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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2019-10-15 Select Board Minutesorq�o RECEIVED i � � Town of Reading ED yu Meeting Minutes R READING, OWN MA ""° 2 23 JAN 19 (-& Board - Committee - Commission - Council: PM 3:07 Select Board Date: 2019-10-15 Time: 7:00 PM Building: Reading Town Hall Location: Select Board Meeting Room Address: 16 Lowell Street Session: Open Session Purpose: General Business Version: Draft Attendees: Members - Present: Vanessa Alvarado, Mark Dockser, Anne Landry, Andy Friedmann Members - Not Present: John Halsey Others Present: Town Manager Bob LeLacheur, Executive Assistant Caitlin Saunders, Town Accountant Sharon Angstrom, Town Treasurer Endri Kume, Bill Brown Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: Caitlin Saunders Topics of Discussion: Ms. Alvarado called the meeting to order at 7 pm. Liaison Reports Ms. Landry noted the Wakefield Board of Appeals granted the special permit for the Tarrant Lane project. Mr. Dockser attended a State wide Municipal Conference last week with the Town Manager and noted it was very informative. This morning there was a meeting with staff and MassDOT about road diets where MassDOT noted they are willing to listen and work with us on some concerns. Ms. Alvarado called the state and they noted the lanes on Main Street will go back as normal for the winter and then the road diet trial will start in the spring. Mr. Friedmann mentioned an email in the packet about idling at the train station; he hopes we can enforce this in some way because it is a health concern. He also mentioned another email about parking on a sidewalk near Killam School. Mr. LeLacheur briefly touched on this noting that area is hard because if they put in a sidewalk the cars will just park further into the street making it hard for cars to get through. Mr. Friedmann met with John Weston, the Chair of the CPDC about Air BnBs. He also attended another multi -town gas leak this morning with National Grid. Ms. Alvarado also noted she talked with Mass DOT about Walnut Street and the new lights they put in over there. They said they would look into it. Town Manaaer Report Mr. LeLacheur noted, himself and various other staff members were able to get all the liquor inspections done in the past two weeks. The Imagine Reading survey that is out already has over 1,500 responses. He learned that Reading is going to be the location for an EPA Page I 1 announcement about new lead regulations because of Reading's actions dealing with lead in schools. Mr. LeLacheur then noted that Mr. Halsey could not attend this evening but wrote a statement he wished to be read regarding the email in the packet about the softball fields. Mr. LeLacheur read Mr. Halsey's statement which explained his concerns about unsafe playing conditions at the softball field. He wished the board would take action to correct the Issue as soon as possible. Public Comment Bill Brown inquired about the instructional motion from Town Meeting regarding Memorial Park; he thinks that needs to be wrapped up. He also noted the board needs to stay on track and stick to business under their purview. Retirement Board Mr. LeLacheur explained the board needs to approve Carol Roberts to participate in the Retirement Board Town Meeting Article. He explained this is the exact same filing they approved for the Town Accountant Sharon Angstrom at their last meeting. Mr. Dockser moved that the board approve the form filing by Carol Roberts. The motion was seconded by Mr. Friedmann and approved with a 4-0 vote. Town Accountant Ouarterly Report Town Accountant Sharon Angstrom gave the board an update on the fiscal year thus far. She went over the General Fund revenues and expenses noting no concerns. She then explained the OPEB Trust Document that she is asking the board to sign and execute tonight. Mr. Dockser moved that the board accept and execute the OPEB Trust Document as written. The motion was seconded by Ms. Landry and approved with a 4-0 vote. Tax Title Properties Town Treasurer Endri Kume explained to the board that he is asking them to appoint him as custodian under Chapter 60 section 77B. This would allow him to do the administrative duties pertaining to foreclosed properties. As of right now he cannot do any work or bring anything to the board until they appoint him custodian. He would not make any decisions on any properties, this would simply allow him to do the work to bring Information to the board. Mr. Kume believes this was done in the past but he cannot find any record of it, so to be safe he would like the board to make the appointment again if they so wish. Mr. Dockser moved to appoint the Treasurer as the Custodian under MGL Chapter 60 Section 7713; as the custodian he would have the care, custody, management and control for land acquired though foreclosure under Section 80 of MGL. The motion was seconded by Mr. Friedmann and approved with a 4-0 vote. Liouor Hearing Due to unforeseen circumstances the board needed to postpone this hearing. Mr. Dockser read the hearing notice and Ms. Alvarado asked if there was any public comment. Mr. Dockser moved to continue the hearing on the Select Board Policies Article 3, to November 19th, 2019 at 8 PM. The motion was seconded by Mr. Friedmann and approved with a 4-0 vote. Town Manager Goals The board discussed the Town Manager goals. Ms. Landry mentioned carrying over customer service to this year as well. It was noted customer service is a part of Mr. Page 12 LeLacheur's job and doesn't necessarily need to be on his goal list. The board had a discussion last year about not listing things as goals if they pertained to the day-to-day work that is his job. Mr. Friedmann asked when he could see the numbers on employee retention and Mr. LeLacheur noted the HR Director would be presenting that information at an upcoming meeting. Mr. Dockser asked why the hiring of a new Police Chief was not a goal. The board then debated back and forth that that is apart of his job and will get done no matter what; not necessarily a goal. Mr. LeLacheur noted he would put anything on his goals the board wanted but noted they did cut off 'operational' goals last year because they are apart of his job and his goal list was very long. He also noted if they want to add customer service back to his goals, he would like a little more specification on what exactly they want to see. Employees have trainings all the time so he wants more detail on what exactly his goal with customer service would be. Town Manager Review Format The board discussed the format they would use to review the Town Manager. Mr. Dockser suggested an 'overall' summary spot so that they could just write general thoughts and feedback that might not pertain to certain category listed in the review. Mr. Friedmann noted he didn't particularly care for the rating system of'met' or'did not meet'. He explained, he wouldn't want to mark him with a'did not meet' if he is working on a goal but it is just not quite complete yet but progress has been made. Mr. Dockser agreed to work offline with Mr. LeLacheur to accommodate the few suggestions and come back with a fresh document. HRAC Membershio Ms. Landry explained the reason for this proposed change from 7 to 5 members is because they are struggling to get a quorum. They have been struggling for quite some time and now they need to start planning their MILK Day celebrations. The board didn't see any problem with changing the membership so they can meet. Mr. Dockser moved that the board change Select Board Policy Section 2.3.1 — HRAC membership from 7 to 5 members as presented. The motion was seconded by Ms. Landry and approved with a 4-0 vote. Vote on Town Meeting Warrant Articles The board discussed if they wanted to vote on all articles or just articles they felt needed it. They felt it necessary to vote on the Gas Leak warrant article because two members sponsored it. They decided to wait on the budget articles until the Financial Forum which is being held tomorrow night. The board then went through and picked out which articles they wanted to vote on. Mr. Dockser moved that the board support Town Meeting Warrant Articles 5, 8, 10, 11, 12, 17, and 18. The motion was seconded by Mr. Friedmann and approved with a 4-0 vote. Select Board Goal Settino Priorities Ms. Alvarado started off by saying the board either needs to meet more often or keep their conversations to an appropriate amount of time. Mr. Dockser suggested the board go on a retreat. He also suggested the board read the packet and do their homework and ask questions before the meetings to help make the conversations shorter at the meetings. Page 1 3 Mr. Friedmann suggested going through their old goals and if no progress has been made, drop them for now and focus on finished the goals that did make some progress. He also mentioned the Chair should keep the board on topic if they start to stray. Ms. Landry liked the idea of the retreat to focus on high level goals while there. Minutes Mr. Dockser moved to approve the meeting minutes of July 9th, 2019 as amended. The motion was seconded by Ms. Landry and approved with a 4-0 vote. Mr. Dockser moved to approve the meeting minutes of August 6th, 2019 as written. The motion was seconded by Mr. Friedmann and approved with a 3-0-1 with Alvarado abstaining. Mr. Dockser moved to approve the meeting minutes of August 27th, 2019 as amended. The motion was seconded by Ms. Landry and approved with a 4-0 vote. Mr. Dockser moved to approve the meeting minutes of September 10th, 2019 as written. The motion was seconded by Mr. Friedmann and approved with a 4-0 vote. Mr. Dockser moved to approve the meeting minutes of September 24th, 2019 as amended. The motion was seconded by Mr. Friedmann and approved with a 4-0 vote. Mr. Dockser moved to adjourn at 10:32 PM. The motion was seconded by Ms. Landry and approve with a 4-0 vote. Page 1 4