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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2017-10-10 Board of Selectmen Minutes OF I? c Town of Reading Meeting Minutes _TCW1Nf^CL►,�1 HAS'6�9,I,rCOPQ�P� t U{N W. { 1 A S S. Board - Committee - Commission - Council: Hid "AN 2U A � 32 i Board of Selectmen Date: 2017-10-10 Time: 7:00 PM Building: Reading Town Hall Location: Selectmen Meeting Room Address: 16 Lowell Street Session: Purpose: General Business Version: Draft Attendees: Members - Present: Chair John Arena, Barry Berman, Dan Ensminger, John Halsey, Andy Friedmann Members - Not Present: Others Present: Town Manager Bob LeLacheur, Town Counsel Ray Miyares, Executive Assistant Caitlin Saunders, Police Chief Segalla, Deputy Chief Clark, Fire Chief Burns, Deputy Chief Jackson, Barbara Melanson, Karen Draper, Kathleen Fontes, Karen Hennessy, Marcel Dubois, Gerald Guilfoy, Bill Brown, Carl McFadden, Nick Safina, George Kachen, Pamela Adrian, Diana Halsey, Meghan Young, Kate Goldlust, Erin Gaffen, Amy Cole, Kaitlyn Mercurio, Demetra Tseckares, Michele Sanphy, Stephen Crook Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: Topics of Discussion: Mr. Arena called the meeting to order at 7:00 PM. Liaison Reports Mr. Arena attended the RED event and noted it was fascinating hearing a Holocaust survivor's story. Mr. Friedmann noted the Climate Advisory Committee and putting together a plastic bag policy and at their last meeting they discussed the feedback from the business community. He also went to the RED event and noted it was very well done. Mr. Berman attended the Economic Development Forum and noted it was very well attended not only by residents but by out of towners. Jay Ash was a key note speaker. Our Economic Development Director Andrew Corona did a great job with the event and it was very successful. Mr. Ensminger met with the VASC prior to their meeting tonight and interviewed two candidates for CPDC. He noted the Town Manager reviews are due so they can go over them next meeting. He also went to the RED event and the economic development forum. He also wanted to apologize to someone who wrote a letter for YES Reading, he apologizes for the mix up and already apologized in person but also wanted to do it publically. Mr. Halsey noted the Senior Flu Clinic is up and running at the senior center. He went to the RCASA annual event where they had spectacular speakers with a powerful message about this epidemic that more people need to be aware of. Public Comment Page 1 1 Pamela Adrian stood up and read a letter from the Gould Street Alliance insisting the town institute a town wide moratorium immediately on all building and approvals for development. Kevin Sexton wanted to put on record that he also sent the Selectmen a letter regarding last week's meeting and the comments that were made attacking specific volunteers. That kind of behavior and comments should absolutely not be tolerated. The town has a wealth of volunteers that we rely on and there is no need to publically and personally attack anyone. John Lippitt from Mineral Street voiced his opinion that he does not find it acceptable that the Selectmen filled the other Board of Health vacancy improperly and not following our bylaw. He asked the Selectmen to rescind both the appointments and do it all over again properly. Mr. Arena explained they acted that night on the advice from Town Counsel that night. They had no pre-thoughts to do this until Ms. Shurland resigned in the beginning of the meeting. Kaitlyn Mercurio stood up and said she felt confused about the emergency situation that was stated last week as the reason for needing to finally fill a vacancy. She noted they had applicants for a while before they acted on them. Mr. LeLacheur explained that the temporary health agent said the town could not count on him to be at the fall street faire so that left them with little time to act once he told us that. Mr. Friedmann asked why we needed a full time health agent for the fall street faire. Mr. LeLacheur explained to keep ourselves from any liability if something were to happen. Mr. Halsey noted we have to look out for the best welfare of this town and that was the best way to do that. Carl McFadden wanted to report back and note that the Mission of Deeds night was a huge success thanks to the town. They had over 800 items donated and almost $200,000 worth of supplies. He thanked everyone for stepping up and helping out. Ilene Litterio from Deborah Drive wanted to thank the Selectmen and Town Manager for their hours of work to help keep the town running. She noted she is saddened by the lack of respect from the attendees of the last meeting who continued to interrupt the Selectmen every time they tried to explain themselves. Kris Holmes wanted to take a minute and comment about the "Hate has no home here" signs all over Reading. She noted the signs should read "love your neighbor" instead. Mr. Berman noted he has a sign in his front yard with hopes that it will start conversations between neighbors as to how to move forward as a town with no hate. Town Manager Report Mr. LeLacheur noted he had the honor of attending a ceremony award to Reading Veteran Bernie Pothier. After a 71-year wait, Reading resident Corporal Bernard M. Pothier, 99, was officially promoted to Sergeant on Thursday, September 28, 2017, in a ceremony at his home. After being stationed in the Philippines during the Bataan Death March, Corporal Pothier survived this march and the next three and a half years as a Prisoner of War. He witnessed the bomb destruction over Nagasaki and was finally liberated. After almost six years of service, Pothier was honorably discharged as a Corporal. Recently, with the assistance of Representative Bradley Jones and Congressman Seth Moulton's office his records were reviewed and he was found eligible for POW advancement as well as a Prisoner of War Medal he never received. Volunteer Appointments Mr. Ensminger noted they had two applicants for the Community Planning and Development Commission. The applicants are Rachel Hitch whose career, in New York, was in Planning and Tony D'Arezzo who has already been very involved with CPDC for a long time now. Page 1 2 Mr. Ensminger made a motion to appoint Rachel Hitch to full term on the Community Planning and Development Commission with a term expiring 6/30/2018, and Tony D'Arezzo to an associate membership with a term expiring 6/30/2019. The motion was seconded by Mr. Berman and approved with a 5-0-0 vote. Appoint MAPC Representatives This is simply a reappointment. Mr. Ensminger moved that the Board of Selectmen, in accordance with the provisions of Massachusetts General Law, Chapter 40B, section 24, we hereby appoint Steve Sadwick as the Town of Reading's representative to the Metropolitan Area Planning Council. Said appointment shall be for a term of three years expiring June 30, 2020. In accordance with the provisions of Massachusetts General Law, Chapter 40B, section 24, we hereby appoint Jean Delios as the Town of Reading's Alternate representative to the Metropolitan Area Planning Council. Said appointment shall be for a term of three years expiring June 30, 2020. The motion was seconded by Mr. Berman and approved with a 5-0-0 vote. Jams for Jake Ryan McKee and Patrick Beckman were present to explain their event. Their friend Jake passed away in June after struggling with an addiction. They are planning a music festival type event at Symonds Field to celebrate his life and love of music. The event will be held October 29th from 11 am - 7 pm. They have a Go-Fund Me account to help raise money for the event and for a scholarship in Jake's name. They currently have about $3,000 in sponsors from Reading Business'. They have already sat down with the department heads in town, including police and fire so that everyone is on the same page. Mr. Halsey noted that was a great location to hold such an event and he applauds what they are doing for their friend. Mr. Arena noted the event is sure to be a huge success. Police and Firefighter Badge Pinning Chief of Police Mark Segalla is here tonight to introduce his three new officers. Andrew Kirwan, an RMHS graduate class of 2007, was pinned by his father. Zachary Fontes, an RMHS graduate class of 2012, was pinned by his mother. Benjamin Woodward, a Sutton High graduate class of 2011, was pinned by his parents. Fire Chief Greg Burns was present to promote one firefighter and introduce a new one. Bryan Ryan was promoted to Lieutenant and pinned by his brother. New firefighter Jonathan Dyer was pinned by his father. Mr. Arena thanked all the new and promoted officers for their hard work and dedication to keep the town safe. Public Safety Staffing Overview Mr. LeLacheur explained that over 35 years we have increased in population yet are down 7 officers. Mr. Halsey noted our goal as a town is to keep expanding but yet we have less officers than 35 years ago. Thousands more people for the same amount of officers is not a good arrangement. The numbers say a lot look at the amount of housing we have added but we have not added any more public safety. Mr. LeLacheur noted we need to support our public safety and staff them adequately. Page 1 3 Chief Segalla explained he has 41 staff members equaling 1.66 officers per 1000 civilians. He is recommending 5 extra officers, one being another school resource officer. Mr. Berman explained the 5 extra officers would only bring us up to 'average' staffing compared to our peers. Mr. Halsey also explained the badge pinning that just happened prior to this discussion, only filled vacant positions and they are still down one. When Chief Segalla explained that there could possibly, at worst, be a shift with only two patrol officers on, that is a huge problem we don't ever want to have. Mr. LeLacheur noted this is nothing new as we have talked about needing more officers last year as well. Fire Chief Burns explained he has 4 groups with 11 staff members in each group. The new developments we have put into town account for 10% of the calls we get, with no added staff since they went in. Reading has a high population with low staff compared to our peers. Currently the fire department is staffed with 1.78 firefighters per 1,000 civilians. An additional 4 firefighters would bring the department up to average among peers. There has been a steady increase in calls over the years and they can only expect that to continue as the population grows. Mr. Ensminger asked if they have ever talked about enterprise funding for public safety. Mr. LeLacheur explained they have talked about it but they are not quite sure it would benefit the whole town. Mr. Brown explained he has done his research, as always, and found that they have the same staffing as they did 50 years ago yet the population has greatly increased. Mr. Friedmann thanked all our public safety personnel for everything they do. Depot/ Compost Sticker The Chief needs to order stickers soon so the board needs to decide if they have any interest in splitting the sticker and how much they want to charge. The board noted they don't want to price the depot sticker too high so that people start parking in the neighborhoods and cause more problems. The fee conversation might take a longer discussion on another day. Mr. Berman suggested a day-by-day price for people who don't use the depot a lot. Vanessa Alvarado asked if they have evaluated enforcement costs for the surrounding neighborhoods that will be impacted. Mr. Arena noted that has not been looked into yet. It is clear we currently charge too little right now but have to figure out the right amount to increase it by. Home Rule Petition - Commercial Marijuana Ban Update Mr. LeLacheur simply noted that the State has since rewritten the law and asked us to drop the special act because it is no longer needed anymore. Continued Hearing - Board of Health Dan Dewer stood and asked Mr. Friedmann to recuse himself from this hearing. He does not think he can be impartial due to his previous role on the Board of Health and his close working relationship with Ms. Docker during his Selectmen campaign. Mr. Friedmann denied his request noting he thinks it is a help that he has understanding of the way the board of health works. Mr. Arena read the notice sent to Associate Member Nancy Docktor. He apologized for the first notice delay. Mr. Arena then asked Ms. Docktor if she prepared a written statement and Ms. Docktor noted she did not. Page 1 4 Mr. Arena asked if Ms. Docktor had counsel to represent and Ms. Docktor said yes Ms. Nolan was here for her. Mr. Arena asked if Ms. Docktor had any witnesses she would like to present during tonight's hearing and she noted just herself. Mr. Arena asked Ms. Docktor agrees that she had a part in prolonging the appointment of the health agent. Ms. Docktor answered no she does not. Mr. Arena asked Ms. Docktor if she ever made a motion to appoint the health agent to which she also answered no. Mr. Berman noted Ms. Docktor did not want to appoint the person the town hired, then asked her if she did anything to find someone else. Ms. Docktor's counsel noted she cannot do that by Home Rule. Ms. Docktor noted they had an appointed health agent they relied on. Mr. Friedmann asked Ms. Docktor if she provided any reason for not appointing Laura Vlasuk. Ms. Nolan noted she had a document to be entered into the record explaining that Ms. Vlasuk filled out a document stating she was appointed by the Board of Health as an agent when in fact she had not been. Mr. Arena noted that we have provided an email chain for Ms. Docktor and Ms. Dolan that explains Laura received approval to fill out that form to register for a course. The vendor putting on the course said it was ok for her to go even though she was not appointed. Ms. Nolan noted that does not change the fact that she signed a document saying she was appointed. You want Ms. Docktor to act on someone who changes public health records. Mr. Arena explained the facts are that Laura stated she was not appointed and asked if she could still go and permission was gfanted. Mr. Halsey also noted this is a new document that no one even saw until last week. Mr. Friedmann asked if the board was aware that Laura could delegate all her responsibilities. Mr. LeLacheur explained that our part time temporary health agent said he may or may not be able to be at the fall street faire. Our liability policy requires us to take all actions to protect the residents. Mr. Berman noted everyone was aware of Ms. Vlasuk signing that document to take the training. If were being particular, Ms. Docktor sent all the members of the Selectmen a letter to their house and signed it as a Board of Health Member, when she is only an associate. Mr. Arena explained again that Ms. Vlasuk disclosed all the facts and the agency, as well as our management staff, knew the facts and allowed it. There is no reason to even bring this up. Mr. Friedmann questioned if Ms. Vlasuk filled this out before she got permission or not. Mr. LeLacheur explained he had no idea that there was a problem appointing Ms. Vlasuk. He talked to the Chair many times and at no time did he say there was a problem he should be concerned about. Page 1 5 Ms. Nolan questioned why the Town Manager only talked to the Chair of the Board and noted most Town Managers involve the whole board. Mr. Miyares noted it is not uncommon for a Town Manager to just check in with the Chair of a Board and get a quick report of what is going on. Ms. Nolan then listed a bunch of towns, including Wellesley, and stated she knows for a fact that they all involve the entire board. Mr. Miyares replied by informing her he is also the Town Counsel for Wellesley and she is 100% wrong on that one. Mr. Arena asked Ms. Docktor if she inquired further about the expense report and she answered no. Mr. Arena asked if she talked to the Attorney General's office and Ms. Docktor said yes she asked them a question. Mr. Friedmann asked Ms. Docktor when she was made aware of her violations that Town Counsel stated or if she was ever aware. Ms. Docktor noted she was not aware she made any violations. Mr. Arena asked Ms. Docktor if she was the reason for the executive session and her counsel answered for her saying yes at the advice of the Attorney General. Mr. Berman noted the criminal activity' Ms. Docktor stated for reasoning of executive session is all over $5 expense report and maybe a form improperly filled out but was ok'd. Where is the rationale for this? Ms. Nolan noted the Board wants to remove Ms. Docktor because she doesn't trust Ms. Vlasuk. Ms. Docktor explained that is her whole concern. 'A record is a record' she repeated over and over and Ms. Vlasuk alters them. Mr. Friedmann noted we should tell Ms. Docktor her violations to which Mr. Arena noted they were laid out in the letter we sent her. Mr. Miyares explained in his opinion, the three executive sessions were improper. The first one was called wrong, there was no reasoning. The second one was called for criminal activity which was not what they talked about in the session. And the third one was called for reason number one; but which part of number one because the Board of Health has no authority for part of it and the other part would have been improperly noticed. Ms. Nolan said they went into executive session based on the advice from the Attorney General. Mr. Miyares noted she received faulty advice. Mr. Berman asked Ms. Docktor why she did not talk to our Town Counsel and Ms. Docktor said the Board of Selectmen's previous Chairman told her not to contact Town Counsel. Mr. Halsey replied stating he told her all requests to talk to Town Counsel go through the Town Manager and when Ms. Docktor asked him that before, it was about a completely different request she had. Mr. Arena noted while we're on the topic, we have taken a look at the expense reports and it comes to find out that they were never even changed. Page 1 6 Ms. Docktor answered saying but they were told by Ms. Pierce that they were and that's what they went off of. Mr. Halsey asked Ms. Docktor after having all this conversation, if she would like to change any of her answers or tell the board anything different from beforehand. Ms. Docktor did not understand what he was asking and therefore didn't know how to answer and said no. Mr. Friedmann asked Town Counsel if he sees any graceful way out of this to which Mr. Miyares replied noting it is not his decision, it is the boards. Public Comment Kaitlyn Mercurio asked why Ms. Vlasuk was allowed to take the course if at the end of the course she becomes an inspector. Mr. Miyares noted ANYONE can sign up and take that course. This particular form she filled out was to get her an early discount. Bill Brown wanted to remind the board that if they read the Charter they actually do not need a cause to remove a member. Jack Powers stood and noted as someone who owns a company, he would not want a new employee signing anything that would represent his business, therefore what Ms. Vlasuk did is wrong and Ms. Docktor had a right to call it into question. Emily Maughn noted Ms. Docktor is exactly the type of person she would like to see on more of our boards. She then asked what if that $5 voucher was a $5000 voucher, where does the line get drawn. She also wanted to note she doesn't understand why a candidate was never interviewed. Demetra Tseckares stood and said she is confused as to how it got to this point. She told the Selectmen they need to run this meeting better because Ms. Docktor seems honest while the Board does not. Mr. Ensminger made a motion to close the hearing, second by Mr. Halsey and approved with a 5-0-0 vote. Mr. Halsey explained he was really hoping for new light on this topic tonight but we have gotten no new information and he hopes to move forward and remove Ms. Docktor. Mr. Ensminger noted he has not seen any evidence that Ms. Docktor could continue to work with the Board of Health after this. Mr. Friedmann wished this didn't go on for so long. He also wished the board dealt with this differently and the town helped our volunteers better. He is inclined not to remove Ms. Docktor. Mr. Berman noted Ms. Docktor did not like the person the Town Manager hired but that is not her job. It is Mr. LeLacheur's job to deal with a bad hire if we get one. It all comes down to a changed expense voucher which we found out was not actually changed. Ms. Docktor refused to appoint the health agent and that is where is coming from on this. With a heavy heart he will vote tonight to remove Ms. Docktor. Mr. Arena explained he admires Ms. Docktor's passion and sticking to her guns but he is compelled to recognize there is a problem here. While he is here, he has to represent the town and he will too, vote to remove her. Page 1 7 Mr. Ensminger moved that Board of Selectmen remove Nancy Docktor as an Associate Member on the Board of Health, effective immediately. The motion was seconded by Mr. Halsey and the board took a roll call vote as follows: Halsey - Yes Ensminger - Yes Arena - Yes Berman - Yes Friedmann - No Mr. Ensminger moved that the Board of Selectmen approve the minutes of August 29, 2017 as amended. The motion was seconded by Mr. Halsey and approved with a 5-0-0 vote. Mr. Ensminger made a motion to adjourn at 11:32 PM, second by Mr. Halsey and approved with a 5-0-0 vote. Page 1 8