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Home My WebLink About2024-11-18 Select Board Minutes NORTH ANDOVER SELECT BOARD MINUTES NOVEMBER 18, 2024 Call To Order: Chair Brian Roache called the open meeting to order at 7:00PM 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, Deputy Town Manager Denise Casey and Assistant Town Manager Laurie Burzlaff were present. Public Comment None. LICENSING MOTION: Ms. Smedile motioned to open a meeting of the North Andover Licensing Commission. Ms. Phillips seconded. Motion approved 5-0. Application from Nadine Levin of Pipe Dream Cupcakes, LLC for a common victualler license at 48 Water Street Nadine Levin was present. Ms. Levin stated Pipe Dream Cupcakes is a cupcake shop that serves coffee, cold brew, tea, water, and hot chocolate. Ms. Levin stated they had a soft opening last week. Ms. Levin stated they are open Wednesday-Saturday. Ms. Phillips and Mr. Roache congratulated Ms. Levin. MOTION: Mr. Roache motioned to approve the application from Nadine Levin of Pipe Dream Cupcakes, LLC for a common victualler license at 48 Water Street. Ms. Phillips seconded. Motion approved 5-0. Application for a special one day wine and malt liquor license from Catherine Keisling of Mapleyard Books, LLC d/b/a The Purple Couch Bookshop for December 11, 2024 from 6:30PM - 8:30PM at 350 Winthrop Avenue Catherine Keisling was present. Ms. Keisling stated they are trying to get folks together for a Holiday sip and shop event. Ms. Keisling stated they will be serving malt wine and winter sangria. Ms. Bates asked if people can buy tickets on their website. Ms. Keisling stated yes. MOTION: Ms. Phillips motioned to approve the request from Catherine Keisling of Mapleyard Books, LLC d/b/a The Purple Couch Bookshop for a one day wine and malt liquor license on December 11, 2024 from 6:30PM-8:30PM at 350 Winthrop Avenue. Mr. Kres seconded. Motion approved 5-0. Application from the 99 Restaurants of Boston, LLC for a change of manager at 267 Chickering Road Joshua Davis was present. Mr. Davis stated he is the new general manager of the 99 Restaurant on 267 Chickering Road. Mr. Davis stated he transferred here from Charleston and has been with the 99 for about 3 years. MOTION: Mr. Roache motioned to approve the application from the 99 Restaurants of Boston, LLC for a change of manager at 267 Chickering Road. Ms. Phillips seconded. Motion approved 5-0. NORTH ANDOVER SELECT BOARD MINUTES NOVEMBER 18, 2024 Application from Cava Mezze Grill, LLC d/b/a Cava for a common victualler license at 93-175 Turnpike Street Brian Roache recused himself and left the room. Katie Russell and Fabian Rojas were present. Ms. Russell stated she is an area leader at Boston North. Ms. Russell stated Cava is a Mediterranean bowl concept. Ms. Russell stated they are almost ready to have guests stay and eat inside. Ms. Russell stated they are open for take away meals. Ms. Bates asked how many locations they had in Massachusetts. Ms. Russell stated they have thirteen locations in Massachusetts. MOTION: Ms. Phillips motioned to approve the application from Cava Mezze Grill, LLC d/b/a Cava for a common victualler license at 93-175 Turnpike Street. Mr. Kres seconded. Motion approved 4-0, 1 recused. MOTION: Ms. Smedile motioned to close the meeting of the North Andover Licensing Commission. Mr. Kres seconded. Motion approved 4-0. Brian Roache returned to the meeting. NEW BUSINESS Appoint Nicole Civitarese, Executive Assistant to the Town Manager, as parking clerk Ms. Murphy-Rodrigues explained the role of the parking clerk. MOTION: Ms. Phillips motioned to appoint Nicole Civitarese as parking clerk. Ms. Bates seconded. Motion approved 5-0. Review Select Board meeting schedule for January-June 2025 Mr. Roache stated Town Meeting has been scheduled. Ms. Bates stated she may have a conflict with the February 10, 2025 meeting. Ms. Bates asked when the Triboard meeting will be. Ms. Burzlaff stated December 16, 2024, and they are hoping for a 6:00PM start. Request of Festival Committee to place a menorah on the Town Common from December 23, 2025 through January 2, 2025 and to use the Common on January 1, 2025 at 4:00PM for the official lighting celebration Jeff Coco was present. Mr. Coco explained the request. Mr. Coco stated Hanukkah starts on December 25, 2024 and runs through January 1, 2025. Mr. Coco stated the lighting celebration of Hanukkah will take place on the Common on New Years Day. MOTION: Ms. Phillips motioned to approve the request of the Festival Committee to place a menorah on the Town Common from December 23, 2024 through January 2, 2025 and to use the Common on January 1, 2025 at 4:00PM for the official lighting celebration. Ms. Smedile seconded. Motion approved 5-0. Discussion regarding school budget deficit Superintendent Pamela Lathrop and Finance Director Dennis Keohane were present. Ms. Murphy-Rodrigues stated they have been working collaboratively to get a handle on what the deficit will look like. Ms. Murphy- NORTH ANDOVER SELECT BOARD MINUTES NOVEMBER 18, 2024 Rodrigues explained the FY25 General Fund Budget Projection spreadsheet. Ms. Murphy-Rodrigues stated they are confident in the projected salary number for the remainder of the year. Ms. Murphy-Rodrigues stated they are not as confident in the projected expenses number. Ms. Murphy-Rodrigues stated there are potential funding sources to help with the deficit. Ms. Murphy-Rodrigues stated the ARPA funding would be $750,000. Ms. Murphy-Rodrigues stated they are going to recommend to the Finance Committee a $1 million transfer from the reserve fund. Ms. Lathrop stated it has been a very collaborative approach working with the Town Manager and the Finance Director. Ms. Phillips asked what happens next. Ms. Lathrop stated getting a handle on expenses. Ms. Lathrop stated they will need to make challenging decisions for FY26. Ms. Bates asked if they think they have a handle on the salary deficit. Ms. Lathrop stated they do think they have a handle on the salary deficit. Ms. Lathrop stated what they did not have as part of the budget were stipends. Ms. Lathrop stated another challenge they faced was when staff moved lanes; there is no reporting system in place. Ms. Lathrop stated while there are only certain times a year they can do that, there are no mechanisms in place for them to know who may be moving. Mr. Roache asked if substitutes fall into the current salary deficit. Ms. Lathrop stated it can fall under the salary deficit, but one of the areas that can be challenging is when there is a leave of absence. Mr. Keohane stated there is an estimate in there for substitutes going forward. Mr. Roache asked regarding the ARPA fund, no projects are being canceled or stopped. Ms. Murphy-Rodrigues stated they are reducing the business project grants. Ms. Lathrop stated they have implemented a soft freeze and are only making purchases on essential items. Ms. Lathrop stated they are looking at positions, that are not as student forward, they can hold off on filling to save funds. Ms. Bates asked when do they anticipate being able to say they can make up the deficit. Ms. Lathrop stated it will be a part of the budget process. Ms. Lathrop stated the challenging piece is working without a Finance Director, but they are working on that. Ms. Lathrop stated the other leaders in the district are also looking at ways to consolidate. Vote to use remaining ARPA funds to cover school deficit MOTION: Ms. Phillips motioned to approve the use of the remaining ARPA funds of $750,000 to cover the current year school deficit. Ms. Bates seconded. Motion approved 5-0. Discussion regarding Accessory Dwelling Unit law Assistant Director of Community and Economic Development Jean Enright and Planning Board Chair Eitan Goldberg were present. Ms. Enright reviewed the Accessory Dwelling Unit law. Ms. Enright discussed ADU Legislation definitions in Section 7. Ms. Enright reviewed Section 8 of the ADU Legislation. Ms. Enright stated Section 8 is not in effect yet and will become effective in February of 2025. Mr. Roache asked how does this impact non single-family districts. Mr. Goldberg stated districts are not broken up by single-family and non single-family. Mr. Goldberg stated the way they are designing the bylaw, it will only really apply to lots with single-family residence. Mr. Goldberg stated the law is very vague and unclear, but they have reached out to the state for guidance. Ms. Enright discussed reasonable regulations. Ms. Enright stated the Planning Board will notice a bylaw amendment public hearing on January 21, 2025 with a public hearing opening date of February 4, 2025. Ms. Enright stated any building permit pulled ahead of Town Meeting will be subject to the ADU bylaw assuming the bylaw is passed at Town Meeting. Ms. Enright discussed the existing family suite bylaw. Mr. Goldberg stated there was a push to keep it. Ms Enright addressed discussion items and stated they are looking for input from the Select Board on whether the Town should allow for both ADUs and Family Suites. Mr. Goldberg discussed the concerns of the Planning Board. Mr. Goldberg stated the Building Inspector has not been able to inspect existing family suites annually. Mr. Goldberg stated the additional square footage benefits homeowners with larger homes. Mr. Goldberg stated there are concerns that legally permitted family suites to eventually turn into larger ADUs and thus are more expensive to rent. Mr. Goldberg stated the preference is to discontinue the Family Suite bylaw. Mr. Roache NORTH ANDOVER SELECT BOARD MINUTES NOVEMBER 18, 2024 asked if they were aware of any case law that constitutes reasonable regulations with regard to Dover. Mr. Goldberg stated yes with regard to Dover. Ms. Enright stated she anticipates a lot of waiver provisions. Ms. Phillips asked if someone could do both an ADU and a Family Suite. Mr. Goldberg stated our bylaw says no, you can only do one or the other. Ms. Murphy-Rodrigues asked what the sentiment of the Planning Board was regarding the Family Suite. Mr. Goldberg stated the Planning Board started a discussion, and it seemed the general consensus was that it was no longer needed, but they did not take a vote. Mr. Goldberg stated the metrics are what swayed people. Mr. Roache asked could we create a provision that grandfathers in any currently permitted Family Suite and convert it to an ADU. Mr. Goldberg stated yes, if it is under 900 square feet, but if it is more it could not be. Mr. Roache stated he does not see a very strong case to keeping the Family Suite bylaw. Ms. Bates asked what happens to a house that has a family suite but we no longer have a Family Suite bylaw. Mr. Goldberg stated the only difference would be it could not be repurposed as a family suite; it could be repurposed as an ADU if it meets the bylaw. Mr. Goldberg stated they did discuss whether there were outside funding opportunities. Approval of Open Session Minutes of November 4, 2024 MOTION: Ms. Bates motioned to approve the open session minutes of November 4, 2024 as presented. Ms. Phillips seconded. Motion approved 5-0. Select Board Updates Mr. Roache thanked everyone for attending the Veteran’s Day Services and the Patriotic Observance Committee. Ms. Phillips thanked the North Andover Firefighters. Ms. Phillips mentioned a CPAC night at Stachey’s. Ms. Phillips mentioned the Gingerbread Walk that will be held at the Stevens Estate. Ms. Bates mentioned the Wreaths Across America. Ms. Smedile mentioned that there are still a few spots left for the Christmas Wreaths. Mr. Kres mentioned the Historical Society working with an 8th grade Civics class. Town Manager’s Report Ms. Murphy-Rodrigues mentioned the Kittredge School Building Forum on December 4, 2024. Ms. Murphy- Rodrigues mentioned the Santa Parade and the Tree Lighting. Ms. Murphy-Rodrigues mentioned the Cram- A-Cruiser with the NAPD. Ms. Murphy-Rodrigues mentioned the Toys for Tots collection through the NAFD. Ms. Murphy-Rodrigues mentioned 900 residents received a notice of lead pipes. Ms. Murphy-Rodrigues reminded the residents of the fire ban. Ms. Murphy-Rodrigues thanked the Fire Department for their hard work. ADJOURNMENT MOTION: Mr. Kres made a MOTION, seconded by Ms. Smedile to adjourn the Select Board meeting at 8:43PM. Motion approved 5-0. NORTH ANDOVER SELECT BOARD MINUTES NOVEMBER 18, 2024 Respectfully submitted, Nicole Civitarese Executive Assistant __________________________________ Rosemary Connelly Smedile, Clerk of the Board Documents used at meeting License Applications Meeting Schedule Letter of Request Minutes from 10/4/24 Town Manager Report