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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2018-04-12 Board of Selectmen Minutes o� OFR ' x Town of Reading r _ y + Meeting M.inutes Rt TOWN CLERK rs�9.1NCREADING, WMA. i. Board - Committee - Commission - Council: 2010 MAY 16 AM 9: 10 Board of Selectmen Date: 2018-04-12 Time: 7:00 PM Building: Reading Town Hall Location: Selectmen Meeting Room Address: 16 Lowell Street Session: Purpose: General Business Version: Attendees: Members - Present: Barry Berman, Dan Ensminger, Andrew Friedmann, Vanessa Alvarado Members - Not Present: John Halsey Others Present: Town Manager Bob LeLacheur, Executive Assistant Caitlin Saunders, Town Accountant Sharon Angstrom, Stephen Crook, Amy Cole, Nancy Docktor, Elizabeth Shurland, Julie Ross, Tim Kelley, Kaitlyn Mercurio Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: Topics of Discussion: Mr. Berman called the meeting to order. New member Vanessa Alvarado was sworn in. Mr. Berman explained he will be the Acting Chair until the reorganization in June. Mr. Ensminger will be Acting Vice Chair and continue his duties as Secretary. Mr. Berman thanked John Arena for all his time, commitment and hard work he put into his years on the board and he hopes he continues to be involved in the town. He wishes him well in his next endeavors. Mr. Berman welcomed Ms. Alvarado to the board and notes she will bring new perspectives to the board. He noted she was a volunteer on .the Finance Committee before running for Selectmen. Mr. Berman then thanked all the voters for coming out and voting on Election Day. He thanked the Yes For Reading Group for all their work getting information out. Mr. Ensminger congratulated Ms. Alvarado and also thanked Mr. Arena for his years of dedication to the board. He noted Comcast negotiations are starting and they have a draft proposal which Town Counsel is looking over. He expects there to be a few more internal meetings before it is brought to the full board. The RMLD subcommittee met last night and a briefing on the proposal will be in next week's meeting packet. Ms. Alvarado thanked John Arena for his service to the town and she looks forward to serving her town now. Page I 1 Mr. Friedmann welcomed Ms. Alvarado. He then noted now that the override has passed, he and the board will work on continuing to give the community information so we can make this override last as long as possible. Public Comment David Zeek from the Climate Advisory Committee wanted to remind everyone their Earth Day Fair will be April 21St and he hopes everyone can attend. Their plastic bag bylaw has been approved by the Attorney General so now they are working on implementation strategies to make it official. Bill Brown noted he believes the ballot question is not legal. He believes the way it is worded, the School part of the question cannot be implemented. Mr. LeLacheur noted he has passed along Mr. Brown's concerns to Town Counsel and they are looking into it. Tim Kelley.from the Housing Authority wanted to give the Selectmen a heads up that they wish to come see them and talk about the Affordable Home ownership program they have at Gazebo Circle. One of the residents wants to sell their home and now they must decide how to proceed. They would like to come to the board and ask for funds from the Housing Trust Fund which requires a joint vote from the Selectmen and the Housing Authority. Cadence Thomases came to Selectmen to express her continued dissatisfaction with the Reading Village Project. She brought a letter from Mass DEP to which she believes confirms her belief that this is a hazardous waste site making her believe they are also not conforming with certain regulations they should be. She believes the town's health department has a say in this and she wants them involved. Mr. Friedmann noted he works for DEP and if a site is a hazardous waste site they have certain reports they must provide to DEP before moving any dirt. He noted he would take a look at the letter Ms. Thomases brought in. Ms. Alvarado asked who is responsible for oversite of this project. Town Manager Report Mr. LeLacheur noted on behalf of himself and Superintendent Dr. Doherty he thanks the voters. He also noted on May 23rd there will be a security summit at the Schittini Library at the High School. All elected boards and residents are invited. They will answer any security questions to the best of their ability without saying too much. Arbor Day Proclamation Mr. Ensminger read the proclamation proclaiming April 27, 2018 as Arbor Day in the Town of Reading. Mr. Friedmann seconded the proclamation and it was approved with a 4-0-0 vote. Ms. Alvarado asked if we have a program in place to replace trees that fell during the storm. Mr. LeLacheur noted we have a replacement program if we take down trees but we do not have anything if Mother Nature decides to take them down. Reorganization & Liaison Reports The official reorganization of the board will happen the-end of June. The board then went over the boards that Mr. Arena was a liaison too and split them up accordingly while introducing Ms. Alvarado to her new group of liaisons. These liaisons are temporary and will be reassigned when the board reorganizes. Mr. Berman also suggested maybe each member being assigned a big project when there is one going on in town so that residents have a contact in the town if they are having an issue. Page 1 2 Town Accountant Quarterly Report Sharon Angstrom was here to update the board. She noted they are in good shape. They have seen a flux in people prepaying their taxes. They have collected 90% of stormwater revenues. Nothing is standing out as a problem to her at the moment. Ms. Angstrom noted she did receive their 2017 audit and she posted it online if anyone would like to look at it. They are currently setting up this year's audit committee. She noted herself and Town Treasurer Endri Kume are going through and looking at the finance policies and once they are done they will bring them to the full board for review. Town Manager Contract Amendment Ms. Angstrom noted that Mr. LeLacheur wanted to take a $0 increase but according to his contract he cannot. She asked Town Counsel for their opinion along with the board's opinion and everyone agreed he needed to take the increase. Therefore Ms. Angstrom went back and retro-paid him for when he should have got the increase. Town Manager Goals Update Mr. LeLacheur gave the board a brief update on the goals they have achieved this past year. He noted some ongoing ones they continue to work on. When the board reorganizes in June they will also place members to help with certain goals for next year. The board briefly discussed the MWRA situation with North Reading to give Ms. Alvarado a background on the matter. At this point North Reading has not asked to come back for another meeting and seem to be trying to work out their situation with Andover. BOS Policy - New Members The board discussed coming up with some ways to onboard new members better. They talked about what materials, if any, would be helpful to be given in advance of or at their first meeting. Ms. Alvarado noted having a procedural handout would be helpful. Mr. Ensminger also feels just having a one-on-one with a new member would be helpful to just briefly explain and go over what they should expect, how meetings are run and other things. Ms. Alvarado also noted maybe meeting with department heads would give them a better understanding of how the town is run. Minutes Mr. Ensminger made a motion to approve the meeting minutes from.3anuary 30th, 2018. The motion was seconded by Mr. Friedmann and approved with a 3-0-0 vote with Alvarado abstaining. .Mr. Ensminger made a motion to approve the meeting minutes from February 13, 2018. The motion was seconded by Mr. Berman and approved with a 3-0-0 vote with Alvarado abstaining. Mr. Ensminger made a motion to approve the meeting minutes from February 27, 2018 as amended. The motion was seconded by Mr. Friedmann and approved with a 3-0-0 vote with Alvarado abstaining. Mr. LeLacheur noted there is a large fire happening right now on Berkley Street but everyone is safe and they have it under control. Mr. Friedmann made a motion to adjourn at 9:18 PM, second by Mr. Ensminger and approved with a 4-0-0 vote. Page 1 3