MANCHESTER-BY-THE-SEA

Transcription

1 MANCHESTER-BY-THE-SEA BOARD OF SELECTMEN TOWN HALL Manchester-by-the-Sea, Massachusetts Telephone (978) FAX (978) MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF SELECTMEN September 4, :30 p.m. Town Hall, Room 5 MEMBERS PRESENT: Chairman Beckmann, Vice Chair Steinert, Ms. Driscoll, Mr. Boling and Ms. Jaques MEMBERS ABSENT: STAFF PRESENT: Mr. Federspiel, Town Administrator, Sonja Nathan, Executive Assistant and Mr. Wilson, Town Moderator GUESTS: Carley Cook, Robert Coppola, Rosemary Costello, Matthew MacDonald, Johanna Keefe, Matthew MacDonald, Nicky McHugh, Jessica McGovern, Karen Spencer, PRESS: At 6:36 p.m., Chairman Beckmann called the meeting to order. Chairman Beckmann indicated Ms. Nathan was recording the meeting. 1. Manchester Bath & Tennis Club Update of Board of Directors Approval requested by Manchester Bath & Tennis Club for the change in beneficial interest for the club. Ms. Driscoll moved to approve the list of Board of Directors/change in beneficial interest for the Manchester Bath and Tennis Club. Mr. Boling seconded the motion. The motion passed 4-0. Ms. Jaques excused herself as she is a member of the Manchester Bath & Tennis Club. 2. Filias Apartments Discuss Water Billing Procedures Property owner Paula Filias is asking for special consideration for how the three apartments on Desmond Ave. are billed for water consumption. Each apartment building only has one master meter, not meters for the individual apartments. With just the one meter, the water bill is calculated on the total usage for all the apartments in the building lumped together which kicks the bill into the higher tier and thus they pay a higher bill than if there were meters for each apartment. Filias requests that the town take the master meter amount and divide it by the number of apartments in each building and then apply the applicable lower tier water rate. The town s preference is one meter one bill. The options are keep the billing approach as is,, switch over to the requested new billing but give property owner time to install new meters or formally designate some of the apartments as affordable in exchange for the requested lower billing approach. Board of Selectmen minutes Page 1

2 Mr. Steinert pointed out the town needs to be mindful of business owners in town. He likes the intent of achieving policy clarity but at same time there is a need to keep perspective of loyal business owners. Chairman Beckmann stated the Board of Selectmen want to support DPW s position but also want to collaborate with business owners. The Board asked that the Town Administrator discuss the options in more detail with the owner. 3. Review Board of Health Recommendation RE: Water Fluoridation This is a follow up from an earlier meeting when several citizens came before the Board to encourage the town to stop adding fluoride to the drinking water. The Board at that time requested a recommendation from the Board of Health. The Board of Health recommends that the town continue to add fluoride to the water supply. In addition, the Board of Health recommended leaving the decision to the voters as the decision to add fluoride was made by the voters in the first place Jessica McGovern, 115 Beach Street, expressed concern about the toxicity in fluoride and, because a vote at Town Meeting is non-binding, urged the Board to take a position on the issue. The Board reviewed the recommendations from the Board of Health regarding fluoridation of town drinking water. It was the sense of the Board that before any change is made this issue should be brought before Town Meeting for a vote. The concerned citizens are free to submit a petition article in order to put the issue before the voters. 4. Downtown Improvement Committee Candidate Interviews BOS interviewed 2 candidates for the open position on the Downtown Improvement Committee. The candidates were Carley Cook and Melissa Flinn. Each candidate was asked to introduce themselves, provide background information and explain what motivated them in becoming involved. Ms. Cook started attending meetings as a way to gather information regarding the Roundabout discussion. It inspired her to get more involved in issues that affected her firsthand. Ms. Flinn also expressed an interest in getting involved. However, her interest wasn t limited to the Downtown Improvement Committee and conceded the position to Ms. Cook. Ms. Flinn will stay in touch with Sonja to research other available options. 5. Zoning Board of Appeals Candidate Interview BOS interviewed Matthew MacDonald for the open alternate position on the Zoning Board of Appeals. Board of Selectmen minutes Page 2

3 Mr. MacDonald moved to town a year ago and felt it was the right time to get involved. MacDonald, a corporate lawyer who works for a small real estate business, was inspired by his dad who was on the planning board in his hometown. Open Space & Recreation Committee Candidate Interview BOS interviewed Nicky McHugh for the vacant Open Space & Recreation Committee position. Ms. McHugh has lived in town for a little over a year and has a desire to get involved. Her focus is on improving access to public spaces, educating the public on what resources are available and how best to utilize them. Parks & Recreation Committee Joe Demeo was unable to attend the meeting due to a scheduling conflict. Since he has been active on other town committees, known by the Board and the only applicant for the position it was deemed unnecessary for him to go through the interview process. 6. Historic District Commission Candidate Interviews BOS interviewed 2 candidates for the 2 open positions on the Historic District Commission. The candidates were Rosemary Costello and Robert Coppola. Ms. Costello has a background in Historic Preservation and is looking forward to an opportunity to get more involved. She s most excited about plaques commemorating historic events in the town and has observed that signs are important in Manchester. Mr. Coppola, majored in architecture, and has experience restoring historic homes and buildings. He presently is Professor Emeritus at Mass Art. Ms. Driscoll made a motion to appoint Carley Cook to the Downtown Improvement Committee for a one year term; Nicky McHugh to the Open Space & Recreation Committee for a three year term through 2021; Joe Demeo to the Parks & Recreation Committee for a three year term through 2021; Matthew MacDonald(Alternate) to the Zoning Board of Appeals through 2020; Robert Coppola(Architect) to the Historic District Commission s unexpired term through 2019 and Rosemary Costello (resident) to the Historic District Commission for a three year term through Ms. Jaques seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. 7. Special Town Meeting Articles; Discuss Use of Electronic Voting Devices Possible articles include the following: School building project. A proposal to lower the membership of the FinCom from 9 to 7 members. A request by the ConCom to place three town owned parcels under their jurisdiction. This was originally deferred last spring pending a review of the attributes of the parcels. The Town Administrator will complete an inventory of Board of Selectmen minutes Page 3

4 all properties by the next BOS meeting to determine if this issue will be ready to be considered at the October Town Meeting. Adele Ervin proclamation and Announcement of Selectmen s Award Town Bylaw tweaks requested by the Town Clerk a. Make winter parking ban violation a ticket-able offense vs. criminal offense. b. Similarly make dog license violations a ticket-able offense vs. criminal c. Require that minutes of all town boards and committees be filed with The Town Clerk as a central repository for all official town information. Electronic voting has been used for 2 ½ years. It s not inexpensive (about $15,000) but the use of clickers facilitates quick turnaround by staff for a motion to reconsider, calculating 2/3 rd votes and secret ballots. Moderator Wilson recommended moving forward with electronic voting at Town Meeting as voters have twice supported to fund the use of the clickers. Ms. Driscoll stated that voters tend to like the process and expressed the critical consideration is the time it takes to do a secret ballot. There is also the idea of introducing the voters to an app based voting process developed by the firm Voatz. It is less expensive than using clickers, and with lots of outreach, could be utilized at the April Town Meeting. The BOS consensus was to support electronic voting for next month s Town Meeting and the following articles: school building project, reducing the size of the FinCom, and town Bylaw changes proposed by the Town Clerk. The timing of placing the three town owned parcels under ConCom s jurisdiction and the Adele Ervin proclamation/announcement of Selectmen s Award will be determined at the next BOS meeting on September Consent Agenda BOS Minutes July 16, 2018 and August 8, 2018 Approve Longevity Bench proposed by the Winthrop Field Committee Approve Fall Election Schedule Flyer for 2 nd Quarter Tax Bill insert Mr. Boling made a motion to approve the Consent Agenda with Mr. Steinart s concerns of any future structures placed on town fields passed along to the Winthrop Field Committee. Mr. Steinart abstained from approving the minutes of August 8, Ms. Driscoll seconded the motion. Consent motion passed unanimously. 9. Correspondence XFINITY Discontinuance of BeIN Sports Programming Resident Letter Request for Food Trucks on Halloween DEP Letter Awarding of Dividends From Sustainable Materials Recovery Program The Selectmen agreed to have the request for food trucks at Halloween as an agenda item for their next meeting. There was no additional discussion on Correspondence. Board of Selectmen minutes Page 4

5 10. Town Administrator s Report DPW Lincoln Street project came out well and at a reasonable cost of $200,000. Over 6 was gained in clearance for the pedestrian bridge. Next up is the new drainage from Burnham Lane down School Street to the brook. Nate Desrosiers, PE, is the new Project and Facilities Manager replacing Shawn McClean. His first day was September 4. Forest Lane received new signs. STAFF LUNCH is scheduled for September 12 at the Chowder House. Guest Speaker is Carol Ann Small, a motivational humorist. BOS is welcome to attend. KAYAK RACKS New Racks are in at Tuck s Point. A couple more are also planned for Ocean Street. They were originally placed on the western edge of White Beach. Three neighbors complained. A better location would be closer to Black Beach near the break in the seawall. This is still under discussion. FOREST STREET KENNEL Henry Cook is concerned the town lacks solid parameters for the size and operations of dog kennels. He feels his neighbor operates a well-run facility, but at the same time, it s not right that there is no limitation on the size of a kennel or at least a nexus between how much land a property owner has and the size of the kennel they are operating. Cook was advised to reach out to the dog officer and the animal control board for their input on a new kennel bylaw before appearing before BOS. TOWN ACCOUNTANT ANDREA MAINVILLE ON MATERNITY LEAVE She will be out for four months but working intermittently during that time. Her assistant Linda Ellis, will be handling the office work. A big portion of Linda s time will be freed up by Kay in DPW handling DPW Accounts Payable. FINCOM MEETING SEPTEMBER 5 Focus of the joint session is to vote on the proposed school proposal and recommended funding strategy. 11. Other Matters, not reasonably anticipated by the Chair (Discussion Only). There were no additional matters brought before the Board. Mr. Boling move to adjourn. Ms. Jaques seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. List of meeting docments: 1. Manchester Bath & Tennis Club s Amendment Application For a Change of Beneficial Interest 2. Letter from Paula Polo-Filias re: Water Meter Charges 3. Manchester Board of Health Fluoride Recommendation 4. Prospective Town Committee Volunteer Applications/Resumes Submitted by: Sonja Nathan, Executive Assistant Approved: September 17, 2018 Board of Selectmen minutes Page 5