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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2018-02-13 Board of Selectmen Minutes O� OFq ' � Town of Reading CEIVED Meeting Minutes TOWN CLERK R E B+lNCOR40 Board - Committee - Commission - Council: 2018 MAY 16 AM 9: 10 Board of Selectmen Date: 2018-02-13 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 Members - Not Present: Andrew Friedmann Others Present: Town Manager Bob LeLacheur, Executive Assistant Caitlin Saunders, Assistant Town Manager Jean Delios, Facilities Director Joe Huggins, Superintendent John Doherty, Director of Finance Gail Dowd, Michael Flynn, Nancy Docktor, Bill Brown, George Kachen, Todd Merkle, Tony D'Arezzo Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: Topics of Discussion: Chair John Arena called the meeting to order.. Liaison Reports Mr. Berman noted he attended the YES for Reading rally last night along with other members of the board. Mr. Ensminger attended the Board of Health meeting in which they discussed the upcoming demo of the old Doucette building which will be happening next week. He also attended the. RMLD Payment to the Town Subcommittee earlier this evening in which was good conversation with many sets of views. Mr. Halsey noted there is a recreation meeting happening right now so he is unable to be there however he will update the group at their next meeting. Mr. Arena noted him and the board all attended the YES for Reading rally last night. Public Comment Oriana, a Green Street resident, stood up asking about the Lakeview project. Mr. Arena noted we got .a letter from the State saying the Safe Harbor would be invoked but parties would be able to continue. The Town Manager noted the developer agrees to sign a document to continue negotiations and acknowledging the safe harbor will continue. Our Town Counsel is fully engaged on this project and he has someone that specializes in 40B projects working with us. Mr. Arena noted going thru a 40B project while having a safe harbor is new to us and we are all learning. Page 1 1 Oriana noted she wants to be a part of the staff DRT meetings when this project is in front of them. It was noted that those meetings are meant specifically for staff and your comments would be best suited at the ZBA Public Hearing. Ms. Delios noted our town website has a whole page dedicated to this project in which it is updated regularly with notes from the DRT meetings as well as all documents the developer and State submit to us. Kevin Cignetti of Smith Ave asked what a safe harbor is. Assistant Town Manager Jean Delios explained. Mr. Cignetti asked how we can stop this project from going through and it was noted we cannot stop it completely we can only delay it if we want. Bill Brown asked who removed the Cemetery Building from the capital plan. Town Manager's Report Mr. LeLacheur noted on Thursday, the Finance Committee will vote a budget. Next meeting the Selectmen will close the warrant and Town Counsel will be present to help with the dos and don'ts of ballot questions. Approve MSBA Statement of Interest Director of Finance Gail Dowd, Facilities Director Joe Huggins and Superintendent John Doherty were present. This request is for a new boiler at the High School. The Superintendent needs to file a Statement of Interest form to the Massachusetts School Building Authority. This statement will put our hat in the Accelerated Repair Program for the replacement of Boiler #2 at the High School which is approaching the end of its life. This statement could, but does not guarantee, an award of a grant to help with the cost. Mr. Ensminger moved that the Board of Selectmen authorize the Superintendent to submit to the Massachusetts School Building Authority the Statement of Interest = Form dated February 2, 2018 for the Reading Memorial High School located at 62 Oakland Road, Reading, MA which describes and explains the following deficiencies and the priority category(s) for which an application may be submitted to the Massachusetts School Building Authority in the future Priority 5, Accelerated Repair Program for the replacement of.Boiler #2 at the Reading Memorial High School which is approaching the end of its useful life and hereby further specifically acknowledges that by.submitting this Statement of Interest Form, the Massachusetts School Building Authority in no way guarantees the acceptance or the approval of an application, the awarding of a grant or any other funding commitment from.the Massachusetts School Building Authority, or commits the City/Town/Regional School District to filing an application for funding with the Massachusetts School Building Authority. The motion was seconded by Mr. Berman and approved with a 4-0-0 vote. Adopt Housing Production Plan Assistant Town Manager Jean Delios was present to answer any questions from the board. The board had previously viewed the Housing Production Plan at the prior meeting. Mr. Arena had a slight wording change in the table but the board overall thought it was very well done. Mr. Berman thanked Ms. Delios and Community Development Director Julie Mercier for working hard to complete this. Mr. Ensminger moved that the Board of Selectmen approve the Housing Production Plan as presented. The motion was seconded by Mr. Berman and approved with a 4-0-0 vote. Page 12 New 40R Projects - Permits Revolving Fund Assistant Town Manager Jean Delios was also present to answer any questions on this. Based on past history and research, Town Meeting can add projects to the inspections revolving fund. Mr. LeLacheur noted this was just a quick background for when they close the warrant at their next meeting. Change of Beneficial Interest Mr. Ensminger moved that the Board of Selectmen approve the change of beneficial interest for an Annual All Alcoholic Retail Beverage License for Kajal and Kevin LLC d/b/b Liquor 3unction, 1 General Way, Reading, MA. The motion was seconded by Mr. Berman and approved with a 4-0-0 vote. Change of Manager Mr. Ensminger moved that the Board of Selectmen approve the change of manager for an Annual All Alcoholic Beverages Restaurant License for Anthony's Coal Fired Pizza of Reading LLC, 48 Walkers Brook Drive, Reading, MA. The motion was seconded by Mr. Berman and approved with a 4-0-0 vote. Safety Issues Police Lt. Christina Amendola was present to explain some traffic changes they would like to pass. The first one is a right turn only sign at Green Street and Main Street. The crash data for the past 5 years shows a significant amount of accidents of people trying to get onto Main coming off of Green. They believe this is due to poor sight lines at that specific spot. Proposing a right turn only will eliminate people trying to cross four lanes of traffic to completely cross MainStreet. The second request is at the Killam School. They are also proposing a right turn only at the exit during morning drop off (7:30 - 8:30 am). This is just due to high volume of traffic at that specific time. Tony.D'Arezzo noted they should consider the unintended consequences of the a right turn only at Main and Green Streets. People will just cut thru the next side street and do the same thing. Preview Warrant for Town Meeting Mr. LeLacheur explained the first three articles are by the charter. The next are the traditional articles. There is an instructional motion to change the name of the Board of Selectmen to be gender neutral. In regards to the override question, the board needs to create the exact wording they want on the ballot. Mr. LeLacheur did create a draft question for the board to review and -edit if they wish. Town Counsel has seen the draft question and noted it is okay to use if the board likes the wording. The board liked the way Mr. LeLacheur constructed the question and went on to vote. Mr. Ensminger moved that the Board of Selectmen approve the language for Question 1 as presented. The motion was seconded by Mr. Berman and approved with a 4-0-0 vote. Discuss Board of Selectmen Policies Mr. Arena thought it would be appropriate to defer this agenda item until the whole board was-present to contribute. Selectmen Goals Update Mr. LeLacheur quickly updated the board on what goals have been accomplished to date for this Fiscal Year. Most have been accomplished while ongoing ones have seen progress but Pre still being worked on. Page 1 3 RMLD Payments Update Selectmen Dan Ensminger explained that in 2017 there was an instructional motion from Town Meeting to study the payments to the Town from'RMLD and come to an agreement moving forward for future payments. He noted the first meeting wasn't until September of 2017 and the second meeting was today, right before this meeting. Trying to get meetings set up has been difficult and uncooperative. A proposal was made today, Mr. Ensminger gave a counter-proposal. They will bring that offer back to their full board and then back to the subcommittee. Mr. Ensminger noted he did mention the fact that the town could look into selling them. Mr. Arena noted he is extremely unsatisfied with how this process has been going. Vanessa Alvarado asked why the Selectmen haven't just shown up at the RMLD's regularly scheduled meetings. Mr. Halsey responded that they had an agreement to discuss this specific topic in a subcommittee form. Minutes Mr. Ensminger moved that the Board of Selectmen approve the meeting minutes of November 7, 2017. The motion was seconded by Mr. Berman and approved with a 4-0-0 vote. Mr. Ensminger moved that the Board of Selectmen approve the meeting minutes of November 28, 2017. The motion was seconded by Mr. Berman and approved with a 4-0-0 vote. Mr. Ensminger moved that the Board of Selectmen approve the meeting minutes of December 20, 2017 as amended. The motion as seconded by Mr. Berman approved with a 4-0-0 vote. Mr. Ensminger made a motion to adjourn at 9:30 PM, second by Mr. Berman and approved with a 4-0-0 vote.. Page 4