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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2021-09-14 Select Board MinutesTown of Reading RECEIVED Meeting Minutes TOWN CLERK READING, MA. °b.,ttoxwr Pk Board - committee - commission - council: 202I OCT 14 AM 9 55 Select Board Date: 2021-09-14 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: Carlo Bacci, Karen Herrick, Chris Haley, Anne Landry via Zoom, Mark Dockser via Zoom Members - Not Present: Others Present: Town Manager Bob LeLacheur, Executive Assistant Caitlin Nocella, Brian Kammer, Mark Delaney, Bill Brown, Ed Ross, Bernie Lynch, Sharon Flaherty, John Petrin Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: Caitlin Nocella Topics of Discussion: Documents Used: 2021-09-14 S8 Agenda 2021-09-14 SB Packet SelectBoafdPresentationFY1021 2021 TM October Special Warrant Final 2011 TM October Special Warrant Report Draft September Meeting 1 2021 TM November Subsequent Warrant FINAL September Meeting 1 Xxx2021 TM November Subsequent Warrant Draft Combined DRAFT Town Manager Evaluation Form August 2011 2021 email response sheet The meeting was called to order at 7pm Liaison Reports Mark Dockser noted the Council on Aging is happy with the amount of support that came from the financial forum to work on more space. He would like the board the get trained on what is means to be dementia friendly Reading. The lions club is holding a scare crow contest. Page 1 1 Carlo Bacci noted the Board of Health last met in August and they were busy prepping for school openings. They are now planning for flu clinics. The recreation committee would like to come before the board again about Birch Meadow. The library trustees voted to implement a mask mandate again for the library building. The Social Justice position has 7 applicants at the moment. The fall street fair was a great day and very busy Chris Haley noted PARC has been meeting regularly and will meet again tomorrow at 5pm. They currently have a survey up for the public. The School Committee recently had their curriculum night. With help from the board, committee, principals, residents and anonymous donor, Dunk the Readings was able to raise $2,000 for the displaced 625 Main Street residents. Anne Landry noted the Board of Health is still looking for qualified applicants for the health director position. Karen Herrick noted conservation has lots of projects going on. There was a brief discussion of feasibility for 2 acres upland parcel in the compost area for a satellite black earth composting area. FINCOM went over the special town meeting warrant at their meeting last night and voted. Town Manager Report Bob LeLacheur noted the Board of Health Director position was re -advertised again as of yesterday removing the Masters Degree requirement to see if they yield any more applications. The residents of 625 Main Street that were displaced received $500 checks from the fundraising the town did. 59 Middlesex has signed a lease with Lowell House and they plan to start operating around January 1" after renovations. Public Comment Mark Delaney asked the board NOT to vote on Article 7 (the water tank project) until they evaluation maintenance costs again since construction costs have gone up significantly. Bill Brown noted we need the water tank. It has been put off long enough, we need to move this project forward now. Cultural Council Update Brian Kaminer gave a presentation from the Cultural Council which can be found in the Select Board packet on our town website. October Special Town Meeting Warrant Town Manager Bob LeLacheur started going over the October Special Town Meeting warrant articles. There are 3 debt authorization articles; one for the police station upgrades, one for performance contracting and the last is for the water tower. The board's discussion tonight is to either include these articles for town meeting to discuss or not. The right of first refusal for the Meadow Brook Land was added as Article 9. The board first discussed Article 5 which authorizes the town to do work on the police station. The exact amount of money will be decided on the town meeting floor as normal. Anne Landry asked about a rough number. It was noted FINCOM discussed about $1.5 Million last night. The design study for the building has already been done. Mark Dockser noted he is concerned about this article and where it Page 1 2 stacks up against other projects that need to be done and feels it is maybe too early for this to go to town meeting now. The Town manager noted the space needs over there are needs that need to be addressed sooner rather than later; As of right now of interim Health Director uses a conference room for their office. Karen Herrick agreed with Mark Docker's concerns although she sees the need as it is presented; but agrees she does not believe the timing is right for this. Carlo Bacci and Chris Haley feels this should at least move to town meeting to be discussed but feel this should be done. Anne Landry agreed with Mark and Karen that the town needs to prioritize projects first and see where this lands on such a list. The board asked how FINCOM voted last night and it was noted they voted 8-0 to include this article on the warrant. Anne Landry indicated that she supported having all articles move to Town Meeting for consideration, given staff efforts and Fin Com support, but she would reserve her rights as to how to vote at Town Meeting and supported Mark spearheading a community process to evaluate the Town's priorities for capital expenditures. The board then discussed Article 6 which has a $5 million dollar figure attached to it. The figure in place is guaranteed by NORESCO and is good until early next year. If we do not go forward with this we will have to pay a backout fee of approximately $60,000 which is typical for performance contracting. Mark Dockser would like more feedback from RMLD and the Climate Advisory Committee. The board asked how FINCOM voted last night on this article and it was noted they voted 8-0 to include this article as well. The board then asked if FINCOM voted to NOT include any articles last night and it was noted no, they all were approved last night to move forward. Mark Dockser noted that the Select Board votes to approve the warrant before FINCOM should take their vote on articles from the warrant. That is not what happened in this case. Karen Herrick would like more community feedback and input on this article. The board then moved on to discuss Article 7 the water tower. Town Meeting already authorized $4.5 million. This article would add $2million due to increased costs. This project has been a'must-do' according to this board and the community up until now. The board noted they were going to pause this conversation and move on to their next agenda item. They will come back to this item after. Town Manager Search Process The board introduced their consultant Bernie Lynch and his team including Shannon Flaherty and John Petrin. They explained their process, a rough time line and the board asked about putting together a screening committee. October Special Town Meeting Warrant Continued... The board went back to discussing Article 7, the water tower. Most members feel this additional money brings the number quite high. Some members feel we need to explore other options instead now. Some members feel prices may only go higher and we need to at Page 13 least bring this to town meeting for discussion. It was noted if this does not go to town meeting we will need to re -bid this project again. Article 8 is a gift of an easement Article 9 is the right of first refusal for 5 parcels of land by Meadow Brook. Karen Herrick noted there could be some interesting uses for this land including a parking lot for use of the town forest. Some members agreed with this statement and thinks it would be a great idea to buy these parcels. Some members feel the town already owns too much land and the price tag for these lots are far too expensive to be worth it It was clarified again that the ask tonight is for the board to vote to put these on the warrant so that town meeting can discuss them. Town Meeting will then decide if the articles pass or not. If the board does not put an article on the warrant, it cannot even be discussed at town meeting. The board asked if they could vote to "support" or "recommend" the articles so that town meeting knows their feelings even if they put them forth for discussion. It was noted they can do that if they wish. Mark Dockser moved pursuant to Article 2.14 of the Town of Reading's Charter, to call a Special Town Meeting, to be held remotely on October 18, 2021, as requested by the Moderator in his letter dated September 8", 2021, and to close the warrant consisting of 9 Articles. The motion was seconded by Carlo Bacci and approved with a unanimous roll call vote. Mark Dockser moved to recommend Article 5 to Town Meeting. The motion was seconded by Karen Herrick and the following roll call vote was taken: Dockser— abstained; Landry—abstained; Bacci — yes; Haley — yes; Herrick—abstained. Mark Dockser moved to recommend Article 6 to Town Meeting. The motion was seconded Chris Haley and the following roll call vote was taken: Dockser—yes; Landry—abstained; Bacci — yes; Haley — yes; Herrick—abstained. Mark Dockser moved to recommend Article 7 to Town Meeting. The motion was seconded by Carlo Bacci and the following roll call vote was taken: Dockser — abstained; Landry — abstained; Bacci — yes; Haley — yes; Herrick — abstained. Mark Dockser moved to recommend Article 9 to Town Meeting. The motion was seconded by Carlo Bacci and the following roll call vote was taken: Dockser — yes; Landry — abstained; Bacci — no; Haley — no; Herrick— yes. November Town Meeting Warrant Bob Lel-acheur did an overview of the warrant for November subsequent town meeting. He explained the Vocational School article and how this has to go to town meeting for all the towns the school services. Mark Dockser moved pursuant to Article 2.14 of the Town of Reading's Charter and Section 2.1.4 of the Town's General Bylaws, to call a Subsequent Town Meeting, to be held remotely on November 8, Page 14 2021, as requested by the Moderator in his letter dated September 9'h, 2021, and to close the warrant consisting of 8 Articles. The motion was seconded by Carlo Bacci and approved with a unanimous roll call vote. Town Manager Review Each board members review of the Town Manager is in the Select Board packet. Chris Haley noted he wish Bob would stay as their short time together has been great. Mark Dockser thanked Bob for his years of service to the town and for helping us through the past 2 years of a pandemic. The areas he rated lower are areas he would like to emphasize to the new town manager to move forward. Anne Landry echoed Mark's comments noting we should be using this review to guide us with what we want for our next town manager. She also thanked Bob for restructuring the health department. Carlo Bacci noted the amount of work Bob has put in is unmeasurable; he has kept our finances in great shape and he appreciates all he has done for the town. Karen Herrick noted Bob brings a unique perspective because he also lives in town and clearly wants what is best for the community. Bob wished the board luck going forward and noted he couldn't have done it without great staff support. He also reminded the board that the Town Manager has to follow the Town Charter and if they wish things to be different, they must change the charter. Mark Dockser moved to adjourn at 10:55 PM. The motion was seconded by Anne Landry and approved with a unanimous roll call vote. Page 15