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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2018-01-23 Board of Selectmen Minutes O� OFROi Town of Reading b Meeting Minutes RECEIVED TOWN CLERK ,ss9eNVC0R EE A E.,.' 1 1NS , M A. Board - Committee - commission - Council: 2018 MAR -6 ASI 9: 07 Board of Selectmen Date: 2018-01-23 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, Dan Ensminger, John Halsey, Andrew Friedmann Members - Not Present: Others Present: Town Manager Bob LeLacheur, Assistant Town Manager Jean Delios, Administrative Services Director Matt Kraunelis, Library Trustees, Executive Assistant Caitlin.Saunders, Housing Consultant Liz Rust, Amy Lannon, Angela Binda, Stephen Crook, Everett Blodgett, Michelle Sanphy, Jeanne Borawski Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: Topics of Discussion: Mr. Arena called the meeting to order at 7:00 PM. Liaison Reports Mr. Arena wanted to first commend all the members of the board on attending all the long and numerous budget meetings over the past couple weeks. Mr. Friedmann agrees noting he went to all the School Committee budget meetings and the presentations went well and the budget was put together very thoughtfully. Mr. Berman noted they all put in a lot of hours on the budget and it shows. Next meeting will have some Eagle Scouts coming in to get their proclamations. He noted he attended the MMA conference over the weekend and heard the governor's speech.. He also attended the deployment ceremony at Camp Curtis Guild as a set of troops stationed there will be heading overseas. Mr. Berman also suggested changing their`office hours' to before every meeting instead of every other. Mr. Ensminger noted he has been watching all the School Committee meetings remotely. Mr. Halsey noted he has been doing the same. He also wanted to thank our State Representative Jim Dwyer as he has recently announced he will not be seeing reelection. Public Comment Bill Brown commented that there needs to be a flag on the outside of the building at the- library. Page 1 1 Angela Binda stood up and felt the need to explain she was having trouble finding the meeting minutes online. Mr. LeLacheur pulled up the website and showed her where to find them. She feels the town is hiding the minutes from these public meetings and not being transparent because she could not find them. She asked about the process of minutes and it was noted that once minutes are approved by the board they go to the Town Clerk to be posted. If anyone else is having trouble finding the minutes they can easily just contact the Town Clerk via telephone or email and she can point you in the right direction. All the meetings are also aired live on RCTV and available to watch again at any time on YouTube. Town Manager's Report Mr. LeLacheur noted that Reading received some glowing reviews at the MMA conference. Health Insurance number came in better than expected but State Aid came in much lower. Mr. LeLacheur also wanted to echo Mr. Halsey's comments about Jim Dwyer noting is a great representative for Reading and always worked for us. He also noted he attended the ceremony to ship off the troops from Camp Curtis. Appoint Library Trustee The library trustees called themselves to order. They have two applicants applying for the one position; Patrick Egan and Monette Verrier. The library trustees started off by asking the applicants some questions. They asked the applicants if either of them see any challenges for the library. Ms. Verrier noted if the override doesn't pass she would still like to see a way for them to get back the Sunday hours. Mr. Egan agreed with Ms. Verrier and also noted he would like to see them stay ahead with their technology. They then asked about their skills and expertise. Mr. Egan noted he is a great team player and has been on boards before. In his professional life he works on teams all the time to complete big projects and he feels that it is important for all boards to work together for a common goal. Ms. Verrier noted professionally she is in human resources so she is a people person. She also loves the library and thinks it needs to be utilized more and would like to help make that happen. The candidates were asked if they would be able to meet the time commitments and they both said yes now that their kids are grown they have more time to get involved with the community. Mr. Friedmann asked if they had any other volunteer experience. Ms. Verrier noted she is an active volunteer at the library at Wood End School. Mr. Egan noted he is very involved with school fundraising. Mr. Halsey asked Mr. Egan about his application in which he wrote he felt the library is undervalued and underappreciated. He asked if he could elaborate on that more. Mr. Egan noted he meant he is very surprised that he still runs into people who don't utilize the library. He thinks it is a great resource for the town and feels more people need to take advantage of it the amazing, new building. Mr. Ensminger asked if either candidate had any conflicts if they were on the board and both answered no. Mr. Berman asked if there was something they would change about the library. Ms. Verrier noted she thinks because of budget constraints that they don't have a lot of out- of-the-box programming. She feels if they have unique programs it could draw new, different groups of people to the'library. Mr. Egan noted he would love to see more hours; Sundays and evenings specifically. Page 1 2 Mr. Friedmann asked the current library trustees to tell him their backgrounds. Mr. Halsey asked the candidates if they would run in the election if they did or did not get appointed tonight. Ms. Verrier explained if she gets appointed tonight then yes she will run in the election; however if she doesn't get appointed tonight she will not run in the election because she feels it is important for one to person to get on the board, learn, and continue on. Mr. Egan noted he felt and would do the same as Ms. Verrier. The Board of Selectmen and the Library Trustees took a vote as followed: Mr. Egan received 1 vote. Ms. Verrier received 8 votes. Ms. Verrier was appointed to the Library board of trustees with a term expiring April, 2018. Review RCTV Cable Needs Assessment Matt Kraunelis and our Cable Advisor were present to give a presentation on the cable franchise. The group had a discussion on how Comcast doesn't add funds into their 5% they give us but Verizon does. It is something that needs to be watched closely and looked at when we do this contract. The next steps will be to have an internal staff meeting and then call Comcast to start negotiating. Mr. Berman asked when this needs to be done by and it was noted our contract ends in November. Mr. Kraunelis noted a formal process would include and RFP. Mr. LeLacheur asked if there was any possibility to negotiate with other towns and with all franchises ending at the same time frame. It was noted it is possible but would take a lot of. work and preparation to get everyone together, but it is something we could work towards if other towns are interested. Mr. Berman asked what would happen if Verizon and Comcast happen to merge. It was noted there would need to be languafe in the contract to transfer ownerships. Housing Production Plan Town Planner Jean Delios and our Housing Consultant Liz Rust were present to give the board and update and presentation on our new Housing Production Plan. It is important to have a housing production plan in place to show the state we are serious and. always working towards our housing needs. Mr. Halsey noted he feels like there is no finish line for this and it is always a merry-go- round because the census will continually keep changing our numbers and requirements. The board would like more time to look over the actual plan proposed and would like to vote at'their next meeting on the 13tH Ms. Delios noted the Housing authority has a new director and they are planning a meeting with her soon to introduce themselves. Wayfinding Presentation Town Planner Jean.Delios and Community Development Director Julie Mercier were present along with Designer Mark Favermann to give the board a presentation on what they have come up with for Wayfinding signs for downtown. Julie Mercier worked on and got the town a grant to do this project. Mr. Favermann, along with staff input came up with designs for directional and informational signs to be used in the downtown area. Page 1 3 Elaine Webb asked if this would be for the schools too because there are a lot of activities that happen at the schools especially the high school. Mr. Favermann noted this grant was a specific downtown initiative but if it goes forward they can certainly add to and make signs for the schools as well.. Reading will own the design at the end of this process to continue for future use. Mr. Berman wanted to thank Julie Mercier for all her hard work on this. He thought the process was great and the end product is wonderful and appealing. Mr. Berman moved that the Board of Selectmen approve the design by Mark Favermann as presented. The motion was seconded by Mr. Ensminger and approved with a 5-0-0 vote. Discuss Downtown Parking Town Planner Jean Delios continuing in the seat for this discussion as well. She noted she just wanted to start up a discussion on this and see where the board is at. Mr. Arena noted he really does not want to see meters around town. Mark Dockser noted there is a lot of employee parking issues. Mr. Ensminger asked if we have looked into shared parking with businesses in their off hours. It was noted we have before but there are a lot of liability problems with that that businesses don't want to be involved with. Mr. Friedmann suggested more signage specifically to do with parking in the downtown. It can point people to other lots when some are full. Ms. Delios also noted that perhaps looking into a shuttle service could be useful. Shuffle people from Walkers Brook drive area, which has a town of parking, into the downtown to the depot a.nd.vice versa. Overview of Process for Next Meeting Mr. Arena would like to discuss the process in which the board wants to process for the January 30th meeting in which the only topic on the agenda will be to discuss and vote to put an override question on the ballot. Mr. Arena noted the board needs to discuss the prioritized list and possibly reevaluate it depending on the number they choose. Mr. Berman suggested picking a numberfirst and then coming up with the list that the money will be used for. Jeanne Borawski asked if the board could please include the school committee in the process. Mark Dockser agreed with Mr. Berman and he felt having a specific number to work with from the beginning would make the prioritizing easier. He also noted the Finance Committee plans to discuss a lot of this tomorrow night at their meeting. Michelle Sanphy asked when public comment was for the next meeting and noted she wants an exact specific time of when she can speak. The board noted that is the only agenda item and public comment is in the beginning. Mr. Ensminger moved that the Board of Selectmen adjourn at 11:18 PM. The motion was seconded by Mr. Berman and approved with a 5-0-0 vote. Page 14