Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout2021-10-12 Select Board MinutesTown of Reading t; CEIVEG T O;NN CLERK Meeting Minutes °^ °• 2021 NOV 23 PM 12: 42 Board - committee - commission - Council: Select Board Date: 2021-10-12 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: Karen Herrick, Carlo Bacci, Chris Haley, Anne Landry VIA Zoom, Mark Dockser VIA Zoom Members - Not Present: Others Present: Town Manager Bob Le Lacher, Executive Assistant Caitlin Nocella, Town Counsel Ivria Fried, Bill Brown, Christopher Feudo, Gaetano Manganiello, Emily Sisson, Angela Binda, Martha Moore, Bruce Mackenzie, Johnathan Barnes, Carolyn Whiting, Mark Delaney, Town Clerk Laura Gemme, RMLD Manager Coleen O'Brien Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: Topics of Discussion: This meeting was held in a hybrid format. Documents Used: 1021-10-12 SB Packet 1021-10-12 SB Agenda 2021-10-12 SB Agenda REVISED Draft EVSE License Agreement TOR EV Town Library EV Charging Presentation 1 Meadow Brook Golf Club Notice of Intent to Sell - MGL c.61B 2 ANR submission plan_ 12092020_CPDC 3a Meadow Brook Near Town Forest -Topography 11x8 3b Meadow Brook Near Town Forest- Envr Constraints 11x8 3c Meadow Brook Site Plan with Conservation Areas Shown 4 Memo to Select Board Sept 23 2021 from Conservation Commission 5 Letter from Latham Law Offices - Meadow Brook -9-28-21 Meadow Brook Hearing Notice Draft Town Manager Profile Statement Town Manager Screening Committee Board Members Selection List 1 Select Board Letter from Town Clerk October 12, 2021 - Re-Precincting 2020 Federal Census Final 2020 Data Compared with 2010 Precincts Precinct Legal Boundary Descriptions Select Board Letter 2 from Town Clerk -October 12, 2021 -Re-Precincting Page 1 1 Townwide Precinct Mop 2011 8x11 Draft Ad-hoc ReColc Description 2021-09-14 Draft Mins 2021-09-28 Draft Mins 2021-09-08 Select Board Minutes 2012-I1-14 Select Board Minutes 2013 Screening Committee Composition List The board called to order just after 7 pm. Karen Herrick started the meeting off with a moment remembering a fellow resident and longtime volunteer Jamie Dr. James Maughan, who unexpectedly passed last week. Public Comment Mark Delaney noted the PBC meeting gave a cost estimate on the water tank project for maintenance. The estimate is $2.5 Million for 10 years. He feels that it is a much better idea to do the maintenance plan and then deal with replacing the tank in 10 years. Carolyn Whiting noted she supports the Meadow Brook land purchase. Bruce Mackenzie noted he is also in favor of the Meadow Brook land purchase but noted he hopes the members can look at the lots beforehand because they are hilly. Legislative Delegation Anne Landry recused herself for this update. Our State Representatives Jones and Haggerty along with State Senator Lewisjoined the Board's meeting to give some updates relative to recent legislative activity. Precinct Maps Town Clerk Laura Gemme gave the board a short presentation which can be found in the Select Board packet online. She outlined the new precincts and explained how they were formed and the factors taken into consideration when creating the new lines. Anne Landry asked about the timing of our redistricting since the state legislature is also redistricting right now as well. It was noted the Secretary of the Commonwealth's office has already approved our new maps so hopefully no further changes will need to be made. She also asked about VRA analysis, who did that analysis and if those numbers were taken into consideration when redrawing the lines. It was noted the analysis was done by the Secretary's office and yes, they were taken into consideration. Anne Landry asked the Town Clerk if she had her assurance that the Town would redraw the precinct maps should the new precinct lines not match the new state legislative districts, and the Clerk assured her that that was the case, and that the Secretary's office wouldn't allow otherwise. Mark Dockser moved to accept the 2020 Re-Precincting Plan for the Town of Reading as presented. The motion was seconded by Chris Haley and approved with a unanimous roll call vote. RMLD EV Charging Stations RMLD General Manager Colleen O'Brien gave the board a presentation which can be found in the Select Board meeting packet online. The board discussed the different locations for the charging stations and the different types. They discussed at home rebates thru RMLD for home charging stations. Page 1 2 They discussed the proposed license with Town Counsel as well. They discussed specifically the early termination fee and the length of the license. It was noted RMLD will be looking to implement the same license with the same conditions for each town they serve. Karen Herrick will be the point person to finalize the license with Town Counsel. Karen Herrick moved to authorize Karen Herrick to work with Town Counsel's office to negotiate a license with RMLD and present said license to the full Select board at their next meeting for approval. The motion was seconded by Anne Landry and approved with a unanimous roll call vote. Executive Session Mark Dockser moved that the Board vote to enter into Executive Session under Purpose 6, to consider the purchase and value of a portion of land off of Grove Street identified as Lot 5 on a plan of land attached to Meadow Brook's July 6, 2021 Notice of Intent to Sell, given that the Chair has declared an open meeting may have a detrimental effect on the negotiating position of the public body, to invite Bob LeLacheur, Caitlin Saunders Nocella, and Ivria Fried to participate in the meeting, and to return to open session to continue with the meeting, including the potential continuation of this discussion item. The motion was seconded by Carlo Bacci and approved with a unanimous roll call vote. Meadow Brook Right of First Refusal Hearing/ Lot 5 Offer The board returned to open session and gave the room an update about their executive session and the lot 5 offer. The lot 5 offer from Bancroft to the town would allow the town to buy just lot #5 instead of all 5 lots, for the price of $450K. They have let go of all restrictions except for a 10' setback of vegetative barriers. The lot 5 offer expires tonight. Bill Brown noted if the town buys that lot for the use of a parking lot; the math would come out to $37K per parking spot plus the costs of making some of them ADA compliant. It is not worth it. Anne Landry noted there is also no guaranteed access to the town forest before the deal ends tonight. Martha Moore noted it is clear people access the town forest from that lot already whether it is approved or not so this is a great opportunity not to miss. Matt and Andrea from 87 Rustic Lane feels the town would really benefit from buying all 5 lots. Will Finch feels the town should buy all 5 lots so we have control over what goes there. Angela Binda noted the town should buy all Slots. A resident from 368 Grove Street is opposed to having a parking lot in lot 5 because his house is right across the street. Bruce Mackenzie would like to see the town buy all 5 lots. Chris Haley feels $2.25 million for 2.5 acres of land is outrageous but the lot 5 only deal would be ok with him. Carlo Bacci noted the lot 5 deal seems like it would solve a lot of parking problems for the town forest but ideally, he would not purchase any of the land. Mark Dockser feels the price is what it is and the board should exercise their right of first refusal and purchase all 5lots. He also noted that sometimes we are able to purchase at a very low cost and sometimes higher costs. Need to think of this as an average cost as we would do with othertypes of projects. Page 1 3 Anne Landry noted she is uncomfortable with the pressure of the lot 5 deal ending tonight, and she would also like to see the board exercise their right of first refusal for all the lots. Carlo Bacci would like Karen Herrick to declare in open session she would not be involved in any real estate transactions of this property if we were to sell this land later on. Karen Herrick would like the board to exercise their right of first refusal for all 5 lots. She would like the lot 5 deal to be extended through town meeting. Attorney Josh Latham who was also on the meeting, noted his client confirmed they will extend the lot 5 deal so it can go before town meeting. Mark Dockser moved for a non-binding vote to get a sense of the Board of their interest in exercising their right of first refusal, second by Carlo Bacci — roll call vote as follows: AL- yes; MD- yes; CB — no; CH — no; KH — yes. Anne Landry moved to bring both options of exercising their right of first refusal and Bancroft's Lot 5 offer that was extended this evening to Town Meeting, second by Mark Dockser— roll call vote as follows: AL- yes; MD- yes; CB — yes; CH — no; KH — yes. Karen Herrick moved to continue the hearing until October 26`h, at 8:30 PM, second by Mark Dockser — roll call vote as follows: AL- yes; MD- yes; CB — yes; CH — no; KH — yes. OML Complaints/ Mediation Town Counsel Ivria Fried explained the board needs to decide how they want mediation with Walt Tuvell to go. She would recommend doing this in executive session which is typical for mediation sessions. Mark Dockser and Karen Herrick agreed it should be done in mediation while Chris Haley felt going into executive session is what got them here in the first place and he would prefer to do it in open session. The next decision the board has to make is if a quorum of the board wants to participate in mediation or just one point person. Anne Landry would not be able to participate in the actual mediation. Chris Haley, Carlo Bacci and Mark Dockser agreed a quorum of the board would be their preference while Karen Herrick noted she had no real preference. Mark Dockser moved that the board vote to participate in mediation with Walt Tuvell in executive session with a quorum of the board present. The motion was seconded by Karen Herrick and approved with the following roll call vote: Dockser- yes; Landry — yes; Bacci — no; Haley — no; Herrick — yes. Town Manager Screening Committee Sharon Flaherty and Bernie Lynch from Community Paradigm were present to show the board the profile created for the job search. This will be posted tomorrow after the board approves. The board then discussed the process of picking the screening committee members. Anne Landry and Mark Dockser felt the Chair and Vice Chair would be best suited for the 2 board members on the committee. Page 1 4 Chris Haley pointed out that Karen Herrick told the board at a prior meeting it was precedent that the Chair and Vice Chair act on screening committees; however, he went back and looked it up and that is not what happened in 2012. The last screening committee had the Vice Chair and a member on it. In addition, the memo that town counsel circulated to the current board members, it specified which title each board member had in 2012. Chris Haley also noted, because of the mistake, that the board received close to a dozen emails from residents citing precedent for Chair and Vice Chair that didn't exist while inferring, and one resident saying, that they were sexist because they didn't agree with it. The board continued with their picks for the SB members on the committee. Chris Haley would like to see Anne Landry and Carlo Bacci on the screening committee because that was the precedent set in 2012. Carlo Bacci agreed with Mr. Haley. Karen Herrick would like to see the Chair and Vice Chair. The board then moved on to discussing department heads. It was noted there are only three department heads that live in town; the Fire Chief, Police Chief and the Library Director. Anne Landry noted she would like the see the Library Director and the Fire Chief on the screening committee. Mark Dockser agreed with Ms. Landry. Chris Haley noted he would like to see both the Chiefs on the screening committee. Carlo Bacci agreed. Karen Herrick noted she would like to see the Library Director and Fire Chief. The board moved on to discussing how they would pick 2 residents from over 28 applications. Each board member sent in their selections before the meeting. There were a couple residents who were picked by more than one board member. Chris Feudo received 3 votes, making him a front runner. Emily Sisson, Jonathan Barnes, Nancy Tawadros and Deborah Gilburg all received 2 votes. The board decided to pick between those 4 for the second member. The board ultimately decided after some discussion Emily Sisson would be their pick. Mark Dockser moved to appoint: • The Select Board Chair • The Select Board Vice Chair • The Library Director • The Fire Chief • The Town Moderator To serve on the Selection Committee as ex -officio members; and: • Christopher Feudo • Emily Sisson As the two resident members to serve on the Selection Committee. Anne Landry seconded the motion and the board approved with a unanimous roll call vote. Anne Landry moved to accept the Charge for the ad-hoc Town Manager Screening Committee as presented. Mark Dockser seconded the motion and the board approved with a unanimous roll call vote. Chris Haley noted he was voting yes on the collective group because he felt it was in the best interest of Reading that the board be unanimous, but the one caveat was, he disagreed with the select board members being voted on because of precedent. Ad -Hoc RECALC Mark Dockser introduced the board to a new ad-hoc committee he would like to create that focuses on exploring the current and future needs of the community with respect to potential new senior Page 1 5 center/community space. He noted he worked with Assistant Town Manager lean Del ins and Community Services Director Kevin Bohmiller to come up with this draft proposal. Other board members thought it was a great idea and they look forward to discussing further at a future meeting. Minutes Mark Dockser moved to approve the meeting minutes of September 14`h, 2021 as amended. The motion was seconded by Karen Herrick and approved with a unanimous roll call vote. Karen Herrick moved to adjourn at 12:39 AM; with a second from Anne Landry the board approved with a unanimous roll call vote. Page 16