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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2020-02-04 Select Board Minutes 0" Town of Reading Y Meeting Minutes ,- ; - m Board - Committee - Commission - Council: Select Board 2020 AN -2 P11 3: 52 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: Final 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. Llalson 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 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. There is a much clearer path forward now although still many hurdles ahead. Page I 1 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 works 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 V, 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 loth, 2019 as amended. The motion was seconded by Mr. Friedmann and approved with a 4-1 vote with Halsey abstaining. Hearino - Downtown Parkino and other Safety Chanoes 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 1 2 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. 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 1 3 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 ancLthen 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 17"', 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 Page 1 4