Foxborough Town Meeting Approves Invensys Tax Break, More Security Cameras at Schools, Police Contracts & More

Foxborough's Annual Town Meeting came and went Monday with a small quorum of just over 200 residents representing the town to vote on 26 warrant articles, including the FY14 operating and capital budgets, the Invensys TIF agreement, police contracts and more. 

Voters swiftly approved 21 articles and took no action on five others in just under two hours Monday.

Arguably the most important article approved Monday was Article 28, the Invensys TIF agreement, which grants the company with over 100-year-old roots in town a tax break to invest $33 million into renovating its existing buildings on Mechanic Street and Neponset Avenue and retain at least 900 jobs in Foxborough.

"At the end of the day it is really quite a simple proposal," said Foxborough Town Manager Kevin Paicos on Town Meeting floor Monday. "Invensys is going to spend $33 million for improvements of their buildings. It takes time to realize profit from that investment so they asked us to forgive some of the taxes up front in the first few years so they can offset some of that investment until it begins to produce revenue for them.

"It’s a simple way to have a partnership between a town and a business. ... The most important thing is that Invensys, which has had a partnership with this community for over 100 years remains in the community. This is truly a partnership and truly a win-win."

To read more about the Invensys proposal, click here.

Steve Sacco, senior vice president of Invensys, added that from the company's perspective, it is looking for a long-term partnership with the town of Foxborough.

"We are very happy to be part of the town and continue to support the town in various activities," Sacco said. "This is a big investment. One of the biggest that we’ve made in my time there. ... We are looking forward to continuing to be a significant contributor to the town."

During discussion of the article, Foxborough resident Dennis Naughton asked if there was a penalty - or Clawback provision - in the agreement if Invensys decided to leave Foxborough during the 15-year TIF period.

Town counsel Richard Gelerman said while there was discussion amongst the TIF negotiating committee about proposing a Clawback provision into the agreement, the committee ultimately decided against it.

Naughton asked why that wasn't proposed and Gelerman passed the buck to Paicos, who explained Clawback provisions are "inherently difficult."

Neither answer served as a satisfactory response to Naughton, who opted to walk away from the microphone and promptly end the discussion.

Following the brief discussion, Town Meeting approved Foxborough's first ever TIF agreement, 145-5.

The article that received the most discussion was the public schools portion of the capital budget (Article 5), specifically the $112,000 for a security camera system to be installed throughout each of Foxborough's five public schools.

Naughton expressed concerns with who would be monitoring the security cameras, how they would be used and if a policy would be in place before the cameras were turned on.

"I’m concerned – and I’m thinking about the students – where will the camera feeds go? Who will be watching the camera feeds? Will the information be recorded? If it is recorded, who will be the custodian of that information? How long will the information be retained?" Naughton asked.

Foxborough Schools Superintendent Debra Spinelli provided the answers to many of Naughton's questions.

"This was something [Police Chief Edward O'Leary] has been talking to school administrators about for a couple of years," Spinelli said. "Last year we had applied to the District Attorney’s office for a small grant to upgrade some of the cameras we currently have at school entrances, which are starting to become old, outdated and grainy."

Spinelli said camera feeds will operate on a 30-day loop.

"[Camera footage will be] digitally stored for 30 days and then disappear," Spinelli said. "It will be stored by the school department on its own network behind its own firewalls and under our own security."

Spinelli added the feed will not go directly to the police department but it will be accessible by Foxborough Police and school administrators.

Above all, Spinelli said this is about keeping students safe.

"The most important reason we feel very strongly about this in working with the District Attorney’s office, is in response to legitimate safety protections," Spinelli said. "We have thousands of children we are responsible to protect every day and the cameras are meant to aid law enforcement of an intruder or suspicious person that may be a risk."

Foxborough Police Chief Edward O'Leary agrees.

"The concept of having buildings linked by camera systems is not new to just this year," O'Leary said. ... "The intent is to provide the capability to my staff responding to a critical incident to have information going in. The program is in place at the [Foxborough Regional] Charter School. We met with the leadership there to see how it operates."

Spinelli said the Charter School has 37 cameras installed in its building and that each of the town's public schools will have less than half that amount.

"Cameras will be] installed in main corridors of each school and large areas of each school where students travel in groups or mingle in groups as part of their regular school day," Spinelli said. "That is designed to meet our safety purpose to see if there is an intruder or threat in school."

Spinelli added there will not be cameras in classrooms or locker rooms.

Here's the breakdown of the number of cameras likely to be installed at each school:

• About 16 cameras at Foxborough High School (internal and external)
• About 16 cameras at Ahern Middle School (internal and external)
• About 12-14 cameras at Igo Elementary School (internal and external)
• About 10-12 cameras at Taylor Elementary School (internal and external)
• About 10-12 cameras at Burrel Elementary School (internal and external)

Naughton, while pointing out he was not opposed to the security cameras being installed, was adamant a policy for the security cameras be established before they are installed and turned on.

"My intent is that the cameras won’t go live until a policy is in place," Naughton said. ... "I am concerned that at some point education begins to take a second place to law enforcement and I have concerns that we are moving in a direction where we are going to cross a line from an educational institution to something that isn’t quite what it used to be."

Spinelli said there will "absolutely be a policy" for the security cameras before they are turned on.

After the discussion, Town Meeting passed Article 5, the capital improvement planning budget, 214-0.

The only other article to receive public discussion was Article 19, which requested $56,500 be transferred from free cash to be expended by the Planning Board to complete the town's master plan.

A Foxborough resident asked why the master plan wasn't finished under the original financial authorization.

Advisory Committee member John Spinney and Planning Board chair Kevin Weinfeld each explained the project was expanded beyond the downtown area and therefore needed additional funds to complete the project.

After the brief discussion, Town Meeting approved Article 19, 168-2.

Also approved Monday was the town's FY14 operating budget of $59,838,375 and police contracts, municipal affording housing trust and various "house keeping" items. Town Meeting took no action on fire contracts, highway contracts, Boyden Library employee contracts, stretch energy code by-law and grant of access easement.

Below is a complete rundown (article-by-article) of the results from Monday's Town Meeting. To view the town's warrant for reference, click here.

Approved (214-0)

According to Town Clerk Robert E. Cutler, Jr., Monday's Town Meeting began at 7:36 p.m. with 160 residents present. Attendance peaked with 223 residents present.

Town Meeting adjourned at 9:15 p.m.