City Council

REGULAR MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL, MARCH 22, 2010 Meeting was called to order at 7:30 P.M. Attendance was taken by a roll call vote; all members were present. The Committee on Records reported that the records through February 22, and March 8, 2010 were examined and found to be in order. The records were accepted. The following COMMUNICATIONS were received, referred to the FINANCE COMMITTEE and given regular COURSE. C-67 Relative to the appropriation of $650,000.00 to the Municipal Buildings Capital Outlay Expense Account; same to be transferred from the Excess and Deficiency Account. C-68 Relative to the appropriation of $9,200.00 to the Sanitation and Drainage Expense Account; same to be transferred from the Excess and Deficiency Account. C-69 Relative to the appropriation of $4,000.00 to the Wire Department Overtime Account; same to be transferred from the Excess and Deficiency Account. C-70 Relative to the appropriation of $2,500.00 to the Cemetery Expense Account; same to be transferred from the Cemetery Sale of Lots Account. C-71 Relative to the appropriation of $2,500.00 to the Cemetery Expense Account; same to be transferred from the Cemetery Perpetual Care Income Trust Fund Account. C-72 Relative to the appropriation of $125,000.00 to the Fire Department Overtime Account; same to be transferred from the Excess and Deficiency Account. C-73 Relative to the appropriation of $100,000.00 to the Police Department Overtime Account; same to be transferred from the Police Department Salary and Wages Account. The following PETITIONS were received, referred to the LEGAL AFFAIRS COMMITTEE and given REGULAR COURSE. 29-10 Lynn A. Bouchard and Stephen P. Richard: Amend Chapter 12, Section 12-2.52 of the Revised Ordinances entitled “Fees-Schedule” to increase the license fees for spayed female and neutered male dogs from $7.00 to $10.00 and for unspayed female dogs and male dogs from $11.00 to $15.00 effective July 1, 2010. 30-10 Lynn A. Bouchard and Stephen P. Richard: Amend Chapter 6, Section 6-2.4 of the Revised Ordinances entitled “Failure to License Dog” to charge an additional late fee of $10.00 per year as well as the annual licensing fee for each year the dog was not licensed. Fees will be charged to any dog owner who fails to license their dogs on or before May first of any year and will be effective July 1, 2010. The following APPOINTMENT was received, referred to the WAYS & MEANS COMMITTEE and given REGULAR COURSE. Emergency Management, Rescue Unit – Matthew Perkins Councillor Salvatelli, Chairman of the Finance Committee, read the Financial Report for the City into the Record. Account balances are as follows: Excess and Deficiency Account (Free Cash) $ 1,856,814.90 Emergency Reserve Account $ 4,372.00 Stabilization Account $11,534,656.38 Interest Earned $ 19,601.57 Upon recommendation of the FINANCE COMMITTEE, the following COMMUNICATIONS were RATIFIED. Vt. 9 “yeas” C-60 Relative to the appropriation of $100,000.00 to the Municipal Buildings Maintenance Expense Account; same to be transferred from the Excess and Deficiency Account. (Granted with an Emergency Preamble on March 8, 2010; another vote is required.) Upon recommendation of the FINANCE COMMITTEE, the following COMMUNICATIONS were GRANTED and ORDERED Vt. 9 “yeas” C-61 Relative to the appropriation of $40,000.00 to the Snow and Ice Salary and Wages Account; same to be transferred from the Excess and Deficiency Account. ORDERED: - that the sum of Forty Thousand Dollars ($40,000.00) be appropriated to the Snow and Ice Salary and Wages Account; same to be transferred from the Excess and Deficiency Account.  2 REGULAR MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL, MARCH 22, 2010, continued C-62 Relative to the appropriation of $200,000.00 to the Snow and Ice Expense Account; same to be transferred from the Excess and Deficiency Account. ORDERED: - that the sum of Two Hundred Thousand Dollars ($200,000.00) be appropriated to the Snow and Ice Expense Account; same to be transferred from the Excess and Deficiency Account. C-63 Relative to the appropriation of $40,000.00 to the Fire Department Indemnification Expense Account; same to be transferred from the Excess and Deficiency Account. ORDERED: - that the sum of Forty Thousand Dollars ($40,000.00) be appropriated to the Fire Department Indemnification Expense Account; same to be transferred from the Excess and Deficiency Account. RE: Funds are needed to meet both current and projected expenses for retired and active fire department members. C-64 Relative to the appropriation of $1,000.00 to the Street Signs and Fences Expense Account; same to be transferred from the Excess and Deficiency Account. ORDERED: - that the sum of One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00) be appropriated to the Street Signs and Fences Expense Account; same to be transferred from the Excess and Deficiency Account. C-65 Relative to the appropriation of $5,000.00 to the Sidewalk and Curbing Expense Account; same to be transferred from the Excess and Deficiency Account. ORDERED: - that the sum of Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00) be appropriated to the Sidewalk and Curbing Expense Account; same to be transferred from the Excess and Deficiency Account. Upon request of the LEGAL AFFAIRS COMMITTEE, the following PETITION was given FURTHER TIME. Vt. 9/0 5-10 John Souza, Chairman, on behalf of the Planning Board: Adopt the following zoning changes proposed by Vanasse, Hangen and Brustlin to include: 1) The Leominster Zoning Ordinance Revised Draft, July 2009 2) The Leominster Zoning Ordinance “Table of Uses,” July 2009 3) The Leominster Zoning Ordinance “Proposed New Zoning Districts,” July 2009 4) The Leominster Zoning Ordinance “New Sections,” January 2009 5) Section 22-19 Residence B Districts which is a correction to the “The Leominster Zoning Ordinance Revised Draft,” July 2009 (Hearing continued to May 10, 2010 at 6:30 P.M.) Upon request of the LEGAL AFFAIRS COMMITTEE, the following PETITION was given FURTHER TIME. Vt. 9/0 22-10 Frank H. Preston, Agent for Fernand Arsenault: Rezone 12.8 acres of land located at the western end of Marcello Avenue and Kinsman Avenue, north of Marshall Street and south of Mooreland Avenue as shown on Assessor’s Map 244 as Parcels 1A and 2A, from Industrial, Residence A and Business B to Residence A. (Hearing continued to April 26, 2010 at 6:30 P.M.) Upon recommendation of the WAYS & MEANS COMMITTEE, the following COMMUNICATION was GRANTED and ORDERED. Vt. 9 “yeas” C-66 Relative to the appropriation of $47,864.00 to the Housing Rehabilitation Construction Expense Account; same to be transferred from the following accounts: Housing Rehabilitation Salary & Wages $22,000.00 Housing Rehabilitation Expenses 5,000.00 Economic Development Salary & Wages 7,600.00 Summer Youth Expenses 264.00 Code Enforcement Salary & Wages 5,000.00 Code Enforcement Expenses 8,000.00 ORDERED: -that the sum of Forty Seven Thousand Eight Hundred Sixty Four Dollars ($47,864.00) be appropriated to the Housing Rehabilitation Construction Expense Account; same to be transferred from the following accounts: Housing Rehabilitation Salary & Wages $22,000.00 Housing Rehabilitation Expenses 5,000.00 Economic Development Salary & Wages 7,600.00 Summer Youth Expenses 264.00 Code Enforcement Salary & Wages 5,000.00 Code Enforcement Expenses 8,000.00  3 REGULAR MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL, MARCH 22, 2010, continued Upon request of the WAYS & MEANS COMMITTEE, the following PETITION was TABLED FOR STUDY. Vt. 9/0 23-10 Claire Freda: Review Council Procedures, Rules and Responsibilities as they do or do not pertain to representation within and outside City Council Chambers. Upon recommendation of the WAYS & MEANS COMMITTEE, the following PETITIONS were GRANTED. Vt. 9/0 24-10 Leroy J. DiMauro: Renew the Second Hand Dealer’s License for the premises located at 609 Main Street. 25-10 Fred R. Tousignant: Renew the Second Hand Dealer’s License for the premises located at 92 Pleasant Street. 26-10 George Deglaoni/Hannoush Jewelers: Renew the Second Hand Dealer’s License located at 100 Commercial Rd. 27-10 Robert A. Cornetta: Grant a license for two pool tables at Miranda’s Pub, located at 488 Lancaster Street. 28-10 Christopher Rivard: Grant a Transient Vendors License to sell plants and flowers in 2010. Upon recommendation of the WAYS & MEANS COMMITTEE, the following APPOINTMENT was CONFIRMED. 9 “yeas” Emergency Management, Admin. Unit – Linda Dolan Upon recommendation of the WAYS & MEANS COMMITTEE, the following RE-APPOINTMENTS were CONFIRMED. 9 “yeas” Emergency Management – Terms to expire April 15, 2011 Assistant Director: James LeBlanc, Richard Gauvin Deputy Director: Alfred Staal, Thomas Piper, Daniel Thibodeau, Jean Hudson Auxiliary Police Officers: Nikito Baker, John Caron, Donn A. Deane, Shaun Calcari, Justin P. Nichols, Vincente Figueroa, Thomas Piper, Roland Rivard, Jerry Brewer, Eric Schmidt Sr., Eric Almeida, Reginald Cortana Under Old Business, Councillor Dombrowksi, Chair of the President’s Drinking Water Oversight Committee, said the February 2010 Water Division Report was received last week. He said he reviewed it and it looks to be in order. He said if anyone sees an issue as they go through it to let him know. Councillor Lanciani asked that a letter be sent to the Emergency Management, the Police Department and the Fire Department recognizing them for an excellent job done during the storm and flooding a week ago and helping others that were in distress. He said they need to know it is appreciated and we as a City Council appreciate what they do. Councillor Nickel said a letter was going out from the last meeting and in the meantime the storm took place so he took the initiative to send a letter to all departments thanking them for their actions for both the North Leominster flooding situation and what had happened over the previous weekend. Councillor Marchand asked the Council to invite representatives from HealthAlliance to come in and give an update on what is happening with the emergency room expansion project. He said it would be nice to turn it into an annual type of presentation. Councillor Nickel said he will make the arrangements for the next meeting. Councillor Lanciani asked if the Building Inspector and the Health Department could be included in receiving a letter regarding the storm. Councillor Nickel said it will be taken care of. Under New Business, Councillor Salvatelli established a Finance Committee meeting on April 7, 2010 at 6:15 P.M. He asked the Councillors to take a very close look at the $650,000.00 request and should be read before discussing it to know what is going on. Councillor Freda said it’s time again for the Rotary Club Community Awards Dinner honoring Leominster City employees of the year. The dinner will be at the Four Points by Sheraton in Leominster on Thursday April 8, 2010. Social hour starts at 6:00 P.M. followed by the dinner at 7:00 P.M. Tickets are $30.00 per person and are available at the office of each City department. The awards go to the following: Lt. John Gendron – Fireman of the Year James McDermott – DPW Employee of the Year Officer Kimberly Wihtelin – Police Officer of the Year Joanne DiNardo – City Hall Employee of the Year Lynn Fiandaca – Grades PK-5 Employee of the Year Ellen Campagna – Grades 6-8 Employee of the Year Carolyn Tolman – High School Employee of the Year  4 REGULAR MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL, MARCH 22, 2010, continued Councillor Chalifoux-Zephir said we received line item construction costs regarding the construction of the police station and would like more detail. She said the renovation project would cost about $10 million dollar and a new building would be about $15 million a difference of $5 million. She said she was surprised at the $5.5 million renovation number in the list of expenses. She said any detail that they can provide where the numbers came from or what they are based on would be helpful because the more information we have for the Finance Committee meeting the more questions will be answered. Councillor Salvatelli asked if we paid a gentleman for that information to be done. He asked the Clerk to find out that information and if we did pay him can we get the gentleman to come down? Councillor Chalifoux-Zephir said she has a fax dated March 9, 2010 from Fabrizio Caruso from the McGuire Group who did the detailing. Councillor Rowlands said there was a committee formed to search for a police station location and he asked if there was any evaluation done by that committee on the Lancaster Street property. He said if they did an evaluation at this property he would like to just gather that information. Councillor Lanciani said throughout the years the committee has evaluated many different sites and would be happy to bring in the evaluations that he has that go back 10-15 years. He said the committee has been meeting and received a letter, along with the Councillors, that he museum was up for sale. He said there was a discussion on it by the committee and suggested that if it was something that was going to happen they should look into it and he thinks that was the follow-up was that they did go to look at it as a Council to see what the Council thought. He said as far as an evaluation from a group or someone that has gone out and looked at the properties the three sites that were discussed for a few years now has been Jungle Road, Old Miles Kedex property on Central Street and more recently the plastics museum. Councillor Freda said there hasn’t been an in depth of the plastics museum because it wasn’t available for sale at that point. He said the police went through it to see if it was conducive to them and they supported the possibility. She said at one point it had gone out as a request to anybody that had land in the City that wanted us to consider it for a police station. She said Gariepy Furniture came forward with other sites that were ruled out by the committee and also the police on the committee due to traffic issues or not being able to get to other areas of the community. She said most of them were raw land without a building so this is the first that is actually a building. She said they voted on the Jungle Road and that was the site they would have used but conditions changed. Councillor Rowlands said all he is saying is if the committee has done some work at this specific location he would be interested in accumulating the information and reading it. Councillor Freda said that was compiled with the original suggestion to look at that building and wasn’t done in depth, no traffic studies, just basically looking at the site and at things the police department would need. She said an overview is what they got. HEARING ADJOURNED AT 8:25 P.M. _____________________________ Lynn A. Bouchard, City Clerk and Clerk of the City Council