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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2017-07-11 Board of Selectmen Minutes Town of Reading Meeting Minutes RE:C rv!vu TOWN CLERK �s''rnrcoa READING, KIIASS. Board - Committee - Commission - Council: Board of Selectmen ZQII m-Ir 30 P 12: 4"6 I Date: 2017-07-11 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, Andrew Friedmann, Barry Berman, John Halsey Members - Not Present: Dan Ensminger Others Present: Town Manager Bob LeLacheur, Community Development Director Julie Mercier, Executive Assistant Caitlin Saunders, Stephen Crook, Nancy Docktor, Erin Gaffen, Michele Sanphy, Susan Gaskell, Vanessa Alvarado Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: Topics of Discussion: Chair John Arena called the meeting to order. Selectmen's Liaison Reports The board did their liaison reports with Mr. Friedmann, Mr. Berman and Mr. Arena noting they all attended the joint Finance Committee meeting to close out some year-end things. Mr. Friedmann and Mr. Arena also attended the recent Human Relations Advisory Committee meeting regarding collaborating more with the Selectmen and brainstorming how to work together better. Mr. Halsey attended the Recreation Committee meeting regarding their current projects and projects in their sights. Town Manager's Report Mr. LeLacheur informed the Board that State Aid is down but State assessments are up. The State budget also seems to still have local aid intact. Mr. LeLacheur then asked the Board and the room for a moment of silence in memory of the construction worker who died on the job today in Woburn. Proclamation Mr. Berman moved that the Board of Selectmen declare July 26th, 2017 as Americans with Disabilities Act Day. The motion was seconded by Mr. Friedmann and approved with a 4-0-0 vote. Hazard Mitigation Plan Community Development Director Julie Mercier and MAPC Representative Martin were present to talk to the Board. Page 1 1 Martin explained that Julie had sent him some comments from the board about the proposed Mitigation Plan. He revised the plan as requested and provided comments for things that are a template from the State and cannot be changed. Martin then explained that the plan can get us some grants that could be used for certain projects. Grants usually happen yearly, depending, and the town would deal directly with MEMA on grants. Mr. LeLacheur noted the grant process is difficult and sometimes not worth it if the reward is little money. Mr. Arena explained we are required to have the plan in place anyway, and we may or may not be able to use it to get a grant sometimes. Mr. Arena made a motion to adopt the Hazard Mitigation Plan as revised, second by Mr. Berman and approved with a 4-0-0 vote. Proposed FY18 Board of Selectmen Schedule Mr. LeLacheur explained he drafted a budget process timeline that would move the process up by about a month. The budget meetings will happen in December instead of January like they usually are. Hopefully all necessary information will be collected by the end of January. Vanessa Alvarado suggested having all the boards (Selectmen, Finance Committee, School Committee) posted for all the meetings to let the public know all the boards will be in discussion. Review Reading/Wakefield Real Estate Sale Mr. LeLacheur explained that Reading owns a tiny portion of the front yard of a Wakefield home. It would be a large process for us to just give Wakefield the land. Both towns hold taxation on the property. Wakefield has agreed to market and sell the property and split the profit with us. Karen Mead explained she was interested in the property but had questions about the tax title in Reading. Mr. LeLacheur noted we are just waiting for our new Treasurer to start because that is the only person who can buy/sell property. Town Manager FY17 Goals Mr. LeLacheur noted everyone did a really good job with the FY17 goals. Mr. Friedmann suggested a new strategy for better communication between the boards. It is hard for each Selectman to get to all their respective liaison meetings, so if each Selectman could at least reach out to the chair of their boards and get a little report on what happened at the meeting, then we can report back to the whole group. Mr. Halsey agreed there are so many boards/committees it is impossible to keep up. He suggested having annual check in's with the chairs. Mr. Arena noted some boards come and give us reports but not all of them. Mr. Berman suggested inviting the boards to come see us and starting that line of communication that they want to see them and hear what is going on. Draft Town Manager FY18 Goals Mr. LeLacheur distributed his ideas for next year's goals to the board. Mr. Halsey brought up the fact that a lot of people are willing to donate but they don't know how or where. The group had a lengthy discussion on how to address charitable donations. Mr. Friedmann suggested adding RCASA and the opioid issue to the list. Michelle Sanphy raised concern about the opioid problem and how the town is not addressing it at a local level. She explained her thoughts on more information being released to the public when someone overdoses. She also wants a report on the numbers of opioid problems to be released more than annually. Page 1 2 Mr. LeLacheur noted that is a sensitive subject when it comes to releasing names and information on certain individuals and some people do not want their business in the newspaper. Vanessa Alvarado asked what we are doing about the lack in staff in the health department. Mr. LeLacheur explained we are fully staffed with the help from North Reading at the moment and all tasks are being taken care of. Town Manager Evaluation Process Mr. LeLacheur told the board they can use the same format that is used for employees to evaluate him or they can use something else they like better. The board discussed the 360 degree format to see if that was something they would like to use. Mr. LeLacheur also explained he would like to get them feedback from the department heads to help them. He just isn't sure the right way to gather that information. Board of Selectmen Survey The board sent the Town Manager their thoughts about the survey and Mr. LeLacheur put them together to come up with this new version of the survey. The board looked over the new survey and changed the wording of a few questions to be more clear to the audience. Erin Gaffen asked if the schools have seen this survey. Mr. LeLacheur noted they are not hiding it from them but they have not asked them their opinions on it because it is a Board of Selectmen survey. Ms. Gaffen then asked what they plan to do with the information that is collected and Mr. Arena noted they would eventually present it to the public once it is sorted through and processed. Ms. Gaffen asked what the reasoning for question 6 asking about the number they would vote for. Mr. Arena explained that is to get a taste to see if the residents' appetites have changed. Vanessa Alvarado noted they would need 60% response to make this survey relatable and since we probably won't get that how do they plan on weighing the information to make it relevant. Mr. Arena noted he believes that is not necessary and they will look at how many responses they received when they go through the results. Ms. Alvarado expressed concern with separating the schools and the town in the questions as to not draw an even bigger divide between the two. The board explained they are not putting a divide between the two, however there are people in town who would vote for something solely for the schools or vice versa and that is what they are trying to figure out. Ms. Alvarado told the Board this survey is biased and they really should consider changing it. Michelle Sanphy noted if the Board will not share this with the School Committee then she will not take the survey and will urge all her friends not to as well. Mr. Halsey explained this survey is purely to collect data to help the Board figure out what happened last time and to see if people's thoughts on the matter have changed. Change of Officer - Chili's Mr. Berman moved that the Board of Selectmen approve the change of officer / beneficial interest application for an Annual All Alcoholic Beverages Restaurant License - Pepper Dining, Inc. d/b/a Chili's, 70 Walkers Brook Drive, Reading, MA. The motion was seconded by Mr. Halsey and approved with a 4-0-0 vote. Page 1 3 Minutes The board reviewed the minutes from June 13th making a wording change on page 2. Mr. Berman moved that the Board of Selectmen approve the minutes of June 13th, 2017 as amended. The motion was seconded by Mr. Friedmann and approved with a 4-0-0 vote. Mr. Berman moved to go into Executive Session at 10:41 PM to discuss strategy with respect to collective bargaining and that the Chair declare that an open meeting may have a detrimental effect on the bargaining position of the body, and to adjourn, not returning to Open Session. The motion was approved with the following roll call vote: Halsey - Yes Berman - Yes Friedmann - Yes Arena - Yes Page 1 4