CC MTG MINUTES DECEMBER 3 2007 • /* 07
REGULAR MEETING OF THE AGAWAM CITY COUNCIL
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DECEMBER 3 2007
President Rheault—Good evening ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the December P
• City Council meeting.
Item 1. Citizen's Speak Time
President Rheault— We have a few citizens wishing to address the Council this evening.
The first being Lionel Audette. Come to the phone—microphone, state your name and
address for the record please.
Lionel Audette—My name is Lionel Audette, 1044 Shoemaker Lane, Feeding Hills.
First of all I want to congratulate those who ran for reelection and won. Congratulations.
a And those who didn't, I want to say thank you for the job you've done for the town of
Agawam. Um, I'm here to inform you of the existence of a Robinson State Park
Calendar,2008 calendar and a photo book that I produced that is now available and on
sale. The proceeds, half the proceeds will be going to the Friends of Robinson State Park
to help them in their fight against the timber sale at the park. Um, they can be viewed
a and purchased online at www.lulu.com,that's lulu, L-U-L-U, .com and um they cost uh,
which includes shipping, the calendar is $17.05 and the photo book is $20.71. 1 hope
you'll take the time to check it out and if you like it, purchase one. I'm sure the Friends
could use the funds and I could use a boost for my ego. Uh,that's it. Any questions?
Thank you.
a President Rheault—Thank you. Al Fini.
Al Fini- off microphone
Al Fini—My name is Al Fini of 217 James Street in Feeding Hills and I own Fini's plant
a farm which is surrounded by James Street and James Street West. In 1972,the then
Board of Selectmen um, who were operating as the authority for the Town of Agawam,
voted to accept the James Street West as an approved street. All the engineering work
was completed on it and all the ...And this was done on July 23, 1972. Unbeknownst to
anybody over the last thirty years,the attorney who was given the task of filing all the
a proper paper work and the deed changes and etc., failed to do, failed to take any action on
the project and as I found out a few years ago,the street is not considered accepted by the
City. It is maintained by the City. The snow plow, it's got a six inch water main in it that
they put in 1986 and it does have a good macadam surface. Myself and the other
residents of James Street West, the other abutters of James Street West, would like to see
if the City Council would help us in rectifying this obviously grievous error. Had the uh,
lawyer of record at the time acted appropriately, James Street West would have been
accepted over these last 3 5 years. I have brought in the proper paper work, uh,that I
gave to the secretary. I asked her to pass it out to each, a sheet to each of you, showing
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that all the engineering has been done and you'll see where it's signed and approved by
• the then Board of Selectmen. Uh, I don't know how to proceed from this. I came before
uh, you at Citizen's Speak Time to ask for your help. I included my business card on the
form and I'm hoping that I can be contacted and take appropriate action. I don't know if
I'm supposed to file a particular petition or not, but I, I uh, I've asked different people
and no one has really guided me in the correct way of trying to resolve this issue. So I
• come before you tonight to state my cause, to show you that I'm interested in this and
that I hope that I can get some reciprocal help and we can start an appropriate path to
rectify these uh,error that was made over thirty years ago. Thank you.
President Rheault—Thank you. The appropriate Chairman will address the issue.
Joe Mineo—Yea, uh, Mr. Fini. I did contact Jack Stone about a week and a half ago.
We're gonna wait til uh, January and we're gonna be working on accepting uh, what is it,
James Street—is it James Street?
Al Fini— Yes. James Street West.
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Councilor Mineo—James Street and Sharon Lane are gonna be up for acceptance. So
we are working,we are working on that. I, I called him a couple weeks ago. Okay?
Al Fini - ...
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Councilor Mineo —Okay. Could you possibly give me a call tomorrow at my house?
My name's Joe...Mineo.
President Rheault—take this after...
Councilor Mineo—It's in the book.
Al Fini—Okay.
President Rheault—Barbara will give you the information.
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Al Fini—What time?
Councilor Mineo—After 5. Thanks.
• item Z Roll Call
President Rheault—Will the Clerk please call the roll?
ROLL CALL— 10 Present, One Absent(Councilor Magovem)
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President Rheault—Ten present, one absent. We have a quorum. Councilor Magovern
will not be in attendance this evening. He had a previous commitment at Westfield State.
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Item 3. Moment of5ilence and the Pledge ofAlleeiance
President Rheault—Please rise for a moment of silence and Pledge of Allegiance.
Item 4. Minutes
(a) Regular Council Meeting—November 19,2007
President Rheault—Moved by Councilor Simpson, seconded by Councilor Carr Bitzas.
Any corrections or additions? Voice vote is sufficient. All those in favor? Opposed?
VOICE VOTE—Unanimous.
Item S. Declaration from Council President
None.
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Item 6'Presentation of Petitions,Memorials & Remonstrances
(a) Resolutions
1._ TR-2007-40 -A Resolution Supporting an Application to the
Massachusetts Historical Commission's FY08 Survey and Planning Grant
Program and Authorizing the Mayor to Accept and Expand Grant Funds
(Mayor)
President Rheault—Council's pleasure? I'm sorry, who moved? Councilor Perry,
seconded by Councilor Rossi. Any, was it Councilor Letellier too? I had a hand up on
this side, I didn't see it. Any discussion? If not, will the Clerk please call the roll?
ROLL CALL— 10 Yes, I Absent (Councilor Magovern)
President Rheault—Ten yes, one absent, you've approved the Resolution.
Item 7. Report of Council Committees
President Rheault—Committee Reports. First one is uh, anybody on Ordinance want to
• report on behalf of Councilor Magovern?
a. Committee of Rules & Ordinances— Counc. Magovern
Councilor Calabrese—Sure. Um, Cecilia Calabrese, secretary of the Ordinance
Committee. I serve with Councilor Magovern and Councilor Carr Bitzas and um, we did
meet to uh, discuss um, dare I say it, the Parking Ordinance in this last quarter. Um, and
uh, I'm just trying to think if there was any other business that had come before the
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Ordinance Committee. I believe that that was the um,uh,item of legislation of prime
concern in this last quarter. And of course we had sent the uh,recommendation to the
Council,um, to uh, go forward and actually accept Councilor uh, Rossi's motion which
we had passed to repeal the uh, ordinance that had been passed previously in the year.
Thank you.
b. Committee of Utilities & Street Acceptance—Counc. Mineo
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Councilor Mineo—Yes, Utilities uh, Street Acceptance Committee did meet twice uh, in
this quarter for two uh, pole relocations for Western Mass Electric and both were
approved. That's it, and we'll be working, the street acceptance will be coming soon in
January,just...thank you.
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c. Committee of Licenses—Counc. Simpson
Councilor Simpson—Um, the Council's pleasure, I defer my report because what I have
to report on is an Agenda item tonight. So would you prefer to have it at that time?
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President Rheault—Item of Agenda.
d. Committee on Zoning Review—Counc. Letellier
Councilor Letcllier--Thank you. The Zoning Committee is myself, Councilor Bitzas
and Councilor Rossi. And our activity was also focused on the parking. Um, we had
probably three or four meetings after everyone realized what a problem it was. And the
meetings were attended not only by the Committee members but also by the Council and
the public at large. And so we appreciate everybody's input and I think we're all happy
• with the result. Thank you.
e. Committee on Finance—Counc. Calabrese
Councilor Calabrese—Yes,um, I serve on that Committee as chair with Councilor Joe
Mineo and Councilor Jill Simpson. And this past quarter we focused on establishing the
• tax rate and also um,meeting with um, a representative um, from the Commonwealth,
with regard um to the tax finance agreement with Marcil Sander for the uh, property now
being established as a Steve& Barry's retail shop and uh, was our prime focus in this last
quarter. Thank you.
• f. Committee on Industrial Relations—Counc. Letellier
Councilor Letellier--No thank you.
Item 8. Elections
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None.
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Item 9, _Public Hearings
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None.
Item 10. Odd Business
1. TO-2007-35 - CLASS II LICENSES for renewal- Auto-Sport
Distributors (Year 2006,2007, 2008),Applicant, Walter A. Meissner,Jr.,396 Main
Street, Agawam (tabled on 11/1_ 9/07).
President Rheault—The committee met earlier and the item is on the table.
• Councilor Simpson—Motion to remove from table for report.
President Rheault—Motion made by Councilor Simpson to remove, seconded by
Councilor Rossi. All those in favor? Opposed? item's off the table. Councilor
Simpson?
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Councilor Simpson—Thank you. The Licensing Committee met this evening at 6:30
here at the Middle School. Present was myself as Chair, also Ruth Carr Bitzas and um,
I'm sorry, Bob. And uh, Bob Rossi. Also in attendance was uh,the person pursuing the
license, Walter Meissner, and Council President Don Rheault sat in. Um, you have
before you, urn our Council Clerk, Barbara, had handed out a Memo to Council only
regarding some issues that were brought up regarding kind of how things went and what
was going on with that. So you do have that for your perusal. Also, I have a memo that
was dated back on October 9d' from the Law Department discussing the issue of the
license for Mr. Meissner and in that memo it is stated that his application is not complete
• because he has not filed his 2006 taxes as part of his application process. In the meeting
tonight, we hashed out quite a bit of information regarding what has been long going on
with this particular license and after much deliberation, we came back with the
recommendation to put forth to the Council, that(1) this item be table this evening and
that we have asked Mr. Meissner and we have given him a deadline of January 151h which
• gives him time to do what we have asked him to do and would allow us to bring this back
forth at our January 22nd meeting. We have asked him (1) that we need to see proof that
he has filed his 2006 taxes. Once that has been brought forth to the Clerk's office and
been brought to our attention, his application is complete. If after January 15'', I should
say January 22nd meeting, that his applications have been approved, he then has been
made fully aware of that he must present to us his current business certificate which he
• said he does have a current one but was not included in the packet and he will get that to
us immediately. He also must give us his bond and that he is well aware and we stressed
the point that if his license is issued on January 22nd, that he has EXACTLY ninety (90)
days from the date of issuance to receive, to get his Dealer's License. If the Dealer's
License is not received within that ninety day period of time, there is not debate about it,
the license is gone. So that was the recommendation put forth. It was a unanimous vote
by the Committee to put that forth as a recommendation to the Council. Um, and I think
that uh, the Memo that you have that I had Barbara sent out from the Law Department
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might clarify any other of the missing questions that we had regarding Executive Session.
Um, so if there's no other questions, I would like to make a Motion to table this to our
January 22"d meeting.
Councilor Letellier—Can we have discussion first before it...?
• Councilor Simpson—I just said if there's nothing else,that's what I'll do.
President Rheault—I'll discussion prior to the tabling. Councilor Letellier?
Councilor Letellier—Thank you. Through the Chair to Councilor Simpson, are you
gonna issue a written report or letter in writing to Mr. Meissner as to what his obligations
• are?
Councilor Simpson—I can certainly have this written up what we just discussed and
have Barbara send it out to him. That's not a problem.
• Councilor Letellier- I just think it wouldn't hurt.
Councilor Simpson - Yup. No problem.
President Rheault—Any others? I'll now entertain a table to motion?
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Councilor Simpson—Motion to table.
President Rheault—Moved by Councilor Simpson to table, seconded by Councilor
Mineo and Councilor Carr Bitzas. Clerk, please call the roll.
• ROLL CALL— 10 Yes, 1 Absent.
President Rheault—Ten yes, one absent. You have approved the tabling.
2. TO-2007-40 - Voucher List $57.63
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President Rheault—We have sufficient signatures. Voice vote is alright. All those in
favor? Opposed?
VOICE VOTE—Unanimous.
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3. TO-2007-41 - Voucher List $2 995A0
President Rheault—And we have sufficient signatures on that as well. All those in
favor? Opposed?
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VOICE VOTE—Unanimous.
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4. ..TO-2007-42 -Order Granting or Renewing a LICENSE for
# Automatic Amusement Device(s)—Buc,Inc., d/b/a Buccaneer Lounge, 86 Maple
Street, Agawam MA.
President Rheault—Moved by Councilor Simpson, seconded by Councilor Carr Bitzas.
Any discussion? If not, Clerk please call the roll.
ROLL CALL— 10 Yes, 1 Absent.
President Rheault—Ten yes, one absent. You've approved the granting of the license.
Item IL New Business
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1. TR-2007-41 - A Resolution Confirming the Reappointment of Scott
L. Macey, 11 Cecile Street, Agawam, Ma. to the Agawam Housing Authority for a
Term Expiring the Second Monday in January 2013.
• President Rheault—Next Agenda.
2. TR-2007-42 - A Resolution to Create an Enterprise Fund for the
Wastewater Operation of the City of Agawam by Adopting Chapter 44 Section
53FYz of the General Laws of Massachusetts Entitled Enterprise Funds.
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President Rheault—Next Agenda.
3. TOR-2007-11-An Ordinance to Amend the Code of the Town of
Agawam Water and Sewer Ordinances by Adding Article X11, "Special Sewer
Improvement District"
President Rheault—Next Agenda.
4. TO-2007-43 - Order Granting or Renewing a LICENSE for
Automatic Amusement Device(s)—Bouch, Inc. d/b/a Home Plate Sports Bar; 827
• Springfield Street, Feeding Hills,MA.
President Rheault—Next Agenda.
5. TO-2007-44 - CLASS II LICENSES for renewal: Bryan Motor
• Sales Inc., 124 Garden Street, Feeding Hills, MA. and Dino Carando d/b/a Euro
Importst 175 Main Street,Agawam, MA.
President Rheault—Next Agenda.
6. TO-2007-45 -Order Granting or Renewing a LICENSE for
Automatic Amusement Device(s)—West Springfield Fish& Game,Inc„P.O.Box
25 329 Garden Street Feeding Hills MA.
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President Rheault—Next Agenda.
Item 12. Any other matter that may lemally come before the City Council
President Rheault—Our favorite Item number 12. We'll start on my furthest left with
Councilor Young.
Councilor Young—Nothing this evening thank you.
President Rheault—Thank you. Councilor Rossi?
Councilor Rossi—Nothing this evening thanks.
President Rheault—Councilor Simpson?
Councilor Simpson—Nothing tonight thank you.
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President Rheault—Councilor Bitzas?
Councilor Bitzas—Yes,just to let you know and the people that are watching us and um,
the Senior Center Director Joan and the churches will be having a Christmas, official
• Christmas lighting ceremonies this Sunday at 6:00 at the Veterans' Green. So you are
welcome and also if any volunteers tomorrow,we are hopefully the weather-permitting
the govern..., Ray and myself and some of the people, we decorate McGrath Park again
for Christmas season and um, talking about McGrath Park, I sent you a memo last week.
I talked to you individual councilors that we plan in the Spring to open a path from the
little house at the top connecting the school so with ornamental lights for the path. No
car traffic just only pedestrians. So we have enough parking in the school so events,
future events to park. We have the people to park safely and not cross the street from the
other areas. So that...we... more information will come to you and hopefully will be
done without any taxpayers money because we have one individual that we work with
that that he's willing to do something like this for free for the town. Uh, more
information will come to you. So,thank you.
President Rheault—Thank you. Councilor Carr Bitzas?
Councilor Carr Bitzas —Nothing tonight thank you.
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President Rheault—Councilor Mineo? Oh I'm sorry! I knew you were there. Hi!
Councilor Calabrese?
Councilor Calabrese—Hi. Actually I do have a couple of things. I would like to set up
a Finance Committee meeting for two items under the new Agenda at the
recommendation of fellow Councilor Joe Mineo. TR-2007-42 and TOR-2007-11.
Barbara, I'll give you a call and figure out a time for that. And I actually do have two
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other items. Um, tomorrow night at 7:00 at the Junior High, the seventh grade chorus is
• having a holiday concert and we'd love to have everybody there. And also I want to send
out congratulations to the Junior Robotics Team. Urn, they made a presentation to the Jr.
High PTO tonight and special recognition goes out to Shaemus Curran,Zack Cakeley,
Cora O'Connor, Charlie Calabrese, Anthony Hollywood, and Kyle Ducharme under the
advisory of um, John Burns. We have quite the uh, special robotics team as you all know
here in Agawam and we are lucky to have kind of a farm team in the Jr. High under the
direction of Mr. Burns. Those kids are doing some wonderful things and they all deserve
great credit. So,thank you.
President Rheault—Thank you. Councilor Mineo?
Councilor Mineo--Nothing thanks.
President Rheault—Nothing? Councilor Letellier?
Councilor Letellier—Well, Councilor Calabrese and I must think the same thing
• because I was gonna ask that a Finance and Ordinance look at these Enterprise Funds and
Special Sewer Improvement District, but she beat me to the punch. So no problem.
Thank you.
President Rheault— Councilor Perry?
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Councilor Perry—I have nothing this evening, thank you.
President Rheault—Nothing? Well, she also beat me to the punch, so I have nothing.
And I'll entertain a Motion to Adjourn. Moved by the Council to adjourn, seconded by
i the Council to adjourn. All the Council voted yes, we are now adjourned. Good evening.
Adjournment.
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