The URL can be used to link to this page

Home My WebLink About2020-06-03 Select Board Minutes Town of Reading Meeting Minutes Board - Committee - Commission - Council: Select Board 53 Date: 2020-06-03 Time: 7:00 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, Kevin Sexton, DPW Director ]ane Kinsella, D W Assistant Di ect Chris Cole Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: ' Topics of Discussion: This meeting was held remotely on Zoom, Mark Dockser called the meeting to order at 7 PM. Board of Health member Kevin Sexton gave the board an update on what is open and what is still closed. He also mentioned a survey asking the town how they are doing during this situation. Town Manager Bob LeLacheur gave a command update noting they are reviewing new outdoor dining guidelines and filing for reimbursements from FEMA. He also noted the Recreation Committee is meeting tomorrow about summer programs. Public Comment Ed Peddle of 273 Grove Street wanted to comment about the intense traffic on Grove Street with the golf course, compost center, and town forest parking. The temporary no parking order the board is being asked to approve tonight would only make this worse. He suggested extending the no parking zone from the Club House to Franklin Street instead. Town Meeting Moderator Alan Foulds explained to the board that there has been a town meeting task force that has been working hard to figure out how to execute a completely virtual town meeting. He is asking the board formally tonight to vote to allow town meeting to proceed virtually. Carlo Bacci moved that the Select Board approve the Moderator's request that the Annual Town Meeting scheduled for June 15, 2020 at 7:30 p.m. be held remotely using the Zoom Webinar platform as designated by the Moderator, with special accommodation to be made only for those who require technical assistance. The motion was seconded by Ms. Landry and approved with the following roll call vote: Landry - yes; Bacci - yes; Herrick - yes; Alvarado - yes; Dockser - yes. Page 1 1 Carlo Bacci moved that the Select Board approve and issue the "Notice Regarding Remote Town Meeting" as presented for the Board's consideration. The motion was seconded by Karen Herrick and approved with the following roll call vote: Landry - yes; Bacci - yes; Herrick - yes; Alvarado - yes; Dockser - yes. Special Election Vanessa Alvarado recused herself for this agenda topic. It was noted legislation regarding elections is still forthcoming. The board of health was very vocal about combining the elections in September. All members except for Mr. Bacci were fine with the September date; Mr. Bacci would like to see this election held sooner in August. Most members felt September would be the best opportunity for safety matters. Carlo Bacci moved for the Select Board to call for a Special Election on September 1, 2020, concurrent with the scheduled State Primary for that same date. The purpose of the Special Election will be to consider the Recall Petition submitted to the Board of Registrars for Select Board member Vanessa Alvarado. Town staff is instructed to use every precaution available to conduct a safe election under the public health emergency related to the Coivd-19 pandemic. The motion was seconded by Karen Herrick and approved with the following roll call vote: Herrick - yes; Landry - yes; Bacci - yes; Dockser - yes. Liaison Report Anne Landry made a statement about the current situation regarding George Floyd. Meadow Brook License Chances Mr. Bacci read the hearing notice and opened the public hearing. Meadow Brook Golf Corp was before the board with three applications for changes to their liquor license. The first one was a change of manager; the application and new manager were vetted by the Police Department and they had no objections. The second application was change of officers which was also vetted by the Police and came back with no objections. Carlo Bacci moved to approve the Change of Officers and Directors application for an Annual All Alcohol License for Meadow Brook Golf Club Corp at 292 Grove Street, Reading, MA as presented. The motion was seconded by Vanessa Alvarado and approved with the following roll call vote: Herrick - yes; Landry - yes; Bacci - yes; Dockser - yes; Alvarado - yes. Carlo Bacci moved to approve the Change of Manager application for an Annual All Alcohol License for Meadow Brook Golf Club Corp at 292 Grove Street, Reading, MA as presented. The motion was seconded by Vanessa Alvarado and approved with the following roll call vote: Herrick - yes; Landry - yes; Bacci - yes; Dockser - yes; Alvarado - yes. The last application before the board is a location change to their liquor service. Because of the fire they are putting up a tent behind the pro-shop until construction is done. They would like their liquor license to be able to sell liquor at the pro-shop and under the adjacent tent. There will be 52 seats under the tent and 6 in the pro-shop. The board saw no issues with this as long as they follow the liquor license guidelines as normal in their new serving area. Carlo Bacci moved to approve the Meadow Brook Change in All Alcohol License Location, subject to approval of the Building Commissioner and the Board of Page 1 2 Health, and in keeping with expected state legislation. The motion was seconded by Karen Herrick and approved with the following roll call vote: Herrick - yes; Landry - yes; Bacci - yes; Dockser - yes; Alvarado - yes. Carlo Bacci moved to close the hearing regarding Meadow Brook's liquor license amendments. The motion was seconded by Karen Herrick and approved with the following roll call vote: Herrick - yes; Landry - yes; Bacci - yes; Dockser - yes; Alvarado - yes. Outdoor Dining Assistant Town Manager lean Delios went over the proposed changes to the outdoor dining licenses to create new temporary guidelines during COVID. They are gong to waive the fee for any establishment that wants to do outdoor dining right now and work with some places to give them some patio furniture to use. This new policy follows the Governor's orders and will expire when his order does or on November 30th. Carlo Bacci moved to approve changes to Select Board Policy Section 3.9 Licenses for Utilizing Public Sidewalks for Outdoor Dining as presented. Staff is instructed to post the Policy in a bold/crossout format so the temporary changes approved through November 30, 2020 may be easily identified and removed. The motion was seconded by Vanessa Alvarado and approved with the following roll call vote: Herrick - yes; Landry - yes; Bacci - yes; Dockser - yes; Alvarado - yes. Carlo Bacci moved that the Select Board waive the fees for downtown parking permits issued for the period July 1,2020 through December 31,2020. The motion was seconded by Karen Herrick and approved with the following roll call vote: Herrick - yes; Landry - yes; Bacci - yes; Dockser - yes; Alvarado - yes. Grove Street DPW Director Jane Kinsella and Assistant DPW Director Chris Cole noted this is a temporary request for no parking on Grove Street while construction is going on. The project should take about two months and there will be posted signs and light boards encouraging people to take a different route as well during construction times. It was noted by the Town Manager Bob LeLacheur that there is alternate access to the town forest for dog walkers through the Wood End School parking lot. Carlo Bacci moved to approve a temporary No Parking Restriction on Grove Street as presented. The motion was seconded by Karen Herrick and approved with the following roll call vote: Herrick - yes; Landry - yes; Bacci - yes; Dockser - yes; Alvarado - yes. Non-Union Classification and Compensation Plans Town Manager Bob LeLacheur noted there is no change in the classification plan from last time. Carlo Bacci moved to approve the Classification and Compensation Plans as presented. The motion was seconded by Vanessa Alvarado and approved with the following roll call vote: Herrick - yes; Landry - yes; Bacci - yes; Dockser - yes; Alvarado - yes. Water Sewer & Stormwater Rates The board sets the rates annually for the town. The board seemed to want to hold the rates steady due to the COVID situation. Town Manager Bob LeLacheur presented the board with some options and what the numbers would look like. The board liked option B to zero out the rates. Carlo Bacci moved to set the FY2021 water rate at $10.70 per 100 cubic feet with a minimum quarterly bill of $10.70 effective with the December, 2020 billing. The Page 1 3 motion was seconded by Karen Herrick and approved with the following roll call vote: Herrick - yes; Landry - yes; Bacci - yes; Dockser - yes; Alvarado - yes. Carlo Bacci moved to set the FY2021 sewer rate at $10.70 per 100 cubic feet with a minimum quarterly bill of $10.70 effective with the December, 2020 billing. The motion was seconded by Vanessa Alvarado and approved with the following roll call vote: Herrick - yes; Landry - yes; Bacci - yes; Dockser - yes; Alvarado - yes. Carlo Bacci moved to set the FY2021 Storm Water Rate at $60 per unit (flat for s.f. residential and based per 3210 square feet for commercial) per year to be billed quarterly effective with the December, 2020 billing. The motion was seconded by Vanessa Alvarado and approved with the following roll call vote: Herrick - yes; Landry - yes; Bacci - yes; Dockser - yes; Alvarado - yes. Carlo Bacci moved that the Board close the hearing on setting Water, Sewer and Storm Water rates for FY21. The motion was seconded by Karen Herrick and approved with the following roll call vote: Herrick - yes; Landry - yes; Bacci - yes; Dockser - yes; Alvarado - yes. DPW Policies Assistant DPW Director Chris Cole presented the board up an updated set of Policies for DPW. The board will vote on these at their next meeting. The presentation and the policy updates are in the Select Board packet located on the town website. The board noted a few follow up items for DPW to bring back when they present the policy for approval. Carlo Bacci moved to adjourn at 11:21 PM with a second from Vanessa Alvarado the motion passed with the following roll call vote: Herrick - yes; Landry - yes; Bacci - yes; Dockser - yes; Alvarado - yes. Page 1 4