HomeMy WebLinkAbout2018-05-22 Volunteer Appointment Committee Minutes N oFR�
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Town of Reading
Meeting Minutes EG E V i F.0_
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Board -Committee - Commission - Council: ���� � 9 .P . 2: 58.
Volunteer Appointment Committee
Date: 2018-05-22 Time: 7:00 PM
Building: , Reading Town Hall Location: Berger'Room
Address: 16 Lowell Street Session:
Purpose.. Version:
Attendees: Members Present:
Barry Berman, Dan Ensminger
Members Not Present:
Others Present:
Administrative Assistant Brendan Sweeney
Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: . Brendan Sweeney
Topics of Discussion:
Dan Ensminger called the meeting to order at 7:05 PM.
-The first.to be interviewed was Thomas.Freeman, one of the,incumbent Constables, and
Thomas Crowley, a new Constable applicant. Both were interviewed simultaneously. -
Freeman spoke about the role of the Constable.,and his experiences in Reading: He noted
that the Constable is a primarily symbolic role,mainly just posting Town Meeting warrants
nowadays, but does.have a fairly'.high level of authority.that.was previously utilized. Before- .
the establishment-of local police departments the Constable's role was far,greater. Crowley
noted that he's a retired private investigator, similar to Freeman:
Next to be-interviewed were Trails Committee incumbents..Thomas Gardiner, Jean Jacobs,
and John Parsons; who were interviewed simultaneously. When defining the role.of the .
Trails Committee, Gardiner spoke to how-they do work with the-Town Forest but that the
Trails work.is much more hands on.' Ideally allwould like to work on linking the trails.in
town going forward, and Jacobs specifically highlighted the potential for a trails master plan.
Jacobs additionally identified the:potential role that the town website could play in providing
links to the maps of the'trails. Berman pitched the idea:to the committee of collaborating
with the.art community in potentially putting a.calendar together to promote the trails and
Town Forest, which was received favorably.
Patrick Sheeran was then interviewed, and had listed multiple committees of interest: He
outlined.his interest in recreation due to his involvement with track &field organizations in
Massachusetts. Additionally, he outlined his.professional background in video-editing,.which
made the RCTV Board of Directors another logical area of interest.
Kurt Habel, of both the Celebration Committee and the Town Forest Committee, was
interviewed next. He was pressed about funding sources for the Celebration Committee,
and noted:that most of the funding comes from the Celebration-and Historic Record trust
funds. Habel highlighted lack of.advertising.and a weak social media presence as
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challenges currently facing the.committee, as well as the fact that they only meet .a few
times a year.
RobertRedfern, longtime incumbent member.of'the Zoning Board.of Appeals, was next to
interview. He spoke about his recent experiences working on the Eaton-Lakeview,project,
and:-stated that it was the first episode-of neighborhood resistance that he could .recall.
Both Berman and Ensminger talked about the difficulties certain state statutes, such as 40B,
present with regards to zoning and-future development. Berman specifically characterized
40B as "surgery with a machete". Additionally,Berman ;inquired about the skillsets needed
on the ZBA:going forward, and Redfern-emphasized that builders would be.ideal, although,
they are tough to recruit.
The final interviewee of the night was Richard Robbins of the Animal Control Appeals
Committee., He mentioned that the ACAC had not.met since he has been on the committee,
but when he was working as a police officer for the Town he did have to do some.-work with .
the committee. He noted that cases can become quite complex depending on the severity
of the incident, and that the committee serves an important role in providing guidance on
remedial actions necessary.
The meeting was adjourned at 9:02 PM by unanimous vote.
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