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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2014-08-12 Board of Selectmen Minutes aTown of Reading Meeting Minutes Board - Committee - Commission - Council: Board of Selectmen Date: 2014-08-12 Time: 7:00 PM Building: Reading Town Hall Location: Selectmen Meeting Room Address: 16 Lowell Street Purpose: General Business Attendees: Members - Present: Chairman John Arena, Vice Chairman Marsie West, Secretary Daniel Ensminger, Selectmen John Halsey and Kevin Sexton Members - Not Present: Others Present: Town Manager Bob LeLacheur, Nancy Docktor, Business Administrator Jane Kinsella, Assistant Public Works Director Joe Huggins, Office Manager Paula Schena, Town Engineer George Zambouras, Chris and Sue D'Ambroslo Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: Secretary Daniel Ensminger ' Topics of Discussion: Reports and Comments Selectmen's Liaison Reports and Comments - Marsle West indicated that she forwarded the email regarding the Tennessee Gas Pipeline to the RMLD Citizen's Advisory Board representative Dave Mancuso and asked him to attend the meeting. She feels the RMLD and residents will be interested in this project. The Town Manager noted that Town Counsel is looking Into this and the latest plan shows a pipeline In the wetlands In the northeast corner of Reading. John Arena noted that Daniel Ensminger and John Halsey developed a draft form for the Town Manager evaluation and asked the Board to review It. The Town Manager suggested that the Selectmen do Individual evaluations and then compile a summary. Discussion/Action Items See-Click-Fix - Jane Kinsella and Joe Huggins were present. Jane Kinsella noted that the Town received a two year grant. The program started in Boston and then expanded. Public Works previously had a request for services form on the website and she used that as a guideline. It takes about 15 seconds to record a request. Ms. Kinsella then reviewed the date report in metrics. She noted that they don't offer a work order system yet, but are working on it. Joe Huggins noted that facilities use the School Dude system and he trained everyone to put In work orders and it was a great tool. ' A resident suggested having a kiosk at the Town Clerk's office and the Fall Street Faire to educate people. Hearing Request for Second Driveway - 420 Franklin Street - The Secretary read the hearing notice. Homeowners Chris and Sue D'Ambrosio were present. Page I 1 Board of Selectmen Minutes - August 12 2014 - page 2 Town Engineer George Zambouras noted that the request Is from the homeowners. There ' was a barn which was removed when the property was subdivided. They are proposing to Install a garage at the rear of the building and turn the grass area Into a driveway. He has no problem with that. . John Halsey asked if there is curbing there now and George Zambouras indicated there is no curb, it is all grass. He noted that the existing driveway is more of a pull off. Kevin Sexton asked if they plan on continuing to use their current driveway and they indicated no. A motion by Ensminger seconded by Halsey to close the hearing for a second driveway at 420 Franklin Street was approved by a vote of 5-0-0. A motion by Ensminger seconded by West to approve the request for a second driveway with a reduced separation at 420 Franklin Street was approved by a vote of 5-0-0. Preview Warrant for Special Town Meeting - The Town Manager reviewed the draft Warrant. He noted the articles are mostly budget articles and zoning articles. Marsie West noted that one zoning article is to delete the mixed use overlay and another is to the delete wetlands section because they are redundant. She noted that RCASA is Involved with the medical marijuana Article and hopefully they will support it. Daniel Ensminger asked what the medical marijuana bylaw regulates and Marsle West Indicated It does not affect personal care givers, it regulates the dispensary. The Town Manager noted ' that Town Counsel will advise on this. The Town Manager noted that there is a place holder in the draft Warrant for the Summer Avenue property. He noted that the Charter changes will probably be in January. He will speak with the Town Moderator and suggest he deals with Town Counsel directly. Marsie West noted that she is proposing an amendment to Section 3.3.2 on page 21 of tonight's handout related to the Finance Committee. This would add a sentence under duties that gives them the authority to investigate and they want to add a sentence under investigation indicating they will transmit such reports of Investigations to Town Meeting and the Board of Selectmen. This will correct an oversight in the current wording that only allows the Finance Committee to investigate Issues on the Town Warrant. John Halsey noted that they have the right to incur expenses but need the authority of the Town Moderator. He feels having the sole authority rest on one person not to be best practice and suggests having the Finance Committee Appointment Committee consisting of the Town Moderator, Chairman of the Finance Committee and Chairman of the Board of Selectmen as the authority to approve the expenses. The Town Manager noted he will ask Town Counsel what the options are. The consensus of the Board was that these changes are reasonable but the question is who sponsors it. Discuss the Remote Participation Policy - The Town Manager noted that he asked all Department Heads for feedback and got very little. He suggests not adding video. John Arena noted there is a technical Issue of calling In with these phones. The Town ' Manager indicated that won't be an Issue after Town Meeting. He recommends revising the policy to cross out that this is trial. A motion by West seconded by Ensminger to approve the language as in the packet was approved by a vote of 5-0-0. Page 1 2 Board of Selectmen Minutes - Auoust 12, 2014 - oaae 3 ' Preview FY15 Town Manacier Goals - The Town Manager noted this is a work in progress and he will send It to the Board to prioritize. Daniel Ensminger asked If the Town Manager's evaluation is based on goals and performance and Marsie West noted it is based on goals and competency. The Town Manager review Administration and noted that la will be a communications position. Human Resources is updating the pay and classification plan and they are Identifying professional development needs. The Town Manager noted that communication needs to be Improved among all boards. The Selectmen need to review their policies and John Halsey recommended assigning this out to two Selectmen to report back to all. The Town Manager noted that Paula Schena will be available to assist with the licensing section of the policies. John Arena noted that the general public and other reviewers willhave a hard time understanding proposed edits to the Charter without context clues and background included within the document. It was recommended this be done with footnotes because the minutes are not detailed enough. The Town Manager noted that he needs to find out if the Charter recodification will be broken up Into sections or If it Is an all or nothing deal. The Town Manager noted we need to make it easier for residents to communicate but we also need to make It easier to respond to them. He also wants to review regionalization for - animal control and DPW procurement. ' Under public safety and health the Town Manager indicated the RCASA model should be reviewed. Marsle West indicated we need to measure RCASA and the Town Manager noted that the amount of kids in intervention and relapse level was very low. There were 80 kids In Intervention and 76 of them did not relapse. John Halsey Indicated this Is an excellent program that has done Innovated things. The Town Manager noted that the Fire Chief can do a presentation on Emergency Management non-Executive Session information. He noted that the Fire Chief is doing 1 ya jobs as head of Emergency Management. Under Community Development the Town Manager noted that there Is a need to examine the role of volunteer boards in Community Development. John Arena noted the boards need to get redirected and this should be done sooner rather than later. He also noted that he is more Interested in pruning of things we don't need to do to free up time to do what we want. The Town Manager suggested exploring and recommending a path on the Community Preservation Act and to continue to strive for 10% affordable housing. He also noted that the Board needs to decide if they want to plan out the use of Industrial Zone properties because there are people there now who are willing to listen. Under Facilities and Infrastructure It Is time to review recreation. He will have John Feudo come in to make a presentation. The Board also needs to find a place for the DPW facility. ' Daniel Ensminger noted that Library programming needs to be listed under the Library building project. Under Finance Is long term liability planning. The Town Manager noted that health Insurance is increase 8 - 11% nationally plus we have 6% local mandates so he is putting in a 14% Increase for health insurance. He also wants to review bill printing and mailing Page 13 Board of Selectmen Minutes - August 12. 2014 - page 4 policy. He will discuss reviewing fees with the Department Heads. John Halsey noted that ' we need to communicate what people are getting for their money. The Town-Manager noted he will put the goals in a matrix format and send out to the Board for rankings. Approval of Minutes A motion by Ensminger seconded by Halsey to approve the minutes of July 29. 2014 as amended was approved by a vote of 5-0-0. A motion by Ensminger seconded by Halsey to go into Executive Session to consider the purchase, exchange, lease or value of real property, and that the chair declares that an open meeting may have a detrimental effect on the negotiating position of the body and not to reconvene in Open Session was approved on a roll call vote with all five members voting in the affirmative. Respectfully submitted, Secretary Pape 1 4