HomeMy WebLinkAbout2020-08-11 Select Board Minutes Town of Reading
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Board - Committee - Commission - Council:
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Select Board
Date: 2020-08-11 Time: 7:00 PM
Building: Location:
Address: Session: Open Session
Purpose: General Business Version: Final
Attendees: Members - Present:
Mark Dockser, Carlo Bacci, Vanessa Alvarado, Karen Herrick
Members - Not Present:
Anne Landry
Others Present:
Town Manager Bob LeLacheur, Town Clerk Laura Gemme, Assistant Town
Manager Jean Delios' Eleanor Shonkoff, Fire Chief Greg Burns, Ralph Poirier,
Bernie Horn, Patricia Debabeneh, Veteran's Director Kevin Bohmiller, Megan
Putney, Community Development Director Julie Mercier.
Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: Caitlin Saunders
Topics of Discussion:
This meeting was held remotely on Zoom.
Town Clerk Laura Gemme gave an elections update noting she is desperately short on
election staff.
Board of Health member Eleanor Shankoff noted the Board of Health is urging voting by
mail this election. She explained Governor Bakers new orders regarding gatherings. Lastly,
she gave her resignation.
Town Manager Bob Lel-acheur noted Reading is now in the 'low cases' zone, however, our
neighbors are not so please keep being cautious when out.
Fire Chief Greg Burns noted the Town has filed with FEMA for disaster relief funds.
Public Comment
Patricia Dababneh spoke to the board about her parking concerns on Hopkins Street. She
would like no parking on that street because she cannot see to get out of her driveway.
Ralph Poirier, 1447 Main Street, spoke to the board about his tree situation. He reached an
agreement with conservation that he could take down trees on conservation land that are
close to his house if he pays for it. He doesn't believe he should have to pay for it and is
asking the board for help.
Bernie Horn spoke to the board about downtown parking suggestions.
Close Warrants
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Carlo Bacci moved to close the warrant for the State Primary to be held on
September 1^, 2020. The motion was seconded by Karen Herrick and approved
with the following roll call vote:
Kerrick — yes; sacci — yes; Alvarado — yes; Dockser — yes.
Vanessa Alvarado recused herself for the next vote.
Carlo Bacci moved to close the warrant for the recall election to be held on
September 1't, 2020. The motion was seconded by Karen Herrick and approved
with the following roll call vote:
Herrick — yes; Bacci — yes; Dockser — yes.
Dementia Friendly Reading
Kevin Bohmiller and Megan Putney gave a presentation to the board on Dementia Friendly
Reading. They would love the Town Hall staff to get trained working with people with
dementia.
Downtown Parking
Community Development Director Julie Mercier gave a presentation to the board regarding
downtown parking options for a new structure. The basis of the new structure is aiming to
have employees park on the outskirts of downtown to keep the middle/heart of downtown
constantly rotating with traffic. To deter people from parking in the middle of downtown for
long periods of time, the idea of meters or kiosks was presented. The board discussed the
kiosk option with some members not quite fully on board with that idea yet. The board is
going to have a public hearing and more discussion on this before voting in September.
Doen Meeting Law ComoIaint
The board discussed an open meeting law complaint from Kendra Cooper regarding not
approving minutes in a timely manner and the retreat not being accessible to the public.
The board agreed to be better regarding the minutes. The retreat requested the public to
pre-register for the meeting which violates open meeting law. The board apologized for that
noting they did not realize that was not allowed; there were some members of the public
who watched. Their intentions were not for to the public to not see the meeting; the
intention was to allow for more open board comment while still having an open meeting.
They will do their next retreat different to comply going forward.
Carlo Bacci moved that the board instruct Town Counsel to respond to the Open
Meeting Law Complaint from Kendra Cooper, in a timely matter, subject to Chair
Dockser's approval. The motion was seconded by Karen Herrick and approved with
the following roll call vote:
Alvarado — yes; Bacci — yes; Herrick — yes; Dockser — yes.
Retreat
The minutes from the retreat are in the packet this week.
The board discussed board etiquette and board priorities. Those documents are also
included in the packet.
Minutes
The board then moved on to discussing and editing 11 sets of minutes. They went through
each set and offered up their suggestions.
Carlo Bacci moved to approve the amended meeting minutes of:
April 140, May 13th, May 20th May 270, May 29th, June 3rd, June 16th, June 30th,
July 13th, July 210, and July 22nd. The motion was seconded by Karen Herrick and
approved with the following roll call vote:
Alvarado - yes; Bacci - yes; Herrick - yes; Dockser - yes.
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Carlo Bacci moved to adjourn at 11:00 PM. The motion was seconded by Vanessa
Alvarado and approved with the following roll call vote:
Alvarado - yes; Bacci - yes; Herrick - yes; Dockser - yes.
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