Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout2024-11-04 Select Board Minutes NORTH ANDOVER SELECT BOARD MINUTES NOVEMBER 4, 2024 Call To Order: Chair Brian Roache called the open meeting to order at 7:05PM in the Select Board Room located at 120 Main Street North Andover. Select Board in Attendance: Chair Brian Roache, Janice Phillips, Laura Bates, Clerk Rosemary Smedile and David Kres were present. Non-Board Members in Attendance: Town Manager Melissa Murphy-Rodrigues and Assistant Town Manager Laurie Burzlaff were present. Public Comment Brian Gross of Settlers Ridge Road acknowledged the steps taken by the DPW to cut back vegetation on Bradford Street, and the addition of temporary radar signs highlighting actual speed traveled. Mr. Gross encouraged the Board to exclude heavy vehicles from Bradford Street and urged them to address the speed on this road. NEW BUSINESS MOTION: Ms. Smedile 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 FY2025 tax rate. Ms. Phillips seconded. Motion approved 5-0. 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 FY25 tax rate Chief Assessor Bill Mitchell was present. Mr. Mitchell stated the first step is to determine the property tax levy. Mr. Mitchell stated once that budget was approved, they determined the assessed values of properties in town. Mr. Mitchell stated they then tabulate those into classes of property. Mr. Mitchell stated they then moved on to obtaining the valuation certification from the Department of Revenue, which was completed this year. Mr. Mitchell stated they obtained certification of new growth revenue on that same day. Mr. Mitchell explained the changes in the assessed values due to classification of property. Mr. Mitchell reviewed the percentage of values by class and explained the differences from last year to this year. Mr. Mitchell explained what property tax levy is and how it is made up in the town's budget. Mr. Mitchell explained the levy limit as the maximum amount a community can levy in any given year. Mr. Mitchell reviewed how the town came to the FY25 levy limit. Mr. Mitchell explained the levy ceiling as 2.5% of the full cash value of all taxable property in the town. Mr. Mitchell stated the levy ceiling can only be voted on by the taxpayers of the town. Mr. Mitchell discussed how to bring all of these numbers together to come up with a single tax rate. Mr. Mitchell discussed the levy by class as a single rate and the levy by class with a maximum shift. Mr. Mitchell highlighted where the town has historically been and the historic tax rates and shifts. Mr. Mitchell discussed various tax impacts on residential, commercial, and industrial properties. Mr. Mitchell mentioned that the town has not historically adopted any tax exemptions. Ms. Bates asked what do we expect the Amazon personal property to do. Mr. Mitchell stated they use a straight line depreciation method based on valuations. Mr. Mitchell stated the value will go down but by adding new equipment constantly, it will sustain or even increase that value. Mr. Roache asked, given the current state of commercial real estate, have you seen challenges in commercial over residential. Mr. Mitchell stated yes. Mr. Mitchell stated commercial properties hire their own tax consultants. Mr. Mitchell stated they have seen an uptick in commercial and industrial. Mr. Roache asked if it could cost more in the long run. Mr. Mitchell stated yes. Mr. Mitchell stated it is always a challenge to determine the value every year. NORTH ANDOVER SELECT BOARD MINUTES NOVEMBER 4, 2024 MOTION:Mr. Kres 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 FY2025 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 FY25 tax rate MOTION:Ms. Bates motioned 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 FY2025 tax rates and sets the Residential Factor at 0.9398, with a corresponding C/P shift of 1.3200, pending certification of the Town's annual tax recap by the Massachusetts Department of Revenue. Ms. Phillips seconded. Motion approved 5-0. Out of Order: Bradford Street truck exclusion John Borgesi and Derek Roche were present. Mr. Borgesi and Mr. Roche introduced themselves and gave a background on the increased truck traffic on Bradford Street. Mr. Borgesi stated that a traffic study was conducted to determine if the current traffic volumes on Bradford Street meet the requirements for truck exclusion. Mr. Roche stated there are two criterias that needed to be met along with one requirement within those that needed to be met for truck exclusion. Mr. Roche stated the study showed 14% of the total traffic on Bradford Street being heavy vehicles, which meets the criteria and requirement. Mr. Roche stated that the second criteria and requirement was met for an alternate route that lies wholly within the community submitting the application. Mr. Roche stated the alternative route would be 125 and 133, and that they are not much different in length compared to Bradford Street. Mr. Roche stated they looked at the conditions of the road, whether there were sidewalks and their conditions, and the width of the roadway. Mr. Roche stated the alternative route is significantly wider than Bradford Street, has sidewalks in good condition, and a roadway in good condition. Mr. Roche stated that Bradford Street was not designed with the intention of carrying this amount of heavy vehicle traffic. Mr. Roche stated that 125 and 133 were designed for that. Mr. Roche stated there are areas on Bradford Street that will deteriorate with continued heavy vehicle traffic. Mr. Roche stated there are no sidewalks on Bradford Street, which creates conflicts for bicyclists and pedestrians. Mr. Roche stated the Select Board will have to endorse the heavy commercial vehicle exclusion by issuing a letter to the Massachusetts Department of Transportation. Mr. Roche stated the town will have to acknowledge acceptance of the responsibility for installation and maintenance of appropriate signage and enforcement. Mr. Roche stated the Massachusetts Department of Transportation will then review the request. Mr. Roche stated it may be 3-4 months before having an answer. Ms. Smedile asked if they needed to put a bicycle path on the road. Mr. Roche stated no. Mr. Roache asked the longitudinal crack that Mr. Roche pointed out, is that typically the result of vehicles being too heavy for a roadway. Mr. Roche stated yes that or the rutting or both. Ms. Bates asked why is that, are 125 and 133 paved differently. Mr. Roche stated yes, you would pave them differently with layering underneath and how much asphalt is used. Ms. Bates asked if the speed limit was 30. Ms. Murphy-Rodrigues stated it is a statutory state speed limit. Ms. Murphy-Rodrigues stated a town-wide or street by street speed limit can be adopted, but an evaluation of the speed limits on all of the town streets should be conducted. Ms. Bates asked if we went town wide would that exclude state roads. Ms. Murphy-Rodrigues stated yes, and there are some regulatory speed limits that are set by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation that are outside the statutory speed limit. Ms. Murphy-Rodrigues stated it is certainly something that can be explored and discussed. Ms. Bates stated a 25 town wide limit would be hard. Mr. Roache asked if they knew what vehicles were speeding on Bradford Street. Mr. Roche stated no they are two separate counters. NORTH ANDOVER SELECT BOARD MINUTES NOVEMBER 4, 2024 MOTION:Ms. Bates motioned to petition the state for a truck exclusion on Bradford Street. Ms. Phillips seconded. Motion approved 5-0. Vote on Winter Snow Emergency Ms. Murphy-Rodrigues stated back in 2020 the snow emergency was changed. Ms. Murphy-Rodrigues stated If we see that there is going to be a storm, the Police Chief and DPW director get together to determine whether or not there should be a snow emergency. Ms. Murphy-Rodrigues stated they find it to be a better business friendly way to do this rather than not allowing no parking on the town streets all year long. MOTION:Mr. Kres motioned to approve the Winter Snow Emergency as presented. Ms. Phillips seconded. Motion approved 5-0. Vote on FY26 Budget Policy Statement Ms. Murphy-Rodrigues stated it encompasses all of the budget goals and directives that were established during goal setting. Mr. Roache asked under OPEB number 2, what does that mean. Ms. Murphy-Rodrigues stated when we hire a new employee a portion of their salary is put in OPEB for 6 years. Mr. Roache asked why there is so much year to year. Ms. Murphy-Rodrigues stated it is due to the market. Mr. Roache asked, there is a budget policy statement on the special education fund, should that still be in here. Ms. Murphy-Rodrigues stated no, we will be advising the Board to remove that. Mr. Roache asked is finance not bound by the same restrictions. Ms. Murphy-Rodrigues stated no. MOTION:Ms. Phillips motioned to adopt the FY2026 Budget Policy Statement. Ms. Bates seconded. Motion approved 5-0. Consent Items A. Accept donation in the amount of$1000 from Franklin Sports to the Youth Center B. Accept MassWorks Infrastructure Grant in the amount of$675,000 for streetscape improvements to downtown Andrew Shapiro was present regarding the MassWorks Infrastructure Grant. Mr. Shapiro stated that they are going to carry through the work that was started in 2021. Mr. Shapiro stated that the town became eligible for this grant due to the passing of the MBT communities compliant bylaw. Ms. Bates asked where will this get the town; will we get to permit drawings. Mr. Shapiro stated yes, it will get the town to full action construction drawings. Ms. Bates asked does he think the permit drawing will take two years. Mr. Shapiro stated yes, probably a couple of years. Ms. Phillips asked if this can be updated on the website. Mr. Shapiro stated yes. MOTION:Mr. Kres motioned to accept all consent items. Ms. Phillips seconded. Motion approved 5-0. Approval of Open Session Minutes of October 21, 2024 MOTION:Mr. Kres motioned to approve the Open Session minutes of October 21, 2024, as presented. Ms. Phillips seconded. Motion approved 5-0. Select Board Updates Ms. Smedile mentioned Halloween night. NORTH ANDOVER SELECT BOARD MINUTES NOVEMBER 4, 2024 Ms. Bates thanked NAPD for their presence on Halloween night. Ms. Smedile mentioned that she has a few more wreaths if anyone is interested. Town Manaaer's Report Ms. Murphy-Rodrgues mentioned Election Day at the high school and the advanced processing of early votes done by the Clerk's Office and volunteers. Ms. Murphy-Rodrigues mentioned the Veterans Day Parade. Ms. Murphy-Rodrigues mentioned that leaf collection has started. Ms. Murphy-Rodrigues mentioned COVID shots at the Senior Center. Ms. Murphy-Rodrigues mentioned that at the next meeting she will be there with the finance director to speak about the school deficit. Ms. Murphy-Rodrigues thanked the Fire Department for their efforts with the brush fires. Ms. Murphy-Rodrigues congratulated the Human Resources Department for winning the pumpkin contest. Ms. Murphy-Rodrigues congratulated some members of the Police Department who were recognized at the Massachusetts State Police Association Convention. ADJOURNMENT MOTION:Mr. Kres made a MOTION, seconded by Ms. Bates to adjourn the Select Board meeting at 8:21 PM. Motion approved 5-0. Respectfully submitted, Nicole Civitarese Executive Assistant Rosemary Connelly Smedile, Clerk of the Board Documents used at meeting: FY25 Classification Hearing Presentation Newspaper article FY26 Budget Policy Statement Acceptance Letter Snow Emergency Regulation Donation Memorandum Minutes from 10/21/24 Town Manager Report