Westport in Brief!

EverythingWestport.com

Monday, October 17, 2011

Quick Article Index . . .

Select Board sound bites.

The Trustees Welcome New Bedford Resident John Vasconcellos as Southeast Regional Director.

Special Town Meeting set to pay PCB remediation bills.

Select Board sound bites.

EverythingWestport.com

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Westport fire department honored for July 4th heroics.

Westport Selectmen and a representative from the E.D. Bullard Company honored Westport firefighters and the Fire Department Monday night for a life-saving rescue that occurred on the morning of July 4, 2010.

> > Click here to video clip of the presentation.

Click here to read about the dramatic July 4th rescue of an unconscious, 24-year-old woman from a burning house.

Founded in 1898, E.D. Bullard Company is a leading manufacturer of high quality personal protective equipment and systems that are marketed worldwide. The Cynthiana, Kentucky company manufactures the thermal imaging camera that was used to locate 24-year-old Shannon Pearce from a smoke-filled, burning Drift Road house.

The Bullard Save-A-Life Club is a reward and recognition program for firefighters who save a civilian life or escape a life-threatening situation while using a Bullard Thermal Imager.

76 other fire departments across the country have been inducted into the Save-A-Life Club since its inception.

Fire departments honored with membership in the Bullard Save-A-Life Club are recognized with a local award ceremony, at which rescuers receive distinctive military-style medals mounted in personalized shadow boxes, along with service ribbons.

"It just goes to show that this technology really does a lot in saving lives. You guys are the 77th department in the country that has been recognized through this program." David Vangelov from E.B. Bullard Company

"We bought (thermal imaging camera) it right after the Worcester fire," Legendre said. "It cost at that time of about $25,000."

Lt. Daniel Baldwin and Deputy Chief Allen Manley along with Fire Chief Brian Legendre were feted by E.D. Bullard Company's David Vangelov. Lt. Daniel Ledoux received the overall award on behalf of the Westport Fire Department.

"It was a total department effort, basically all I did was drive by - so I was lucky to be there at that time." Chief Brian Legendre.

Above, from the left: firefighters and paramedics Andrew Raymond and Keith Nicholson, Selectman Antone Vieira, Lt. Daniel Ledoux, Deputy Chief Allen Manley, Fire Chief Brian Legendre, Board of Selectmen Chairman Richard Spirlet, and Selectmen Craig Dutra, Steven Ouellette, and James Coyne.

Deputy Shellfish Warden retires.

The popular and well-known Robert W. Pierce, known as much for his blueberries and athletic prowess on the baseball diamond as his duties as Deputy Shellfish Warden, was honored by Westport Selectmen with a citation thanking him for his long service with the Town of Westport.

"Be it be known that the Westport Board of Selectmen has hereby expressed its appreciation and extends congratulations to Robert W. Pierce in recognition of his many years of faithful service with the Town of Westport." Chairman Richard Spirlet reading from the citation.

Robert Pierce started his shellfish work under shellfish warden A.B. Palmer on July 1st 1972 and was appointed the Deputy Shellfish Warden constable in 1980, and has served the Town of Westport in that capacity until his recent retirement on June 30th 2011.

> > Click here to video clip of the presentation.

Selectman Antone Vieira suggested that Pierce be appointed as a special deputy within the Harbormaster's shellfish area to provide his support and expertise to that office. The motion passed unanimously.

Westport State Representative Paul Schmid also presented Pierce with two citations from the state legislature.

"Apparently the blueberries don't fall far from the bush in the Pierce family." State Representative Paul Schmid comparing Pierce's and his father's pro-level baseball abilities.

Schmid presented citations from the Massachusetts House of Representatives and the State Senate for State Senator Michael Rodrigues who was in session.

Westport gets last minute help with Flu vaccine shortage.

With demand outstripping the supply, flu vaccine has become scarce. Westport Board of Health Chair John Colletti found that out the hard way.

But a charitable Dr. Dennis Callen of PRIMA Care Medical bailed out the town at the last minute with 360 doses of the medicine.

"The town nurse usually gives more than 400 flu shots to town residents, including the elderly and those who have no insurance or are under insured," Colletti said.

"This year the state sent only 180 doses, claiming financial difficulties."

Colletti asked the Selectmen to establish and fund a revolving account that would address the situation. "We can't expect folks like Dr. Callen to continue to bail us out," Colletti said.

Colletti wanted the proposal to create a revolving fund for vaccinations to be placed on the warrant at this fall’s special Town Meeting.

The warrant article, as requested by Colletti would have capped the amount in the fund at $15,000 and allowed that money to be spent by the Board of Health without approval from selectmen or Town Meeting.

Selectmen balked at the $15,000 figure and at the loss of revenue to the general fund.

Selectmen also questioned if a cap of $15,000 was excessive and asked Colletti how much the Board of Health usually took in on vaccinations.

“Normally, we generate about $8,000 a year from vaccinations,” Colletti said.
Selectman Steven Ouellette said he felt the $15,000 cap on the amount in the fund was excessive in that it represented nearly two years of income from the vaccination program.

“If we maxed it out at $10,000, then everything else would go into the general fund.”

Selectmen voted unanimously to support the warrant article at $10,0000.

Town Moderator tangles with Selectmen over local Town Meeting bylaws.

"I want to register my profound unhappiness as to what happened (here tonight)," exclaimed a frustrated Steven Fors.

The Town Moderator and the Board of Selectmen have been grappling with honoring local bylaws regulating Town Meeting for years, and they both have been ignoring them more often than not when it comes to the Finance Committee having enough time to review the Town Warrant's articles.

"I'm tired of taking the heat at Town Meeting over these infractions," Fors said.

The Moderator made it clear he can refuse to consider any motion at the proposed November 8th Special Town Meeting, something he has been reluctant to do in the past.

A motion Monday night that was unanimously approved by Selectmen to immediately open and close the warrant, and set a Special Town Meeting for November 8th followed by a Special Town Election on December 13th caused a visibly upset Fors to tangle with the Selectmen, not only for the time frames but the fact he wasn't invited to attend the Monday Selectmen's meeting.

"It demonstrates to me the lack of respect for the legislative branch (town meeting)," Fors said.

School Superintendent Dr. Carlos Colley had set the stage for the exchange by announcing to the selectmen that the costs for the Middle School PCB remediation effort would approach $3.1 million, prompting the Selectmen to take action on a debt exclusion override.

Recently appointed Interim Town Administrator Jack Healey, thrown right into the cauldron of town politics, will meet with Fors and/or the School Superintendent to work out getting the Finance Committee the required four weeks to consider the articles.

Selectmen will meet with the Finance and the School Committees on Friday, October 21st at 4:00 p.m.. Smart money is betting the Special Town Meeting and subsequent Special Election will be put off until early next year due to the upcoming holiday season of Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Eve.

In other business . . . .

On a vote of 3-2, an appointment to the Conservation Committee was pushed off to the next Selectmen's meeting so that the four applicants can be brought before the board for face-to-face interviews.

A request was made to temporarily suspend some parking restrictions and close Main Road except for neighborhood traffic south of the Westport Point United Methodist Church to accommodate the church's annual Point Pumpkin Crawl on Sunday, October 30th, and Monday, October 31st from 5:30 to 8:30 pm.. Visitors to the charitable event can stroll through the Westport Point Cemetery and then through historic Westport Point to the harbor, viewing Jack-o-Lanterns and other Halloween decorations. This event is sponsored by Westport Point United Methodist Church and Westport Point Neighborhood Association.

The request was forwarded to the Police Department for their review and opinion.

The Trustees Welcome New Bedford Resident John Vasconcellos as Southeast Regional Director.

EverythingWestport.com

Thursday, October 20, 2011

The Trustees of Reservations, the nation’s oldest statewide land conservation organization, are pleased to announce that John Vasconcellos has joined the organization as Southeast Regional Director. A New Bedford resident, John is based at The Trustees’ Westport Field Office, where he oversees Trustees field staff and properties located within the organization’s Southeast Region, a land area encompassing more than two million acres, including Cape Cod and the Islands.

A native of New Bedford, Vasconcellos has extensive executive experience in nonprofit organizational management and fundraising, as well as a sincere passion for conservation in Southeastern Massachusetts. Prior to joining The Trustees, Vasconcellos served as Managing Director for Development and Marketing for the Gay Men’s Health Crisis in New York City, the nation’s first-ever AIDS service organization. While there, he created and implemented strategies that exceeded the organization’s objectives for board and fund development as well as external relations. Before that, he served as Vice President of Development and Communications for The Coalition for Buzzards Bay, a nonprofit environmental protection agency dedicated to the restoration, protection and sustainable use of the Bay and its watershed. During his six-year tenure, Vasconcellos expanded the size of the Coalition’s major donor society through strategic fund development and outreach campaigns.

Before moving back to the East Coast in 2003, Vasconcellos lived in San Francisco where he served as Director of Development for the San Francisco AIDS Foundation. While there, he managed all fund development and special events for the Nation's most respected and storied AIDS services and advocacy organization, raising more than $13 million annually from private individuals and institutional donors.

Before moving to the world of nonprofit fundraising, management and board leadership, Vasconcellos held several prominent financial management positions, including Principal and Director of Client Administration for Wells Capital Management in San Francisco, Assistant Vice President and Supervisor for Wells Fargo in New York, and Assistant Treasurer and Manager of Custody Services for Chase Manhattan Bank’s Private Banking Group in New York.

“We are excited to have someone of John’s passion and diverse leadership and development expertise join The Trustees as the Southeast Regional Director,” says Kathy Abbott, Trustees of Reservations Executive Vice President. “His proven accomplishments in fundraising, financial management, strategic planning, advocacy and activism, and ecological conservation will be a huge asset to our organization as we look to advance our mission in the Southeast Region of Massachusetts and beyond.”

Stretching from the South Coast to Cape Cod and the Islands, the Southeast region includes popular Trustees properties such as Copicut Woods in Fall River, Westport Town Farm in Westport and Long Point on Martha’s Vineyard, as well as some more hidden treasures such as East Over Reservation in Rochester and Lowell Holly in Mashpee. Within the past decade alone, The Trustees have protected more than 10,000 acres in this region, moving forward their vision of creating 351 healthy, active, and green communities throughout the Commonwealth.

Vasconcellos has held multiple board and volunteer positions over the years. Currently, he serves on the boards of LifeStream, Inc., and Our Sisters’ School, located in New Bedford, and the Marion Institute located in Marion. Other local board positions have included the New Bedford Education Foundation, Zeiterion Theatre, Marriage Equality Coalition of the South Coast, and New Bedford ACTS, all located in New Bedford.

He received his Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and the Humanities from Providence College in Providence, RI, and currently lives in New Bedford with his husband.

www.thetrustees.org.

Special Town Meeting set to pay PCB remediation bills.

EverythingWestport.com

Friday, October 21, 2011

"It's the only way we can go," Selectman James Coyne said as the Board of Selectmen passed a motion to authorize a short term borrowing plan to pay PCB removal costs that could reach $3.1 million dollars before it's all said and done.

The School Committee, School Superintendent, Finance Committee and Selectmen met Friday to consider Dr. Carlos Colley's request to submit an article for a Special Town Meeting (STM) asking for up to $3.1 million to cover Middle School PCB cleanup efforts.

The action was taken as a result of Town Moderator Steven Fors adamantly stating he would not let a debt exclusion article reach the floor of the STM if the Selectmen didn't follow local bylaws giving the Finance Committee four weeks to consider the warrant article.

After first rescinding their Monday night vote to set the STM for Tuesday, November 8th, Selectmen voted 4-0 with Steven Ouellette abstaining to set December 6th for the STM that will deal only with the emergency funding. Ouellette's wife works for the school department.

"We need to do this (borrowing) sooner rather than later," Colley said.

Short term borrowing payments are made directly from the Schools' budget, and will not require a Special Town Election to authorize.

"What we're doing here tonight is borrowing time," Board of Selectmen Chairman Richard Spirlet said.

"We will have to work hard and aggressively over the next few months on a long term solution," Selectmen Craig Dutra added. "No commitment will be made tonight on a long term decision."

Short term borrowing became the chosen financing vehicle when selectmen, finance and school committee members felt a debt exclusion override might meet with stiff resistance from taxpayers, and PCB bills were due now.

Treasurer George Foster stated that the short term borrowing will "allow us to pay the bills until the final debt exclusion override is considered at a Special Town Meeting."

Selectman Antone Vieira observed that the schools had no problem coming up with $500,000 last fiscal year for additional, unplanned expenses, and it may be possible for them to meet the $400,000 payment each year to service the short term borrowing without a debt exclusion bond.

Debt exclusion allows a community to calculate its tax rate under Proposition 2½, then add on the excluded cost of the long term bond (debt service). Taxpayers in essence directly pay the add-on cost of the debt exclusion for the life of the bond, usually 20 years.

"We'll take the additional time to get all the information out to town voters to keep them informed," Spirlet said.

Top left: Board of Selectmen Chairman Richard Spirlet. Above, left: Interim Town Administrator Jack Healey (left) and Selectman Antone Vieira. Above, right: School Superintendent Dr. Carlos Colley.

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