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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSELECTMENminutes01162008-20080207155206 Town of Mansfield Board of Selectmen Minutes of January 16, 2008 Present: Chairman Louis Amoruso, Vice Chairman Sandra Levine, Clerk Ann Baldwin, Selectman David McCarter, Selectman George Dentino, John D'Agostino, Town Manager The Board of Selectmen's meeting was called to order at 7:30pm, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. So. Coast Rail project update Chris McGowan and Selectman Dentino went to the So. Coast Rail project meeting last night in Norton. The EOT (Executive Office of Transportation) presented 5 new alternate proposals that would run through Mansfield. Some of these would utilize rail beds that no longer exist or are currently being used for other purposes. Our State Representatives Barrows and Poirier were also present at the meeting and voiced opposition to any of these plans that would chop up the downtown area or be detrimental to the Town. Southcoastrail.com is the website that you can get more information about the project. Board and Committee Appointments Bob Andrews and Thomas Nery are present for Airport Commission interview. Mr. Andrews has been on the Airport Commission for 22 years and would like to continue his service. Mr. Nery is relatively new to the town and is a local pilot based out of the airport. Selectman Dentino asked about Mr. Andrews continued vision for the airport. Mr. Andrews stated that the airport is a busy local hub and he doesn't see it growing much larger. Selectman Levine asked Mr. Andrews what are the things or accomplishments that you are most proud of. Mr. Andrews stated that making the airport a self sufficient operation and learning all facets of the airport business are facts that he is proud of. Selectman McCarter asked if the airport will continue to sponsor events. Yes, they will. Board of Selectmen Minutes of January 16, 2008 Selectman Baldwin asked Mr. Nery what he would bring to the Airport Commission. Mr. Nery stated that as a pilot he would bring that experience to the Commission. He is well versed in federal aviation regulations and could help in that' aspect as well. Selectman McCarter asked how he would rate the airport facilities. Overall he believes it is a well run airport and well thought of by the aviation community. Selectman Levine asked if the fact that Mr. Nery ties down and rents space at the airport would be a conflict. Mr. Nery does not feel it would be a conflict and does not plan on leaving his space at the airport. Selectman Dentino asked how Mr. Nery feels he could make the airport better. As a pilot there are barriers to flying later at night from the airport. The airport is open limited evening hours. He would also like to see a small car rental business for the pilots to utilize around the area once they land. The facilities themselves are excellent and are well run. Selectman Dentino asked Mr. Andrews why the airport doesn't supply transportation to the pilots. Mr. Andrews stated that he knows of other hubs that do provide this service but because of the expense and liability of doing so, they don't. Selectman Dentino asked the candidates how they feel about bringing gliders back to the airport. Mr. Nery thinks that it is a good thing to have. Mr. Andrews feels that it could be detrimental to the airport as there is an inherent conflict between pilots and glider operators. Motion: To re-appoint Carl Lambrecht (who interviewed last week) to a position on the Airport commission for a term to expire on January 1, 2011. (Dentino/Baldwin) 5:0 passes Motion: To re-appoint Robert Andrews to a position on the Airport commission for a term to expire on January 1, 2011. (Dentino/Baldwin) 5:0 passes Cable Access Commission: Jeff Healey is a new applicant for the Cable Access Commission. He works in media relations and is interested in the coverage of town sports. He thought that this commission would be a good place for him to volunteer. Rick Mahoney is a current member of the Cable Access Commission. The biggest issue the Commission is currently facing is trying to get the new studio location resolved. Jack O'Neil has done a wonderful job with the limited space he has to work with. Board of Selectmen Minutes of January 16, 2008 2 Once they move to a bigger studio he would like to make cable access programming more accessible to the general public. Selectman McCarter asked Mr. Healey what the motivation is for him to apply. He has two small boys involved in sports and would like to volunteer in town. He feels that the coverage of town events could be expanded with more volunteers. Mr. Healey also feels that many residents do not know about what cable access has to offer. He would conduct a media campaign to let residents know what they have to offer. Chairman Amoruso asked the candidates what their cable access philosophy is. They both feel that the residents own the cable access facilities and would like to see more residents get involved some way or another. Motion: To re-appoint Rick Mahoney to a position on the Cable Access Board of Directors for a term to expire on April 3,2011. (Baldwin/Levine) 5:0 passes Motion: To appoint Jeff Healey to a position on the Cable Access Board of Directors for a term to expire on April 3, 2009. (Levine/Baldwin) 5:0 passes Ben and Tate made PowerPoint presentation about Haunted Howlings project. Ben Yeransian, Tate Shepard, and Tyler Schmidt are 16 year old high school sophomores. The team would like to construct and run a Halloween fundraiser for the Animal Shelter this October. They would need a piece of town owned property to use for the better part of the year as there is extension setup time. They volunteered at the Jaycees haunted house in 2004 and ran an outdoor section of the haunt which worked out well. They are also familiar with many different organizations who create outdoor haunted woods. Haunted Woods would consist of a plot of land (woods would be better with trees rather than cleared land. A full fledged path would be constructed consisting of pallets. The team would design the haunted house similar to the Jaycees style. They would have 5 or 6 live action scenes throughout the haunt. The land would also have to have space for parking and electricity would be a bonus. Chairman Amoruso asked where in town they might be interested in. They don't know; that is why the group is here to brain storm with the board on spots in town that they could use. Perhaps the back 40 on Plymouth St? Areas in Memorial Park or behind Hutchinson Field? The Board is in favor of this project and would be happy to assist the team with their request. Board of Selectmen Minutes of January 16, 2008 3 A short presentation on this project can be seen on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3zSX 41WGs Motion: To support the Haunted Howlings team in realizing their fund raising goals to assist the animal shelter. (Levine/McCarter) 5:0 passes Andy Gazzolo, Jim Lazzara and Jess Aptowitz are here from the Finance Committee. They would like to talk about the capital budget plan. The Finance Committee was looking for a ten year plan. Selectman Levine felt that was too long and often not feasible in a few years down the road. She would like to see a 5-10 year plan formulated after town meeting. Jim feels that it is important to do this before budgeting and town meeting so they can forecast accurately. Andy stated that the first 5 years are usually detailed in nature and the next 5 are a more general description of what is needed. Salaries and benefits are SO'Yo of budget expenses. So we need to plan for utilization of the 20%. The capital budget may affect what the town budget will be. Something needs to be done to control this expense but no one is sure what as a lot of these expenses are contractual. Revenue needs to go up or expenses need to go down. The Town Manager suggests that the Finance Committee give them a reasonable revenue estimate and salary increases can be set by those numbers. The Town Manager has implemented sev,eral cost saving measures over the past years but there is always more to be done to contain costs. The schools, electric dept and municipal unions are not all in line with contract terms and the Town Manager would like to see them in line by 2010. . Rick Colon, Verizon External Affairs Rep., would like to have meeting about Fios options, there are road opening issues in addition to other considerations. Verizon would receive essentially the same contract as Comcast has with the Town. . Ribbon cutting on Thursday the 24th, 3pm at Covidian. . COA coffee hour on Jan 17th at lOam. . St. Mary school kids town hall tour on Jan 2Sth at lOam. . Finance team has started meeting with dept. heads this week . We'll be adjusting the budget #'s as we review the budget and the process evolves. Board of Selectmen Minutes of January 16, 2008 4 . Warrant No. 29 in the amount of $3,205,621.34 Motion: To approve warrant No. 29 in the amount of $3,205,621.34 (Levine/Baldwin) (Mr. McCarter abstaining from check # 400082) 4:0:1 passes (Dentino abstains) · Application for lodging house license from Billings Realty Trust. 18 and 20-22 Thomas St. Motion: To approve license. (Levine/McCarter) 5:0 passes · Application for Entertainment license from BOAH LLC dba Mansfield Sportsplex. Motion: To approve license. (Levine/McCarter) 5:0 passes · Application for Drainlayers license from L TL Equipment Rental Motion: To approve license. (Levine/Baldwin) 5:0 passes · Request for Water Installers License from L TL Equipment Rental Motion: To approve license. (Levine/McCarter) 5:0 passes . Email from Anne Jasinki of Mansfield Reads/One Book, One Community requesting permission to hang a banner over Rt. 106 through the month of February. (Waiver of liability has been filled out and submitted to electric dept.) Motion: To approve request. (Levine/McCarter) 5:0 passes · Letter from Norma Wang of Self Help Incorporated. This organization provided services totaling $287,789 to 601 limited income households during program year 2007. · Email from Caitlin Delphinof Mass Rides. This is a program run through the MA Executive Office of Transportation and is starting to offer services in Mansfield. They assist employers getting their employees to work in a variety of ways by promoting different commuting options such as carpooling, busing, walking and biking. Please see their website at www.commute.com for more information. Selectman Levine asked if this program be combined with other uses of transportation such as senior transport. There has been a cut back in service with GATRA. Board of Selectmen Minutes of January 16, 2008 5 · Old business from Chairman Amoruso: None · Old business from Selectman Dentino: questions about liquor license availability. They are available for pickup and have been since the end of December. · Old business for Selectman McCarter: Looked for vendor for parking lot changes at MMA conference. He would like to continue to look at pass system. · Old business for Selectman Baldwin: Would like to know when next CIP meeting scheduled. · Old business for Selectman Levine: Would like to revisit charter changes for recall process. Do we need a charter review committee to do this? Motion: To request Town Council to look at charter change for recall process. (Levine/McCarter) 5:0 passes · New business from Selectman Baldwin: None · New business from Selectman Dentino: Mix up in trash collection. Published in paper and on website for one day late. But some routes were picked up on time. The Town Manager will have DPW consult with Waste Management to avoid this confusion in the future. Things that we can't do. The small business tax exemption is working in Wrentham. There is more vacant downtown area now than last year. Also . questions about setting tax rate and mailing out bills. The City of Attleboro is doing what he wanted to do. The Town Manager will ask the Assessors for more information and get back to him. Additional questions on costs to have staff attend meetings. Someone has paid for cost of trial transcription. Board has not ordered it nor paid for it to their knowledge. Motion: Any firm or entity that acts before receiving authorization from Board will not receive reimbursement of expenses. (Dentino) no second, motion fails. Selectman Dentino also states that Ashland negotiates their union contracts via committee that involve Selectmen. John is not aware of that and will check into. Board of Selectmen Minutes of January 16, 2008 6 Town vehicles: he has received calls from residents about kids being in town vehicles and on town equipment during working hours. John will check into with department heads but since the complaint was not specific he's not sure what can be done. · New business from Selectman McCarter: None . New business from Selectman Levine: None . New business from Chairman Amoruso: Passed out copies of Town Managers compiled evaluation to the Board members. It will be reviewed on Jan 30th. 7pm Light Dept meeting to start Board meeting next week. Motion: To adjourn at 10:55 PM (Baldwin) 5-0 Passes ~~~~e;($a-~m Signature of Clerk ~~.~2~~~ Date of Approval Board of Selectmen Minutes of January 16, 2008 7