Meeting Notes: Citation and Accident Reports, Medfield Day and State Hospital Update

Medfield Chief of Police Robert E. Meaney Jr. presented the town’s citation and accident statistics to the Board of Selectmen Tuesday at the request of selectman Ann Thompson.

Meaney presented statistics for citations, motor vehicle crashes, OUI arrests and regular arrests from January to August over a three-year span, beginning in 2009. Here’s what the chief reported:

• Citations increased by 217 percent from 2009 to 2010 but have decreased by 41 percent from January to August in 2011.
• Motor vehicle crashes have remained “relatively stable” with little change over the past four to five years, according to Meaney. “You go from 94 to 104 [crashes] ... that’s a 10 percent increase,” he said.
• OUI arrests were "relatively stable across the board," according to Meaney.
• There were 18 regular arrests made in 2009; 41 regular arrests made in 2010 (128 percent increase); 90 regular arrests have been made from January to August so far in 2011, which is 120 percent increase of last year’s statistics.

Meaney said the significant increase in arrests made is likely linked to the data terminals officers now use in their cruisers to check for uninsured or unlicensed operation of vehicles.

“As opposed to just being able to look at the inspection sticker or try to grab the color of the small decal on the plate, [officers] can simply run the plate [with data terminals],” Meaney said. “So, what that results in is you find the registered owner of that vehicle has their license suspended or revoked or the insurance for that particular vehicle has not been paid or it’s revoked and now you make the car stop. “So instead of making the car stop for perhaps an inspection sticker, now it is an arrestable offense and I think that’s one of the reasons we’ve seen the significant up there in the amount of arrests over the course of this year. I thought it might happen but didn’t think it would happen this soon.”

Meaney said, in response to Thompson’s question about accidents, the two streets in town that have the most crashes are the “length of Route 109 and the length of North Street.”

He added that the more serious accidents usually occur on West Street and Route 27.

“We have some fairly dramatic crashes on West Street and Route 27,” said Meaney. “When we have a crash down there, it’s usually not a simple fender bender but a significant one.”

MEMO’s Request for Medfield Day Approved

When the selectmen voted to approve , it was unclear whether there was an official vote or not because Thompson, a member of MEMO, voted.

“You asked me to check with Town Counsel to find out [more about the situation],” Town Administrator Michael Sullivan said. "He indicated that both Ann [Thompson] and Mark [Fisher] might have potential conflict of interest. Ann because she’s a member and Mark because his wife is a member.”

Sullivan said Town Counsel Mark Cerel explained if both selectmen filed a disclosure statement with the Town Clerk, then they would be able to vote.

“The last time there was a 1-1 split vote so there’s no action,” Sullivan said. “The disclosures [from Thompson and Fisher] have been filed with the Town Clerk and you have a copy of it in your folders. So all three of you can now vote.”

MEMO’s request to hold Medfield Day on Sept. 17 was officially approved, 2-1 Tuesday, with Thompson and Fisher voting in favor while selectmen chair Osler "Pete" Peterson voted against the request because of the issue he had with MEMO’s event not being “revenue neutral,” as he stated at the July 19 selectmen meeting.

Medfield State Hospital Update

The town received from DCAM responses to the comments on the interim Phase II report, which has been posted on the town’s website for residents to see.
“I’ve taken a look at [the comments] and [made note] of some of the comments that we may or may not agree with so that we can carry them forward when they finish the Phase II investigation this month, if that’s their time frame,” SHERC chairman John Thompson said. “I’m trying to whittle down questions that are satisfactory answered versus ones that we might want to carry forward in time.”
Selectmen signed a letter from SHERC that was drafted after Thompson circulated a response for comments for the IRA plan for the Army Corps of Engineers.

“That’s the letter we ask you take a look at and vote to approve because the deadlines are this week,” Thompson said.

Thompson said in summary of the letter, the biggest concerns are with the C&D area of the site, the oil and sediment in the Charles River. Town officials and SHERC are expected to meet with DCAM officials on Friday.

Other Town Business:

Sullivan discussed with the Board of Selectmen the letter it received from the Commonwealth stating populations over 12,000 must appoint a full-time Veterans’ Agent. Sullivan was not in favor of the state's requirement, mainly because it will cost the town much more than the $7,000 per year it has budgeted for its current Veterans’ Agent. Sullivan said town veterans will likely see no added services or benefits of having a full-time Agent.
“Now for the state to come in and tell us that we have to have a full-time Veterans’ Agent with office hours consistently of 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and our population according to the 2010 Census is 12,024 … so because of 24 people we have to do this and our budget for Veterans’ Agent is $7,289,” Sullivan said. “It’s this type of thing that’s killing cities and towns. Mandating and mandating and pushing up costs. We’re trying to provide basic services and people are asking why are our taxes going up … because the state tells us we need to have a full-time Veterans’ Agent.”

Sullivan said he believed what the town of Medfield is doing right now provides veterans with a “high level” of service and that bringing in a full-time person would be a waste of resources and time.
“A full-time person sitting [in an office] reading a comic book [is not what the town wants] because that’s what they’re going to do,” he said.

• More discussion of Swap Area Subcommittee at the transfer station will be held at Monday’s Solid Waste Committee, with those interested in forming the subcommittee expected to attend the meeting.
• Lowell Mason Foundation requested a 3-foot by 4-foot sign in front of the Lowell Mason House on 59 Green St. that will read: “59 Green Street, the birthplace of Lowell Mason, January 8th, 1792.” Sullivan said it needed to be checked if the sign would be an informational sign and the selectmen were simply asked to just review the request.
• Masters Touch requested a special permit to use the transfer station for recycling but Sullivan said DPW superintendent Ken Feeney was not in favor of the request.
  “I talked to Ken Feeney about that and he’s not in favor of it and we may want to have the Solid Waste Committee review it,” Sullivan said. “That would open it up to any contractor wanting to use the station to recycle and our transfer station is for municipal solid waste, it’s not for construction materials.”
  Assistant Town Administrator Kristine Trierweiler said it becomes a policing issue because “if we start to issue permits to commercial businesses to recycle then are we sure that’s what they’re doing? It just puts more police down there.”
• Selectmen approved meeting minutes from the July 5 and July 19 selectmen meetings.
• Selectmen awarded DPW Superintendent Ken Feeney’s bid for one two-stage rotary snow blower. 

Check back at Medfield Patch for more on Meaney's citation and accident report to the selectmen, the state's new regulation on full-time veterans' agents, Medfield Day and the town's mandatory water ban.