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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2016-01-12 Board of Selectmen Minutes � OFR O Town of Reading 44 Meeting Minutes ' Board - Committee - Commission - Council: Board of Selectmen Date: 2016-01-12 Time: 7:00 PM Building: Pleasant Street Senior Center Location: Great Room Address: 49 Pleasant Street Purpose: General Business Session: Open Session Attendees: Members - Present: Chairman Daniel Ensminger, Vice Chairman John Halsey, Secretary Kevin Sexton, Barry Berman Members - Not Present: John Arena Others Present: Town Manager Bob LeLacheur, Assistant Town Manager Jean Delios, Executive Assistant Paula Schena, Administrative Services Director Matt Kraunelis, Town Accountant Sharon Angstrom, Facilities Director Joe Huggins, Kevin Gertsner, Police Chief Mark Segalla with family and friends, ' Nancy Docktor, Julianne Joyce, Linda Snow Dockser, Elaine Webb, Jane Kinsella, Al Sylvia, Stephen Crook, Mark Dockser, Paula Perry, Vanessa Alvarado, Marc Moll, Anne Johnson Landry and Peter Lyddecker Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: Secretary Kevin Sexton Topics of Discussion: Reports and Comments Selectmen's Liaison Reports and Comments - Barry Berman noted that he attended the School Committee meeting. Kevin Sexton noted that the Human Relations Advisory Committee and School Department are holding a Martin Luther King Celebration at RMHS on January 18M at 10:00 a.m. A free breakfast will be available at 9:30 a.m. John Halsey noted that a subcommittee of the Birch Meadow Committee has processed the surveys and will discuss at their meeting next Tuesday night. He also noted that Tony Rigley died this week. He was 94 years old and served.as a Town Meeting member for 37 years. This is a big loss to the family and community. Town Manager's Report - The Town Manager noted that the local election is March 1 and nomination papers are due today. We are short on Town Meeting Members. Personnel and Appointments ' Human Relations Advisory Committee - A motion by Sexton seconded by Halsev that the Board of Selectmen appoint David Clark as the Police Chief's designee on the Human Relations Advisory Committee with a term expiring June 30. 2016 was approved by a vote of 4-0-0. Page 1 Board of Selectmen Minutes - January 12 2016 - page 2 Discussion/Action Items ' Hearino - Transfer of All Alcohol Restaurant Liguor License for Ristorante Pavarotti 601 Main Street - The Secretary read the hearing notice. Paul DellaRocco, the new owner was present. The Town Manager noted that Ristorante Pavarotti is changing hands. It will have the same name and will honor gift certificates. A motion by Sexton seconded by Halsey that the Board of Selectmen close the hearina on the transfer of the all alcohol liquor license from Ristorante Pavarotti Inc. d/b/a Ristorante Pavarotti to Rocco's Enterprises LLC d/b/a Ristorante Pavarotti at 601 Main Street and the Change of Manager was approved by a vote of 4-0-0. A motion by Sexton seconded by Halsey that the Board of Selectmen approve the transfer of the all alcohol liquor license from Ristorante Pavarotti Inc d/b/a Ristorante Pavarotti to Rocco's Enterprises LLC d/b/a Ristorante Pavarotti at 601 Main Street and approve Paul Della Rocco as the Manager subiect to the following conditions: All Bylaws, Rules and Regulations of the Town of Reading and of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts shall be followed and subiect to a satisfactory inspection of the establishment by the Town Manager or his desionee. The motion was approved by a vote of 4-0-0 Police Chief Badge Pinnino - Police Chief Mark Segalla and a.room filled with friends, family and colleagues were present. The Town Manager reviewed some facts about Mark Segalla. ' Chief Segalla's son Ryan pinned his father and the Board congratulated him. The Finance Committee called to order at 7:20 p.m. FY17 Town Budget - The Town Manager noted that this budget is at a crossroad. Years ago parents would fight regarding special education and regular education so he separated them and put special education in accommodated costs. That step calmed the process down. The biggest driver in accommodated costs Is health Insurance. We have been using free cash and revenues are not healthy. He noted that the main issue is constrained revenue growth. Other communities are at 3.3% He also noted that there are unfunded mandates In all departments and local aid is down 51%. The Town Manager noted that the Town of Reading is lagging in revenue. We need an override every seven years and there Is a demand on services and the quality of services. The fact is the community wants more and if we passed a Prop 2 Yz it would need to be more than 2 Y2%. Looking at the Peer Communities, the Town of Reading has more population. We also have less square miles but more roads. Our peers can access $187,000 but $157,000 is what Reading can access. The Town of Reading taxes 10% less on average. We lag in commercial and industrial but we take $54 million from our homes in Reading. We are $12 million short in commercial and industrial. State data shows that the household income per capita is 1.9 per household but Reading has 2.6 per household so Reading has the ability to pay. , Public safety Is an essential service. Wealth does not mean you need more. ALS service and revenue puts us a little above the average. We spend a lot on recreation and cultural which are non-essential services. Page 12 Board of Selectmen Minutes - January 12. 2016 - page 3 Schools - 17.4% of our population is in schools. Our peer communities have 15% of their ' population in schools and Stoneham is 10% of the population. If you have more kids in school then you spend more money on them. Public Works is completely average and Town Hall is below average. Human Services Is below average but he doesn't understand why - he will look at that some more. Debt - If the budget is tight he will cut capital before layoffs. Department of Revenue data on free cash is not accurate - we are above average in free cash. Reading has less property to tax and that creates a revenue problem. There is no state aid and no new growth. We have a lot of kids in Reading and we need an operating override every seven years. The departments are asking for $1.6 million above this years' budget. There will be cuts from each department. If staff is cut then he will not add any. Staff retention and compensation Is 5% below our peers. We are $260,000 short of average pay. Our Police Chief, Fire Chief and DPW Director supervise 40 hours per week but get paid for only 37.50 hours. He will change that. We need to keep the quantity and quality of services for one more year. Cuts from the level service budget Include eliminating seven positions and not adding six. The Software Coordinator for IT and Digital Services Librarian are not being added. Elimination of a Crossing Guard, a RCASA position, Animal Control, Planning Intern, one ' Engineer and the Engineering intern and Facilities eliminated some painting. In addition, there were $800,000 in requests above level service that were not added including: COLA, School Resource Officer, Code Enforcement, overtime and training, a Dispatcher, two Fire Fighters, a second co-op student, and increase in hours for the Library. The Town Manager noted that he is concerned about the FY18 budget because we will have to eliminate services and reduce the quantity and quality of services. There are also items that the community wants that he wouldn't even think of asking for including.a Historic District intern and water for the Garden Club. The Town Manager noted that there are three pieces in the Facilities budget: Core, Town Buildings and School Buildings. We are also adding responsibility for the cemetery garage and Mattera Cabin to the Facilities budget. Shared costs are at 2.7%. They include health insurance, capital and debt and vocational budget. We are looking at a 6% Increase in the water and sewer for MWRA. Elaine Webb noted that when interns are eliminated then staff needs to do the work. This puts a burden on people. The Town Manager agreed and noted that we need to discuss Prop 2 1/1 override more often. It Is a difficult Issue. ' Mark Dockser noted that the type of services we offer will have to change. Public Services - Assistant Town Manager Jean Delos noted that this is a big department which is collaborative and communicative and they use resources to the maximum potential. She asked for a few things in the budget but she will live with what the Town Manager gives her. The Permits Revolving Fund has $75,000. This money is cover Page 1 3 Board of Selectmen Minutes - January 12 2016 - Qgoe 4 operating expenses due to all the activity in Town. The money came from large ' development projects and now they are dipping into that money. Jean Delios noted that there is a daytime government and a nighttime government. She is out twice a week at night meetings. There are nine active Boards that they provide staff support to. She noted that staff needs to be there because decisions are being made at these meetings. Jean Dellos reviewed the organizational chart for the department. She noted that the new management structure has a Community Services Director and a Community Development Director. They oversee four divisions each. This structure works out better and provides backup. All division heads are full time except for one. They hired six new people and they spent a lot of time screening and Interviewing. In inspections, Glen Redmond has retired and is working part time job sharing with a part time Building Inspector. They are maximizing View Permit. The Senior Administrative Assistant works the counter all day. The Building Department issued over 1000 building permits which is 455 more permits than last year. They save around $30,000 in benefits with part time inspectors who are retired and they have more backup. They Issue permits on a daily basis now when previously they had to wait until permit day on Wednesday. Barry Berman asked if we have looked at our fee structure versus other towns. He noted that Increased fees could cover a planning position or more inspectors. The Town Manager noted that they did a formal fee structure survey a few years ago and the only thing that was below was the depot parking. ' John Halsey noted that the Selectmen did away with the Economic Development Committee because our needs outgrew the ability to deliver but it may come back. An additional Planner could promote more development and increase revenue in the Town. He feels we should hire one additional person to drive economic development but we can't do that right now. Jean Cellos noted that we have a work plan of what we need to do. It's a good plan and some things staff can do and others we need to work with the business community. She noted we have a high density unit going in at Doucette Storage. John Halsey noted we are paying the price of bad forecasting in the past. MAPC has helped us create a plan but if we stretch staff too much then it will not be effective. The Town Manager noted that he said no to another staff person. We need someone who is strategic and not involved with the day to day office duties. Kevin Sexton noted that we won't produce anything if we don't fill that position. He noted that a position like that would produce revenue and he would like us to look at that position. Daniel Ensminger asked if we could do as a consultant and the Town Manager noted that we could pay out of the revolving fund because it would benefit the Town and Schools. Mark Dockser noted he would not want a consultant, he feels we need someone for the long run. Jean Cellos noted that she spoke with MAPC regarding a grant for the Economic Development Plan. She has also developed a schedule for DRT meetings to help streamline and stop wasting staff time chasing people for things. The Historic Commission is much busier with historic demo delays and she is concerned about that trend. The Historic District ' Commission met 18 times and they are not staffed. The Conservation Administrator is now full time and provides more customer service. The Conservation Commission is working hard to streamline a lot of projects that are minor projects. Page 14 Board of Selectmen Minutes -January 12. 2016 - page 5 Human/Elder Services offers over 40 programs. The new van is a great hit thanks to Jane ' Burns. The Veteran's Agent, Health and Recreation are working with Elder Services. Public Health was regional but it didn't work out. We track inspections now and gave out over 1,000 Flu vaccines. Recreation offers over 415 programs. The Veteran's Officer is full time and Kevin Boehmiller is very Involved in the Town. Facilities - Facilities Director Joe Huggins reviewed the mission statement. He noted that he manages eight schools and nine Town buildings and recently added the cemetery garage and Mattera Cabin. They employ a master carpenter, electrician and plumber. They have 23 full time custodians and sub-out night cleaning. School Dude is used to request maintenance and Facilities Direct is used to handle rentals. Coming soon will be ES Automation to link every management system to rental use. The critical alarm automation provides 24 hour monitoring. Joe Huggins reviewed projects being done and noted that 2000 work orders were completed. He will be hiring an Assistant Director. Barry Berman asked if he has been working with the Permanent Building Committee regarding capital projects and Joe Huggins noted that he has been attending all of the meetings and is already using their expertise on the Library project. Finance - Town Accountant Sharon Angstrom noted that $88,000 for revaluation will not be needed in FY17 because it only has to be done every three years and that might be changing to every five years. Professional development went up $500 which is a 25% increase. Salaries Include a 2% step and 2% COLA. There is no increase in overtime and the Finance Clerk is still shared with the Town Clerk. ' Administrative Services - Administrative Services Director/Ombudsman Matthew Kraunelis noted that this department consists of five divisions - Operations, Town Manager, Human Resources, Technology and Town Clerk/Elections. The budget Includes $75,000 for pay and class funding which doesn't get us to the end but is a good start. The copiers lease has increased to Include the Facilities copier. The Town Manager salary is being moved up to 40 hours/week and Judy Perkins and Sharon Thomas are gathering Information on this from Peer Communities. The budget also includes TLT litigation, and labor counsel for special projects and labor bargaining. .Human Resources is in the process of hiring an HR Generalist. Since he has been here Human Resources has filled 27 positions. Technology is requesting software for Elder/Human Services. Public Safety software has Increased because they added the Fire Department. John Halsey asked what is unfunded and Matt Kraunelis noted the pay and classification is not entirely funded. Also the Town Clerk part time Clerk; a Software Coordinator for training; and we are delaying $25,000 in hardware. It costs $50,000 to upgrade to MS16 so we will upgrade to MS30. We also need software for employee evaluations. John Halsey noted this means we are not funding efficiencies. The Finance Committee voted to adjourn at 9:00 p.m. Street Acceptances - Daniel Ensminger noted that the Board needs to take formal votes on the street takings since Town Meeting approved it. A motion by Sexton seconded by Berman that the Board of Selectmen vote to issue ' Notices of Taking, as contemplated by M.G.L. e. 79, §7C, for the following takings of private ways: Cory Lane from Zachary Lane to dead end Pondview Lane from Fairchild Drive to dead end Roma Lane from Sanborn Lane to dead end Sailor Tom's Way from Franklin Street to dead end Page 1 5 Board of Selectmen Minute - January 12 2016 - Page 6 Causeway Road from Lowell Street to dead end ' Dividence Road from Franklin Street to Emerson Street together with easements for drainage, utility and other purposes. Said takings are made pursuant to Article 6 of the November 12, 2015 Subsequent Town Meeting and the Order of Taking adopted by this Board on January 12, 2016 and recorded on January 28, 2016 at the Middlesex Registry of Deeds Southern District at Book 66737, Page 88. A motion by Sexton seconded by Berman that the Board of Selectmen vote, pursuant to Article 6 of the November 12, 2015 Subsequent Town Meeting, to enter an Order of Taking for the following private ways: Cory Lane from Zachary Lane to dead end Pondview Lane from Fairchild Drive to dead end Roma Lane from Sanborn Lane to dead end Sailor Tom's Way from Franklin Street to dead end Causeway Road from Lowell Street to dead end Dividence Road from Franklin Street to Emerson Street together with easements for drainage, utility, and other purposes. Said ways and easements are shown on the following plans: 1) Cory Lane, the Plan entitled: "Town of Reading Massachusetts Department of Public Works, Street Acceptance Plan Cory Lane," prepared by Scott Giles, PLS, dated January 7, 2013, said plan being recorded with Middlesex South District Registry of Deeds as #74 of 2016 sheet 1. 2) Pondview Lane, the Plan entitled: "Town of Reading Massachusetts Department of Public Works, Street Acceptance Plan Pondview Lane," prepared by Hayes Engineering, Inc. of 603 Salem Street, Wakefield, MA 01880, dated November 2, 2010, said plan being recorded with Middlesex South District Registry of Deeds as 474 of 2016 sheet 2. 3) Roma Lane, the Plan entitled: "Town of Reading Massachusetts Department of Public Works, Street Acceptance Plan Roma Lane;' prepared by Hayes Engineering, Inc. of 603 Salem Street, Wakefield, MA 01880, dated May 3, 1999, said plan being recorded with Middlesex South District Registry of Deeds as #74 of 2016 sheet 3. 4) Sailor Tom's Way, the Plan entitled: "Street Acceptance Plan Sailor Tom's Way, Reading, MA 01867," prepared by JM Associates of 325 Main Street, North Reading, MA 01864, dated November 8, 2013, said plan being recorded with Middlesex South District Registry of Deeds as #74 of 2016 sheet 4. 5) Causeway Road, the Plan entitled: "Town of Reading, Massachusetts, Department of Public Works, Street Acceptance Plan Causeway Road," ' prepared by Bay State Surveying Associates, 100 Cummings Center, Beverly, MA 01915, dated September 22, 2010, said plan being recorded with the Middlesex South District Registry of Deeds as #74 of 2016 sheet 5. 6) Dividence Road, the Plan entitled: "Town of Reading Massachusetts Department of Public Works, Street Acceptance Plan Dividence Road," Page 1 6 Board of Selectmen Minutes -January 12. 2016 - oage 7 L 7) prepared by Hayes Engineering, Inc. of 603 Salem Street, Wakefield, MA 01880, dated March 31, 2015, said plan being recorded with Middlesex South District Registry of Deeds as #74 of 2016 sheet 6. Approval of Minutes A motion by Sexton seconded by Berman that the Board of Selectmen approve the minutes of December 1. 2015 was approved by a vote of 4-0-0. A motion by Sexton seconded by Berman that the Board of Selectmen approve the minutes of December 15. 2015 was approved by a vote of 4-0-0. A motion by Sexton seconded by Berman to adiourn the meeting at 9:50 p.m. was approved by a vote of 4-0-0. Respectfully submitted, Secretary 1 Page 1 7