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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2019-05-07 Select Board Minutes Town of Reading RE C E IV ED Meeting Minutes TOWN CLERK 0 READING, MA. Board - committee - commission - council: 2019 MAY 22 PM 3: 1 S Select Board Date: 2019-05-07 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: Vanessa Alvarado, John Halsey, Andy Friedmann, Anne Landry, Mark Dockser Members - Not Present: Others Present: Town Manager Bob LeLacheur, Executive Assistant Caitlin Saunders, Virginia Blodgett, Virginia Adams, Stephen Crook, Marcel Dubois, Louise Morris, Everett Blodgett, Marielle Wolfe, Karen Herrick, Tim Kelley, Mary Ann Higgins, Jean Stewart, Michael Flynn, Gina Snyder, Bo Garrison, Hamid Jahari, loan Cushe, Kim Honetschlager Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: Caitlin Saunders Topics of Discussion: Mark Dockser was sworn in before his first meeting as Select Board member. Liaison Reports Mr. Halsey reported that RCASA is doing a vaping prevention outreach program. They are also holding a teen dating violence awareness night tomorrow. Lastly, he noted he is the liaison to the Postmark Square project and explained they are on schedule and expected to be completed in July of 2020. There have been no neighborhood complaints as they have had wonderful communication with the neighbors before things happens. The large elevator shaft will be going up soon because they have to build the building around that. Ms. Alvarado noted the VASC is in full swing interviewing incumbents and new applicants for volunteer positions. They hope to wrap everything up and have the full board vote during their first meeting June. Town Managers Report Mr. LeLacheur noted the Main Street repave is set to start at the Stoneham line and work towards North Reading. The entire Main Street project is expected to take just over a year. He would like to thank the water department for helping with the Stoneham watermain break that happened last week. Public Comment Virginia Blodgett just wanted to give a quick Cemetery Board update. As you know they have been working on reorganizing the rules and regulations in the cemeteries. Many people didn't realize these rules were already in place they just weren't being enforced and now they are. These rules are to keep the workers and visitors safe. They have gotten some Page I 1 complaints about the new enforcement and just want to reiterate if anyone has any questions they can feel free to call the cemetery board and they can explain them. She also wanted to ask people to please stop parking on the grass; it ruins the lawn. Garden Club Update MaryAnne Higgins, member of the Garden Club, noted the club has been working in town for 60 years. They take care of a lot of the little gardens around town and hold/sponsor many events around town. Their annual plant sale is their largest fundraiser of the year. This year it will be on May 18t" from 9 am - 1 pm, rain or shine. Come support your local garden club and pick up some beautiful plants! Memorial Day Update Town Veterans Agent Kevin Bohmiller just wanted to take a few minutes to invite the board to the Memorial Day celebrations this year and give some details of the event. There are 2,252 veterans' graves here in Reading. On May 22nd, himself, the cemetery board and many volunteers start preparing the graves with markers. It takes until Friday to complete this part of the preparation. Saturday, with the help of the boy and girl scouts and many volunteers again, they put out the Flags and geraniums at the graves. Typically, a Select Board member speaks at each of the cemeteries, if they would like to continue that. Ms. Alvarado thanked Mr. Bohmiller for all that he does and noted how fantastic these services are. The board noted they will figure out who will speak. Reading 375t" Celebration Update Jeanne Borawski and Phil Rushworth were present to give the board a quick update of the events that will be taking place during the two-week celebration. She expressed her wishes that the board support the event and please wear buttons or shirts to promote around town and on social media. The list of all the events with dates and times can be found at reading375.com and include events like concerts, a dog parade, food trucks and a vintage baseball game along with so much more. Maillet Land Notice Technically the board owns this land so the Trails Committee is asking the board to approve the notice of intent for them because there was a lot of talk around this project. This vote would initiate the start of a public process that would allow the Trails Committee to do work in the Maillet Conservation area. Mr. Dockser moved that the board approve the filing of a Notice Of Intent for the Trails Committee to be sent to the MA Department of Environmental Protection and the Reading Conservation Commission concerning proposed work in the Mailett Conservation Area. This NOI requires a public hearing and notification of abutters within 300 feet. The motion was seconded by Mr. Friedmann and approved with a 5-0 vote. RMLD General Manager Update Reading Municipal Light Department's General Manager Colleen O'Brien was present to give the board a brief explanation of the way their departments work and some upcoming projects. She noted it is the Light Departments 125th birthday this year. The presentation can be found on the Town's website for further details. Hearing - Cont New Pole on Franklin/Grove Mr. LeLacheur noted this hearing is no longer needed. Engineering and RMLD are on the same page now and agree with how to proceed so they do not need the board to take action. Mr. Dockser moved that the board close the hearing regarding the new pole request at Franklin and Grove Streets. The motion was seconded by Mr. Friedmann and approved with a 5-0 vote. Page 1 z Mr. Dockser moved that the board take no action as the issue has been resolved and RMLD will work with the Town's Engineering division on the matter. The motion was seconded by Ms. Landry and approved with a 5-0 vote. Town Manager Goals Mr. LeLacheur went thru his update on his goals and explain to the new members how they come up with and rank his goals. Most of the goals have been completed while some are ongoing and will never be 100% done. The board agreed to look at the list of goals again this year and try and make the list smaller. Liaison Assignments Each member ranked the liaisons as to how much they are interested in them. Ms. Alvarado and Mr. Friedmann both then attempted to create a list that worked with everyone's rankings as much as possible. The board ran thru the list deciding liaisons for all the boards. The new list of liaisons can be found on the Select Board webpage. Meeting Structure Discussion Ms. Alvarado asked the board how the felt about informal or formal meeting structure. Mr. Halsey noted his favor for informal structure expressing that more gets done when they feel like they are just having a conversation together. Mr. Friedmann expressed a mix of both leaving the Chair to decide when they should be more formal than not. Ms. Landry feels the expectations from the board should be clear and they should still keep motions and voting a very formal process. Mr. LeLacheur noted when they hold hearings those should still be with structure and formal process. The board then discussed how they prefer to do presentations and if they want the presentation before the meeting or after. They also discussed when the appropriate time is to ask questions regarding the presentations. The board seemed to agree that this will likely depend on the presentation and be a case-by-case decision. Future Agendas Ms. Alvarado asked if anyone had anything they would like to see on an upcoming agenda. Mr. Halsey noted he thinks it would be a good idea to have the second water meter discussion since it gets asked about frequently. Mr. Dockser noted he would like to talk to RMLD more since they did not get to ask too many questions tonight. Mr. Halsey also mentioned it may to be nice to have non-town boards come in when they are doing events in town. For example, the Reading Garden Club who was here tonight. Mr. Dockser thinks it would be valuable to invite other town boards here as well which is something the board has often talked about. Ms. Landry asked how the board deals with the correspondence in the packets. She wanted to know how the board responds to those and how they know if an issue is taken care of. Ms. Alvarado noted they have loose process right now that someone usually acknowledges the email and then Mr. LeLacheur finds the right person to answer the question if needed. She also noted that this is a good topic for them to take up during their Communication Subcommittee meeting. Minutes Mr. Dockser moved that the board approve the meeting minutes of April 16th, as proposed. The motion was seconded by Mr. Halsey and approved with a 5-0 vote. Mr. Dockser moved that the board adjourn at 10:38 1314. The motion was seconded by Mr. Friedmann and approved with a 5-0 vote. Page 1 3