Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout1991-07-16 Board of Selectmen Minutes Board of Selectmen Minutes July 16, 1991 The meeting convened at 7:05 p.m. in the Selectmens Meeting Room, 16 Lowell Street, Reading, MA. Present were Chairman Eugene Nigro, Vice Chairman Dan Ensminger, Secretary Sally Hoyt, and Selectmen Russ Graham. Selectmen George Hines arrived at ap- proximately 7 : 30 p.m. Also in attendance were the following citizens: Robert A. Brown, Bruce MacDonald, Mary Shaughnessy, Helen Silvester, Annette Flanagan, Matthew Cummings, Robert Zit- zow, Curt E. Nitzsche, Ken Little, Howard J. MacKilligan, Beatrice Kiernan, Bill Weimar, Nancy Weimar, John Pacino, Richard Surette, Carroll McMillan, Ken King, Dolores Carroll, Jim Keigley, Bill Brown, Marjorie Pacino, Nathan C. White, Marty McWilliams, Wilma Woods, Robert Pratt, Ted McIntire, Barbara Bar- dol, Henry Bardol, Anne Mark, Sally Sabo, Steve Thomases, Stephen A. Mirarchi, Michael J. Castelli. On motion by Ensminger seconded by Hoyt the Board approved the minutes of June 25, 1991 as submitted by vote of 4-0-0. Liaison Reports Sally Hoyt indicated that she had attended the Wakefield parade and Summerfest. Dan Ensminger indicated that he had met with the Town Manager and an intern along with Suburban News staff regarding a newsletter. He also had attended Summerfest. He attended a meeting of the Hazardous Waste Committee and that will be reported to the Selectmen at their August meeting. He has also met with school officials regarding school redistricting. Russ Graham had no report. Eugene Nigro indicated that he had attended a meeting of neigh- borhood residents in the Birch Meadow area concerned about the potential for a hockey rink. Public Comment Sally Hoyt indicated that she had received a great number of calls regarding a trash fee, and she is concerned about senior citizens and the unemployed. Eugene Nigro indicated that we will be facing additional budget cuts in the area of $500, 000 . The Budget Committee will be reconvened to see how that shortfall might be addressed. He expressed thanks to Senator Tisei and to Governor Weld for their part in having the IRS change their ruling with regard to the Massachusetts pension system. Town Manager's Evaluation The Board began the Town Manager's annual evaluation. Dan Ensminger chaired the committee and Russ Graham served on the Evaluation Committee. The forms submitted to the Selectmen this evening were a composite of the evaluations by the five Selectmen as individuals, and by the Town Manager. Particular successes during the past year were health care negotiations, liaison work Selectmens Minutes - 7/16/91 - page 2 with the School Department, regionalization of services including 'f k; inspection services, the G.E. settlement, the budget presentation to the Annual and special Town Meetings, and improved relation- ships with our state Senators and Representative. Areas that need work are to develop a performance evaluation program, im- prove the capital planning program, and working on long-term budget projections. Item 1 C was reviewed, and the comment was that the Town Manager and Town government need to work more on informing the public. Item 4 B was discussed. The Town Manager expressed concern that the relationship being built with the School Department and the Light Department may not be reflected in the relationship between the Board of Selectmen and the School Committee and/or RMLD Board. Gene Nigro indicated that sometimes a lag time in making decisions, through which citizen input is gained, may lead to that impression. Russ Graham indicated that the Boards may have different agendas from the professional staff. They need to work to develop con- sensus. Gene Nigro indicated that there is an actual difference between administrative perspective and policy making perspective. The Town Manager reviewed the goals that he had proposed. Goal 2 There was concern that we should give Town Meeting an up- date on ongoing capital projects, and that we should follow up on continuing projects like street programs. We have to convince Town Meeting more of the reason for the Capital Improvement Program. George Hines and Russ Graham felt that we should go to a standing Capital Committee in order to make that process more dynamic. Goal 3 It was suggested that we should determine where we should privatize operations. Goal 6 The question was raised as to who coordinates the process, and it was suggested that we should look at privatizing or coordinating vehicle maintenance. Bill Brown indicated from the audience that we had done such a study 10 years ago and Ken Little felt that that study should be updated. Goal 7 Gene Nigro wondered about establishing some kind of' a job coordination service or clearing house along with work the Clergy Association is doing. Sally Hoyt felt that we should be careful about privatization. George Hines felt that this was a very important goal. Carroll McMillan spoke from the audience and indicated that the --~ Town Manager puts in a lot of hours. Ken Little felt that the vehicle maintenance issue should be restudied. Gene Nigro reviewed the Town Manager's contract. It involves items of a stipend for dues and memberships, a vehicle allowance, f° - Selectmens Minutes - 7/16/71 - page 3 and vacation time. He suggested the Town Manager's vacation schedule should come up to the schedule for other Town employees. On motion by Hines seconded by Hoyt the Board voted that the employment agreement should be continued and modified to provide for vacation benefits consistent with the Personnel Policies of - the Town, with a salary unchanged for FY92. The motion was ap- proved by a vote of 5-0-0. Public Hearing Solid Waste Policy Amendment At 8:45, the Board began the Public Hearing on the Solid Waste Policy Amendments . Sally Hoyt read the notice, and the Town Manager presented the substance of the proposal . Anne Mark, Chairman of the Solid Waste Advisory Committee, reviewed material that the Solid Waste Committee had put together on issues of abatement and experience in other communities. Jim Keigley sug- gested we should find a fair way to charge the fee. Nate White had found that the most common complaint among those who signed a petition for the recent election was a flat fee, and suggested that we change the system to a usage basis. Bob Zitzow felt that the flat fee was unfair. A per person fee might be more appropriate, and would not be a disincentive to recycling. Sally Hoyt indicated that she had heard from a number of elderly and people with financial problems. People who receive exemptions 'or deferrals from their taxes or water and -- sewer bill based on income would be exempt from the fee. The to- tal fee proposed is approximately $1.50 per week. Dan Ensminger indicated he would prefer a per person fee, but that if we did additional work to explore that option we would not be able to meet the August water and sewer bill. George Hines felt that anything but a flat fee or per bag fee would result in a great deal of staff time to resolve conflicts. Ken King asked two rhetorical questions: Do we have a bill from RESCO? Has litigation been completed? He suggested paying on a per capita basis. Curt Nitzsche felt that a flat fee is the only practical way to do the fee. Bruce MacDonald supports the fee as . necessary and prefers a user basis. He felt the sticker is the most reasonable way and suggests that we don't use a flat fee. John Pacino wanted to know what the future of the fees would be. Russ Graham indicated that one option may be not to have trash collection at all in the future. Ann Flanagan felt that fee was too high. She has a problem meeting her water and sewer bills. It was indicated that she might qualify for a waiver. Gene Nigro suggested that when we send out the trash bill that we send out a notice about abatements and exemptions that are available for taxes and water and sewer bills. George Hines reminded everyone that this fee does not cover the full cost of trash. He also suggested that we should have a sun- set provision in the policy. He also noted that if our suit is successful the fee could decrease. Henry Bardol asked what the fee would be - it was indicated that it is $84 per year subject to 10% discount. Howard MacKilligan wanted to know what would Selectmens Minutes - 7/16/91 - page 4 happen if we collected too much. The Town Manager indicated that the last quarterly bill of the year could be adjusted if that was the case. Bob Brown asked what the quarterly bill would be. He also asked when the bill for the RESCO pass through costs was due. It was indicated that the bill would -be rendered in Decem- ber and would be due in January. Perry Woods asked if there was thought given to including a trash fee in the budget where it would be tax deductible. Barbara Bardol felt that people don't think a flat fee is right. She asked what would happen to any surplus, and asked if we can set up an enterprise system for trash. Steve Thomases indicated that some towns have enterprise funds for trash. Jim Karangi felt that a flat fee was better - it was simpler. Carroll McMillan spoke for the Taxpayers Association. He indi- cated that the law gives the Board of Selectmen the authority to do a trash fee and does not set guidelines other than meeting the "Emerson Test. " He feels that a flat fee is not fair and equi- table. A 1989 survey of 111 towns that have trash fees indicated that 65%. have a sticker fee and 20% have a flat fee. He feels that a flat fee will kill recycling. He also indicated that noone sends their trash bill with the water and sewer bill. He feels that we need a strict anti-litter bylaw; that we need to clarify what the abatement process would be; that we should have in place a lien structure for people who don't pay their bills; and that we may collect more dollars than we need if the discount is not used. The Reading Taxpayers Association recommends delayed action until after the litigation is settled. Roberta Skelly felt that the flat fee was inequitable. A per oc- cupant fee would be better. George Hines asked what a per bag cost would be if we went to a per bag fee. The Town Manager in- dicated that if each household had one bag per week for 50 weeks of the year the cost would be $1. 40 per bag. Dan Ensminger expressed concern about the predictability of income if we went to a sticker fee. The per capita fee would maintain the predict- ability. Marty McWilliams asked about the compost center and the Town Manager indicated that recycling of yard waste was required effective December 31, 1991. Bruce MacDonald asked about the cost of distribution on a per bag system. Dan Ensminger asked how people accept the sticker system and whether a sticker system is easier to accept than a flat fee. Dan Anglehart from the Solid Waste Committee felt that if we react from year to year and change the system it is difficult to build a consensus. Cathy Quimby doesn't feel that recycling would suffer. She felt that a flat fee would be more appropriate now, but if we go to a system of recovering full trash costs from fees then that would be the time to go to a sticker system. Bob Zitzow asked if this issue would come back to Town Meeting. Sally Sabo suggested that a flat fee could be put in place for one year and then revisited. Ms. Skelly felt that a per occupant or per household fee would be appropriate. Les York felt that a per capita fee would be harmful to large families - they have other fees. Selectmens Minutes - 7/16/90 - page 5 On motion by Hines seconded by Ensminger the Board closed the hearing at 10:35 p.m. by vote of 5-0-0. Under Board discussion on this matter Dan Ensminger asked if we could delay the billing. It was indicated that we could but a separate billing would cost around $2, 100 for postage plus print- ing. He wanted to know when we set the tax rate and it was indi- cated that this must be set by the end of November. A polling of the Board indicated two members in favor of a flat fee, two mem- bers in favor of a per capita fee and one in favor of a sticker fee. The Board decided to defer a decision until their meeting on August 6. Bill and Nancy Wiemar from South Street asked about the agenda item on the petition for scenic roads designation. The Town Manager indicated that it was there for the Board's information and that CPDC was having a hearing on Monday on rules and regula- tions and on a petition to make South Street a scenic road. Lease of Pearl Street School The Town Manager indicated that there may be interest in purchase of the school and we would delay the placement of a Request for Proposals for lease until we find out if there is a potential purchaser. On motion by Ensminger seconded by Hoyt the Board voted to ap- prove the Indemnity Agreement with the RMLD by a vote of 3-2-0 with Hines and Graham voting in the negative. All the Board mem- bers expressed concern about the need for such agreement and the cost of putting an agreement like that together. On motion by Graham seconded by Hoyt the Board voted by a vote of 4-1-0 with Ensminger voting in the negative to submit an applica- tion for commercial vehicle exclusion on Washington Street be- tween John Street and MainStreet. Park Rules and Regulations Marty McWilliams of Riverside Drive talked to the Board about park hours . The Recreation Committee had voted to close Washington Park "at dusk. " Three of the neighbors spoke about the problems related to Washington Park. On motion by Hines seconded by Hoyt the Board voted to approve an emergency regula- tion closing Washington Park at 8:00 p.m. daily unless an or- ganized ballgame is in progress, in which case that game will be allowed to come to its soonest conclusion. The motion was ap- proved by a vote of 5-0-0. Messrs Mararchi and Castelli from Riverside Drive and Warren Avenue respectively talked about the easements that provide access to Washington Park from Riverside Drive and Warren. The Town Manager has reviewed the situation in the field, and has asked the Police Department, the Recreation Committee, and is asking the Board of Selectmen for their input on temporarily closing the easements. The Town Manager indicated that he was inclined to close the easements on a temporary basis and see if that resolved some of the problems. The Board felt that such action was appropriate. The Board also asked that ex- tra time be spent by the Police Department in patrolling the Selectmens Minutes - 7/16/91 - page 6 Washington Park area to see if we can get the situation under control. Lawn Sprinkler Regulations The Board talked about the current policy of requiring a separate water service and meter for lawn sprinklers for those who want to separate them off of their regular house meter. The Board upheld that policy, and asked the Department of Public Works to continue to monitor other technological advances that may provide the protection that the Town is interested in at lower costs to the . homeowner. The Board supported the Water and Sewer Advisory Com- mittee in this decision. On motion by Hines seconded by Hoyt voted to approve a license to drive a taxi for Robert Smith by vote of 5-0-0. On motion by Hines seconded by Hoyt the Board voted to approve an additional taxi vehicle license for Town Taxi by vote of 5-0-0 subject to police inspection of the vehicle. On motion by Hines seconded by Graham the Board voted to adjourn at 12:05 a.m. by vote of 5-0-0 Respectfully submitted: SecretY