Board Of Selectmen’s MinutesNovember 10, 2015

TATom Guerino

Selectmen

Stephen Mealy, Chairman

Don Pickard, Vice-Chairman

Michael Blanton, Clerk

Don Ellis

Peter Meier

Note this meeting is being televised and recorded. If anyone in the audience is recording or videotaping, they need to acknowledge such at this time – Michael Rausch Bourne Enterprise.

All items within the meeting agenda are subject to deliberation and vote(s) by the Board of Selectmen.

Documents

Meeting Called to Order

Chm. Mealy called the meeting back into open session at 7:30 pm.

Moment of Silence for our Troopsand our public safety personnel/Salute the Flag

Public Comment – Non-Agenda Items

JennDonnavan from Monument Beach. Ms. Donnavan stated she had written to the Board of Selectmen to express her disappointment in the inequity way that we fund the Upper Cape Tech. How can it change, does it have to be at a Town Meeting, does it have to be an article. I know the five towns have to get together and have heard that the five towns pay different rates to send their students there, and that the town of Bourne pays the highest rate base on the proximity. I want to know where to go from here to get that changed. Looking at the inequity it feels harsh and it seem like they are just giving us a bill and we just have to pay it. It seems unfair.

Stephen Mealy will contacted the superintendent of the Upper Cape Tech and will try to arrange a meeting for the three of us to meet so he can answer all of your questions.

Mr. Ellis wanted to make a point of personal interest. After thechaotic last few months with the budget it seem we have slipped back on the course with the town from going forward. I wanted to reaffirm my support of Stephen Mealy as our Chairman and the Finance Director of the town is Linda Marzelli, not someone from the Finance Committee. At the pre meeting in the Bourne High School Library between the Selectmen and the Finance Commission, I have never witnessed a complete disrespect, an interruption of the Chairman of the Board of Selectmen when he tried to address the Selectmen’s budget before the members of the assembled committees. The Chairman of the Finance Committee couldn’t even get a majority vote to adopt an indefinite postponement with the article in question. Town Meeting passed the articles to support the Selectmen and the balance of the Finance Committee on this question. Mr. Mealy showed the right stuff in his leadership and I am extremely proud of him for that. I did not vote for Mr. Mealy to be our new Chairman, but I can assure you that if the opportunity to vote for him in the future arises I will, because he is the best we have got.

5) Minutes:

Don Pickard noted that Mr. Meier was excused.

VotedDon Pickard moved and seconded by Michael Blantonto approve the minutes from September 15, 2015 as presented.Peter Meier abstained. Vote 4-1-0.

6) Correspondence

Michael Blanton brought the committee up to date on the correspondence.

  1. Letter from the Haven Center, Inc. regarding the RMD
  2. Meeting notices of Zoning Board of Appeals
  3. Correspondence from MEMA and FEMA to clarify Snow Assistance Policy
  4. Formal Notification from the Town Clerk on Bourne being part of the MBTA
  5. Notice of upcoming Risk Mapping, Assessment, and Planning Discovery Meeting
  6. Abutter Notification Letter for 6 Salt Works Lane, Buzzards Bay
  7. Open Meeting Law Complaint – Ronald Beaty – 7.16.15
  8. Quarterly Report for the Regulatory Services Department
  9. Permanent Resolution Statement Report on the release of Diesel Fuel at Market Basket
  10. Notice of Intent to Renegotiate Contracts from DPW, ISWM, Units A&B received
  11. Notice – Selectmen’s Task Force on Local Pollution and Phase II Stormwater Management Community Oversight Group Meeting on November 9, 2015
  12. Notification of Conditionally Approved Open to Shellfishing in Squeteague Harbor from October 1-June 30

Stephen Mealy stated on the open meeting law complaint by Mr. Beaty, this was because we failed to note that the board would be coming back into open session following executive session.

Mr. Mealy also stated we did receive a letter from the Board of Health from October 30, 2015, Suggesting the Board of Selectmen void the License granted to Future Generation Wind/Con Edison allowing the transport of large trucks/loads over specific roads within the Town of Bourne.

Mr. Mealy also stated on Wednesday November 4, the Board of Selectmen Chairman and Vice Chairman, the Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Board of Health met with Town Counsel and the Town Administrator to discuss concerns related to the Future Wind Generation project. The outcome of the discussion was an outline of options that may be available to the Board of Health to discuss with the full Board regarding any future actions it is my wish to pursue related to the wind turbine project. The Board of Selectmen were advised to take no action on the previously granted License for heavy truck/load transport.

Peter Meier stated we also got a letter from Mary Jane Mastrangelo about the SAFER Grant over the weekend.

Michael Blanton stated we also got a letter from Future Wind Generation Transportation Company saying they have completed the transportation.

7) 7:15 – Donna Barakauskas – Principal Assessor - Classification

Seth Woolard, Assistant Assessor, standing in for Donna Barakauskas. Seth Woolard stated Donna wanted me to bring to the board the Property Classification Recommendation for fiscal year 2016. The Board of Assessors recommends that the Board of Selectmen retain one tax rate for all classes of property for fiscal year 2016. The Board feels that the relatively small benefit to the residential taxpayer that could be achieved through the use of two tax rates is not warranted in light of the dramatic increase in taxes paid by the Commercial/Industrial/Personal Property taxpayer. Bourne is largely a residential community that simply does not have enough of a commercial/industrial base to make classification worthwhile. The proposed tax rate is $10.17 per thousand.

Don Pickard questioned at what point does it become a better option to say no to the 150 Split saving the taxpayer $0.72 per thousand. We would need how much more of an industrial or commercial tax base. Mr. Woolard stated in general it is usually 20-25% of your commercial tax base. We are at about 9-11%. Don Pickard questioned if there is a detriment to economic development and having people come to town if you did have the 125 or 150 split? Mr. Woolard responded stating it is definitely a detriment, it hinders businesses and they will look at other communities with lower tax rates or single rate.

VotedDon Pickard moved and seconded by Peter Meier to accept the recommendation of the Director of Assessor and to maintain a single property classification rate for fiscal year 2016.

Michael Blanton stated he hopes that can be revisiteddepending upon what we see for commercial growth over the next few years.

Vote 5-0

8) Selectmen’s Business –

a.Discussion and vote on Executive Session regarding Fire Department Dispatch and the Safer Grant

b.FY 17 Budget – BOS departmental liaisons with the Town Administrator and continue general FY 17 budget discussion from October 27, 2015.

a. Stephen Mealy gave a brief overview of thediscussion of the Town taking on the Dispatch. Don Pickard briefly went over the cuts for the Fire Department;regarding the Fire Department becoming a certified emergency medical dispatch resource, beyond the regular training there are other items we don’t know the cost of, it could exceed what we have. In the Executive Session discussions it was determined that it is not prudent at this time for the Board of Selectmen to go forward with having the Fire Department personnel to assume dispatch.However, there is support from the Board to maintain the grant through its duration, and utilize the ambulance fees for that purpose through December 31, 2016. Hopefully within that time between the Town Administrator, the Police Chief, and the Fire Chief they come to some sort of resolution to afford the town the opportunity to come forward with a civilian dispatch operation.

Tom Guerino stated he thinks we will be in a much better position in the long term, taking nothing away from the fire fighter paramedics who sat and worked with us on this, to look at a long-term civilian dispatch solution. It is important that we keep the grant personal in place for the duration. Given there is an opportunity to utilize existing funds without cutting other budgets, to keep the Sheriff’s Department on line for another 12 months, and using dedicated funds. Would like to move forward with us being able to move toward a civilian dispatch a year from January.

Don Pickard stated his concerns are financially driven. It is an assessment that in the event that at some time during the SAFER Grant we have to lay off firemen; what will happen is the Board will recognize there is a $56,000 per month fee to be reimbursed to the Federal Government for every month back to August 2015. My concern is for the other departments. I don’t want to come back and say instead of laying off the firemen we will take money from other departments just to save 8 grant funded firemen, non of whom reside in Bourne.

Peter Meier stated he would like to take a step back and not rush into anything. His goal is to keep the SAFER Grant in in its entirety.

Michael Blanton stated he would like to see the SAFER Grant maintained. The particular proposal given to us by the local 1717 was challenging to stand behind. It seems there are opportunities to take moneys from the ambulance fund, there are other allocations to be made that can maintain level services while we study this longer and try to find the best possible solution and try to keep as many fire fighters employed as possible.

Don Ellis stated he will vote positive for this because the Chief runs the department, not the other way around. For the betterment of the Town I believe we should vote this in.

Don Pickard stated I believe the Fire Chief that when he said whether he had 32 people or 44 people he will provide the highest level of service possible.

VotedDon Pickard moved and seconded byPeter Meier that the Board of Selectmen not accept the provisions of local 1717 assuming the emergency medical dispatch role for the Town of Bourne and further reaffirm that the grant funded firemen will remain in place through August 2017 and said funding for the dispatch will be taken out of the ambulance fees as generated by the fire department and that subject to appropriations.

Dave Doherty from Monument Beach questioned what SAFER Grant are we operating on now? Mr. Guerino stated we are operating on the second grant. This grant will expire in August or early September 2017. Mr. Doherty stated we are operating under Grant 2014, the name of the Federal Governments SAFER Grant. Tom Guerino stated you are correct in the title. Don Pickard read the period of performance but because there was delays in hiring and getting the staff in place, it got kicked out about 8 months until August. Mr. Doherty stated the 8 firefighters hired under 2014 technically would have to have been laid off to be hired and notices would have been sent in the application. Mr. Pickard stated the majority of the firemen who were in the initial grant were already placed on the active duty roster not covered by the grant. Because of the requirements of the grant the Fire Department had to solicit other names and they continually back fill those empty slots. Mr. Doherty stated that the article in the paper said that Special Sheriff Jeff Perry said it is $125,298 and that expanded capacity and increase membership would result in much greater financial efficiency and less cost in the individual towns. Mr. Pickard stated the total cost to the town for the fire dispatch to be handled by the Barnstable County Sheriff Department is $125,298. That is for Fiscal Year July 1, 2015 through June 30, 2016. That amount would be lower if the town gave the sheriff their Public Safety Answering Point. The Public Safety Answering Point in Bourne is handled by Chief Woodside of the Police Department. We as a town are not ready to give that up based on his recommendation, the reason is we’d lose money.

The form I was given tonight, by the Fire Chief, by FY2020 it might cost us close to $428,000 for the Barnstable County Sheriff Department to handle our emergency medical dispatch, just our emergency medical. Based on the Fire Chief and the Police Chief’s recommendation I believe it will be kept in-house, be able to stay with the Sheriff as stated in the motion for a period of one calendar year and then we will go forward, and try to bring the Emergency Medical Dispatchers up to what is necessary to dispatch both police and fire. It is fiscally prudent for the town to spend $150,00 on hiring additional dispatchers and paying for the training. We have to have an EMD resource that is certified by the state. Mr. Guerino stated if the Board of Selectmen vote to keep the SAFER Grant and fund it through another mechanism that doesn’t affect other budgets, there will be no reduction in the fire department personnel, because if you reduce one you reduce nine.

Chief Sylvester clarified when the old grant ended and when the new grant started. In regards to the way the grant is being administered, when individuals retire or decide to go to another department I move the individuals from the grant up to full time Town of Bourne status, which then leaves me opening on the grant side. Under the Civil Service process it takes me a little while to fill these positions. Then they get put on as grant fire fighters. It might look like we have open slots, but it just takes the process time to fill them. At this present time we have been physically running with the grant individuals to keep them going until I got the final OK tonight.

Stephen Mealy stated his concern was that because this is now the middle of November, now we are talking about an implementation of some type of alternative dispatch from within the department sometime perhaps as late as March. Which means we are pushing well into the area of where we should be concentrating on coming up with not a part-time or temporary solution but a full time solution for the town, particularly since we are looking at numbers that are higher than what we were told by the County Sheriff, and because of that I think the alternative of going forward and concentrating on trying to come up with a permanent solution amongst all involved is probably the best solution for our town and recognizing that other towns have undertaken and pulled dispatch internally as well. Mr. Green spoke about the first grant that was under his tenure. We billed it at the end of the month. So anytime you laid those people off the Federal Government reimbursed to the date they walked out the door. There would be no physical money draining other resources to pay back the Federal Government. I have heard it several times about the chunk of money that is going to drain the reserve account that has to go back to the town. Mr. Guerino stated we have been told on several different occasions that if the grant were to be let go between the date of acceptance of the grant and any time that we laid off, the money expended from the time of the grant renewal to the time of the layoff, would have to be reimbursed to the Federal Government. Mr. Guerino restated the grant was renewed in August, say we draw down monthly, if three months down the road the Board of Selectmen or the Town opted to say we are done with the grant; we were told that we would have to pay back from the date of the new grant to the time that we put the grant away, whatever we used we would have to pay back. Don Pickard stated this board has been informed on a number of occasions that in the event that a member of the fire department gets laid off, for whatever reason, then the grant must be repaid back to the initial date of the grant. I have a copy of the grant, and from scanning through it I don’t see anything in here that says that. Chief Sylvester stated talking with the grant personnel from FEMA directly, it has been stated that whatever we use we are responsible to pay them back. We only have to pay them what we have used. I will get a copy of the grant agreement tomorrow. Don Pickard stated this board needs to have confirmation of how the grant works.

Peter Meier withdrew his second and Don Pickard withdrew his motion.

Chris Hyldburg, Chair of the School Committee, wanted to clarify during Special Town Meeting the voters elected to amend the budget by $853,000, at that time the Fire Department was looking to amend their budget by $115,000, under the auspices of overtime. Tom Guerino clarified it was $105,000 out of overtime and $115,000 out of personnel. Mr. Hyldburg questioned was there a plan prior to Special Town Meeting to use ambulance funds for the Fire Department. Mr. Guerino stated no. Mr. Hyldburg questioned are there other sources besides the ambulance fund to generate funds that can be implied to those impacts. Mr. Mealy stated there are, but they are all going to need approval by town meeting. This vote, if it had gone over this evening is also subject to appropriation by town meeting. There are questions from all of the members relative to the Safer Grant. It would be to fully understand the terms and conditions and I would ask those be provided in writing. Don Pickard stated based upon the bit of information that we are seeking, I think the only vote that I would be comfortable with tonight would be worded that the Board of Selectmen move the town not enter into an agreement with local 1717 for the purposes of them assuming emergency medical dispatch for the town and that should be funded through ambulance fees through December 31, 2016 subject to appropriation. That takes the grant out of it and we are only discussing dispatch. Jim Mulvey stated you have specific questions go to the one that administers the grant and see what they say. Mary Jane Mastrangelo stated there seems to be a lot of questions. It is very important to get clarification from Federal Government about the payback. I am concerned about earmarking the funding for the dispatch from the ambulance without clearly vetting about that. Dispatch is in the budget now so you don’t need to find out where you will pay for dispatch because it is already a line item in the budget, but for FY16 maybe if we are still paying for dispatch we may have to look at alternative reduction in the Fire Department for FY16.