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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2016-10-25 Board of Selectmen Minutes OFq Town of Reading .AMeeting Minutes 'QJ9e1MCOR4O� Board - Committee - Commission - Council: Board of Selectmen Date: 2016-10-25 Time: 7:00 PM Building: Reading Town Hall Location: Selectmen Meeting Room Address: 16 Lowell Street Session: Open Session Purpose: General Business Version: Attendees: Members - Present: Chairman John Halsey, Vice Chairman Kevin Sexton, Secretary Barry Berman, John Arena and Daniel Ensminger Members - Not Present: Others Present: Town Manager Bob LeLacheur, Town Engineer Ryan Percival, DPW Director Jeff Zager, Executive Assistant Paula Schena, Bill Brown, Jonathan McNeal, Jeanne Borawski, Kate Grant, Nancy Docktor, Sherri Vandenakker, Ashley Quinn, Jen Hillery, Amy Cole, Samantha and Lisa Gibbs Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: Secretary Topics of Discussion: Reports and Comments Selectmen's Liaison Reports and Comments - Daniel Ensminger referred to a letter to the editor from DL Bulic who indicates that the assessment increase will increase taxes. Daniel Ensminger noted that is incorrect. Taxes are not going up; the assessment has no affect because the rate will come down to match the 2.50%. He also noted that if a resident feels their assessment is not fair they should see the assessment staff. The Town Manager noted that there is an abatement period in January if they don't get in before November 1. Barry Berman noted that he and John Halsey have been involved with interviewing candidates for the Economic Development position. Kevin Sexton noted that he attended the last ZBA meeting regarding Reading Village. Parking is an ongoing issue. They are looking for specific spaces on the street for loading and unloading and the developers are coming to the next Selectmen's meeting. John Halsey noted that we should extend an invite to the ZBA. Kevin Sexton noted that they are not asking for exclusive use but want it to count. The Town Manager noted it is exclusive use if you look at the map. Kevin Sexton noted they will use a trash compactor to limit trash pickup and they have removed the balcony in back. He feels they are more willing to work with the Town now. The Town Manager noted that the Selectmen and Planning staff have done a significant amount of work on this and it has made a difference. John Arena noted that only one person in DPW keeps the calendar for the Town Forest and the Boy Scouts want to know if the calendar can be put online to make it easier for the �} Scouts to see when it is available. Page 1 1 Board of Selectmen Minutes - October 25, 2016 - page 2 John Halsey noted that he participated in interviewing for the Economic Development Coordinator and a lot of energy has gone into filling this spot. This position will create more revenue for the Town and the position is being funded by permit fees. The applicants are also aware that the position is temporary. The job requires sales and marketing and this position has been building for over three years now. John Arena noted it will be important to record the beneficial impact and John Halsey noted that one of the applicants noted that we need to quantify the results. The Town Manager noted that it is also important to track the costs of the position. Town Manager's Report - The Town Manager noted that this is the second day of early voting and 1006 people have voted. Town Clerk Laura Gemme was present and noted that people commented on how much easier it is. Proclamations/Certificates of Appreciation Girl Scout Silver Award - Samantha Gibbs - Samantha Gibbs and her mother Lisa Gibbs were present. Samantha Gibbs noted that last year she worked on her Girl Scout Silver Award. She had to find a problem in the community and find a way to solve it. She decided on friendship and inclusion. She created the Buddy Bench. Dr. Doherty helped her much and gave her permission to talk to the Principals and many supported her on her project. Channel 5 interviewed her at her school. She received more donations and she was able to order all of the benches. The principal have the video that she made to show at assemblies to teach people how to use the bench. The Selectmen congratulated Samantha on a job well done. A motion by Berman seconded by Ensminger to approve the Certificated of Recognition for Samantha Gibbs achieving the Girl Scout Silver Award was approved by a vote of 5-0-0. Discussion/Action Items Hearing - Approve Amendments to the FY17 Classification Plan - The Secretary read the hearing notice. The Town Manager noted that the cost to the amendments is a very modest amount. There are two changes being proposed - remove the Recreation Program Coordinator and add a Permit Coordinator to Grade F. He noted that someone is already doing the Permit Coordinator job so this is just a change in title. All of the inspectors are part time and she holds them all together. This is a crucial piece of economic development. Barry Berman asked if this is the person he would go to for multiple permits and the Town Manager noted yes, she can't speak for them but she can direct them. Daniel Ensminger asked if the time spent can be billed out of the permit fund and the Town Manager noted it could, he would have to look at that. A motion by Ensminger seconded by Arena to close the hearing was approved by a vote of 5-0-0. A motion by Berman seconded by Arena that the Board of Selectmen approve the amendments to the FY17 Classification Plan by eliminating the Recreation Program Coordinator position and adding the Permits coordinator position was approved by a vote of 5-0-0. Page 1 2 Board of Selectmen Minutes - October 25, 2016 - page 3 Change in Manager for American Legion - Treasurer Brendon Hoyt and Manager James Fucci Jr. were present. John Halsey asked Mr. Fucci if he is TIPS trained and Mr. Fucci noted yes that he has been bartending for a few years. The Town Manager noted that the Police have reviewed the application and have no problems with it. A motion by Berman seconded by Ensminger that the Board of Selectmen approve the change in Manager for the Reading Veteran's Association Inc. from Dennis F. Lane to James J. Fucci, Jr. was approved by a vote of 5-0-0. Wine and Spirits Change of d/b/a to Baystate Liquors - The Town Manager noted this is just a change of d/b/a. A motion by Berman seconded by Area that the Board of Selectmen approve the change in d/b/a for HT Reading Liquors LLC, 345 Main Street from Wine and Spirits to Baystate Liquors was approved by a vote of 5-0-0. Approve Internal Borrowing - Library Building Project because the Last State Payment of $1,021,022 is Expected in early 2017 - The Town Manager noted that the State turns over $1 million per year for five years. This will be the final payment for the State. The Town Treasurer will use free cash to pay. Barry Berman asked if the State pays automatically and the Town Manager noted they do and he doesn't expect any problems. A motion by Berman seconded by Ensminger that the Board of Selectmen approve the internal borrowing for the Library building proiect in the amount of $1,021,022 was approved by a vote of 5-0-0. Auburn Street Water Tank Repairs/Cell Company Equipment - The Town Manager noted that the painting and repair of the water tank is in the Capital Plan. The cell phone equipment needs to be moved and hopefully permanently. Town Engineer Ryan Percival noted that is a 750,000 gallon tank and is 110 feet tall. There are three phone companies and DPW and Public Safety antennas on it. The last time the tank was painted was in 1996. The roof shell ladder is supposed to rotate but cannot because the cell phone equipment is attached to it. The overcrowded catwalk creates a work safety hazard. The cell phone equipment must be removed. Corrosion is also a problem. John Arena asked how wide the catwalk is and also asked about the Public Safety equipment. Ryan Percival noted the catwalk is two feet wide and the Public Safety equipment is antennas and they impede painting. John Arena noted that OSHA requires two attached points for a safety harness and Ryan Percival noted that was correct but they don't have two points to attach to. All they have is a slide rail going up. He also noted that there is a hole in the catwalk. The Town Manager noted that Federal law says we cannot say no to cell carriers. He also noted that we have a fourth carrier who wants to go up now. Page 1 3 Board of Selectmen Minutes - October 25, 2016 - page 4 Ryan Percival reviewed the options. He noted that Option 1 is to modify the tank by welding support brackets. Option 2 (the preferred) is to construct a new cell tower and get the equipment off permanently. The cell tower would be 165 feet tall; the tank would not need structural modification; it will increase safety, increase cell coverage and increase revenue. Barry Berman asked if the carriers would pay more for being on a cell tower and the Town Manager noted that there are a lot of moving parts regarding that issue. John Arena asked if any of the cell tower models require guidewires and Ryan Percival noted they do not. He also noted that the antennas need to be 10 feet above the tank and 10 feet between rays. He noted that mutual aid would benefit greatly. The Town Manager noted that Metro Fire would be interested. Barry Berman asked if there are any additional health and safety concerns and the Town Manager noted there is not because they will be moving further away and they are already there. Ryan Percival noted that option 1 will cost $1.75 million with tank rehab for $1.35 million and carrier relocation at $400,000. Option 2 will also cost $1.75 million for tank rehab at $1.35 million and a new cell tower at $400,000. The Town Manager noted that the carriers would prefer not to own the tower - they rather pay rent. John Arena asked about the build time and the Town Manager noted option 2 is the faster option. He recommends talking with the neighbors to help make it look better. Jeff Zager noted that Burlington is doing theirs now so we can see how they do. John Halsey asked if carriers will be interested in tearing up leases and starting new. The Town Manager noted that the carriers don't want to spend money on capital. John Arena recommended bringing back a number of options for cell towers because people will have problems with certain things. Ryan Percival noted he would seek a design consultant. John Halsey requested that he also show the differential costs between options. He also asked what the shelve life of a tank is and Ryan Percival noted that removing everything will extend the life of the tank. The cost to replace a tank is three times the cost of painting. The Town Manager noted that our security consultant has recommended these things be added to the security list. Barry Berman noted that he wants there to be an inclusive abutters list. Special Election Wrap Up - Daniel Ensminger noted that he received data from the Town Clerk since 1993 to 2003. He noted that the number of registered voters has grown by 20%. The NO vote in 2016 was the largest in history of the Town. Many people in the community have the same needs we do with health insurance, utility bills, etc. and most people he spoke to feels the Town spends money non-prudently. Barry Berman noted if he could go back and do it again he would ask for a lower number. Daniel Ensminger noted that we fixed the problem so long so well that we are a victim of our own work. Page 1 4 Board of Selectmen Minutes - October 25, 2016 - page 5 John Arena noted that he heard comments that there wasn't enough information and people want more transparency in the School Department. He also noted that people are angry and not in the mood to entertain this. He feels the need to talk with the School Committee and Finance Committee about how to move forward. aw— Kevin Sexton noted that he heard comments that the timing was not good. He doesn't think a lower number would have made a difference. We need to look at revenue up - perhaps billboards. Daniel Ensminger noted that in 1991 and 1992 the employees received 0% increase in pay. John Halsey noted that in 1993 an override was passed. Ten years later a school was built and another override was passed. Now, 13 years later an override failed. He believes people are feeling fatigued. We will need to be very creative and work closely with the School Committee not to create Schools versus Town. We will have to redouble our efforts and we will not shut down the Schools and close our doors. We need to say no to certain things and work with less. Barry Berman noted that people are happy with the level of services they are getting now. School Committee Chairman Jeanne Borawski noted that she supported the one question that was on the ballot. She is glad the split stayed the same. She also noted that the conversations over the next six months will be hard. They have to cut $1.7 million from services over the years. The Superintendent will be presenting his budget to the School Committee in December. John Arena noted that we need to be proactive and the Schools need do the same. He recommends doing a bottom up budget. It is easy to grow but hard to shrink. The Town Manager noted that depth and function will be cut and there will be less public safety. There appears to be a deep anger in all of the communities and nobody knows why. Jen Hillary noted that she reviewed the percentage of yes votes and she doesn't feel that 46% was bad. She feels the litigation and timing of the settlement; the Library project and the vote No on #2 signs regarding the charter schools complicated things. Peter Brown, Precinct 8 noted that he has lived in Town since 1985. He spoke to a lot of Town Meeting members and there was a level of misinformation. He feels we need to think about how to educate the residents. He also feels the issue of trust is significant. People don't believe the layoffs will happen and until they feel the pain they will say no. He feels there will be a problem if the School Committee doesn't do what they said they would cut. He also noted that a lot of people said if the amount was smaller they would have voted for it. He suggests asking more frequently for smaller amounts. Barry Berman noted it is the Board's job to squeeze more growth in and maybe they can cut 15 School positions instead of 30 because they are cutting services. The Town Manager noted that there was a lot of misinformation on social media and he will not argue with people online but someone needs to do that. Jeanne Borawski noted that projecting out past FY18 is something people need to look at. Bill Brown noted that a lot of people are hurting financially. He does canning and there are less now than there used to be. Page 1 5 Board of Selectmen Minutes - October 25, 2016 - pa ece66 Amy Cole suggested the Board look at the difference in the gap between back then and what we have now. Close Warrant for Special Town meeting (requested by School Committee) - RMHS �. Construction - Jeanne Borawski noted that the School Committee informed the public that we have a tentative agreement for approximately $6 million settlement. This will require Town Meeting approval so they are requesting a Special Town Meeting within the Subsequent Town Meeting where a presentation will be made. A motion by Berman seconded by Arena to close the Warrant for the Special Town Meeting on November 14, 2016 regarding the RMHS construction was approved by a vote of 5-0-0. Close Warrant for Special Town Meeting - Special Act Request for Liquor Licenses - The Town Manager noted that there is a discrepancy between what the Town believes and what the State believes. Starting next year the ABCC will be online and they will tell applicants we have licenses available when we don't. The State says we have five beer and wine package store licenses available and we don't. This action will set the state clear on what we have. A motion by Berman seconded by Arena to close the Warrant for the Special Town Meeting on November 21, 2016 regarding liquor licenses was approved by a vote of 5-0-0. Approval of Minutes A motion by Berman seconded by Arena to approve the minutes of October 4, 2016 was approved by a vote of 5-0-0. A motion by Berman seconded by Arena to adiourn the meeting at 10:35 p.m. was aaRproved by a vote of 5-0-0. Respectfully submitted, creta ry Page 1 6