He noted that Mr. D' Agostino is good at being aware of the cost- drivers. Mr. D' Agostino said that the Board's charge is public safety. Mr. Amoruso noted that we need to look at infrastructure. Mr. McCarter thanked the Finance Committee for coming in. · Warrant No. 14 in the amount of $1,775,777.49 Motion : To approve (Amoruso - McCue) 4-0 (Mr. McCarter abstaining from check # 358485) Passes · Warrant No. 15 in the amount of $1,575,269.85 Motion : To approve (Amoruso - McCue) 4-0 (Mr. McCarter abstaining from check #358870) Passes · Minutes of September 27, 2006 Selectmen's Meeting Motion : To approve (Amoruso - McCue) 4-0 Passes r- · Application for Parade Permit for the Mansfield HS Homecoming Parade on Saturday, October 14th at 3:30pm; Bear right on Park Street, right onto North Main Street, right on Church Street, right into Memorial Park (band); floats will go right on Hope Street and continue to MHS parking lot. Police and Fire have reviewed parade route and approved. Motion : To approve (Amoruso - McCue) 4-0 Passes · Application for Parade Permit for the Annual Halloween Parade on Sunday, October 29th at 2:00pm; South Common to North Main Street, left on High Street, left on Rumford Avenue, left onto West Street, right onto Union Street, left back to the Common. Police and Fire have reviewed parade route and approved. Motion : To approve (Amoruso - McCue) 4-0 Passes · Drainlayer's License for Walsh Contracting Corp., 82 North Street, Attleboro _ Town Engineer is recommending approval Motion : To approve (Amoruso - McCue) 4-0 Passes r Board of Selectmen Minutes of October 11, 2006 5 ,-.. · Drain layer's License for Boston Directional Drilling, Inc., 1 Lorusso Road, Walpole _ Town Engineer is recommending approval Motion : To approve (McCue - Amoruso) 4-0 Passes · Water Installer's License for Walsh Contracting Corp., 82 North Street, Attleboro _ Water Operations Manager is recommending approval Motion : To approve (McCue - Amoruso) 4-0 Passes · Board should vote to close the Special Town Meeting Warrant on October 16, 2006 Motion: To close the Special Town Meeting Warrant on October 16, 2006 (McCue - Amoruso) 4-0 Passes ,-- · Letter from a West Street resident, asking for an investigation of implementing a truck exclusion or a no thru trucking for the western part of West Street. She would also like a sign placed at the intersection of West Street and Hampshire Street stating "End of Industrial Zone". Mr. Amoruso believes the sign is feasible, but the truck exclusion would be difficult. Mr. McCarter asked that the request be forwarded to Officer Lawson. · Letter from a resident regarding the sale of tickets by the Parks & Recreation Department to the Barnum & Bailey Circus. · Memo from Lorilee Fish, Park & Recreation Director, inviting the Board to attend the Annual Halloween Parade on Sunday, October 29th at 2:00pm on the South Common. She is also looking for a representative from the Board to judge costumes. Ms. Baldwin indicated she will judge. · Memo from the Town Manager regarding the School Superintendent Search Committee. · Memo from Town Engineer John Sullivan regarding Northern Construction's restart of the Route 106 Project, which they have committed to restart on Tuesday, October 10th. Mr. Sullivan reports that they did not start work on Tuesday but they hope to on Thursday, October 12th. · Memo from the Town Manager to Treasurer/Collector Roxanne Donovan regarding her September 28th assessment of Treasurer/Collector's Office. ,-.. Board of Selectmen Minutes of October 11, 2006 6 ,-- . Memo from DPW Director Lee Azinheira regarding three Special Town Meeting Warrant articles. . Letter from Lou Russo, Sr. Director of Government & Community Relations for Comcast, informing the Board about an upcoming redesign of Comcast's monthly bill statements. . Letter from Michael Souza of Troop 17, requesting permission to use the land next to the Police Station and in front of the cemetery for their Annual Christmas Tree Sale. They will be setting up the lot on November 18th with the trees arriving on the 25th and begin selling that day until December 20th, unless they run out sooner. Motion : To approve (Amoruso - McCue) 4-0 Passes The Town Manager reported the following: . We are scheduled to have a tri-town wastewater meeting next Thursday, October 19th. Town Counsel has indicated that the court has ruled against Foxboro Lodge's summary judgment and we need to have an executive session regarding Foxboro Lodge that evening. Mr. D' Agostino said that we will start the wastewater meeting at 8:00pm with the executive session at 7:00pm. ,-.... . Eileen Ouellette is retiring in November after 20 years of service to the Town and she will be missed by everyone. Mr. D' Agostino has gone through a process to replace Eileen and he has determined that he will hire Lauren Barnes as the Town Manager's Executive Secretary and will need to backfill the Selectmen's Executive Secretary position. Mr. McCarter asked if we will be able to fill the Selectmen's Executive Secretary position in a month. Mr. D' Agostino said that he is quite confident he will have someone in place by November 13th, Lauren's first day in her new job. . The Board received a memo from the Town Accountant today relative to the review of audit proposals for the Town and the Electric Department. The group, comprised of staff and members of the Finance Committee, reviewed the proposals and unanimously selected R.E. Brown & Company for the next three years for the town and the Electric Department. Mr. D' Agostino said that the Board has to give him some indication, based on the recommendation of the committee. Motion: To accept the recommendation of the committee as presented for the three-year period (McCue - Amoruso) for discussion r Board of Selectmen Minutes of October 11, 2006 7 ,"-" ,/""" ,-.. Mr. Amoruso thinks we should get another firm - we should have fresh eyes. Mr. D' Agostino noted that we send out about six RFPs and only received two. Mr. D' Agostino suggested that we have a peer review of the audit at the end of the first year. Mr. Amoruso said that some auditing needs to be done with respect to the issues the Treasurer/Collector noted in her memo, Mr. D' Agostino said that he will run that by the Town Accountant. Mr. McCue asked if the DOR offers a similar program to a peer review. Mr. D' Agostino said that it may not be as extensive. (Amoruso - McCue) 4-0 Passes Vote: 4-0 Passes . On October 22nd, we have a rededication of the Firefighters Memorial on the South Common at 1O:00am and the Board is invited to attend. . The Board received an invitation to attend the ground breaking for Mansfield Crossing on Thursday, October 12th at 9:00am. . Last week there was some discussion about Fairfield Green having the equipment to jack under Route 495. We have just completed a bid on Necco Road and the bid numbers that we received seem to be in line with the square footage cost associated with the Fairfield Green project. The issue for the town is that we have the ability to collect $50,000 on an abandoned sleeve. Mr. D' Agostino had initially made a proposal to put the money into the affordable housing trust fund. There has been a tremendous amount of discussion as to how much the cost for jacking will cost. Mr. D' Agostino said that he is raising this not to raise controversy, but he has a fiduciary responsibility to inform the Board. He doesn't think that the Board needs to vote on this tonight. Mr. McCarter expressed his concern about giving the abandoned sleeve up, because we do not know what the town's needs will be in the future. Mr. D' Agostino noted that we do not have a timeline right now. Mr. McCue asked if the two sleeves are identical in capacity and the Town Manager indicated that he does not know. Mr. Amoruso suggested holding off on the vote until Mr. Dentino is present, as he has strongly weighed in on in the future. Mr. Amoruso: . The School Committee search is ongoing for the new Superintendent. In the past, every search, with the exception of the most recent search, has included a representative from the Board of Selectmen and various boards/committees. He is disappointed that the boards/committees were excluded. He would have liked to include more stakeholders. . He wanted to commend the people who worked on cleaning the stairwells. Board of Selectmen Minutes of October 11, 2006 8 r Mr. McCue: . Noticed on the Special Town Meeting warrant that an article for expedited permitting is not included on the warrant and he agrees. He wants to discuss the issue with various boards and obtain their buy-in, if they are so inclined, before the issue goes to Town Meeting. Mr. D' Agostino said that he spoke with Shaun Burke about expedited permitting and Mr. Burke noted the concerns of the Planning Board. Mr. McCarter supports the concept, but would like to learn more from the state officials at a future workshop. Mr. Amoruso noted that he would like to learn about the 180-day turnaround first. Ms. Baldwin: . Asked if anyone has expressed interest in serving on the ad-hoc screening committee to review non-profit gift funds. Mr. D' Agostino said that there are a few people who have expressed interest. r- Mr. McCarter: . Being license renewal season, we need to send to Class II auto dealer's license holders the opinion of Town Counsel so they are in compliance with state laws. . Would like to hold a meeting at the Council on Aging and asked the Town Manager to arrange a time before the end of the year. . Pointed out the Board received an invitation from the Veterans Service Agent to march in the Veterans Day Parade, scheduled for November 11th at 1O:00am. Mr. McCarter noted that this is a Board evaluation, a collection/average of the three members who were on the Board in 2005. Mr. McCarter gave the average of the ratings as well as all of the comments that Board members gave to the criteria. Motion: To sign (McCue - Amoruso) 3-0-1 (Ms. Baldwin abstaining) Passes Mr. McCarter read the averages, based on a ten-point scale. Under legislative relations, the average score was 8.5; under public relations/communications, the average was 8.3; under budget preparation and administration, the average was 8.5; under managerial skills, the average was 8.3; under direction/supervision of town organization, the average was 8.5; under personal and professional growth of Town Manager, the average was 8.6; and the overall rating average was 8.3 Mr. McCarter noted that they were pretty consistent scores. He is not going to read the comments, but the evaluation is available to the public. He said that the Town Manager is more than welcome to respond to. Mr. D' Agostino said that it is a fair evaluation and /""" appreciates the feedback. He looks forward to the next three years. There is a lot to do Board of Selectmen Minutes of October 11, 2006 9 ,- and hopes he has the support of the Board to move the town forward. Mr. Amoruso said that it is worthwhile to do the evaluation as we do it so that it is not an individual decision. Mr. D' Agostino said that the issue of compensation needs to be addressed once the evaluation is completed and Mr. McCarter agreed. Motion: To adjourn at 1O:16pm (McCue) 4-0 Passes I!/dO~ 25; 2~~~ Signature of Clerk Date of Approval ,-.. - Board of Selectmen Minutes of October 11, 2006 10