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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1993-05-11 Board of Selectmen Minutes Minutes of the Board of Selectmen Meeting May 11, 1993 The meeting convened at 7:30 p.m. in the Selectmen's Meeting Room, 16 Lowell Street, Reading, MA. Present were Chairman Dan Ensminger, Vice Chairman George Hines, Secretary Sally Hoyt, tr Selectmen .Bill Burditt and Eugene Nigro, Town Manager Peter I. Hechenbleikner and the following list of interested parties: Ed Marchand, Norman Perry, Gary Demopoulos, Bili Brown, Peter Daly, John Lippitt, William Dalton, Lois Bond, Deirdre Hanley, Donald L. Wood. Approval of Minutes On motion by Nigro seconded by Burditt the minutes of the Selectmen's Meeting of April 27, 1993 were approved by a vote of 5-0-0. Liaison Reports/Selectmen's Comments Bill Burditt had no report. Sally Hoyt reported on happenings in Recreation and Elder Serv- ices. The Council on Aging is trying to get landscaping at the Senior Center donated. She received complaints regarding Johanna Drive. being used for drivers education and Registry use. She discussed the fact that the Soft Second Loan Program application has gone in, but that Reading would probably not be eligible this year. The Reading Housing Partnership is looking at the issue. She presented a proposal to reduce the size of Reading Housing Partnership. This will have to be subject to a separate hearing. Eugene Nigro met with the Library Planning Committee. The State has indicated that the Reading plan is the best of all that they received. The Planning Committee brainstormed with regard to fund raising. Tomorrow morning NSPC is meeting here in Reading for the Regional Planning Meeting. George Hines had no meetings other than Town Meetings. He ac- knowledged the excellent work of the Town staff who were involved in preparing the Budget. He noted that the North Suburban Plan- ning Council meeting will be in Reading tomorrow and Reading was very instrumental in establishing this organization. To deal with attendance issues, they are looking at the possibility of having fewer meetings and meetings at alternate times. Hines ex- pressed pleasure that the Police Chief was here and wanted to talk about the news article regarding the crime rate. Dan Ensminger attended a Cracker Barrell meeting at the Senior Center. He also attended the MMA Regional meeting with George Hines. He gave an update on issues including the State 94 Budget, Lottery Aid, the Gas Tax, Education Reform, and Chapter 90 monies. He expressed concern about the Video Poker proposal because it will be negative to the Town and that there is no sharing of those revenues with the cities and towns. The addi- tional monies for Chapter 90 could be funded out of the $300 mil- lion balance in the Gas Tax funds. r Board of Selectmen Meeting - 5/11/93 - page 2 Personnel & Appointments The Town Manager introduced Norman Perry, Reading's newest Police Officer. He was welcomed by the Board of Selectmen. Town Manager's Report The Town Manager reported that gypsy moth spraying will take place next week through mid-June; reception to honor Peer Leaders and their parents was held today at the RMHS cafeteria; the Springfest at the RMHS is scheduled for tomorrow; the volunteer recognition reception is being hosted by the Council on Aging tomorrow; a map showing the street sweeping schedule was presented; the issue of the flowers for the veterans graves should be addressed next fall; the lead and copper water testing program was reviewed and residents will get a mailing; the brush collection program has been completed and residents now must take their own brush to the compost center; the bulk waste collection program is the week of May 17; Steven Tocco, Secretary of Economic Development, has talked with the Town Manager about the landfill site, this meeting was set up by Senator Tisei; Reading's award winning Library has won four more awards. Public Comment There was no public comment. DiscussionjAction Items Chief Marchand spoke with the Board about the crime statistics and the method of reporting under the crime report. He noted that Reading had three bank robberies last year and has had numerous house breaks and these have pushed the statistics up- wards. The Square officer has been eliminated and we've been running two-person vehicles. With the account for gasoline in- crease we should be able to increase the patrol. Visibility of Police Officers is important. He noted that we are down seven positions from the 1970's and early 801s. Sally Hoyt asked if most crimes were committed by out-of-towners. Chief Marchand stated that 30% to 40% could be by local residents. The Crime Watch Program is available to all residents and Sgt. Robbins and Patrol Officer Larry Fredericks plus an alarm expert conduct these programs. Dan Ensminger asked about a recent newspaper ac- count of people being pulled over by alleged police officers who are not police officers. Marchand indicated that we very rarely pull people over in unmarked cars and that their people are al- ways in uniform. He thought this was more of a problem in some of the rural areas of New England. George Hines expressed the Board's support for the Police Department and suggests that the entire community should join the Board of Selectmen in fortifying police efforts. RMLD Advisory Board re: 85-121 - John Lippitt, Reading's repre- sentative on the RMLD Citizens Advisory Board, met with the Board of Selectmen and reviewed a memo dated May 9 . The issues are: Does the Board support overturning DPU85-121 and its limitation on the RMLD to earning it's return on net plant instead of gross plant? The Board indicates that it does support overturning DPU85-121. Does the Board have any input on which of the avenues Board of Selectmen Meeting - 5/11/93 - page 3 available should be pursued? The Board felt that this should be left up to the RMLD Board. They had no particular preference. Does the Board of Selectmen have any recommendations on further communication with them or among the four towns if this process goes forward? This communication should be with the Selectmen's liaison (Eugene Nigro) by being copied on correspondence and by directly letting them know if there are problems. This can be done in addition to the correspondence being handed over to the Town Manager. With regard to additional payments from the RMLD to the Town of Reading, the Board expressed the concern that they do not want the Reading payment in lieu of taxes capped, but that they would support the increase from net plant value to gross plant value to go into the capital plan of the Light Department. They just want to make sure that nothing precludes future increases and return on investment to the Town of Reading if revenues allow it. The Board expressed a willingness to draft a motion to express their commitment as noted above. With regard to other issues, the -` Board indicated that it would continue to support Town bonding for the RMLD and does not feel that the RMLD should at this time be in a position to issue its own bonds. They did feel that if the legislation or other process on overturning 85-121 fails then we should review the issues of regionalizing the RMLD, allowing the RMLD to issue its own bonds etc. The Board expressed thanks to Mr. Lippitt for very well representing the Town of Reading on the RMLD Citizens Advisory Board. Public Hearing The Board opened the Public Hearing on the issue of establishment of a Pearl Street School Evaluation Committee. On motion by Bur- ditt seconded by Hines the Board voted to close the hearing. On motion by Nigro seconded by Hoyt the Board voted to approve the policies establishing a Pearl Street School Evaluation Committee as presented by a vote of 5-0-0. Approval to sell Pearl Street School Building - On motion by Nigro seconded by Hines the Board voted to confirm their approval to offer the Pearl Street School Building for sale in accordance with the Request for Proposals previously submitted. The motion was approved by a vote of 5-0-0. Policy on Fund Raising - Deirdre Hanley, Lois Bond, Donald Nadeau, and Chief Wood were present to talk about a policy on fund raising. A draft policy was presented to the Board of Selectmen. It was indicated that outside agency funding is drying up and, therefore, the Town needs to look more creatively at other funding sources. Questions raised were whether Town permanent employees should be soliciting for funds or whether there is or should be a citizen or volunteer group who could do - this. Acceptance of gifts is not a problem and there is already a policy in place to deal with this issue. Securing grants is the responsibility of department heads. The concern is about using staff time to solicit donations, using appointed Boards, Committees and Commissions to solicit donations, having door-to- Board of Selectmen Meeting - 5/11/93 - page 4 door or telephone solicitations. The Board talked about the process of making needs known for soliciting donations. It was noted that sometimes staff needs to give guidance to a Board, Committee or Commission, either Town affiliated or not af- filiated, in terms of fund raising. Chief Wood noted that he has developed a partnership with a civic organization - the Rotary - to secure funds for additional defibrulators. Don Nadeau pointed out the potential conflict with the Conservation Commission and the regulatory role and also the role of requesting donations. He suggests that perhaps a broad Town Policy with a specific pro- cedure for each department might be appropriate. There will be further discussion and review, and then this issue will be scheduled for Selectmen's action at a later date. Police Reserves - The Town Manager presented a memo regarding the Police Reserves. Through a working group, it has been determined that from the legal and liability perspective the Police Reserves are no longer a functional institution. There are legal restric- tions and liability restrictions on what they can and cannot do, which renders them virtually without a role. Sally Hoyt indi- cated that when she read the memo she was "shocked and disappointed. " Eugene Nigro felt that he was extremely disap- pointed in not being able to continue the Reserves, but having been through this process understood that this would be the case. No formal action on the part of the Board of 'Selectmen is neces- sary, other than to recognize at their final dinner in June to disestablish the group. Gene Nigro asked for an update on the Common Victuallers License monatorium in Woburn. The Town Manager indicated that he was going to make a full report to the Board at a later date. The Board asked for reflectors on stakes on Village and Washington Streets and other places where we make modifications to intersec- tions to alert motorists. On motion by Hines seconded by Hoyt the Board moved to waive the requirement of the Winchester Hospital to install a turning lane on Walkers Brook Drive northbound at New Crossing Road, since the Town is in the process of reviewing the entirety of Walkers Brook Drive for potential improvement related to the development and sale of the former landfill site. Following discussion, the mo- tion was approved by a vote of 5-0-0. On motion by Nigro seconded by Burditt the Board voted to go into Executive Session for the purpose of approval of minutes, discus- sion of labor negotiations, and discussion of the sale of real estate not to come back into open session. All five members present voted in the affirmative and the meeting was adjourned at 10:25 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Secreta y