Board of Selectmen’s Meeting
A meeting of the Board of
Selectmen was called to order by Chairman Russell Collins at
Also present: Michael J. Coughlin, Jr., Town Manager.
The Pledge of Allegiance was recited by those present.
Point of Order.
Selectman
Audette called a point of order to discuss the comments made by Mr. Sal
D’Amato, a member of the Finance Committee, that took place during a public
meeting on
Ms.
Powers stated, “She was out of the room in the hall with Chairman Collins” when
Mr. D’Amato’s unethical conduct transpired. She mentioned that she didn’t see
the tape as it was clipped on Saturday night.
She also reiterated what Selectman Audette said about the progress that
was made at the meeting between the Board of Selectmen and Finance Committee.
Chairman
Collins voiced his disapproval of the comments and gestures made towards him at
the same meeting by Mr. D’Amato. He felt
that the conduct of Mr. D’Amato was unbecoming of a public official. Chairman Collins then informed Ms. Powers
that the tape would be forwarded to the town moderator for review.
Selectman
Selectman
Ampagoomian commented briefly on what happened and thought it was inappropriate
behavior. He also mentioned that Mr.
D’Amato should have been notified by the Chairman of the Finance Committee to
be present at tonight’s meeting to defend himself.
Mr.
Andy Todd, from the Finance Committee, commented briefly on the meeting and how
he enjoyed the interchange between the Finance Committee, Town Manager, Michael
J. Coughlin, Jr. and the Board of Selectmen.
Town
Manager Coughlin mentioned that the meeting was still an open meeting. He stated, “The tape should continue to run
until the open meeting is properly adjourned and that the public has a right to
hear everything that is going on”. He
also stated, “That under Section 7-10 of the charter, governing Removals and
Suspension, that the Chairman would forward this issue to the appointing
authority for proper handling”. [Harold Gould, Town Moderator]
Sharron
Ampagoomian provided the Board with an explanation on what happened with the
video equipment and how she instructed Mr. Todd to turn the recording off. She stated, “that she is sorry for what
happened, but it was not her fault and she did not deliberately do this ”. She was very shocked and upset that the whole
thing even took place.
Approval of Minutes.
A motion/Mr. Davis, seconded/Mr. Ampagoomian to
approve the February 27, 2006 minutes as presented with the readings omitted.
Vote yes/Unanimous.
A motion/Mr. Davis, seconded/Mr. Ampagoomian to
approve the March 6, 2006 minutes as presented with the readings omitted. Vote
yes/Unanimous.
Public Hearing.
None.
Appointments. None.
Special Town Meeting [March 14, 2006]/Vote position on
articles. The
board decided to vote their positions on the following articles: Article 1 [Middle School Roof]. A motion/Mr. Audette, seconded/Mr.
Ampagoomian to support Article 1. Vote yes/Unanimous. Finance Committee voted to support Article
1. Article 2 [Police Station Roof]. A motion/Mr. Davis, seconded/Mr. Ampagoomian
to support Article 2. Vote
yes/Unanimous. Finance Committee voted to support Article 2. Selectman Davis asked if the funding ($3
million) from the United States Department of Agriculture would be given up
front, during, or at the end. Town
Manager, Michael J. Coughlin, Jr., replied that the Treasurer would go out for
a bond anticipation note. Article 3
[Tractor with attachments – 5 year lease]. Ms.
Powers asked the Town Manager if the $30,000 funds were available. She had some concerns about the free cash and
heard it’s around $200,000. She noted
$100,000 would be used for Article 8. Ms. Powers then asked the Town Manager
Coughlin about the $90,000 that’s been the subject of some matter with the
Building Committee. Town Manager
responded by telling Ms. Powers this was sent to Powers & Sullivan
(auditing firm) who is reviewing the issue.
Ms. Powers stated, “They don’t want to use free cash that they don’t
have”. With that said, the Finance
Committee suggested they would give Dick Sasseville, DPW Director, the
authority for a 5-year lease. This way,
it would allow Mr. Sasseville to go out and bid on the equipment and
appropriate the money in May, unless between now and tomorrow night they have
an assurance from the Town Manager on the $90,000. The Town Manager informed Ms. Powers they
would not have the assurance on the $90,000 by tomorrow night because it’s a
report that would have to come from the auditors. With that said, Mr. Coughlin suggested it
could be a housekeeping end of the year transfer from a department that has
money leftover. A motion/Mr. Davis,
seconded/Mr. Audette to support Article 3.
Vote yes/Unanimous. Finance
Committee voted to support Article 3. Article 4
[Zoning Amend: R3 and R1 to R6]. Denis Latour
informed the Board of Selectmen of the Planning Board’s Public Hearing that
took place last week. Those present at
this meeting were: Barbara Gaudette, Harry Berkowitz, Ed Palmer and himself. Denis stated, “Barbara, Ed, and himself voted
against the rezoning and Harry Berkowitz voted for the rezoning”. They felt it was not planned out enough. Mr. Latour suggested the land could be used
in the future for a new fire station, DPW, or an expansion of the High
School. Chairman Collins alluded to the
fact that the individuals on the Planning Board were taken aback by this
plan. Mr. Latour commented that the
planning board thought it should be a comprehensive plan and look at zoning the
whole piece and not by piece mail.
Chairman Collins informed Mr. Latour the land was once zoned residential
(R1). Harry Berkowitz informed the Board
of Selectmen that in 2001 he pushed to have this land rezoned as I1. Mr. Berkowitz discussed his concepts of
putting an industrial park in and then stated, “The market was there at that
time”. The cost of building the roads
became prohibited without a lot of tenants moving in and this is a problem with
industrial sites as it becomes very expensive to develop. Mr. Berkowitz mentioned a concern of his and
how the Town could be looking at another 40B.
Ms. Barbara Gaudette discussed the reasons for her voting against the
rezoning articles. 1) Development plan,
2) too many condo units in Northbridge and is there really a need for more, 3)
Industrial land – no land left to build upon in Northbridge, 4) Northbridge
needs more affordable housing, right now Northbridge is at 7% and the state
requires 10%. Ms. Gaudette stated, “this
is a short-term idea to make that property marketable”. She then stated, “Northbridge is the most
populated town per acre in the Blackstone Valley area and that the town should
be looking at the entire picture, plan big, don’t make short term things based
upon the perceived market”. Chairman
Collins talked about Heritage Park and how they give the town $450,000 worth of
taxes per year. Ms. Gaudette interrupted him by asking how many units Heritage
Park has, and Chairman Collins replied, “279 units”. Ms. Gaudette was upset and tried to defend
the point she was trying to get across with respect to taxes being less at
Heritage Park vs. Marston Road. Ms.
Gaudette asked several questions with respect to the Executive Session minutes
and why they haven’t been released and how come the Planning Board wasn’t involved
in the process. Town Manager, Michael J. Coughlin, Jr., explained why the
minutes weren’t released due to the change in Town Managers. He informed Ms. Gaudette that the Selectmen
would vote at the end of the meeting to have them released. Selectman Davis asked *Mr. Latour if they would feel more comfortable if Articles 4, 5
& 6 were passed over until they could get a better understanding of the
whole process. He then stated, “a key person, the Executive Director of the
Blackstone Valley Chamber of Commerce, was not aware the land was being
rezoned”. A motion/Mr.Audette,
seconded/Mr. Davis not to support Article 4.
Vote yes/Messrs. Audette & Davis. Vote no/Messrs. Montecalvo &
Collins. Abstain/Mr. Ampagoomian. Motion doesn’t carry. A motion/Mr. Collins, seconded/Mr. Montecalvo
to support Article 4. Vote yes/Messrs.
Collins & Montecalvo. Vote
no/Messrs. Davis & Audette.
Abstain/Mr. Ampagoomian. Motion
doesn’t carry. Finance Committee voted
not to support Article 4. Article 5
[Zoning Amend: I1 to R3]. A motion/Mr.Davis, seconded/Mr.
Audette not to support Article 5. Vote
yes/Messrs. Audette & Davis. Vote no/Messrs. Montecalvo & Collins. Abstain/Mr. Ampagoomian. Motion doesn’t carry. A motion/Mr. Montecalvo, seconded/Mr. Collins
to support Article 5. Vote yes/Messrs.
Collins & Montecalvo. Vote
no/Messrs. Davis & Audette.
Abstain/Mr. Ampagoomian. Motion
doesn’t carry. Finance Committee voted
not to support Article 5. Article 6
[Zoning Amend: I1 and R3 to B3]. A
motion/Mr.Davis, seconded/Mr. Audette not to support Article 6. Vote yes/Messrs. Audette & Davis. Vote
no/Messrs. Montecalvo & Collins.
Abstain/Mr. Ampagoomian. Motion
doesn’t carry. A motion/Mr. Montecalvo,
seconded/Mr. Collins to support Article 6.
Vote yes/Messrs. Collins & Montecalvo. Vote no/Messrs. Davis & Audette. Abstain/Mr. Ampagoomian. Motion doesn’t carry. Finance Committee voted not to support
Article 6. Article 7 [Fire Station Land –
Gift]. A motion/Mr. Audette,
seconded/Mr. Montecalvo to support Article 7.
Vote yes/Messrs. Montecalvo, Audette, Davis & Collins.
Abstain/Ampagoomian. Finance Committee
voted to support Article 7. The Finance Committee recommended the following
language be deleted from the article, “for fire station purposes” and the Board
concurred. A motion/Mr. Davis,
seconded/Mr. Audette to amend Article 7 as recommended by the Finance
Committee. Vote yes/Messrs. Montecalvo,
Audette, Davis & Collins. Abstain/Ampagoomian. Article 8 [USDA Loan – New Fire Station]. A motion/Mr. Montecalvo, seconded/Mr. Audette
to support Article 8. Vote yes/Messrs.
Montecalvo, Audette, Davis & Collins. Abstain/Ampagoomian. Finance Committee voted to support Article
8. The Finance Committee recommended
deleting the following language from the motion: “and to authorize the Building, Planning
& Construction Committee to expend, upon approval of the Board of
Selectmen, any such grant and/or loan funds received, without the necessity of
further appropriation”. The Board
concurred with this recommendation. Article 9
[Paving of Birch Street]. Chairman Collins asked Mr. Dick
Sasseville, DPW Director, his thoughts on this article; the cost factor, and
who’s handling. Mr. Sasseville spoke
briefly on the matter by telling the Board he provided the estimate. The Board discussed the scope of the petition
article and Ms. Powers requested that the petitioner amend the motion. A motion/Mr. Davis, seconded/Mr. Audette to
support Article 9. Vote yes/Unanimous. The Finance Committee voted to support
Article 9.
Spring Annual Town Meeting [May 2, 2006]/Vote to place
articles on the warrant. A motion/Mr. Ampagoomian,
seconded/Mr. Audette to place Board of Selectmen-sponsored articles on the May
2, 2006 Spring Annual Town Meeting Warrant.
Vote yes/Unanimous.
Armenian Apostolic Church/Request to hang a banner
over Church Street. A motion/Mr. Davis, seconded/Mr.
Audette to grant permission to the Armenian Apostolic Church to hang a banner
over Church Street from April 9, 2006 to April 24, 2006 in honor of “Martyr’s
Day”. Vote yes/Messrs. Ampagoomian, Davis,
Audette, and Collins. Abstain/Mr.
Montecalvo.
FY 2003 Community Development Block Grant/Request to
execute a Discharge of Lien on property located at 229 Church Street,
Whitinsville, MA. A motion/Mr. Davis, seconded/Mr.
Audette to discharge lien on property located at 229 Church Street,
Whitinsville, Ma. Vote yes/Unanimous.
Citizen’s Comments/Input. Denis Latour brought forth his request again to the
Board of Selectmen for reconfiguration of signage located at different
entrances to Northbridge regarding current athletic achievements by private and
public schools in town. A brief
discussion followed and Chairman Collins suggested that a representative from
the Whitinsville Christian School be present to discuss this matter at a future
meeting.
Ms.
Powers requested a copy of the draft articles on the warrant for the Spring
Annual Town Meeting.
Sharron
Ampagoomian pointed out that the new telephone books that were distributed to
the town had multiple mistakes listed for the Town of Northbridge departments.
Selectmen’s Concerns.
Selectman
Audette asked the Board if the Executive Session minutes are being voted upon
tonight or 2 weeks from now after they’ve had time to review. Town Manager Coughlin explained that
Selectman Davis and Selectman Audette have to abstain from voting on the
minutes, prior to July 05 as they did not serve on the Board at that time. A motion/Mr. Montecalvo, seconded/Mr.
Ampagoomian to release the Executive Session minutes as follows: June 21, 2004, July 12, 2004, July 26, 2004,
August 9, 2004, August 30, 2004, September 13, 2004, October 4, 2004, February
14, 2005. Vote yes/Messrs. Montecalvo,
Ampagoomian & Collins.
Abstain/Messrs. Davis & Audette.
Selectman
Davis inquired about the status on the removal of telephone poles on Church
Street. Town Manager Coughlin responded
by saying he met with Mr. Peterson [Mass. Electric], however, the contractor
was out last week and couldn’t review the situation. Mr. Sasseville stated, “They are waiting for
resolution on the warranty issue and whether or not the problem would be
covered by them or the town”.
Selectman
Davis wanted to know when the Building Committee was coming back before the
Board of Selectmen, as they had requested them back in 30 days (it’s been 45)
to discuss the school. Town Manager
Coughlin informed the Board that Mr. Barbadora met with Mr. Murray on several
of the issues and are making progress.
Selectman Davis also raised the issue on the discussion they had in an
Executive Session on JMJ Realty Reimbursement and where that stood. Mr. Coughlin mentioned that it was in the
process of being resolved and the Board of Selectmen had approved a
settlement. Selectman Davis mentioned
that he has 14 items in his future agenda file and will forward to the Town Manager
so they can be added to an agenda in the future; Items such as: Whitinsville Water Company, Capital Plan, and
the District Improvement Financing Program.
Selectman
Audette inquired about the handicapped bathrooms and whether or not they will
be marked men and women. Town Manager
Coughlin informed the Board they would indeed be marked “men and women”. Town Manager then proceeded to mention the
storage area space located on the first floor would now be turned into a small
conference room. Mr. Coughlin also
informed everyone that Mr. Bob Thayer would be relocating his office to a
vacant area on the first floor so that he could be closer to the financial
team.
Mr.
Coughlin mentioned they were looking into moving the Veterans Services in the
future to the Veterans Hall on Hill Street.
He’s been discussing this issue with Mr. Fitzpatrick at Valley Tech. as
Mr. Fitzpatrick and his team will be coming in on March 24th to
assess the town building.
Town Manager’s Report. Town Manager, Michael J. Coughlin, Jr. spoke
briefly about the monthly departmental reports.
He reiterated that the department heads would present their budgets on a
quarterly basis. He noted for the board
to pay close attention to the Town accountants’ accomplishments this month.
Executive Session.
None.
Respectfully
submitted,
John
A. Davis, Clerk
dg/
* At their March 27, 2006 Meeting the
Selectmen voted to amend the March 13, 2006 minutes as follows: Page 2, Line 37, delete the words
“the Finance Committee” and insert the words “Mr. Latour”.