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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2021-11-08 Board of Selectmen Minutes SELECT BOARD MINUTES NOVEMBER 8, 2021 Call To Order: Chairperson Laura Bates called the meeting to order at 7:02 PM in the Town Hall Select Board Meeting Room. The open session meeting was recorded. Attendance: Chair Laura Bates, Janice Phillips, Clerk Rosemary Smedile, Richard Vaillancourt, Chris Nobile, Town Manager Melissa Murphy Rodrigues and Deputy Town Manger Denise Casey were present. Public Comment Jennifer Goldman of 28 Jarrod Place stated looking forward to seeing the detailed school improvement plan in 2022. PUBLIC HEARING-TAX CLASSIFICATION MOTION: Mr. Vaillancourt motioned to open a public hearing in accordance with General Laws Ch. 40 Sec. 56, as amended, to determine the percentage of local tax levy which will be borne by each class of real and personal property, relative to setting the FY2022 tax rate. Ms. Phillips seconded. Motion approved 5-0. Town Assessor Bill Mitchell was present at the meeting and gave a presentation on the FY2022 tax classification. Mr. Vaillancourt asked Mr. Mitchell to speak about exemptions. Mr. Mitchell went over the following exemptions: 1) Residential exemptions- shifts burden to higher value properties 2) Small commercial exemptions- gives a break to small commercial properties that have less than 10 employees and has to be valued less than $1 million. The owner gets the exemption, not the tenant at the location. 3) Open space exemption- North Andover does not have any classified open space Mr. Vaillancourt asked if this needs to be adopted at Town Meeting. Mr. Mitchell stated no, it can be adopted at the meeting this evening. Ms. Smedile asked about the CPA exemption. Mr. Mitchell stated each year this exemption needs to be applied for in person by the resident. Ms. Smedile asked about the assessed value, if it reflects the current year. Mr. Mitchell st stated it is from the prior year. Ms. Smedile stated February 1 is the final date for making any corrections to assessed values. Mr. Vaillancourt asked about what drove the industrial valuations up. Mr. Mitchell stated there is not a lot of industrial properties in North Andover and the ones that are current have gone through a lot of renovations like splitting lots and additions were put on the current buildings. Mr. Nobile asked Mr. Mitchell about the new growth. Mr. Mitchell explained the upcoming growth of Amazon and their personal property additions as well as new apartment buildings being added. Mr. Nobile asked how much longer for the High School debt. Ms. Savage stated 2025. Mr. Nobile mentioned the tax burden on the residential class and the importance of commercial and industrial properties being added to relieve some burden from the residential taxpayer. Ms. Smedile asked about the residential and commercial percentages. Ms. Rodrigues stated it is more difficult to determine due to the TIFF. Mr. Mitchell explained Amazon’s tax agreement. Ms. Rodrigues st explained that in the 1 year of the TIFF $900,000 more was received than from the Lucent property. Mr. Vaillancourt asked about what the residential properties went up. Mr. Mitchell stated 8.8% and the numbers are now almost a year old. Ms. Phillips asked if there are any surprises on excise taxes or on any other taxes. Ms. Rodrigues stated no, does not see anything alarming at this point. No public comments. MOTION: Mr. Vaillancourt motioned to close the public hearing to determine the percentage of local tax levy which will be borne by each class of real and personal property, relative to setting the FY2022 tax rate. Ms. Smedile seconded. Motion approved 5-0. Vote on percentage of local tax levy which will be borne by each class of real and personal property relative to setting the FY 22 tax rate (out of order) MOTION: Mr. Vaillancourt motioned to adopt a residential factor of .9536, 1.32 shift, for the purpose of classifying the FY2022 North Andover property tax rates. Ms. Smedile seconded. Motion approved 5-0. 1 SELECT BOARD MINUTES NOVEMBER 8, 2021 PUBLIC HEARING-Application for storage of flammable and combustible liquids, solids, and gases- 1980 Turnpike Street MOTION: Mr. Nobile motioned to open the public hearing pursuant to Chapter 148 Section 13, for the application for storage of flammable and combustible liquids, solids, and gases- 1980 Turnpike Street. Ms. Phillips seconded. Motion approved 5-0. Public comment: Sai Pulikunta of 30 Compass Point spoke about the concerns of having the gas tank near the apartment buildings and asked if are there any other options to put the tanks underground and what precautions are taken. Ms. Rodrigues stated they are existing tanks that have been in place for many years and this will bring the tanks into compliance. Chris Castro, building owner, was present at the meeting. Ms. Bates asked if the tanks are inspected yearly. Mr. Castro stated that Eastern Propane does inspect them yearly. MOTION: Ms. Phillips motioned to close the public hearing pursuant to Chapter 148 Section 13, for the application for storage of flammable and combustible liquids, solids, and gases- 1980 Turnpike Street. Ms. Smedile seconded. Motion approved 5-0. Vote on Application for storage of flammable and combustible liquids, solids, and gases- 1980 Turnpike Street MOTION: Mr. Nobile motioned to approve the application for storage of flammable and combustible liquids, solids and gases-1980 Turnpike Street. Ms. Smedile seconded. Motion approved 5-0. JOINT MEETING WITH SCHOOL COMMITTEE Dr. Gilligan, Dr. Mealey, Chair Andrew McDevitt, Amy Mabley, Pamela Pietrowski, Holly Vietzke-Lynch and Helen Pickard (remote) were present. Mr. McDevitt went over future school objectives. Dr. Gilligan and Dr. Mealey gave a presentation of the Facilities Master Plan II. Mr. Nobile asked how to look at ways to facilitate this as quickly as possible. Dr. Mealey stated that the focus will be on the timeline and funding plan leading up to Town Meeting. Ms. Rodrigues stated doing projects quickly will be more impactful for the tax payer. Ms. Smedile asked how long the process is for a project to be completed. Ms. Rodrigues stated approximately 3.5 years. Mr. Mealey added that it is about 5 years going through MSBA. Ms. Phillips asked if the teachers and administrators were included on the subcommittee. Dr. Mealey stated that they wanted a representative from each school on the subcommittee and it was put out to all staff but did not get volunteers from staff, but staff has attended the public forums. Ms. Phillips asked for Dr. Mealey to speak about who is doing the design phase of the project. Dr. Mealey stated purchasing law dictates how you end up with a design firm. Dr. Mealey stated it is put out to bid and determined by qualifications. Ms. Rodrigues stated there will be a project manager as well since this is a large project. Ms. Phillips asked what “renovate” is. Dr. Mealey stated it is gutting the existing buildings and putting new systems in place. Mr. Vaillancourt mentioned the importance of a website as transparency and informational. Ms. Philips asked if the square foot recommendation is based on school size. Dr. Mealey stated different rooms are based on class size while the cafeteria is based on school size. Ms. Bates asked if the MSBA has a recommended class size. Dr. Mealey stated there is a range between 20-24 students and the square footage should be based on that size. Public Comment: Chris Allen of 3 Belmont Street, Vice-Chair of the Finance Committee. Ms. Allen stated the Finance Committee would most likely like to have an analysis of the staffing population analysis from the school side. Ms. Rodrigues stated it will all be released as a part of the financing plan. Mr. Nobile suggested an easier way to find information on Facilities Master Plan II. Public Comment: Don Stewart of 52 Prospect St mentioned jump starting the project by looking into the Foster Farm School property. Government Reports were tabled until next meeting LICENSING (out of order) MOTION: Ms. Smedile motioned to open a meeting of the North Andover Licensing Commission. Mr. Nobile seconded. . Motion approved 5-0. 2 SELECT BOARD MINUTES NOVEMBER 8, 2021 Application for change of manager and change of officers from Sunj, In. d/b/a Town Mart at 260 Winthrop Avenue Attorney Jill Mann and Mukesh Patel were present at the meeting. MOTION: Ms. Bates motioned to approve the application for change of manager and change of officers from Sunj, In. d/b/a Town Mart at 260 Winthrop Avenue. Ms. Phillips seconded. Roll call vote: Nobile- yes; Smedile- yes; Phillips- yes; Vaillancourt- yes; Bates- yes. Motion approved 5-0. MOTION: Mr. Vaillancourt motioned to close a meeting of the North Andover Licensing Commission. Ms. Phillips seconded. Motion approved 5-0. Request of Cambridge Sports Union to use Milk, Johnson, Rea and Chestnut Streets on November 14, 2021 from 9- 10AM (out of order) Eli Gallaudet from Andover, representative of Cambridge Sports Union, was present at the meeting requesting the use of the named streets for a roller ski race. Mr. Vaillancourt asked how many participants. Mr. Gallaudet stated 20-30 participants. MOTION: Ms. Smedile motioned approve the request of Cambridge Sports Union to use Milk, Johnson, Rea and Chestnut Streets on November 14, 2021 from 9:00AM to 10:00AM. Ms. Phillips seconded. Motion approved 5-0. Request of the Festival Committee and North Andover Police Association for permission to use Main, Elm, Water and Sutton Streets on Saturday, November 27, 2021 for the Annual Santa Parade MOTION: Ms. Smedile motioned to approve the request of the Festival Committee and North Andover Police Association for permission to use Main, Elm, Water and Sutton Streets on Saturday, November 27, 2021 for the Annual Santa Parade. Ms. Phillips seconded. Motion approved 5-0. Vote to surrender liquor license for The Stevens Estate Ms. Rodrigues explained the surrender of liquor license at the Steven Estate due to change of management from Town to Fireside Catering. MOTION: Mr. Nobile motioned to surrender the liquor license for The Stevens Estate. Ms. Phillips seconded. Motion approved 5-0. Vote to accept sewer pump station easement agreement-1600 Osgood Street MOTION: Mr. Nobile motioned to accept and sign the sewer pump station easement agreement for 1600 Osgood Street. Ms. Phillips seconded. Motion approved 5-0. Vote to release legal opinion regarding authority of Council on Aging (out of order) MOTION: Mr. Vaillancourt motioned to release the legal opinion regarding the authority of the Council on Aging. Ms. Phillips seconded. Motion approved 5-0. CONSENT ITEMS A. Surplus vehicles-Police Department B. Surplus stretcher and donate to Lawrence General Hospital 3 SELECT BOARD MINUTES NOVEMBER 8, 2021 C. Accept donations to the library: Mary Walmsley $100 Patricia Williams $100 Anne Louise Ericson $50.00 Susan Cartmell $50 MOTION: Mr. Nobile motioned to move that the Select Board approve and accept all consent items. Ms. Phillips seconded. Motion approved 5-0. APPROVAL OF OPEN SESSION MINUTES OF OCTOBER 25, 2021 MOTION: Ms. Smedile motioned to approve the Open Session minutes of October 25, 2021. Mr. Vaillancourt seconded. Motion approved 5-0. TOWN MANAGER’S REPORT Ms. Rodrigues gave the following report: - Veterans Day Parade SELECT BOARD COMMENTS - Ms. Bates mentioned the Senior Center groundbreaking ceremony - Ms. Bates mentions schools are hosting COVID vaccines for families on Saturday 11/13 - Ms. Phillips mentioned the NAMS Dance Challenge ADJOURNMENT MOTION: Ms. Smedile made a MOTION, seconded by Ms. Phillips to adjourn the meeting at 9:41PM. Motion approved 5- 0. Respectfully submitted, Jillian A. Brothers Executive Assistant _______________________________________ Rosemary Connelly Smedile, Clerk of the Board Documents used at meeting: School Committee presentation Application Memorandum Legal opinion Letter Donation Minutes 4