HomeMy WebLinkAbout2002-07-02 Board of Selectmen Minutes Board of Selectmen Meeting
July 2, 2002
The meeting convened at 7:30 p.m. in the Selectmen's Meeting Room, 16 Lowell Street,
Reading, Massachusetts. Present were Chairman Camille Anthony, Vice Chairman
Matthew Cummings, Secretary Richard Schubert, Selectmen Gail Wood (joined the
meeting a little bit late) and George Hines (joined the meeting at 8:30 p.m.), Also present
were Town Manager Peter Hechenbleikner and the following list of interested parties:
Harry and Marilyn Simmons, David Dugan, Jim and Jeanette O'Rourke, Brian Mahoney,
Sandra Sartell, John Carpenter, Travis Miller, Jeff Everson, Marianne McLaughlin, Daria
Niewenhous, Carla Abate, Bill and Anne Webster, George Theophanis, Bernard Carey
Jr., Susan Cavicchi, Dennis Anderson, Lee Anne Webb, Frank and Eileen Faggiano, Matt
Rawding, Susan Abate, Audrey Doyle.
Personnel and Appointments
Ad Hoc Advisory Committee on Governance of the RMLD — John Carpenter, Travis
Miller and George Theophanis were all interviewed for the Ad Hoc Advisory Committee
on Governance of the Reading Municipal Light Department.
On motion by Wood seconded by Schubert, the Board moved to place the following
names into nomination for three positions on the Ad Hoc Advisory Committee on the
Governance of the RMLD: John Carpenter, Travis Miller and George Theophanis. All
three members received four votes each and were appointed to the Committee.
Selectman Richard Schubert noted that he met last week with the School Building
Committee and they start every other week meetings on July 10th. They are looking for
public input.
Vice Chairman Matthew Cummings noted that the RMLD Task Force has decided to
"hibernate" but be available at the call of the Chair as may be needed. Specifically,
members of the Light Board suggested that they would like the Task Force's advice on
the General Manager's contract. It is anticipated that when the Governance Advisory
Committee is completed with their work, the Task Force would then be eliminated. The
consensus of the Board of Selectmen was to agree to this action.
Discussion/Action items
Next Steps — Route 128/1-93 Interchange Project - The Town Manager reviewed six
points in his memo of July 2, 2002. Carla Abate of 23 Sturges Road asked about a letter
regarding the status of PRESERVE and on motion by Wood seconded by Cummings, the
Board of Selectmen voted to send a letter to the Mass Highway Department requesting
that PRESERVE have the same status as THAG with regard to matters of the Route
128/I-93 Interchange. The motion was approved by a vote of 4-0-0.
The Board of Selectmen agreed that the points made in the Town Manager's memo listed
as Item 4 (scrap the interchange design and begin the feasibility process anew), Item 5
Board of Selectmen Meeting-July 2, 2002 -Page 2
(that MHD fund the cost of peer review for engineering and legal advice to the
communities), and Item 6 (detailing specific technical, regional and financial issues that
need to be raised. These matters will be put in a letter to the Mass Highway Department
in advance of the hearing, with copies to the City of Woburn and Town of Stoneham, to
the State Congressional Delegation, to our State Representatives and Senators, and posted
on the Town's website.
Selectman Matthew Cummings felt that we should emphasize the issue of what the
design was intended to do, that we should try to get joint resolutions by Woburn and
Stoneham to halt the feasibility study of the design which has been put forward by Mass
Highway, use the legislative process to stop the feasibility study if need be, and perhaps
request the legislature to set up and fund a pool of money for peer review.
Carla Abate noted that she is putting together a request for information under the
Freedom of Information Act, particularly regarding the Edwards & Kelcey contract and
the maps that were shown in the THAG meeting in April which showed lot lines for the
three communities.
Selectman George Hines suggested that we request Mass Highway to let us know when
they will be meeting with the other communities or community groups with regard to this
project so that we could also attend. He also suggested that we should look at posting a
meeting of the affected communities in a workshop setting.
There was discussion about who would develop the agenda for the meeting on the 161",
and the Board suggested that the legislators should set the agenda. We should not have -
just another "Stoneham" presentation of the project. We should let our legislators know
that we expect a presentation to be in response to issues raised in correspondence from
the Town of Reading.
There was some discussion as to whether or not the High School Auditorium would be
large enough or whether we would need a larger facility like the Field House. Because of
issues of attendees' comfort and acoustics, it was decided to stay with the High School
Auditorium. If it appears that we will have an overflow, we should try to arrange for
TV's to be available in the Cafeteria.
Chairman Camille Anthony reviewed proposed Liaison Assignments and these will be
finalized at the next meeting.
On motion by Cummings seconded by Schubert, the Board of Selectmen voted to adjourn
their meeting of July 2, 2002 at 9:35 p.m. by a vote of 5-0-0.
Respectfully submitte ,
Secretary