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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2021-10-26 Select Board MinutesTown of Reading R E C E I V E D MeetingMinutes TOWN CLERK MA. 2021 NOV 23 PH 12 42 Board - Committee - Commission - Council: Select Board Date: 2021-10-26 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, Chris Haley, Anne Landry, Mark Dockser, Karen Herrick VIA Zoom Members - Not Present: Others Present: Town Manager Bob Le Lacher, Executive Assistant Caitlin Nocella, Town Counsel Ivria Fried, Town Assessor Victor Santaniello, lohn Means, Alicia Williams, Erica McNamara, Krystal Mellonakos-Garay, Chief Clark, Civil Rights Officer Patrick Silva, Dan Dewar, Robert Kennedy Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: Topics of Discussion: This meeting was held in a hybrid format. Vice Chair Anne Landry as acting Chair called the meeting to order at 7 PM. Public Comment Alicia Williams noted she was pleased with the selection committee process and the amount of people who stepped up to volunteer for such an important task however, she found it odd that three members of the select board all picked the same resident out of 28+. Robert Kennedy wanted to note that at the boards next meeting, he will be on the agenda for a Class I Motor Vehicle license. His company is purchasing many of the Honda dealerships in Massachusetts. Dan Dewar asked about Anne Landry's motion at town meeting last night about a more interactive zoom platform and if she would be pursuing that for November town meeting. Introductions Coalition Director Erica McNamara introduced her new outreach coordinator Krystal Mellonakos-Garay and Police Chief Clark introduced our new Civil Rights Officer Patrick Silva. Consent Agenda On the consent agenda tonight were the Inter -Municipal Agreements with Wakefield for Assessing Services and Animal Control Services. Town Manager Bob LeLacheur explained the Assessors contract is the same as previous years just updated with new dates for another three-year term and the Animal Control Contract is including Wakefield's slight amendments. Page 1 1 Mark Dockser moved to approve the Animal Control Inter -Municipal Agreement with Wakefield as presented and the renewal of the Inter -Municipal Agreement: Reading/Wakefield to share Assessor Services as presented. Chris Haley seconded the motion and the board approved with a 4-0 vote. Ad-hoc RECALC Mark Dockser noted this is the ad-hoc he mentioned forming to the board at the last meeting. He worked with Jean Delios and Kevin Bohmiller for the description of the proposed committee. He would like to see this move forward quickly and hopefully get a small committee established sooner rather than later. The board discussed how the members would be appointed. The board decided the members of the Select Board, Council on Aging and Recreation committee would be appointed by their respective boards while the four at large members would go thru the VASC process. They added this into the committee description document they will be voting on. The board then discussed if they want to appoint Mark Dockser to be the Select Board representative tonight. The board agreed and they added Mark Dockser to the document as the Select Board representative as well. Mark Dockser moved to approve the creation of the ad-hoc: Reading Center for Active Living Committee (RECALC) as amended. Carlo Bacci seconded the motion and it was approved with a 4-0 vote. Alicia Williams asked why the board is doing this now in the middle of pandemic; she also asked where the $40K came from. Town Manager Bob LeLacheur explained where the money came from for this while Mark Dockser noted this has been on the town managers goals for a while now. Anne Landry noted while we are still in a pandemic, we are no longer in a State of Emergency and it is worthwhile to engage in a planning process. Karen Herrick joined the meeting remotely at 7:40 PM. Town Manager Goals Town Manager Bob LeLacheur explained this document is the same as the board has previously seen and includes all feedback he received from members. Mark Dockser moved to approve the Town Manager Goals as presented. The motion was seconded Chris Haley and approved with a unanimous roll call vote. Minutes Mark Dockser moved to approve the meeting minutes of September 28, 2021 as amended. The motion was seconded by Carlo Bacci and approved with a unanimous roll call vote. Liaison Reports Carlo Bacci noted he has nothing to report besides Town Meeting. Chris Haley noted the PARC committee is moving along. They are planning a community meeting for November. Historic Commission had an onsite visit at 186 Summer Ave which will be shared at their next meeting. Karen Herrick noted The Climate Advisory Committee received an update from the Mass Climate Action Network (MCAN) which is a non-profit organization that reviewed all the municipal light plants in the commonwealth. In 2021, RMLD was ranked 9th out of 40 MLPs. Anne Landry noted the Board of Health is doing a public information campaign encouraging masking up in public buildings. They will be posting the Town's COVID numbers on their website biweekly. Page 12 Tax Classification Hearing John Means spoke on behalf oft he Chamber of Commerce asking the board to keep the tax rate at a 1:1 ratio. He noted that is what is best for Reading who doesn't have a large commercial base like some of our surrounding towns and our small businesses are still struggling. Assessor Victor Santaniello gave the board his yearly presentation which can be found in the Select Board packet online. Mark Dockser moved to close the hearing establishing the FY22 tax rate. The motion was seconded by Chris Haley and approved with a unanimous roll call vote. The board felt now is not the time to change anything and they would like to keep things the same for this year. Everyone is still struggling from the pandemic and the board feels some stability is still needed right now. Mark Dockser moved that the Select Board not grant an open space discount for Fiscal Year 2022. The motion was seconded by Chris Haley and approved with a unanimous roll call vote. Mark Dockser moved that the Select Board not adopt a residential exemption for Fiscal Year 2022. The motion was seconded by Chris Haley and approved with a unanimous roll call vote. Mark Dockser moved that the Select Board adopt a residential factor of 0.9985 for Fiscal Year 2022 The motion was seconded by Carlo Bacci and approved with a unanimous roll call vote. Mark Dockser moved that the Select Board not grant a small commercial exemption for Fiscal Year 2022. The motion was seconded by Chris Haley and approved with a unanimous roll call vote. Meadow Brook Hearing Cont... Anne Landry noted based on the vote from Town Meeting the board really only has one option here. Mark Dockser moved to close the hearing on Meadow Brook. The motion was seconded by Carlo Bacci and approved with a unanimous roll call vote. Mark Dockser moved that the Select Board vote not to exercise its Right of First of Refusal, pursuant to G.L. c.61B, s.9, over the portion of Meadow Brook Golf Club Corporation of Reading's property identified in its Notice of Intent to Sell, dated July 6, 2021, and on such terms and conditions outlined therein, and direct the Town Manager to send notice of such waiver to Meadow Brook's counsel by November 5, 2021. The motion was seconded by Carlo Bacci. Before the board voted, Chris Haley wanted to inform the board he did file a disclosure form because of a campaign donation made to him last year was from the developer buying the land but under a different company name; Alfa Realty Group. He noted he did not know who the donation was from or who he was at the time, and he just spent more time explaining it to the board then the total time he ever communicated with him. The board voted on the above motion to NOT exercise its Right of First Refusal and the motion was passed with a unanimous roll call vote. Mark Dockser moved to Accept the offer from Meadow Brook and Bancroft dated October 18, 2021, in which Bancroft agrees to sell a parcel of land identified as Lot 5 on an Approval Not Required Plan prepared by Sullivan Engineering Group, LLC entitled "Plan of Land Off of Grove Street Located in Reading, Massachusetts Prepared for Meadowbrook Golf Club" dated December 4, 2020, with a Revision date of December 9, 2020, as endorsed by the Community Planning & Development Page 13 Commission on December 14, 2020, to the Town for a purchase price of $450,000 and with no deed restrictions aside from setback restrictions as noted in the offer, provided, however, that any sale of Lot 5 to the Town shall be contingent on an affirmative final vote of Town Meeting authorizing the acquisition of land and the appropriation of funds; Direct the Town Manager to send notice of the Board's acceptance of the offer to Bancroft's counsel on or before October 27, 2021; and Authorize Town Counsel, with direction from Mark Dockser, to work with Bancroft on a Purchase and Sale Agreement, said Agreement to be approved by the Board prior to November 24, 2021. The motion was seconded by Chris Haley and approved with a unanimous roll call vote. OML Complaints/ Mediation Discussion Town Counsel Ivria Fried explained to the board Walt Tuvell's newest requests in order to participate in mediation. The board need to figure out how they would like to respond and what they are willing to accept. She also noted he has filed his 91h complaint recently and asked if the board still feels mediation will be successful. Mark Dockser explained he no longer feels mediation would be fruitful anymore. He would now prefer if we just let the AG review is complaints and render their decision. Chris Haley noted he is unsure of haw mediation would go at this point but he is okay with continuing to try and mediate. Carlo Bacci noted he agrees with both Mark and Chris' statements but is willing to go with what a majority of the board would like to do. He noted he does not have much faith mediation will work but will continue if that is the wish of the board. Karen Herrick noted she is willing to give mediation another try but she is not sure she is comfortable with it being recorded. Anne Landry noted she agrees with Carlo and can see both sides here. The board noted they are not comfortable with the mediation being recorded as Walt requested and they would like to do it in executive session following their executive session rules. The board agreed to respond one more time and explain their conditions in order to mediate (not recorded and in early 2021). Anne Landry moved to add complaint p9 to mediation and to authorize Town Counsel to respond with the Board's conditions for mediation with a hybrid format, no recordings consistent with their executive session procedures and to meet in early 2022. Mark Dockser seconded the motion and the board approved with a unanimous roll call vote. Karen Herrick left the meeting at 9:25 PM. Anne Landry noted Bernie Lynch from Community Paradigm will be reaching out soon to set the first screening committee meeting. Town Managers Report Town Manager Bob LeLacheur noted the House Minority Leader reached out to him and noted the House passed and begun to form how they're going to spend surplus and ARPA funds. He gave him Page 14 three priorities for Reading; funding for the water tank, deposit into the affordable housing trust fund, and funds for frontline employees during the pandemic. The board then discussed future agenda items. Mark Dockser moved to adjourn at 9:40 PM. The motion was seconded by Chris Haley and approved with a 4-0 vote. Documents Used: 2021-10-26 Select Board Packet 2021-10-26 Select Board Agenda 2011-10-26 Select Board Agenda REVISED IMA —Assessor Agreement Draft 1021 IMA—Animal Control Agreement Ad-hoc ReCalc Description Tax Classification Hearing Notice FY2022 Reading Classification Information Presentation FY22 Town Manager Goals 2021-09-28 Draft Select Board Minutes Page 1 5