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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2006-12-05 Board of Selectmen Minutes Board of Selectmen Meeting December 5, 2006 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 Chairman Ben Tafoya, Vice Chairman James Bonazoll, Secretary Stephen Goldy, Selectmen Camille Anthony and Richard Schubert, Police Chief Jim Cormier, Treasurer/Collector Nancy Heffernan, Assistant Collector Beth Licari, Assistant. Treasurer Peggy Campbell, Assistant Town Manager/Finance Director Bob LeLacheur, Town Manager Peter Hechenbleikner and the following list of interested parties: Patty Chinette, Carolyn Whiting, Betty Cronin, Gil Rodrigues, Michelle Halloran, Ann Marie Bourque, Paul kurker, Larry Cowell, Kim Hubbard, Bill Cowie, Attorney Brad Latham, Tony Tambone and Vice President of Atlantic-Tambone David Schere. Report's and Comments Selectmen's Liaison Reports and Comments - Selectman Richard Schubert noted that he had Office Hours and there were no visitors. He indicated that the Board should re- evaluate this policy and see if it is still worthwhile having Selectmen's Office Hours. Selectman Stephen Goldy noted that the Reading Police Department's Children's Party is next Sunday at Austin Prep from 1:00—3:00 p.m. Vice Chairman James Bonazoli expressed thanks to staff for organizing the Veterans' Day events, including the Veterans' Agent, Police Honor Guard, DPW and all their staff involved. Chairman Ben Tafoya represented the Board of Selectmen at the Memory Tree Celebration last Sunday. He also handed out a format for the Town Manager's Evaluation which is scheduled to be done next week. The Town Manager will send the updated goals to the Board of Selectmen tomorrow, and will fill out the self evaluation. Members of the Board will get the material back to the Town Manager by December 11`h The Board also asked the Town Manager and Department Heads to consider doing a 360 degree evaluation of the Town Manager, and sharing those results with the Board of Selectmen. Town.Manager's Report The Town Manager gave the following report: E Flu Clinics — One last one tomorrow — 12/06/06 from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. at Town Hall in Selectmen's Meeting Room X Request from MMA for participation in Patrick Administration transition workshops Board of Selectmen Meeting—December 5,2006—Page 2 ■ Toys for Tots ■ Former Veterans' Agent Paul Farrell passed away this week. ■ Former Selectman Joe Duffy passed away last week. ■ Curbside Holiday Tree Collection—Week of January 8-12,2007; Compost Center is open for trees on Saturday,January 13th. ■ Construction on Mobil Station on South Main Street; Getty Station on South Main Street ■ Shop the Block is on December 7th from 5:00 to 9:00 p.m. The Town Manager in response to a question from the Board noted that the owner of the North Main Street building that was burned out last January has been given two weeks to apply for a permit to demolish the building. If we don't.receive that, then the Town will move forward with the process of demolishing the building and placing a lien on the property. The Assistant Town Manager talked about the budget process, and the Board agreed to meet on January 20th and January 27th at 8:30 a.m. to,noon to review the municipal budgets. Meanwhile, the Board will get the information that is submitted to the Finance Committee on the budget at this time. Personnel and.Appointments Animal Control Appeals Committee—The Town Manager asked the Board to appoint at least two members to the Animal Control Appeals Committee so that this could get started. On motion by Goldy seconded by Bonazoli, the Board voted to.place the following naive into nomination for one position on the Animal Control Appeals..Cominittee with.a,term expiring June 30, 2008• David Singer. The motion was approved by a vote of 5-0=0 and.Mr. Singer..was appointed. On motion by Goldy seconded by Anthony, the.Board voted to place,the following name into nomination for one position on the Aiiimal Control Appeals Committee with a term expiring June 30, 2007• James Bonazoli. The motion was approved by a vote of 5A-0 and Mr.Bonazoli was.appointed. Discussion/Action Items Highlights — Collector - Treasurer/Collector Nancy Heffernan, Assistant Collector Beth Licari, and Assistant Treasurer Peggy Campbell were present for this Highlights session. Nancy Heffernan went through the presentation on the activities of the Collector's and Treasurer's Offices. The Board thanked the staff for the very informative presentation. Report — Nurse Advocacy Program — Ann Marie Bourque made a presentation of the recommendations of the Nurse Advocacy Program Task Force. The Board asked a number of questions including for Winchester and Andover who have similar programs, what other staff do they have in the equivalent to our Elder/Human Services Division. Board of Selectmen Meeting_December 5, 2006—,Page 3 For example, do they have a full-time Social Worker as we do? Elder/Human Services Administrator Dawn Folopoulos will have that information for the Board's next meeting. The Board decided what action to take next. The recommendation of the Task Force is that this be funded as a half-time staff position through action at the Special Town Meeting on February 5, 2007. The Town Manager recommended that the Board hold off on any action such as this pending at least a preliminary review of the FY 2008 Budget. The Warrant for the Special Town Meeting closes on January 9h and we will have a general article for amending the FY 2007 Budget so that there will be the possibility of taking action on this item at this Special Town Meeting. Selectman Camille Anthony asked that the report list the members of the Task Force. The Board accepted the report as the final report of the Nurse Advocacy Program, and the Task Force is thereby dissolved. Interim Report — Ad Hoc Downtown Parking Committee - Gil Rodrigues, Chairman of the Ad Hoc Downtown Parking Committee, presented his report. The Committee is doing a great deal of work to determine what the demand for parking is, and they are also working on options for Downtown parking for employees, and making better use of abutting parking areas by having property owners work together. Follow Up on Washington Street Regulations — The Town Manager reported that the Parking, Traffic and Transportation Task Force reviewed a number of different*options but felt that the.only reasonable one is to put the same kind of regulations on parking on one side of Washington Street as we have on Arlington Street. This would be "No Parking 6:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m., Monday through Friday", and it was suggested that the regulations would go on the easterly side of the street. Chairman Ben Tafoya suggested that as of January 1st, the Town should look at taking back some of the parking spaces on High Street that have been designated for Employee/Merchant Parking. He suggested 10 to 20 spaces. 10 spaces would "make the commuters whole"because that was in that loss in commuter parking spaces. Selectman Steve Goldy felt that would negatively effect Downtown. Vice Chairman James Bonazoli felt that the most we should take back is 10 spaces. He suggested that perhaps we should look at the lottery system. We certainly want to encourage people to take advantage of the commuter rail system. Selectman Richard Schubert felt that we should look at the issue of whether people renting the spaces have them as "lifetime spaces." Board of Selectmen Meeting—December 5, 2006—Page 4 Selectman Camille Anthony asked if there were changes in parking patterns in the rest of the Depot area, and Chief Cormier noted that there is some parking further up on Prescott/Woburn Streets but otherwise there does not seem to be any new parking areas l established, and specifically Mount Vernon Street does not seem to be a problem. Gil Rodrigues suggested that we try to work out an arrangement with the Anderson Transportation Center that commuters can park there if they have a Reading Commuter Access Sticker. Commuters can move to other locations but employees in the Downtown cannot go elsewhere. Paul Kurker of 34 Washington Street felt that restricting the parking on one side of the street was necessary for safety purposes. Larry Cowell felt that priority should be given to commuter parking. Selectman Camille Anthony felt that we are not ready to reassess the High Street spaces. It looks like Washington Street is the location most impacted. She is concerned about parking too close to the intersection of Woburn Street and Prescott Street, and both sides of Washington Street. Kim. Hubbard of Washington Street suggested doing the No Parking on one side from 6:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. Bill Cowie of 110 Van Norden Road felt that is a 0 sum game. On.motion.by Goldy seconded by Schubert, the Board moved to amend the Reading Traffic Rules and Regulations adopted by the Board of Selectmen on March 28, 1995 by adding to.Article 5, Section 5.4.4 the following regulations: Parking Prohibited During Certain.Hours on Certain Streets, 6:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.,.(Monday.through Friday) - Washington.Street - On the easterly side from Woburn Street to,Prescott Street. Selectman Camille Anthony voted to. amend the regulation by adding a prohibition on parking within 40 feet of the intersection of Woburn Street and Washington Street. She then withdrew the amendment pending further review by staff as to whether or not that is an appropriate regulation. The motion was approved by a vote of 5-0-0. The Board.directed that a letter be sent to the lessees of the Employee/Merchant Parking on High Street asking what their intentions are, and when these spaces would be utilized. The Board also asked that this be on next week's agenda. Board of Selectmen Meeting-December 5-2006-Page 5 Tambone Presentation re: South Main Street Property-Attorney Brad Latham, property owner Tony Tambone and Vice President of Atlantic-Tambone David Schere made a presentation to the Board of Selectmen relative to requested zoning map amendments on South Main Street. The purpose is to add one parcel which is currently residentially zoned to the PUD-B Zoning District, which would then allow the development of the property with no parking in front of the building on Main Street. Selectman Richard Schubert asked what happened to the parking which was eliminated from in front of the building. Mr. Tambone indicated that those spaces had been eliminated. They previously had shown six spaces per 1000 sq. ft., and they would reduce the total amount of spaces to five per 1000 sq. ft. If the property in question is not rezoned, then they would have to make up those parking spaces. This would require further encroachment into the underlying residential zone. They need to get Conservation Division determination that they have no jurisdiction on the'property. Their property does slope to the rear. They will be buffering adjacent to the McIntire home. Selectman Steve Goldy asked what the current building size is (33,000 sq. ft), and what the proposed size is (29,000 sq. ft.). Vice Chairman James Bonazoli asked about loading areas, and it was noted that CPDC can waive these requirements. . Selectman Camille Anthony noted that the Town would not want to see loading in the area where the house is. Loading will not be done on loading docks but will be done in surface loading spaces. She also suggested moving any restaurant on the site as far away from the residences as possible-i.e.,northerly on Main Stzeet. In response to a question by Selectman Steve Goldy, the developer noted that they do not have specific tenants for the site but would anticipate having a restaurant of 4,000-5,000 sq. ft., a coffee shop and perhaps a beauty parlor. This would be an upscale center. In response to a question by Chairman Ben Tafoya, the developer noted that the closest proximity of the new building to the McIntire residence is. approximately 80 feet. He noted that the new building will be lower, and because of demographic considerations would be set somewhat below the grade of South Street. Chairman Ben Tafoya asked if the developer had met with the abutters, and he indicated that he had. The developer also indicated that they would fence the entire remainder of the property to prevent dumping. Selectman Camille Anthony asked if the home on the property to be rezoned was historic. This has been reviewed with the Historical Commission and it is not. Board of Selectmen Meeting:_December 5, 2006—Page 6 With regard to the timeline, Attorney Latham noted that they have had workshops with the CPDC, and have drafted zoning regulations. They would like to be on the Special Town Meeting on February 5th The Town Manager noted these Zoning By-Laws should also be amended to not allow parking in the front yard in a PUD-B. The applicant will be amenable to that, and Attorney Latham noted that the bylaw needs to allow signs on both the parking lot frontage of the site as well as the Main Street frontage. Without taking a vote, the Board indicated that it was generally fairly disposed towards these changes. Review Town Meeting Results — With regard to the property on Oakland Road, Chairman Ben Tafoya suggested that we should do a public process including identification of possible uses. Selectman Richard Schubert felt that this should be planned into the CPDC work schedule, and it is not urgent. Members of the Board agreed that it was not urgent. This Will be put on the Board's.Action Status Report for work during the Summer of 2007. The first scheduled feedback will be on May lst The Board would want to develop a process to request neighborhood input, keeping in mind that this is a community asset and we need to make a community wide decision on how to use it. The timing is that we will see how the new High School sits on the property with all the parking constructed. It would be good to hear from the entire community, and also it is an opportunity to educate the community on this asset and its potential use. The Board suggested that when we do goal setting this year to include some discussion on future vision of community assets. With regard to the Sight Triangle bylaw, the Board agreed to do a questionnaire to Town Meeting Members. They also thought it would be worthwhile to look at the discussion that took place at Town Meeting, and the Town Manager will get Selectman Camille Anthony the DVD of that portion of the Town Meeting discussion. We will also look at the possibility of developing restrictions going forward—particularly for fences and other structures. Discuss CPDC Zoning Workshop, December 11_2006 — The Town Manager reminded the Board that three issues will be before CPDC Zoning Workshop: Johnson Woods Phase II,proposed parking for 16 Sanborn Lane and overlay zoning. With regard to 16 Sanborn Lane, the Board felt that it needs to be clear that this will not allow the parking to "leap frog" into other areas of the community. Vice Chairman James Bonazoli expressed support for the regulations. Board of Selectmen Meeting—December 5, 2006 Page 7 With regard to Johnson Woods, Selectman Richard Schubert asked if there is a possibility to get service businesses located on that property to serve the large residential community. The Board also agreed that if the timing for development of the site for residential purposes is moved up in time, the Town should get something for it. The consensus of the Board members was that 25% of the units to be affordable housing would be a reasonable approach. Stone Wall.—Franklin Street at Sunset Rock Lane—The Town Manager reviewed slides for the Board showing how the site lays out. The Board agreed. Addison-Wesley Follow Up — The Board agreed that we should move forward to do an RFP so that when Town Meeting meets to consider funding this project, we will have specifics of cost, timing and process. The Board noted that if we go through this process, the Board will have to stand behind the results. Approval of Minutes A motion by Goldy seconded by Bonazoli to approve.the Minutes of October 18, 2006, as amended, was approved by a vote of 4770-1,with Goldy abstaining. A motion by Anthonyseconded by Bonazoll to approve the,Minutes of October 24, 2006; as amended, was approved by a vote.of 5-0-0. A motion by Schubert seconded by Bonazoli to adjourn their meeting of December 5, 2006 at 11:00 pan. was approved by a vote.of 5-0-0. Respectfully submitted, 4chretary