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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2001-09-19 Board of Selectmen Executive Session Minutes Joint Board of Selectmen and School Committee Meeting Executive Session September 19, 2001 The meeting convened at 8:30 p.m. in the Conference Room, 16 Lowell Street, Reading, Massachusetts. Present for the Board of Selectmen were Chairman George Hines, Vice Chairman Camille Anthony, Selectmen Richard Schubert and Gail Wood. Present for the School Committee were Chairman Timothy Twomey, Vice Chairman William Griset, Jr., School Committee Members Harvey Dahl, James Keigley and John Russo. Present for the Conservation Commission were Vice Chairman Patricia Lloyd, Conservation Commission Members Nancy Eaton and Douglas Greene. Also present were Town Manager Peter Hechenbleikner, Conservation Administrator Frances Fink, Counsel Leigh Gilligan and John Giffune from Gadsby Hannah and Yvonne Gonzalez from Brackett & Lucas. Board of Selectmen Chairman George Hines opened the meeting by asking why Gadsby Hannah has decided not to jointly represent the School Committee and the Conservation Commission as previously agreed to by the School Committee and the Board of Selectmen. Conservation Commission Vice Chairman Patricia Lloyd noted that in April the Conservation Commission voted to have separate counsel. Leigh Gilligan from Gadsby Hannah noted that Gadsby Hannah was directed to jointly represent both bodies and did so in an appropriate and complete manner until a pre-hearing conference in September at which time Nancy Eaton from the Conservation Commission raised an objection. Gadsby Hannah, based on that comment, decided that it was not advisable for them to continue to represent a client who does not want to be represented by that attorney. The Town Manager reviewed the purpose of the meeting. It was to have the Leigh Gilligan from Gadsby Hannah review the status of the litigation. Additionally, it had been initially the intent to review between the Board of Selectmen and the School Committee whether or not Gadsby Hannah would continue to represent both parties. Since this is not the case, Yvonne Gonzalez from Brackett & Lucas is present and will be representing the Conservation Commission on this matter. Leigh Gilligan noted that the issue is an abutter appeal of a DEP Superceding Order of Conditions for a new school 'project on Sunset Rock Lane. They have had a pre-trial conference. Testimony has been filed by the appellant. Testimony will need to be filed by the Town fairly soon. Gadsby Hannah was able to get the issues narrowed to two issues and testimony will be on those issues only. The Town will need to file its testimony by October 2°d, and the rebuttal testimony needs to be filed by October 151h The hearing is set for October 17th and 181h with the decision by the end of the year. Joint Board of Selectmen, School Committee Meeting—Executive Session - September 19, 2001 —Page 2 There is also a separate appeal on the Town Bylaw, and that is an appeal to the Superior Court. This matter will not be moved forward by the Town until we get past the DEP hearing process in the middle of October. Selectman Gail Wood asked if the result of the DEP case will have an affect on the court case. Yvonne Gonzalez from Brackett & Lucas noted that it probably would not -- the court is a separate jurisdiction and is a separate body of law that is being appealed. Conservation Commission Vice Chairman Patricia Lloyd asked if the factual finding in the DEP case would help, and the answer was the same. Conservation Commission Member Nancy Eaton noted that the appeal under local Zoning By-Law is filed by the abutter and is challenging whether or not the lot coverage on the site exceeds 20%. She also noted that is a Zoning By-Law not a conservation law and, therefore, the appeal is really to the wrong body on the wrong issue. Selectman Richard Schubert asked what the two issues are that are on appeal before the DEP. Conservation Commission Member Nancy Eaton explained that it was (1) the rate of infiltration on the site and (2) how the calculation of the pre-imposed construction rate of runoff is determined. Superintendent of Schools Harry Harutunian noted that there have been a number of attempts to settle the case with the Mola's. Leigh Gilligan noted that it became evident during the attempts that the concern was to have a school there at all and the wetlands was not really a major issue. They met to explore the potential resettlement offline from the Administrative Law Judge, and were told that the Mola's were unwilling to settle unless the access road was moved. Board of Selectmen Chairman George Hines asked if the School Department has considered alternatives to this project and whether once the DEP hearing is completed and the decision made, whether the Town can move forward with the school. Leigh Gilligan noted that if it was just an appeal to DEP, and if the Town was successful before the Administrative Law Judge, the Town could move forward. But because there is also a challenge under local bylaw, the Town can't move forward until both matters are adjudicated. Once they have been adjudicated at the initial levels, if there is an appeal, the Town could still move forward at their own risk unless there was an injunction. The Superintendent of Schools noted that the price tag for the school is "seven figures" higher than authorized by Town Meeting. The Town Manager asked if there was not a previous bid on the project before these appeals, and whether or not those bids were not significantly higher than the amount authorized by Town Meeting. The Superintendent of Schools noted that it was about a half million dollars higher than the budget. Joint Board of Selectmen, School Committee Meeting—Executive Session- Se tep mber 19, 2001 —Page 3 Selectman Gail Wood asked where we are on the bid process. The Superintendent of Schools noted that we will have to bid both the Barrows School project and this project once the litigation is done. Board of Selectmen Chairman George Hines asked if the court was likely to accelerate the schedule because of the harm to the community. Leigh Gilligan stated that we could make that argument but it was not likely to have an affect. Selectman Camille Anthony asked whether the new school is needed. She noted that the new school is based on the number of students we thought would be going to school. Are these numbers holding up and do we still need a new school. The Superintendent of Schools noted that we are currently using Coolidge Middle School for elementary kids and that will only be able to last for another eighteen to twenty-four months. In addition, part of this construction is to eliminate portables and to restore music, language arts, and SPED space. The Superintendent of Schools noted that the Town was recently evaluated and was written up for not having adequate space for SPED. Board of Selectmen Chairman George Hines asked if we should look at a different strategy. The Superintendent of Schools noted that we had a committee that evaluated forty-two options and narrowed it down to three options. This option is the least cost option. School Committee Member John Russo asked about moving ahead with Barrows, and the members of the School Committee noted that we ran the risk of not getting SBAB funding if we just did Barrows and were never able to do the school. In addition, the Superintendent of Schools noted that Barrows after construction would actually be a smaller school than it is now considering the portable buildings. Board of Selectmen Chairman George Hines stated that the SBAB policies have changed, and could this make a difference on this matter. The Superintendent of Schools noted that the policies have changed but not for many of the issues related to building two schools—i.e., that it needed to be a complete solution. School Committee Chairman Tim Twomey noted that this project comes under the old regulations which guarantees 66% funding. We might get at or close to 66% funding under the new formula if we change the projects but we cannot be sure. He also noted that SBAB will not fund an addition to the Killam School because the site is too small. Board of Selectmen Chairman George Hines noted that this is only if we stayed with a single level footprint for the building. The Town Manager asked what the litigation timeframe would be assuming appeals. Leigh Gilligan noted that the best case is that all appeals would be completed by mid- Summer. This would be if the abutters did not appeal the DEP decision, did not appeal the Superior Court decision on the local bylaw, and the Town won both. Joint Board of Selectmen, School Committee Meeting—Executive Session - September 19, 2001 —Page 4 The worst case is that it could take two years from now to exhaust all legal process, and construction would be another two years from either scenario. The Superintendent of Schools noted that there is a Sunset Rock Association that is funding this appeal and it not being funded entirely by the Mola's. School Committee Member Peter Dahl noted that all day kindergarten will probably be mandated soon, and that we would certainly need the capacity for that purpose. Board of Selectmen Chairman George Hines asked if the Board of Selectmen decided to keep Gadsby Hannah, would they continue to represent the Town on this appeal. Leigh Gilligan stated that they would not-- they will represent the School Department only. Board of Selectmen Chairman George Hines asked that when decision points are reached, Counsel come back to the Board of Selectmen. Conservation Commission Member Nancy Eaton adamantly noted that this was not acceptable. On motion by Anthony seconded by Wood, the Board of Selectmen voted to adjourn from Executive Session 9:45 p.m. on a roll call vote with all four members voting in the affirmative. On motion by Dahl seconded by Griset, the School Committee voted to adjourn from ". Executive Session on a roll call vote with all five members voting in the affirmative. Respectfully submitted, Secretary