Selectmens Minutes 02/19/2019
Board of Selectmen February 19, 2019
Chairman Marie Smith called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. in the meeting room at Veterans’ Memorial Town Hall, 558 South Main Street, with Chairman Marie Smith and Selectmen Joseph Pacheco and Patricia Riley in attendance.
Mr. Pacheco 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 also 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 Smith called the open meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. and stated that the Board was returning from Executive Session with nothing to report at this time. Present were Chairman Smith and Selectmen Pacheco and Riley.
Mrs. Smith led the Board in the Pledge of Allegiance and then reminded everyone that the meeting is being recorded live by RayCAM.
Acceptance of the Minutes
Mr. Pacheco made a motion to accept the minutes of the January 29th & February 5th meetings as printed and Ms. Riley seconded. Mrs. Smith abstained from voting on the February 5th minutes as she was absent. Both sets of minutes were approved as printed.
Department Heads
Mr. John Donahue, Town Moderator, of 195 Hickory Drive, Raynham, was present to discuss a Town Meeting article that was approved in May of 2003. The article concerned establishing an Appointment Advisory Committee whose purpose would be to review resumes, interview applicants and make recommendations for the filling of all appointed Department Head positions in the case of a vacancy in such positions. According to the article, this committee was to be appointed by the Town Moderator. Mr. Donahue stated that the first he had heard of it was two weeks ago. Since then, he has done some investigative work and contacted former members of the Government Study Committee that proposed the article. He stated, “In the past ten years, this mechanism has not been used and we need to decide what we’re going to do. My personal opinion is, if you have a department head vacancy and you anticipate getting a large number of resumes, maybe a couple of thousand, this Advisory Committee could be used to narrow down to a predetermined number of people that you want to interview. It would be the charge of that committee to get to you the five or ten resumes for your review.” He continued, “With regard to the pending vacancy we now have, where the Board is looking for internal candidates, I don’t see any value added to this Advisory Committee being enlisted. Quite honestly, how many applicants do you expect to have, probably less than five? So, we would be duplicating efforts if we have a small committee review the candidates and present them to you, and then you would interview them too. In this case, I don’t think it’s necessary. In the future, it’s up to the Board and we’ll have to wait to hear from Town Counsel or we can undue it at Town Meeting.” Ms. Riley said, “We had a committee that interviewed applicants for the Superintendent’s position, and they recommended the top two or three to the School Committee.” Mrs. Smith asked, “Would the Advisory Committee consist of specific people on it, or would it be a case by case type of thing?” Mr. Donahue said, “I don’t know how Moderator Tripp did this, but the article is very descriptive, and you need an at-large person, department head and parameters that need to be set and the size of the committee needs to be set.” The Board thanked him for his work. Ms. Riley made a motion to take the matter under advisement, Mr. Pacheco seconded, and Mrs. Smith made it unanimous.
Fire Chief Jim Januse was present to update the Board on the Activity Report for the month of January. The number of fire-related incidents including fires, motor vehicle accident investigations, and public assists totaled 97. The number of ambulance calls including medical emergencies, motor vehicle accidents and public assists totaled 171. The number of miscellaneous calls including inspections, fire alarm work, and other items of note totaled 64. Mutual aid calls were as follows: 4 ambulance given, 0 ambulance received, 4 fire given, 0 fire received. There was a total of 252 calls for January 2019, which is 3 more than January of last year. Chief Januse updated the Board on several employees who have been out on extended sick leave. He also reported that Lt. Jeff Wray will retire as of March 31st. Chief Januse has posted his position. Mr. Pacheco commended Lt. Wray on his service to the Town. Chief Januse also wanted to make a correction. He noted that the mobile home requested for temporary occupancy on Macy Street was due to a broken water pipe that severely damaged the house and not a house fire.
Appointments
At its regualry-scheduled meeting on December 3, 2018, the Council On Aging voted to recommend that Carol Stoehr-Ware and Donna Clark, both of Raynham, be appointed as Associate Members of the Council. Mr. Pacheco made a motion to appoint, Ms. Riley seconded, and Mrs. Smith made it unanimous.
Public Hearing
The TMLP and Verizon have requested a Public Hearing for a joint pole location on Gardner Street. With no public input, Mr. Pacheco made a motion to approve the request, Ms. Riley seconded, and Mrs. Smith made it unanimous.
New Business
Mr. Pacheco stated that at a previous meeting he presented the Board with a proposal for a Town Meeting article to see if the Town would 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 had stated that “This is currently a disservice to the Town, the Program and our Veterans and Seniors who are taking advantage of the program and 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.” Mr. Pacheco further explained, “The way it’s structured is they get paid, but that money is used to offset their tax burden, so they’re not getting a paycheck but they are subject to withholdings.” Mrs. Smith said, “You want to change this to $12.00 an hour. Do you also change the amount that can be earned?” Mr. Pacheco explained that the total amount that could be earned would not change. “With the new rate of pay, the hours would be reduced, the pay per hour would be increased, and you would still reap the benefits.” Mr. Pacheco made a motion to approve the article for inclusion on the May Annual Town Meeting warrant. Ms. Riley seconded and Mrs. Smith made it unanimous.
A letter of resignation was received from Ed Roster of the Board of Sewer Commissioners, as he no longer resides in Raynham. Mr. Pacheco made a motion to accept the letter with regret and asked that a letter be sent thanking him for his service to the Town, not only as a Commissioner, but also for his assistance to former Town Counsel Marc Antine. Ms. Riley seconded and Mrs. Smith made it unanimous.
A request was received from the Town Clerk for voting tabulators. Mr. Pacheco said, “The Town Clerk has provided us with language to abide by State law.” He then made a motion that “as required by General Laws Chapter 54, Section 34, the Town of Raynham is to start using Image Cast Optical Scan Tabulators and discontinue use of Accu-Scanner. The Image Cast Optical Scan Tabulators are to be utilized for the first time on Saturday, April 27, 2019.” Ms. Riley seconded and Mrs. Smith made it unanimous.
Completion of Old Business
Mrs. Smith said, “We have a job description for the Fire Chief, and, unfortunately, I haven’t had a chance to read it and I would like to table it until next week.” Mr. Pacheco said, “I believe this is close to the one that we used to hire Chief Januse and the only note that I made is that the first sentence should be Chief and not Chef.” Mrs. Smith said, “It will be on the Agenda next week.”
Town Administrator’s Report
Mr. Flaherty reviewed the Town Administrator’s Report.
For the Town Hall entranceway, Phase I has begun. The Architectural firm has measured, and he is just waiting for the options. Option I would just be a canopy. Option II would be adding a second story to create another meeting room. He is going to look at the costs associated with each.
The South School will be evaluated by the Building Inspector and Mr. Flaherty later this week.
The Town Budgets for FY2020 are being examined by Mr. Alegi and the Finance Committee.
The Raynham Historical Commission may have 2 new members. The Raynham Food Basket has two women who will share the responsibility of Director.
The next Selectmen’s Meeting with be March 5th at 7:00 p.m.
The next SRSG Meeting will be held on March 20th at 9:30 a.m. in Mansfield.
The next SMHG Meeting will be held on March 13th at 9:00 a.m. in Seekonk.
The next Department Head meeting will be February 21st at 9:30 a.m.
Ms. Riley asked if the Health Inspector could go to the South School as well due to the report of mold that has developed as a result of the leaking pipes on the bottom floor.
Selectmen’s Report
Mr. Pacheco thanked Highway Superintendent Ed Buckley and his team for their efforts with the snow storm yesterday.
Mr. Riley said the Government Study Committee held its second meeting last week and the Committee is off to a great start with a great group of people. Raynham Public Library Director Eden Fergusson and Raynham Police Chief James Donovan met with the Committee at its most recent meeting to discuss present and future needs of their departments. Ms. Riley noted that while the Committee intends to submit its main report for the Fall Town Meeting, it may well make recommendations to the Selectmen at any point while its meetings and deliberations are ongoing. Ms. Riley presented Mr. Pacheco and Mrs. Smith with minutes of the first meeting and information on the presentations given by Mrs. Fergusson and Chief Donovan at the second meeting.
Ms. Riley also reported that a graduation ceremony was held for Bridgewater-Raynham’s CERT Team this past week. A total of 15 students were trained in this class. A total of 25 were trained in the first class that was conducted last year. Ms. Riley stated that it is a wonderful program and she offered thanks to everyone involved, especially Raynham’s CERT leader Kevin Moreira and his counterpart in Bridgewater.
RAVE’s “Salute To Our Veterans” Committee is holding its annual fundraiser, a comedy night, on March 16th, at American Legion Post 405. All proceeds will help defray the cost of the annual Memorial Day Parade and the other efforts of RAVE’s “Salute To Our Veterans” Committee including the flags purchased to decorate the center of town for the patriotic holidays and the Veterans Day assemblies held in the Raynham Schools.
Raynham Pride Day is also set for September 15th and anyone who wishes to participate should contact Kevin Ellis.
Correspondence
Two letters of interest were received for the Sewer Commissioner’s position. Mr. Pacheco said, “Where we are so close to the election, I don’t know how appropriate it would be to fill that vacancy right now. They should take out papers and run. If this happened months ago, I would not have a problem filling the vacancy, but I think the public has a right to vote on who’s going to succeed Commissioner Roster.” Mrs. Smith and Ms. Riley agreed since there is such a short period of time until the annual town election in April. Mr. Pacheco made a motion to leave the vacancy open and send a letter of appreciation to both people who expressed an interest in the position. Ms. Riley seconded and Mrs. Smith made it unanimous.
A Tag Day request was received from the Taunton Gridiron for Sept. 15th and 22nd. Mr. Pacheco made a motion to approve, Ms. Riley seconded, and Mrs. Smith made it unanimous.
The South Shore Horseman’s Council is requesting use of the Rozenas property on May 12th, June 16th and August 11th with the approval of the Chiefs and with agreement to hire Raynham EMT’s for on-site medical services. Mr. Pacheco made a motion to approve, Ms. Riley seconded, and Mrs. Smith made it unanimous.
Correspondence was received from Neil Connors, Franchise Service manager for Verizon, stating that the required report detailing complaints received during the previous year has been filed with the appropriate authorities. The correspondence was accompanied by Verizon New England’s 2018 Form 500 for the Town of Raynham.
Two Orders of Correction were received from the Board of Health and they have been taken care of.
A letter of interest was received from Michael Sheridan for the open position on the Finance Committee. Mr. Pacheco made a motion to forward it to the Finance Committee, Ms. Riley seconded, and Mrs. Smith made it unanimous.
Correspondence was received from the Bristol County Advisory Board noting that its meeting has been rescheduled for February 28th at the Taunton Superior Courthouse.
Correspondence was received from the Comm. of Mass. requesting leased space available. Mr. Pacheco said in the past we have forwarded it to Chairman Noblin for consideration.
Correspondence was received from Jeff Beckwith, of the MMA, announcing the State-wide essay contest which is open to eighth graders. Mrs. Smith suggested forwarding the correspondence on to the school.
Correspondence was received from Ryan Family Amusement requesting a renewal of their automatic game license. Mr. Pacheco made a motion to approve, Ms. Riley seconded, and Mrs. Smith made it unanimous.
Adjournment
At 7:42 p.m., Mr. Pacheco motioned, and Ms. Riley 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