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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2011-03-15 Board of Selectmen Minutes Board of Selectmen Meeting March 1S, 2011 For ease of archiving, the order that items appear in these minutes reflects the order in u)hich .the.items appeared on the agenda for that meeting, and are not necessarily the order in n)hich any item n;as 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 James Bonazoli, Vice Chairman Camille Anthony, Secretary Richard Schubert, Selectmen Stephen Goldy and Ben Tafoya, Town Manager Peter Hechenbleilaier, Assistant Town Manager/Finance Director Bob LeLacheur, Office Manager Paula Schena and the following list of interested parties: Thomas J. Ryan, Bill Brown, Carol Shapiro, Joan Neary, John Weston, Diane Weggel, Mary Avery, Reports and Comments Selectmen's Liaison Reports and Comments - Stephen Goldy indicated he will be attending a hearing with the Town Manager re: public service committees. He has also received calls. regarding the aquifer protection district and would like this put on an agenda. Camille Anthony noted she attended an Economic Development Committee meeting and they are planning on purchasing baskets, banners and wreaths. She also noted that there are still double poles and she requested a list from the Light Department. Richard.Schubert offered condolences to the victims of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan.. James Bonazoli indicated he will be attending a ribbon cutting at Golf Town. The Mattera Cabin ribbon cutting will be April 30"' and Reading United Soccer and Reading Lacrosse will be asking for a Sunday morning exception for practices. Public Comment — Bill Brown noted that Verizon took down four double poles today on Birch Meadow. Resident Tom Ryan indicated he feels the Mattera Cabin is a "white elephant" and noted that the Town lost $9,000 in tax revenue when the Town purchased the property. James Bonazoli noted that the Town received a sizable grant that paid for materials and the vocational school is doing the work. Jordan's Furniture and other businesses have also made donations. Camille Anthony noted that the cabin is a wonderful building that the community can use and it will add to the quality of life in Reading. Town Manager's Report—The Town Manager gave the following report: Administrative Matters • The environmental cleanup at the RMLD property on Causeway Road has reached an end point, with all tests being below detectable levels for PCB's. • I attended and testified with Stephen Goldy at the Joint Committee on Public Service's hearing on municipal health insurance. Board of Selectmen Meeting—March 15, 2011 —page 2 Community Development • The Board of Selectmen has a copy of the latest results from the Cultural Council survey. The comments are especially worth noting. • Grumpy Doyle's has submitted a request to use paper cups on St. Patrick's Day. Chief Cormier is okay with it as long as they hire additional security and staff and the Board of Selectmen agreed with this. Public Safety • The Police Chief has lifted the winter parking bans on several streets. Overnight parking is still restricted until April 1. Public Works • The water and sewer bills have gone out and included is the very informative information in the Public Works Newsletter on upcoming events. • Pothole patching began last week with the opening of the,hot-top plants. Concentration is first on major roads, and then on minor streets. • The Hearing on the Safe Routes to Schools project is scheduled for Parker Middle School on April 14`x' at 7:00 p.m. • Later this month our recycling and rubbish hauler JRM will begin their educational program in the elementary school classrooms. • Final Conservation certificates have been issued for Walkers Brook Drive and for Collins Field. Construction Projects • Construction on a number of projects will begin within a month or so. These include additional road projects for which funding is available, final work on Memorial Park, and re-paving of parts of Belmont Street and California Road following water and sewer work on those streets last year. • There is a letter from Mass Housing in tonight's.handout that denies the application for the Splendid Splinter residences Assistant Town Manager's Report — The Assistant Town Manager noted that the School Department goes before the Finance Committee tomorrow night. Next week will be an overview of benefits, DPW and enterprise. He also noted that the current cultural council survey is in tonight's handout and the Selectmen should find it interesting. Discussion/Action Items Presentation of Donation—Veterans Flower Fund—This was rescheduled to March 29. Update — Economic Development Summit — James Bonazoli noted that many communities are trying to revitalize their downtown. Newburyport is changing their bylaws to mold what it looks like now. He suggests having Michael Hunter from the state come in as a guest speaker. Ben Tafoya noted that most of what the state does will not fit Reading. He noted that Adam Bakke from Lowell did an opportunity study and he. suggests that study be reviewed. He also suggested inviting businesses to Reading and giving them a toolkit with demographics. Board of Selectmen Meeting—March 15, 2011 —page 3 Camille Anthony indicated she would like to have someone from Newburyport come in. She also requested that someone follow up on the abandoned Getty Station—it's an eyesore. Hearing — Rescind Policy on Land Bank Committee and Telecommunications and Technology Advisory Committee —The Secretary read the hearing notice. The Town Manager noted that we have been unable to fill the vacancies on these committees and staff has-taken over the workload. He recommends rescinding the policies. A motion by Schubert seconded by Anthony to close the hearing on rescinding the Land Bank Committee and Telecommunications and Technology Advisory Committee policies was approved by a vote of 5-0-0. A motion by Goldy seconded by Tafoya to rescind the Land Bank Committee and Telecommunications and Technology Advisory. Committee policies and re-number the remaining policies as appropriate was approved by a vote of 5-0-0. Macaroni Grille — New Officer and Change of Manage — The Town Manager noted that the Board needs to approve the new officers and change of manager. A motion by Goldy seconded by Anthony to approve the application from Mac Acquisition of Delaware d/b/a Romano's Macaroni Grill for new officers Norman Abdallah and Craig Rawls-and the Change of Manner to Joshua Henderson,was approved by a vote of 5-0-0. Review Healthy Communities Program — Health Administrator Larry Ramdin gave an update to the Board of the Healthy Communities Program and passed out handouts to the Board. Mr. Ramdin noted that their goal is to promote a healthy lifestyle and lower the risks of chronic illnesses. He noted that Reading has a high stroke rate. Mr. Ramdin reviewed the Healthy Communities section of the website. Camille Anthony requested that handouts be available at the grand opening of the Mattera Cabin. Discussion — Regionalization of Health Services — The Town Manager noted that the Town did not qualify for the study grant, but we are in discussion with other communities. Board of Health member Barbara Meade indicated the Board has concerns about moving forward if we don't have a plan in place. The Town Manager indicated there will be a plan in place by July 1, 2011. The Selectmen formed subcommittees to get feedback from the Boards and Committees affected by the proposed administration cuts in hours: Ben Tafoya and Stephen Goldy w,ith the Board of Health; Richard Schubert and Camille Anthony with the Conservation Commission; James Bonazoli and Stephen Goldy with the Council on Aging. Board of Selectmen Meeting—March 15, 2011 —page 4 Review Options for South Street/Jacob Way Intersection for Pulte Homes — The Town Manager noted that Pulte went before CPDC for site plan review. The issue is.South Street and Jacob Way. The original concept plan made Jacob Way the main roadway and South Street was to form a "T" alignment onto it. Pulte is proposing to make South Street the main roadway and align Jacob Way to form a"T" alignment onto it. Mark Mastroni, Pulte's Traffic Engineer, indicated that the existing conditions are awkward and the angles and sightlines do not work. The proposal will generate less traffic. The proposal is to keep South Street the same and realign Jacob Way to form a "T" alignment. The "T" alignment will be moved 220 feet from Main Street to give improved sight distance. They also propose to create a space for off street parking for neighbors. Camille Anthony noted that the resident at 362 South Street indicated the alignment looked different on two maps. Mr. Mastroni noted that is because map 5 is an overlay. Headlights from cars will go into Calereso's parking lot- they will not touch his driveway. Traffic Engineer Dermot Kelly, Pulte's Traffic Consultant, reviewed the traffic counts. He noted that the counts for the previous project were 210%higher. Alan Cloutier from Fay, Spofford and Thorndike noted that cuing up is very critical. He recommends three lanes on South Street if feasible and a short turn pocket to show no detrimental impact. He noted that three lanes would have a 60 foot cue and without the three lanes it would be a 120 foot cue. Dermot Kelly noted that there is no access line on Main Street inside of South Street so it would need Mass Highway approval. He noted there would be a problem lining up lanes across the street. The Town Manager noted that the Town's layout was a result of rezoning. The biggest complaint from residents was that South Street is straight and fast. The intersection needs to be signalized. There is also the issue of the Board of Realtors access and the Town would need to keep an easement. CPDC Chairman John Weston noted that CPDC is onboard with the plan. Chris Coleman, representing the Eastern Middlesex Board of Realtors noted that the Board is in support of Pulte's plan because it will provide much needed parking for the Eastern Middlesex Board of Realtors. Tom Loughlin, from Oak Street, noted that the green plan (the Town's) was the most expensive. He noted that it doesn't make sense for the Town to own Jacob Way. A resident from 348 South Street asked out of the 3,000 cars in the traffic study, how many will travel down South Street. Dermot Kelly noted there would be 19 cars an hour in the morning and 18 cars an hour in the evening. Board of Selectmen Meeting—March 15, 2011 —page 5 Ryan Hoffman from South Street noted that he has children and has concerns with the volume of traffic. He noted that a sidewalk would be a benefit. John Weston suggested widening Jacob Way to have on-street parking. Mark Mastroni noted that they reduced the width of Jacob Way to add sidewalks and landscaping. James Bonazoli suggested just widening it at the mouth. , Ben Tafoya indicated he would like to see the traffic reports before making a decision. He also wants to give other residents a chance to voice their opinion. He would like a response from Pulte regarding the widening of the mouth of the road. Chairman James Bonazoli directed the.Town Manager to put this on the March 29'h agenda as a public hearing. Decision— Cemetery Garage Next Steps —A motion by Anthony seconded by Goldy that the Board of Selectmen endorse the further exploration of two sites for the location of a neve Cemetery Garage as outlined in the report from the DPW.Engineering Division: 0 Laurel Hill site ® Forest Glen site And that the Town Manager is instructed to include in the Capital Improvement Program funding in FY 2013 for the design development for those two sites, and to utilize whatever other funds and other resources may be available prior to that date for further site evaluation and planning work. The motion was approved by a vote of 5-0-0. Discussion — Carry in/Carry out'of Rubbish in Parks — The Board of Selectmen reviewed the background that DPW staff developed on whether or not carry in/carry out in parks and school grounds is viable. From the information learned to date, it does not appear that any community has completely solved the problem. The Board of Selectmen agreed to seek more information and to try to develop a program — perhaps on a pilot basis - at least at some of the parks.' The Town Manager suggested that a site like Memorial Park might be ideal because it is not reserved for athletic use—it is more of a passive park. Approval of Minutes A motion by Anthony seconded by GoIdy to approve the minutes of February 15,2011 was approved by a vote of 5-0-0. A motion by Tafoya seconded by Goldy to adjourn the meetinjZ at 11:15 p.m.was approved by a vote of 5-0-0._ Respectfully submitted, Secretary