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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2010-02-23 Board of Selectmen Minutes Board of Selectmen Meeting February 23,2010 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 workshop meeting convened at 7:00 p.m. in the Town Hall Conference Room, 16 Lowell Street, Reading, Massachusetts. Present were Chairman Ben Tafoya, Secretary Camille Anthony, Selectmen Richard Schubert and Stephen Goldy, Town Manager Peter Hechenbleikner, Assistant Town Manager/Finance Director Bob LeLacheur, Fire Chief Greg Burns; Library Director Ruth Urell, Town Engineer George Zambouras, and the following list of interested parties: Tom Ryan, Bill Brown, Janet Baronian, Attorney Josh Latham, Anthony and Carmen Cavallo, Cherie Dubois, Vicki Yablonsky, Kara Fratto. Reports and Comments Selectmen's Liaison Reports and Comments — Selectman Richard Schubert complimented the Town Clerk on the guidelines and asked that we do a full process of publicizing. This would include the website, Town Meeting Reports and any other venue possible. Selectman Stephen Goldy noted that he had received a call from Marls Dickinson regarding the Package Store License for Wine Nation. He told Mr. Dickinson that this was addressed in Executive Session and there was no vote but a sense of the Board of Selectmen. Selectman Goldy also asked about 885 Main Street and the application that had been submitted. The Town. Manager noted that it was an application for funding, and staff will be reporting on it. Selectman Camille Anthony noted that she had attended a meeting at the Voke School regarding the Mattera Cabin. She, Town Counsel Ellen Doucette, Town Planner Jean Delios, and the Town Manager had met with regard to the LIP policy and it is coming along nicely. She asked about the schedule for paving of Center Street, and the Town Manager noted that the Pavement Management Program is being redone this Spring, and a presentation will be made to the Board of Selectmen in May. Chairman Ben Tafoya had no report but noted that he would be doing Office Hours at the next meeting in lieu of Selectman Stephen Goldy. Town Manager's Report The Town Manager gave the following report: • Local Elections 2010 o Withdraw nomination papers by March 2nd o Register to vote by March 17th o Election April 6th o Annual Town Meeting starts April 26rn Board of Selectmen Meeting—February 23,2010—Page 2 • The Town has been advised that the OR Downtown Smart Growth Zoning By-Law approved by Town Meeting in November has been approved by the Attorney General. It was previously approved by the Department of Housing and Community Development contingent on AG approval. We will now proceed to requisition the payment of$350,000 which will be held in a Stabilization Fund, and once we have our first building permits issued for a OR project in Downtown, the Town could then appropriate any of those funds for capital or similar uses. • Update re: Mattera Cabin and meeting with the Voke School. • Wine Nation - The liquor store that wanted to locate in the former Linens `N Things site on Walkers Brook Drive has withdrawn their appeal of the liquor license denial. • Through the hard work of Mary Delai in the School Department,the Town has been awarded an Energy Efficiency and Block Grant (EECBG) sub-grant in the amount of $150,000 for Performance Contract. Funds Tor this award were made available by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009 through the U.S. Department of Energy's Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant Program. • RCTV has moved- Their new address is 557 Main Street in Reading. • The Board of Selectmen has received an action alert from the MMA. Do you want to formally go on record with respect to the issue of Health Insurance Plan Design? I have drafted letters from the Chairman to each of our legislators in the event that you would like to do so. • We have taken bids on the Memorial Park project and are evaluating how much of the project we will be able to do - we used add alternates to give us the most flexibility as possible. The base bid includes the skating ponds, the tennis courts and the basketball court. • We have sold the Bancroft Avenue tennis court wind screens to the Town of Lexington for $4,999. • Reading is scheduled to receive Common Cause Massachusetts' 2010 e-Government Award with Distinction on Tuesday; March 1-6th at 11:00 a.m. in Hearing Room A-1 at the State House in Boston. You can find the award criteria at www.commoncause.org/e.govIO. • MSBA Check presentation - March 4th at 11:00 a.m. at RMHS in front of the Memorial Wall. Personnel and Appointments Ad Hoc Municipal Building Committee — The Board considered applications for the ad hoc Municipal Building Committee. The Volunteer Appointment Subcommittee had met yesterday and had interviewed Kathleen Dugan and Jeffrey Struble. Selectman Richard Schubert reported that the Volunteer Appointment Subcommittee recommended both applications. On motion by Goldy seconded by Anthony, the Board of Selectmen voted to place the following names into nomination for two 'positions on the ad hoc Municipal Building Committee with terms expiring.December 31, 2010: Kathleen Dugan and Jeffrey Struble. Each applicant received four votes and were appointed. Discussion/Action Items - Review Warrant of Annual Town Meeting — The Town Manager noted that the main focus this evening was to discuss the Annual Town Meeting Warrant. Board of Selectmen Meeting—February 23,2010—Page 3 The Board discussed the following potential Articles: Article 11 —Accepting Meals Tax—The Board of Selectmen had considerable discussion on the potential for putting the meals tax back before Town Meeting. It was defeated by Town Meeting at the Subsequent Town Meeting in November. The Town Manager indicated that the FY 2011 Budget that he has proposed to the Finance Committee does not depend on the meal tax. Selectman Richard Schubert felt that this should be put on the Town Meeting Warrant and have them review the issue. Selectman Stephen Goldy felt that we are already raising fees and should not put this on the Warrant. We should hold this as an option for when we have serious budget problems. Chairman Ben Tafoya felt that he would rather see the meal tax rather than some of the fee increases that are included in the budget. He would like to talk to the School Committee, the Finance Committee and other Boards, Committees and Commissions about this issue. Selectman Camille Anthony felt that it should be discussed ata Financial Forum, and it should be considered for next year. Therefore, the sense'of the members of the Board of Selectmen present is that the meals tax should not be included in the Warrant for the Annual Town Meeting. Article 12 — Approving 2011 Budget - The Assistant Town Manager reviewed the Board's consensus on various decision points for the FY 2011 Budget, and the Board's direction on those matters. Article 13 — Increasing Selected Exemptions - The Assistant Town Manager reviewed the proposed Article on exemptions, and the Board of Assessor's intentions with regard to them. Article 17 —Accept Gift—Downtown Steering Committee - The Board discussed the Article for the Downtown ,Steering Committee. All actions required to implement this will need to be completed by Town Meeting. Article 18 — Design of Building at Laurel Hill Cemetery - The Board discussed the potential Article for designing of the building at the Laurel Hill Cemetery. Bill Brown noted that the Cemetery Board had not voted to include this in the Annual Town Meeting Warrant. The Board of Selectmen decided not to move this particular Article forward at this time. Article 19 — Feasibilijy, Library Building - There was discussion with regard to an Article to fund feasibility and concept design for renovations/expansion of the Reading Public Library. Following discussion with representatives of the Library Board of Trustees, the consensus of the Board of Selectmen was to not put this on as a separate article but to move to amend the 2010 Capital Improvements Program Budget to utilize $75,000 from the sale of real estate fund to start the feasibility study, and to be ready to hire the necessary consultants immediately after Town Meeting. This means putting an RFP out now. The cost of consulting would be $60,000 for an architect, and $15,000 for a consultant to assist with the operations plan. Board of Selectmen Meeting—February 23, 2010—Page 4 Library Director Ruth Urell is going to be going to a session on March 1 lth to understand more about the process for applying to get on the State's list of projects. Her understanding is that an initial letter of intent has to be submitted in the Fall, and then the formal application submitted in January 2011 to get in the queue for these funds. The local funding would need to come from a debt exclusion, and one of the questions would be the timing on special debt exclusion. Article 21 — Sprinldering of 4+ Unit Resident Buildings - Fire Chief Greg Burns discussed an Article requiring sprinklering of residential buildings with four or more units for new construction and major rehabilitation. The Board of Selectmen felt strongly that this should be included in the Warrant. Article 22— Boundaries for Birch Meadow - The boundaries for the Birch Meadow site will not be ready for action at the Annual Town Meeting but should be ready for the Fall. Article 23 — Junk Bylaw - The Board discussed the amendments to the Junk Bylaw. A request was made to name it something different. It had to be clear that the purpose of this Article was only to change the method of enforcement from criminal disposition to noncriminal disposition. Article 24 — Easement to 767 Main Street - Town Engineer George Zambouras talked about the, easement for 767 Main Street for sewer purposes. The Board agreed to include this on the Warrant. He also talked about the easements for drainage on West Street, and the Board also agreed to include this on the Warrant as long as all property owners sign off that they are in agreement prior to Town Meeting. Review of Venetian Moon Outdoor Dining - Anthony and Carmen Cavallo of the Venetian Moon Restaurant and Attorney Josh Latham appeared to present a concept to the Board for outdoor dining.. The concepts include rooftop dining and sidewalk dining, and both would be for seasonal use only. The rooftop dining would•not increase the seating capacity at the restaurant. They would remove basement first floor seating and replace it with.40-50 seats on the rooftop. The total seating capacity of Venetian Moon is now 175 seats. The concept for the rooftop is a retractable awning, a chairlift for handicap accessibility, and significant landscaping at the site. The Town Manager noted that the rooftop dining is not something that can be tried and if not successful, can be suspended. The rooftop dining will require a considerable investment on the part of the applicant, and this is a decision that will not be easily rescinded. For the rooftop dining, there would be.three approvals required: The Board of Appeals, CPDC for site plan approval, and the Board of Selectmen for amending the liquor license. There will be no bar in the rooftop area. Selectman Richard Schubert asked about the hours of service, and the Cavallo's indicated that they are not looking at cutting back the hours of service for the rooftop. The Town Manager asked if there•would be standing permitted, and the applicant indicated that there would be seating only; i.e., there will be nobody in the rooftop area who is not seated. The Cavallo's indicated that they would like not to be limited as to season. They could foresee use of the rooftop dining during times of the year like the tree lighting ceremony. It was suggested that there be no music or amplified sound. Board of Selectmen Meeting—Februgiy 23,2010—Pap-e_5 With regard to the sidewalk dining, it was suggested that the owners develop a detailed plan, and actually do a mock up of how the sidewalk dining would be set up. The Board of Selectmen was generally amendable to both concepts. The Board will monitor the hearings before the Board of Appeals and CPDC, and utilize that information when making a decision in the future on a formal application to amend the licensed premises. The Town Manager will prepare a letter to the applicant outlining the Board's comments. On motion by Goldy seconded by Schubert, the Board of Selectmen voted to adjourn the meeting of February 23,2010 at 9:31 p.m. by a vote of 4-0-0. Respdctfully, submitted, Secretary