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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2011-10-11 Board of Selectmen Minutes Board of Selectmen Meeting October 11, 2011 For ease of archiving, the order that items appear in these minutes reflects the order in which the items appeared on the agenda for that meeting, and are not necessarily the order in which any item was taken up by the Board. The meeting convened at 7:00 p.m. in the Selectmen's Meeting Room, 16 Lowell Street, Reading, Massachusetts. Present were Chairman Camille Anthony, Vice Chairman Stephen Goldy, Secretary Ben Tafoya, Selectmen James Bonazoli and Richard Schubert, Town Manager Peter Hechenbleikner, Assistant Town Manager/Finance Director Bob LeLacheur, Office Manager Paula Schena, and the following list of interested parties: Ralph Colorusso, Fred McGrane,William Boatwright, Bob Nordstrand, Carolyn Whiting, George and Rosian English. Reports and Comments Selectmen's Liaison Reports and Comments — Stephen Goldy noted that RCASA held their annual meeting last week and it was well attended. The third series on Substance Abuse and Violence will be on October 18 and he will be at the Senior Center for lunch on Thursday. Ben Tafoya asked if the survey information from last year will be updated for the next meeting. Richard Schubert indicated that Camille Anthony filled in for his office hour this evening. He asked if there was any possibility for getting reimbursement for the cost of emergency personnel during the power outage last week. Camille Anthony rioted that she attended the RMLD audit and it was very good. She attended a MAPC workshop and they want to know what areas of town are hard to get around in. She noted that the Ash Street intersection is very bad. She and Stephen Goldy meet with Jeff Zager and Mike DeBrigard regarding what we're planning on plowing this winter. The issue last winter was that the sidewalks on Walkers Brook Drive were not plowed. Camille Anthony requested a site visit of Haven and High Streets area on the Saturday before the October 25 meeting. Ben Tafoya asked for an update on a bus shelter for Walkers Brook Drive, The Town Manager noted that there was enough money in the Walkers Brook Drive project to purchase one. Public Comment —Lynne Cassinari and Lorraine Horn from the Cultural Council indicated that there is a link on the Town's website to a video that explains the Cultural Council grant process. Lorraine Horn noted that the Town is receiving $4,620 from the Mass Cultural Council to give away as cultural grants. She noted that almost anything to do with the humanities may apply including performers in schools, music, Ivy Chord Coffee House, etc. She noted the grant application deadline is October 15. Town Manager's Report—The Town Manager gave the following report: Administrative matters ♦ Community Dialogue on Substance Abuse and Violence — third session 10-18-11 at RMHS Field House. Board of Selectmen Minutes—October 11, 2011 —page 2 o Joint meeting with School Committee on 10-17-11 regarding full presentation of YRBS. s Reading KS efforts and 10-20-11 event. Community Services Biweekly Updates on Community Development issues. ' ® A Flu Clinic is scheduled for: Saturday, October 22, age 18 and older at Coolidge Middle School, 89 Birch Meadow Drive; Reading, 10AM- IPM. Public Safety ♦ RCA- Reading Community Alerts—Sign up for"opt in" feature. Public Works s MWRA water interconnection with Stoneham. ♦ MWRA water redundancy project—under design. ♦ Fall leaf collection- 10/31-11/4, 11/14-11/18, 11/28-12/2. ♦ Sewer I/I smoke testing and dye testing to be conducted starting Monday, 9-26-11. Construction projects o Roadway Reconstruction —First streets to be reclaimed: Causeway Road and a portion of Pearl Street. ♦ Roadway Overlay: Done: Beaver Road, Dana Road, Red Gate Lane and Old Farm Road. Sanborn Street, small portion of Forest Glen Road. ♦ Micro-Seal — will not be done this year. Portions of: Washington Street, Hopkins Street Charles Street. Superior is in prepping for micro-seal — assuming they complete the prep work this week;we expect them to start applying mix next week. ♦ Memorial Park: Awarded bid to repair\rebuild loose masonry in the stream channel. ♦ Haverhill Street Water Main: under construction. Franklin Street from Main to Haverhill Streets will be closed tomorrow 10-12-11. Bob LeLacheur noted that the Financial Forum agenda is on the website. He also noted that reminders were sent out to 330 people to remind people of their bills. Discussion/Action Items Tax Classification Preview— Assessor Bill Boatwright, Board of Assessor members Ralph Colorusso, Bob Nordstrand and Fred McGrane were present. Bill Boatwright reviewed the history of valuation by class. He noted that the 2012 numbers preliminary is an increase in $15 million from last year. Mr. Boatwright noted that the residential exemption is for communities who have a high percentage of apartments and seasonal homes. For the small commercial exemption there are 46 properties in Reading eligible for the exemption and the total assessed value is $21.3758 million. James Bonazoli noted that last year there was a huge increase in the commercial properties values and he asked if they are down from last year. Bill Boatwright indicated there are only seven cases before the tax court. Stephen Goldy asked how that compares historically and Bob Board of Selectmen Minutes—October 11, 2011 —page_3 Nordstrand indicated that is high. Ralph Colorusso noted they have not moved forward with any of them yet because they try to work it out first. Bill Boatwright reviewed the 2012 residential tax rate options. Ben Tafoya compared numbers on the residential tax data for single family homes, which was a 3% increase and the.commercial numbers increased 5%. Review Options of Selling Various Parcels of Town Owned Land — Oakland Road— The Town Manager noted that the abutters within 500 feet have been notified. He noted that revenue ideas were talked about at the Financial Forum and one was to sell surplus properties. He noted that the Oakland Road property is actually a series of properties including paper streets. There are two articles on the Warrant — one to transfer care, custody and control from the School Committee to the Board of Selectmen and the second article is to vacate the paper streets. The process will need to go through land court which will take one to two years. The property is zoned S-15 and the total is 4.5 acres. Camille Anthony asked if we are considering this property for future use. Richard Schubert noted that the ad hoc Municipal Building Committee looked at this property and the sense was to hang on to it, but Town Meeting expressed another idea. James Bonazoli noted that this town has conducted studies since 1937 and they have exhausted all possible municipal uses for this property. He feels it is time to sell this property.. Carolyn Whiting, 17 Chestnut Road, noted that the Beacon Street Development is near there. She's concerned about water run off. She's in favor of getting rid of paper streets, but concerned regarding the wildlife. Penny Gene, Cold Spring Road, asked if the property would be sold as one big lot or individual lots. The Town Manager indicated it would likely sell as a whole. Ms. Gene asked if any access roads would be opened up if developed and the Town Manager noted that would be part of planning, but past practice is only emergency access. George English, Hillside Road, asked how the lots would be accessed and Ben Tafoya indicated they would be subdivided. Mr. English noted that Ben Nichols fought to keep the land.for us and he didn't feel there was any net gain from selling. Brian Desmond, Beacon Street; noted that there is a lot of ledge in there. When there was blasting on Parkview it cracked his wall. Mr. English noted that the corner of his basement has granite in it and if they start blasting it will damage his home. John Arena indicated it would be helpful, to know what the Town will get out of the sale. The Town Manager noted that an analysis could not be done because there will be an RFP. Board of Selectmen Minutes—October 11, 2011 —page 4 Ben Tafoya suggested rezoning for higher density, i.e. cluster housing which would lower the ratio of school children. Richard Schubert noted that a 40B is who will be interested in it. It is hard to believe that someone would buy it for single family homes. He also noted that the Town can refuse any offer. Penny Gene asked why the Police Station was not built there and the Town Manager indicated it was a question of building in the center of town or on the outside of town. Carolyn Whiting suggested making a drop-in a center for the teens as one of the conditions of the sale. Mr. English noted he watched the RMHS being built and he got excuses from the town that they had to go with the lowest bidder—so the Town really doesn't have any control. James Bonazoli suggested moving the DPW Garage .to Oakland Road and selling the New Crossing Road property, because it is worth more money. . Richard Schubert suggested using the time in land court to do planning and neighborhood outreach. Review Options for Community Access Fee — Bob LeLacheur indicated the question is whether the Selectmen want to split the compost/parking stickers. The Town sells approximately 4,000 stickers per year that equal $80,000/year. Approximately 1,000 are for train parking, 2,000 for the compost center and 1,000 unaccounted for. The costs of running the compost center include: $51,278 in DPW wages, and depreciation of equipment. The cost of the compost center has nothing to do with the number of trips— it has to do with volume. The number of trips to the compost center is approximately 42,000/year. Parking — There are a total of 500 spaces in all the depot parking lots with estimated annual revenue to the Town of $10,000 - $21,535. The MBTA makes $870 per space per year; the Town's leased spaces are $352 per space per year; and the Town resident spaces are $38 per space per year. The low price encourages the use of public transportation and is a benefit to the tax payer. A higher price would increase revenues to cover the cost of parking enforcement but it shouldn't be so high as to encourage parking in neighborhoods. Purchasing the MBIA Vine Street lot would increase the Town's revenue base also. James Bonazoli suggested having two stickers of different colors. The commuter, which would also include the compost center, for$50 and a separate one just for the compost center for $25. Richard Schubert suggested raising the cost another $25. Board of Selectmen Minutes—October 11, 2011 —page 5 Ben Tafoya noted that when the MBTA increased the cost of parking in the lots there was a 28% reduction in usage. He indicated he is not interested in changing when the property taxes are increasing 3%. He feels it will encourage people to park in the surrounding neighborhoods. Stephen Goldy agreed with Ben Tafoya and indicated there is a market to increase business parking. Camille Anthony agreed with James Bonazoli regarding raising the depot parking. Finance Committee member John Arena noted that there are two discussions going Ion — one is principal and the other is price. He indicated that raising the price of parking was highly rated at the Financial Forum as a way to increase revenues. He noted that the Town is already charging so the discussion should only be about the price. Ben Tafoya disagreed. James Bonazoli noted that the only way to prove the data is to separate the stickers, even if the price is not increased. Ben Tafoya suggested revisiting the issue after the first budget go-around. Camille Anthony indicated that the Financial Forum asked the Selectmen to look at raising revenues and there are not many options. Review Proposal for moving Presidential and State Primary Elections — The Town Manager noted we received a letter from the City Clerk of Woburn asking for support of a bill that would move the presidential election to the first Tuesday in June. Ben Tafoya indicated the bill benefits cities more than towns. He also noted that the Secretary of the Commonwealth is not supporting this bill. Mr. Tafoya noted that allowing no excuse absentee voting and voter registration on the day of voting would increase voter turnout. Richard Schubert asked if there has been any effort to send ballots electronically to veterans and have them mail the ballot back. Laura Gemme noted that the military can email or fax once they sign off that their ballot is no longer private. The consensus of the Board was not to support the bill. Approval of the Removal of a Shade Tree—Salem Street at Baystate Road—The Town Manager noted we cannot get approval to signalize the crosswalk on Salem Street at Baystate Road, but we might get a flashing light. He noted the crosswalk sign is behind a tree and the tree needs to be removed. A motion by Tafoya seconded by Goldy to declare the tree located on the west side of Salem Street near the crosswalk at Baystate Road is a visual safety hazard and direct the Department of Public Works to remove the tree was approved by a vote of 5-0-0. Board of Selectmen Minutes–October 11,2011 -page 6 Approval of Minutes A: motion by Tafova seconded by Bonazoli to approve the minutes of September 6, 2011 as approved by a vote of 4-0-1 with Schubert abstaining. A .motion by Tafova seconded by. Goldy to approve the, Executive Session minutes of September 6,2011 as written was approved on a roll call vote with Anthony, Goldy, Tafova and Bonazoli voting in the affirmative and Schubert abstaining. A motion by Tafova seconded by Schubert to adjourn the meeting at 10:15 p.m. was approved by a vote of 5-0-0. Respectfully submitted, Ztaryk