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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2020-10-06 Select Board Minutes mtGiEIV cl.O 431 rx s O NN CLERK Town of Reading r A � e Meeting Minutes �a r 2021 .!,1128 AH 8 MG.w^ Board - Committee - Commission - Council: Select Board Date: 2020-10-06 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, Anne Landry Members - Not Present: Others Present: Town Manager Bob LeLacheur, Assistant Town Manager Jean Delios, Kerry Dunnell, DPW Director Jane Kinsella, Town Assesor Victor Santaniello, Police Chief Clark, Patricia Dabebenah Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: Caitlin Saunders Topics of Discussion: This meeting was held remotely on Zoom. Board of Health member Kerry Dunnell gave the board a COVID update noting we are still seeing new cases so please keep social distancing and wearing masks. The board is awaiting guidelines from the state about Halloween. Town Manager Bob LeLacheur gave an update from command. If you test positive you must quarantine for 14 days no matter what; you cannot test out of quarantine. Command is working on how to conduct protests/marches in a safe manner. Parking The board is thinking about doing the next hearing about downtown parking early next year. They noted they would like more notification to neighbors next time and it was suggested perhaps not sending out notices during the busy holiday season. Liaison Reports Anne Landry noted the Police Department has been working with the Fire Department on de-escalation training. October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and Domestic Abuse Awareness month and the Police Department are participating in both by selling special patches. She also noted the Board of Health wants to move forward requesting their board become 5 members. She read aloud emails from Kerry Ounnell, Chief Clark, and from a press release regarding the indictment of a police officer. These emails and press release can be found in the Select Board packet for this meeting date on our town website. Karen Herrick noted the Climate Advisory Committee is working with RMLD about the methane gas leak issue. Gage 1 1 Vanessa Alvarado attended the MassDOT Route 28 road diet meeting and noted they have gotten a lot of feedback from residents that they are taking into consideration. Mark Dockser noted the Council on Aging is working on things like flu shots and how to safely hold holiday activities. Town Manager's Report Town Manager Bob LeLacheur noted the Cultural Council has opened their grant cycle. The YMCA has gotten a few noise complaints from their outdoor exercise classes. They will lower the volume and noted their outdoor classes are ending in 2 weeks. There are 5 large trees along Birch Meadow Drive and Main Street on town conservation land that a resident would like taken down. The tree warden went out there and noted 1 tree is potentially dangerous but the others are fine. RMLD will take that tree down. Daniel's House is in litigation, they are suing the town and the board will be asked to meet in executive session on this at an upcoming meeting. Lastly, he noted that he has been meeting with outside health professionals on how to fix our health department. He will be going to a Board of Health meeting to chat with them about it on October 15^". Close Warrant for State Election The board viewed the warrant one more time. Carlo Bacci moved to close the warrant for the State Election to be held on November 3rd, 2020. The motion was seconded by Anne Landry and approved with the following roll call vote: Alvarado — yes; Herrick — yes; Landry — yes; Bacci — yes; Dockser — yes. Water/Sewer Rates Discussion DPW Director]ane Kinsella noted rates have not gone up people are just home more now due to COVID so they are naturally using more water. We have seen a 27% uptick in usage since COVID started. Ms. Landry asked if there was any State aid for families who may be having trouble paying. Senior Tax Relief Assessor Victor Santaniello noted they left the application period open for two months this year. They received 180 applications and 176 were approved. Tax Classification Preview Mr. Santaniello gave the board a quick preview of the tax classes they must set every year. Ms. Alvarado noted she intends to vote for no changes this year due to COVID. Most members agreed but some stated they would still like to see his presentation at the next meeting. Members also agreed to ask their questions offline so the conversation next week can be quicker. Hopkins Street Request Resident Patricia Dababneh requested to come before the board and is asking for no parking on Hopkins Street. She noted because of the business at 107 Main Street, their employees make it hard for her to get out of her driveway because they park along her section of the street. Police Chief Clark noted this request has been denied by PTTTF (Parking, traffic, transportation task force) and noted there is no safety concerns from the PD on that street. There have been no accidents reported and MassDOT has looked at the street as well and agreed there are no concerns or recommended changes from them. Assistant Town Manager Jean Delios noted the business at 107 Main is adding more parking which should alleviate concerns. Page 1 2 Ms. Dababneh noted the problem is mostly at night and doesn't understand why the employees can't park in the lot. The Town Manager noted we will be keeping an eye on this area going forward anyway because of the 40B project going in nearby. Town Manager Goals Town Manager Bob LeLacheur gave the board the updates goals based on their comments from their last meeting. Anne Landry noted she would like to see more social justice goals such as listening sessions and bringing the ad-hoc human rights group to fruition, as well as repairing community division. Karen Herrick noted she would like to see more goals with RMLD on sustainability and the Health department operations being straightened out. They discussed things like raising a rainbow flag and having a gender-neutral bathroom in town hall, policy changes and different types of listening sessions they want held in town. The board re-wrote the goals along putting them into categories that make more sense. Town Manager Evaluation The board discussed having conversations with Bob behind the scenes in regards to this review. It has always been done that any member of the board can speak with Bob while doing his review. Vanessa Alvarado feels that having conversations with Bob offline is lacking transparency to the public and does not think they should be doing that. She believes they should all talk to him in a public meeting and that is it. Anne Landry noted she would like the opportunity to speak with Bob but will do whatever the board agrees to. Carlo Bacci agreed with Ms. Landry and noted he does not see how a member having a one on one conversation would lack transparency. They are allowed to have one on one conversations with each other that don't get reported back to the public, this is no different. Also, the conversations they have with Bob get reflected back in his review which is made public. Mark Dockser noted that the Town Manager's contract provides for these one-on-one conversations, and Anne indicated she would plan to speak to Bob and report back to the Board. Minutes Carlo Bacci moved to approve the meeting minutes of September B`h, 2020 as amended. The motion was seconded by Karen Herrick and approved with the following roll call vote: Herrick - yes; Alvarado - yes; Landry - Yes; Bacci - yes; Dockser - yes. The board deferred the September 22nd minutes until their next meeting. Carlo Bacci moved to adjourn at 11:14 PM. The motion was seconded by Karen Herrick and approved with the following roll call vote: Herrick - yes; Alvarado - yes; Landry - Yes; Bacci - yes; Dockser - yes. Page 13