HomeMy WebLinkAbout1993-12-07 Board of Selectmen Minutes Minutes of the Board of Selectmen
Joint Meeting with Finance Committee,
RMLD and RMLD Citizens Advisory Board
December 7, 1993
The meeting was convened at 7:35 p.m. at the Killam School
Cafetorium. Present for the Board of Selectmen were Chairman
George Hines, Vice Chairman Eugene Nigro, Secretary Sally Hoyt,
Selectmen Dan Ensminger and Bill Burditt.
Present for the Finance Committee were Nathan White, Carol Grimm,
Liz Greene, James Keigley, Bill Murphy. .
Present for the RMLD Board were Phil Pacino, Bill Hughes, David
Swyter, John Holland.
Present for the Citizen's Advisory Board were Hartnell Bartlett,
Roger Lessard, Roger Gerry, John Lippitt.
Also present were Town Counsel Theodore Cohen, RMLD Counsel Ken
Barna, Town Manager Peter Hechenbleikner, General Manager of the
RMLD Len Rucker, Jim Blomley Reading Municipal Light Department,
RMLD Secretary Jean Foti and citizens Mark Guyott, , Jack Cairl,
Paul Duffy, Ken MaGuire.
The Chairman of each of the bodies called the meeting to order.
George Hines, Chairman of the Board of Selectmen, welcomed ever-
body and turned the meeting over to Len Rucker. Rucker went
through the issue of sale of the Light facility at 25 Haven
Street. The RMLD Board will have to vote that the property is no
longer needed for Municipal Light purposes and send that letter
to the Board of Selectmen. A two-thirds vote of Town Meeting
will be required authorizing either the Selectmen or the Commis-
sioners to dispose of the property. If the Selectmen are
authorized then the sale must conform with the Uniform Procure-
ment Act. If the Light Board is authorized then the Municipal
Light Board will sell it generally in accordance with the Uniform
Procurement Act.
With regard to where the proceeds from the sale go, the consensus
from all present was that it should go to pay the debt on the
RMLD facility. Town Counsel and the counsel for the RMLD will
have to discuss technically how that will take place. The 1989
appraisal of the property for the RMLD was $800, 000, but it will
need to be reappraised.
Town Counsel reviewed the presentation and indicated that he
agrees with the conclusions of the RMLD, but feels that the
Uniform Procurement Act will have to be followed in any case. He
feels that the deed will need to be signed by a member of the
Board of Selectmen. The issue of the proceeds of the sale are
not clear except that it appears that it has to go through the
Town's sale of real estate funds. Attorney Ken Barna for the
RMLD indicated that he feels that special acts may be superceded
by general state statutory scheme, and that Chapter 523 may not
apply. The Board of Selectmen members, Fincom members, Advisory
Board members, and the RMLD Board all agreed that the consensus
Joint BOS/RMLD/FinCom Meeting - December 7, 1993 - page 2
was that the proceeds of the sale would go to pay debt for the
Light Department for their . new facility, and the technicalities
of how this should happen would be worked out by counsel.
Bill Murphy from the Finance Committee felt that the Light
Department should be allowed to dispose of . the property since
they have more resources. Phil Pacino, - Chairman of the RMLD
agreed. George Hines indicated that whatever process is used,
the Town has substantial interest in the future use of the
property since it is a key parcel in the downtown area. Bill
Burditt indicated that he feels that we should wait until after
the task force is completed to determine who will sell it. Sally
Hoyt indicated that she had come to the same conclusion in terms
of the proceeds after reviewing the available material, and noted
that an updated appraisal will be needed. Dan Ensminger indi-
cated that he doesn't care who sells the property and perhaps a
task force should be formed.
George Hines indicated that perhaps both bodies could control the
process. It was suggested that the Chairman of the FinCom, the
Advisory Board, the RMLD, and the Board of Selectmen will meet to
decide how to proceed. Meanwhile, counsel can work out the
agreement on the technical details.
Jack Cairl asked what the intentions were with regard to the task
force and when it would meet. The Town Manager indicated that
the task force has not yet been formed, but is scheduled for ac-
tion on January 4, 1994.
Sally Hoyt indicated that state grants may be available for con-
version of the RMLD facility into an art center if it continues
to be Town owned.
All four Boards individually voted to adjourn as follows:
On motion by Nigro seconded by Hoyt the Board of Selectmen voted
5-0-0 to adjourn at 8:40 p.m.
On motion by Hughes seconded by Swyter the RMLD Board voted to
adjourn by a vote of 4-0-0.
On motion by Lippitt seconded by Lessard the Citizens Advisory
Board voted to adjourn by a vote of 4-0-0.
On motion by Murphy seconded by Keigley the FinCom voted to ad-
journ by a vote of 5-0-0.
Respectfully submitted,
SecretLly