HomeMy WebLinkAbout2020-07-13 Select Board Minutes OPV rFtgO
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Meeting Minutes
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Board - Committee - Commission - Council:
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Select Board
Date: 2020-07-13 Time: 7:00 PM
Building: Location:
Address: Session:
Purpose: General Business Version: Final
Attendees: Members - Present:
Mark Dockser, Anne Landry, Carlo Bacci, Karen Herrick, Vanessa Alvarado
Members - Not Present:
Others Present:
Town Manager Bob LeLacheur, Assistant Town Manager Jean Delios,
Economic Development Director Erin Schaeffer, DPW Director Jane Kinsella,
Assistant DPW Director Chris Cole, Town Assesor Victor San ello
Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: Caitlin Saunders
Topics of Discussion:
This meeting was held remotely on Zoom.
Mark Dockser called the meeting to order at 7pm.
Liaison Reports
Karen Herrick noted the Climate advisory committee is ready to help whenever the gas leak
audit contract is signed.
Vanessa Alvarado noted someone from the RMLD Board of Commissioners will join them
next meeting.
Town Manager Bob LeLacheur noted the gas leak audit contract has been signed and he will
start work soon.
Public Comment
Jane Harrison, owner of the Middlesex Animal Clinic on Main Street noted she wants the
board to revoke Venetian Moons outdoor dining license due to them not communicating with
neighbors.
Dan Jacobs noted shutting the whole parking lot down for one business seems extreme.
Economic Development Update
Erin Schaeffer noted she's been working on a financial relief grant for small businesses. She
talked about the outdoor dining bistro table program and the outside the box mural
program.
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Outdoor Dining Policy
The board discussed the Main Street parking lot and the tent being used by Venetian Moon.
A number of mitigation options were presented by Ms. Delios and Ms. Schaeffer as potential
options.
Board members asked if Venetian Moon and the abutters had been provided with this
information and if so what was the feedback.
At the request of Mr. Dockser and Mr. Bacci, the information was sent out to Venetian Moon
and the abutters but no formal feedback had been received by the town.
Mr. Bacci and Mr. Dockser asked the board if they could speak with Venetian Moon about
the mitigation options and then report back at the next board meeting. The members
agreed that this would be helpful.
The board asked if Town Staff could solicit feedback from the abutters about the options to
get their opinions on them. Ms. Delios agreed to pursue this.
Ms. Delios pursued moving the MBTA bus stop to allow for more potential space on the
Woburn Street for outdoor dining if requested. She found that it would be possible with a 2
week notice period required. The board asked her to hold off on moving this ahead until we
received feedback if this area would be used for outdoor dining by Venetian Moon.
The board asked to have feedback from Venetian Moon collected by Mr. Dockser and Mr.
Bacci as well as feedback from abutters about options so the board could take action at
their next meeting.
DPW Policies
Assistant DPW Director Chris Cole showed the board the changes they made due to their
comments last time specifically about trees and restitution prices.
Carlo Bacci moved to approve the Select Board Policy Article 4 DPW Policies as
presented. The motion was seconded by Vanessa Alvarado and approved with the
following roll call vote:
Herrick - yes; Alvarado - yes; Landry - yes; Bacci - yes; Dockser - yes.
Senior Tax Relief Update
Town Assessor Victor Santaniello explained to the new members what exactly senior tax
relief was and gave an update on the number of applicants from past years.
Mr. Santaniello believes the program has been working very well and requested that the
board address any questions to him in advance of an approval vote in the early fall.
Minutes
The Board had five sets of minutes in front of them to approve. They talked about their
preference to stick with the previously-agreed style that looked less like a transcript and
more like a summary of the discussion. Due to the inconsistency in style of the minutes
presented, a majority of the Board felt they could not approve the minutes as presented. At
least one member suggested two pages could be a guideline. Anne Landry suggested they
approve as many as they could, so long as they could be made accurate with edits. Given
the inconsistencies in the style of minutes, there was not agreement among the Board; they
deferred the minutes to a subsequent meeting and the Board discussed including a topic at
their retreat for creating a process for minutes approval.
Town Managers Review and Goals
Mr. Dockser suggested that the board work on the Town Manager Review to be completed
in August and sent to Sean Donahue for compilation. The Town Manager would then review
the forms and the Board would schedule his review for one of their September meetings.
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Mr. Dockser also suggested that the board retreat would be a good opportunity to have the
board priorities reviewed so that we can use that in establishing the Town managers goals
for FY21. The goal is to complete this activity in September as well.
Retreat
The board discussed their next retreat and it was noted it is going to have to be virtual,
Outdoor Dining Policy
The board then discussed revising the outdoor dining policy to require that the town take
responsibility for notifying and speaking with abutters.
Board members felt that this was an important improvement to the current policy and would
have helped had it been in place for the current discussion with Venetian Moon and
abutters.
Carlo Bacci moved to amend Select Board Policy 3.9 Licenses for Utilizing
Sidewalks for Outdoor Dining as follows:
h. Applications will be for Tier 1 - Sidewalk Only License or Tier 2 - Other
Town-Owned Property. Tier 2 applicants will be subject to a block plan review.
The Town that will include notifying other abutting and adjacent businesses that
may be directly impacted by the change of use of Town-owned property (e.g.,
municipal parking areas, handicapped parking areas etc.).
The motion was seconded by Karen Herrick and approved with the following roll
call vote:
Herrick - yes; Bacci - yes; Alvarado - yes; Landry - yes; Dockser - yes.
Carlo Bacci moved to adjourn at 11:07 PM. Seconded by Karen Herrick the motion
passed with the following roll call vote:
Herrick - yes; Bacci - yes; Alvarado - yes; Landry - yes; Dockser - yes.
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