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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1987-04-16 Board of Selectmen Minutes BARD OF SELECTMEN MEETING APRIL 16 , 1987 Chairman ,john Russell convened the meeting at 7 : 35 P.M. Members present : Chairman Russell , Vice Chairman Nigro , Secretary Graham, Selectmen Landers and Ziegler, Town Manager Peter I . Hechenbleikner. Liason reports included a comment by Nigro that he attended the Massachusetts Rehabilitation Commission ceremony at which the Un- derstanding Handicaps Program and the Town of Reading were awarded a plaque. Russell indicated that he attended a meeting of the Constitu- tional Bicentennial Committee. They would be meeting monthly, and would recognize the Bicentennial of the American Constitu- tion. Item 4a - Motion by Landers , seconded by Graham based on the recommendation of the Reading School Committee , that the rents at the Pearl Street School be increased to $4 . 50 effective May 1 , 1987 or as permitted by the various leases . There was discussion regarding the purchase cf Plat 65 Lot 8 ad- jacent to the Fire House and Police Station. Motion by Graham seconded by Nigro that the Board of Selectmen support the Article at the Town Meeting. Motion was defeated on a vote of ?-3 . The consensus of the Boar. of Selectmen was that the issue should be brought to Town Meeting so that they fully understood the issues and the possible need for use of eminent domain to acquire this property at a later date should it be needed. Articles 7 , 8 , and 9 were discussed. David Merring, Executive Director of the YMCA was present. Motion by Ziegler seconded by Landers that the Board of Selectmen support Articles 7 , 8 and 9 at Town Meeting with a sale price of $1 . 00 . Motion was approved 5-0 . Mr. Merring indicated that the YMCA would commit to use the proceeds from the sale of land at the Reading site for improve- ments to the Reading site. They hope to be able to expand youth programs and develop a preschool care program on the site. Mo- tion by Ziegler seconded by Nigro to adjourn . All in favor . Meeting was adjourned at 8 : 30 P.M. Respectfully submitted: Secretary 1 Board of Selectmen Special Meeting April 27, 1987 Members present Chairman Russell, Vice Chairman Nigro, Secretary Graham, Members Landers and Ziegler. On motion by Graham and seconded by Eugene Nigro the Board ap- proved the request of the First Congregational Church to close a portion of Sanborn Street from 7 : 00 A.M. to 6 : 00 P.M. on Saturday September 19, 1987 for the "olde redding fair. " The vote was 3- 0-1 with Ziegler abstaining. The Town Manager indicated that the First Congregational Church has been notified of the Sale of the Community Center and that the property may not be available for the midway or parking. With regard to the request for speakers on Memorial Day, the Town Manager was directed to respond to the American Legion and indi- cated that Eugene Nigro would be present at Laurel Hill, Molly Ziegler will be present at Forest Glen, and ,john Russell would be present at Charles Lawn. On motion by Ziegler seconded by Nigro the request for transfer from the Reserve Fund in the amount of $23 , 400 for building main- tenance was approved on a vote of 4-0-1 with Landers abstaining. The discussion, with Fafard regarding the Community Center Sale will be scheduled for May _ -1987 . Discussion took place regarding the Depot area. It was ques- tioned what the extra tracks are for. The Board had no problem with proceeding with the crossing gates, and improvements to the platform . It was requested that a map of the Depot area be developed for review with the Board of Selectmen at their meeting on the 11th of May. A special meeting will be held on Monday May 4th, in Executive Session if possible to begin the Town Manager ' s performance evaluation. The Board of Selectmen approved the door to door canvassing by the American Field Service for Sunday May 3rd until 5 : 00 P.M. The motion to approve the canvas was made by Graham seconded by Ziegler. The proposed swimming pool improvements were reviewed. Motion by Graham seconded by Ziegler that the Board of Selectmen approves the subject of Article 23 on the Annual Town Meeting the amount of $46, 000 . The vote was 5-0-0 . Meeting Adjourned: 7 : 30 P.M. Respectfully submitted: Secretary FI? Ria%, `-Lown of Reading Reading, Massachusetts 01867-2693 3s:,NCOK(?O- / (617) 942-0500 TOWN MANAGER 16 LOWELL STREET TO: BOARD OF SELECTMEN FROM: PETER I. HECHENBLEIKNER RE: DEPOT PARKING ISSUES DATE: APRIL 3, 1987 On April 2, 1981 Tony Fletcher and I met with representatives of the MBTA and their design consultant with regard to a number of issues at. the Reading Station. These issues included: . 1. issues of parking on local streets 2. Issues of parking improvements in the Reading, Depot area 3. Possibility of an estsr abli .ment of a satellite station to take some of the load of the Readinc, - c Station, 4. The method of calculation, of the MBIA assessment 1. The MBTA has no feelings with regard to parking on local streets— They view this as strictly local matter, and will not be involved in any way in terms of prohibition of parking on local streets or in terms of metering, permitting, or other issues with regard to parking on local streets. 2. 1 will be presenting on Monday night the MBTA's draft plan, for improvement of the station parking. This will include a_ new 76 space lot at the southwest intersection of the railroad and Woburn Street. It will include improvements in terms of paving, curbing, sidewalks, planting, signing, lighting and other issues. The total parking provided would be approximately 500 spaces which is between 80 and 100 spaces more than currently exist, The Town will not be able to, in accordance with MBTA policy, provide meters, permits or other arrangements regarding any of the parking that the MBIA will be improving. Part of the improvement plan is to remove the "freight stop" at Vine and High. This stop has been officially abandoned by the MBTA and B&M. The MBTA has also indicated that they will be willing to extend the parking lot westerly along Vine Street if the Town would find this desirable. This would involve construction of off street parking, not the parallel parking along the street. Other issues that will be dealt with as part of the Depot improvements would be to raise the platform approximately 8 inches, to install the gates at i DEPOT PARKING (Page 2) Woburn Street, and to provide for Handicapped access. There would also be three walkways across the railroad, one north of Woburn and two between Woburn and Washington. The proposed construction project would not involve any land takings. It should be noted that the MBTA also plans on placing a second track through Reading because of rail traffic demands. It is anticipated that this construction will start in the Spring of 1988, and the entire cost would be borne by the MBIA. 3. With regard to the issue of satellite station, the MBTA is willing to entertain the idea of building a satellite station probably where the rail line through Reading intersects with I93. Tony Fletcher and I will be meeting with representatives of Wilimington to review this issue within the next several days. The need for a satellite station would be to relieve some of the load on the Reading Station which will be difficult to manage even with the improved Depot parking. 4. MBTA Assessments — I spoke at. some length �, ' the Treasurery Depart— went at. tide MBIA, and they have explained the manner of assessments. Although the following figures are not exact, approximately 60% of the Town's MBTA assessment is related to express service i.e. commuter rail. Of this 60%, 75%' is based on 1980 Federal Census Data relating to the number of residents of the Town who use the commuter rail line for commutation. purposes. The remaining 25% of the 60% is based on boarding counts which are updated every _year. to two years. Therefore, ' 251 of the 60%, or 15- of the whole, of the Town's assessment is based on the number of people who board the rail line in Reading. The remaining, 40��. of the MBTA assessment is based on local services i.e. bus transportation. 50%. of that 40% is based on the population, and 50% is based on lossess incurred by the MBTA. In addition, the Town bears a portion of the state interest borrowing cost which is the cost of borrowing money to operate the MBTA on an annual basis. The bottom line with regard to the MBTA assessments is that 15% of the assessment to the Town of Reading is based on ridership from the Reading Station. For FY 1988 (which are actually 1986 figures) $78,000 of the Town`s total assessment is related to boarding count. Therefore if 10% of the people boarding at Reading Depot are from "out of town" then the Town is being assessed $7,800 for that :