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Board - Committee - Commission - Council:
Bylaw Committee
Date: 2025-04-09 Time: 7:30 PM
Building: Virtual Location: Zoom
Address: Session: Open Session
Purpose: General Business Version: Final
Attendees: Members - Present:
Jesse Arnold, Jason Clarke, Jared Belliveau, Liz Sullivan, Louise Saunders
(all via Zoom)
Members - Not Present:
Others Present:
Town Manager Matt Kraunelis, Town Clerk Lauara Gemme, Teddy Arnold
(all via Zoom)
Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: Jared Belliveau
Topics of Discussion:
Meeting called to order at 7:31pm
Review of Town Meeting Warrant. Kraunelis explained that there are three articles on the
Town Meeting Warrant that the Bylaws Committee will need to review and vote on, and that
the outcome of that vote will be reported during town meeting. The Warrant had to go to
print before the Bylaw Committee code record their vote in that document.
Article 8- Revolving Fund. Kraunelis explains that this amends the bylaws to add Elder &
Human Services as a new revolving fund that will support programming at the Senior
Center. Money collected by the Senior Center for programming will be collected in this
fund, which will in turn be used to pay vendors. Some small grants may also be deposited
there. The balance in that is currently $0 because it is new. This bylaw also provides the
status of existing revolving funds. Saunders asked whether this was connected to the new
senior center. Kraunelis responded that this would be a preferred way doing business even
if the new senior center is not approved. Clarke moved to recommend the content of Article
8 to town meeting. The Committee voted 5-0 to approve. Arnold will report on this Article
at Town Meeting.
Article 9 & Article 10 - HERO Act. Kraunelis explained that the HERO ACT was passed in
2024. One part of the law would provide a COLA adjustment for those already receiving the
tax benefit. Another part of the law adds an additional exemption, the amount of which
could increase the current exemption by up to 100%. Arnold asked about how many towns
have adopted these provisions. Kraunelis has heard from town council that it has been
popular. Sullivan moved to recommend the content of Article 9. The Committee voted 5-0
to approve. Belliveau moved to recommend the content of Article 9. The Committee voted
5-0 to approve. Arnold will report on both of these Articles at Town Meeting.
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Discussion of Snow Removal Bylaw Plannina. Arnold briefly summarized the main idea of
the bylaw was to require the sidewalks to be shoveled downtown, and that the primary
enforcement mechanism would be via See -Click -Fix reporting. A small number of homes will
be affected. Arnold indicated that she would send the existing materials to new member
Saunders. The intent is to conduct two or three public hearings on this in advance of the
November Town Meeting. Gemme noted that the November Town Meeting warrant must be
closed by 23 September at the latest, so preference is to complete the hearings before then.
Sullivan recommends meetings in late August and late September. Any changes based
upon feedback could be worked internally in October, and then changes made on the floor.
Belliveau suggested that we are unlikely to get a lot of participation at the meetings and
there are likely to be amendments offered on the floor anyway, so very precise planning at
this point is probably unnecessary. Sullivan recounted some of our prior discussions
regarding how other towns approached this and the scope of the bylaw. Sullivan
recommends that Arnold and Clarke work on the presentation and present to the bylaw
committee for discussion and feedback. Arnold recommends having a public hearing the
week of 15 September. Sullivan recommends 16 September in person at the library with a
Zoom option and 24 September via Zoom only. Kraunelis will check with the library about
reserving the room for 7:00 on 16 September.
Future Agenda Items. Arnold asked Kraunelis how to resume work on the electronic voting
for Town Meeting. Gemme noted that she has reservations about the system because of
issues reported by other clerks related to cost, maintenance, and equipment failure
problems. It can be implemented, but the benefit may not be worth the cost. Clarke notes
that when there are important votes, someone will call for a rollcall vote - putting the
meeting members on the record. Sullivan recalled that the value of this was originally
connected to voting of Town Meeting over Zoom during COVID. Arnold concludes that we
let this issue lay flat for now unless it raised by others.
Decennial Bylaw review will need to be placed on the agenda once we have concluded the
snow removal bylaw. Clarke asks if there is a deadline; Kraunelis indicated that we are well
within the 10-year review.
Gemme notes that we will need to make some changes to reflect updates to "Town Meeting
Time" and our dog bylaws to comply with new Massachusetts law, "011ie's Law," related to
kennel licensing and grooming licensing.
Review of 11 December Meeting Minutes. Sullivan motioned to accept the minutes from 11
December Meeting Minutes. Clarke seconded. Committee voted 3-0 to approve the
minutes.
The committee discussed options for the next meeting and agreed on Wednesday, 11 June
at 7:30pm.
Sullivan made motion to adjourn. Belliveau seconded. Committee voted 5-0 to adjourn at
8:45pm.
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