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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2023-06-06 Select Board Minutes_ READING, MA. Town of Reading 2123 JUN 21 PM 2:46 a Meeting Minutes 6-P Board - Committee - Commission - Council: Select Board Date: 2023-06-06 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: Jackie McCarthy, Mark Dockser, Karen Herrick, Carlo Bacci, Chris Haley Members - Not Present: Others Present: Town Manager Fidel Maltez, Executive Assistant Caitlin Nocella, Ron Rice, Stephen Cool, Nick Bonnano, Dan McCarthy, Chris Caruso, Will Finch, Jonathan Weber Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: Executive Assistant Caitlin Nocella Topics of Discussion: This meeting was held in person and remote via Zoom. Chair McCarthy called the meeting to order at 7:00 PM. Public Comment John Sullivan expressed his concerns about the tiered water rates and urges the board to reject the current proposal. Liaison Reports Dockser noted the Trust Fund Commissioners met last week. The Council on Aging met last night and they spoke about the ReCalc charter change. He will be speaking with the board about that later in the evening. Bacci noted SWEC met last week and they went over the final results of the survey. Haley noted the Memorial Day Celebration that was wonderful. The School Committee met at METCO headquarters in Boston. Principal Tracy is leaving at the end of this school year. Herrick seconded Haley's comments about Memorial Day. They held the annual meeting with the Ice Arena Authority. RMLD is going to look at the Ice Arena roof to we if it is a good fit for some solar panels. She attended an MAPC meeting in Boston. Page 1 1 McCarthy spoke about the legislature and they will hear our request to increase the size of the BoardgfC ._E1VtU Health. Haley and McCarthy are interviewing incumbents as apart of the VASC. Friends and Famity tkWls rI F R K this Saturday. Town Manager Report Maltez noted upcoming Juneteenth celebration on lune 20, He noted we submitted 5 grants recently and are working on one more. They have selected a OPM for the Killam School and now they are working on a contract with them. He will be attending a training program at Harvard for a couple weeks in lune. Hearing—Meadow Brook Golf Club Alteration of Premises Liquor License Herrick read the hearing notice. General Manager of Meadow Brook, Ron Rice, explained they would like to expand their liquor license so they can have a point of sale at the pool. Abutter Nick Bonnano and his Attorney Cicatelli, believe that a former CPDC decision doesn't allow the club to expand their license. Mr. Bonnano stated the noise from the club directly affects him as a neighbor and this will only cause more noise. They are asking the board to decline this request. Town Manager Maltez read a memo from Andrew MacNichol, Community Development Director and Staff Contact for CPDC, in which he stated there is no condition that limits the service of alcohol in the pool area; however, he did mention there is a maximum seating limit and certain hours of operation outlined in the CPDC decision. Mr. Rice assured the board that they would be abiding by the hours of operation as the pool closes before the end of the time frame. Board members did not feel comfortable voting on this without more clarification about the CPDC decision and would like our Town Counsel to weigh in on the matter as well. All parties agreed to continue the hearing until their next meeting. Herrick moved to continue the hearing to June 20'", 2023. Dockser seconded the motion and it was approved with a 5-0 vote. Authorize Debt Diane Morabito, Town Treasurer, explained they are asking the board to vote to authorize debt related to the Auburn Street Water Tank, Mallet Sommes Morgan Land and Haven Street. Herrick moved to dispense the reading of the motion. That was seconded by Dockser and approved with a 5-0 vote. Dockser moved to approve the authorizing of debt as presented. The motion was seconded and the board voted 5-0 to pass the motion. Water and Sewer Rates Maltez gave the board another presentation in regards to water and sewer rates. The presentation can be found in the Select Board packet on the town website. Page 1 2 Haley was unsure if tiers were the right way to go and he asked about a tiered increase of 2.9,3,3.1%. Haley brought up second water meters again asking why they can't do a pilot program. Bacci proposed using another $1 million out of sewer reserves to help offset an increase. Will Finch noted second water meters were discussed some 10+ years ago and they were deemed not appropriate and is why they have never moved forward since. He feels we need to teach conservation to our children for the future and giving out discounts to water your lawn is not how to do it. The board decided they are not ready to vote and will discuss this again at their next meeting on lune 20'^ Parking Kiosk Update Economic Development Director Ben Cares noted the roll out date is now September V. He gave the board a presentation that can be found in the Select Board packet on the town website. Improving Communication with Businesses The board discussed how to improve communication with small businesses in town. ARPA Funds for Health Department Maltez explained that the Health Department is asking to use $15,000 of their previously allocated ARPA funds for file digitization within the health department. Herrick moved to approve $15,000 from the previously allocated ARPA Funds for the Health Department, for File Digitization for Public Health as requested. The motion was seconded by Dockser and approved with a 5-0 vote. ReCalc Change of Charge and Sunset Date Dockser shared with the board an updated charge he worked on. The board edited a few items but was on board with what Dockser presented. Herrick moved to approve the changes for the ReCalc Charge as amended. The motion was seconded by Haley and approved with a 5-0 vote. Herrick moved to extend the sunset date of ReCalc to lune 30, 2024. The motion was seconded by Dockser and approved with a 5-0 vote. Discussion of Funding Requests from B/C/C's As noted in the packet, Maltez went over the requests for funding from a few of the town's boards and committees. Maltez also showed the total amount of requests and what is available to fund. The requests are more than what is available, so he shared what he recommends. Dockser moved to approve the funding requests recommended by the Town Manager as presented. Herrick seconded the motion and it was approved with a 5-0 vote. Pagc 13 Doe Park Discussion Steven Cool noted that there is a lot of buzz and interest in getting a dog park here in town. He did a lot of research with other towns on how the went about funding and building their dog parks. There is a company that helps towns out with this but they are closing their funding at the end of the year. The board discussed creating an ad-hoc committee or letting residents create a non -formal "friends of" committee to get this moving. The biggest hurdle will mostly be the location. The board agreed to continue this discussion at a future meeting. Emails for Board/Committee Members Haley feels every board member should have a town email or at the very least, the chair of every board should have a town email. Maltez noted IT is hesitant to do this because of the amount of management this would require noting there are over two hundred volunteers and a lot of turnover. Exploration of Town Counsel Bacci and Haley feel we should go out to bid and see what our options are for Town Counsel. Dockser along with Herrick and McCarthy, feel we shouldn't be looking for new Counsel unless there is a problem and now is not the time to be doing this. Minutes The board edited previous meeting minutes. Herrick moved to approve the meeting minutes of May 9" as amended. The motion was seconded by Dockser and approved with a 5-0 vote. Dockser moved to adjourn the meeting at 11:43 PM. The motion was seconded by Herrick and approved with a 5-0 vote. Page 14