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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2018-09-11 Select Board Minutes F Town of Reading Meeting Minutes }l ;_ ; E! V Board - Committee - Commission - Council: Select Board 21110C1 4 A11 8 43 Date: 2018-09-11 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: Andy Friedmann, Barry Berman, Dan Ensminger, John Halsey, Vanessa Alvarado Members - Not Present: Others Present: Town Manager Bob LeLacheur, Executive Assistant Caitlin Saunders, Douglas Neary, Jaclyn Collins, Emily Sisson, Nancy Docktor Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: Topics of Discussion: Mr. Friedmann called the meeting to order. Mr. Friedmann started the meeting off by apologizing to Mr. Halsey for interrupting him and trying to stop him from speaking at the last meeting. He was concerned about the legality of speaking about it in open session. Ms. Alvarado noted RMLD is having an event called the 'Electric Vehicle ride and drive' coming up where people can test drive and learn more about electric vehicles. She explained that she recently found out the cemetery building has to have to bottled water there because their water is not good. The Cemetery board is working hard at trying to convey to residents that dogs are not allowed in the cemeteries. She also attended the community meeting last night about the rodent issue and urged residents to please contact the town if they have an Issue. Mr. Friedmann also attended the community meeting about the rodents along with the Board of Health, Jean Delios, and the Health Agent. Some exterminators were also there to provide their professional thoughts/opinions. They made a plan on how to move forward and noted this is a Board of Health issue. This Thursday at the Pleasant Street Center there is a free health fair where you can get your Flu shots. Mr. Friedmann then noted we had a resident send multiple emails about the ball field lights staying on all night and asked Mr. LeLacheur if that has been dealt with. Mr. LeLacheur answered noting, the only reason they were left on was because someone vandalized the switch box so they physically could not be turned off until it was fixed. It has been fixed now. He also noted, when teams using the field forget to shut them off at night, they get charged for the use and it is not coming out of the town's pocket. Page I 1 Mr. Berman explained the School Committee voted to do a space study/ enrollment study at their last meeting. The last ZBA meeting was still focused on resolving traffic issues at the proposed Eaton/Lakeview site. RCASA was nationally recognized and received an award in Washington D.C. over the weekend. He thanked the Rotary Club for all their work on the successful Fall Street Faire again. Lastly, he noted the Library is bringing back their Sunday hours. Mr. Ensminger noted the Recreation Committee is discussing the Birch Meadow Master Plan at their next meeting if anyone is interested. The tv cable negotiations are wrapping up and once they do the Select Board will need to hold a hearing. They are aiming for the end of October for that to happen. Last, but not least, Mr. Ensminger wanted to take a moment and recognize all the local heroes and everyone affected by 9/11 17 years ago today. Mr. LeLacheur wanted to take a quick moment and provide the board with a disclosure form regarding the rodent discussion. He feels it important he be involved in the discussion, however, he had one rodent in his driveway. So if the board feels it is ok he filled out a disclosure form noting that but would still like to participate. The board had no problems with that and with a motion from Mr. Ensminger and second from Mr. Halsey, voted 5-0 to allow Mr. LeLacheur to continue his presence and participation in the rodent discussion. Public Comment Jackie Collins from 21 County Road noted she is affected by the rodent issue. She put a letter out to 300 residents about this problem and then held a community meeting about it. She is very frustrated with the towns lack of response to this huge problem. She expressed she thinks it is about time the town took responsibility for the problem and do something about it. She also noted the Board of Health should be meeting more frequently and not at 10 AM. It was noted the Board of Health has been struggling to meet because of scheduling issues J with the members. Ms. Alvarado asked Mr. LeLacheur if the town could put out a flyer and document out to the press. Mr. Friedmann noted his concerns about the health risks for the town that rodents cause. Bill Brown noted this Select Board is the most disgruntled he has ever seen in history. They need to move on and stop putting their nose into business they have no right being in. A resident noted that the Attorney General's office just called for an investigation into National Grid today because of how many complaints they have received about unsafe working conditions. Scott Baxter also wanted to express his support for the National Grid moratorium. Unexperienced workers are going to cause a big problem and the moratorium is about protecting the public's safety. Town Manager's Report Mr. LeLacheur started off by noting his is supporting Woburn Mayor Galvin as the MPO candidate. Engineering has put in three requests that will need driveway hearings before the board. The town also received a FEMA grant to hire a firefighter. This then led to a discussion about the money that was put aside for firefighters from the override. Page 1 2 Proclamations Ms. Alvarado read the Hunger Action Month proclamation. Ms. Alvarado moved that the Board declare September 2018 Hunger Action Month here in the Town of Reading. The motion was seconded by Mr. Berman and approved with a 5-0 vote. Mr. Berman read the proclamation for Timothy J Kelley Jr. Mr. Berman moved that the Board present a proclamation to Timothy John Kelley Jr for receiving his Eagle Scout Award. The motion was seconded by Mr. Ensminger and approved with a 5-0 vote. Ms. Alvarado read the proclamation for Mr. Yonghyon Kim, Consul General of the Republic of Korea who is coming to Boston next week for a ceremony for veterans who served in the Korean War. Ms. Alvarado made a motion to present the proclamation to Mr. Yonghyon Kim. The motion was seconded by Mr. Ensminger and approved with a 5-0 vote. Petition for Street Name Change - Ordway Terrace Mr. LeLacheur started off by noting the town has never renamed a street before so if the board has interest in doing this, we will have to do some research on how to legally change it. Ordway Terrace was originally named after a past Fire Chief here in town. Susan Darling-True is the resident who made the request to change the name to Frank Driscoll's Way. She explained Frank did a lot for the town loving every minute of it. He was a proud marine and a retired Firefighter. He coached girls' softball and also did a lot of work with Reading's veterans. Ordway Terrace only has two houses on it, one being Frank's. She would like to honor Frank by renaming the road or if that is too difficult then an honorary naming of the road which would be a sign that goes above the current sign. Mr. Berman agreed they should honor Frank in some way for all his work in town. Mr. Halsey noted he comes from a place where they had honorary ways all the time. We should look into how to do that and create a policy for the future. Stacey Driscoll explained that Frank loved living on Ordway Terrace and knowing it was named after a fire chief because he was a firefighter too. Bill Brown noted no one deserves this more than Frank, and suggested putting the marine seal on the sign. The board agreed they would like Mr. LeLacheur to look into how to legally do this. National Grid Moratorium The board previously asked the Town Manager to get Town Counsel's advice on their power to impose a moratorium on gas work. Town Counsel did respond with a letter cautioning the board on moving forward. Although he believes it would be highly unlikely National Grid would challenge a situation, he would like the board to keep in mind, they could. Ms. Alvarado suggested changing the wording to give residents the choice to continue gas work if they want knowing it would be done by replacement workers and just put the moratorium on town work. She feels if we do not do this, we are ignoring a safety concern for our community. Page 1 3 Mr. Ensminger felt if we do this though we are opening us up to potential litigation whether the risk is low or not. Mr. Berman feels Ms. Alvarado's option just dilutes something we can't authorize anyway. The board then briefly discussed the potential of Main Street not getting paved if we do this due to work starting soon. Mr. Halsey noted he understands the situation but feels the board is straying into an area we are not qualified to be in. Ms. Alvarado feels the public's safety is our number one concern. After some deliberation the board reluctantly came to somewhat of an agreement that they should not impose the moratorium due to the fact that they do not have authority to do so. Mr. Ensminger moved that the board indefinitely postpone this motion, article and topic. The motion was seconded by Mr. Halsey. Mr. Friedmann noted he was very torn on this and wishes they could do it, but feels their hands are tied in this situation. The board voted 4-1 with Ms. Alvarado opposing. The board then discussed drafting a letter to DPU stating their thoughts on the situation to which Ms. Alvarado noted she would be happy to draft the letter for next meeting. Communication Policv Mr. Berman and Ms. Alvarado have been working on how to improve the boards communication policy and how to approach social media aspect if they choose. The first thing Mr. Berman wanted to mention was the town email addresses. He thinks the board should all go get theirs this week so they are all on the town server. Second, he noted they need to come up with a policy to close the loop on residents' emails. Something that lets the board know someone answered their email but not having each Select person answering either. Ms. Alvarado went on to explain ideas for the Select Board to have a Facebook page. She used Manchester by the Sea as an example of how they set up their page. They have a weekly blog post and a 'from the Town Manager's desk' post. Everything they put on their Facebook page is a link back to their town website. Who would manage the page and do the weekly posts, would be another conversation the board would have to have. Mr. Ensminger noted Plainfield has a good social media policy in place that they should take a look at when doing ours. Mr. Halsey felt it was a good idea to send an auto response to anyone that emails the board so that way the person knows the email was received but then it gives the whole board time to coordinate a response. Ms. Alvarado also thought it would be helpful if Bob gave updates to the board if he answers residents' questions. Page 1 4 A000mt Liaison The board then briefly discussed adding a second liaison to the Board of Health. Mr. Friedmann made a motion to add a second liaison to the Board of Health, second by Ms. Alvarado. Ms. Alvarado then nominated Mr. Friedmann to be that liaison. The board voted 5-0 to appoint Mr. Friedmann as liaison to the Board of Health. Mr. Berman then noted he would like to discuss in the future making the Board of Health a 5 member board. Select Board Goals The board ranked a number of goals in which they were important to them. Mr. Friedmann suggested doing the top 5 goals they voted on and splitting them up to two people per goal. Mr. Halsey wanted to note that when the Economic Development Committee sunsetted they wrote a letter and told us why and he believes it is important the whole board see that letter before they discuss putting together a new EDC. Mr. Ensminger suggested instead of having a new EDC maybe they focus on a 'downtown development' or Walkers Brook Drive development and focus on certain areas where there is potential for growth or change. Mr. Ensminger made a motion to accept the top 5 goals are the boards working goals for next year. The motion was seconded by Mr. Friedmann and approved with a 5-0 vote. The top 5 goals were: Capital Projects, assigned to Alvarado and Halsey; Oakland Road, assigned to Alvarado and Halsey; Economic Development Committee, assigned to Ensminger and Berman; Housing Trust, assigned to Berman and Friedmann Select Board Policies which they all will work on. Town Managers Review The board discussed their reviews on Mr. LeLacheur. All members noted they did not like the form that was used and would like to change it for next year to better suit a Town Manager's role. Mr. Halsey noting Mr. LeLacheur exceeds standards in competency. Ms. Alvarado noted she did not evaluate Mr. LeLacheur on a few things solely based on the limited time she has had working with him. Mr. Berman noted Mr. LeLacheur did a tremendous job in getting us thru the override. Mr. Ensminger commented it is an honor and privilege to have Mr. LeLacheur as Town Manager. He mentioned his immense work on the override and negotiations with the unions every year. Page 1 5 Minutes Ms. Alvarado made a motion to approve the meeting minutes from August 21, 2018 as amended. The motion was seconded by Mr. Ensminger and approved with a 5-0 vote. Ms. Alvarado moved to go into Executive Session to approve previous Executive Session minutes and that the Chair declare that an Open Meeting may have a detrimental effect on the bargaining position of the body, and not to return to open session. The board approved the motion with the following roll call vote: Halsey - yes Alvarado - yes Ensminger - yes Berman - yes Friedmann - yes Page 6