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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2009-11-03 Board of Selectmen Minutes Board of Selectmen Meeting November 3,2009 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 Bonazoli, Secretary Camille Anthony, Selectmen Stephen Goldy and Richard Schubert, Town Manager Peter Hechenbleikner, Assistant Town Manager/Finance Director Bob LeLacheur, Community Services Director/Town Planner Jean Delios, Police Chief Jim Cormier, Elder/Human Services Administrator Dawn Folopoulos, Student Representative Patrick Mahoney, and the following list of interested parties: Bill Brown, Irene Collins, Bill Crowley, Stephen Crook, Police Officer Patrick Silva. Reports and Comments Selectmen's Liaison Reports and Comments — Selectman Richard Schubert held Office Hours tonight, and a question arose as to why the Board of Cemeteries was required by the Charter to notice the Bylaw Committee and the Finance Committee, in addition to the Board of Selectmen and Town Counsel about proposed rule changes. These two bodies are — by the Charter — advisory to Town Meeting and perhaps should not be included in the notice list. Selectman Stephen Goldy noted that the regional efforts of a group of Selectmen in neighboring communities were starting up again with a meeting next Thursday in Andover. Chairman Ben Tafoya noted that the 40R CPDC Meeting on Monday drew a crowd of about 50 residents. He requested that Town Planner Jean Delios' Power Point presentation be forwarded to the Board. He noted that much of the conversation was about the size of the proposed Oaktree Development. In fact, current zoning would allow a commercial structure as high as the proposal;however, it would allow three stories of residential whereas the current zoning does not allow residential uses and upper stories would have to be commercial or office. The 40R proposal would increase lot coverage from 85% to 100% which in that location seemed appropriate and consistent with the prior use which was the Atlantic Supermarket. A suitable amount of trees would be required to be,planted on streets and in parking lots. He also noted that the proposed 50 housing units would have 72 underground parking spaces. Student Representative Patrick Mahoney pointed out that students who would be 18 years old by December 8th could register to vote at the Town Clerk's Office, Town Manager's and Assistant Town Manager's Report The Town Manager gave the following report: • Flu clinic—seasonal flu—Saturday,November 14, 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 pan. —Coolidge Middle School. Information is also on the website 9 Rx Roundup—is in operation. Board of Selectmen Meeting—November 3, 2009—Page 2 • The full Town Meeting report is on the website. • Reading Rotary is taking overt the administration of the Adopt-A-Family Program this year. • DiCara's Deli has opened at 1349 Main Street. • The Town has been accepted to participate in the MMA's 6th grade essay contest. • Because of construction this Fall/Winter and/or next Spring/Summer, the Town would not be flooding Memorial park for ice skating this Winter. The Board of Selectmen asked that residents and the community be made aware of this. • The Town Manager noted that we are proceeding to get Jordan's Furniture to cut off signs and lights after the store and theater close as they had previously committed. Dates and Events: • Veterans Day—November 11th— 11:00 a.m. • Tree Lighting—November 29th • Shop the Block—December 3rd • Special elections to fill the U.S. Senator seat from MA are o December 8th(Primary Election) and o January 18th • The Financial Forum on November 18 I has been cancelled— a regular FINCOM meeting will be held that night. Personnel and Appointments Badge Pinning — Police Officer — Police Chief Jim Cormier, representatives of the Reading Police Department and members of the Silva family were present for the Badge Pinning Ceremony for new Police Patrol Officer Patrick Silva. Selectman Richard Schubert reported on the Volunteer Appointment Sub-Committee and then made the following motions: On motion by Schubert seconded by Goldy. the Board of Selectmen voted to appoint two members to the West Street Historic District Commission for terms expirinIz 6-30-2010: Everett Blodgett and Stephen O' Shea. Both candidates received five votes each and were appointed. On motion by Schubert seconded by Goldy, the Board of Selectmen voted to appoint two Alternate members to the West Street Historic District Commission for terms expiring 6- 30-11: Ilene I Bornstein and Sharlene Reynolds Santos. Both candidates received five votes each and were appointed. On motion by Schubert seconded by Goldy, the Board of Selectmen voted to appoint one Associate member to the Trails Committee for a term expiring 6-30-2010: Thomas Connery. Mr. Connery received five votes and was appointed. On motion by Schubert seconded by Goldy, the Board of Selectmen voted to appoint one member to the Cultural Council for a term expiring 6-30-2010: Matthew Conway. Mr. Conway received five votes and was appointed. Board of Selectmen Meeting—November 3,2009—Page 3 Discussion/Action Items Preview of Holiday Lighting Program — Chamber of Commerce — Reading/North Reading Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Irene Collins and Board member Bill Crowley were present to remind the Board of Selectmen and the community of the upcoming tree lighting ceremonies. Donations for lights and for garlands for the new light posts are being accepted (Tree Lighting, PO Box 771, Eastern Bank, Reading). November 291h will be the tree lighting event and ceremony. Highlights —Town Planner—Community Services Director/Town Planner Jean Delios reviewed the organization of the Community Services Department. She noted that the key to good customer service in the department was constant communication. Selectman Richard Schubert asked if there was some effective way to display the vacant/unused properties in town on the website so that residents could more easily see what parcels do have plans-in-progress. A list does exist in the Economic Development Committee web page,but is not easy to visualize: htt-P://www.readingrna.gov/Pages/ReadingNIA BComm/EDCdocs/docs/ComSuaceAvailWebVer sion.pdf Request to Amend Senior Tax Work Program — Elder/Human Services Administrator Dawn Folopoulos presented a pair of requests to the Board of Selectmen along with the justification and expected additional work to be done. First was to increase the individual maximum abatement from $750 to $1,000 per tax worker. Second was to expand the program from 21 workers to 30 workers. She has seen an increased interest in this program this year above the traditional 21 slots (the year begins December 1 st). A motion by Schubert seconded by Goldy to: • Raise the abatement limit from$750 to$1,000 effective December 1, 2009; • Increase the number of slots in the program from 21 to 30 effective December 1, 2009. The motion was approved by a vote of 5-0-0. Selectmen's Positions on Town Meeting Articles — The Town Manager and the Assistant Town Manager reviewed Articles 3, 4, 6, 8, 9, 11, 12, 13 and 15 with the Board. The Selectmen decided to take Article 11 (meals tax) and Article 13 (junk bylaw) out of order. Selectman Stephen Goldy and Vice Chairman James Bonazoli spoke in opposition of the meals tax at a time when residents were faced with difficult economic times and already increasing State meals taxes. Each agreed that there would be no significant impact on businesses. Selectmen Richard Schubert and Camille Anthony and Chairman Ben Tafoya spoke in support of the meals tax, arguing. that the legislature had finally given some revenue-raising ability to local government, and that the tax was a voluntary one if people chose to eat out. A motion by Schubert seconded by Anthony to recommend the subject material of Article 11 (meals tax) was approved by a vote of 3-2-0, with Stephen Goldy and James Bonazoli opposed). Board of Selectmen Meeting—November 3,2009—Page 4 Selectman Camille Anthony asked to have a summary of the intent of Article 13. Other Selectmen echoed her comments, and wondered if a bylaw was the optimal solution instead of using Selectmen's policies. Chairman Ben Tafoya determined there was no reason to put this Article forward until the Board was convinced it was the best solution. A motion by Schubert seconded by Anthony to indefinitely postpone Article 13 (junk bylaw)was approved by a vote of 5-0-0. A motion by Bonazoli seconded by Anthony to recommend the subject material of Articles 3, 4 except for Line E97 (Vocational Schools), 6, S, 9 and 12 was approved by a vote of 5-0- 0. Preview of Report to Town Meeting re: Cemetery Garage—The Town Manager reviewed a three page summary of work done to date to develop the scope of a Cemetery Garage project of 4700 square feet. The Town Manager will make a brief report of progress to Town Meeting. The Board of Selectmen asked if the Cemetery Board is aware of the progress to date. Follow Up Municipal Building Committee - The Board of Selectmen discussed the draft policy. There was a division among the Board of Selectmen as to whether or not such an ad hoc committee was a good idea. The majority of the Board-of Selectmen agreed to move forward with the policy, and a hearing will be scheduled for November 24th. No posting for the citizen members will be done in advance of the hearing, but the constituent Boards, Committees and Commissions will be asked for their nominees to the proposed ad hoc committee. Review Downtown Parking Recommendations - The Town manager reviewed with the Board of Selectmen the 14 major short-term recommendations of the study, and discussion ensued around each of them. The priority items that the Town staff will work on include the following items which are underlined: 1 Expand Employee Parking - The "Blue Zone" has been expanded on Gould Street, and on a temporary basis in the Brande Court parking lot behind the former Atlantic Supermarket. 2 Parking Transportation Fund—This would be established with any proceeds from the 40R development related to parking, or from mixed use development. 3 Adjust Time Limits—Issues related in large part to enforcement. 4 Expand parking enforcement — Does not seem feasible at this time. To implement some of the recommendations, changes to parking regulations would be required 5 Improve Parking Directional Signs — We have a "peer to peer" consultant who can provide some recommendations on this. This should be a relatively low cost item 6 Sharing of Private Parking Spaces—We will try a pilot project in the area bounded by Main, Haven, Sanborn and Woburn Streets. 7 Valet Parking — We will explore with the Venetian Moon whether or not this will work 8 Expand Parking Supply—The Board of Selectmen is very interested in exploring this on High Street with reversed angled parking. The Parking, Traffic and Transportation Task Force will review and get the recommendation of the Police Department. 9 Reduce minimum parking requirements. Board of Selectmen Meeting—November 3 2009—Page 5. 10 in lieu of Parking Requirement— This is part of the mixed use zoning in Downtown and also 40R smart growth. 11 Zoning Relief from Parking Requirements—"unbundling"—This is included to some extent in the zoning for Downtown. We can explore whether"zip car"is an option. 12 Monitor Parking Utilization—This can be done when some redevelopment begins in Downtown. 13 Bike Racks — Three new bike racks have been installed in Downtown. There is additional potential for bike rack grants. We will be eliminating one parking space next to Rotary Square, and expanding the Square and installing a large bike rack 14 Bus Shelters — We will work with the T and others to see if there is a location or locations where we can install shelters — suggestions were Walkers Brook Drive at new Crossing Road, and also Salem Street near Bay State Road. We will look to develop a high quality of design with ease of maintenance. Chairman Ben Tafoya recommended a graphic to be presented at the Special Town Meeting that compares parking requirements under existing zoning, mixed use zoning, and 40R smart growth zoning. Approval of Minutes _A motion by Schubert seconded by Goldy to approve the Minutes of October 6, 2009 was approved by a vote of 5-0-0. A motion by Schubert seconded by Goldy to approve the Minutes of October 20 2009 was approved by a vote of 5-0-0. A motion by Anthony seconded by Bonazolito adiourn the meeting of November 3,2009 at 1040 p.m.was approved by a vote of 5-0-0. Respectfully submitted, cretary