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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2020-05-13 Select Board Packet Town of Reading Meeting Minutes Page | 1 2016-09-22 LAG Board - Committee - Commission - Council: Select Board Date: 2020-02-04 Time: 7:00 PM Building: Reading Town Hall Location: Select Board Meeting Room Address: 16 Lowell Street Session: Open Session Purpose: General Business Version: Draft Attendees: Members - Present: Vanessa Alvarado, John Halsey, Andy Friedmann, Mark Dockser, Anne Landry @ 7:51 PM. Members - Not Present: Others Present: Town Manager Bob LeLacheur, Karen Herrick, Julie Alyward, Naomi Kaufman, Manuel German, Don Young, Tom Quintal, Bryan Kargot, Andrew Dribin, Celeste Kracke, Karen German, Mark Sylvester, Christine Lusk Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: Caitlin Saunders Topics of Discussion: Ms. Alvarado called the meeting to order at 7 PM. Liaison Reports Mr. Dockser mentioned the RMLD Commissioners met and discussed the payment to the town. They have three proposals on the table right now and all of them would mean less money for the Town. Mr. Dockser asked the board if they would consider any other proposals and they noted they would look at a proposal if the Select Board brought them one. He will work on some to bring to the board before going back to RMLD. He also noted he attended the MMA Annual Meeting and it was great. Mr. Friedmann noted himself and Ms. Landry couldn’t be at the Library neighborhood meeting because of a meeting that was already planned for that same time. The town forest tree thinning project is complete. The Ad-Hoc Human Rights group has finished its work and they will give a more in-depth update at their next meeting. Ms. Alvarado noted she attended the Library neighborhood meeting regarding the former Daniel’s house and their plans to put in a sober house. She thought the meeting was very informative to hear the difference between a sober house and a recovery center. They are two very different things and regulated in different ways. Town Manager’s Report Town Manager Bob LeLacheur noted that on February 29th Congressman Moulten will be here at the Library from 1-2 pm to hold an office hour if anyone from the board wants to attend. He did get some information about the Camp Curtis potential project. He has a much clearer path forward now although still many hurdles ahead. Page | 2 Complete Count Committee (Census) Library Director Amy Lannon and Town Clerk Laura Gemme gave the board a short presentation the US Census for 2020. They noted the importance of reporting accurate information. Town Clerk Laura Gemme also noted she desperately needs election works to help with the combine town/state election in March. Vote to Close Warrants Mr. Dockser moved to close the warrant for the Local Election and State Primary to be held on March 3rd, 2020. The motion was seconded by Mr. Friedmann and approved with a 4-0 vote. Mr. Dockser moved to close the warrant for Annual Town Meeting to be held on April 27th, 2020. The motion was seconded by Mr. Friedmann and approved with a 4-0 vote. Vote to Appoint Board of Registrars Member The Board of Registrars has a vacancy that needs to be filled. The Reading Democratic Town Committee recommended Nancy Ziemlak for the position after she graciously stepped forward to offer her time to the committee. Mr. Dockser moved to appoint Nancy Ziemlak to the Board of Registrars for a term expiring June 30, 2021. The motion was seconded by Mr. Friedmann and approved with 4-0 vote. FY21 Budget Discussion Mr. Friedmann asked for an explanation of the tree climber position request and the benefits coordinator. He then noted in his opinion he feels the benefits coordinator is a need but the tree climber position is more of want at this time. Minutes Mr. Dockser moved to approve the meeting minutes of December 3rd, 2019 as amended. The motion was seconded by Mr. Friedmann and approved with a 4-1 vote with Halsey abstaining. Mr. Dockser moved to approve the meeting minutes of December 10 th, 2019 as amended. The motion was seconded by Mr. Friedmann and approved with a 4-1 vote with Halsey abstaining. Hearing – Downtown Parking and other Safety Changes Lt. Amendola and Safety Officer Scouten started off the hearing with a few safety amendments they are asking the board to approve not related to downtown parking. The first request was to make a stop sign permanent at Pine Ridge Road and Oak Street. A couple months prior the board approved a temporary placement of a stop sign at this location to see if it would help with traffic during school times. The police noted the stop sign has helped with the purposes they were hoping for and are requesting to make this stop sign permanent. The second and third requests are to eliminate all-night parking in the Senior Center parking lot and the Brande Court lot. The police indicate having cars parked in these lots over night are causing problems in the mornings when the businesses open up and all their spots are taken and when it snows, DPW cannot plow the lots because there are cars in the way. The board had no objections to any of these requests. Page | 3 Mr. Dockser moved to approve safety amendment 2020-1 as proposed. The motion was seconded by Mr. Friedmann and approved with a 5-0 vote. Mr. Dockser moved to approve safety amendment 2020-2 as proposed. The motion was seconded by Mr. Friedmann and approved with a 5-0 vote. Mr. Dockser moved to approve safety amendment 2020-3 as proposed. The motion was seconded by Mr. Friedmann and approved with a 5-0 vote. Community Development Director Julie Mercier then gave the board a presentation about the current parking situation downtown and some of the solutions the PTTTF has come up. The main idea is to push employee parking spots to the outskirts of downtown and possibly make them free for more incentive to use the designated spots. The other part of the proposal is to possibly put in meters in some of the lots to deter long-term parking there. Brian Knight from 100 Woburn Street asked if Woburn Street can only have parking on one side. Nick Casden from 52 Haven Street at the Pediatrics office noted that they only have 10-12 employees there daily and the 2-hour parking should be kept because it works for them. Tom Quinto from 64 Woburn Street explained that commuters crowd his driveway making it hard to get in and out. He doesn’t mind that they are parking in front of his house but wonders if spots can be striped and leave some room before his driveway so that he can get in and out. Donna Munn from 10 Gould Street noted if they change Gould Street to 2-hour parking she won’t be able to park in front of her own house anymore. Manuel from Linden Street agree with the previous comment noting he would have the same problem on Linden. Karen German from Linden Street noted 2-hour parking won’t work on Linden. She has been there for many years and has seen this street changed so many times. She explained there is no parking problems on Linden right now so don’t mess up what isn’t broken. Celeste Kracke wants the board to consider keeping space open for charging stations for the future and striping bike lanes. Jennifer Driscoll from the Orthopedic office noted her patients are not having issues with parking so why change it. Christine Lusk thinks all street parking should remain free and only meter the lots if you must. Lisa Egan noted no towns around us have kiosk parking. Adding pay to park would just be another reason to not come and shop in Reading. She also noted the Chamber would like to host a meeting about downtown parking if they are amenable. Tom Quintos asked if additional enforcement would be needed if we went to kiosks. It was noted it would actually be easier for the police to enforce if there were kiosks. Peter Simms explained the reason the 2-hour parking is there is because the problem is the employees parking there all day leaving no spots for customers. Mr. Friedmann feels this is taking away a lot of residential parking in the downtown area. Mr. Halsey thinks they should change the parking lots from 4 hours to 2 hours before implementing kiosks and see if that changes anything first. Page | 4 Town Manager Bob LeLacheur explained this is a hard task with no perfect solution for everyone. He does think the new system needs to be simple. Right now every parking spot and lot has different rules and regulations that confuse the shoppers. Lt. Amendola explained that employees complaining saying there are not enough employee spots are what started this whole conversation. Economic Development Director Erin Schaeffer noted that kiosks also collect a lot of data /trends over time that would be really helpful in the future to further perfect parking solutions. Ms. Landry expressed privacy concerns over kiosks collecting data. One resident noted kiosks sound like a great idea. Especially if you can set them to be free for the first 15 mins and then pay for more time than that. Mr. Friedmann thinks it would be a good idea to take Lisa Egan up on her offer to host a conversation. Ms. Alvarado voiced concerns about the ripple effect of people moving into parking into the surrounding neighborhoods if they have to pay to park. Kiosks can be discouraging to quick shoppers. Mr. Halsey suggested maybe having the first 2 hours and then pay for more time than that. That would discourage employees to park there because they would have to pay but encourage the quick shopper to park and then leave. Mr. Dockser noted the problem is we just need more parking. He asked if there was any talk or if there could be about utilizing private spots or renting them when they are not being used. Mr. Friedmann did note they have tried a lot of failed solutions regarding parking and thought maybe kiosks are the next way to go. All in all the board likes the progress and solutions being proposed and they would like to continue in this direction and having this conversation at a future meeting in March. The board continued the hearing on downtown parking until March 17th, 2020 at 8 PM. Mr. Dockser moved to go into Executive Session at 10:39 PM to discuss strategy with respect to collective bargaining 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 motion was seconded by Mr. Friedmann and approved with the following roll call vote: Halsey – yes Landry – yes Friedmann – Yes Dockser – Yes Alvarado – Yes Town of Reading Meeting Minutes Page | 1 2016-09-22 LAG Board - Committee - Commission - Council: Select Board Date: 2020-02-11 Time: 7:00 PM Building: Reading Town Hall Location: Select Board Meeting Room Address: 16 Lowell Street Session: Open Session Purpose: General Business Version: Draft Attendees: Members - Present: Vanessa Alvarado, John Halsey, Anne Landry, Mark Dockser, Andy Friedmann Members - Not Present: Others Present: Town Manager Bob LeLacheur, Alice Collins, Dan Ensminger, John Arena, Derek Holmes, Rich Abate, Allen Boyer, Erica MacNamara, Michelle Sanphy, Justin Martel, Susan Craven, Pete Commounduros, Bill Brown, John Lippitt, Donna Beaulieu, Rick Nelson Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: Caitlin Saunders Topics of Discussion: Vanessa Alvarado called the meeting to order at 7 PM. Liaison Reports Ms. Alvarado started off the meeting by thanking John Halsey for his years of service on the board. Mr. Halsey noted he had his monthly visit to the senior center recently. He would really like if the board would continue with his ‘office hour’ going forward. He usually goes the second Tuesday of the month at 11 am. Ms. Alvarado noted the Saturday goal meeting was very productive and she would like to continue having those meetings. Town Manager’s Report Mr. LeLacheur noted there is a ‘New Resident Open House’ planned for April 7 th. Congressman Moulten will be in town on February 29th. He also noted he has no update from Town Counsel on the former Daniel’s House yet. Public Comment Bill Brown noted on June 14th they will be recognizing Frank Driscoll. John Lippitt from 23 Mineral Street wanted to comment on the Police Chief process noting the candidates should have been interviewed in public for anyone to attend. He also thinks the public should be allowed to see their resumes and how they were rated in the assessment center. He feels the board needs to make everything public and get more information before they vote on a new chief. Page | 2 Allen Boyer noted his opposite opinion. The assessment center gave their recommendation. The public doesn’t need to know any more than that. The board should be satisfied with that and they should vote to approve that person. Deputy Chief Clark has been acting Chief for over a year, its time to make it official. Pete Coumounduros echoed the previous statement noting it is time to put this to bed and appoint a Police Chief. Rich Abate, Reading resident and Lt. Detective at the Reading Police Department explained the morale at the Police Department is down without an official head of the department. With Clark as acting Chief it is like they are down two positions. The department really needs an official Chief for the department to run optimally. He and many officers are here tonight to urge the board to formally appoint a Chief. Dan Ensminger, Reading resident and former Select Board member, asked the board to proceed on this tonight and vote a new Chief immediately. It has been far too long without one. Rick Nelson of Vine Street explained how disturbing it is that there hasn’t been a Chief for this long. It is very unsettling that the board has not taken action yet. Justin Martel, Reading Police Officer, wants to know more about the process the board decided on to lead to this long delay of appointment. The Chair noted there would be time for more public comment on the Police Chief topic during the actual agenda item later in the evening. Final Proposal from Ad-hoc Human Rights Committee Ms. Landry explained their proposal is for an organization set up like RCASA and housed in the library. It would have a board of directors with an interim board or advisory board set up initially to get everything in order. They also want a full-time staff person. Mr. Friedmann explained the Ad-Hoc committee is now asking the full Select Board if they can reach out to the library director to guage their interest in this new board and staff person being under the library. Mr. Halsey felt it is a lot to ask for a full -time staff person right now when their next agenda item is to talk about the RMLD payment to the town being cut significantly which is going to impact our budget. Ms. Alvarado thanked Ms. Landry and Mr. Friedmann and everyone on the ad -hoc for their participation to get us this far. The board agreed that Ms. Landry and Mr. Friedmann could and should reach out to the Library trustees to move forward. RMLD Payment to the Town Discussion Mr. Dockser explained to the board he came up with four options for the CAB to consider. Mr. Halsey noted a lot of these options are based on consumption and maybe there is a way to base it off of the rates. Ms. Alvarado agreed an option based on rates with a revenue consideration would be good to look at too. Mr. Friedmann asked if the CAB would be willing to have a meeting with the board before they vote. Town Manager’s Review The board had each individually reviewed the Town Manager and sent their responses to the Human Resources Director. She then compiled all the responses into one document that is seen here tonight. Page | 3 The board went through each category and explained anything they felt necessary while the Town Manager made comments when he felt necessary. Police Chief Hiring Process Ms. Alvarado noted they will start this agenda topic off with more public comment and then they will close public comment while the board discusses. Donna Beaulieu noted she is disappointed it has taken so long to appoint a Police Chief but notes she is optimistic the board will move forward with appointing David Clark without any further delay. Lt. Detective Rich Abate asked why this agenda item is just an update and discussion on the process. He noted the board approved the process and was a part of the assessment center that happened back in November. The department hasn’t had a Chief in over a year, it is time to officially appoint someone. He explained this is putting a drain on the department and employee morale when people keep asking them what is going on with the appointment and assuming their department is dysfunctional because of it. Detective Derek Holmes noted he is disheartened to hear the board is not voting tonight after a long process. He asked the board what other matters were more crucial than filing this position the past few months. Erica MacNamara, RCASA Director, noted herself and a number of members of the Police Department are here tonight to support Deputy Chief Clark. I t is time to get this done. Michelle Sanphy wanted to know why she heard about this at a meeting last night and not from a member of the board. Justin Martel, Reading Police Officer, explained he read through the meeting packet which entailed the process for this appointment. It seems everything has been done and is in order and asked what the hold up is. Susan Craven noted she has never recalled such a long period of time for an appointment like this to be made. Pete Coumounduros noted he is ashamed the board has taken so long to do this and urged not to wait any longer. Deputy Chief Clark is more than qualified for this position. John Arena commented that this board owes the community an explanation on why this hasn’t happened yet. He explained if the board is unhappy with the current leadership at the Police Department then they should at least state that and explain. He noted there is no reason to delay this vote into March or even for another second. Town Manager Bob LeLacheur then took a few minutes to explain the lengthy process that was taken to determine a viable candidate for Police Chief. The board voted on this process early fall last year and two members were even involved and at the assessment center. The board pushed for ‘resident participation’, which has never been done before, and a few residents were selected and present at the assessment center. After the assessment center it is the Town Manager’s job to pick a candidate and bring his selection to the board to vote on. Mr. LeLacheur made his pick back in the beginning of January. Mr. Friedmann asked why the meeting packet was not posted online on Thursday like normal. It was noted the Chair, Ms. Alvarado, instructed staff not to put it online for the public until she withdrew certain information regarding the Police Chief topic that she did not want the public to see yet. Mr. Friedmann then noted that this is the first opportunity the board has had to address the process and the board does think it is important. He noted his concerns about the process are the Town Manager only bringing one candidate forward and not giving them options. Page | 4 They also didn’t get a chance to hold a public forum and ask what qualities the public wants in a Police Chief. Ms. Landry suggested reconvening at a time certain while Mr. Halsey is still on the board to vote. Mr. Dockser felt the structure and process were awkward even though the board voted on said process. He also noted he hasn’t heard from two members of the selection committee about their thoughts. The Town Manager noted the Chair Ms. Alvarado instructed him not allow any of the members of the selection committee to talk to anyone. Mr. Halsey noted the Charter states the Town Manager brings forth one candidate for the board to ratify or not. The board does not get options; it is not the board’s job, it is the Town Manager’s job. The Chair, Ms. Alvarado, felt it would be best for her to be involved instead of the two Public Safety Liaisons but then did not discuss or inform the rest of the board of anything until a few days ago. She never set up any of listening sessions that she wanted and now we are here. The Town Manager made a decision around January 11th and since then, Mr. Halsey has tried to get this on the agenda but the Chair intentionally slowed the process but taking it off the agenda every time for no good reason at all. Now we are here talking about this at 10 pm in the evening during the last meeting before the election to try and slow roll and keep Mr. Halsey out of this decision. This is so disrespectful to the Police Department and everyone in this room. The Chair intentionally worded this agenda item tonight so that they could not vote tonight; with that being said he must agree with Ms. Landry and welcome her suggestion to create another meeting date before the election and vote this immediately. The Chair also refused to allow anyone to speak to anyone on the selection committee also slowing down this process because the rest of the board would like to hear their thoughts but haven’t been able to. Mr. Friedmann then asked the Chair Ms. Alvarado how she felt about being thrown under the bus right there. He then said he felt intimidated by all the police officers in this room who drive around in the town he has to live in, with guns all day. At this point, all the police officers in the room and most of the audience got up and left the meeting. Ms. Alvarado then noted she is disappointed in the board’s and Town Manager’s actions in this. She explained we can try and find a date to hold a public forum and vote but she doesn’t think it can be done in two weeks before the election. Ms. Landry explained that hearing our own Police Officers say they think the board does not care about them really hurts and she feels we need to show them they are important and vote this soon. Ms. Alvarado noted the board has not been involved in the process as much as she wanted. She then asked if the board was okay approving a candidate not knowing who else is out there. She feels the board is being unfairly asked to vote on one person with serious concerns being raised about the process. She explained they can either vote the only candidate or request a new process and start over. Mr. Dockser noted he is uncomfortable sitting here tonight without more information. Mr. Friedmann agreed with Mr. Dockser but also noted hearing the Police tonight say that morale is dropping in the department because they are down a position is upsetting. Mr. Friedmann asked what would happen if they voted to deny the appointment. Ms. Alvarado noted they are now being asked to rush the process and next week is school vacation so it is hard for her to meet. Page | 5 The board discussed ways to reach out to the masses to inform them of the upcoming meetings. Mr. Friedmann wanted to take a minute and note that Police can be intimidating at time and he believes he probably offended every officer in the room with his previous comments but he is concerned what would happen if the board voted to deny the appointment. Mr. Dockser feels the board does need to move this further but the board also needs to feel comfortable with their decision too. The board checked their calendars and decided on the following meetings to continue the Police Chief discussion: February 19th at 7:30 PM for the public listening session February 26th at 7:30 PM for the board to finish their discussion and vote. Mr. Dockser move to approve the meeting minutes of January 7th, 2020. The motion was seconded by Mr. Halsey and approved with a 5-0 vote. Mr. Dockser noted he feels some of the board’s comments tonight got out of hand and he thinks they need to do better. Mr. Dockser moved to adjourn at 11:43 PM. The motion was seconded by Mr. Friedmann and approved with a 5-0 vote. Town of Reading Meeting Minutes Page | 1 2016-09-22 LAG Board - Committee - Commission - Council: Select Board Date: 2020-02-19 Time: 7:40 PM Building: School - Memorial High Location: Performing Arts Center Address: 62 Oakland Road Session: Open Session Purpose: General Business Version: Draft Attendees: Members - Present: John Halsey, Anne Landry, Andy Friedmann, Mark Dockser, Vanessa Alvarado Members - Not Present: Others Present: Please see the attached 10 pages of signature sign-ins Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: Topics of Discussion: Vanessa Alvarado called the meeting to order. She noted she asked moderator Alan Foulds to help run the meeting tonight. Mr. Foulds laid out the ground rules for the meeting and asked people to keep their comments to the agenda topic and no personal comments towards any specific board members. The topic of the evening was to gather the publics thoughts on what qualities they want to see in their Police Chief. Eilleen Litterio, 22 Deborah Drive, was first up to speak. She noted she supports Deputy Chief Clark and would like to see him appointed to Chief. She would also like to see continuation of the citizens police academy. She supports the police carrying guns and feels any member of the Select Board who feels differently should recuse themselves. Jeffrey Coram, 31 Ridge Road, noted he supports Clark and hopes any Chief this town gets will keep School Resource Officers in the schools. He also noted he is satisfied with the way this process was conducted. John Luca thanked the board for having this public forum. He has had very positive experiences with the Police. He would like to see electric police cars and increase the diversity in the department. Kerry from Longfellow Road, would like the Police Chief to be active in the community and honest. She noted she supports the Town Manager’s decision. Laura Wilson from Baystate Road thanked the board for having this. She has met a few officers and explained how understanding they were while dealing with her autistic son. Page | 2 Bill Brown noted there is no reason we should be here tonight. It is the Town Managers job to pick the Police Chief. It is time for the Select Board to abide by the Charter, do their job, and ratify his decision. Jamie Maughn, 263 Woburn Street, thanked the board for holding this meeting although he wishes it was done earlier. Reading has a fine Police Department and we should learn from the State PD and the big scandal they just had. John Sullivan thanked the board and noted this is a big decision. He would like to see the bike helmet pizza coupon program continue. He also hopes the new Chief keeps the town informed and takes constructive criticism. Mike Monahan, Bancroft Ave, encouraged the board to unanimously appoint David Clark to Chief tonight. An Ash Street resident was recently impressed with the tour of the Police Department the local girl scout troop got. Chuck Robinson applauded the thorough process and noted he was one of the citizens picked to attend the assessment center. Deputy Chief Clark stood above everyone else and he fully supports the Town Manager’s decision to hire him. Alan Boulier noted he lived here 53 years and this is the first time he’s ever seen a public forum used to influence our decision of a Police Chief. A Police Chief needs to be someone who is calm, puts community goals over personal goals and he fully supports Chief Clark. James Bonazoli, 100 Grove Street, noted he would like the Chief to be someone who can work with administration. He thinks that was proven when Clark stepped in unexpectedly and has been running the department ever since. He also thinks a Chief is someone who is respected by his department; last weeks turnout at the board meeting proves that to be true for Clark also. He fully supports the Town Manager’s decision to hire Clark. Bob Hayes of Pearl Street, noted he’s been here 60 years and known many officers and Chiefs. He would like to see the new Chief have roots in this community. Someone who is vested in this community and someone whose kids go to school in this community. David Clark is the person for this job. Vote tonight. Barry Berman, 54 Longview Road, noted he was involved in the last Police Chief search and explained how intense and thorough that process is. When his son wanted to do a project about the police they let him do ride alongs and he created an impressive video called ‘Behind Blue Lights’. He fully endorses Deputy Chief Clark. John Friedas from Howard Street who is also a retired firefighter from a surrounding community wanted to know why we are here tonight. Clark has been doing the job for a while now and he came out on top in the assessment center. Angela Binda, 110 Orchard Park Drive, noted she has had positive experienced with the Police Department here and has heard good things about Clark. She is thankful for the thorough process and the Town Manager’s decision and she looks forward to the appointment of the new Chief. A Franklin Street resident expressed their gratitude to the Police Department for their patience in this process but this is an important decision. They noted they have had good positive reactions with the police department and they hope the helmet program continues. Nancy Docktor, 371 Pearl Street, thanked the board for having this and hopes this process continues in the future with public input. She hopes the next Chief thinks about hiring a psychiatric social worker for the department. Page | 3 Demetra Tseckares, 106 Oak Street, noted the new Chief should keep the RAD classes going. She also noted she wish this session happened earlier. She thinks the process is fine but does think a public hearing session is necessary. She thanked the PD for their dealings with her family. A Beacon Street resident noted he is an officer in a surrounding town and explained they just went through this process in the town he works in and it was much quicker than this. He explained that officers will start to leave if this appointment doesn’t happen soon. Clark is the Deputy Chief for a reason, it’s time to make him Chief. Chris Dallas from Governors Drive also noted he is an officer in a surrounding town and they would be so lucky to have Clark as our Chief. He has a good reputation not just in Reading but in surrounding town departments as well. Linda Snow Dockser, 110 Beaver Road, explained she thinks this session was good to hear what the residents want in a Chief. She noted Clark is wonderful and the RAD program is great. She hopes the board ratifies the Town Manager’s decision. She also hopes the new Chief continues to work with the ad-hoc Human Rights Committee. Charles Moran from Vale Road noted he wants a Chief that is professional no matter what. He thinks Clark proved that last week at the last meeting with his response after certain comments were made towards the officers. Cindy from Gould Street would like a Chief who doesn’t assume they know everything. She hopes the RAD program continues. It sounds like by everyone’s comments tonight that Deputy Clark will be a great Chief. Amy noted she appreciated this session. She feels confident in Clark based on personal interactions but it is nice to hear everyone else’s confidence in him as well. Ms. Alvarado thanked everyone for their feedback tonight. She then read a timeline of how the process has unfolded up to this point. Ms. Landry thanked the Reading Police Department for their patience. She reminded the board of the ethics training they get and how they should lead by example. She thinks that can serve the board well going forward. Mr. Dockser noted the Town Manager didn’t give the board a memo until January 31st and at that time he did not feel comfortable voting yet. He thinks the board should have been able to interview all the candidates or at least the final three. He also thinks they needed much more public participation. The board and town failed this process he stated but the board did not get to talk about this until the last meeting. He is disappointed in the community members and the board members. Vanessa is a good Chair and Andy made a mistake. He apologized for his mistake and it is time to move forward. Mr. Dockser moved to ratify the Town Manager’s decision and appoint Dave Clark as Chief of Police. The motion was seconded by Mr. Halsey. Ms. Alvarado thanked Chief Clark. Ms. Landry noted she spoke with the selection committee for this process and it was clear that Clark is best for this job. She is proud to support him becoming Chief. The board voted 5-0 on the motion. Mr. Dockser moved to adjourn at 8:51 PM, with a second from Mr. Friedmann the board adjourned with a 5-0 vote. Town of Reading Meeting Minutes Page | 1 2016-09-22 LAG Board - Committee - Commission - Council: Select Board Date: 2020-04-01 Time: 7:00 PM Building: Location: Address: Session: Open Session Purpose: General Business Version: Draft Attendees: Members - Present: Mark Dockser, Anne Landry, Carlo Bacci, Vanessa Alvarado, Karen Herrick Members - Not Present: Others Present: Town Manager Bob LeLacheur, Fire Chief Greg Burns, Police Chief David Clark, Assistant Town Manager Jean Delios, Superintendent of Schools John Doherty, RMLD General Manager Coleen O'Brien, DPW Director Jane Kinsella, Facilities Director Joe Huggins, Library Director Amy Lannon, Administrative Services Director Matt Kraunelis, Health Nurse Kerry Valle, Board of Health Chair Emmy Dove, Business Administrator Jayne Miller, Economic Development Director Erin Schaeffer, Reverand Jamie Michaels, Veterans Agent Kevin Bohmiller Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: Caitlin Saunders Topics of Discussion: This meeting was held remotely on Zoom. Chair Mark Dockser called the meeting to order just after 7:00 PM. The meeting started off with a COVID-19 update from the Town Manager. Mr. LeLacheur explained that himself and the ICS, Incident Command System, started meeting the end of January when COVID-19 was still in China. The ISC is comprised of staff from every department in town including both Police and Fire Chiefs, DPW Director, Facilities Director, RMLD General Manager, Facilities Director and many other staff and department heads from the town departments. Chief Burns then gave the board an explanation of how the ICS has been handling the situation and making decisions. Emmy Dove gave an update from the Board of Health side of things. She noted the Board of Health has met 18 times since March. They have closed town buildings to the public, they have closed courts and fields, they have closed salons. They have voted on a temporary ban on door to door solicitations in town and they voted on a local state of emergency. She noted we had been using Malden’s nurse for help but she won’t be able to help anymore. Her biggest concern is the lack of nurses currently trained in MAVEN. Mr. LeLacheur explained the new nurse should be able to get on MAVEN soon. Ms. Delios noted she has submitted all her paperwork for the system and they are just waiting on the state to approve it all and then she can get right on. Page | 2 Ms. Alvarado asked why we couldn’t ask our old nurse to come back. Police Chief Clark wanted to let everyone know the Police are still working and here for the town when needed. They have changed the way they operate and use the building but they are still on shift as normal and will be answering calls if you need them. Superintendent of Schools Dr. Doherty noted the schools have transitioned into virtual learning and administrative staff are working hard to make sure all students have the technology they need to continue to learn at home and meals if needed. Ms. Dowd noted they are doing grab n’ go lunches for students who depended on school for food. Administrative staff are working on school packets for all students to keep learning at home. Mr. LeLacheur then explained how Town Hall has changed their operations. He noted a significant amount of staff are set up and working from home. There are a limited amount of staff in the building at one time and only in the building when they need to be. They have temporarily shortened the hours the building is open for staff as well. Most services are continuing just transitioning to an electronic communication and issuance. General Manager Coleen O’Brien noted RMLD is still maintaining full operations. The business office is closed but the control room is still answering all calls. She also explained if anyone is struggling to make payments to please visit the website and they can work with you to set up a payment plan. Mr. LeLacheur noted there have been new emails created to help people with COVID-19 issues/questions. There also is a whole page on the website created for information related to COVID-19 and town operations. He urged people to please NOT call 911 to ask what businesses are open or not; that is not an emergency and dispatchers need to be available to answer emergency calls. Library Director Amy Lannon noted she and her staff are figuring out how much they can do online. The building is closed to the public so they are working on how to convert as many services to online as possible. Facilities Director Joe Huggins noted his staff is on a rotating schedule now. They are focused on deep cleaning all the town buildings, town vehicles and DPW garage. DPW Director Jane Kinsella noted her employees are on rotating schedule as well so that only half the staff is on duty at a time. Business Administrator Jayne Miller noted she has been attending the command meetings and keeping the town website and Facebook page up to date with any and all COVID-19 communications. Ms. Herrick asked if there were options for staff to be tested. Mr. LeLacheur noted there is not at this time but if for any reason an employee feels sick or feels they were exposed, they are asked to stay home. The buildings are cleaned nightly and deep cleaned every weekend and equipped with sanitizer and wipes for employees to use during the day if they are in the building. The comment about people still gathering at parks and recreational area was brought up and DPW Director Jane Kinsella informed the board that the basketball hoops were being zip tied to discourage play. Ms. Dove noted there are 31 cases in Reading as of today. Ms. Landry thanked the staff and Emmy for all their hard work. John Stempeck from the RMLD Board asked if there was more we can do to be proactive. Page | 3 Mr. LeLacheur noted the police do not have the capability to police all the fields/courts 24/7 so it would be really helpful if parents could explain to their kids that they should be social distancing and not playing at the parks. Economic Development Director Erin Schaeffer explained how she has been reaching out to the local businesses. She also set up a page on the website for business help and resources for them to access. Rev. Jamie Michaels explained the food pantry schedule how they plan to hand out food. The best donations right now are grocery store gift cards. The board decided to vote to declare a local state of emergency. Mr. Bacci read the following motion: DECLARATION OF EMERGENCY WHEREAS, the 2019 novel Coronavirus ("COVID-19") is a highly contagious, serious, and sometimes fatal respiratory disease with no vaccine and no treatment other than symptomatic support; WHEREAS, COVID-19 has been declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern by the World Health Organization; WHEREAS, on March 10, 2020, the Governor declared a State of Emergency to mobilize the Commonwealth's resources needed to address this public health crisis; WHEREAS, on March 13, 2020, the President of the United States declared a National Emergency to Similarly mobilize national resources; WHEREAS, on March 23, 2020, the Governor issued an emergency order requiring all businesses and organizations that do not provide "COVID-19 Essential Services" to close their physical workplaces and facilities to workers, customers and the public as of Tuesday, March 24th at noon until Tuesday, April 7th at noon; WHEREAS, on March 25,2020, the Governor issued an emergency order modifying prior orders to extend the time that schools and non-emergency day-care facilities shall be closed until May 4, 2020; WHEREAS, the Governor has issued various additional emergency orders on different dates substantially altering the operations of state and local government in response to the COVID-19 public health emergency; WHEREAS, the residents and businesses of Reading are in immediate and serious risk of suffering personal and financial losses as a result of COVID-19' s current and ongoing threat to public health and safety; and WHEREAS, the ordinary resources of Reading are expected to be insufficient to meet the needs of its residents and businesses in coping with the public health, safety, and economic impacts of COVID-19; THEREFORE, the Select Board, pursuant to its authority under Section 4.7.4.1 of the Massachusetts Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan (January 2019) and any other applicable law, hereby declares a State of Emergency in the Town of Reading as a result of the threat of COVID-19 as recognized by global, national, and state health officials. Page | 4 The Town Manager shall appoint an Emergency Management Director (EMD). The EMD shall work with other local officials and representatives of state and national emergency personnel to direct all necessary or appropriate action, including but not limited to directing evacuations, opening shelters, mobilizing local resources, activating mutual aid agreements, requesting state and national assistance, and seeking appropriation of funds for all such actions. This declaration of a State of Emergency is effective immediately and shall remain in effect until it is rescinded by the Select Board or the Governor's declaration of emergency is rescinded, whichever comes first. The motion was seconded by Ms. Landry and passed with the following roll call vote: Alvarado – Yes; Herrick – Yes; Bacci – Yes; Landry – Yes; Dockser – Yes. The board then decided to temporarily ban door-to-door soliciting. Mr. Bacci read the following motion: EMERGENCY ORDER PROHIBITING DOOR-TO-DOOR SOLICITATION AND CANVASSING WHEREAS, the 2019 novel Coronavirus (“COVID-19”) is a highly contagious, serious, and sometimes fatal respiratory disease with no vaccine and no treatment other than symptomatic support; WHEREAS, on March 10, 2020, the Governor declared a State of Emergency to mobilize the Commonwealth’s resources needed to address this public health crisis; WHEREAS, on March 23, 2020, the Governor issued an emergency order requiring all businesses and organizations that do not provide “COVID-19 Essential Services” to close their physical workplaces and facilities to workers, customers and the public as of Tuesday, March 24th at noon until Tuesday, April 7th at noon, unless further extended; WHEREAS, on March 24, 2020, the Department of Public Health issued a Stay-at-Home Advisory for individuals over 70 and for those with underlying health conditions; WHEREAS, on March 25, 2020, the Governor issued an emergency order modifying prior orders to extend the time that schools and non-emergency day-care facilities shall be closed until May 4, 2020; WHEREAS, on April 1, 2020, the Reading Select declared a State of Emergency in the Town of Reading as a result of the threat of COVID-19; WHEREAS, door-to-door solicitations creates an unnecessary face-to-face situation for residents who are home in unusual numbers due to the closure of schools and businesses, possibly endangering the health of residents, particularly those subject to the stay-at-home advisory, and by extension, the community; THEREFORE, the Select Board and the Board of Health, pursuant to the powers and authority provided to and vested in them by the declarations described above, and all relevant state laws and lawful authority including M.G.L. c.111, §104, do hereby issue this EMERGENCY ORDER: All door-to-door solicitation and canvassing in the Town of Reading is hereby prohibited. The Chief of Police is directed to temporarily revoke all Certificates of Registration required for such soliciting and canvassing, pursuant to General Bylaw §8.9.9.5, for good cause as described in this Order. Page | 5 This EMERGENCY ORDER is effective immediately and shall remain in effect until it is rescinded by the Select Board and Board of Health, or the Governor’s declaration of emergency is rescinded, whichever comes first. The motion was seconded and passed with the following roll call vote: Alvarado – Yes; Herrick – Yes; Bacci – Yes; Landry – Yes; Dockser – Yes. Mr. Bacci moved that the Town Manager shall be delegated the authority that is expected to be conferred upon the Select Board by legislation adopted by the State Legislature, once signed into law by the Governor, to provide relief from late charges for property tax or water, sewer or stormwater utility fees, consistent with the limitations set forth in that legislation as enacted. The motion was seconded by Ms. Landry and approved with the following roll call vote: Alvarado – Yes; Herrick – Yes; Bacci – Yes; Landry – Yes; Dockser – Yes. Mr. Bacci moved to approve the Health Insurance Agreement and Health Insurance Op-Out Program Side Letter, both dated July 1, 2020 through June 30, 2021 as presented. The motion was seconded by Ms. Herrick and approved with the following roll call vote: Alvarado – Yes; Herrick – Yes; Bacci – Yes; Landry – Yes; Dockser – Yes. Ms. Alvarado recused herself for the following portion of the meeting regarding the recall petition against her. Mr. Dockser noted he and Bob have been working with Town Counsel. There is some question on whether or not Ms. Alvarado got legally notified of the recall. It would be a good idea for the board to have Bob send a formal letter to Ms. Alvarado on behalf of the board. Mr. Bacci moved to instruct the Town Manager on behalf of the Select Board to send a notice to Vanessa Alvarado on April 2nd, 2020 which will start the (5) five- day period consistent with Section 8.11.3 of the Town Charter. The motion was seconded by Ms. Herrick and approved with the following roll call vote: Alvarado – Yes; Herrick – Yes; Bacci – Yes; Landry – Yes; Dockser – Yes. The board then discussed their appetite to meet weekly given the circumstances. The board agreed they will meet every Wednesday night, remotely, at 7 PM until further notice. Mr. Bacci moved to adjourn at 9:30 PM, the motion was seconded by Ms. Landry and approved with the following roll call vote: Alvarado – Yes; Herrick – Yes; Bacci – Yes; Landry – Yes; Dockser – Yes. Town of Reading Meeting Minutes Page | 1 2016-09-22 LAG Board - Committee - Commission - Council: Select Board Date: 2020-04-08 Time: 7:00 PM Building: Location: Address: Session: Open Session Purpose: General Business Version: Draft Attendees: Members - Present: Mark Dockser, Anne Landry, Karen Herrick, Carlo Bacci, Vanessa Alvarado Members - Not Present: Others Present: Town Manager Bob LeLacheur, Board of Health Member Kevin Sexton, Executive Assistant Caitlin Saunders Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: Caitlin Saunders Topics of Discussion: This meeting was held remotely on Zoom. Mr. Dockser called the meeting to order at 7 PM. Town Manager Bob LeLacheur started with an update to the board about Meals on Wheels. He then noted the trial road diet construction will begin tonight and he will have further updates for the board next week. Lastly, he shared a sad memo reporting the first loss in the community due to COVID-19. The board discussed last weeks meeting which was their first meeting held completely remotely on Zoom. Ms. Landry thought it went smoothly and her only comment was they should be reading the names and addresses of the people who send in emails for public comment. Mr. Bacci and Ms. Alvarado agreed with Ms. Landry. Ms. Herrick agreed as well and noted her appreciation for being able to meet this way during the current situation. Mr. LeLacheur noted he was trying to collect feedback from other communities on how they are proceeding with meetings and in what fashion; however, he has not gotten a lot of comments back yet. Board of Health member Kevin Sexton joined the board this evening to give the BOH update. He wanted to start off by saying we will get thru this and we will get thru this together. Town staff has been amazing during this time and they are working very hard. The board of health wants to move into a more of an education standpoint for the community going forward. He reported Reading did have their first death. There are 53 cases in town currently however 8 cases have come off due to recovery. The health department in town is working hard currently at contact tracing. That is a huge priority right now. Two nurses are being trained in MAVEN right now as well as Health Agent Laura Vlasuk. MAVEN is a tool for nurses however so even though Ms. Vlasuk is getting trained using the program, she will not be able to do/see as much as the nurses will be able too. Page | 2 Ms. Herrick noted that Wilmington gave all their businesses masks and PPE the other day. She asked if Reading can do the same. She also asked if the town will be able to get any reimbursements for staff time spent in cleaning all the buildings. Mr. Sexton explained he does not know how Wilmington was able to get their hands on so much PPE but he will look into how they got so many masks and see if there is any hope to do so here. Mr. LeLacheur explained the town has not seen any reimbursements for COVID-19 expenses as of today however, they are keeping track of all expenses should a reimbursement opportunity be presented. Mr. Bacci asked how the local restaurants are doing. Mr. Sexton explained some are closed and some are doing just take out but they are hanging in there as best as possible. Ms. Alvarado asked about construction in town and if there are any plans to shut down construction sites. She also asked about providing homemade masks to our public safety as she has seen many people in town making masks. Mr. LeLacheur noted that unfortunately public safety members must wear the N95 mandated masks. He also noted the Board of Health plans on talking about construction projects at their next meeting later this week. Mr. LeLacheur wanted to give an update on town bills. Residents can now take until June 1st to pay their town bills and have no fees. If anyone is having trouble paying anything at all, please call 781-942-6622 and explain your situation to see if we can help set up a payment plan. Ms. Alvarado asked if there is anyone that we can delay the tracking of the road diet results until traffic patterns are more back to normal rather than right now when very few people are using the roads. The board then discussed liaison reports and their thoughts on what a liaison should be and how they’re expected to keep in touch with the many other boards. Ms. Landry started off noting that the liaison assignments are a burden to try and attend all the meetings as they were divided up last year. One member can easily be out every night of the week and still miss meetings. Ms. Alvarado agreed expressing thoughts on just dealing with the boards who meeting regularly and carry heavy workloads, i.e. CPDC, ZBA, Recreation. Conversation went on about how the board should be more of resource to other boards and ideas were thrown out there to have quarterly updates from other boards rather than giving an update after every meeting they have. The board also discussed doing less ‘subcommittees’ within their own board due to open meeting constraints that creates. Town Manager Bob LeLacheur divided up the boards and committees by department to try and make the list less daunting. The board was asked to pick their top 3 choices for next week to discuss further. The board then talked about the Volunteer Appointment Subcommittee (VASC). Last year the VASC interviewed all incumbents also seeking reappointment as well as new applicants. The board discussed depending on the circumstances, the interviews this year could very well need to take place remotely still and members agreed interviewing 60+ incumbents is time consuming. The discussed a potential timeline and asked staff to send out the reappointment questionnaire letters next week and ask for responses back by the end of the month. At that point they will discuss further how to proceed. The board will discuss a future social media/communications policy at their next meeting. Page | 3 Mr. Bacci moved to adjourn at 9:03 PM, with a second from Ms. Herrick the board adjourned with the following roll call vote: Alvarado – Yes; Herrick – Yes; Bacci – Yes; Landry – Yes; Dockser – Yes. 1 Saunders, Caitlin From:Vanessa Alvarado Selectboard Sent:Monday, May 11, 2020 12:01 PM To:Saunders, Caitlin Cc:LeLacheur, Bob Subject:Re: Minutes Attachments:2020-02-11 SB Mins_VA Edits.doc; 2020-04-08 SB Mins_VA Edits.doc; 2020-04-01 SB Mins_VA Edits.doc; 2020-02-19 SB Mins_VA Edits.doc Hi Caitlin, Please find my edits attached. New content is highlighted in yellow, content to be removed is in red. Thanks. Vanessa On Thu, May 7, 2020 at 3:54 PM Saunders, Caitlin <csaunders@ci.reading.ma.us> wrote: Hi All, In an attempt to make the minutes discussion easier and quicker, here are the word docs for the minutes I had already created before our discussion last week. The board discussed doing redline versions to track members edits. If you have edits for any of the attached minutes, please send me your redline version by noon time Monday. The agenda and packet for next week’s meeting will go out Monday afternoon. Thank you, Caitlin Saunders Executive Assistant Town of Reading 16 Lowell Street 2 Reading, MA 01867 781-942-6644 csaunders@ci.reading.ma.us Town Hall Hours: Mon, Wed, Thurs 7:30 am – 5:30 pm Tues 7:30 am – 7:00 pm Friday - CLOSED Town of Reading Meeting Minutes Page | 1 2016-09-22 LAG Board - Committee - Commission - Council: Select Board Date: 2020-02-11 Time: 7:00 PM Building: Reading Town Hall Location: Select Board Meeting Room Address: 16 Lowell Street Session: Open Session Purpose: General Business Version: Draft Attendees: Members - Present: Vanessa Alvarado, John Halsey, Anne Landry, Mark Dockser, Andy Friedmann Members - Not Present: Others Present: Town Manager Bob LeLacheur, Alice Collins, Dan Ensminger, John Arena, Derek Holmes, Rich Abate, Allen Boyer, Erica MacNamara, Michelle Sanphy, Justin Martel, Susan Craven, Pete Commounduros, Bill Brown, John Lippitt, Donna Beaulieu, Rick Nelson Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: Caitlin Saunders Topics of Discussion: Vanessa Alvarado called the meeting to order at 7 PM. Liaison Reports Ms. Alvarado started off the meeting by thanking John Halsey for his years of service on the board. Mr. Halsey noted he had his monthly visit to the senior center recently. He would really like if the board would continue with his ‘office hour’ going forward. He usually goes the second Tuesday of the month at 11 am. Ms. Alvarado noted the Saturday goal meeting was very productive and she would like to continue having those meetings. Town Manager’s Report Mr. LeLacheur noted there is a ‘New Resident Open House’ planned for April 7 th. Congressman Moulten will be in town on February 29th. He also noted he has no update from Town Counsel on the former Daniel’s House yet. Public Comment Bill Brown noted on June 14th they will be recognizing Frank Driscoll. John Lippitt from 23 Mineral Street wanted to comment on the Police Chief process noting the candidates should have been interviewed in public for anyone to attend. He also thinks the public should be allowed to see their resumes and how they were rated in the assessment center. He feels the board needs to make everything public and get more information before they vote on a new chief. Page | 2 Allen Boyer noted his opposite opinion. The assessment center gave their recommendation. The public doesn’t need to know any more than that. The board should be satisfied with that and they should vote to approve that person. Deputy Chief Clark has been acting Chief for over a year, its time to make it official. Pete Coumounduros echoed the previous statement noting it is time to put this to bed and appoint a Police Chief. Rich Abate, Reading resident and Lt. Detective at the Reading Police Department explained the morale at the Police Department is down without an official head of the department. With Clark as acting Chief it is like they are down two positions. The department really needs an official Chief for the department to run optimally. He and many officers are here tonight to urge the board to formally appoint a Chief. Dan Ensminger, Reading resident and former Select Board member, asked the board to proceed on this tonight and vote a new Chief immediately. It has been far too long without one. Rick Nelson of Vine Street explained how disturbing it is that there hasn’t been a Chief for this long. It is very unsettling that the board has not taken action yet. Justin Martel, Reading Police Officer, wants to know more about the process the board decided on to lead to this long delay of appointment. The Chair noted there would be time for more public comment on the Police Chief topic during the actual agenda item later in the evening. Final Proposal from Ad-hoc Human Rights Committee Ms. Landry explained their proposal is for an organization set up like RCASA and housed in the library. It would have a board of directors with an interim board or advisory board set up initially to get everything in order. They also want a full-time staff person. Mr. Friedmann explained the Ad-Hoc committee is now asking the full Select Board if they can reach out to the library director to guage their interest in this new board and staff person being under the library. Mr. Halsey felt it is a lot to ask for a full-time staff person right now when their next agenda item is to talk about the RMLD payment to the town being cut significantly which is going to impact our budget. Ms. Alvarado expressed concern for the anticipated cost of a full time position and asked about the source of funding since it would be a new item in the budget. Ms. Alvarado thanked Ms. Landry and Mr. Friedmann and everyone on the ad-hoc for their participation to get us this far. The board agreed that Ms. Landry and Mr. Friedmann could and should reach out to the Library trustees to move forward. RMLD Payment to the Town Discussion Mr. Dockser explained to the board he came up with four options for the CAB to consider. Mr. Halsey noted a lot of these options are based on consumption and maybe there is a way to base it off of the rates. Ms. Alvarado agreed an option based on rates with a revenue consideration would be good to look at too. Mr. Friedmann asked if the CAB would be willing to have a meeting with the board before they vote. Town Manager’s Review Page | 3 The board had each individually reviewed the Town Manager and sent their responses to the Human Resources Director. She then compiled all the responses into one document that is seen here tonight. The board went through each category and explained anything they felt necessary while the Town Manager made comments when he felt necessary. Police Chief Hiring Process Ms. Alvarado noted they will start this agenda topic off with more public comment and then they will close public comment while the board discusses. Donna Beaulieu noted she is disappointed it has taken so long to appoint a Police Chief but notes she is optimistic the board will move forward with appointing David Clark without any further delay. Lt. Detective Rich Abate asked why this agenda item is just an update and discussion on the process. He noted the board approved the process and was a part of the assessment center that happened back in November. The department hasn’t had a Chief in over a year, it is time to officially appoint someone. He explained this is putting a drain on the department and employee morale when people keep asking them what is going on with the appointment and assuming their department is dysfunctional because of it. Detective Derek Holmes noted he is disheartened to hear the board is not voting tonight after a long process. He asked the board what other matters were more crucial than filing this position the past few months. Erica MacNamara, RCASA Director, noted herself and a number of members of the Police Department are here tonight to support Deputy Chief Clark. It is time to get this done. Michelle Sanphy wanted to know why she heard about this at a meeting last night and not from a member of the board. Justin Martel, Reading Police Officer, explained he read through the meeting packet which entailed the process for this appointment. It seems everything has been done and is in order and asked what the hold up is. Susan Craven noted she has never recalled such a long period of time for an appointment like this to be made. Pete Coumounduros noted he is ashamed the board has taken so long to do this and urged not to wait any longer. Deputy Chief Clark is more than qualified for this position. John Arena commented that this board owes the community an explanation on why this hasn’t happened yet. He explained if the board is unhappy with the current leadership at the Police Department then they should at least state that and explain. He noted there is no reason to delay this vote into March or even for another second. Town Manager Bob LeLacheur then took a few minutes to explain the lengthy process that was taken to determine a viable candidate for Police Chief. The board voted on this process early fall last year and two members were even involved and at the assessment center. The board pushed for ‘resident participation’, which has never been done before, and a few residents were selected and present at the assessment center. After the assessment center it is the Town Manager’s job to pick a candidate and bring his selection to the board to vote on. Mr. LeLacheur made his pick back in the beginning of January. Mr. Friedmann asked why the meeting packet was not posted online on Thursday like normal. It was noted the Chair, Ms. Alvarado, instructed staff not to put it online for the public until she withdrew certain information regarding the Police Chief topic that she did Page | 4 not want the public to see yet. It was noted Ms. Alvarado requested certain information first be communicated to the board before it was announced to the public. Mr. Friedmann then noted that this is the first opportunity the board has had to address the process and the board does think it is important. He noted his concerns about the process are the Town Manager only bringing one candidate forward and not giving them options. They also didn’t get a chance to hold a public forum and ask what qualities the public wants in a Police Chief. Ms. Landry suggested reconvening at a time certain while Mr. Halsey is still on the board to vote. Mr. Dockser felt the structure and process were awkward even though the board voted on said process. He also noted he hasn’t heard from two members of the selection committee about their thoughts. The Town Manager noted the Chair Ms. Alvarado instructed him not allow any of the members of the selection committee to talk to anyone. Mr. Halsey noted the Charter states the Town Manager brings forth one candidate for the board to ratify or not. The board does not get options; it is not the board’s job, it is the Town Manager’s job. The Chair, Ms. Alvarado, felt it would be best for her to be involved instead of the two Public Safety Liaisons but then did not discuss or inform the rest of the board of anything until a few days ago. She never set up any of listening sessions that she wanted and now we are here. The Town Manager made a decision around January 11th and since then, Mr. Halsey has tried to get this on the agenda but the Chair intentionally slowed the process but taking it off the agenda every time for no good reason at all. Now we are here talking about this at 10 pm in the evening during the last meeting before the election to try and slow roll and keep Mr. Halsey out of this decision. This is so disrespectful to the Police Department and everyone in this room. The Chair intentionally worded this agenda item tonight so that they could not vote tonight; with that being said he must agree with Ms. Landry and welcome her suggestion to create another meeting date before the election and vote this immediately. The Chair also refused to allow anyone to speak to anyone on the selection committee also slowing down this process because the rest of the board would like to hear their thoughts but haven’t been able to. Ms. Alvarado stated Mr. Halsey was grandstanding and that his statement was a lie. Mr. Friedmann then asked the Chair Ms. Alvarado how she felt about being thrown under the bus right there. He then said he felt intimidated by all the police officers in this room who drive around in the town he has to live in, with guns all day. At this point, all the police officers in the room and most of the audience got up and left the meeting. Mr. Friedmann then asked the Chair Ms. Alvarado how she felt about being thrown under the bus. Some members of the public expressed disapproval (e.g., calling out "shame"). Mr. Friedmann then stated that, as an elected official, he was feeling intimidated by the police officers in the crowd. He then responded to the public, stating the they found this funny but that that he lives in town and noted that the police drive around town and carry guns. At this point, all the police officers in the room and most of the audience got up and left the meeting, a number of whom called out "shame". Ms. Alvarado then noted she is disappointed in the board’s and Town Manager’s actions in this. Ms. Alvarado noted she was disappointed with how this process had unfolded. She explained we can try and find a date to hold a public forum and vote but she doesn’t think it can be done in two weeks before the election. Page | 5 Ms. Landry explained that hearing our own Police Officers say they think the board does not care about them really hurts and she feels we need to show them they are important and vote this soon. Ms. Alvarado noted the board has not been involved in the process as much as she wanted the board had indicated they would have liked to have been. She then asked if the board was okay approving a candidate not knowing who else is out there. She feels the board is being unfairly asked to vote on one person with serious concerns being raised about the process. She explained they can either vote the only candidate or request a new process and start over. Mr. Dockser noted he is uncomfortable sitting here tonight without more information. Mr. Friedmann agreed with Mr. Dockser but also noted hearing the Police tonight say that morale is dropping in the department because they are down a position is upsetting. Mr. Friedmann asked what would happen if they voted to deny the appointment. Ms. Alvarado noted they are now being asked to rush the process and next week is school vacation so it is hard for her to meet so it is a challenging time to schedule a meeting as many people are traveling.. The board discussed ways to reach out to the masses to inform them of the upcoming meetings. Mr. Friedmann wanted to take a minute and note that Police can be intimidating at time and he believes he probably offended every officer in the room with his previous comments but he is concerned what would happen if the board voted to deny the appointment. Mr. Dockser feels the board does need to move this further but the board also needs to feel comfortable with their decision too. The board checked their calendars and decided on the following meetings to continue the Police Chief discussion: February 19th at 7:30 PM for the public listening session February 26th at 7:30 PM for the board to finish their discussion and vote. Mr. Dockser move to approve the meeting minutes of January 7 th, 2020. The motion was seconded by Mr. Halsey and approved with a 5-0 vote. Mr. Dockser noted he feels some of the board’s comments tonight got out of hand and he thinks they need to do better. Mr. Dockser moved to adjourn at 11:43 PM. The motion was seconded by Mr. Friedmann and approved with a 5-0 vote. Town of Reading Meeting Minutes Page | 1 2016-09-22 LAG Board - Committee - Commission - Council: Select Board Date: 2020-02-19 Time: 7:40 PM Building: School - Memorial High Location: Performing Arts Center Address: 62 Oakland Road Session: Open Session Purpose: General Business Version: Draft Attendees: Members - Present: John Halsey, Anne Landry, Andy Friedmann, Mark Dockser, Vanessa Alvarado Members - Not Present: Others Present: Please see the attached 10 pages of signature sign-ins Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: Topics of Discussion: Vanessa Alvarado called the meeting to order. She noted she asked moderator Alan Foulds to help run the meeting tonight. Mr. Foulds laid out the ground rules for the meeting and asked people to keep their comments to the agenda topic and no personal comments towards any specific board members. The topic of the evening was to gather the publics thoughts on what qualities they want to see in their Police Chief. Eilleen Litterio, 22 Deborah Drive, was first up to speak. She noted she supports Deputy Chief Clark and would like to see him appointed to Chief. She would also like to see continuation of the citizens police academy. She supports the police carrying guns and feels any member of the Select Board who feels differently should recuse themselves. Jeffrey Coram, 31 Ridge Road, noted he supports Clark and hopes any Chief this town gets will keep School Resource Officers in the schools. He also noted he is satisfied with the way this process was conducted. John Luca thanked the board for having this public forum. He has had very positive experiences with the Police. He would like to see electric police cars and increase the diversity in the department. Kerry from Longfellow Road, would like the Police Chief to be active in the community and honest. She noted she supports the Town Manager’s decision. Laura Wilson from Baystate Road thanked the board for having this. She has met a few officers and explained how understanding they were while dealing with her autistic son. Page | 2 Bill Brown noted there is no reason we should be here tonight. It is the Town Managers job to pick the Police Chief. It is time for the Select Board to abide by the Charter, do their job, and ratify his decision. Jamie Maughn, 263 Woburn Street, thanked the board for holding this meeting although he wishes it was done earlier. Reading has a fine Police Department and we should learn from the State PD and the big scandal they just had. John Sullivan thanked the board and noted this is a big decision. He would like to see the bike helmet pizza coupon program continue. He also hopes the new Chief keeps the town informed and takes constructive criticism. Mike Monahan, Bancroft Ave, encouraged the board to unanimously appoint David Clark to Chief tonight. An Ash Street resident was recently impressed with the tour of the Police Department the local girl scout troop got. Chuck Robinson applauded the thorough process and noted he was one of the citizens picked to attend the assessment center. Deputy Chief Clark stood above everyone else and he fully supports the Town Manager’s decision to hire him. Alan Boulier noted he lived here 53 years and this is the first time he’s ever seen a public forum used to influence our decision of a Police Chief. A Police Chief needs to be someone who is calm, puts community goals over personal goals and he fully supports Chief Clark. James Bonazoli, 100 Grove Street, noted he would like the Chief to be someone who can work with administration. He thinks that was proven when Clark stepped in unexpectedly and has been running the department ever since. He also thinks a Chief is someone who is respected by his department; last weeks turnout at the board meeting proves that to be true for Clark also. He fully supports the Town Manager’s decision to hire Clark. Bob Hayes of Pearl Street, noted he’s been here 60 years and known many officers and Chiefs. He would like to see the new Chief have roots in this community. Someone who is vested in this community and someone whose kids go to school in this community. David Clark is the person for this job. Vote tonight. Barry Berman, 54 Longview Road, noted he was involved in the last Police Chief search and explained how intense and thorough that process is. When his son wanted to do a project about the police they let him do ride alongs and he created an impressive video called ‘Behind Blue Lights’. He fully endorses Deputy Chief Clark. John Friedas from Howard Street who is also a retired firefighter from a surrounding community wanted to know why we are here tonight. Clark has been doing the job for a while now and he came out on top in the assessment center. Angela Binda, 110 Orchard Park Drive, noted she has had positive experienced with the Police Department here and has heard good things about Clark. She is thankful for the thorough process and the Town Manager’s decision and she looks forward to the appointment of the new Chief. A Franklin Street resident expressed their gratitude to the Police Department for their patience in this process but this is an important decision. They noted they have had good positive reactions with the police department and they hope the helmet program continues. Nancy Docktor, 371 Pearl Street, thanked the board for having this and hopes this process continues in the future with public input. She hopes the next Chief thinks about hiring a psychiatric social worker for the department. Page | 3 Demetra Tseckares, 106 Oak Street, noted the new Chief should keep the RAD classes going. She also noted she wish this session happened earlier. She thinks the process is fine but does think a public hearing session is necessary. She thanked the PD for their dealings with her family. A Beacon Street resident noted he is an officer in a surrounding town and explained they just went through this process in the town he works in and it was much quicker than this. He explained that officers will start to leave if this appointment doesn’t happen soon. Clark is the Deputy Chief for a reason, it’s time to make him Chief. Chris Dallas from Governors Drive also noted he is an officer in a surrounding town and they would be so lucky to have Clark as our Chief. He has a good reputation not just in Reading but in surrounding town departments as well. Linda Snow Dockser, 110 Beaver Road, explained she thinks this session was good to hear what the residents want in a Chief. She noted Clark is wonderful and the RAD program is great. She hopes the board ratifies the Town Manager’s decision. She also hopes the new Chief continues to work with the ad-hoc Human Rights Committee. Charles Moran from Vale Road noted he wants a Chief that is professional no matter what. He thinks Clark proved that last week at the last meeting with his response after certain comments were made towards the officers. Cindy from Gould Street would like a Chief who doesn’t assume they know everything. She hopes the RAD program continues. It sounds like by everyone’s comments tonight that Deputy Clark will be a great Chief. Amy noted she appreciated this session. She feels confident in Clark based on personal interactions but it is nice to hear everyone else’s confidence in him as well. Ms. Alvarado thanked everyone for their feedback tonight. She then read a timeline of how the process has unfolded up to this point. Ms. Landry thanked the Reading Police Department for their patience. She reminded the board of the ethics training they get and how they should lead by example. She thinks that can serve the board well going forward. Mr. Dockser noted the Town Manager didn’t give the board a memo until January 31st and at that time he did not feel comfortable voting yet. He thinks the board should have been able to interview all the candidates or at least the final three. He also thinks they needed much more public participation. The board and town failed this process he stated but the board did not get to talk about this until the last meeting. He is disappointed in the community members and the board members. Vanessa is a good Chair and Andy made a mistake. He apologized for his mistake and it is time to move forward. Mr. Dockser moved to ratify the Town Manager’s decision and appoint Dave Clark as Chief of Police. The motion was seconded by Mr. Halsey. Ms. Alvarado thanked Chief Clark and expressed her gratitude for his dedication to the community and her confidence in him as our new chief. Ms. Landry noted she spoke with the selection committee for this process and it was clear that Clark is best for this job. She is proud to support him becoming Chief. The board voted 5-0 on the motion. Mr. Dockser moved to adjourn at 8:51 PM, with a second from Mr. Friedmann the board adjourned with a 5-0 vote. Town of Reading Meeting Minutes Page | 1 2016-09-22 LAG Board - Committee - Commission - Council: Select Board Date: 2020-04-01 Time: 7:00 PM Building: Location: Address: Session: Open Session Purpose: General Business Version: Draft Attendees: Members - Present: Mark Dockser, Anne Landry, Carlo Bacci, Vanessa Alvarado, Karen Herrick Members - Not Present: Others Present: Town Manager Bob LeLacheur, Fire Chief Greg Burns, Police Chief David Clark, Assistant Town Manager Jean Delios, Superintendent of Schools John Doherty, RMLD General Manager Coleen O'Brien, DPW Director Jane Kinsella, Facilities Director Joe Huggins, Library Director Amy Lannon, Administrative Services Director Matt Kraunelis, Health Nurse Kerry Valle, Board of Health Chair Emmy Dove, Business Administrator Jayne Miller, Economic Development Director Erin Schaeffer, Reverand Jamie Michaels, Veterans Agent Kevin Bohmiller Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: Caitlin Saunders Topics of Discussion: This meeting was held remotely on Zoom. Chair Mark Dockser called the meeting to order just after 7:00 PM. The meeting started off with a COVID-19 update from the Town Manager. Mr. LeLacheur explained that himself and the ICS, Incident Command System, started meeting the end of January when COVID-19 was still in China. The ISC is comprised of staff from every department in town including both Police and Fire Chiefs, DPW Director, Facilities Director, RMLD General Manager, Facilities Director and many other staff and department heads from the town departments. Chief Burns then gave the board an explanation of how the ICS has been handling the situation and making decisions. Emmy Dove gave an update from the Board of Health side of things. She noted the Board of Health has met 18 times since March. They have closed town buildings to the public, they have closed courts and fields, they have closed salons. They have voted on a temporary ban on door to door solicitations in town and they voted on a local state of emergency. She noted we had been using Malden’s nurse for help but she won’t be able to help anymore. Her biggest concern is the lack of nurses currently trained in MAVEN. Mr. LeLacheur explained the new nurse should be able to get on MAVEN soon. Ms. Delios noted she has submitted all her paperwork for the system and they are just waiting on the state to approve it all and then she can get right on. Page | 2 Ms. Alvarado noted the town’s former health nurse had offered to return on a temporary basis to support the town and asked why that wasn’t possible. Ms. Alvarado asked why we couldn’t ask our old nurse to come back. Police Chief Clark wanted to let everyone know the Police are still working and here for the town when needed. They have changed the way they operate and use the building but they are still on shift as normal and will be answering calls if you need them. Superintendent of Schools Dr. Doherty noted the schools have transitioned into virtual learning and administrative staff are working hard to make sure all students have the technology they need to continue to learn at home and meals if needed. Ms. Dowd noted they are doing grab n’ go lunches for students who depended on school for food. Administrative staff are working on school packets for all students to keep learning at home. Mr. LeLacheur then explained how Town Hall has changed their operations. He noted a significant amount of staff are set up and working from home. There are a limited amount of staff in the building at one time and only in the building when they need to be. They have temporarily shortened the hours the building is open for staff as well. Most services are continuing just transitioning to an electronic communication and issuance. General Manager Coleen O’Brien noted RMLD is still maintaining full operations. The business office is closed but the control room is still answering all calls. She also explained if anyone is struggling to make payments to please visit the website and they can work with you to set up a payment plan. Mr. LeLacheur noted there have been new emails created to help people with COVID-19 issues/questions. There also is a whole page on the website created for information related to COVID-19 and town operations. He urged people to please NOT call 911 to ask what businesses are open or not; that is not an emergency and dispatchers need to be available to answer emergency calls. Library Director Amy Lannon noted she and her staff are figuring out how much they can do online. The building is closed to the public so they are working on how to convert as many services to online as possible. Facilities Director Joe Huggins noted his staff is on a rotating schedule now. They are focused on deep cleaning all the town buildings, town vehicles and DPW garage. DPW Director Jane Kinsella noted her employees are on rotating schedule as well so that only half the staff is on duty at a time. Business Administrator Jayne Miller noted she has been attending the command meetings and keeping the town website and Facebook page up to date with any and all COVID-19 communications. Ms. Herrick asked if there were options for staff to be tested. Mr. LeLacheur noted there is not at this time but if for any reason an employee feels sick or feels they were exposed, they are asked to stay home. The buildings are cleaned nightly and deep cleaned every weekend and equipped with sanitizer and wipes for employees to use during the day if they are in the building. The comment about people still gathering at parks and recreational area was brought up and DPW Director Jane Kinsella informed the board that the basketball hoops were being zip tied to discourage play. Ms. Dove noted there are 31 cases in Reading as of today. Page | 3 Ms. Landry thanked the staff and Emmy for all their hard work. John Stempeck from the RMLD Board asked if there was more we can do to be proactive. Mr. LeLacheur noted the police do not have the capability to police all the fields/courts 24/7 so it would be really helpful if parents could explain to their kids that they should be social distancing and not playing at the parks. Economic Development Director Erin Schaeffer explained how she has been reaching out to the local businesses. She also set up a page on the website for business help and resources for them to access. Rev. Jamie Michaels explained the food pantry schedule how they plan to hand out food. The best donations right now are grocery store gift cards. The board decided to vote to declare a local state of emergency. Mr. Bacci read the following motion: DECLARATION OF EMERGENCY WHEREAS, the 2019 novel Coronavirus ("COVID-19") is a highly contagious, serious, and sometimes fatal respiratory disease with no vaccine and no treatment other than symptomatic support; WHEREAS, COVID-19 has been declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern by the World Health Organization; WHEREAS, on March 10, 2020, the Governor declared a State of Emergency to mobilize the Commonwealth's resources needed to address this public health crisis; WHEREAS, on March 13, 2020, the President of the United States declared a National Emergency to Similarly mobilize national resources; WHEREAS, on March 23, 2020, the Governor issued an emergency order requiring all businesses and organizations that do not provide "COVID-19 Essential Services" to close their physical workplaces and facilities to workers, customers and the public as of Tuesday, March 24th at noon until Tuesday, April 7th at noon; WHEREAS, on March 25,2020, the Governor issued an emergency order modifying prior orders to extend the time that schools and non-emergency day-care facilities shall be closed until May 4, 2020; WHEREAS, the Governor has issued various additional emergency orders on different dates substantially altering the operations of state and local government in response to the COVID-19 public health emergency; WHEREAS, the residents and businesses of Reading are in immediate and serious risk of suffering personal and financial losses as a result of COVID-19' s current and ongoing threat to public health and safety; and WHEREAS, the ordinary resources of Reading are expected to be insufficient to meet the needs of its residents and businesses in coping with the public health, safety, and economic impacts of COVID-19; THEREFORE, the Select Board, pursuant to its authority under Section 4.7.4.1 of the Page | 4 Massachusetts Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan (January 2019) and any other applicable law, hereby declares a State of Emergency in the Town of Reading as a result of the threat of COVID-19 as recognized by global, national, and state health officials. The Town Manager shall appoint an Emergency Management Director (EMD). The EMD shall work with other local officials and representatives of state and national emergency personnel to direct all necessary or appropriate action, including but not limited to directing evacuations, opening shelters, mobilizing local resources, activating mutual aid agreements, requesting state and national assistance, and seeking appropriation of funds for all such actions. This declaration of a State of Emergency is effective immediately and shall remain in effect until it is rescinded by the Select Board or the Governor's declaration of emergency is rescinded, whichever comes first. The motion was seconded by Ms. Landry and passed with the following roll call vote: Alvarado – Yes; Herrick – Yes; Bacci – Yes; Landry – Yes; Dockser – Yes. The board then decided to temporarily ban door-to-door soliciting. Mr. Bacci read the following motion: EMERGENCY ORDER PROHIBITING DOOR-TO-DOOR SOLICITATION AND CANVASSING WHEREAS, the 2019 novel Coronavirus (“COVID-19”) is a highly contagious, serious, and sometimes fatal respiratory disease with no vaccine and no treatment other than symptomatic support; WHEREAS, on March 10, 2020, the Governor declared a State of Emergency to mobilize the Commonwealth’s resources needed to address this public health crisis; WHEREAS, on March 23, 2020, the Governor issued an emergency order requiring all businesses and organizations that do not provide “COVID-19 Essential Services” to close their physical workplaces and facilities to workers, customers and the public as of Tuesday, March 24th at noon until Tuesday, April 7th at noon, unless further extended; WHEREAS, on March 24, 2020, the Department of Public Health issued a Stay-at-Home Advisory for individuals over 70 and for those with underlying health conditions; WHEREAS, on March 25, 2020, the Governor issued an emergency order modifying prior orders to extend the time that schools and non-emergency day-care facilities shall be closed until May 4, 2020; WHEREAS, on April 1, 2020, the Reading Select declared a State of Emergency in the Town of Reading as a result of the threat of COVID-19; WHEREAS, door-to-door solicitations creates an unnecessary face-to-face situation for residents who are home in unusual numbers due to the closure of schools and businesses, possibly endangering the health of residents, particularly those subject to the stay-at-home advisory, and by extension, the community; THEREFORE, the Select Board and the Board of Health, pursuant to the powers and authority provided to and vested in them by the declarations described above, and all relevant state laws and lawful authority including M.G.L. c.111, §104, do hereby issue this EMERGENCY ORDER: Page | 5 All door-to-door solicitation and canvassing in the Town of Reading is hereby prohibited. The Chief of Police is directed to temporarily revoke all Certificates of Registration required for such soliciting and canvassing, pursuant to General Bylaw §8.9.9.5, for good cause as described in this Order. This EMERGENCY ORDER is effective immediately and shall remain in effect until it is rescinded by the Select Board and Board of Health, or the Governor’s declaration of emergency is rescinded, whichever comes first. The motion was seconded and passed with the following roll call vote: Alvarado – Yes; Herrick – Yes; Bacci – Yes; Landry – Yes; Dockser – Yes. Mr. Bacci moved that the Town Manager shall be delegated the authority that is expected to be conferred upon the Select Board by legislation adopted by the State Legislature, once signed into law by the Governor, to provide relief from late charges for property tax or water, sewer or stormwater utility fees, consistent with the limitations set forth in that legislation as enacted. The motion was seconded by Ms. Landry and approved with the following roll call vote: Alvarado – Yes; Herrick – Yes; Bacci – Yes; Landry – Yes; Dockser – Yes. Mr. Bacci moved to approve the Health Insurance Agreement and Health Insurance Op-Out Program Side Letter, both dated July 1, 2020 through June 30, 2021 as presented. The motion was seconded by Ms. Herrick and approved with the following roll call vote: Alvarado – Yes; Herrick – Yes; Bacci – Yes; Landry – Yes; Dockser – Yes. Ms. Alvarado recused herself for the following portion of the meeting regarding the recall petition against her. Mr. Dockser noted he and Bob have been working with Town Counsel. There is some question on whether or not Ms. Alvarado got legally notified of the recall. It would be a good idea for the board to have Bob send a formal letter to Ms. Alvarado on behalf of the board. Mr. Bacci moved to instruct the Town Manager on behalf of the Select Board to send a notice to Vanessa Alvarado on April 2nd, 2020 which will start the (5) five- day period consistent with Section 8.11.3 of the Town Charter. The motion was seconded by Ms. Herrick and approved with the following roll call vote: Alvarado – Yes Recused; Herrick – Yes; Bacci – Yes; Landry – Yes; Dockser – Yes. The board then discussed their appetite to meet weekly given the circumstances. The board agreed they will meet every Wednesday night, remotely, at 7 PM until further notice. Mr. Bacci moved to adjourn at 9:30 PM, the motion was seconded by Ms. Landry and approved with the following roll call vote: Alvarado – Yes; Herrick – Yes; Bacci – Yes; Landry – Yes; Dockser – Yes. Town of Reading Meeting Minutes Page | 1 2016-09-22 LAG Board - Committee - Commission - Council: Select Board Date: 2020-04-08 Time: 7:00 PM Building: Location: Address: Session: Open Session Purpose: General Business Version: Draft Attendees: Members - Present: Mark Dockser, Anne Landry, Karen Herrick, Carlo Bacci, Vanessa Alvarado Members - Not Present: Others Present: Town Manager Bob LeLacheur, Board of Health Member Kevin Sexton, Executive Assistant Caitlin Saunders Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: Caitlin Saunders Topics of Discussion: This meeting was held remotely on Zoom. Mr. Dockser called the meeting to order at 7 PM. Town Manager Bob LeLacheur started with an update to the board about Meals on Wheels. He then noted the trial road diet construction will begin tonight and he will have further updates for the board next week. Lastly, he shared a sad memo reporting the first loss in the community due to COVID-19. The board discussed last weeks meeting which was their first meeting held completely remotely on Zoom. Ms. Landry thought it went smoothly and her only comment was they should be reading the names and addresses of the people who send in emails for public comment. Mr. Bacci and Ms. Alvarado agreed with Ms. Landry. Ms. Herrick agreed as well and noted her appreciation for being able to meet this way during the current situation. Mr. LeLacheur noted he was trying to collect feedback from other communities on how they are proceeding with meetings and in what fashion; however, he has not gotten a lot of comments back yet. Board of Health member Kevin Sexton joined the board this evening to give the BOH update. He wanted to start off by saying we will get thru this and we will get thru this together. Town staff has been amazing during this time and they are working very hard. The board of health wants to move into a more of an education standpoint for the community going forward. He reported Reading did have their first death. There are 53 cases in town currently however 8 cases have come off due to recovery. The health department in town is working hard currently at contact tracing. That is a huge priority right now. Two nurses are being trained in MAVEN right now as well as Health Agent Laura Vlasuk. MAVEN is a tool for nurses however so even though Ms. Vlasuk is getting trained using the program, she will not be able to do/see as much as the nurses will be able too. Page | 2 Ms. Herrick noted that Wilmington gave all their businesses masks and PPE the other day. She asked if Reading can do the same. She also asked if the town will be able to get any reimbursements for staff time spent in cleaning all the buildings. Mr. Sexton explained he does not know how Wilmington was able to get their hands on so much PPE but he will look into how they got so many masks and see if there is any hope to do so here. Mr. LeLacheur explained the town has not seen any reimbursements for COVID-19 expenses as of today however, they are keeping track of all expenses should a reimbursement opportunity be presented. Mr. Bacci asked how the local restaurants are doing. Mr. Sexton explained some are closed and some are doing just take out but they are hanging in there as best as possible. Ms. Alvarado asked about construction in town and if there are any plans to shut down construction sites. Regarding the shortage of masks for public safety officials, she asked about providing homemade masks to our public safety as she has seen many people in town making masks. Mr. LeLacheur noted that unfortunately public safety members must wear the N95 mandated masks. He also noted the Board of Health plans on talking about construction projects at their next meeting later this week. Mr. LeLacheur wanted to give an update on town bills. Residents can now take until June 1st to pay their town bills and have no fees. If anyone is having trouble paying anything at all, please call 781-942-6622 and explain your situation to see if we can help set up a payment plan. Ms. Alvarado asked if there is anyone that we can delay the tracking of the road diet results until traffic patterns are more back to normal rather than right now when very few people are using the roads. The board then discussed liaison reports and their thoughts on what a liaison should be and how they’re expected to keep in touch with the many other boards. Ms. Landry started off noting that the liaison assignments are a burden to try and attend all the meetings as they were divided up last year. One member can easily be out every night of the week and still miss meetings. Ms. Alvarado agreed expressing thoughts on just dealing with the boards who meeting regularly and carry heavy workloads, i.e. CPDC, ZBA, Recreation. Conversation went on about how the board should be more of resource to other boards and ideas were thrown out there to have quarterly updates from other boards rather than giving an update after every meeting they have. The board also discussed doing less ‘subcommittees’ within their own board due to open meeting constraints that creates. Town Manager Bob LeLacheur divided up the boards and committees by department to try and make the list less daunting. The board was asked to pick their top 3 choices for next week to discuss further. The board then talked about the Volunteer Appointment Subcommittee (VASC). Last year the VASC interviewed all incumbents also seeking reappointment as well as new applicants. The board discussed depending on the circumstances, the interviews this year could very well need to take place remotely still and members agreed interviewing 60+ incumbents is time consuming. The discussed a potential timeline and asked staff to send out the reappointment questionnaire letters next week and ask for responses back by the end of the month. At that point they will discuss further how to proceed. The board will discuss a future social media/communications policy at their next meeting. Page | 3 Mr. Bacci moved to adjourn at 9:03 PM, with a second from Ms. Herrick the board adjourned with the following roll call vote: Alvarado – Yes; Herrick – Yes; Bacci – Yes; Landry – Yes; Dockser – Yes. 1 Saunders, Caitlin From:Landry, Anne Sent:Sunday, May 10, 2020 10:07 PM To:Saunders, Caitlin Subject:RE: Minutes Attachments:2-4 Text of Minutes with AJL corrections.docx; 2-11 Meeting Minutes- AJL corrections.docx Hi Caitlin: I've made it through the 2/4 and 2/11 minutes. Hope to mark up the remainder tomorrow am, but I'm going to call it a night tonight. I couldn't seem to do tracked changes in the version you sent, so I copied and pasted the main text into a separate Word doc that would allow tracked changes. I hope you had a good weekend! Best, Anne From: Saunders, Caitlin Sent: Thursday, May 07, 2020 3:53 PM To: Reading - Selectboard Cc: LeLacheur, Bob Subject: Minutes Hi All, In an attempt to make the minutes discussion easier and quicker, here are the word docs for the minutes I had already created before our discussion last week. The board discussed doing redline versions to track members edits. If you have edits for any of the attached minutes, please send me your redline version by noon time Monday. The agenda and packet for next week’s meeting will go out Monday afternoon. Thank you, Caitlin Saunders Executive Assistant Town of Reading 16 Lowell Street Reading, MA 01867 781-942-6644 csaunders@ci.reading.ma.us Town Hall Hours: Mon, Wed, Thurs 7:30 am – 5:30 pm Tues 7:30 am – 7:00 pm Friday - CLOSED Ms. Alvarado called the meeting to order at 7 PM. Liaison Reports Mr. Dockser mentioned the RMLD Commissioners met and discussed the payment to the town. They have three proposals on the table right now and all of them would mean less money for the Town. Mr. Dockser asked the RMLD board if they would consider any other proposals and they noted they would look at a proposal if the Select Board brought them one. He will work on some to bring to the Select Bboard before going back to RMLD. He also noted he attended the MMA Annual Meeting and it was great. Mr. Friedmann noted himself and Ms. Landry couldn’t be at the Library neighborhood meeting because of a meeting that was already planned for that same time. The town forest tree thinning project is complete. The Ad-Hoc Human Rights group has finished its work and they will give a more in-depth update at their next meeting. Ms. Alvarado noted she attended the Library neighborhood meeting regarding the former Daniel’s house and their plans to put in a sober house. She thought the meeting was very informative to hear the difference between a sober house and a recovery center. They are two very different things and regulated in different ways. Town Manager’s Report Town Manager Bob LeLacheur noted that on February 29th Congressman Moultoen will be here at the Library from 1-2 pm to hold an office hour if anyone from the board wants to attend. He did get some information about the Camp Curtis potential project. He hasThere is a much clearer path forward now although still many hurdles ahead. Complete Count Committee (Census) Library Director Amy Lannon and Town Clerk Laura Gemme gave the board a short presentation on the US Census for 2020. They noted the importance of reporting accurate information. Town Clerk Laura Gemme also noted she desperately needs election workers to help with the combined town/state election in March. Vote to Close Warrants Mr. Dockser moved to close the warrant for the Local Election and State Primary to be held on March 3rd, 2020. The motion was seconded by Mr. Friedmann and approved with a 4-0 vote. Mr. Dockser moved to close the warrant for Annual Town Meeting to be held on April 27th, 2020. The motion was seconded by Mr. Friedmann and approved with a 4-0 vote. Vote to Appoint Board of Registrars Member The Board of Registrars has a vacancy that needs to be filled. The Reading Democratic Town Committee recommended Nancy Ziemlak for the position after she graciously stepped forward to offer her time to the committee. Mr. Dockser moved to appoint Nancy Ziemlak to the Board of Registrars for a term expiring June 30, 2021. The motion was seconded by Mr. Friedmann and approved with 4-0 vote. FY21 Budget Discussion Mr. Friedmann asked for an explanation of the tree climber position request and the benefits coordinator. He then noted in his opinion he feels the benefits coordinator is a need but the tree climber position is more of want at this time. Minutes Mr. Dockser moved to approve the meeting minutes of December 3rd, 2019 as amended. The motion was seconded by Mr. Friedmann and approved with a 4-1 vote with Halsey abstaining. Mr. Dockser moved to approve the meeting minutes of December 10 th, 2019 as amended. The motion was seconded by Mr. Friedmann and approved with a 4-1 vote with Halsey abstaining. Hearing – Downtown Parking and other Safety Changes Lt. Amendola and Safety Officer Scouten started off the hearing with a few safety amendments they are asking the board to approve not related to downtown parking. The first request was to make a stop sign permanent at Pine Ridge Road and Oak Street. A couple months prior the board approved a temporary placement of a stop sign at this location to see if it would help with traffic during school times. The police noted the stop sign has helped with the purposes they were hoping for and are requesting to make this stop sign permanent. The second and third requests are to eliminate all-night parking in the Senior Center parking lot and the Brande Court lot. The police indicate having cars parked in these lots over night are causing problems in the mornings when the businesses open up and all their spots are taken and when it snows, DPW cannot plow the lots because there are cars in the way. The board had no objections to any of these requests. Mr. Dockser moved to approve safety amendment 2020-1 as proposed. The motion was seconded by Mr. Friedmann and approved with a 5-0 vote. Mr. Dockser moved to approve safety amendment 2020-2 as proposed. The motion was seconded by Mr. Friedmann and approved with a 5-0 vote. Mr. Dockser moved to approve safety amendment 2020-3 as proposed. The motion was seconded by Mr. Friedmann and approved with a 5-0 vote. Community Development Director Julie Mercier then gave the board a presentation about the current parking situation downtown and some of the solutions the PTTTF has come up. The main idea is to push employee parking spots to the outskirts of downtown and possibly make them free for more incentive to use the designated spots. The other part of the proposal is to possibly put in meters in some of the lots to deter long-term parking there. Brian Knight from 100 Woburn Street asked if Woburn Street can only have parking on one side. Nick Casden from 52 Haven Street at the Pediatrics office noted that they only have 10-12 employees there daily and the 2-hour parking should be kept because it works for them. Tom Quinto from 64 Woburn Street explained that commuters crowd his driveway making it hard to get in and out. He doesn’t mind that they are parking in front of his house but wonders if spots can be striped and leave some room before his driveway so that he can get in and out. Donna Munn from 10 Gould Street noted if they change Gould Street to 2-hour parking she won’t be able to park in front of her own house anymore. Manuel German from Linden Street agreed with the previous comment noting he would have the same problem on Linden. Karen German from Linden Street noted 2-hour parking won’t work on Linden. She has been there for many years and has seen this street changed so many times. She explained there is no parking problems on Linden right now so don’t mess up what isn’t broken. Celeste Kracke wants the board to consider keeping space open for charging stations for the future and striping bike lanes. Jennifer Driscoll from the Orthopedic office noted her patients are not having issues with parking so why change it. Christine Lusk thinks all street parking should remain free and only meter the lots if you must. Lisa Egan noted no towns around us have kiosk parking. Adding pay to park would just be another reason to not come and shop in Reading. She also noted the Chamber would like to host a meeting about downtown parking if they are amenable. Tom Quintos asked if additional enforcement would be needed if we went to kiosks. It was noted it would actually be easier for the police to enforce if there were kiosks. Peter Simms explained the reason the 2-hour parking is there is because the problem is the employees parking there all day leaving no spots for customers. Mr. Friedmannn feels this is taking away a lot of residential parking in the downtown area. Mr. Halsey thinks they should change the parking lots from 4 hours to 2 hours before implementing kiosks and see if that changes anything first. Town Manager Bob LeLacheur explained this is a hard task with no perfect solution for everyone. He does think the new system needs to be simple. Right now every parking spot and lot has different rules and regulations that confuse the shoppers. Lt. Amendola explained that employees complaining saying there are not enough employee spots are what started this whole conversation. Economic Development Director Erin Schaeffer noted that kiosks also collect a lot of data /trends over time that would be really helpful in the future to further perfect parking solutions. Ms. Landry expressed privacy concerns over kiosks collecting data on identified users’ locations and movements. One resident noted kiosks sound like a great idea. Especially if you can set them to be free for the first 15 mins and then pay for more time than that. Mr. Friedmann thinks it would be a good idea to take Lisa Egan up on her offer to host a conversation. Ms. Alvarado voiced concerns about the ripple effect of people moving into parking into the surrounding neighborhoods if they have to pay to park. Kiosks can be discouraging to quick shoppers. Mr. Halsey suggested maybe having the first 2 hours and then pay for more time than that. That would discourage employees to park there because they would have to pay but encourage the quick shopper to park and then leave. Mr. Dockser noted the problem is we just need more parking. He asked if there was any talk or if there could be about utilizing private spots or renting them when they are not being used. Mr. Friedmann did note they have tried a lot of failed solutions regarding parking and thought maybe kiosks are the next way to go. All in all the board likes the progress and solutions being proposed and they would like to continue in this direction and having this conversation at a future meeting in March. The board continued the hearing on downtown parking until March 17th, 2020 at 8 PM. Mr. Dockser moved to go into Executive Session at 10:39 PM to discuss strategy with respect to collective bargaining 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 motion was seconded by Mr. Friedmann and approved with the following roll call vote: Halsey – yes Landry – yes Friedmann – Yes Dockser – Yes Alvarado – Yes Vanessa Alvarado called the meeting to order at 7 PM. Liaison Reports Ms. Alvarado started off the meeting by thanking John Halsey for his years of service on the board. Mr. Halsey noted he had his monthly visit to the senior center recently. He would really like if the board would continue with his ‘office hour’ going forward. He usually goes the second Tuesday of the month at 11 am. Ms. Alvarado noted the Saturday goal meeting was very productive and she would like to continue having those meetings. Town Manager’s Report Mr. LeLacheur noted there is a ‘New Resident Open House’ planned for April 7 th. Congressman Moultoen will be in town on February 29th. He also noted he has no update from Town Counsel on the former Daniel’s House yet. Public Comment Bill Brown noted on June 14th they will be recognizing Frank Driscoll. John Lippitt from 23 Mineral Street wanted to comment on the Police Chief process noting that very little public information or participation had been made available. He also noticed that it was unsettling that the announcement of the selection was made by a former member of the Select Board the previous evening at a public forum. He wished there could have been a public survey. He indicated he understood the privacy concerns in interviewing, and short of the candidates should have been having been interviewed in public for anyone to attend, he wished de-identified resumes and detailed ratings of candidates could have been made available to the public. He also thinks the public should be allowed to see their resumes and how they were rated in the assessment center. He feels neither the board nor the public have enough needs to make everything public and get more information before they vote on a new chief. Alanlen Beaulieuoyer of Belmont Street noted his opposite a different opinion. He indicated that tThe assessment center gave their recommendation to promote Deputy Chief David Clark to Police Chief in November. The public doesn’t need to know any more than that. The board should be satisfied with that and they should vote to approve that person. Deputy Chief Clark has been acting Chief for over a year and it is , its time to make it official. Pete Coumounduros echoed the previous statement noting it is time to put this to bed and appoint a Police Chief.put the Department in good shape. Rich Abatee of Applegate Lane asked the Chair whether the public would be able to comment at the time the police chief selection process was on the agenda. The Chair indicated that would be able to take place before the Board began to deliberate. , Reading resident and Lt. Detective at the Reading Police Department explained the morale at the Police Department is down without an official head of the department. With Clark as acting Chief it is like they are down two positions. The department really needs an official Chief for the department to run optimally. He and many officers are here tonight to urge the board to formally appoint a Chief. Dan Ensminger of Oakland Road, Reading resident and former Select Board member indicated he had read Bob’s well-written treatise and that Bob is the sole appointer of the Police Chief , He asked the board to proceed on this tonighquickly on this t and vote a new Chief immediately. It has been far too long without one. as soon as possible at a specially scheduled meeting to benefit the Town and the force. Rick Nelson of Vine Street explained how disturbing it is that there hasn’t been a Chief for this long. It is very unsettling that the board has not taken action yet and asked the Board to move the issue. Justin Martel, Reading Police Officer, of Chestnut Road wants to know more about the process the boarditself decided on to lead to this long delay of appointment. The Chair noted there would be time for more public comment on the Police Chief topic during the actual agenda item later in the evening. Final Proposal from Ad-hoc Human Rights Committee Ms. Landry explained their proposal is for an organization set up like that would structurally emulate the Reading Coalition for Prevention and SupportRCASA and housed in the library, with a full-time Executive Director, similar to the Reading Coalition. It would have a board of directors with an interim board or advisory board set up initially to get everything in order. They also want a full-time staff person. Mr. Friedmann explained the Ad-Hoc committee is now asking the full Select Board if they can reach out to the libraryLibrary Board of Trustees director to guagegauge their interest in this new board and staff person being under the library. taking this on. Ms. Alvarado asked for more information about the funding structure. Ms. Landry indicated that she had been in touch with Bob, who indicated that the proposal still had to go through a process with the Board of Library Trustees and was not sure whether a position might turn out to be part-time or full-time but that he was theoretically prepared to stand up and ask for funding at November Town Meeting for such a position. Mr. Halsey felt it is a lot to ask for a full-time staff person right now when their next agenda item is to talk about the RMLD payment to the town being cut significantly which is going to impact our budget. Ms. Alvarado thanked Ms. Landry and Mr. Friedmann and everyone on the ad-hoc for their participation to get us this far. The Bboard agreed that Ms. Landry and Mr. Friedmannas the liaison to the Library Board of Trustees could and should reach out to the Library trustees to move forwardbring the proposal to them. RMLD Payment to the Town Discussion Mr. Dockser explained to the board he came up with four options for the CAB to consider. Mr. Halsey noted a lot of these options are based on consumption and maybe there is a way to base it off of the rates. Ms. Alvarado agreed an option based on rates with a revenue consideration would be good to look at too. Mr. Friedmann asked if the CAB would be willing to have a meeting with the board before they vote. Town Manager’s Review The board had each individually reviewed the Town Manager and sent their responses to the Human Resources Director. She then compiled all the responses into one document that is seen here tonight. The board went through each category and explained anything they felt necessary while the Town Manager made comments when he felt necessary. Police Chief Hiring Process Ms. Alvarado noted they will start this agenda topic off with more public comment and then they will close public comment while the board discusses. Donna Beaulieu of Belmont Street noted she is disappointed it has taken so long to appoint a Police Chief but notes she is optimistic the board will move forward with appointing David Clark without any further delay. Lt. Detective Rich Abate of Applegate Lane asked why this agenda item is just an update and discussion on the process. He noted the board approved the process and was a part of thethere was an assessment center that happened back in November. The department hasn’t had a Chief in over a year, it is time to officially appoint someone. He explained this that operating without an official Chief is putting a drain on the department and they are afraid this is going to create an and employee morale issue when people keep asking them what is going on with the appointment position and assuming their department is dysfunctional because of it. He asked that the Board take action on something that has been before the Board for an exorbitant amount of time. Detective Derek Holmes noted he is disheartened to hear the board is not voting tonight after a long process. He asked the board what other matters were more crucial than filing this position the past few months. Erica MacNamara, RCASA Reading Coalition for Prevention and Support Director, noted herself and a number of members of the Police Department are here tonight to support Deputy Chief Clark. It is time to get this done. Michelle Sanphy wanted to know why she heard about this at a meeting last night and not from a member of the board.is not sure what information the Board has had. She would like to hear more about the process, as she is more familiar with the school department process. Justin Martel, Reading Police Officer, explained he read through the meeting packet which entailed the process for this appointment. It seems everything has been done and is in order and asked what the hold up is. Susan Craven noted she has never recalled such a long period of time for an appointment like this to be made. She supports the selection of Deputy Chief Clark without further delay. Pete Coumounduros noted he is ashamed thinks it is a shame the board has taken so long to do this and urged not to wait any longer. Deputy Chief Clark is more than qualified for this position. John Arena of Francis Drive commented that this board owes the community an explanation on why this hasn’t happened yet. He explained if the board is unhappy with the process they should speak to that and explain. with the current leadership at the Police Department then they should at least state that and explain. He noted there is no reason to delay this vote into March or even for another second. Town Manager Bob LeLacheur then took a few minutes to explain the lengthy process that was taken to determine a viable candidate for Police Chief. The position was advertised. A draft hiring process was designed by the Town Manager in August. Two The board voted on this process early fall last year and two members were eveof the Select Board participated on the 7-member selection committee and witnessedn involved and at the assessment center. The Town Manager offered up to 5 members of the community to participate, which the selection committee agreed toe board pushed for ‘resident participation’,; the which has never been done before, and a few residents who were selected and present at the assessment center were promised anonymity. After the assessment center, Amy Lannon, representing the selection committee, and Matt Kraunelis, representing human resources, together with the Town Manager, interviewed i the two finalists. t is the Town Manager’s job to pick a candidate and bring his selection to the board to vote on. Mr. LeLacheur was satisfied with the process used as thorough. made his pick back in the beginning of January. Mr. Friedmann asked why the meeting packet was not posted online on Thursday like normal. It was noted the Chair, Ms. Alvarado, instructed staff not to put it online for the public until she withdrew certain information regarding the Police Chief topic that she did not want the public to see yetthe recommended candidate’s name was removed. Mr. Friedmann then noted that this is the first opportunity the board has had to address the process and the board does think it is important. He noted his concerns about the process are the Town Manager only bringing one candidate forward and not giving them options. They also didn’t get a chance to hold a public forum and ask what qualities the public wants in a Police Chief. Ms. Landry suggested reconvening at a time certain while Mr. Halsey is still on the board to vote, as Mr. Halsey and Ms. Alvarado, as the two members of the selection committee, are the best informed of any Board members. She explained the conversations she had had and the process she had engaged in to be as informed as possible for this evening’s meeting and what information she felt she still lacked. Mr. Dockser felt the structure and process were awkward even though the board voted on said process. He also noted he hasn’t heard from two members of the selection committee about their thoughts. The Town Manager noted the Chair Ms. Alvarado instructed him not allow any of the members of the selection committee to talk to anyone. Mr. Halsey noted the Charter states the Town Manager brings forth one candidate for the board to ratify or not. The board does not get options; it is not the board’s job, it is the Town Manager’s job. The Chair, Ms. Alvarado, felt it would be best for her to be involved instead of the two Public Safety Liaisons but then did not discuss or inform the rest of the board of anything until a few days ago. She never set up any of listening sessions that she wanted and now we are here. The Town Manager made a decision around January 11th and since then, Mr. Halsey has tried to get this on the agenda but the Chair intentionally slowed the process but taking it off the agenda every time for no good reason at all. Now we are here talking about this at 10 pm in the evening during the last meeting before the election to try and slow roll and keep Mr. Halsey out of this decision. This is so disrespectful to the Police Department and everyone in this room. The Chair intentionally worded this agenda item tonight so that they could not vote tonight; with that being said he must agree with Ms. Landry and welcome her suggestion to create another meeting date before the election and vote this immediately. The Chair also refused to allow anyone to speak to anyone on the selection committee also slowing down this process because the rest of the board would like to hear their thoughts but haven’t been able to. Mr. Friedmann then asked the Chair Ms. Alvarado how she felt about being thrown under the bus right there. He then said he felt intimidated by all the police officers in this room who drive around in the town he has to live in, with guns all day. At this point, all many of the police officers in the room and most much of the audience got up and left the meeting. Ms. Alvarado then noted she is disappointed in the board’s and Town Manager’s actions in this. She explained we can try and find a date to hold a public forum and vote but she doesn’t think it can be done in two weeks before the election. Ms. Landry explained that hearing our own Police Officers say they think the board does not care about them really hurts and she feels we need to show them they are importantwe hear and respect them and vote this soon. Ms. Alvarado noted the board has not been involved in the process as much as she wanted. She then asked if the board was okay approving a candidate not knowing who else is out there. She feels the board is being unfairly asked to vote on one person with serious concerns being raised about the process. She explained they can either vote the only candidate or request a new process and start over. Mr. Dockser noted he is uncomfortable sitting voting here tonight without more information. Mr. Friedmann agreed with Mr. Dockser but also noted hearing the Police tonight say that morale is dropping in the department because they are down a position is upsetting. Mr. Friedmann asked what would happen if they voted to deny the appointment. Ms. Alvarado noted they are now being asked to rush the process and next week is school vacation so it is hard for her and others to meet. The board discussed ways to reach out to the massestheir networks and the public to inform them of the upcoming meetings. Mr. Friedmann wanted to take a minute and note that Police can be intimidating at time and he believes he probably offended every officer in the room with his previous comments but police can be intimidating by the nature of their jobs. He asked that the Deputy Chief that he spoke in the heat of the moment when he was feeling intimidated he and spoke too harshly. The Deputy Chief indicated that he should not worry as the Reading Police Department is one of the most professional police departments in the state and perhaps the country. Mr. Friedmann indicated concern we would have a bad relationship with the Police Department were we to vote nohe is concerned what would happen if the board voted to deny the appointment. Mr. Dockser feels the board e board does need to move this further but the board also needs to feel comfortable with their decision too and there may be opportunities to provide coaching or comment prior to a vote. The board checked their calendars and decided on the following meetings to continue the Police Chief discussion: February 19th at 7:30 PM for the public listening session February 26th at 7:30 PM for the board to finish their discussion and vote. Mr. Dockser move to approve the meeting minutes of January 7 th, 2020. The motion was seconded by Mr. Halsey and approved with a 5-0 vote. Mr. Dockser noted he feels some of the board’s comments tonight got out of hand and he thinks they need to do better. Mr. Dockser moved to adjourn at 11:43 PM. The motion was seconded by Mr. Friedmann and approved with a 5-0 vote. Vanessa Alvarado called the meeting to order. She noted she asked moderator Alan Foulds to help run the meeting tonight. Mr. Foulds laid out the ground rules for the meeting and asked people to keep their comments to the agenda topic and no personal comments towards any specific board members. The topic of the evening was to gather the public’s thoughts on what qualities they want to see in their Police Chief. Eilleen Litterio, 22 Deborah Drive, was first up to speak. She noted she supports Deputy Chief Clark and would like to see him appointed to Chief. She would also like to see continuation of the citizens police academy, where you can learn about the situations police find themselves in necessitating. She supports the the police carrying guns. She and feels any member of the Select Board who expresses bias and prejudice toward the RPD feels differently should recuse themselves. GeoJeffrey Coram, 31 Ridge Road, noted he and his family supports have had very positive interactions with Deputy Chief Clark. He acknowledged that a selection process needs to be thorough to prevent people from indicating someone got a job because he had an “in.” He hand hopes any Chief this town gets will keep School Resource Officers in the schools. He also noted he is satisfied with the way this process was conducted but indicated that had he been on the Board and had received the first update in what was provided in the packet, he would not have been prepared to vote. . John Lippittuca thanked the board for having this public forum. He has had very positive experiences with the Police. He would like to see electric police cars and increase the diversity in the department. He hopes Chief Clark will continue the Department’s efforts to prevent stops for “driving while black.” He would like to see a commitment to openness and public participation. Kerry from Longfellow Road, would like the Police Chief to be active in the community and honest. She noted she supports the Town Manager’s decision. Laura Wilson from Baystate Road thanked the board for having this forum. She has met a few officers and explained how understanding they were while dealing with her autistic son. She hopes the Department will continue its work with new human relations group to support not only with her disabled children but with anyone who may not have every advantage. Bill Brown noted there is no reason we should be here tonight. He indicated iIt is the Town Manager’s job to pick the Police Chief. He said iIt is time for the Select Board to abide by the Charter, do their job, and ratify his decision. Jamie Maughn, 263 Woburn Street, thanked the board for holding this meeting although he wishes it was done earlier. Reading has a fine Police Department and we should learn from the State PD and the big scandal they just had through drawing from outside the department and having more civilian oversight. He described both positive and negative experiences with the Department. John Sullivan thanked the board for providing the opportunity for public comment and noted this is a big decision meriting time and attention. He would like to see the bike helmet pizza coupon program continue. He also hopes the new Chief keeps the town informed, allows for oversight, and and takes constructive criticism. Mike Monahan, Bancroft Ave, encouraged the board to unanimously appoint David Clark to Chief tonight. An Karen Clarke of Ash Street resident was recently impressed with the tour of the Police Department the local girl scout troop got and the compassion and sensitivity one of the officers demonstrated to a child whose family member had been involved in the criminal justice system. . She hopes the future Police Chief will enforce the attitude of trust between residents and officers. Chuck Robinson applauded the thorough process and noted he was one of the citizens picked to attend the assessment center. Deputy Chief Clark stood above everyone else and he fully supports the Town Manager’s decision to hire him. Alan Beaulieuoulier noted he lived here 53 years and this is the first time he’s ever seen a public forum used to influence our decision offor what a Police Chief should be. A Police Chief needs to be someone who is calm, puts community goals over personal goals and he fully supports Chief Clark. James Bonazoli, 100 Grove Street, noted he would like the Chief to be someone who can work with administration. He thinks that was proven when Clark stepped in unexpectedly and has been running the department ever since. He also thinks a Chief is someone who is respected by his department; last week’s turnout at the board meeting proves that to be true for Clark also. He fully supports the Town Manager’s decision to hire Clark. Bob Hayes of Pearl Street, noted he’s been here 60 years and known many officers and Chiefs. He would like to see the new Chief have roots in this community. Someone who is vested in this community and someone whose kids go to school in this community. David Clark is the person for this job. Vote tonight. Barry Berman, 54 Longview Road, noted he was involved in the last Police Chief search and explained how intense and thorough that process is. When his son wanted to do a project about the police they let him do ride alongs and he created an impressive video called ‘Behind Blue Lights’. He fully endorses Deputy Chief Clark. John Friedas from Howard Street who is also a retired firefighter from a surrounding community wanted to know why we are here tonight. Clark has been doing the job for a while now and he came out on top in the assessment center. Angela Binda, 110 Orchard Park Drive, noted she has had positive experiencesd with the Police Department here and has heard good things about Clark. She is thankful for the thorough process, which is particularly important with an inside candidate, and the Town Manager’s decision. She also appreciates the Select Board being thorough and she looks forward to the appointment of the new Chief. Sasha Corken, aA Franklin Street resident,. expressed their gratitude to the Police Department for their patience in this process but this is an important decision and position and merits a thorough process. SheThey noted she they hasve had good positive reactions with the police department and shethey hopes the helmet program continues. Nancy Docktor, 371 Pearl Street, thanked the board for having this and hopes this process continues in the future with public input. She hopes the next Chief thinks about hiring a psychiatric social worker for the department. Demetra Tseckares, 106 Oak Street, noted the new Chief should keep the RAD classes going. She also noted she wish this session happened earlier. She thinks the process is fine but does think a public hearing session is necessary. She thanked the PD for their dealings with her family. Kevin Riley of A Beacon Street resident noted he is an officer in a surrounding town and explained they just went through this process in the town he works in and it was much quicker than this. He explained that officers will start to leave if this appointment doesn’t happen soon. Clark is the Deputy Chief for a reason, it’s time to make him Chief. Chris Dallas from Governors Drive also noted he is an officer in a surrounding town and they would be so lucky to have Clark as our Chief. He has a good reputation not just in Reading but in surrounding town departments as well. Linda Snow Dockser, 110 Beaver Road, explained she thinks this session was good to hear what the residents want in a Chief. She noted Clark is wonderful and the RAD program is great. She hopes the board ratifies the Town Manager’s decision. She also hopes the new Chief continues to work with the ad-hoc Human Rights Committee. Charles Moran from Vale Road noted he wants a Chief that is professional no matter what. He thinks Clark proved that last week at the last meeting with his response after certain comments were made towards the officers. Cindy Damen-Bach from Gould Street is glad that this forum happened and she came tonight, as she did not expect this to be simply an endorsement. She would like a Chief who doesn’t assume they know everything. She hopes the RAD program continues. It sounds like by everyone’s comments tonight that Deputy Clark will be a great Chief. Amy Cole of Bartlett Circle noted she appreciated this session. She feels confident in Clark based on personal interactions but it is nice to hear everyone else’s confidence in him as well. Ms. Alvarado thanked everyone for their feedback tonight. She then readreferred the public to a timeline of how the process has unfolded up to this point provided by the Town Manager in the packet for this evening. She indicated that her priority had been to allow her colleagues to ask questions in an open session. Ms. Landry committed to working with everyone to rebuilt community trust and thanked the Reading Police Department for their patienceservice and fio the care and professionalism with which they carry out their duties. She reminded the board of the ethics training they get and how they should lead by exampledraft protocol they had received but not voted at a staff retreat to speak with care and respect. She thinks that can serve the board well tonight and going forward. Mr. Dockser noted the Town Manager didn’t give the board a memo until January 31st and at that time he did not feel comfortable voting yet without public participation. He thinks had expected the board wshould have been able to interview all the candidates or at least the final iststhree. He also thinks they needed much more public participation. The board and town failed this process he stated but the board did not get to talk about this until the last meeting. He is disappointed in us as the community leadersmembers and the board members. Since the meeting on February 11th, he has been able to gain more information relative to the process and candidate- the information he needed to make a decision. He is disappointed in a lack of civility demonstrated on the Board and in the community Vanessa is a good Chair and Andy made a mistake. He urged us to move forward as neighbors. He apologized for his mistake and it is time to move forward. Mr. Dockser moved to ratify the Town Manager’s decision and appoint Dave Clark as Chief of Police. The motion was seconded by Mr. Halsey. Ms. Alvarado thanked Chief Clark for his leadership and professionalism that has allowed the Department to keep the community safe. She indicated that Chief Clark had clearly risen to the top after a rigorous process. Ms. Landry noted she spoke with the remaining members of selection committee for this process and it was clear that Clark is the Chief and leader Reading now needsbest for this job. She is pleasedroud to support him becoming Chief. The board voted 5-0 on the motion. Formatted: Superscript Mr. Dockser moved to adjourn at 8:51 PM, with a second from Mr. Friedmann the board adjourned with a 5-0 vote. 1 Saunders, Caitlin From:Dockser, Mark Sent:Monday, May 11, 2020 6:51 AM To:Saunders, Caitlin Subject:Re: Minutes Attachments:2020-02-11 SB Mins_MD_comments.doc; 2020-04-08 SB Mins_MD comments.doc; 2020-04-01 SB Mins_MD comments.doc; 2020-02-19 SB Mins_MD comments.doc Hi Caitlin, Attached are my suggested changes to 4 of the minutes that you sent out. I was not able to put them into change tracking mode so I made my changes in red. Thanks, Mark On May 7, 2020, at 3:53 PM, Saunders, Caitlin <csaunders@ci.reading.ma.us> wrote: Hi All, In an attempt to make the minutes discussion easier and quicker, here are the word docs for the minutes I had already created before our discussion last week. The board discussed doing redline versions to track members edits. If you have edits for any of the attached minutes, please send me your redline version by noon time Monday. The agenda and packet for next week’s meeting will go out Monday afternoon. Thank you, Caitlin Saunders Executive Assistant Town of Reading 16 Lowell Street Reading, MA 01867 781-942-6644 csaunders@ci.reading.ma.us Town Hall Hours: Mon, Wed, Thurs 7:30 am – 5:30 pm Tues 7:30 am – 7:00 pm Friday - CLOSED <2020-02-04 SB Mins.doc><2020-02-11 SB Mins.doc><2020-02-19 SB Mins.doc><2020-04-01 SB Mins.doc><2020-04-08 SB Mins.doc> 2 Town of Reading Meeting Minutes Page | 1 2016-09-22 LAG Board - Committee - Commission - Council: Select Board Date: 2020-02-11 Time: 7:00 PM Building: Reading Town Hall Location: Select Board Meeting Room Address: 16 Lowell Street Session: Open Session Purpose: General Business Version: Draft Attendees: Members - Present: Vanessa Alvarado, John Halsey, Anne Landry, Mark Dockser, Andy Friedmann Members - Not Present: Others Present: Town Manager Bob LeLacheur, Alice Collins, Dan Ensminger, John Arena, Derek Holmes, Rich Abate, Allen Boyer, Erica MacNamara, Michelle Sanphy, Justin Martel, Susan Craven, Pete Commounduros, Bill Brown, John Lippitt, Donna Beaulieu, Rick Nelson Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: Caitlin Saunders Topics of Discussion: Vanessa Alvarado called the meeting to order at 7 PM. Liaison Reports Ms. Alvarado started off the meeting by thanking John Halsey for his years of service on the board. Mr. Halsey noted he had his monthly visit to the senior center recently. He would really like if the board would continue with his ‘office hour’ going forward. He usually goes the second Tuesday of the month at 11 am. Ms. Alvarado noted the Saturday goal meeting was very productive and she would like to continue having those meetings. Town Manager’s Report Mr. LeLacheur noted there is a ‘New Resident Open House’ planned for April 7 th. Congressman Moulten will be in town on February 29th. He also noted he has no update from Town Counsel on the former Daniel’s House yet. Public Comment Bill Brown noted on June 14th they will be recognizing Frank Driscoll. John Lippitt from 23 Mineral Street wanted to comment on the Police Chief process noting the candidates should have been interviewed in public for anyone to attend. He also thinks the public should be allowed to see their resumes and how they were rated in the assessment center. He feels the board needs to make everything public and get more information before they vote on a new chief. Page | 2 Allen Boyer noted his opposite opinion. The assessment center gave their recommendation. The public doesn’t need to know any more than that. The board should be satisfied with that and they should vote to approve that person. Deputy Chief Clark has been acting Chief for over a year, its time to make it official. Pete Coumounduros echoed the previous statement noting it is time to put this to bed and appoint a Police Chief. Rich Abate, Reading resident and Lt. Detective at the Reading Police Department explained the morale at the Police Department is down without an official head of the department. With Clark as acting Chief it is like they are down two positions. The department really needs an official Chief for the department to run optimally. He and many officers are here tonight to urge the board to formally appoint a Chief. Dan Ensminger, Reading resident and former Select Board member, asked the board to proceed on this tonight and vote a new Chief immediately. It has been far too long without one. Rick Nelson of Vine Street explained how disturbing it is that there hasn’t been a Chief for this long. It is very unsettling that the board has not taken action yet. Justin Martel, Reading Police Officer, wants to know more about the process the board decided on to lead to this long delay of appointment. The Chair noted there would be time for more public comment on the Police Chief topic during the actual agenda item later in the evening. Final Proposal from Ad-hoc Human Rights Committee Ms. Landry explained their proposal is for an organization set up like RCASA and housed in the library. It would have a board of directors with an interim board or advisory board set up initially to get everything in order. They also want a full-time staff person. Mr. Friedmann explained the Ad-Hoc committee is now asking the full Select Board if they can reach out to the library director to gauge their interest in this new board and staff person being under the library. Mr. Halsey felt it is a lot to ask for a full-time staff person right now when their next agenda item is to talk about the RMLD payment to the town being cut significantly which is going to impact our budget. Ms. Alvarado thanked Ms. Landry and Mr. Friedmann and everyone on the ad-hoc for their participation to get us this far. The board agreed that Ms. Landry and Mr. Friedmann could and should reach out to the Library trustees to move forward. RMLD Payment to the Town Discussion Mr. Dockser explained to the board he came up with four options for the CAB to consider. Mr. Halsey noted a lot of these options are based on consumption and maybe there is a way to base it off of the rates. Ms. Alvarado agreed an option based on rates with a revenue consideration would be good to look at too. Mr. Friedmann asked if the CAB would be willing to have a meeting with the board before they vote. The board then authorized Mr. Dockser to include some options based on revenue/rates and then present these options to the RMLD Commissioners at their upcoming meeting. Town Manager’s Review Page | 3 The board had each individually reviewed the Town Manager and sent their responses to the Human Resources Director. She then compiled all the responses into one document that is seen here tonight. The board went through each category and explained anything they felt necessary while the Town Manager made comments when he felt necessary. Police Chief Hiring Process Ms. Alvarado noted they will start this agenda topic off with more public comment and then they will close public comment while the board discusses. Donna Beaulieu noted she is disappointed it has taken so long to appoint a Police Chief but notes she is optimistic the board will move forward with appointing David Clark without any further delay. Lt. Detective Rich Abate asked why this agenda item is just an update and discussion on the process. He noted the board approved the process and was a part of the assessment center that happened back in November. The department hasn’t had a Chief in over a year, it is time to officially appoint someone. He explained this is putting a drain on the department and employee morale when people keep asking them what is going on with the appointment and assuming their department is dysfunctional because of it. Detective Derek Holmes noted he is disheartened to hear the board is not voting tonight after a long process. He asked the board what other matters were more crucial than filing this position the past few months. Erica MacNamara, RCASA Director, noted herself and a number of members of the Police Department are here tonight to support Deputy Chief Clark. It is time to get this done. Michelle Sanphy wanted to know why she heard about this at a meeting last night and not from a member of the board. Justin Martel, Reading Police Officer, explained he read through the meeting packet which entailed the process for this appointment. It seems everything has been done and is in order and asked what the hold up is. Susan Craven noted she has never recalled such a long period of time for an appointment like this to be made. Pete Coumounduros noted he is ashamed the board has taken so long to do this and urged not to wait any longer. Deputy Chief Clark is more than qualified for this position. John Arena commented that this board owes the community an explanation on why this hasn’t happened yet. He explained if the board is unhappy with the current leadership at the Police Department then they should at least state that and explain. He noted there is no reason to delay this vote into March or even for another second. Town Manager Bob LeLacheur then took a few minutes to explain the lengthy process that was taken to determine a viable candidate for Police Chief. The board voted on this process early fall last year and two members were even involved and at the assessment center. The board pushed for ‘resident participation’, which has never been done before, and a few residents were selected and present at the assessment center. After the assessment center it is the Town Manager’s job to pick a candidate and bring his selection to the board to vote on. Mr. LeLacheur made his pick back in the beginning of January. Mr. Friedmann asked why the meeting packet was not posted online on Thursday like normal. It was noted the Chair, Ms. Alvarado, instructed staff not to put it online for the public until she withdrew certain information regarding the Police Chief topic that she did not want the public to see yet. Page | 4 Mr. Friedmann then noted that this is the first opportunity the board has had to address the process and the board does think it is important. He noted his concerns about the process are the Town Manager only bringing one candidate forward and not giving them options. They also didn’t get a chance to hold a public forum and ask what qualities the public wants in a Police Chief. Ms. Landry suggested reconvening at a time certain while Mr. Halsey is still on the board to vote. Mr. Dockser felt the structure and process were awkward even though the board voted on said process. He also noted he hasn’t heard from two members of the selection committee about their thoughts. The Town Manager noted the Chair Ms. Alvarado instructed him in late January not allow any of the members of the selection committee to talk to anyone. Mr. Halsey noted the Charter states the Town Manager brings forth one candidate for the board to ratify or not. The board does not get options; it is not the board’s job, it is the Town Manager’s job. The Chair, Ms. Alvarado, felt it would be best for her to be involved instead of the two Public Safety Liaisons but then did not discuss or inform the rest of the board of anything until a few days ago. She never set up any of listening sessions that she wanted and now we are here. The Town Manager made a decision around January 11th and since then, Mr. Halsey has tried to get this on the agenda but the Chair intentionally slowed the process but taking it off the agenda every time for no good reason at all. Now we are here talking about this at 10 pm in the evening during the last meeting before the election to try and slow roll and keep Mr. Halsey out of this decision. This is so disrespectful to the Police Department and everyone in this room. The Chair intentionally worded this agenda item tonight so that they could not vote tonight; with that being said he must agree with Ms. Landry and welcome her suggestion to create another meeting date before the election and vote this immediately. The Chair also refused to allow anyone to speak to anyone on the selection committee also slowing down this process because the rest of the board would like to hear their thoughts but haven’t been able to. Mr. Friedmann then asked the Chair Ms. Alvarado how she felt about being thrown under the bus right there. He then said he felt intimidated by all the police officers in this room . He further noted that police who drive around in the town he has to live in, with guns all day. At this point, all the police officers in the room and most of the audience got up and left the meeting. Ms. Alvarado then noted she is disappointed in the board’s and Town Manager’s actions in this. She explained we can try and find a date to hold a public forum and vote but she doesn’t think it can be done in two weeks before the election. Ms. Landry explained that hearing our own Police Officers say they think the board does not care about them really hurts and she feels we need to show them they are important and vote this soon. Ms. Alvarado noted the board has not been involved in the process as much as she wanted. She then asked if the board was okay approving a candidate not knowing who else is out there. She feels the board is being unfairly asked to vote on one person with serious concerns being raised about the process. She explained they can either vote the only candidate or request a new process and start over. Mr. Dockser noted he is uncomfortable sitting here tonight without more information. Mr. Friedmann agreed with Mr. Dockser but also noted hearing the Police tonight say that morale is dropping in the department because they are down a position is upsetting. Mr. Friedmann asked what would happen if they voted to deny the appointment. Page | 5 Ms. Alvarado noted they are now being asked to rush the process and next week is school vacation so it is hard for her to meet. The board discussed ways to reach out to the masses to inform them of the upcoming meetings. Mr. Friedmann wanted to step back his words take a minute and note that Police can be intimidating at times and he believes he probably offended every officer in the room with his previous comments but he is concerned what would happen if the board voted to deny the appointment. Mr. Dockser feels the board does need to move this further ahead swiftly but the board also needs to feel comfortable with their decision too. The board checked their calendars and decided on the following meetings to continue the Police Chief discussion: February 19th at 7:30 PM for the public listening session February 26th at 7:30 PM for the board to finish their discussion and vote. Mr. Dockser move to approve the meeting minutes of January 7 th, 2020. The motion was seconded by Mr. Halsey and approved with a 5-0 vote. Mr. Dockser noted he feels some of the board’s comments tonight got out of hand and he thinks they need to do better. Mr. Dockser moved to adjourn at 11:43 PM. The motion was seconded by Mr. Friedmann and approved with a 5-0 vote. Town of Reading Meeting Minutes Page | 1 2016-09-22 LAG Board - Committee - Commission - Council: Select Board Date: 2020-02-19 Time: 7:40 PM Building: School - Memorial High Location: Performing Arts Center Address: 62 Oakland Road Session: Open Session Purpose: General Business Version: Draft Attendees: Members - Present: John Halsey, Anne Landry, Andy Friedmann, Mark Dockser, Vanessa Alvarado Members - Not Present: Others Present: Please see the attached 10 pages of signature sign-ins Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: Topics of Discussion: Vanessa Alvarado called the meeting to order. She noted she asked moderator Alan Foulds to help run the meeting tonight. Mr. Foulds laid out the ground rules for the meeting and asked people to keep their comments to the agenda topic and no personal comments towards any specific board members. The topic of the evening was to gather the publics thoughts on what qualities they want to see in their Police Chief. Eilleen Litterio, 22 Deborah Drive, was first up to speak. She noted she supports Deputy Chief Clark and would like to see him appointed to Chief. She would also like to see continuation of the citizens police academy. She supports the police carrying guns and feels any member of the Select Board who feels differently should recuse themselves. Jeffrey Coram, 31 Ridge Road, noted he supports Clark and hopes any Chief this town gets will keep School Resource Officers in the schools. He also noted he is satisfied with the way this process was conducted. John Luca thanked the board for having this public forum. He has had very positive experiences with the Police. He would like to see electric police cars and increase the diversity in the department. Kerry from Longfellow Road, would like the Police Chief to be active in the community and honest. She noted she supports the Town Manager’s decision. Laura Wilson from Baystate Road thanked the board for having this. She has met a few officers and explained how understanding they were while dealing with her autistic son. Page | 2 Bill Brown noted there is no reason we should be here tonight. It is the Town Managers job to pick the Police Chief. It is time for the Select Board to abide by the Charter, do their job, and ratify his decision. Jamie Maughn, 263 Woburn Street, thanked the board for holding this meeting although he wishes it was done earlier. Reading has a fine Police Department and we should learn from the State PD and the big scandal they just had. John Sullivan thanked the board and noted this is a big decision. He would like to see the bike helmet pizza coupon program continue. He also hopes the new Chief keeps the town informed and takes constructive criticism. Mike Monahan, Bancroft Ave, encouraged the board to unanimously appoint David Clark to Chief tonight. An Ash Street resident was recently impressed with the tour of the Police Department the local girl scout troop got. Chuck Robinson applauded the thorough process and noted he was one of the citizens picked to attend the assessment center. Deputy Chief Clark stood above everyone else and he fully supports the Town Manager’s decision to hire him. Alan Beaulieu noted he lived here 53 years and this is the first time he’s ever seen a public forum used to influence our decision of a Police Chief. A Police Chief needs to be someone who is calm, puts community goals over personal goals and he fully supports Chief Clark. James Bonazoli, 100 Grove Street, noted he would like the Chief to be someone who can work with administration. He thinks that was proven when Clark stepped in unexpectedly and has been running the department ever since. He also thinks a Chief is someone who is respected by his department; last weeks turnout at the board meeting proves that to be true for Clark also. He fully supports the Town Manager’s decision to hire Clark. Bob Hayes of Pearl Street, noted he’s been here 60 years and known many officers and Chiefs. He would like to see the new Chief have roots in this community. Someone who is vested in this community and someone whose kids go to school in this community. David Clark is the person for this job. Vote tonight. Barry Berman, 54 Longview Road, noted he was involved in the last Police Chief search and explained how intense and thorough that process is. When his son wanted to do a project about the police they let him do ride alongs and he created an impressive video called ‘Behind Blue Lights’. He fully endorses Deputy Chief Clark. John Friedas from Howard Street who is also a retired firefighter from a surrounding community wanted to know why we are here tonight. Clark has been doing the job for a while now and he came out on top in the assessment center. Angela Binda, 110 Orchard Park Drive, noted she has had positive experienced with the Police Department here and has heard good things about Clark. She is thankful for the thorough process and the Town Manager’s decision and she looks forward to the appointment of the new Chief. A Franklin Street resident expressed their gratitude to the Police Department for their patience in this process but this is an important decision. They noted they have had good positive reactions with the police department and they hope the helmet program continues. Nancy Docktor, 371 Pearl Street, thanked the board for having this and hopes this process continues in the future with public input. She hopes the next Chief thinks about hiring a psychiatric social worker for the department. Page | 3 Demetra Tseckares, 106 Oak Street, noted the new Chief should keep the RAD classes going. She also noted she wish this session happened earlier. She thinks the process is fine but does think a public hearing session is necessary. She thanked the PD for their dealings with her family. A Beacon Street resident noted he is an officer in a surrounding town and explained they just went through this process in the town he works in and it was much quicker than this. He explained that officers will start to leave if this appointment doesn’t happen soon. Clark is the Deputy Chief for a reason, it’s time to make him Chief. Chris Dallas from Governors Drive also noted he is an officer in a surrounding town and they would be so lucky to have Clark as our Chief. He has a good reputation not just in Reading but in surrounding town departments as well. Linda Snow Dockser, 110 Beaver Road, explained she thinks this session was good to hear what the residents want in a Chief. She noted Clark is wonderful and the RAD program is great. She hopes the board ratifies the Town Manager’s decision. She also hopes the new Chief continues to work with the ad-hoc Human Rights Committee. Charles Moran from Vale Road noted he wants a Chief that is professional no matter what. He thinks Clark proved that last week at the last meeting with his response after certain comments were made towards the officers. Cindy from Gould Street would like a Chief who doesn’t assume they know everything. She hopes the RAD program continues. It sounds like by everyone’s comments tonight that Deputy Clark will be a great Chief. Amy noted she appreciated this session. She feels confident in Clark based on personal interactions but it is nice to hear everyone else’s confidence in him as well. Ms. Alvarado thanked everyone for their feedback tonight. She then read a timeline of how the process has unfolded up to this point. Ms. Landry thanked the Reading Police Department for their patience. She reminded the board of the ethics training they get and how they should lead by example. She thinks that can serve the board well going forward. Mr. Dockser noted the Town Manager didn’t give the board a memo until January 31st and at that time he did not feel comfortable voting yet. He thinks the board should have been able to interview all the candidates or at least the final three. He also thinks they needed much more public participation. The board and town failed this process he stated but the board did not get to talk about this until the last meeting. He is disappointed that the process did not allow for more participation sooner and more information sooner. He expressed disappointment in himself and his fellow board members for not making this happen. in the community members and the board members. Vanessa is has been a good Chair and Andy made a mistake. He apologized for his mistake and it is time to move forward. Mr. Dockser moved to ratify the Town Manager’s decision and appoint Dave Clark as Chief of Police. The motion was seconded by Mr. Halsey. Ms. Alvarado thanked Chief Clark. Ms. Landry noted she spoke with the selection committee for this process and it was clear that Clark is best for this job. She is proud to support him becoming Chief. The board voted 5-0 on the motion. Mr. Dockser moved to adjourn at 8:51 PM, with a second from Mr. Friedmann the board adjourned with a 5-0 vote. Town of Reading Meeting Minutes Page | 1 2016-09-22 LAG Board - Committee - Commission - Council: Select Board Date: 2020-04-01 Time: 7:00 PM Building: Location: Address: Session: Open Session Purpose: General Business Version: Draft Attendees: Members - Present: Mark Dockser, Anne Landry, Carlo Bacci, Vanessa Alvarado, Karen Herrick Members - Not Present: Others Present: Town Manager Bob LeLacheur, Fire Chief Greg Burns, Police Chief David Clark, Assistant Town Manager Jean Delios, Superintendent of Schools John Doherty, RMLD General Manager Coleen O'Brien, DPW Director Jane Kinsella, Facilities Director Joe Huggins, Library Director Amy Lannon, Administrative Services Director Matt Kraunelis, Health Nurse Kerry Valle, Board of Health Chair Emmy Dove, Business Administrator Jayne Miller, Economic Development Director Erin Schaeffer, Reverand Jamie Michaels, Veterans Agent Kevin Bohmiller Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: Caitlin Saunders Topics of Discussion: This meeting was held remotely on Zoom. Chair Mark Dockser called the meeting to order just after 7:00 PM. The meeting started off with a COVID-19 update from the Town Manager. Mr. LeLacheur explained that himself and the ICS, Incident Command System, started meeting the end of January when COVID-19 was still in China. The ISC is comprised of staff from every department in town including both Police and Fire Chiefs, DPW Director, Facilities Director, RMLD General Manager, Facilities Director and many other staff and department heads from the town departments. Chief Burns then gave the board an explanation of how the ICS has been handling the situation and making decisions. Emmy Dove gave an update from the Board of Health side of things. She noted the Board of Health has met 18 times since March. They have closed town buildings to the public, they have closed courts and fields, they have closed salons. They have voted on a temporary ban on door to door solicitations in town and they voted on a local state of emergency. She noted we had been using Malden’s nurse for help but she won’t be able to help anymore. Her biggest concern is the lack of nurses currently trained in MAVEN. Mr. LeLacheur explained the new nurse should be able to get on MAVEN soon. Ms. Delios noted she has submitted all her paperwork for the system and they are just waiting on the state to approve it all and then she can get right on. Page | 2 Ms. Alvarado asked why we couldn’t ask our old nurse to come back. Police Chief Clark wanted to let everyone know the Police are still working and here for the town when needed. They have changed the way they operate and use the building but they are still on shift as normal and will be answering calls if you need them. Superintendent of Schools Dr. Doherty noted the schools have transitioned into virtual learning and administrative staff are working hard to make sure all students have the technology they need to continue to learn at home and meals if needed. Ms. Dowd noted they are doing grab n’ go lunches for students who depended on school for food. Administrative staff are working on school packets for all students to keep learning at home. Mr. LeLacheur then explained how Town Hall has changed their operations. He noted a significant amount of staff are set up and working from home. There are a limited amount of staff in the building at one time and only in the building when they need to be. They have temporarily shortened the hours the building is open for staff as well. Most services are continuing just transitioning to an electronic communication and issuance. General Manager Coleen O’Brien noted RMLD is still maintaining full operations. The business office is closed but the control room is still answering all calls. She also explained if anyone is struggling to make payments to please visit the website and they can work with you to set up a payment plan. Mr. LeLacheur noted there have been new emails and phone numbers created to help people with COVID-19 issues/questions. There also is a whole page on the website created for information related to COVID-19 and town operations. He urged people to please NOT call 911 to ask what businesses are open or not; that is not an emergency and dispatchers need to be available to answer emergency calls. Library Director Amy Lannon noted she and her staff are figuring out how much they can do online. The building is closed to the public so they are working on how to convert as many services to online as possible. Facilities Director Joe Huggins noted his staff is on a rotating schedule now. They are focused on deep cleaning all the town buildings, town vehicles and DPW garage. DPW Director Jane Kinsella noted her employees are on rotating schedule as well so that only half the staff is on duty at a time. Business Administrator Jayne Miller noted she has been attending the command meetings and keeping the town website and Facebook page up to date with any and all COVID-19 communications. Ms. Herrick asked if there were options for staff to be tested. Mr. LeLacheur noted there is not at this time but if for any reason an employee feels sick or feels they were exposed, they are asked to stay home. The buildings are cleaned nightly and deep cleaned every weekend and equipped with sanitizer and wipes for employees to use during the day if they are in the building. The comment about people still gathering at parks and recreational area was brought up and DPW Director Jane Kinsella informed the board that the basketball hoops were being zip tied to discourage play. Ms. Dove noted there are 31 cases in Reading as of today. Ms. Landry thanked the staff and Emmy for all their hard work. John Stempeck from the RMLD Board asked if there was more we can do to be proactive. Page | 3 Mr. LeLacheur noted the police do not have the capability to police all the fields/courts 24/7 so it would be really helpful if parents could explain to their kids that they should be social distancing and not playing at the parks. Economic Development Director Erin Schaeffer explained how she has been reaching out to the local businesses. She also set up a page on the website for business help and resources for them to access. Rev. Jamie Michaels explained the food pantry schedule how they plan to hand out food. The best donations right now are grocery store gift cards. The board decided to vote to declare a local state of emergency. Mr. Bacci read the following motion: DECLARATION OF EMERGENCY WHEREAS, the 2019 novel Coronavirus ("COVID-19") is a highly contagious, serious, and sometimes fatal respiratory disease with no vaccine and no treatment other than symptomatic support; WHEREAS, COVID-19 has been declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern by the World Health Organization; WHEREAS, on March 10, 2020, the Governor declared a State of Emergency to mobilize the Commonwealth's resources needed to address this public health crisis; WHEREAS, on March 13, 2020, the President of the United States declared a National Emergency to Similarly mobilize national resources; WHEREAS, on March 23, 2020, the Governor issued an emergency order requiring all businesses and organizations that do not provide "COVID-19 Essential Services" to close their physical workplaces and facilities to workers, customers and the public as of Tuesday, March 24th at noon until Tuesday, April 7th at noon; WHEREAS, on March 25,2020, the Governor issued an emergency order modifying prior orders to extend the time that schools and non-emergency day-care facilities shall be closed until May 4, 2020; WHEREAS, the Governor has issued various additional emergency orders on different dates substantially altering the operations of state and local government in response to the COVID-19 public health emergency; WHEREAS, the residents and businesses of Reading are in immediate and serious risk of suffering personal and financial losses as a result of COVID-19' s current and ongoing threat to public health and safety; and WHEREAS, the ordinary resources of Reading are expected to be insufficient to meet the needs of its residents and businesses in coping with the public health, safety, and economic impacts of COVID-19; THEREFORE, the Select Board, pursuant to its authority under Section 4.7.4.1 of the Massachusetts Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan (January 2019) and any other applicable law, hereby declares a State of Emergency in the Town of Reading as a result of the threat of COVID-19 as recognized by global, national, and state health officials. Page | 4 The Town Manager shall appoint an Emergency Management Director (EMD). The EMD shall work with other local officials and representatives of state and national emergency personnel to direct all necessary or appropriate action, including but not limited to directing evacuations, opening shelters, mobilizing local resources, activating mutual aid agreements, requesting state and national assistance, and seeking appropriation of funds for all such actions. This declaration of a State of Emergency is effective immediately and shall remain in effect until it is rescinded by the Select Board or the Governor's declaration of emergency is rescinded, whichever comes first. The motion was seconded by Ms. Landry and passed with the following roll call vote: Alvarado – Yes; Herrick – Yes; Bacci – Yes; Landry – Yes; Dockser – Yes. The board then decided to temporarily ban door-to-door soliciting. Mr. Bacci read the following motion: EMERGENCY ORDER PROHIBITING DOOR-TO-DOOR SOLICITATION AND CANVASSING WHEREAS, the 2019 novel Coronavirus (“COVID-19”) is a highly contagious, serious, and sometimes fatal respiratory disease with no vaccine and no treatment other than symptomatic support; WHEREAS, on March 10, 2020, the Governor declared a State of Emergency to mobilize the Commonwealth’s resources needed to address this public health crisis; WHEREAS, on March 23, 2020, the Governor issued an emergency order requiring all businesses and organizations that do not provide “COVID-19 Essential Services” to close their physical workplaces and facilities to workers, customers and the public as of Tuesday, March 24th at noon until Tuesday, April 7th at noon, unless further extended; WHEREAS, on March 24, 2020, the Department of Public Health issued a Stay-at-Home Advisory for individuals over 70 and for those with underlying health conditions; WHEREAS, on March 25, 2020, the Governor issued an emergency order modifying prior orders to extend the time that schools and non-emergency day-care facilities shall be closed until May 4, 2020; WHEREAS, on April 1, 2020, the Reading Select declared a State of Emergency in the Town of Reading as a result of the threat of COVID-19; WHEREAS, door-to-door solicitations creates an unnecessary face-to-face situation for residents who are home in unusual numbers due to the closure of schools and businesses, possibly endangering the health of residents, particularly those subject to the stay-at-home advisory, and by extension, the community; THEREFORE, the Select Board and the Board of Health, pursuant to the powers and authority provided to and vested in them by the declarations described above, and all relevant state laws and lawful authority including M.G.L. c.111, §104, do hereby issue this EMERGENCY ORDER: All door-to-door solicitation and canvassing in the Town of Reading is hereby prohibited. The Chief of Police is directed to temporarily revoke all Certificates of Registration required for such soliciting and canvassing, pursuant to General Bylaw §8.9.9.5, for good cause as described in this Order. Page | 5 This EMERGENCY ORDER is effective immediately and shall remain in effect until it is rescinded by the Select Board and Board of Health, or the Governor’s declaration of emergency is rescinded, whichever comes first. The motion was seconded and passed with the following roll call vote: Alvarado – Yes; Herrick – Yes; Bacci – Yes; Landry – Yes; Dockser – Yes. Mr. Bacci moved that the Town Manager shall be delegated the authority that is expected to be conferred upon the Select Board by legislation adopted by the State Legislature, once signed into law by the Governor, to provide relief from late charges for property tax or water, sewer or stormwater utility fees, consistent with the limitations set forth in that legislation as enacted. The motion was seconded by Ms. Landry and approved with the following roll call vote: Alvarado – Yes; Herrick – Yes; Bacci – Yes; Landry – Yes; Dockser – Yes. Mr. Bacci moved to approve the Health Insurance Agreement and Health Insurance Op-Out Program Side Letter, both dated July 1, 2020 through June 30, 2021 as presented. The motion was seconded by Ms. Herrick and approved with the following roll call vote: Alvarado – Yes; Herrick – Yes; Bacci – Yes; Landry – Yes; Dockser – Yes. Ms. Alvarado recused herself for the following portion of the meeting regarding the recall petition against her. Mr. Dockser noted he and Bob have been working with Town Counsel. There is some question on whether or not Ms. Alvarado got legally notified of the recall. It would be a good idea for the board to have Bob send a formal letter to Ms. Alvarado on behalf of the board. Mr. Bacci moved to instruct the Town Manager on behalf of the Select Board to send a notice to Vanessa Alvarado on April 2nd, 2020 which will start the (5) five- day period consistent with Section 8.11.3 of the Town Charter. The motion was seconded by Ms. Herrick and approved with the following roll call vote: Alvarado – Yes; Herrick – Yes; Bacci – Yes; Landry – Yes; Dockser – Yes. The board then discussed their appetite to meet weekly given the circumstances. The board agreed they will meet every Wednesday night, remotely, at 7 PM until further notice. Mr. Bacci moved to adjourn at 9:30 PM, the motion was seconded by Ms. Landry and approved with the following roll call vote: Alvarado – Yes; Herrick – Yes; Bacci – Yes; Landry – Yes; Dockser – Yes. Town of Reading Meeting Minutes Page | 1 2016-09-22 LAG Board - Committee - Commission - Council: Select Board Date: 2020-04-08 Time: 7:00 PM Building: Location: Address: Session: Open Session Purpose: General Business Version: Draft Attendees: Members - Present: Mark Dockser, Anne Landry, Karen Herrick, Carlo Bacci, Vanessa Alvarado Members - Not Present: Others Present: Town Manager Bob LeLacheur, Board of Health Member Kevin Sexton, Executive Assistant Caitlin Saunders Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: Caitlin Saunders Topics of Discussion: This meeting was held remotely on Zoom. Mr. Dockser called the meeting to order at 7 PM. Town Manager Bob LeLacheur started with an update to the board about Meals on Wheels. He then noted the trial road diet construction will begin tonight and he will have further updates for the board next week. Lastly, he shared a sad memo reporting the first loss in the community due to COVID-19. The board discussed last weeks meeting which was their first meeting held completely remotely on Zoom. Ms. Landry thought it went smoothly and her only comment was they should be reading the names and addresses of the people who send in emails for public comment. Mr. Bacci and Ms. Alvarado agreed with Ms. Landry. Ms. Herrick agreed as well and noted her appreciation for being able to meet this way during the current situation. Mr. LeLacheur noted he was trying to collect feedback from other communities on how they are proceeding with meetings and in what fashion; however, he has not gotten a lot of comments back yet. Board of Health member Kevin Sexton joined the board this evening to give the BOH update. He wanted to start off by saying we will get thru this and we will get thru this together. Town staff has been amazing during this time and they are working very hard. The board of health wants to move into a more of an education standpoint for the community going forward. He reported Reading did have their first death. There are 53 cases in town currently however 8 cases have come off due to recovery. The health department in town is working hard currently at contact tracing. That is a huge priority right now. Two nurses are being trained in MAVEN right now as well as Health Agent Laura Vlasuk. MAVEN is a tool for nurses however so even though Ms. Vlasuk is getting trained using the program, she will not be able to do/see as much as the nurses will be able too. Page | 2 Ms. Herrick noted that Wilmington gave all their businesses masks and PPE the other day. She asked if Reading can do the same. She also asked if the town will be able to get any reimbursements for staff time spent in cleaning all the buildings. Mr. Sexton explained he does not know how Wilmington was able to get their hands on so much PPE but he will look into how they got so many masks and see if there is any hope to do so here. Mr. LeLacheur explained the town has not seen any reimbursements for COVID-19 expenses as of today however, they are keeping track of all expenses should a reimbursement opportunity be presented. Mr. Bacci asked how the local restaurants are doing. Mr. Sexton explained some are closed and some are doing just take out but they are hanging in there as best as possible. Ms. Alvarado asked about construction in town and if there are any plans to shut down construction sites. She also asked about providing homemade masks to our public safety as she has seen many people in town making masks. Mr. LeLacheur noted that unfortunately public safety members must wear the N95 mandated masks. He also noted the Board of Health plans on talking about construction projects at their next meeting later this week. Mr. LeLacheur wanted to give an update on town bills. Residents can now take until June 1st to pay their town bills and have no fees. If anyone is having trouble paying anything at all, please call 781-942-6622 and explain your situation to see if we can help set up a payment plan. Ms. Alvarado asked if there is anyone that we can delay the tracking of the road diet results until traffic patterns are more back to normal rather than right now when very few people are using the roads. The board then discussed liaison reports and their thoughts on what a liaison should be and how they’re expected to keep in touch with the many other boards. Ms. Landry started off noting that the liaison assignments are a burden to try and attend all the meetings as they were divided up last year. One member can easily be out every night of the week and still miss meetings. Ms. Alvarado agreed expressing thoughts on just dealing with the boards who are meeting regularly and carry heavy workloads, i.e. CPDC, ZBA, Recreation. Conversation went on about how the board should be more of resource to other boards and ideas were thrown out there to have quarterly updates from other boards rather than giving an update after every meeting they have. The board also discussed doing less ‘subcommittees’ within their own board due to open meeting constraints that creates. Town Manager Bob LeLacheur divided up the boards and committees by department to try and make the list less daunting. The board was asked to pick their top 3 choices for next week to discuss further. The board then talked about the Volunteer Appointment Subcommittee (VASC). Last year the VASC interviewed all incumbents also seeking reappointment as well as new applicants. The board discussed depending on the circumstances, the interviews this year could very well need to take place remotely still and members agreed interviewing 60+ incumbents is time consuming. The discussed a potential timeline and asked staff to send out the reappointment questionnaire letters next week and ask for responses back by the end of the month. At that point they will discuss further how to proceed. The board will discuss a future social media/communications policy at their next meeting. Page | 3 Mr. Bacci moved to adjourn at 9:03 PM, with a second from Ms. Herrick the board adjourned with the following roll call vote: Alvarado – Yes; Herrick – Yes; Bacci – Yes; Landry – Yes; Dockser – Yes.