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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2023-05-09 Select Board Minutes� OFgFe C Town of Reading RF-GEIVEI)s' MeetingMinutes TOWN CLERK fro R�AING, M1A. GI 6j axcoav ' Board -Committee -Commission -Council: 2823 JUN -8 0 8140 Select Board Date: 2023-05-09 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: Mark Dockser, Karen Herrick, Carlo Bacci, Chris Haley, Jackie McCarthy Members - Not Present: Others Present: Town Manager Fidel Maltez, Executive Assistant Caitlin Nocella, Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: Executive Assistant Caitlin Nocella Topics of Discussion: This meeting was held in person and remote via Zoom. Dockser called the meeting to order at 7:00 PM. Public Comment Vanessa Alvarado felt Select Board member Carlo Bacci's comments about Angela Binda, a volunteer, were unacceptable. She believes he violated ethics laws and should apologize to her. Joe Carnahan wanted to ask why there was nothing mentioned about sprinklers when talking about the water and sewer rates. He also believes the town should not offer second meters if they want to encourage conservation because that does the opposite. Reorganization Town Manager Fidel Maltez took control of the meeting and opened the floor for nominations for Chair. Herrick nominated McCarthy with a second from Dockser. Maltez closed nominations for Chair. The board shared a consensus of their confidence in McCarthy to lead the board and keep a good tone of the town. The board took a roll call vote for McCarthy as Chair and it was approved unanimously. McCarthy then opened the floor for nominations for Vice Chair. McCarthy nominated Dockser with a second from Herrick. Haley nominated himself with a second from Herrick. Page 1 1 McCarthy noted she learned a lot from Dockser when he was Chair and believes he would be a great Vice Chair. Haley and Dockser both spoke on their reasons for why they would be a good Vice Chair. The board took a roll call vote on Dockser for Vice Chair with the following results: McCarthy— yes; Herrick — yes; Dockser— yes; Haley— no; Bacci — no. Dockser is Vice Chair. McCarthy opened the floor for nominations for Secretary. McCarthy nominated Bacci for Secretary with a second from Dockser. Bacci nominated Herrick with a second from Haley. The board took a roll call vote unanimously voting for Herrick as secretary. Liaison Reports Herrick noted that the Town Manager and some board members presented the YMCA with their ARPA check. Dockser noted that the Council on Aging hopes to keep the momentum going on finding a new senior center. They made a video highlighting all the problems at the current Pleasant Street Center. Bacci noted that the Recreation Department welcomed Jim Sullivan to the team. Haley noted the School Committee gave Dr. Milaschewski a new 6 year contract. McCarthy noted she held her office hours last week. Town Manager Report Maltez noted that the Lowell Street paving project is now finally done. COLA Increase for Retirees Town Accountant Sharon Angstrom gave the board a presentation on why the request is coming before them. She explained the Governor signed an act into law that allows this one-time increase of up to 5% of the base amount for this year only. The board must approve the increase which would give the retirees an additional 2% for FY23. The board will vote on this at their next meeting. MassWorks Grant Economic Development Director Ben Cares gave the board an overview of the MassWorks infrastructure program and how it could help our downtown Haven Street. He is asking the board to approve a letter of support for the Town's application for the grant. Herrick moved to sign the proposed letter of support for a MassWorks Gram related to construction on Haven Street. The motion was seconded by Haley and approved with a 5-0 vote. Sanborn Lane Gift Chuck Tirone explained to the board the request to accept a gift of a parcel of land on Sanborn Lane. The Conservation Commission will also need to accept the gift. Herrick moved that we, Select Board of the Town of Reading, in accordance with M.G.L. c.40, 48C, vote to approve the acceptance by the Town of Reading Conservation Commission of a gift of land located at 0 Sanborn Lane from William A. Quigley Jr, Trustee of Butcher Family Realty Trust from Steven and Irene Butcher as described in the deed to the Town of said land. The motion was seconded by Dockser and approved with a 5-0 vote. Page 1 2 SWEC Charge Maltez noted the committee would like the board to adjust the charge of the committee to expand their work to include a large portion of the land on Symonds Way. Chuck Tirone explained to the board more about the land and the potential it has. VASC The board discussed the term for members on VASO. There seems to be some confusion on if it rotates annually or not. The consensus of the board is that a two-year term is more favorable. Herrick moved to appoint McCarthy and Bacci to the Volunteer Appointment Subcommittee. The motion was seconded by Dockser and approved with a 5-0 vote. Haley and McCarthy noted they interviewed Tony D'Arezzo who is current associate on the CPDC and he would like to move into the open full position. Herrick moved to appoint Tony D'Arezzo to a full position on the CPDC with a term expiring June 30, 2024. The motion was seconded by Bacci and approved with a 5-0 vote. Liaison Assignments The board discussed their liaison assignments. The general consensus of the board was that the assignments were fine as is. Dockser made a comment they should switch them up eventually. Herrick made note that some of these don't seem necessary. The board will send any comments to Maltez and they will vote at their next meeting. Water & Sewer Rates Maltez went over the water and sewer rates with a presentation. The presentation can be found in the Select Board packet on the town website. The board discussed their thoughts on second water meters. Haley is very in favor of second water meters and would like a pilot program to test it out. Other members of the board, Dockser and Herrick are not interested in second meters noting this has continuously been voted down by Select Boards in previous years. The board will continue this discussion with a public hearing at their next meeting and a public forum on May 33v for any residents that are interested in learning more about the proposed tiered system. RFP — Senior Center Dockser noted it would be a good idea to issue a new RFP for a feasibility study for the senior center to see what kind of other options are available. Bacci feels this is a repetitive process and will only tell us things we already know while wasting more ARPA money. The board will vote at their next meeting. ReCalc Charge and Sunset Date Dockser noted the group feels they have done their work and are not sure if the Select Board wants them to continue and if so, what should they do. They are due to sunset in lune if the Select Board doesn't do anything. Dockser will reach out to the group and get their feedback on a new sunset date. Schedule Reading Ice Arena Authority Meeting Herrick noted the lease says the board can request a meeting with the Ice Arena Authority annually and she would like to do that. She noted RMLD would like to join the meeting as well. Future Agendas The board discussed future agenda items. Page 1 3 Minutes The board edited previous meeting minutes. Herrick moved to approve the meeting minutes of April 181h, as amended. The motion was seconded by Bacci and approved with a 5-0 vote. Herrick moved to adjourn the meeting at 11:22 PM. The motion was seconded by Dockser and approved with a 5-0 vote. Documents Used: 2023-05-09 Select Board Packet Page 1 4