Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout2018-08-21 Select Board Minutes Town of Reading Y lJ k Meeting Minutes soard - committee - Commission - Council: 2111 SEP 24 AM 11: 10 Select Board Date: 2018-08-21 Time: 7:00 PM Building: Reading Town Hall Location: Select Board Meeting Room Address: 16 Lowell Street Session: Purpose: General Business Version: Attendees: Members - Present: Andrew Friedmann, Barry Berman, John Halsey, Dan Ensminger, Vanessa Alvarado Members - Not Present: Others Present: Town Manager Bob LeLacheur, Executive Assistant Caitlin Saunders, Dan Dewar, Diana Halsey, Dennis Dorandi, John Arena, Lynn Arena, David Pinette, Karen Pinette, Steven Marropoulos, Eileen Litterio, Brian Tobin, Darin McFarland, Barabara Melanson, Edward Sartell, Nancy Docktor, Erin Calvo-Bacci, Linda Phillips, Shawn Brandt, J. Czarnota, J. Baxter, Angela Binda, Doug Neary, Naomi Kaufman, Tom Quintal, Emily Sisson, Mark Beekley, Bob Hayes, Ben Coray, George Tzortzis Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: Topics of Discussion: Chair Andy Friedmann called the meeting to order. Liaison Reports Mr. Halsey noted DPW Director Jeff Zager is retiring and he was invited to the hiring process of the new director. There were exceptional internal and external candidates that were interviewed. One candidate really stood out and has been offered the position; Jane Kinsella. Mr. Halsey noted he received a letter from the board in response to his Open Meeting Law complaint he filed. The letter had an explanation of Counsel's findings and a statement from the board itself. He noted he appreciates the board's response and the time they took responding. He has no interest in pursuing it further. Mr. Halsey also explained his thoughts about having an executive session as soon as possible to approve prior minutes and release them to the public. Ms. Alvarado explained her and Mr. Berman are working on the communication subgroup. She attended the Lincoln/ Prescott neighborhood meeting this morning. The housing bill 4290 failed. Mr. Berman attended the Jams for Jake benefit noting it was an amazing event full of wonderful people. Erica McNamara, our RCASA Director has resigned to take a position elsewhere. He would like to wish her well. There was a new flag pole dedication at the library in which he attended. The flag pole was done for an Eagle Scout project. Page 1 1 Mr. Ensminger noted that the Recreation Committee will be coming to see the board soon because Friends of Reading High School Baseball donated a turtle batting cage and they need to accept the gift formally. The cable tv negotiations are continuing. And a quick reminder the Town Manager evaluations are due next Monday at 10 am. Mr. Friedmann explained he brought in a new timer to keep people on track. With a busy agenda he would like to keep public comment to 2 minutes a person. He noted there is an opening on the Bylaw Committee. Public Comment Bill Brown noted the Cemetery Board of Trustees also needs another member if anyone is interested. The board noted they need to reassign the VASC members. Ms. Alvarado made a motion to assign Dan Ensminger and herself to the Volunteer Appointment Subcommittee with a term ending June 30, 2019. The motion was seconded by Mr. Ensminger and approved with a 5-0 vote. Cadance Thomases noted today there was finally a neighborhood meeting for the Lincoln/ Prescott Street project. It was the first one in 4 months even though the developer promised more. She still has lots of concerns about this project. She also noted no one from the town was at the neighborhood meeting except for Ms. Alvarado. Eileen Litterio wanted to thank the experienced members of the board for continuing to make the hard decisions they are faced with. She also wanted to bring up a concern that needs more attention. One new candidate on the board solicited the schools email data base the night before the election and sent an email blast with a political agenda to all the parents. School parents do not sign up to receive emails from candidates soliciting votes and that should have never happened and a new vote should have been done after this information came to light. Now, as a member on the board, she preaches transparency but doesn't do it herself. Doug Neary pleaded with the board to please pass the National Grid moratorium later in the evening. The workers they are using are inexperienced and put the public at risk. Twenty other cities and towns have passed this. Angela Binda noted transparency from the board is very important and she wrote a letter to board and hopes she gets the answers to the questions she asked In it. Steve Markopoulos would also like to show his support for the National Grid moratorium. Darin McFarland noted this is his first time here and he can't help but notice how rude Chairman Friedmann is to Mr. Halsey. He cuts him off and doesn't let him speak but doesn't do that to any of the other members. John noted he would like to support the National Grid moratorium as it is a huge public safety concern to let the inexperienced workers keep doing this kind of work. Town Manager's Report Mr. LeLacheur wanted to note in the packet is a letter from the Health Agent on the rodent issue. She is well aware and on top of it. He also wanted to mention to residents that making a post on social media is not going to do anything and if you actually have a problem, please call us and let us know so the Health Agent can address it. He noted dog poop is a big attraction for rats and Washington Park has a huge problem of people not picking up after their dogs which happens to be the same side of town with the claims. Page 1 2 Mr. Berman noted there are 3 new Eagle Scouts here tonight that we are presenting proclamations to: Corey Ward; in recognition of his achieving the Eagle Scout Award for his leadership project in which he built a message center at the dog walking park near the Grove Street entrance of the compost center. The message center has the trails for the town forest posted on it along with all rules and regulations. Ryan Monahan; in recognition of his achieving the Eagle Scout Award for his leadership project in which he built 16 community garden beds at the First Baptist Church on Woburn Street. These garden beds allow people to grow their own food. Ben Coray; in recognition of his achieving the Eagle Scout Award for his leadership project in which he built a safety fence around the dumpster at St. Athanasius Church on Haverhill Street for sanitation purposes and for protection from animals to keep it sanitary. Mr. Halsey congratulated the boys and noted Reading produces the most Eagle Scouts in Massachusetts. Liaison Assignments. Roles and Responsibilities Mr. Friedmann noted he was briefed on recent Recreation Committee events with the outgoing chair. He then gave a brief timeline of events. He noted the board voted a new liaison to the Recreation Committee without all the facts. Mr. Friedmann wants to discuss how they can move forward without rehashing the past. Mr. Halsey noted it is clearly stated in approved Recreation minutes that he did NOT choose to sue or go forward with that. Mr. Friedmann did not want Mr. Halsey to continue but Mr. Halsey felt he had the right to respond since Mr. Friedmann is specifically talking about him. Mr. Halsey continued asking why he is bringing this up based on here-say. He noted Mr. Friedmann was not at the meeting and does not know what was said at all. Mr. Friedmann again told Mr. Halsey he doesn't want to talk about the past but Mr. Halsey noted Mr. Friedmann was the one who brought the whole subject up when we should be moving on as the Recreation committee clearly wants to drop this. Mr. Berman explained there is a clear desire here to move on. John's words may have conveyed a meaning different than what he intended. We need to treat each other with respect. Mr. Berman then explained, with regards to the letter, it was never sent to the Select Board; he does not know why it was never sent but they cannot produce a letter to the public that they never received. Mr. Ensminger doesn't feel this needs a policy change; it's clearly just common sense but if Mr. Friedmann wants to change the policy it needs to have a hearing. Ms. Alvarado noted it is best practice to share information with the board going forward. Downtown Parking Discussion Nelson/Nygaard came to give us a presentation about their parking study finds for our downtown area. They are the ones who did the study years ago as well. Mr. Halsey was interested more in how we can expand on-site parking. Page 1 3 Mr. Berman noted we need a culture change and get people in the mindset that if they park anywhere downtown they can walk to the store they need to go to; i.e. Market Street in Lynnfield. Ms. Alvarado would like to look more into working with RMLD; for example, to get electric charging stations. The board discussed at the summit coming up in a couple weeks the most important take away from that should be the business' input. Dan Dewar noted all businesses are different but he's confident a lot of them would like to see 15 minuteparking for on street spots to help with turnover. Mr. Friedmann proceeded with the meeting stating he wants to take a minute to talk about what happened to him as he was walking back from the men's room a little while earlier. He noted a man aggressively approached him and told him it is time to resign or at least step down because this town needs a real leader. Saturday Night Liahts - Amplified Sound Request Carl McFadden explained this is a request he makes every year. The program is wildly successful and they always end the year with a fundraiser to give back to the town. Ms. Alvarado made a motion to approve the amplified sound request from Saturday Night Lights. The motion was seconded by Mr. Ensminger and approved with a 5-0 vote. National Grid Moratorium Chair Mr. Friedmann drafted a resolution in support of the US Steelworkers that he shared with board. Mr. Ensminger made a motion to pass the resolution, second by Ms. Alvarado. Discussion ensued with Mr. Berman asking how we would enforce this and suggesting a friendly amendment to the title of the document changing it to read "in support of the health and safety regarding gas installations in the Town Of Reading". Mr. Friedmann seconded the amendment and it passed with a 5-0 vote. Discussion continued mostly with Mr. Halsey asking the question if the board actually has the authority to refuse permits. No one knew the answer to this major component of the document. Ms. Alvarado suggested using wording from other towns that have already passed a moratorium or resolution in support of. She had some examples for the board. Mr. Halsey felt we need to clear up the question if the board actually has authority regarding permits while Ms. Alvarado felt they do have the authority because they are doing it for the resident's safety. Mr. Halsey noted he would feel better if we got some confirmation from Town Counsel that the board has authority to do this and would not want to vote on it until we get that answer. Mr. Berman made a motion to table this discussion further until September 11u' meeting. The motion was seconded by Mr. Ensminger and approved with a 5-0 vote. Page 1 4 Preview Warrant for November Town Meeting Mr. LeLacheur showed the board what the warrant looks like as of right now. He noted there are no Bylaw Articles currently because they have yet to meet. Authorize Sale of Brook St/ Redfield St Mr. LeLacheur reminded the board this is the vacant property that they had cleaned up last year. Reading owns part of the land and Wakefield owns part of the land. We agreed to clean it up and let Wakefield sell it. Mr. Lel-achuer noted the property lines are strange but it would be much harder to give the whole property to Wakefield than to just agree to sell it together and leave the lines as is. Ms. Alvarado moved that the Select Board vote to approve the sale of the property located on Brook Street, shown as Lot 122 on Assessors' Map 8 and described in a deed recorded with the Middlesex South District Registry of Deeds at Book 31286 Page 172, subject to approval by a vote at the Subsequent Town Meeting to be held in November 2018. And moved that the Select Board vote to execute the deed as presented for the sale of property located on Brook Street, shown as Lot 122 on Assessors' Map 8 and described in a deed recorded with the Middlesex South District Registry of Deeds at Book 31286 Page 172. And moved that the Select Board vote to have Town Counsel prepare a Warrant Article for the approval of the sale of property located on Brook Street, shown as Lot 122 on Assessors' Map 8 and described in a deed recorded with the Middlesex South District Registry of Deeds at Book 31286 Page 172, for inclusion in the Warrant to be issued for the Subsequent Town Meeting to be held in November j 2018. The motion was seconded by Mr. Berman and approved with a 5-0 vote. Select Board Goals The board discussed and came up with a brief list of goals for themselves. Noting they want to be accomplishable within the year. The list included finish updating their policies, revamping the economic development committee, team building exercise, a new housing trust fund and figuring out Oakland Road. Mr. Halsey also noted looking at all recreational space to maximize use. Preoeration For Stakeholders Meeting Mr. Friedmann noted he wants to invite all important parties to their next meeting to talk and discuss the anti-sematic incidents in town and how we can move forward and establish what we are going to do about it. He feels the board needs to more involved in the actions that will be taken towards preventing future incidents. Minutes Ms. Alvarado made a motion to approve the meeting minutes of July 31, 2018 as amended. The motion was seconded by Mr. Ensminger and approved with a 4-0 vote. Page 1 5