HomeMy WebLinkAbout2016-10-13 Board of Selectmen Minutes F$
Town of Reading
Meeting Minutes
,
Board - Committee - Commission - Council:
Board of Selectmen
Date: 2016-10-13 Time: 7:30 PM
Building: School - Memorial High Location: Superintendent Conference Room
Address: 82 Oakland Road Session: Open Session
Purpose: Joint Meeting School Version:
Committee/Board of Selectmen
Attendees: Members - Present:
Chairman John Halsey, Secretary Barry Berman, Vice Chairman Kevin
Sexton, Dan Ensminger &John Arena,
Members - Not Present:
Others Present:
Jeanne Borawski, Chuck Robinson, Elaine Webb, Linda Snow Dockser, Gary
Nihan, Julie JoyceSuperintendent John Doherty, Director of Finance Gail
Dowd, Board of Selectmen - John Halsey, Barry Berman, Kevin Sexton, Dan
Ensminger &John Arena, Town Manager Bob LeLacheur, Town Counsel Ray
Miyares, Fincom member Peter Lydecker, Attorney David Doneski
i
Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: Secretary
Topics of Discussion:
Chair Halsey called the Board of Selectmen to order at 7:43 p.m.
Mr. Ensminger moved, seconded by Mr. Arena, to enter into executive session to discuss
strategy with respect to pending litigation and to return to open session at approximately
8.45 p.m. The roll call vote was 5-0. Mr. Halsey, Mr. Ensminger, Mr. Arena, Mr. Berman
and Mr. Sexton.
The open session meeting went into recess at 7:45 p.m.
The Board of Selectmen were called back to order in open session at 9:33 p.m.
Chair Halsey reminded the Board that their next meeting is on October 25th.
Mr. LeLacheur provided information of some agenda items including that the Board will need to
call for a Special Town Meeting within the Subsequent Town Meeting in November, close the
warrant and discuss details on a change in the liquor license process.
Mr. Halsey said information will be included in their packets.
Al Sylvia, Reading Chronicle, asked about the lights at the Library.
Page 1 1
Board of Selectmen Minutes— October 13, 2016—paw
Mr. LeLacheur said a lighting consultant has been contacted and as of yet there has been no
resolution. The maintenance staff has been shutting the lights off.
RMHS Litigation
Chair Borawski called the School Committee back to order at 9:40 p.m.
Mrs. Borawski called for Public Comment. There was none.
Mr. Robinson moved, seconded by Mrs. Webb,to request that the Board of Selectmen call
for a Special Town Meeting to address the High School Construction litigation.
Mrs. Borawski announced that the School Committee and TLT had come to a tentative
agreement to settle and proceeded to read a press release regarding the High School Construction
Litigation tentative settlement.
For Immediate Release
Selectmen vote for Special Town Meeting to address High School Construction
Litigation
Tentative settlement agreement to be reviewed between Town of Reading and TLT
Construction
At a joint meeting of the Reading Board of Selectmen and School Committee, the
Board of Selectmen voted to hold a Special Town Meeting on November 14 to
address the High.School construction litigation with TLT Construction
Corporation that began in 2007. At the Special Town Meeting, the timeline of
events over the last decade will be reviewed, a funding vote will be requested, and
the settlement process will be outlined in order to ensure that no funds from
operating budgets will be impacted.
The Reading Memorial High School construction project began in 2004, and TLT
Construction Corporation was the general contractor for the project. In the fall
of 2007, TLT filed a lawsuit in Middlesex Superior Court against the Town of
Reading, claiming that the Town owed additional money for work performed
under the contract. In response, the Town filed a counterclaim, alleging that TLT
did not complete the contract work on time and that the Town had to correct
various parts of the project work TLT did perform.
In 2013, after several years of the litigation discovery process and attempts at
reaching a settlement with TLT, the court referred the case to a Special Master, a
retired judge, who conducted a hearing process in lieu of a trial in the Superior
Court. The hearings began in December of 2013 and concluded in March of
2015. Closing arguments were presented in July of 2015. Since that time, the
Master has been preparing, and issuing to the parties, draft decisions on the
various issues that make up the matters in dispute. These issues included payment
to TLT for asbestos abatement work, the Town's replacement of the outdoor track,
Page 1 2
Board of Selectmen Minutes– October 13, 2016–page 3
compensation to TLT for additional work outside the scope of the contract,
correction of site work, and liquidated damages for failure to complete the work
on time. The first draft ruling was issued in January of 2016, and the most recent
ruling, which left only a small portion of the claims still to be decided, was issued
in September of 2016 The net result of the rulings to date is approximately 3
million dollars, in TLT's favor.
If the process continued, each party would have the opportunity to respond to the
draft rulings with proposed revisions, and the Special Master would then prepare
a final report to the Superior Court. Under the applicable legal procedure, the
court would review the Master's final report and may adopt it, reject it in whole
or in part, or send it back to the Master with instructions for additional action.
Ultimately, the Superior Court would enter a judgement in the case, whether on
its first receipt of the Special Master's report or after such additional action by
the Master as it may order. On account of the volume of material to be reviewed,
a Superior Court judgment would not be expected until sometime well into 2017.
By Massachusetts statute, a court judgment is subject to 12%annual interest, and
interest would apply from the date the complaint was filed in November, 2007. As
a result, the amount of the judgment would now more than double. If the final
court judgment were issued in late 2017, it is expected that the total amount could
be close to $7,000,000 in TLTs favor.
Given these circumstances, the Town and TL have reached a tentative settlement
agreement in the amount of$6 million, subject to Town Meeting approval. If
approved by Town Meeting, the settlement would be paid through three sources of
funding: remaining funds from the RMHS building project (approximately
$800,000), certified free cash, and borrowing—with the debt being paid off over a
period of several years. No operating budget funds would be utilized, and the
result of the override election will not have an impact on the funding sources for
the settlement. It should also be noted that the override vote scheduled for
October 18th is to support the operating budgets for the town and schools, and
has no real impact on the capital plan. The override was not required because of
this legal settlement.
As a result of the settlement, it is expected that capital projects currently on the
10 year capital plan (i.e. roof replacements,field replacements, and capital
equipment) would be pushed out additional years into the future in order to
disperse the impact. Town officials are also exploring the possibility of additional
MSBA reimbursement funding for the High School project. As several people have
understandably inquired, town and school officials want to also clarify and
emphasize again that this issue is not related in any way to the need for an
override ballot question. Even if the litigation had been resolved years ago, an
operational override would be necessary at this time to sustain current services of
the town and schools—and to address the structural deficit in the operating
budgets that has been developing over the last several years. Revenue from an
override would successfully address these identified deficits. Although litigation
has taken years, it was a process that legal counsel at the time believed was the
best course of action. After almost a decade-long process, however, the School
Committee supports moving forward on a settlement in order to bring the
Page 1 3
Board of Selectmen Minutes— October 13, 2016—page 4
litigation process to a necessary close and to best position our Town and schools
for the future.
Town Manager LeLacheur reviewed the funding sources to address the proposed $6M settlement
saying $800,000 will be used from the remaining money in the high school project line, $1.2M
will come from free cash and the remaining $4M will be borrowed. Town Meeting will need to
authorize the use of free cash and also authorize separately to borrow. This funding will have no
bearing on the tax levy but there may be a delay in capital purchases.
The motion carried 5-0.
Mr. Halsey said the Selectmen will address the Special Town Meeting when they have warrant in
hand.
Mr. Ensminger moved, seconded by Mr. Berman,to adiourn. The motion carried 5-0.
The meeting adjourned at 9:50 p.m.
R s ectfully sub itted,
Page 1 4