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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2019-01-08 Select Board Minutes OWN Or Hr�O' Town of Reading Meeting Minutes RECEIVED TOWN CLERK READING, MA. Board - committee - commission - council: 2919 MAR 20 PM 2: 48 Select Board Date: 2019-01-08 Time: 7:00 PM Building: Reading Town Hall Location: Select Board Meeting Room Address: 16 Lowell Street Session: Open Session Purpose: General Business Version: Attendees: Members - Present: Andy Friedmann, Barry Berman, Vanessa Alvarado, Dan Ensminger, John Halsey Members - Not Present: Others Present: Town Manager Bob Letacheur, Executive Assistant Caitlin Saunders, Bill Brown, Nancy Docktor, Shannon Coughlin, Julie Thurlow, Elizabeth Gomez, Kristyn Kaupas, Glenn DeCesare, Cathy Hoodle, Crystal Hudson, Mike Foley, Kathleen Devine, Tom Gardiner, Jean Jacobs, Will Finch, Ben Ream, Kim ' Honetschlager, Megan Fidler Carey, Linda Antinoro, Marianne Downing, Sarah McLaughlin, Anne Boffa, Anthony D'Artista Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: Topics of Discussion: Andy Friedmann called the meeting to order just after 7 PM. Recognition — Julie Thurlow Julie Thurlow is the President and CEO of Reading Cooperative Bank. Mr. Berman wanted to recognize her for her 25 years of service to the citizens of Reading as a banker with Reading Coop. Julie's leadership, mentoring and role modeling have earned her accolades outside of Reading. Mr. Berman made a motion to recognize Julie Thurlow, with a second from Mr. Friedmann the motion passed with a 5-0 vote. Liaison Reports Mr. Berman noted Ms. Alvarado and himself have met and been working as the ad-hoc Human Rights subcommittee. They are almost ready to send out invites for people to join and start doing work. Also, as an FYI, on Monday, January 14`h, DA Marian Ryan will be at the Pleasant Street center talking about scam awareness with the seniors. Ms. Alvarado attended the Birch Meadow Master Plan Subcommittee earlier this evening noting they have the surveys back and will start to go through them and process the Information. The cemetery board is working on and planning to update signage in the spring. Mr. Halsey explained that Post Mark Square has finally crossed their last hurdle last night so they should be starting to break ground any time now. The Boston Area Boy Scout council Page I 1 recognized all 2018 Eagle Scouts this past weekend and Reading had the most men in all of the communities. Mr. Friedmann noted on Christmas day the board got an email about construction noises , and he wanted to make everyone aware of the Town's Bylaws which lay out the allowed construction times. He attended the Board of Health meeting where they discussed their new draft of pesticide regulations and will be coming to the board soon. He also noted he reviewed a violation log for the Board of Health going back a number of years and he noticed something that concerns him; there are no fines the past 2 years compared to previous years. It is concerning to him we haven't had any violations and it is something we need to keep an eye on. Public Comment Bill Brown asked for an update on recognizing Frank Driscoll and Oakland Road. Town Manager Bob LeLacheur mentioned they are working with the family to decide how they want to recognize him and you should see more on that In February. Ms. Alvarado noted as a part of the Oakland Rd subcommittee, her and Mr. Halsey will be meeting next week to look into this. Kristy Kaupas wanted to follow up on her traffic concerns regarding Haverhill and Timberneck. She understands that Haverhill Street is being looked into but she finds it very unacceptable that the traffic officer told her they won't be doing anything for Timberneck because there haven't been any accidents. Elizabeth Gomez wanted to follow up about getting a sign placed at the end of her driveway to slow people down so she can back out of her driveway. Cadance Thomases wanted to speak up again regarding her displeasure with the Lincoln/Prescott project. ' Carlo Bacci noted the Hitching Post is closing and while it may be due to the owner retiring he still feels certain members of the Select Board are going down the wrong path voting for a split tax rate and they can continue to expect businesses to close due to it. Town Manager's Report Mr. LeLacheur echoed the board's thoughts about Julie Thurlow. He noted some future meeting dates have been change and moved to accommodate a Jewish Holiday. We are scoping out a project to put in a crosswalk by the library. He wanted the boards' thoughts before he has staff continue. The board all agreed this is important to manage the foot traffic to the library and school in the area. There was a staff meeting yesterday regarding the Post Office project and as Mr. Halsey noted they have passed their last hurdle. They now can come in and apply for all their permits. He noted the town Is sad to see the Hitching Post go. The best way to support our local businesses is to shop there. Managjpa Maillet Land Town Counsel researched back to 1937 Town Meeting to find that they did not do something they thought they did; so some parcels are still In your care even though Conservation has been taking care of them. This motion simply allows Conservation to continue to take of the land. Ms. Alvarado moved that the Select Board vote to: (1) ratify the Conservation Commission's management of two parcels of land, shown on the Assessors' records as Plat 26 lots 32 and 50 (formerly Plat 99, lots 2 and 21), held under the Board's care, custody and control, and (2) authorize the Conservation Commission to continue managing said parcels as open space on behalf of the Board. The motion was seconded by Mr. Berman and approved with a 5-0 vote. Page 12 Class II License Application Attorney Manny Rabbitt was present to represent his client Angelo Ciano, who was also present. ' Mr. Ciano owns the property and land at the proposed address of 143 Main Street. The property is zoned appropriately to run a business there. He will only have a maximum of 8 vehicles there at a time. He has a large garage that would 2 vehicles. Another two vehicles would be parked behind the property; two along the side; and two along Tarpin Terrace. There would be no vehicles along Main Street. It was noted the Police Department has no issue with this application and the staff have no issue or further recommendations for conditions. Ms. Alvarado moved that the Select Board approve the Class II license as presented. The motion was seconded by Mr. Halsey and approved with a 5-0 vote. Cultural Council Update Members of the Cultural Council joined the board to give them a brief update on what they are working on. They presented the board with a handout of all the grant awards they gave out for 2018-2019. They explained they get $7,300 from the Massachusetts Cultural Council to give out in awards. Depending on how many applications they get, they divvy up that money to grant to a Reading Cultural Art group. They received requests for 23,333 this fall and were able to give to 22 different organizations. They would love more support financially from the Town so they can continue to give more. The board thanked the Cultural Council for all they do and agreed the arts in Reading are very important as they hope to work on finding a new senior/cultural arts center. Wakefield 40B Protect - Tarrant Lane It was noted that the Town has no legal standing over this project; however they are willing ' to gather people's concerns and put them in a letter to Wakefield. Lillian Dent from Gazebo Circle started off the conversation with concerns about traffic and the already low water pressure in her area. She believes Hopkins Street needs a sidewalk. Donna has concerns with the Hopkins and South street intersection. It seems that will be the entrance way for the construction vehicles and that is not a wide turn. Sarah McLaughlin also had traffic concerns. Mary Ann Downing expressed traffic concerns as well. She noted that she believes Stoneham had a similar experience with Winchester putting in a project on the line. She researched the project and asked if the town could site that example in their letter. Anthony D'Artista shared the common concern of traffic. Ms. Alvarado noted she would like to have legal counsel look into MaryAnn's example and see if we can apply it to our situation. Mr. Friedmann would also like to express the need for more police presence in that area during construction. Cathy Hoodle added her voice to the others about traffic concerns. ' Anthony Bonacorso stood up noting he is the developer for this project. He came tonight to listen to all the comments. He would like to set one thing straight; the notion that Wakefield is fast tracking this project is completely wrong. We took a lot of time on this project and they are requiring a lot from us. He understands everyone's concerns here tonight and will take them into consideration going forward. Page 1 3 RMLD Payment Discussion The RMLD Light board called to order at 9:30 PM. Mr. Ensminger explained, they are asking that the Select Board vote tonight on a proposed agreement to freeze the payments for two years while the subcommittee takes a hard look j at the formula and contract regarding payments to the town for the future. It was noted J Town Counsel has looked at this agreement and recommended with the Town Manager to move forward with it. Mr. Halsey asked how they got to the number in the agreement for the next two years. It was noted that is just a historical number we have been using since the beginning. The contract was put in place and never adjusted as the years passed. The number can go up or down depending on circumstances at the RMLD. Ms. Alvarado explained that this is a two-step process. The first step being freezing the payments and the second step, which comes right after, is focusing on redoing the formula. Mr. Ensminger noted he has a few minor word changes before voting. Ms. Alvarado moved that the Select Board approve the provisions of the Agreement Regarding Distribution of Earnings of RMLD to the Town of Reading and execute that Agreement as amended to the Board. The motion was seconded by Mr. Berman. The board discussed Mr. Ensminger's minor technicalities. They all agreed on the changes. The board voted 5-0 to pass the motion. , Subcommittee - Town Manager Evaluation and Goal Process I The board picked up where they left off at the last meeting discussing the wording of the J motion and the date when they want to try and complete this work by. Mr. Halsey feels the June 30`^ date is far too late. We need to have the form done and ready to use it at that time. He also feels Dan's input in this is very important. He has been on the board thru a lot of evaluations and has crafted some of them in the past. He is no longer with us after the election in the beginning of April. After some discussion; mainly about Dan and his time left, the board ultimately agreed on striving for April 1" Ms. Alvarado withdrew her motion of June 30`^. Mr. Friedmann then put a motion on the floor to approve Mr. Berman's proposal: To create a subcommittee of the Select Board, (2 members) which will have the responsibility of formalizing the process of evaluating the yearly performance of the Town Manager, as stipulated in the contract signed between the Board and the Town Manager, and including this as a revision to Select Board Policy, Subsection titled "Town Manager Goals". The sub-committee will recommend to the full Board a yearly process and timeline (with dates certain) for creating jointly agreed upon goals between the Board and the Town Manager. The subcommittee will also consider implementing multiyear goals. The subcommittee will recommend a suitable form for Board members to evaluate the town manager's performance based on core competencies and those goals. Said form should allow members to highlight areas of needed improvement. If a majority of members agree remedial action is required, a separate plan will be developed by the Board and the Town Manager and incorporated into goals for the following year. . In carrying out this task, the sub-committee will work with town staff including the Page 1 4 Head of Administrative Services, the Head of Human Resources and the Town Manager. The sub-committee will present its recommendation to the full Board no later than April 1, 2019. The board voted 5-0 to approve the motion. Select Board Policy - Article 2 Update Mr. Ensminger explained the Subcommittee is going to talk about and discuss the VASC and terms of volunteers. They want to update the list of B/C/C's and their sunset dates. He would also like to look into Operations in Article 1 and using Robert's Rules if the board has no objections of him doing so. Minutes Ms. Alvarado moved that the Select Board approve the meeting minutes of October 16th , 2018 as amended. The motion was seconded by Mr. Berman and approved with a 5-0 vote. Ms. Alvarado moved that the Select Board approve the meeting minutes of October 30th, 2018 as amended. The motion was seconded by Mr. Berman and approved with a 5-0 vote. Ms. Alvarado moved that the Select Board approve the meeting minutes of November 13th, 2018 as amended. The motion was seconded by Mr. Ensminger and approved with a 5-0 vote. Ms. Alvarado moved that the Select Board approve the meeting minutes of December 4th, 2018 as amended. The motion was seconded by Mr. Ensminger and approved with a 5-0 vote. Ms. Alvaradr, mnved that the Select Board approve the meetino minutes of December 5th, 2018 as amended. The motion was seconded by Mr. Ensminger and approved with a 5-0 vote. Ms. Alvarado moved that the Board adjourn at 11:02 PM, second by Mr. Ensminger and approved with a 5-0 vote. Pays s