HomeMy WebLinkAbout1991-03-19 Board of Selectmen Minutes Minutes of the Board of Selectmen Meeting
March 19, 1991
The meeting was convened in the Selectmen's Meeting Room, 16
Lowell Street, Reading, Massachusetts, at 7:34 p.m. The meeting
was called to order by Russ Graham, Chairman, and present were:
Chairman Graham, Vice Chairman Dan Ensminger, Secretary George
Hines, Selectmen Eugene Nigro and Sally Hoyt. Also in attendance
were the Town Manager, Peter I. Hechenbleikner, and the following
citizens: Ted McIntire, Carol Edwards, Steve Thomases, Anne
Mark, Gary Demopoulos, Leslie York and Irene York.
Chairman Graham turned the meeting over to Town Manager Peter I.
Hechenbleikner to hold the election for Chairman of the Board of
Selectmen. Dan Ensminger announced that he would not seek the
chairmanship because of time constraints at his job. On motion
by Ensminger, seconded by Hoyt, Eugene Nigro was nominated for a
term as Chairman of the Board of Selectmen to expire upon the
election of a new Chairman, following the 1992 Town election.
There being no further nominations, Mr. Nigro was elected Chair-
man of the Board of Selectmen by a vote of 4-0-1, with Nigro
abstaining.
On motion by Hines, seconded by Graham, Dan Ensminger was
nominated to the position of Vice Chairman. There being no fur-
ther nominations, Ensminger was elected by a vote of 4-0-1, with
Ensminger abstaining.
Russ Graham nominated George Hines for the position of Secretary.
Mr. Hines withdrew. On motion by Hines, seconded by Graham, -
Sally Hoyt was nominated to serve the Board in the position of
Secretary. There being no further nominations, Sally Hoyt was
elected by a vote of 4-0-1, with Hoyt abstaining.
Liaison Reports
Sally Hoyt indicated that she had attended the Gold Award
Ceremony for two Reading Girl Scouts. She also commented on up-
dates in the Department of Human Services.
Dan Ensminger attended the Meet the Candidates Night. He thanked
the voters for coming out to vote, and encouraged those who
didn't vote in the Town Election to do so in the future. He also
attended the Gold Award Ceremony, and has received calls on the
Depot Area and will attend the meeting on March 28, 1991.
Russ Graham attended Candidates Night, and was happy that it was
held. He thanked Cathy Quimby for putting this program together.
He also attended the Gold Award Ceremony for the Girl Scouts.
George Hines indicated that he had also attended the Gold Awards
program.
Eugene Nigro commented that it was good to see all five members
of the Board of Selectmen at the Gold Award Ceremony. Nigro also
indicated that he had attended some of the FinCom meetings and
would recommend them to the Board of Selectmen.
Selectmen's Minutes - 3/19/91 - Page 2
Public Comments
Laurie Hilliard urged the Board of Selectmen to support the
residents' concerns with regard to the MBTA problems. She also
asked for Board of Health support. The Board of Selectmen
directed the Town Manager to invite the State Senators and Repre-
sentatives to that meeting.
On motion by Graham, seconded by Hoyt, the Board approved a
proclamation honoring the retirement of Herb Perry as a police
officer by a vote of 5-0-0.
On motion by Ensminger, seconded by Hoyt, the Board approved a
Community Service Award for Kevin A. McCoy, . by a vote of 5-0-0.
George Hines will attend the ceremony and present the award.
The Town Manager announced the resignation of Richard Dempster
from the Housing Authority and from the Reading Housing Partner-
ship. The Board asked that a proclamation be developed for
presentation to Mr. Dempster at Town Meeting.
The Board will complete its reorganization at the next meeting by
determining the liaison assignments.
On motion by Ensminger, seconded by Hoyt, the Board voted not to
support Article 20 on the Annual Town Meeting Warrant by a vote
of 0-5-0. On motion by Ensminger, seconded by Hoyt, the Board
voted not to support Article 21 on the Annual Town Meeting War-
rant by a vote of 0-5-0. The consensus was that we should try
one more time for the grant to convert this facility to a Senior
Center.
On motion by Ensminger, seconded by Graham, the Board voted not
to recommend Article 22, which would change the quorum require-
ments at Town Meeting.
At 8:00 p.m. , the Board voted to close the Warrant for the Spe-
cial Town Meeting on motion by Graham, seconded by Hoyt, by a
vote of 5-0-0.
Some of the members of the Solid Waste Committee and Ted McIntire
from the Department of Public Works were present to talk about
trash fees. The Solid Waste Committee does not have a specific
recommendation with regard to the fee, but pointed out some con-
cerns and pitfalls with regard to determining the method of es-
tablishing a trash fee. The Board will further discuss this at
their meeting on March 26, 1991.
The Board decided to take action next week on Articles 5, 7, 8,
10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 17, and 18 of the Annual Town Meeting,
and on the Warrant Articles on the Special Town Meeting. The
Board directed the Town Manager to find out what the status of
the building at Birch Meadow was.
On motion by Graham, seconded by Ensminger, the Board voted to go
into Executive Session to discuss labor negotiations, and to
Selectmen's Minutes - 3/19/91 - Page 3
approve Executive Session minutes, and not to come out into open
session. All five members voted in the affirmative, and the
Board went into Executive Session at 9:25 p.m.
Res ectfully submitted,
Secre ry