Selectmen Meeting Minutes

Meeting date: 
Tuesday, February 6, 2018

Board of Selectmen                                                                                                               February 6, 2018

Karen Donahue called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.

Present were Joseph Pacheco, Marie Smith and Karen Donahue. 

 

Acceptance of the Minutes

Mr. Pacheco made a motion to accept the minutes of the January 30th meeting except for the correction of Mr. Weydt’s name, Mrs. Donahue seconded, Mrs. Smith voted present. 

 

Department Heads & Committees

 

Mr. Ed Buckley, Highway Superintendent was present to give his monthly report.  There were a total of 5 events for the month of January and a total of 30” for the season.  It is an on - going project keeping the equipment ready for the next storms and are continuing to do brush cutting.  There has been a problem with the recycling of glass as the plant in Franklin closed and there will be some changes in glass recycling. 

 

Public Hearing – V. B. Gas, Inc. dba Save More Gas & Convenience, 1348 New State Highway, Alcohol and License

                               Violation

 

Attorney Ed Brennan was present representing the store owner relative to the event that took place in January.   I understand that alcohol was sold to a minor.  The owner of the property and the manager of the store are both with me tonight.  It did happen while under an operation that was conducted by the Police Department, beer was sold to a minor; they understand that, recognize that and understand the seriousness of the offense.  I have spent a lot of time with them telling them how they might do things differently and I watched the video tape of the event and it was an oversight a serious oversight, but the minor did procure alcohol and we talked about signage on both sides of the counter, so that an employee on the owner’s side, as they take payments, to remind them to check all ID’s on the sale of alcohol or tobacco.  And they understand how serious this is and they will be very diligent in not letting it happen again.  They recognize the seriousness; they are not treating this casually.  Mr. Pacheco added, Counselor I agree with your comments it gives me a little more comfort with you here because to me it shows now that they are taking it seriously.  Because the conversation I had with the Chief was that his interpretation was they didn’t take it seriously and that when the Detective went in and told him what happened he said, ok what’s my penalty?   And to me that’s not an appropriate answer especially for a business that we gave a license to a year ago and a year ago we told them what the consequences would be if they sold to a minor in Raynham.  And so, in my opinion, and you know my stance on this Counselor, in 13 months they have already broken the trust of the Town and the confidence of this Board and showed little interest in it, that’s concerning to me.  To me their only saving grace is that they retained you.  Because I know that you understand how important we take this and how important the community takes this.  Based on the conversation I had with the Chief, it was as though they sold somebody a snow cone that melted to quick. Attorney Brennan replied, I spent time with them in my office with the manager and with an employee, it’s a family run operation and there aren’t that many people that are behind the counter interacting with sales so I stressed upon them that how serious this is, and the fact that they can’t let it happen again, they have to check ID’s and increase the signage as a reminder to the employee.  They might have a lapse, that’s not acceptable but that’s what happened.  They do recognize the seriousness of it, and if they value their license, they have to turn it up a notch and not let this happen again.  Mrs. Smith concurred and said this is a very serious thing and I am hoping that are taking it very seriously because it could result in the loss of their license.  I do hope that you realize how serious this is and you have a very nice store there. 

Are you aware of how to read all of this and look at it and know what’s correct or a fake one?  Are there any classes people can take?  Attorney Brennan replied, they do have the signage there and it changes daily for the effective date on the license. So they don’t have to do any math.  Det. Donnelly was present and said, as you know we do these stings every year and publicize them we go to every place with an underage party and ended up with 1 this year.   Mr. Pacheco made a motion to suspend the license for one day and in lieu of the fact that they have only had the license for 13 months, I’ll levy a $50 fine payable within 30 days, Mrs. Smith seconded and Mrs. Donahue made it unanimous.  Mr. Pacheco said, typically what we have done is allow the applicant, on a first offense to pick the day of the suspension but they should let us know quickly what day that’s going to be.  They can stay open, but no alcohol can be sold on the day of the suspension. 

 

New Business

 

The new DPW Service Contract was discussed.   Mr. Pacheco made a motion to accept as recommended, Mrs. Smith seconded, to and Mrs. Donahue made it unanimous. 

 

Old Business

 

Mr. Pacheco made a motion if the Board is so inclined to recommend hiring Mr. Michael Weydt as Health Agent, contingent upon background check, reference check and contract negotiation, Mrs. Donahue seconded.  Mrs. Smith voted present, as she has not had the opportunity to meet with him. 

 

Town Administrator’s Report

Mr. Flaherty reviewed the Town Administrator’s Report. 

The renovation at the North School is complete and the Painting Contractor has begun. 

The FY 2019 Mr. Flaherty has received almost all Department Budgets.

Mr. Flaherty, as Acting Health Agent has followed up on one Title 5 Inspection Report, also the land on Pine Street that had been auctioned off a perc test has been scheduled for next week. 

Fin Com. will be reviewing the Department Budgets next week. 

There is a vacancy on the Cable Advisory Committee, anyone interested should contact Mr. Flaherty, of the Selectmen’s Office or Kevin Ellis.

The next Selectmen’s meeting will be held on February 13th at 7:00 p.m.

The next Department Head Meeting will be held on February 15th at 10:00 a.m.

 

Selectmen’s Report

 

Mrs. Smith wanted to thank everyone for their kind wishes while she was out with the flu. 

 

Mr. Pacheco wanted to discuss the recent interest in taxes and he came across a story in the Enterprise regarding other area Towns tax rates.  And the significant progress the Town has made to control spending and keep costs at a reasonable rate and to reduce the tax burden on residents.  In Avon their tax bills went up about $3,000 this year which is a 15% increase, Brockton went up 7.3% and so Raynham saw a decrease when a lot of other Towns didn’t and now we are 193 but if you look at what is closer around us, we were one of the few communities that decreased the tax burden on both residents and businesses.  It’s accurate and factual information and the public needs to know the good work that we do on a daily basis that the tax payer money is being spent prudently and efficiently.  And Taunton’s went up .06%.  Mr. Pacheco also wanted to discuss South Coast Rail and their new plan on how they might finance that and it would be based on financial contributions from municipalities so, outside of the concern we have expressed in the past that would add cost to the Town of Raynham they are looking at levying additional costs.   The other impact it is going to have is on the residents in North Raynham and traffic and requires a train to go across Rt.138 and there are 3 or 4 houses on the railbed presently and there would be the additional potential cost to fund a station in the Town of Raynham when it also notes that ridership continues to decline.  So, we have always said that ridership in Raynham wouldn’t pay for our share of the project and ridership continues to decline so I just wanted to make those comments to the Board.   

 

Mrs. Donahue added that she was present to sign the Community Compact Agreement with the Lieutenant Governor and said she was very informative and helpful and Mrs. Donahue appreciated her influence with that. 

 

Correspondence

 

Two requests for Tag Days were received.  Mr. Pacheco made a motion to approve, Mrs. Smith seconded and Mrs. Donahue made it unanimous. 

 

Correspondence was received regarding the past due payments from Raynham Flea Market.  Mr. Pacheco made a motion to send correspondence requesting payment within 30 days, Mrs. Smith seconded and Mrs. Donahue made it unanimous. 

 

 

Adjournment 

 

7: 19 p.m. Mr. Pacheco motioned, and Mrs. Smith seconded to adjourn for the performance of administrative duties, signing of Bills and Warrants with a brief Executive Session to follow with no business to be conducted afterwards.  Mrs. Donahue made it unanimous. 

 

Respectively submitted,

 

Janet Murphy

Recording Secretary