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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1994-07-26 Board of Selectmen Minutes Board of Selectmen Meeting July 26, 1994 The meeting was convened at 7: 37 p.m. in the Selectmen's Meeting Room, 16 Lowell Street, Reading, MA. Present were Chairman Dan Ensminger, Vice Chairman Bill Burditt, Secretary Sally Hoyt, Selectmen George Hines and Camille Anthony, Town Manager Peter Hechenbleikner, and the following list of interested parties: Richard Brown, Jay Dumas, Robert Hart, Nancy Eaton, Louis Seior tino, Gerry MacDonald, Ann Moberger, David Lee, Ted McIntire, Marie Murphy, Carol Erven, Edie Kramer, Erik Kramer, Gerald Solimini, John Silva, Paula Drozdar Connors, Wendy Liston, Joe Guariglia, John Sano, Chuck Colvin, Joe Iacovello, Rita Shelzi, Louis Shelzi, M. Lee, M. Slezak, Peg Plansky, Robert Simone, Ber- nice and Charles Herrick, N. Durham, Marguerite Upton, Lucille Beeth, Michael Curren, Patricia McGrath, Richard Jesser' Donald L. Wood, Ron Grand, Glenn Drane, Peter Broderick, Charles Smith, Gail Boudreau, Emery Boudreau, Annette Flanagan, Gail Wood. Approval of Minutes On motion by Burditt seconded by Hoyt the Board approved the minutes of June 27 , 1994 , as amended by a vote of 3-0-2 , with Hines and Ensminger abstaining. The Board deferred approving the July 12 , 1994 , minutes. Liaison Reports/Selectmen's Comments Hines had no report. Burditt reported that he had attended the 25 Haven Street Task Force meeting and the second meeting is this Thursday night. He also reported on concerns about alarms, both house *and car alarms, which do not have automatic shut-offs or resets. Sally Hoyt noted that she had received a call about a car alarm. She has received calls in support of the Mineral Street footbridge. She extended her congratulations to George Hines for the excellent job that he did as Chairman, and his successful im- plementation of policies beneficial to the Board of Selectmen. He conducted himself in a fair and open manner. Dan Ensminger noted two items of correspondence: a) a letter from DEP indicating that Reading is a recipient site for clay for the landfill; b) a letter regarding interest in purchasing por- tions of the landfill by the abutting automobile dealership. It was suggested that this should be scheduled for further action. Additionally, Ensminger asked whether or not we had received the reimbursement from the State for the Special Election - he noted that this bill sponsored by Representative Jones had been ap- proved. Public Comment There were no public comments. Board of Selectmen's Meeting - July 26, 1994 - page 2 Town Manager's Report Regarding house alarms, the Town Manager noted that most home alarms have resets so .that they stop sounding after a specified period of time. Most residents also have neighbors or relatives on call if the alarm sounds. The recent problem with an alarm in Town not resetting is, according to the Police Chief, highly un- usual. There are no regulations in Reading to deal with these situations, and because of the low incidence of such occasions, the Police Chief does not recommend any regulation at this time. The Town Manager reminded residents who have home alarm systems to be courteous to their neighbors and have the alarms serviced periodically, identify a neighbor and/or relative who can reset the alarm if there is a problem and put a reset on the alarm if it doesn't have one. The Town Manager updated the Board on the water restrictions. There have been 79 warnings issued to-date, and one citation has been issued. Selectman Hines asked what other measures are being used to assist in the clean up, and what we can do to expedite the clean up. We will schedule a Selectmen's session to up-date the Board at a future meeting. The Town Manager noted a legisla- tive alert received on Chapter 90 funding, that the MBIA will be scheduling the Woburn Street grade protection for some time next year; that Calareso' s on South Main Street may require Selectmen's approval to use a portion of the Main Street right of way for access to parking; the draft Transportation Improvement Program shows a number of projects over the next three years that will benefit Reading including Mineral Street Bridge reconstruc- tion; the review of Personnel Policies is ongoing; work is being done on the Selectmen's Policy book and the Traffic Rules and Regulations. On motion by Hoyt seconded by Burditt the Board approved a proclamation recognizing the Reading Municipal Light Department's 100th Anniversary. The motion was approved by a vote of 5-0-0. Discussion/Action Items Modification of the Cable TV Committee to Seven Members - The Board discussed the proposed amendment to the policy establishing a Reading Cable Television Advisory Committee, to reduce the mem- bership to seven members. Hines noted a reluctance to reduce the size of the Committee. Burditt asked about the School Committee liaison role. Hines asked if the reduction would violate any State or Federal law (the answer is no) ; Anthony asked why nine people on the Committee was needed - was it for reasons of workload, expertise, or representation of segments of the com- munity. Hines noted he felt all of these were important. It was noted that when a member on any Board, Committee, or Commission has a change in their life situation, they should consider - withdrawing from their Town activities and reapply at a later date. Hoyt felt that the Committee should be reduced and see if it meets the needs. Burditt noted that the Committee can be in- creased at a later date. Hines noted that Article VII of the Board of Selectmen Meeting - July 26, 1994 - page 3 Cable TV Advisory Committee Policy on quorum requirements should have the last sentence deleted. on motion by Hines seconded by Burditt the Board approved the change to the policy establishing the Reading Cable Television Advisory Committee, article IV to provide that the Committee shall a membership of seven members and article VII to delete the second sentence, as requested by the Reading Cable Television Advisory Committee. The motion was approved by a vote of 5-0-0. Review of Second Water Meters - The Board reviewed the issues of the second water meters. Present were Richard Moore and Gail Wood from the Water and Sewer Advisory Committee, Public Works Director Ted McIntire, and a number of interested parties. The Water and Sewer Advisory Committee reviewed their mission state- ment which is to provide quality product and services, fairness to the consumers, and encourage water conservation. The Water and Sewer Advisory Committee recommended that the Town not allow second water meters, and produced a survey of 18 accounts which were in existence prior to the installation of the second meter and had at least one year's worth of service with a second water meter. The Advisory Committee noted that the accounts with second meters overall showed an 18 . 6% greater increase in use with the second meter than before they had the second meter, com- pared to water use for the Town has a whole. The Water and Sewer Advisory Committee also noted that over 80% of the sewer rate is based on the MWRA assessment, and the MWRA Assessment is done on a fixed cost or fee and based soley on population, not on sewer flow. They noted that allowing second water meters would shift a portion of the annual sewer costs from one set of tax payers to another set of tax payers. They noted that 45 accounts last year saved $12, 000 on their sewer costs by having a second meter, and that resulted in a shift of that $12 , 000 to other sewer users. They also noted that if second meters are allowed they should be placed in external locations with a backflow valve. Camille An- thony wondered how the first account in the survey could reduce their water use 39% with a second meter - the answer is unknown. Dan Ensminger asked whether sprinkler systems do encourage con- servation. Information was supposed to be forthcoming from some of the residents but the Water and Sewer Advisory Committee did not get that information. Eric Kramer from Lindsay Lane asked if in the analysis we checked for rain, etc. He suggested that the high and low results of the survey should be thrown out because they cancel each other out. He asked what the overall impact on the change in uses compared to the total water use. Moore noted that it was not significant and reviewed the methodology of the study. The Board noted a letter received from Mrs. Liston. Jay Dumas noted that he is a rate payer who doesn't have a second meter. He is concerned that second meter accounts are shifting sewer costs to him and to others who cannot afford a second meter. He noted that we have a water crisis and he wants to make sure that we don't get to a point where household water is effected by lawn watering. Chuck Colvin from Lilah Lane noted that the water uses are probably high because people have just planted a lawn this year. He felt Board of Selectmen Meeting - July 26, 1994 - page 4 that if we are concerned about water uses we should implement bans on use and not prevent the second meters. He noted the majority of systems have outdoor backflow preventers with an ex- terior shut off valve. Ensminger noted that the current policy allows a second meter to be installed indoors only for physical hardship related to the property. McIntire noted that the reason not to have the indoor second meter is that we cannot shut off the system and people can interconnect to the system. Gail Wood noted that three directors of the Department of Public Works - Roger Louannis, Tony Fletcher and Ted McIntire all agreed that second meters should not be permitted. Joe Iacoviello from Lilah Lane noted that the Town in the General Bylaws has the right of entry to read meters. He noted that the Town doesn't have data regarding sprinkler systems. He noted that people are concerned about shifting the sewer costs, but when the rubbish fee was in place the cost was shifted. Wendy Liston noted that this is a policy question, not a conservation question. Marie Simone from Riverside Drive noted that not allowing a second meter is unfair. Edie Kramer from Lindsay Lane, asked if septic systems are billed for sewer and it was responded that they were not. She asked how that was different than second water meters. On motion by Burditt seconded by Hoyt the Board closed the public hearing at 9: 10 p.m. by a vote of 5-0-0. The Board debated several alternatives. Burditt noted that he would never vote on the meter issue to "prevent cheating" because he feels residents of the community are honest. Hines noted that the policy was to put the meters in the pits only and he was con- cerned that this policy had not been adhered to. Burdi-tt noted that there are inequities in billing from the MWRA - in 1996 we will be beginning a flow based charge. Ensminger noted that he felt conservation of water was separate from the issue of the second water meter. Sally Hoyt noted that she feels we should consider the Water and Sewer Advisory Committee's recommenda tions. She recollected the issue of the second meter being per- mitted indoors for reasons of physical hardship to the property. She felt that residents who refuse to allow entry should be prosecuted, where there are situations of abuse the people should be fined and the meter should be removed. She feels that we should uphold the existing policy. Hines noted that he was un- clear about people who might have been mislead by the current policy.. On motion by Hines seconded by Anthony the Board voted to grant approval for indoor meters if the property owner had previously invested in a sprinkler system in reliance on being able to get a second meter indoors, and/or had applied for a second water meter that had been denied prior to July 26, 1994 . These indoor meters will be granted a waiver provided that the Town is guaranteed that all necessary protections in terms of the safety of the water supply and being able to read the meters are in place. The Board further declared a moratorium on installing any additional second water meters until the Board of Selectmen reviews this Board of Selectmen Meeting - July 26, 1994 - page 5 policy at such time as the MWRA billing process changes. The mo- tion was approved by a vote of 4-1-0 with Burditt voting against. The Board also asked staff to look at the area where there was a large discrepancy in water use. Final Report of the Mineral Street Bridge Task Force - The Mineral Bridge Street Task Force made its final report. Bill Goodrich went through the details of the report. Tony Guar- ciarello made a Minority Report. Bernice Herrick noted with regard to funding a pedestrian bridge, that she had talked with Congressman Markey's office - Tim O'Regan. He indicated that they would be willing to work with the Town to make money avail- able for a pedestrian bikeway bridge and try to secure funding for it. Bill Burditt noted that the traffic study seemed incorrect in noting 697 vehicles per hour at peak hour - the committee agreed that this number was an error. Camille Anthony asked what the Task Force had in mind when they made their recommendation on a pedestrian bridge because of public safety. Gail Wood noted that it was for protection of kids in the neighborhood and school children. The majority of the Task Force wasn't convinced that the Police Chief and Fire Chief's concerns took precedence over these concerns. The Task Force was asked whether there were other overriding concerns be- sides public safety, and it was noted that the primary issue was public safety. Mike Slezak noted that they were also concerned about the impact on the neighborhood physically and the impact on property values. Tony Guarciarello in presenting the minority report favoring the vehicular bridge, said that Mineral Street is the only unimpeded access across the tracks and noted that Town officials felt that it would be only local traffic. Gail Wood noted that she was the "outsider" on the Task Force and her only concern was public safety. She felt there was more of a chance of having people hit because of poor visibility - this is a 22 foot wide road and it has a visibility problem while going over the bridge. She com- mended the Fire Chief for looking to better his department by im- proving the access. Bill Burditt asked records on traffic acci- dents, and it was noted that there were no records except for fatalities and there were no fatalities. It was noted that the schedule for the bridge would be a January 1995 earliest date of design work. Peg Plansky, Executive Director of the Reading Housing Authority, read a letter recommending the reconstruction of the bridge as a vehicular bridge. The letter was not voted by the Authority but reflects the direction of the Reading Housing Authority Board. The Town Manager will send Congressman Markey's office a copy of the Task Force report. Board of Selectmen Meeting - July 26, 1994 - page 6 On motion by Hines seconded by Hoyt the Board voted to accept the final report of the Mineral Street Bridge Task Force with the Minority Report with the thanks of the Town for the work that they have accomplished. The motion was approved by a vote of 5-0-0 and the Task Force was discharged. It was noted that the Task Force would be contacted when this item again appears on the agenda. The Board deferred action on the review of sewer abatements for pools, the review of the sewer tie-in policy enforcement, the Town Manager's evaluation, and establishing the Town Manager's salary until 7: 30 p.m. on August 2, 1994. On motion by Burditt seconded by Hines the Board voted to go into Executive Session for the purpose of discussion of litigation, labor negotiations and approval of minutes, not to come back into open session. All five members on a roll call vote voted in the affirmative and the motion was carried. The Board adjourned at 10:55 p.m. Respectfully submitted, /ecreta$v