2021-10-18 Special Town Meeting Minutes

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SPECIAL TOWN MEETING Virtual Town Meeting October 18, 2021 via Zoom Webinar The Moderator appointed an Assistant Moderator to help with anyone who wanted to attend in person at the Performing Arts Center at Reading Memorial High School. Philip Pacino, Precinct 5 acted as Moderator with three Town Meeting Member present. The meeting was called to order by the Moderator, Alan E. Foulds, at 7:42 PM, there being a quorum present. The Pledge of Allegiance was said by all, followed by the invocation given by Philip Pacino, Precinct 5. Philip Pacino was sworn in as Assistant Moderator. The Constables return of the Warrant was read by the Town Clerk. Motion made by the Select Board pursuant to the Acts of 2020 Chapter 92 and before taking any other vote at this Special Town Meeting, the Town Meeting members vote to continue conducting business at this meeting remotely using the video conferencing platform "Zoom Webinar", as selected by the Moderator. Counted Vote 132 in the affirmative 8 in the negative 176 Town Meeting Members remotely in Attendance Motion Carried ARTICLE 1: To hear and act on the reports of the Select Board, School Committee, Library Trustees, Municipal Light Board, Finance Committee, Bylaw Committee, Town Manager, Town Accountant and any other Town Official, Board or Committee. A report was given by Karen Herrick, Select Board Dear Town Meeting Members, My name is Karen Gately Herrick and I am the Chair of the Reading Select Board. It is my privilege to be here this evening and I wanted to welcome you all and thank you for making the commitment to serve in municipal government. It is my hope that in the near future - we will return to in person Town Meetings We have a very full agenda and some large spending requests before us worthy of careful consideration. To start the meeting on a positive note - I am pleased to present some recent financial highlights. Our Town Accountant, Sharon Angstrom, was able to persuade the Department of Revenue to certify our free cash balance in the General Fund to be $17million, seven hundred thirty thousand dollars - considerably more than the estimated $12M expected a few weeks ago. In addition, she recently confirmed that Reading's share of the ARPA funding was $7.6M and Senator Lewis confirmed that that the Reading Public Schools had received a corresponding allocation of $1.3M known as Esser Funds. At our last Select Board meeting, our legislative delegation shared that of the $5Billion allocated to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, they expected about $lBillion to be redirected back to the local municipalities. We expect an update on how that might occur as soon as November; I look forward to figuring out how Reading can participate. On Wednesday of this week, the Finance Committee will hold a Financial Forum and I encourage TMMs, residents and community stakeholders to attend and participate. Your input is valued and welcome. IlPage