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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2019-08-27 Select Board Minutes Town of Reading Meeting Minutes .,:CEIV1:U " T OW N CLERK INN. MA. Board - Committee - Commission - Council: fl! GO 22 PM 2: 32 Select Board Date: 2019-08-27 Time: 7:00 PM Building: Reading Town Hall Location: Select Board Meeting Room Address: 16 Lowell Street Session: Open Session Purpose: General Business Version: Final Attendees: Members - Present: Vanessa Alvarado, John Halsey, Anne Landry, Mark Dockser, Andy Friedmann Members - Not Present: Others Present: Town Manager Bob LeLacheur, Executive Assistant Caitlin Saunders, MaryEllen Oneil, Bill Brown, Al Sylvia, Martha Moore, Thomas Wise, Stephen Crook, Chris Huntress, Carolyn Whiting, Linda Snow Dockser, Jonathan Pollard, Jim Hickey, John Weber, Damase Couette Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: Topics of Discussion: Ms. Alvarado called the meeting to order at 7 pm. Liaison Reoorts Mr. Dockser noted the annual Metco Pool party was last week and was a big success. Ms. Landry noted the Board of Health voted on to have monthly reports from the health agent to the board but not put them in the packet or online. They also are asking the Select Board to send them their input on the pesticides. The ad-hoc human rights group is working on a proposed mission statement and structure of the future committee. Mr. Friedmann noted the Board of Health also reorganized. Mr. Halsey met with Bob and Ms. Landry about the Police Chief hiring process because they are the liaisons to public safety. Town Managers Report Mr. LeLacheur noted MassDOT has a public meeting tomorrow night at the library to discuss some roadway plans for the town. Finance Committee will be meeting September 11th. There will be two meetings open to the public to discuss economic development. September 18 at the library will specifically focus on the downtown area. October 23rd will be a broader discussion on economic development in general in the town. Mr. LeLacheur explained there was an email in the packet from a resident who complained about a town tree damaging his car. The DPW went out to see what happened and his complaint was about the sap from the tree. Capri Cafe and Anthony's Coal Fired Pizza had recent liquor violations caught by the ABCC serving to minors. The updates on those are in the packet. Page 1 1 Public Comment Bill Brown noted he is working with the Veterans Agent Kevin Bohmiller to get some names added to the war veteran plaque. Mary Ellen O'Neil thinks the town should come up with a town wide tree policy. Martha Moore wanted to voice her support for the gas leak petition. Appoint RMLD CAB Member Mr. Friedmann and Mr. Dockser noted they interviewed the candidate and he is very qualified for the position. The candidate had just moved to Reading from Lynnfield and used to be the Lynnfield representative on the board before moving. He will be a great fit to now act as the Reading representative. Mr. Dockser moved that the board appoint Vivek Soni to a full position on the RMLD Citizen's Advisory Board for a term ending lune 30, 2020. The motion was seconded by Ms. Landry and approved with a 5-0 vote. Recreation Temporary Requests Jenna Fiorente, the Recreation Administrator, was present to explain the requests to the board. She noted turf II is currently offline and will be for the most of fall due to renovations. Saturday Night Lights runs a huge program that usually uses turf II for four fields during their program. The program came to the Recreation Committee and asked if the Birch Meadow Field could get temporary lighting until turf II is back online. Recreation agreed but now would like the Select Boards approval. Wayne noted he is excited about the lights but wants to know how much it would cost to move the lights incase of a Floor, how would we move the lights, and how quickly could that be done. He then went into talking about the Soccer program and how they do not have enough time on the fields and need more space for their program. Pete Coumounduros noted with turf II down, having Parker as an option would be nice. If lights could be put down there as well. Tom Wise noted there is money somewhere for Parker and that situation needs to be figured out. Tom noted the urgency in getting approval to play at Parker. They have any time left and so many kids have signed up they don't have the space for them. The board noted they are here to approve temporary lights at Birch Meadow and if another program wants lights at a different field they need to start by asking Recreation because that is the first step. They will be happy to discuss any requests Recreation brings them. Mr. Dockser moved to approve temporarily lighting the area near the Birch Meadow unlit softball field for Athletics and Recreation programs; to allow Reading organizations to use these lights and fields space; and to approve temporary lights at the Parker Middle School turf field and use of that space as may be needed by these Reading organizations due to weather or other unforeseen events as determined by the Recreation Administrator. The motion was seconded by Mr. Friedmann and approved with a 5-0 vote. Police Chief Hirino Process Mr. Lel-acheur explained the job has been posted. The town has a consultant to help run the assessment center. Then there is a selection committee that watches the assessment and decides how many candidates go to the assessment center. The assessment center is run by mostly retired and current Police Chiefs in other towns. Mr. LeLacheur has been in touch with Mr. Halsey and Ms. Landry because they are the Public Safety liaisons. They will be involved in the selection committee. Once the Town Manager makes a selection the select Page 1 2 board will ratify his decision. He noted there is usually a small pool of candidates for this job. Mr. Friedmann questioned if the whole board should have more input upfront about which candidates are selected. He also mentioned asking the community what they want in their Police Chief. Mr. Dockser suggested there should be a citizen or two on the selection committee. Mr. LeLacheur noted it would be hard to decide which citizen or two should be on the selection committee. Mr. Halsey feels the citizens of the town are already represented on the selection committee noting two select board members are on it and they are elected by the citizens to do what is best for the town. Ms. Alvarado noted she was on the selection committee years ago for a new library director. Mr. LeLacheur explained to the Board, the selection committee is made of people of his choosing and we have to be very careful of the process we use to do this. Tom Wise noted Dr. Doherty used a parent on a selection committee one time. Bill Brown noted it is the Town Manager's job to hire a Police Chief and the board needs to let him do it. Ms. Alvarado noted she understands why Mr. Halsey and Ms. Landry were defaulted too as the Select Board liaisons but isn't sure if using the liaisons is the right way to go for such an important task. She noted she also had interest in being involved in the process. Mr. Friedmann feels the Chair should be on the selection committee. Mr. Dockser feels the whole board should be involved from the beginning. Ms. Landry noted she was excited about being involved in the process and feels her background suits the position but will do whatever the board wants. Mr. Halsey feels asking a random citizen to be on the selection committee doesn't serve the process well. You'll be putting the citizen in a tough position. The liaisons have always been the ones involved and he has been involved in this process before so he would like to continue. Ms. Alvarado noted she was the liaison to public safety last year. She noted this is a unique circumstance and she wants to be involved. Ms. Landry again expressed her interest in continuing as part of the process but suggested it may make sense for the Chair and Vice Chair to participate. Baystate Liauors Violations Ms. Alvarado entered the RCN recording of Select Board meeting of July 9'h, 2019 into the record. Deputy Chief Clark noted the Police are retaining the same testimony as the last time. Attorney lim DiGuilio noted his client would not be speaking this evening. He then noted they are confused about who they are implying broke the Select Board policy. Mr. Halsey noted at the first hearing a couple weeks ago the client noted he had workers who were not tips certified. If that is true, that is a clear violation of the policy. A non- employee who was never trained was serving alcohol to the public. Mr. Dockser agreed it is clear the policy was violated. Page 1 3 Mr. DiGuilio noted the policy requires someone to be trained within 30 days of being hired. He argued the person who served the alcohol had not been there for more than 30 days. Mr. Friedmann noted we have no proof if the employee had been there for 30 days or not because the client did not bring any proof. Ms. Landry felt although strong circumstantial evidence pointed to a violation there was insufficient evidence presented to find a violation of the policy. Ms. Alvarado noted the board does not have enough evidence in her opinion. Mr. Halsey explained there was only 1 employee ever trained, it is unreasonable to think that 1 employee manned the store every moment it was open. Mr. Friedmann wanted to make it clear even though the board does not have enough evidence to find a violation of the policy, they take selling to a minor very seriously. Ms. Landry suggested that the 2-day suspension for the first offense be held in abeyance for 3 rather than 2 years to send a stronger message. Mr. Dockser moved that the board close the hearing regarding the violations of their policy by Baystate Liquors. The motion was seconded by Mr. Friedmann and approved with a 5-0 vote. Mr. Dockser moved that the Board find Baystate Liquors in violation of Select Board Policy 3.2.25 and Section 3.1.4. The motion was seconded by Mr. Halsey and failed with a vote of 2-3 with Alvarado, Friedmann and Landry opposing. The board then went on to discuss the continued hearing regarding violations of M.G.L. c.138, §34. Mr. DiGuilio brought a case study for the board and that was entered into evidence. Mr. Halsey again noted his feelings that this is a clear violation. Mr. Dockser and Ms. Alvarado agreeing. Mr. Friedmann was conflicted with the case study Mr. DiGuilio brought in where it noted that the licensee didn't 'knowingly' sell to a minor and had no 'intent' on doing so either. Ms. Landry asked Town Counsel for clarification regarding Mr. Friedmann's concerns. The board discussed the licensee and how they did not even ID the minor in the second offense at all. When they do not ID someone, they assume all liability. Mr. Dockser moved that the board close the hearing regarding Baystate Liquors alleged violations. With a second from Mr. Friedmann the motion passed 5-0. Mr. Dockser moved that the Board find that Baystate Liquors violated M.G.L. c.138, §34 when it sold alcohol to a person less than 21 years of age on May 18, 2019. The motion was seconded by Mr. Halsey and approved with a 5-0 vote. Mr. Dockser moved that the Board find that Baystate Liquors violated M.G.L. c.138, §34 when it sold alcohol to a person less than 21 years of age on May 31, 2019. The motion was seconded by Mr. Halsey and approved with a 5-0 vote. The board then went into a lengthy discussion about what the suspension for the licensee be. It was noted they have to treat each day as a violation and vote a suspension for each day. Mr. Halsey strongly advocated for the full amount of time possible for the suspensions. Ms. Landry noted she felt they both should be treated as just one violation because they happened so close together and they did not come before the board before their second violation occurred. Page 1 4 Mr. Dockser noted he wants to make it clear this is unacceptable but doesn't want to put this business under. Mr. Friedmann asked what Town Counsel's opinion is and what the ABCC would do. Town Counsel noted if the board has a policy in place regarding violations (which they do) the ABCC would look the local policy and go off of that. Mr. LeLacheur also noted the board could pick exactly which days to suspend the license. Ms. Alvarado was thinking a lighter sentence of maybe two days. The board discussed this for quite some time with seemingly half the board wishing for a lighter sentence and half wanting to make a point with a heftier sentence. Ms. Landry suggested 2 days held in abeyance for the first violation and 3 served for the second. Ms. Alvarado agreed with that but Mr. Halsey felt is was much too soft of a message they would be sending. He at least wants to follow their policy which suggests 3 days for a first violation. Ms. Alvarado also suggested having the three-day suspension be a Monday - Wednesday so that its not a busy weekend they are being shut down for. Stephen Crook noted that two violations occurred here. Historically the board has done 3 days for the first suspension. The second suspension should be for 10 days because that's what the Select Board Polity states. He believes the board should use the polity they voted to put into place. He reminded the board a couple years ago there was a case where the second and third offenses happened on the same day and the board handed out a 50-day suspension and they haven't had a problem since. He believes the board needs to send a strong message and three days is not sufficient at all. Ms. Alvarado suggested waiting to do the suspension until late September so there would be sufficient time to allow for a potential appeal by the licensee holder. Mr. Dockser disagreed and believes if they are only going to hand out three days, they need to be significant days, like a weekend. Mr. Halsey suggested doing the suspension immediately and not waiting. Mr. Dockser moved that the Board impose a 2-day suspension to be held in abeyance for 3 years for the violation on May 18 to be served commencing September 26, 2019; or if this decision is appealed to the Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission, upon the issuance of any further order from the Select Board. The motion was seconded by Mr. Friedmann and approved with a 4-1 vote with Halsey opposing. Mr. Dockser moved that the Board impose a 3-day suspension for the violation on May 31 to be served commencing on September 26, 2019; or If this decision is appealed to the Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission, upon the issuance of any further order from the Select Board. The motion was seconded by Mr. Friedmann and approved with a 4-1 vote with Halsey opposing. Austin Prep Drainage Proiect Mr. LeLacheur explained this request is a mutual benefit. Austin Prep is starting a large project with their fields. This agreement allows us to do work on private land; it gives the town permission to be there. We plan to improve the big drainage issue right there while they are doing their work and get it done at the same time. The board felt this was a perfectly acceptable agreement and felt comfortable with it if the Town Manager did. Page 1 5 Mr. Dockser moved that the Board approve the Memo of Understanding between the Town and Austin Preparatory School as amended. The motion was seconded by Mr. Halsey and approved with a 5-0 vote. Monitoring Agent This is for 475 Main Street, the MetroWest Collaborative Development. Mr. Dockser moved to approve MetroWest Collaborative Development Inc. as the Affordable Housing Monitoring Agent for the 40R project at 475 (F.K.A. 467) Main Street. The motion was seconded by Mr. Halsey and approved with a 5-0 vote. Preview Town Meeting Warrant Mr. LeLacheur showed the board the Town Meeting warrant draft thus far. Mr. Halsey noted he would like to get the board talking about adding beer and wine package store licenses so that convenient stores can carry beer. Ad-Hoc Committee Restructure Ms. Landry and Mr. Friedmann noted they came up with a new structure for the current ad- hoc human rights committee that is both suitable to them and aligned with the charter. Mr. Dockser moved to dissolve the ad hoc Human Rights committee, repeal Section 2.4.1 of the Select Board's policies, and create an ad hoc committee to help establish a Human Rights-Focused Organization as follows: An ad hoc committee is hereby created to help establish a human rights-focused organization. The following representatives shall be invited to participate as members in this ad hoc committee: • Two members of the School Committee; • Two members of the Select Board, who shall act as co-Chairs; and a • a member of the Board of Library Trustees. J This ad Hoc Committee has a sunset date of lune 1, 2020. and further move to approve the following members: • Ad Hoc Committee Members • Anne Landry, co-chair • Andrew Friedmann, co-chair • Linda Snow Dockser • Elaine Webb • Andrew Grimes The motion was seconded by Mr. Friedmann and approved with a 5-0 vote. Gas Leak Petition Request Mr. Friedmann noted himself and Ms. Alvarado are sponsoring a petition that was brought to them by residents regarding gas leaks in town. David Zeek gave a presentation to more explain their request and how many towns are doing it. The petition is basically requesting the town to hire a company to find where the gas leaks are in town. Executive Session At 11:31 PM, Mr. Dockser moved to enter into Executive Session under Purpose 3 to discuss strategy with respect to D'Arezzo v. Town of Reading, at. al., as the Chair has declared that an Open Meeting may have a detrimental effect on the litigating position of the public body, to Invite Town Counsel into the Executive Session, and not to return to Open Session. The motion was seconded by Mr. Halsey and passed with a unanimous roll call vote from everyone. Page 1 6