Selectmens Meeting Minutes
Board of Selectmen January 29, 2019
Chairman Marie Smith called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. in the meeting room at Veteran’s Memorial Town Hall, 558 South Main Street, with Chairman Marie Smith and Selectmen Joseph Pacheco and Patricia Riley in attendance.
Ms. Riley made a motion to enter into Executive Session in accordance with Massachusetts General Laws, Chapter 30A, Section 21, to discuss strategy with respect to, or in preparation for negotiations with nonunion personnel or to conduct bargaining sessions or contract negotiations with nonunion personnel and to consider the purchase, exchange, lease or value of real property if the chair declares that an open meeting may have a detrimental effect on the bargaining position of the public body. On a roll call vote, Chairman Smith and Selectmen Pacheco and Riley voted in the affirmative to enter into Executive Session.
Chairman Marie Smith called the open meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. in the meeting room at Town Hall, 558 South Main Street, with Chairman Marie Smith and Selectmen Joseph Pacheco and Patricia Riley in attendance. In accordance with the action taken in Executive Session, Mr. Pacheco made a motion to ratify the leasing of a parcel of Town property. Ms. Riley seconded and Mrs. Smith made it unanimous.
Chairman Smith led the Board in the Pledge of Allegiance and reminded everyone that the meeting is being recorded live by RayCAM.
Acceptance of the Minutes
Ms. Riley made a motion to table the minutes of the January 22nd meeting as she has not had a chance to review them, Mr. Pacheco seconded, and Mrs. Smith made it unanimous.
Department Heads
Police Chief Jim Donovan was present to give his monthly report. For the period from November 27th through December 25th, the department logged 1,224 incidents and booked 52 people. There were 228 calls to “911” and 2 non-fatal overdoses. On Dec. 9th, Officers seized 600 bags of heroin and arrested 2 people. For the period from December 26th through Jan. 29th, the department logged 1,607 incidents and booked 52 people. There were 268 calls to “911” and one fatal overdose. On Dec. 30th, there was a fatal pedestrian accident on Rt. 44. On Jan. 7th, there was an armed robbery at the Quick Stop which was quickly solved. Recently, at First Citizens Bank, a senior citizen was transferring a significant sum of money outside of the country. An employee recognized that it might be a scam and called the Police and they were able to stop the transfer. The Chief will be reaching out to the Senior Center to make seniors aware of such scams. Ms. Riley thanked him and his department for all their hard work.
Appointments
An Application for Re-Appointment for Constable was received from Joel C. Thomas. Mr. Pacheco made a motion to approve, Ms. Riley seconded, and Mrs. Smith made it unanimous.
Public Hearing – Apple New England, LLC dba Applebee’s Neighborhood Grill & Bar for a change of Manager
Ms. Andrea Walsh was present representing Applebee’s. Ms. Walsh has been a manager for 18 years. Mr. Pacheco made a motion to approve, Ms. Riley seconded and Mrs. Smith made it unanimous.
New Business
Ms. Riley reported that the first meeting of the Government Study Committee had just taken place prior to the Selectmen’s meeting. Members include: John Donahue, Barbara Gallagher, William Lewis, Gil Alegi, Linda DeMello, Brendan Loftus, John Noblin, Cathy Boyd, Becky Mello, Sue Peabody, and Ex-Officio Members: David Flaherty, Michael King, Bob Iafrate and Marsha Silvia. Mr. Donahue and Mr. Iafrate have volunteered to co-chair the committee. At their meeting, members reviewed the actions of the previous Government Study Committee, which met from December 2002 through April 2003, and presented its recommendations at the May 2003 Annual Town Meeting. At their meeting, Ms. Riley reported some of the results of the Town Survey and some of the many suggestions that were offered. The Committee will be interviewing Department Heads. Ms. Riley asked if the Board had any suggestions or recommendations for the Committee as they will take all of the input they receive into consideration in making their recommendations. They believe the Spring Town Meeting is a little too aggressive for a timeline. Accordingly, they will be working with the goal of submitting their recommendations to the Fall Town Meeting. They will be meeting about twice a month. Ms. Riley noted that she is not a member of the Committee, but will take minutes and provide assistance as needed.
Completion of Old Business
Mr. Pacheco discussed the Fire Chief’s vacancy and stated, “We are now only 4 months out from him retiring and I would like us to move forward. I’m prepared to offer a motion to move forward with developing a posting for the Fire Chief’s position and maintaining that the position stays internal, meaning only members of the Raynham Fire Department are eligible to apply.” Ms. Riley seconded for discussion and said, “I wouldn’t disagree with anything that Mr. Pacheco said. I would just offer additionally that, as I was going through the report of the previous Government Study Committee, I noticed that one of their recommendations, presented as an article at the May 2003 Town Meeting, and approved by Town Meeting, was to establish and appoint an advisory committee whose purpose would be to collect resumes, do interviews with applicants and make recommendations for all appointed department head positions in the case of a vacancy. The committee will consist of 3 – 7 members, on a case by case basis, depending upon the vacant position to be filled, and will consist of appropriate Town staff and members of such relative Boards and Committees and one citizen at large, and will be appointed by the Town Moderator. That article was approved. So, if we could possibly include that in the motion going forward?” Mr. Pacheco said, “Just to clarify, you are looking to take away from this Board the ability to name the next Fire Chief and give it to an unformed committee?” Ms. Riley said, “I am reading what the Town Meeting of May 2003 approved and I think that this would be a committee that would make recommendations to this Board.” Mr. Pacheco said, “I would have to respectfully disagree. To start a committee right now that we’ve never had before, and to have its first responsibility be to pick our next Fire Chief, that doesn’t sit well with me. If that’s something you want to explore moving forward, to work together and assemble some guidelines, and put it in place for future hires, absolutely, but we have 4 months to name a new Fire Chief which is a significant and critical public safety vacancy. I cannot support it.” Ms. Riley said, “It was a Town Meeting vote and we are governed by Town Meeting.” Mr. Pacheco said, “I don’t disagree with you, but we’ve never had this in place before. I wasn’t aware of that and I’m not disputing it, but what I’m saying is we’ve never had this panel formed before.” Ms. Riley said, “I only came across this when I was looking as the previous Government Study Committee’s recommendations and found that this appointed committee would review applications and give recommendations to this Board for all appointed Department Head positions. I would suggest that we confer with our Town Moderator regarding this.” Mrs. Smith said, “I have to confess that I don’t remember it, and that was in 2003, and I was on that committee and I don’t remember it. When was Mr. Januse appointed?” Mr. Pacheco said, “2008”. Mrs. Smith said, “We did not follow it then.” Mr. Pacheco said, “We’ve never followed it.” Mrs. Smith said, “I know that and maybe we should table this until we can talk to Town Counsel.” Ms. Riley said, “I have no problem with that.” Mrs. Smith said, “Rather than making a decision right now, we would be going against an article that was already proposed and voted on by the legislators.” Ms. Riley asked, “Could Mr. Pacheco repeat his motion because I don’t think his exact motion would contradict it. It could be done in addition to it.” Mr. Pacheco said, “My motion was to move forward with developing a posting of the position, with the clear understanding that the posting was going to be open and accessible only to existing members of the Raynham Fire Department for the position of Fire Chief of that department.” Ms. Riley said, “I don’t think I have a problem with that. The Town Meeting article could be in addition to it, and we could refer this to Town Counsel.” Mrs. Smith said, “We all agree that we want it to stay in house. Let’s develop a posting and go from there and check with Town Counsel. Honestly, we’ve never done it before and if it’s going to be something new, then we’ve got to start doing it the right way.” Mr. Pacheco made a motion to have Dave Flaherty be in charge of the posting, “and give us a draft and we can finalize it at our discretion, and that it stays in house,” Ms. Riley seconded, and Mrs. Smith made it unanimous. Ms. Riley made a second motion to ask Town Counsel to look into the article that was voted on at the May 2003 Town Meeting. Mr. Pacheco seconded, and Mrs. Smith made it unanimous. Mr. Pacheco said, “I believe the search is multifold in that just because Town Meeting approved it, doesn’t mean the Attorney General approved it, so it goes to the Town Clerk’s Office to find out.” Ms. Riley asked, “Doesn’t the Town Meeting warrant articles go to the Attorney General for approval?” Mr. Pacheco said, “There is no guarantee they approve them. We’ve had them sent back before.” Marsha Silvia, Town Clerk, who was in attendance at the meeting, said she would look into it.
Mrs. Smith discussed the Out of Town, Non-Profit Tag Day request list. Mr. Pacheco made a motion to approve as printed, Ms. Riley seconded, and Mrs. Smith made it unanimous.
Town Administrator’s Report
Mr. Flaherty reviewed the Town Administrator’s Report.
Regarding the RFQ for the Operator’s Project Manager, he stated, “The finalists’ process continues.”
The North School Chimney was capped on Jan 28th. Marsha Silvia asked a question regarding the North School, stating that the doors were locked. Mr. Flaherty said he is in receipt of keys for the other room.
The South School HVAC work is almost complete, and the basement will be evaluated by the Building Inspector and Mr. Flaherty when the work is done. He is waiting on the serviceman.
A special thanks to Mr. Buckley, Highway Superintendent, and his crew for keeping the roads safe.
The Town budgets for FY2020 have been requested by Mr. Alegi and the Finance Committee for review. Submittal deadline is February 11th.
The Raynham Historical Commission may have 2 new members. The Council on Aging needs two Associate Members. The Raynham Food Basket has two women who will share the responsibility of Director and the Cable Committee is all set now.
The next Selectmen’s Meeting will be February 5th at 7:00 p.m.
The next SRSG Meeting will be held on February 12th at 9:30 a.m. in Mansfield.
The next SMHG Meeting will be held on January 30th at 9:00 a.m. in Seekonk.
The next Department Head meeting will be February 21st at 9:30 a.m.
Correspondence
Correspondence was received from Mr. Buckley, Highway Superintendent, who is sending letters to residents in Town regarding pumping water onto the roadways, which in turn freezes and creates a hazard. Mr. Buckley is notifying them that the practice must stop.
Correspondence was received from the B-R Regional School Committee stating that the Committee has adopted the Superintendent’s needs-based budget for fiscal year 2020, and the budget subcommittee has begun the process of evaluating the proposal. The Committee will hold its public hearing on the budget on March 13th.
Correspondence was received from the Raynham Board of Appeals regarding a public hearing on Wednesday, February 6th, to consider petition #976, submitted by Eduardo DeOliveira of Raynham, for a special permit to allow signs on the face of the Columbia Auto Body building at 1440 New State Highway, which will be 26’ long and 18’wide instead of the 15 feet in length allowed by the Zoning By-Laws.
Selectmen’s Report
Mr. Pacheco stated that he would like to put on the Agenda an Article that he would like the Board to support for the next Town Meeting. The Article would read: “To see if the Town will vote to tie the rate of pay for eligible residents participating in the SAVE program to that of the Massachusetts Minimum Wage or take any action relative thereto.” Presently, the SAVE rate of pay is $10 per hour. Massachusetts Minimum Wage is presently $12 per hour. Mr. Pacheco stated, “This is currently a disservice to the Town’s SAVE program and our veterans and seniors who are taking advantage of the program and now making $2.00 an hour less than minimum wage. This would tie it into future wage increases, so we don’t have to go back regularly to address it.” The article will be on the agenda in two weeks, when Mrs. Smith returns from vacation.
Citizen & Community Input
Mr. John Teixeira, 122 First Street, said he has forwarded a copy of a bike program to the Board, although he doesn’t really think it would fit in Raynham. Mr. Pacheco made a motion to forward the request to the Park & Recreation Department for their review. Ms. Riley seconded and Mrs. Smith made it unanimous.
Adjournment
At 7:37 p.m., Ms. Riley motioned, and Mr. Pacheco seconded to adjourn for the performance of administrative duties, signing of Bills and Warrants, with no business to be conducted afterwards.
Respectfully submitted,
Janet Murphy
Recording Secretary