TOWN
OF PROVINCETOWN ‑ BOARD OF SELECTMEN
REGULAR MEETING - OCTOBER 25, 1999
JUDGE WELSH HEARING ROOM
The
following minutes are available on-line as a service and are not the official
record due to changes in formatting for the Internet. The minutes may have
attachments that are not included here in this format. The official, complete
paper copy can be viewed during regular office hours, Monday - Friday: 8 a.m.
to 5 p.m. in the Office of the Town Clerk, 260 Commercial St. Provincetown, MA
02657.
Chairman, Betty Steele‑Jeffers opened the
meeting at 7 PM noting the following attendees: Board of Selectmen members: Elizabeth Steele‑Jeffers,
Mary-Jo Avellar, David Atkinson, Richard Prowell and Jeffrey Mansfield, Acting
Secretary to BOS. Absent: Cheryl Andrews Other attendees: Keith A. Bergman, Town Manager, E.Winn
Davis, Town Manager and other interested parties.
The following are minutes,
in brief.
1
PUBLIC HEARING:
MACMILLAN PIER DRAFT LEASE WITH
PUBLIC PIER CORPORATION
MOTION: Move that
the Board of Selectmen vote to approve the October 15, 1999 draft lease with
the Public Pier Corporation for MacMillan Pier as recommended by the Town Counsel.
Motion by: David Atkinson Seconded by: Richard Prowell Yea
3 Nay 1
(Mary-Jo Avellar)
PUBLIC COMMENTS
Carla Anderson – Member of the Provincetown Harbor Committee and
point person for this project. Read
statement and submitted copy (attached) for records.
David Murphy – Acting Chair of the Harbor Committee, very pleased
with all the work that has been done with the document, things of concern are
very minor.
Michael Silva – You say that the Fisherman are protected. We have yet to know what were in for -as far
as rates go. Can’t seem to get a
straight answer from anyone.
David Dutra - Along with the increase in fees, does my mooring fee
go up, dingy dock fee go up, parking lot fee go up? Are we going to have to no parking trucks in front of my trucks
to get down the pier? I have a lot of
questions. Are you going to continue to
let electric to continue to seep into the water and eat all the nails out of
our vessels? And to add more dollars to
it. Personally, I am very thankful I
live in Truro. I don’t see any
advantage to fishermen in this Town.
John Bennett - I’m an attorney.
I’ve specialized in real estate matters for a number of years. I have read this lease from cover to
cover. I believe it’s a well draft document. I did have some questions regarding no fees
established within the lease.
John Ransom – I would express my general and enthusiastic support
for both the concept and drafting of this lease. Couple of items to be considered – 1) locking into a twenty-year lease and 2) the Corporations annually accounting statements certified by a
CPA.
Richard Prowell – would hope that it would make a profit. Any provision in the lease for maintenance
of the Pier? 20 year lease? Would like to see a 5-year renewal lease up
to 20 years. Why do we have to be
locked into a 20-year lease.
PUBLIC OPPOSING COMMENTS /
CONCERNS:
Kristy Murphy – Several questions about the protection of the
small boat fisherman. Does the Pier
Corporation have to come before the Board of Selectmen in order to change the
usage of the finger pier in case the small boat fisheries 1) can’t afford the
pier 2) are not enough of them to support the pier year round and 3) are not paying for themselves.
Robert Cabral – Opposed to this lease as it takes all the
authority of our harbor and our pier and puts it in the hands of total
strangers. Who is looking at the
overall picture?
JR McGowan – Liquor license why? Should be a restriction in lease.
Vaughn Cabral - How many
members are on this Commission? How are
they being paid? What is going to
happen to the Harbormaster?
JR McGowan – Has the Home Petition been filed?
Peter Sousa – Corporations thrive on Lawyers to serve public /
Fishing Industry / Tourist /No one cares about the fishing industry / complete
nonsense/ Corporations don’t work.
Michael Silva – Not one thing that helps the fishing
industry. Rates?
Vaughn Cabral – Page 10 Section 9 of the lease. Snow plowing – who?
Robert Cabral – The whole Harbor / property for the Corporation.
Carla Anderson - Remind
Board of Selectmen and members of public that the reason there is a pier
corporation being formed is that it was 2/3 vote at Town Meeting. Lease will not become active until the
corporation is formed. Protect rights
of landlord.
David Murphy – Question of how does the Town plan to handle the
construction period.
John Randsome – Is this lease a draft between the Board of
Selectmen and Board of Directors of the Public Pier Corporation and will it be
the final document?
Carla Anderson – Landlord and tenants rights are protected.
Vaughan Cabral - what side
of the pier is for the fisherman? Winn: The fisherman will have East Side priority.
Richard Prowell - Like the
idea of CPA audits on a yearly basis for the Town and would like to see Staff
information available to the public as well.
Like the idea of the liquor clause coming out. Pg. 15 Section 14.
Answer: Refer to
Pg. 11 Sub 9D – Board of Selectmen /Landlord approves or disapproves. Pg. 15 Section 14 – is for liquor license
insurance. Winn Davis – Mr. Prowell do you still want the liquor clause
taken out? Answer: No
Problem
with backup for A, B & C not listed – I would have like to have read this.
Mary-Jo Avellar - Not in favor of this project. If this committee
doesn’t know the definition of fisherman by now they have no right being on
this committee. Don’t find that
questions get answered by our Consultants – they have misrepresented themselves
at least to me and I think to you (the public). Appointments made though committees.
Winn Davis – Appointments – is always going to be
through the Board of Selectmen. Fisherman
issue – that came from the fisherman – they wanted it there to protect
against sport tuna fisherman; that definition came from the fisherman’s list –
attachment D.
Public Pier Corp – sold as being self sufficient – who is going to assume the cost of maintaining this corporation of putting a maintenance reserve fund together - who is going to come up with all that extra money to live by the letter of the law of the Legislation and the lease until the entity becomes self-sufficient.
Answer: Attorney situation – suits going back &
forth. If the Pier Corporation was
doing so outrageous then the Town could terminate via Town Meeting vote to
dissolve the corporation and therefore forestall a lot of the litigation.
Maintenance
fund – in the business plan there
has always been $400K set aside for ramp-up cost and its a beginning for the
maintenance fund. Funded under our proposed budget and has been there from day
one.
Before
last Town Meeting a newsletter was prepared.
Mr. Bergman did the economic analysis and it shows that it was not going
to show a profit on day one.
Mary-Jo
Avellar – that was not said at Town
Meeting and not everyone got that newsletter; only a few selected.
Keith
Bergman – we sent out thousands of
copies to box holders and postal patrons and that is how we send information
out in advance of Town Meeting – and thousand’s got them and I don’t think that
constitutes a selected list. (3K were
sent out.)
David
Atkinson - in response to Mr. Cabral’s comments - I consider Mr. Cabral
probably the prime candidate to be a member of the Public Pier
Corporation. The Public Pier
Corporation is only going to be people we don’t know if the people we know
don’t volunteer to be on a board that doesn’t pay.
Page
3,13 – Tenants shall not engage in business activities that are not Marine
related and in competition with business of activities of the
municipality. Such as what?
Answer: Parking.
Page 13 – access to records. Sub-tenants.
I
don’t think we should take the recommendation of the Harbor Committee and
Building Committee on Section l: we should leave it as it is and not delete
that sentence about the fishing industry and I so move.
Motion: Move that the Board of Selectmen vote to
reinstate that which is crossed out on the Errata Sheet – Section l.
Motion
by: David Atkinson Seconded
by: Elizabeth Steele-Jeffers
Yea 3 Nay
1 (Mary-Jo Avellar)
Richard Prowell – I would hope that we would get some fisherman to
apply for this Public Pier Corporation Board of Directors.
1A MACMILLAN PIER: PUBLIC PIER CORPORATION PROPOSED AMENDMENTS
TO HOME RULE LEGISLATION
MOTION: Move that
the Board of Selectmen vote, pursuant to Article 2 of the April 5, 1999 Special
Town Meeting to approve amendments to the home rule petition for establishment
of the Public Pier Corporation, as outlined by Town Counsel John W. Giorgio in
his October 22, 1999 letter to the Town Manager.
Motion by: David Atkinson Seconded by: Betty Steele-Jeffers Yea 3 Nay 1 (Mary-Jo Avellar)
2.
PUBLIC
STATEMENTS
Nancy Macht – Read and
submitted letter re: dangerous and
abandoned building at 143 Commercial St.
Peter Bez – (from
PACT) Heritage / Library Swap. October
12, 1999 Letter and statement. Request
response from Board of Selectmen.
Peter Sousa – re: 100 Acres – Duck pond parcel. Start a management program.
Sheila Benzer - Traffic on Bradford Street – is waiting for an
accident to happen. Needs lower speed limit and enforcement.
JR McGowan - Re:
Heritage Museum - Port-a-Potty ugly and
board by foundation is off.
Dr. Richard Murray - Get money
up front for Town Hall rentals. $50K
for firehouse at 1998 Town Meeting – where did it go?
3. SELECTMEN’S
STATEMENTS
David Atkinson – Approached by an employee of the A-House
concerning a visit he had from the Licensing agent wanting him to sign a letter
that concerned a poster that someone thought was going to cause a problem
before it happened. Licensing agent
said Board of Selectmen were concerned.
We’ve never talked about it at our meeting. Want to know how that message go out to that person. Answer: Elizabeth Steel-Jeffers
mentioned it to the licensing agent.
Richard Prowell – 143 Commercial St., report was due – can we expect it within the next day. Quite
concerned over this property.
Ask
Mr. Bez – what would you like to see done about the Heritage Museum? - Take off tax bills.
Town
Hall rental – Money that is owed.
Suggest that they be bonded.
Betty Steele-Jeffers - We had
asked for report on 143 Commercial Street – would like
to
have it by the end of this week.
Comments
during discussion on the Pier. How the
town was going to handle the pier users until the project was completed – was a
valid question. We do listen to what
people say and know that we’re not quite there yet. We’re going to have to have a lot more public discussion
/meetings so that the concerns of the citizens are at least being aired and
they feel as though they are being listened to – then maybe the Board of
Selectmen is going to do that. Not advocating this – but repeating what I
said before – the Board of Selectmen very strongly stated their concerns a
month ago and those concerns were not addressed. Have to say – I wonder what people think our role is and how much
credence they put to things that come before the Board.
Mary-Jo Avellar – Dr. Andrews asked me to bring up the concerns over
143 Commercial Street.
Motion: Move that
the Board of Selectmen request, through the Building Commissioner, provide a
report that outlines a plan of action by the owner of 143 Commercial Street.
Motion: Move that the Board of Selectmen
send a congratulatory letter to Church of St. Peter’s Apostle on their 125th
Anniversary.
Motion by: Mary-Jo
Avellar Seconded by: David
Atkinson Yea 4 Nay 0
Motion: Move that
the Board of Selectmen instruct the Town Manager to determine how much it is
going to cost to remove the offending buried oil tanks from the area of
MacMillan Pier and that Town Counsel place a lien on the owner so that we may
recover the cost; to be done as soon as possible.
Motion by: Mary-Jo Avellar Seconded by: David Atkinson
Yea 3 Nay 0
Abstain 1 (Richard Prowell)
Asked Fire Chief about $50K - request update memo from Town Manager.
Priscilla Alden Road to Allerton
St - speed lane – would like brought
forward as future
agenda item – at the discretion of the Chairman
4. Cape Cod Commission Update by Gwen Bloomingdale
Submitted report and gave brief update by Gwen Bloomingdale. Introduced two new leaders of the Cape Cod Commission: Margo Fenn, Executive Director and Deputy Director and Chief Planner – John A. Lipman.
5. AIRPORT COMMISSION – GRANT APPROVALS
MOTION: Move that the Board of Selectmen vote to authorize and execute grant agreements for the Provincetown Municipal Airport, as follows: (1) for $5,670 from the Massachusetts Aeronautical Commission for Hatches Harbor mitigation measures; and (2) $15,633.86 from the Federal Aviation Administration to cover additional costs of the Provincetown Airport Terminal Replacement project
Motion by: David Atkinson Seconded by: Mary-Jo Avellar Yea 4 Nay 0
6 PROJECT UPDATES – Tabled until November 2, 1999
Motion: Move that
the Board of Selectmen table until Tuesday, November 2, 1999 agenda items:
6A,B,C and 7C,D.
Motion by: Mary-Jo Avellar Seconded by: Betty Steele-Jeffers
Yea 3 Nay 1 (Richard Prowell)
7A. TAP Affordable Housing Assistance –
Define “Affordable Housing” for Lank Bank Amendment
MOTION: Move that the Board of Selectmen vote to approve the award of seventy-five hours of Technical Assistance Program (TAP) assistance for a project to define "affordable housing purposes" under Provincetown's Home Rule Legislation to amend the Cape Cod Open Space Land Acquisition Program Act for the Town of Provincetown.
Motion by: Mary-Jo Avellar Seconded by: Richard Prowell
Yea 3 Nay 1 (David Atkinson)
7B SEAFOOD OFFLOADING AT MACMILLAN PIER
SPACE 2 – AWARD OF LEASE/CAPE COD BAY FISHERIES, INC./$21,000 PER YEAR
MOTION: MOVE that
the Board of Selectmen vote to award to high bidder Cape Cod Bay Fisheries,
Inc. for rent amount of $21,000 per year or $0.035 per pound, whichever is
greater, a one-year lease beginning November 1, 1999 and ending October 31,
2000 for MacMillan Pier Space Two, subject to the restriction that subsequent
use thereof shall be limited to seafood offloading/handling and activities
related thereto, and that the lessee shall allow other fish buyers to pack-out
thereat.
Motion by: David Atkinson Seconded by: Mary-Jo Avellar Yea 4 Nay 0
7C CCNS: Town
Manager’s update – Tabled until November
2, 1999
8
PARADE PERMIT
MOTION: Move that
the Board of Selectmen approve the Parade Permit as submitted by Dennis Clark,
Recreation Director for the Town of Provincetown to be held Friday, October 29,
1999 from 3 PM to 4 PM with no rain date.
Motion by: David Atkinson Seconded by: Richard Prowell Yea 4 Nay 0
9 Appointments - None.
Motion: Move that
the Board of Selectmen send a letter to the Women’s Innkeepers asking whatever
pertinent questions about the structure of the organization, who the members of
the Board of Directors are, whether they are a non-profit organization, when
they meet, etc.
Motion by: Mary-Jo Avellar Seconded by: David Atkinson
Yea 3 Nay 1 (Richard Prowell)
10 CLOSING
STATEMENTS
David Atkinson
Motion: Move that
the Board of Selectmen refer to staff
to answer Peter Bez’s letters .
Motion by: David Atkinson Seconded by: Mary-Jo Avellar Yea 4 Nay 0
Agree with James
McCowan’s comments of
the toilet on the front lawn of the Heritage Museum but it is no
different from the toilet on the front lawn of the Unitarian Church – and the
church uses it for themselves for their own events and keep it locked all other
times.
Artist on Bradford Street - if there was a sidewalk there she would be
blocking it.
Richard Prowell – None
Betty
Steele-Jeffers – None
Mary-Jo Avellar - None
11 MINUTES
OF BOARD OF SELECTMEN MEETING
Corrections: Oct. 12th
– Pg. 4 Cheryl Andrews - 3rd
line change here to her
Pg. 6 – Add:
143 Commercial Street abandoned house
Motion: Move that
the Board of Selectmen approve the minutes of October 12, 1999 as amended and
October 18, 1999 as printed.
Motion by: Mary-Jo Avellar Seconded by: David Atkinson Yea 4 Nay 0
11B Executive
Session Minutes - tabled to Tuesday, November 2, 1999
12
Strategy with
Respect to Litigation
Motion: Move that
the Board of Selectmen vote, pursuant to MGL Chapter 39, section 23B, clause 3,
to go into executive session for the purpose of discussion strategy with
respect to litigation; and not to convene in open session thereafter. (roll call vote)
Richard Prowell – Nay David Atkinson - Yea
Mary-Jo Avellar
- Yes Elizabeth
Steele-Jeffers - Yea
Meeting
went into Executive Session at 10:35 PM
Minutes
transcribed by: Vernon Porter and Jeff Mansfield
November 5, 1999