HomeMy WebLinkAbout2009-05-05 Board of Selectmen Minutes Board of Selectmen Meeting
May 5, 2009
For ease of archiving, the order that items appear in these Minutes reflects the order in
which the items appeared on the agenda for that meeting, and are not necessarily the
order in which any item was taken up by the Board.
The meeting convened at 7:00 p.m. in the Selectmen's Meeting Room, 16 Lowell Street,
Reading, Massachusetts. Present were Vice Chairman Ben Tafoya, Secretary James
Bonazoli, Selectman Camille Anthony, Youth Representative Sarah Mulroy, Town
Manager Peter Hechenbleikner, Assistant Town Manager/Finance Director Bob
LeLacheur, Town Accountant Gail LaPointe, Elder/Human Services Administrator Dawn
Folopoulos, Treasur&r/Collector Nancy Heffernan, and the following list of interested
parties: Scott McIntire, Eric Demas, Carol Patterson, Diane Luther, Betty Horn, Vida
Pool.
Reports and Comments
Selectmen's Liaison Reports and Comments— Selectman Camille Anthony had no report
but offered a demonstration of water conservation devices available through the
Department of Public Works.
Selectman James Bonazoli thanked all those who participated in Saturday's Spring
Spruce Up, including Friends of Walkable Reading. He hopes that the YMCA will
participate next year in helping to clean up the abutting property between the YMCA and
Birch Meadow Drive.
Vice Chairman Ben Tafoya reported on the Stamp Out Hunger contributions to the Food
Bank run by the U.S. Postal Service this weekend. He also thanked Town staff and Town
Meeting for a good completion to Town Meeting. Finally, he expressed concern about
the status of the State Budget and the need to plan on local level what our responses will
be to further reductions to State Aid for 2009 or 2010.
Youth Representative Sarah Mulroy reported that on Wednesday, May 20th there will be
a community intergenerational program at the Senior Center at 5:00 p.m. - "Name That
Tune" from quiz shows.
Discussion/Action Items
Review Audit — Town Accountant Gail LaPointe and Auditors Scott McIntire and Eric
Demas from Melanson & Heath presented information on the Audit. Mr. McIntire gave
the background on what an audit is, why we are doing them, as well as the nature of the
audits and what transactions are tested. He made three summary remarks: (1) the audit
went well, (2) there were no significant audit findings and (3) there were no
disagreements from a GAAP standpoint — therefore, the audit for the Town is a "clean
audit opinion."
Board of Selectmen Meeting—May 5 2009—Page 2
Mr. McIntire reviewed several specific pages of the audit with the Board. He noted that
as of June 30, 2008, the Town had $6.4 million in cash reserves which equals 7.9% of
expenses. This is up from 7.6%the previous year.
Selectman James Bonazoli asked what the standard is for other communities. Mr.
McIntire noted that the 7.9% is a good level. The rating agencies want to see between
7.5% and 10%. Reading also has a rapid debt repayment which the rating agencies look
at favorably.
With regard to the Management Letter, the two comments are (1) that the Town should
obtain capital asset software, and Town Accountant Gail LaPointe noted that we have
purchased the ProSystems FX software and it should be in place by June 30, 2009, The
RMLD is kept separately with regard to capital asset software, and (2) that the FTC
regulations recommend "red flag rules." This is because the Town provides services "on
credit" for water, sewer, storm water management and Light Department services. The
"red flag rules" are to prevent identity theft. Mr. McIntire will submit to the Town some
policies and procedures that they have seen in other communities.
Selectman Camille Anthony asked about areas of emphasis, and it was noted that the
auditors have looked at ambulance billing and collections in the past, and the Town has
implemented what was recommended.
There was discussion on OPEB and whether or not this would effect the Town's rating,
and in Mr. McIntire's opinion, it would not. . Rating agencies are aware of the post
employment benefit liability and it is not a new liability. What has changed is the more
precise identification of the level of liability.
At the end of May or early June, the Audit Committee will be meeting again. If there are
areas that the Board of Selectmen feel should be looked at on a focused area, then that
should be brought to Selectman Camille Anthony's attention as a member of the Audit
Committee.
HigMights — Nurse Advocate — Carol Patterson from the Council on Aging introduced
Nurse Advocate Diane Luther and the Elder/Human Services Administrator Dawn
Folopoulos. They gave a detailed presentation on the level of services that were provided
during the year. Betty Horn, a recipient of services from the Nurse Advocate, was
present and spoke.
Mystic Valley Elder Services (MVES) re: Project Safe — Vida Pool from MVES was
present. They have a program called Project Safe which is to identify and talk with all
residents 80 years of age or older. The program started in 2002 and is now being rolled
out in Reading, and the last community of North Reading will be started soon. They are
3/ of the way through their Outreach Program. This is a collaborative effort with the
Reading Elder/Human Services Division. They send out letters two weeks before their
visit, and 90% of the interviewees have filled out their "file of life" cards. There are
Board of Selectmen Meeting—May 5 2009—Page 3
1116 elders who are over 80 years of age and 875 of them are partof this program.
Those who are not part of this program are in nursing homes or assisted living facilities.
Proclamations/Certificates of Appreciation
Certificate of Recognition — Eagle Scout Award — Patrick Gildea — On motion by
Bonazoli seconded by Anthony, the Board of Selectmen approved a Certificate of
Recognition for Patrick Gildea on the occasion of his Eagle Scout Court of Honor
Award. The Board will consider who among them will be available to attend the Court
of Honor ceremony.
Review Revised Tax and Utility Bills—Treasurer/Collector Nancy Heffernan was present
to review the new formats of both the water & sewer bills and the tax bills with the Board
of Selectmen. She also noted that the number of late excise payments are down 57%
from last year due in large part to the extraordinary efforts to give people extra notice of
the increase in the demand charge.
Town Manager Review of Goals — The Town Manager's Goals were reviewed in
summary. Selectman Camille Anthony asked to prioritize the establishment of an ad hoc
Building Committee to look at all Town and School building needs. The Parking Study
will be brought back before the Board of Selectman for discussion and direction. The
Town does not have funding for the full traffic study in the area bounded by Woburn
Street, Lowell Street, Middlesex Avenue and High Street. However, we will do post
Downtown construction traffic counts to compare them with the pre-construction counts
that we did.
Code of Conduct - The Town Manager will send out the revised Code of Conduct with
the changes suggested by the Board of Selectmen at their last meeting.
Correspondence from Congressman Tierney's Office re: Transportation Projects - The
Board reviewed the correspondence from Congressman Tierney's Office regarding
potential highway and transportation projects to be funded as part of the new federal
funding program. The Town Manager brought this to the attention of the Board because
of specific mention of the I-93/I-95 Interchange Project. The Board suggested that a
letter be sent to Congressman Tierney's Office with the letter that was sent to Mass
Highway a year or two ago regarding this project. Copies will be sent to Congressman
Tierney's staff.
Draft Regulations on Outdoor Sidewalk Dining—The Town Manager reviewed the draft
regulations on outdoor sidewalk dining. This draft has been sent to the Chamber of
Commerce for their information and is currently being reviewed by staff. Selectman
Camille Anthony suggested that the proposed regulations be put into broad categories for
easier understanding and compliance. This will be rescheduled for a future date by the
Board of Selectmen.
Board of Selectmen Meeting—May 5 2009—Page 4
The Town Manager noted that the Attorney for the Atlantic Food Mart had called to
request that the continued hearing on the revocation of the liquor license be extended to
June 9t' because both he and the proposed recipient of the transfer are not available for
the Board of Selectmen's meeting on May 19th
The Board was amenable to the change and Vice Chairman Ben Tafoya noted that with
this change, this would give the applicant almost what they had asked for—which is a 45
day continuation to see if they could transfer the license.
On motion by Bonazoli seconded by Anthony, the Board voted to adiourn their
meeting of May 5,2009 at 9.25 p.m. by a vote of 3-0-0.
Respectfully submitted,
LGam,
Secreta