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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2017-05-30 Board of Selectmen Minutes k Town of Reading Meeting Minutes = r Iv f K Board - Committee - Commission - Council: 4� 3 Board of Selectmen Date: 2017-05-30 Time: 7:00 PM Building: Reading Town Hall Location: Selectmen Meeting Room Address: 16 Lowell Street Session: Purpose: General Business Version: Attendees: Members - Present: Chair John Arena, Barry Berman, John Halsey, Dan Ensminger, Andrew Friedmann Members - Not Present: Others Present: Town Manager Bob LeLacheur, Police Chief Mark Segalla, Superintendent of Schools John Doherty, Director of Finance of Schools Gail Dowd, Town Accountant Sharon Angstrom, Phil Rushworth, GIS Coordinator Kim Honetschlager, Bill Brown, Dan Dewar, Stephen Crook, Gary and Linda Phillips, Elaine Webb, Sherri Vandenakker, Marilyn Simmons, Harry Simmons, Jim Martin, Jean Jacobs, Erin Gaffen, Bob Hayes, Julie Ross, Amy Cole, Kate Goldlust, Rebecca Bailey, Michael Giacalone, Nathan Giacalone Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: Topics of Discussion: Chair John Arena called the meeting to order. Town Manager Bob LeLacheur thanked the Police and Fire Departments for their hard work at the bomb scene. The bomb squad was thoroughly impressed with how well our Police and Fire Departments worked together and secured the scene. Police Chief Segalla thanked the surrounding towns Police Departments for helping out and answering other emergency calls that came through while they were all tied up at the bomb scene. Mr. Halsey commented about how important it is that we adequately staff both the police and fire departments properly going forward. Selectmen Liaison Reports Mr. Ensminger noted he attended the Board of Health meeting where they discussed pesticide use on town land. He also noted cable tv focus groups will be starting up next week and encourages people to attend and give input about our contracts with our cable tv providers. He then thanked the other members of the board for their speeches on Memorial Day. Mr. Berman expressed his thanks to our Veterans Agent Kevin Bohmiller for putting on a wonderful program on Memorial Day. He also attended Coolidge Middle School to listen to a Holocaust survivor speak to the 8th graders. Page 1 1 2017/05/30 Board of Selectmen -Page 2 Linda Snow Dockser called the Human Relations Advisory Committee to order at 7:12 pm. Mr. Arena noted he attended a financial breakfast meeting this morning about the future. Mr. Friedmann attended the Housing Authority meeting and the Historic District meeting regarding the paperwork for Criterion on Summer Ave. He also attended the Holocaust Speaker at Coolidge and would highly recommend listening to her. Mr. Halsey had the privilege of attending an active shooter training this morning. He explained how overwhelming it is to actually watch a scenario like that play out in front of you and watch our real Police officers and Firefighters respond to it. Public Comment Bill Brown thanked everyone behind the scenes for their work on the Memorial Day program as well. Town Manager's Report Mr. LeLacheur noted while he was at the bomb scene, he learned of another swastika at the high school. He is working to set a community inter-faith event to respond to these incidents. He thanked the clergy and rabbi for help with figuring out how to respond. Inter-Municipal Agreement Superintendent of Schools John Doherty and Finance Director of Schools Gail Down were present to explain the agreement. The agreement is with Wakefield for a shared Food Services Director. It is something they have been doing for years and working out wonderfully. Both towns are very happy with the services. Mr. Ensminger asked if this new agreement is essentially the same as the previous one. Ms. Dowd noted it is the same with an added COLA. Mr. Berman asked if this was a Wakefield employee being shared with Reading or vice versa. Ms. Dowd noted it is a Reading employee that Wakefield contributes too. Mr. Ensminger made a motion to approve the three-year Inter-Municipal Agreement with Wakefield for a shared Food Services Director as presented. The motion was seconded by Mr. Berman and approved with a 5-0-0 vote. Mr. LeLacheur noted that Town Accountant Sharon Angstrom has been helping out the school department while they were without a finance director and is asking for money for a fraction of her extra time as a thank you. Mr. Ensminger made a motion to extend the gratitude of the Selectmen to the Town Accountant for her assistance to the School Department while they were in transition to a new Director of Finance and Operations earlier in the fiscal year, and further move to approve a one-time payment of $2,000 to the Town Accountant during this fiscal year, which represents only a portion of the additional hours worked for this purpose. The motion was seconded by Mr. Berman and approved with a 5-0-0 vote. Appoint Member to RCTV Board Mr. Arena noted this is just filling a vacancy. Mr. Ensminger made a motion to appoint Stephen Crook as a member of the RCTV Board with a term expiring June 30, 2018. The motion was seconded by Mr. Halsey and approved with a 5-0-0 vote. Page 1 2 2017105/30 Board of Selectmen -Page 3 RCTV Report Phil Rushworth noted RCTV will be returning to the High school for classes in the fall. He urged everyone to come to the focus groups regarding the cable contracts. Mr. Arena expressed his wish for more meetings in more conference rooms to be televised. Mr. Berman asked how many members they have. Mr. Rushworth noted they fluctuate between 250-350 members and it has been like that for the past 10 years. Mr. LeLacheur thanked Mr. Rushworth and RCTV on behalf of Dr. Doherty for getting back into the schools. Town Forest Committee Update Richard Wetzler noted the scouts are everywhere in the forest and they have lots of students using it for projects as well. Recreational use is very high between runners, bird watchers and dog walkers. They are currently discussing on/off leash days and maybe some non-dog trails. They are looking at getting help from professionals to keep the forest healthy and young. Trails Committee Update Jean Jacobs and Kim Honetschlager gave the Selectmen a presentation update on what the Trails Committee has accomplished in the past year. Mr. Berman thanked them for all their hard work. Human Rights Resolution Citizens of Reading have come to the Selectmen asking for a Human Rights proclamation. Mr. Arena and Mr. Berman then took versions and edited them. Mr. Arena explained they hope this new document they have created becomes a preamble to their policies. Mr. Arena read the preamble and noted it would be placed before the Board of Selectmen's mission statement. Mr. Berman thanked the people who brought this to their attention and noted although they feel a proclamation is important, they feel a preamble would be more effective and timeless as it would become a part of their policies. Mr. Ensminger made a motion to approve the preamble to the Board of Selectmen Mission and Values statements of policy. The motion was seconded by Mr. Berman. Mr. Halsey suggested not signing the end of the preamble and instead just timestamp the end. Mr. Halsey made a motion to amend the preamble, seconded by Mr. Ensminger and approved with a 5-0-0 vote. Mr. Halsey proposed amendment striking the word `commit' on the second page, second by Mr. Ensminger and approved with a 5-0-0 vote. Mr. Berman made a motion for an amendment and passed out a handout. His amendment states Town elective leaders will speak against hate crimes without restricting free speech. Mr. Friedmann seconded his motion. Mr. Halsey noted he doesn't think it needs to be stated that we will speak out during incidents. They have the power to speak out if they want to. Mr. Arena suggested taking out the sentence 'we cannot and will not prevent free speech' because that is a known fact they cannot do that. The committee voted on Mr. Berman's amendment 2-2-1 and the amendment did not pass. The committee voted on the document as written as amended by Mr. Halsey, the motion passed with a 3-2-0 vote with Mr. Berman and Mr. Friedmann opposing. Mr. Friedmann expressed his thoughts that this was done too quickly. Mr. Arena noted this has been going on since December now. Mr. Berman thanked the citizens for bringing this to them however they decided it needed to be a Board of Selectmen document and not a document brought by the outside community. John Russo expressed his frustration with the board and noted they are not solving anything with this. Page 1 3 2017/05/30 Board of Selectmen -Page 4 Sherri Vandenakker asked what this preamble is going to do or change and then noted it will do nothing. She commended the Selectmen for their words and statements however noted this is not solving anything. Mr. Arena explained they are aware of what is going on in town. Ilene Monterio thanked the Selectmen for their work on a document to help everyone. She felt the document has a very positive feeling to it however asked where the enforcement is going to come from. Nick Holmes noted this is setting us up for endless conflicts with our first amendment with free speech. He commented he has not heard anything about graffiti in year and it's very coincidental that these incidents are happening now that we want a human rights resolution. Theresa Wiggins asked if the Board is ever going to vote on the Human Rights Resolution because this is not the same thing. Mr. Arena noted this is how the Board chose to respond to the resolution. Mr. Berman noted they think it is better to act as we see fit since you are asking for action. It is not exactly what you wanted but it is how we chose. Ms. Wiggins told the Board they need to vote on the resolution. Mr. Friedmann noted he would like to have voted on it as well. Elaine Webb wanted to clarify to the community that there were a large number of people behind the scenes who did react/respond and are taking this very seriously. She wanted to make sure the community knows there are things being done. Kris Holmes noted our town is more divided than ever since this resolution has been brought forward. Hate is taught and our kids should be taught about the horror of these past historical events in school so they know better. Heather McLean asked how the Board plans to promote or let the community know about this new preamble. Mr. Arena noted they could do a press release. Town Manager Bob LeLacheur noted they are trying to spearhead an interfaith community event. Laurie Houten noted she just wanted to echo the article Mr. LeLacheur referenced about Belmont using their swastika incident to make their town stronger. Gary Phillips commended the Board for not taking this too far and for your reserve. Linda Snow Dockser thanked all the leaders and for that press release and kind words. Words are not just words and we need to stop acts of hate. She wished Mr. Berman's amendment passed and noted she does not think this preamble will tell out minorities they are safe in this town. Bob Hayes noted they are taking away free speech. James wanted to remind everyone yesterday was Memorial Day and let's not forget about that. We are going too far with these resolutions. Some of the most intolerant people are behind this proclamation wanting tolerance. Dan Dewar noted he can support a preamble but he is against the proclamation because we are creating problems with free speech. Page 1 4 2017/05/30 Board of Selectmen -Page 5 Kris Holmes commented we are stifling free speech and asked why it has to be one way or no way. John Russo asked what the data on crimes the past few years are. Sherri Vanderakker noted her Jewish friends kids are scared to go to high school. Anne Landry commented the Human Rights proclamation is a much stronger statement that the board could have made. She did thank the board for their kind words and what they have done though. Mr. LeLacheur noted, legally, a proclamation is not the way to go. It will only get us into trouble. Kaitlyn Mercurio wanted to make it known the groups protected were pulled right from mass law. Linda Snow Dockser noted they have found swastikas in other areas around town. Ilene Monterio expressed her opinion that the preamble is a much stronger document that doesn't infringe on free speech. Minutes Mr. Ensminger made a motion to approve the minutes of May 16, 2017, second by Mr. Berman and approved with a 4-0-1 vote with Mr. Friedmann abstaining. Mr. Friedmann made a motion to adjourn at 10:45 PM, second by Mr. Berman and approved with a 5-0-0 vote. Page 1 5