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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1990-03-13 Board of Selectmen Minutes Minutes of the Board of Selectmen Meeting March 13, 1990 The meeting convened at 7: 20 p.m. in the Selectmen's Meeting Room, 16 Lowell Street, Reading, Massachusetts. The meeting was called to order by Chairman Russell Graham. Present were Vice Chairman Ziegler, Secretary Ensminger, Selectmen Russell and Nigro, Town Manager Hechenbleikner and the following list of residents and interested parties: William C. Brown, Gary Demopoulos, Thomas Vincent, Susan E. Tasker, Judith Gabriel , Susan Wheltle, Ed Palmer, Ken Ivester, Susan Ivester, Gene Ziegler, Peg Russell, Paul Dustin, Elizabeth Klepeis, Cathy Quimby. Jack Russell and Molly Ziegler shared the honor of serving as Temporary Chairman of the Meeting for a portion of their last Meeting as members of the Board of Selectmen. Minutes On motion by Ziegler, seconded by Nigro the Minutes of February 27, 1990 were approved without change by a vote of 5-0-0. Liaison Reports Dan Ensminger had none. Eugene Nigro reported that he had at- tended several coffee hours on Prop 2 1/2 that were well attended and there were good questions asked. Molly Ziegler indicated that the Housing Partnership met on 3/5/90, and that a repre- sentative from the Manchester Housing Partnership was present. They will be meeting again on 5/20/90. Molly Ziegler would like to be appointed as a member of the committee after her term as Selectmen expires. She also attended Candidates' Night. Jack Russell indicated that he had attended a number of coffees with regard to the Prop 2 1/2 override. Russ Graham reminded the Board of the Citizens for Quality of Life in Reading and Students to Override Prop 2 1/2 Rally will be held on Sunday on the Common at 12:30 p.m. He also indicated that he had attended a number of Prop 2 1/2 coffees, and would be debating the override ques- tion with Mr. Little at the Unitarian Church on Wednesday night. Public Comment There was no Public Comment. Personnel and Appointments There were no Personnel and Appointments. The Town Manager informed the Board of Selectmen of a one-day Liquor License as issued for Austin Prep and for the Reading Masonic Building Association for 3/24/90. Mr. and Mrs. Ivester and Mr. Vincent were present to review the request for an Entertainment License for TV in the main dining room at Wes Parkers. On motion by Nigro, seconded by Ensminger the license was approved through 12-31-90 by vote of 5-0-0. Several of the Board indicated that they did not like the idea, but out of a sense of fairness voted for the license. Selectmen's Minutes - 3/13/90 - page 2 Susan Wheltle and Judith Gabriel along with Ed Palmer appeared regarding the logo design for the 350th Anniversary Celebration. Ms Gabriel's design was chosen from among a number of designs and although all of the Board of Selectmen does not need to approve it because it does not use the Seal, the Board voted on motion by Russell, seconded by Ziegler to endorse the selected 350th logo. This was approved by a vote of 5-0-0 . Ed Palmer brought the Board of Selectmen up to date on some of the things that are being considered for the 350th celebration in 1994. On motion by Ziegler, seconded by Ensminger the Board approved the use of the Common for the Spring Arts Festival provided that the Common be returned to its usual pristine condition following the event, by a vote of 5-0-0. At 8:00 p.m. the Board broke for a ceremony honoring Jack Russell and Molly Ziegler's service to the Board of Selectmen. Each was presented with a plaque and comments by each of the Board of Selectmen. Coffee and cake were served. Susan Tasker appeared to appeal her water bill. Based on her discussion, the Board voted on motion by Russell, seconded by Ensminger to calculate the usage for the contested bill, based on actual usage from October 1989 to January 1990, and from February 1988 to August 1988, based on a rate per day and applied to the August 10 bill. The motion was approved by a vote of 5-0-0. The Town Manager reviewed the process for considering the sale of the Pearl Street School. The Board asked that the Town Manager confirm with the School Committee that they will not need to reuse it. The Board was concerned about the relocation of the Senior Cen- ter, and the use of the field area. They asked that the Site Selection Committee come to the Selectmen's Meeting on the 27th. They also talked about the possible use of the RMLD site if Town Meeting approves the acquisition by the RMLD of a new facility on Ash Street. They also asked that DPW evaluate the Central Fire Station from a structural point of view. The Town Manager was directed to go ahead and solicit proposals from appraisers. One of the things that we will want the appraisers to do is to give us a guesstimate of what the market will be in one to two years, and whether or not a long-term lease makes sense. The Town ,Manager reported that the School Committee was amenable to seeking proposals for labor councel services. The School Com- mittee has asked that this take place as quickly as possible and the Town Manager was directed to go ahead with this process. The Town Meeting Warrant was reviewed. The Board gave the Town -- Manager the following direction: 1) go ahead and proceed to develop the Capital Improvement Program and 2 ) the draft Ad- ministrative Code which would put the Conservation Commission as a Division of the Human Services Department, the Historical com- mission and Arts Association as Divisions of the Library, and the remainder of the Department of Community Development as a Selectmen's Minutes - 3/13/90 - page 3 part of an Engineering/Community Development Division of Public Works was approved in concept. This will be sketched out for the Board's review on March 27th and then the subsequent hearing. The Board discussed Article 21 dealing with the requirement that the sidewalks be snowplowed. The Board directed the Town Manager to develop a motion which would require this for commercial dis- tricts only. On motion by Nigro, seconded by Graham, the Board directed the Town Manager to develop an instructional motion requiring the Bylaw Committee to review the Town Meeting schedule and develop a method to solve the problem of Town Meeting convening on religious holidays, and report to Town Meeting in the fall. This was approved by a vote of 5-0-0. On motion by Ziegler, seconded by Nigro the Board voted to go into Executive Session not to come back into Open Session at 9:35 p.m. All members on roll call vote voted in the affirmative, and the meeting was adjourned. Respectfully submitted: Secretary