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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2012-07-24 Board of Selectmen Minutes Board of Selectmen Meeting July 24, 2012 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 Stephen Goldy, Vice Chairman Ben Tafoya, Secretary Richard Schubert, Assistant Town Manager/Finance Director Bob LeLacheur, Office Manager Paula Schena and the following list of interested parties: Ralph and Adele Blunt, Manuel and Karen German, Erin Calvo-Bacci, and Phil Maher. Reports and Comments Selectmen's Liaison Reports and Comments — Stephen Goldy noted that the Fall Street Faire Committee needs volunteers. Ben Tafoya noted that Ruth Urell and David Hutchinson met with him and the Town Manager regarding funding for the Library project. He suggests moving forward to get local funding in place and recommends talking about this at the Financial Forum. Town Manager's Report — Assistant Town Manager Bob LeLacheur gave the following report: Administrative matters ♦ Volunteers still needed — one member each for the Bylaw Committee; Finance Committee; Trails Committee; West Street Historic District Commission; and Zoning Board of Appeals. ♦ Demolition Delay Bylaw Working Group has completed their work. A DRAFT bylaw has been created to share with you at your next meeting. ♦ The Town's home rule petition regarding the water and sewer easements between Belmont Street and Ivy Drive is expected to pass the Senate by this Wednesday or Thursday. ♦ Surveys: Town Forest (200+ responses); Open Space (130+); Housing (100+); and a new Sturges Park survey (25+) will all run through early/mid-August. Community Services • East Middlesex Mosquito Control Project (Reading) o Truck mounted sprayers began Monday, July 23rd and will continue Tuesday, July 24th between dusk and 11:30 PM. o Two weeks earlier than usual because of dry winter. o No sign of EEE or West Nile Virus in the area. o Everyone is encouraged to use insect repellent when outdoors. o Spraying targeted areas based on July 11th trap data for following neighborhoods: Board of Selectmen Minutes—July 24, 2012—page 2 ■ Hopkins Street, Ash Street, John Street, Salem Street, Charles Street, Dana Road, Haverhill Street, Van Norden Road, Forest Street, Grove Street, High Street, and Lowell Street. ■ Spraying will also be done near West Street between Randall Road (bordering Wilmington) and by Summer Avenue between King Street and Willow Street. On Tuesday, spraying is scheduled for streets in the vicinity of Rustic Lane, Franklin Street, Batchelder Road, and Sanborn Lane. • Farmers Market- now open at the Depot on Tuesday afternoon/evening. • Retail Visioning Workshop - scheduled for September 12, from 8 to 10:30 AM to offer assistance to existing businesses. o Retail Consultant Christine Moynihan has been hired to provide the service for free through a State grant awarded from the Mass. Downtown Initiative (MDI) program. o The workshop is open to all Reading businesses and will focus on how to apply "Best Practices" in the areas of marketing (including using on-line tools), storefront/signage/window design, store layout, and others. o Applications are limited to Downtown Businesses for one-on-one free consultations and will be distributed at this meeting and will be due shortly thereafter. A selection committee will determine final awards. • Vacant Properties —Working with a list of about a dozen properties to upgrade and conform to recently adopted general by-law establishing minimum maintenance standards. • Signage Enforcement—Working with Town database of common Victualers license holders to bring violations into compliance. • South Main St. Signalized Pedestrian Crossing—Working to identify a location in collaboration with CPDC, Engineering and Public Safety. • MBTA Vine Street Parking Lot—Great news! We have received a license agreement from Transit Realty Associates for Reading to use the MBTA Vine Street Parking Lot (currently underutilized) and to also permit the Town to undertake needed maintenance of trees on MBTA property. Some terms will need further negotiations, so a start date is unknown. • Community Services Office Renovations—Hope to have completed by the end of August. Finance ♦ Tax Assessment process — RFP April 2012 contract signed with Patriot; RFP June 2012 contract signed with Finnegan. Total within the budgets approved by FINCOM and the BOS last June. Software conversion with Patriot ongoing. One verbal agreement from last winter that led to $6,500 of completed work had to be paid — funds available from June transfer because of June RFP results. This work was not budgeted nor known by Town Finance staff until July 2012. Agreement to share Appraiser Victor Santaniello approved by Wakefield Selectmen; he has begun working in Reading. ♦ Funding for Killam — MSBA has taken no action on our Statement of Interest. Next possible MSBA review date is October/November which will be the last chance Board of Selectmen Minutes—July 24, 2012—page 3 under FY12 submittal. If no action then we will need to decide to re-apply under FY13 as is, or step back and consider overall space needs. School Committee continues that discussion on space needs and will discuss further on August 271H although another meeting may be added sooner. ♦ Funding for the Library — MBLC (MA Board of Library Commissioners) has requested $20 million in FY13 funding. If that is approved (date — uncertain) they have indicated that the Reading project will move forward - currently Reading is next on the waiting list. If not approved in FY13, then MBLC fact sheet states "wait listed libraries will receive their grants as funds become available through the state's five-year capital plan". Note that in FYI 2 $12 million was released for project funding—this did not fully fund the approved projects. Public Safety ■ Licensing of Parking Garages— 30 Haven Street tonight; others in August. Public Works Street Paving—next projects: • Main Street (Washington Street to the Railroad Tracks). • Garrett Road • Boswell Road • Irving Street • West Street (thin overlay over water trench; Arcadia Avenue to Woburn Street). Street Paving—topped: completed except for punch list items (mainly loam and seed, handwork paving, cleaning catch basins, etc). • Pearl Street • Belmont Street (Salem Street to Chequessett Road) (Reclamation) • Belmont Street (Chequessett Road to Pearl Street) (Cold Plane) • Wilson Street • Track Road • Norman Road • California Road • Joseph Way • Kieran Road • William Road • Susan Drive • Blueberry Lane • Mill Street (Short Street to Old Sanborn Lane) • Short Street • Evergreen Road • Copeland Avenue • Bancroft Avenue (Woburn Street to Middlesex Avenue) Street Paving—micro-sealed: completed except line-striping which begins next week. • Charles Street • Washington Street • Hopkins Street Board of Selectmen Minutes—July 24, 2012—page 4 • Lowell Street(Salem Street to Hartshorn Street). Curbing/Sidewalk ♦ Edgemont/Stewart—completed. ♦ Haven Street— starts in 2 weeks (Contractor experiencing materials delay). ♦ Mineral Street—RMLD getting access rights addressed. Utilities ♦ Haverhill Street water main replacement completed (Contractor waiting for last test results). ♦ Water services being completed between Wakefield Street & Charles Street. ♦ Howard Street water main—working west towards West Street, done through Sigsbee Avenue. Dates July 26th—Dedication of McIntire family benches 10 am on the Common. September 9th—Reading Fall Street Faire. Discussion/Action Items Hearing — Policy on Procurement Cards — The Secretary read the hearing notice. Mary Delai noted that there are a number of discounts for buyers but suppliers won't take a purchase order. The procurement cards will eliminate a number of reimbursements to employees. They are also good for out of the country field trips to purchase airline tickets, etc. The Montreal Bank aggregates all of the states so we received a bigger rebate. There is no revolving line of credit and the whole bill is paid when it is received. We can limit the amount per transaction and also what merchants are used. Only a limited number of employees will use the procurement cards and these are not intended to bypass the process already in place. The Board of Selectmen needs to adopt the policy. The School Committee adopted it last night. Bob LeLacheur noted that the agreement is the last page of the handout. The more the card is used the bigger the rebate. This will eliminate the need for employees and volunteers to use their own credit cards. Mary Delai noted that Technology, Facilities, and Director of Community Services will be the biggest users on the Town side. And MUNIS has a procurement card module. Bob LeLacheur noted that he agrees with Fred Van Magness' email and the issues he raises can be dealt with in the policy. He also noted that Town Accountant Gail LaPointe is very supportive of this program. Richard Schubert noted that the policy does not have all of the guidelines and it would be helpful to see what is behind it. He also asked if this will eliminate paying taxes on items and Mary Delai indicated it will. A motion by Tafoya seconded by Schubert to close the hearing on adopting the policy on Procurement Cards was approved by a vote of 3-0-0. Board of Selectmen Minutes—July 24, 2012—page 5 A motion by Tafoya seconded by Schubert to approve the resolution authorizing the issuance of individual procurement cards was approved by a vote of 3-0-0. A motion by Schubert seconded by Tafoya to adopt Section 1.13 of the Board of Selectmen Policies—Policy Providing for the Use of Purchasing Cards was approved by a vote of 3-0-0. Hearing — License Garage — 30 Haven Street — The Secretary read the hearing notice. Fire Chief Greg Burns noted that he does not regulate the number of spaces, it is regulated by the amount of gasoline. If the total amount is less than 793 gallons, then just a permit is issued. If more, then a license is needed from the Board of Selectmen. Stephen Goldy asked how many other buildings need to be licensed and Chief Burns noted 4 Summit Drive and he is calculating some others. Richard Schubert asked what qualifies as underground and Chief Burns noted that it doesn't matter if it is underground. If it is under a building then it needs the license or permit. Also, diesel needs to be licensed at 10,000 gallons. The building must be properly permitted and maintained. 30 Haven Street is a fully sprinkled building with carbon monoxide detectors, etc. Bob LeLacheur noted he would recommend no fee because we want to encourage this licensing. Phil Maher, 72 Woburn Street, asked if the garage is sprinkled, what type of system is it, and what was the rating of the slab. Chief Burns noted it is a fully sprinkled MFPA 13 system and the slab has a full rating from the garage to the upper floor. Jeff Hirsch, General Contractor for Oaktree, noted the sprinklers are a dry system. An abutter to the property asked what the plans are for the parking lot and Mr. Hirsch indicated the parking lot is being restored— repaved, restriped, adding new trees and new street lights. Ben Tafoya asked when the barriers will be removed and Mr. Hirsch indicated they hope to remove them by September 1. Stephen Goldy asked what the term is for the license and Chief Burns noted it is permanent and the license stays with the land. A motion by Tafoya seconded by Schubert to close the hearing for licensing the underground garage at 30 Haven Street was approved by a vote of 3-0-0. A motion by Tafoya seconded by Schubert to approve the license for underground parking containing 76 spaces (1140 gallons) at 30 Haven Street in accordance with Chapter 148 of the Massachusetts General Laws was approved by a vote of 3-0-0. Board of Selectmen Minutes—July 24, 2012—page 6 Review 2012 Goals —Richard Schubert noted that the Town Manager retiring was not on the goals. Bob LeLacheur updated the Board on the goals that are not at 100% yet. He noted that advocating for additional cell sites and billboards (#7) is not obtainable because there is only one suitable site and it is privately owned. For the OPEB Funding (#8) he is looking to do a FinCom policy on this similar to the reserve fund policy. For the technology items (#9, 10 and 11) we might have to purchase a separate customer service module. The roll out date for the licensing and permitting software is September 11. The meeting rooms at Town Hall are being updated with new technology. The question is whether or not to hand out tablets to volunteers. Under Health and Safety there is no cost savings for Reading to switch to regional dispatch. Under Community Development the Town is getting a license from the MBTA to use the Vine Street lot at no charge—the MBTA will not sell but we can use it. He does not have the terms yet on this. As far as redevelopment of the properties behind the RMLD (#23) he does not know if anyone is interested. Ben Tafoya requested that he find out if enforcement is taking place there. Stephen Goldy inquired about the Cemetery Garage under #26. He asked why we are spending $50,000 to design a garage that costs $100,000. He suggested tearing it down and building a new one. Bob LeLacheur noted nothing has been done about a Teen Center and he suggests involving the School Committee. Stephen Goldy asked about the status of the bandstand and Mr. LeLacheur indicated he was not sure. The scope for Zoning Bylaw revision (#33) is an expensive proposition and staff does not have time to work on this. Communications (#36) is tough. Ruth and Peter will work on this. Ben Tafoya requested that the Woburn Street parking issue be put on an agenda regarding where parking is allowed and at what times. He also noted that we need to set a process for hiring. Board of Selectmen Minutes—July 24, 2012—page 7 Richard Schubert indicated that he would like to see a plan on how the Town Manager is going to turn his work over to the next Town Manager, i.e. is he keeping notes, putting together a notebook of items, etc. Review Draft of Board of Selectmen "Vision" Statements — Stephen Goldy recommended that two Selectmen (including the liaison) go out to the Boards, Committees and Commissions with the vision statement. Ben Tafoya noted that the preamble to the Personnel Policies was changed a few years ago and he would like the vision statement tied to the Personnel Policies along with the mission and values. Richard Schubert asked what the rationale is behind "delighting" the customer. He noted that if a property owner wants to do something and the Town "delights" the customer it could "un-delight" the neighbors. Stephen Goldy noted that means the manner of the way they were treated—you can say no in a nice way. Approval of Minutes A motion by Schubert seconded by Tafoya to approve the minutes of June 5, 2012 was approved by a vote of 3-0-0. A motion by Schubert seconded by Tafoya to approve the minutes of June 19, 2012 was approved by a vote of 3-0-0. A motion by Schubert seconded by Tafoya to approve the Executive Session minutes of June 5, 2012 was approved on a roll call vote with all three members voting in the affirmative. A_ motion by Tafoya seconded by Schubert to adjourn the meeting at 9:10 p.m. was approved by a vote of 3-0-0. Respectfully submitted, Secretary