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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2010-03-02 Board of Selectmen Minutes Board of Selectmen Meeting March 2, 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 meeting convened at 7:00 p.m. in the Selectmen's Meeting Room, 16 Lowell Street, Reading, Massachusetts. Present were Chairman Ben Tafoya, Vice Chairman James Bonazoli, Secretary Camille Anthony,Selectman Richard Schubert, Town Manager Peter Hechenbleilcner, Assistant Town Manager/Finance Director Bob LeLacheur, Library Director Ruth Urell, and the following list of interested parties: Thomas Ryan, Kara Fratto, Michael Palmer, Attorney Brad Latham. Reports and Comments Selectmen's Liaison Reports and Comments — Selectman Richard Schubert asked for some comment on the Town's health insurance program in light of the Boston Globe article on Sunday. and Monday regarding health care. Selectman Camille Anthony asked whether the Town requires people over 65 who are Medicare eligible to be enrolled in Medicare', and the Town Manager noted that has been a requirement in Reading for a number of years. Selectman Anthony also attended the CPDC meeting on the Sign Bylaw. Vice Chairman James Bonazoli thanked the Economic Development Committee and CPDC for their work on the Sign Bylaw. He attended a Cemetery Board of Trustees meeting, and the Cemetery Board still feels that Laurel Hill is the best spot to locate a new cemetery garage. Chairman Ben Tafoya asked that the draft Sign Bylaw and revisions to Section 6.3 of the Zoning By-Law go on the website as soon as possible. The Town Manager noted that the Warrant would be on the website by the end of the week. Public Comment—Tom Ryan of 87 Dana Road noted that he had submitted a petition for Article 11 on the Warrant regarding snow plowing at churches. Town Manager's Report The Town Manager gave the following report: • Update re: Mattera Cabin and meeting with the Voke School. • Causeway Road site visit—March 26th. Board of Selectmen liaison. • 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. • 885 Main Street 40B comments. • Conservation Commission proposed amendment to Reading Wetland Regulations. • Notice of Intent under Reading Conservation Bylaw—WALD. Board of Selectmen Meeting—March 2, 2010—Page 2 • Reading is scheduled to receive Common Cause Massachusetts' 2010 e-Government Award with Distinction on Tuesday, March 16th at l lam in Hearing Room A-1 at the State House in Boston. You can find the award criteria at www.comn-ioncause.org/egovIO. • Municipal Relief package—from Senator Richard Tisei's Office. • MMA press release re: Health Insurance Plan Design. • Board of Selectmen presence at FINCOM budget meetings: o March 2nd o March 17th-Tafoya o March 24th Assistant Town Manager's Report The Assistant Town Manager reviewed a chart showing changes in the health insurance program since 2004, and outlining facts with regard to the program as follows: • No volunteers including elected officials on Boards, Committees or Commissions are paid or otherwise eligible to receive health insurance. • Since 2005, annual increases in health insurance premiums have been below that seen statewide in the public sector. • FY 2006 Budget for health insurance was 8.6% of revenues. In FY 2010, it was 10.2% of revenues. • Premium change and plan design as collaboratively negotiated between the Public Employee Committee and Town administration has yielded savings. • The Town has received'$276,000 in Part D reimbursements. Plan changes negotiated on 6/1/08 make the Town no longer eligible for these reimbursements. • An independent consultant verified the lack of projected savings by the GAC option due in large part by a poor HMO network coverage in this geographical area. • The independent consultant recommended the shift to MIIA's three tiered product last year which has good area coverage. • The Town has saved over $400,000 for FY 2010 in health insurance due to the change negotiated last Spring. Discussion/Action Items Highlights—Library—Library Director Ruth Urell and Lorraine.Barry, Young Adults Librarian, made an informative and entertaining presentation to the Board of Selectmen regarding activities at the Library for young adults and adults. Close Annual Town Meeting Warrant — The Town Manager reviewed the highlights of the Warrant. On motion by Schubert seconded by Bonazoli, the Board of Selectmen voted to close the Warrant for the Annual Town Meeting to be held on April 26, 2010 at the Reading Memorial high School, 62 Oakland Road, consisting of 29 Articles. The motion was approved by a vote of 4-0-0. Hearing— Liquor License for Sam's Bistro—The Secretary read the public hearing notice for an application for an all alcohol restaurant liquor license by Bistro Concepts Inc. d/b/a Sam's Bistro at 107 Main Street. Present were Attorney Brad Latham and owner Michael Palmer. Board of Selectmen Meeting—March 2, 2010—Page 3 Attorney Latham reviewed the plans. He indicated that liquor is under security, locked, with cameras, etc.. The restaurant has 152 seats: A greater number of seats could perhaps have been located in the second story but this was restricted by availability of parking. They have talked to abutters about allowing employees or others to park on abutting properties but there are no agreements in place at this time. Michael Palmer reviewed the staffing and management at the site. He also indicated that they are hoping to be opened in early May. Within 90 days of opening, all servers will be trained with"Serve Safe." The Board members asked a number of questions which were well answered. The Chairman opened the hearing to the public and there was no public present. On motion by Schubert seconded by Bonazoli, the Board voted to close ,the hearing on an application for an All Alcohol Restaurant Liquor License by Bistro Concepts, Inc. d/b/a Sam's Bistro at 107 Main Street. The motion was approved by a vote of 4-0-0. On motion by Schubert seconded by Anthony, the Board voted to approve an application for an All Alcohol Restaurant Liquor License by Bistro Concepts, Inc. d/b/a Sam's Bistro at 107 Main Street subject to the following conditions: All Bylaws, Rules and Regulations of the Town of Reading and of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts shall be followed, and also subiect to a satisfactory inspection of the establishment by the Town Manager prior to opening. The motion was approved by a vote of 4-0-0. Review Amendment to Various Fees - The Board of Selectmen reviewed *the potential amendments to various fees as had been discussed as part of the budget process. With regard to the Community Access fee, the Town Manager's recommendation was to keep this as a single fee but increase the fee effective July 1, 2011. By the end of 2011, the Town may have in place the necessary systems to be able to offer a three tier fee: Commuter parking only, Compost Center only or a combined. The staff will determine and come back to the Board with information on the number of parking spaces at the Depot, and also some estimated costs of operating the Depot parking and also for operating the Compost Center. Vice Chairman James Bonazoli noted that one of the issues that the Board would have to deal with is whether we should price this "product"based on cost or based on value. With regard to other fees, the Town Manager noted that the Board of Selectmen fees would be largely in the area of amending liquor license fees but also some of the other license fees like Common Victualler.licenses, etc., and increasing smoke detector fees and underground storage fees for the analysis done by the Fire Department. It would be up to CPDC to establish site plan waiver fees, and up to CPDC, the Board of Health and the Conservation.Commission to establish re-inspection fees. All fees should be able to be in place by July 1 st. The Board asked that this be scheduled for further discussion on a future.Selectmen's meeting. Board of Selectmen Meeting—March 2 2010—Page 4 Review Amended License for Outdoor Dining - The Town Manager presented a draft of a revision to the Outdoor Dining Policy that would allow for service and sale of alcohol. Selectman Camille Anthony asked how this would work, and whether we should consider whether this is the message that we would want in the community. Chairman Ben Tafoya noted that we already asked Town Meeting to amend the bylaw to allow this and that we should move ahead. He also noted that in Boston, alcohol service is permitted outdoors only with sales and service of food. He would suggest that this be done and included in the policy. Selectman Richard Schubert asked whether there would be an outdoor serving area, and the sense from the Board was that practically there isn't room for that in the sidewalk areas. We should also make it clear that outdoor dining is separate from the alcoholic license, and also that the area for outdoor dining is to be restricted to only in front of an otherwise licensed establishment. With these changes, a hearing will be scheduled for approval of this policy. Review Draft Policy for Licensing of Junk Dealers — The Town Manager reviewed the policy. Questions were raised as to what other communities do, whether we should even have the bylaw and whether the restrictions were onerous. The Town Manager will send a copy of the draft. policy to the potentially licensed establishments for their comment, and also get comment from the Chief of Police prior to this discussion on this bylaw. Approval of Minutes On motion by Anthony seconded by Bonazoli, the Board of Selectmen approved the minutes of February 9, 2010, as amended, by a vote of 4-0-0. On motion by Bonazoli seconded by Anthony, the Board of Selectmen voted to go into Executive Session for the purpose of Approval of Minutes and strategy with respect to litigation not to come back into Open Session On a roll call vote, all four members voted in the affirmative and the motion was carried. Respectfully submitted, Secretary