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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2025-02-24 Select Board Minutes NORTH ANDOVER SELECT BOARD MINUTES FEBRUARY 24, 2025 Call To Order: Chair Brian Roache called the open meeting to order at 7:OOPM 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 Deputy Town Manager Denise Casey were present. PUBLIC COMMENT None. NEW BUSINESS OUT OF ORDER: Request of the Festival Committee to host the following events: 1. Sheep shearing at the Town Common on May 18, 2025 from 10:OOAM-4:OOPM with closure of Mass Ave from 7:OOAM to 6:OOPM 2. Summer fitness series at the Town Common from 6:OOPM-7:OOPM every Tuesday and Thursday beginning June 24, 2025 and ending August 28, 2025 3. Santa parade on November 29, 2025 starting at noon, using Main, Elm and Water Streets 4. Tree lighting on the Town Common on November 30, 2025 from 4:OOPM-5:30PM with closure of Mass Ave from 4:OOPM to 6:OOPM Ms. Bates asked if they usually put the menorah lighting on this too. Ms. Murphy-Rodrigues stated no, it is not put on until they request it. MOTION: Ms. Phillips motioned to approve all of the events requested of the Festival Committee as presented. Mr. Kres seconded. Motion approved 5-0. Tree Inventory and Management Plan Presentation Andrew Shapiro and Moriah Day from Davey Resource Group were present. Mr. Shapiro stated they are speaking about a tree inventory and management plan because in the Master Plan under the public facilities and services, there is a strategy noted to complete the inventory of shade trees. Mr. Shapiro stated they are receiving $700,000 from Amazon for shade tree planting. Ms. Day stated she and her team undertook the tree inventory and the creation of a management plan for North Andover. Ms. Day discussed the trees themselves. Ms. Day stated this inventory focused on the downtown area and then beyond, primarily on the area west of Route 125. Ms. Day stated in total, they inventoried about 7,000 trees. Ms. Day stated they looked at tree species and genus distribution. Ms. Day stated they found that Maple trees are overabundant in North Andover. Ms. Day discussed the susceptibility of the inventoried trees to pests and diseases of concern in Massachusetts. Ms. Day discussed tree and condition ratings. Ms. Day stated 90% of the trees in North Andover that were inventoried were rated in fair or good condition. Ms. Day discussed the defect observations of the trees. Ms Day stated the most common defects were dead and dying branches, tree architecture, and branch attachment. Ms. Day stated the most common growing spaces in North Andover were open and maintained space and mostly unbounded space. Ms. Day discussed the benefits provided by the most common inventoried trees. Mr. Kres asked what carbon sequestration is. Ms. Day stated it is the amount of carbon taken in and stored annually. Ms. Day discussed what it would look like if they completed the whole canopy of trees (both public and private land) in North Andover. Ms. Day stated about 65% of the NORTH ANDOVER SELECT BOARD MINUTES FEBRUARY 24, 2025 town is covered in tree canopy. Mr. Roache asked if avoided run is the measure of how much the tree drinks every year. Ms. Day stated it is a couple of different things; some of it is water, some of it is the fact that tree roots increase the soil permeability, and some of it has to do with the trees canopies intercepting rainwater. Mr. Kres asked Ms. Day to talk about pollutant absorbing. Ms. Day stated there are a couple of different components happening there. Ms. Day stated in some cases the trees actually absorb some of those pollutants into their leaves. Ms. Day stated mostly though, it is through deposition on the leaf surfaces. Ms. Day discussed tree planting. Ms. Day stated in talking with Amy Maxner, Andrew Shapiro, and John Lavin, they came up with a priority list for tree planting. Ms. Day discussed the priority list. Ms. Bates asked if the schools and playgrounds include the fields. Ms. Day stated yes. Ms. Day discussed the challenge in the downtown area. Mr. Roache asked if the utility wires downtown are considered an obstacle to tree planting. Ms. Day stated not a full obstacle, but they do limit the size of the tree. Mr. Roache asked if your opportunities downtown only count the existing public way. Ms. Day stated yes. Ms. Day stated there is grant funding through the state for tree planting. Ms. Day discussed the management of trees. Ms. Day discussed a theoretical budget table and schedule that looks at all of the recommended maintenance and fits it into a 10 year timeframe. Mr. Roache asked how many trees would this impact. Ms. Day stated 7,000 trees. Ms. Day discussed the takeaways from the tree inventory. Ms. Smedile asked if there was a possibility of replacing the beach tree that was once on the common. Ms. Day stated there is a recommended tree planting list that was part of the management plan. Mr. Shapiro stated their plan going forward is to use this as a blueprint and a model. Mr. Shapiro stated they will be working closely with DPW to ensure they can implement this plan. Ms. Bates asked if there was an electronic version of the database. Mr. Shapiro stated yes. Ms. Bates asked when you are looking at an area do you look historically about what was planted there. Ms. Day stated no, not specifically with this project. Ms. Phillips asked if there was a specific guideline that is recommended for coverage per square mile. Ms. Day stated percent canopy cover is the most common. Ms. Phillips asked at one point, they were telling residents that they could request a tree, is that something they can do or do they have to be in a Columbia gas affected area. Ms. Murphy-Rodrigues stated a lot of that was when they had to take trees down due to the Columbia gas crisis. Ms. Murphy-Rodrigues stated they do still maintain a list of people who would like to have a tree planted. Ms. Murphy-Rodrigues stated the biggest problem they have run into is due to the drought there is not really a huge tree inventory to purchase. Mr. Kres asked in your experience in regard to the inventoried trees categorized as poor, how does that compare to other similar towns. Ms. Day stated overall they were impressed with what good shape trees were in, in North Andover. Ms. Day stated it does vary; on the high end they see more like 15-20%. Continued discussion regarding FY2026 Operating Budget Ms. Murphy-Rodrigues stated the School Committee is voting on a budget on February 25. Ms. Murphy-Rodrigues stated they do not have anything different to present from the meeting they had at the Tri-Board. Ms. Murphy-Rodrigues stated the plan at this point is to get a transmittal from them tomorrow and then bring something forward. Sign warrant for local election MOTION: Mr. Kres motioned to sign the warrant for the local election on March 25, 2025. Ms. Bates seconded. Motion approved 5-0. Request to Commonwealth of Mass to release bonded earmark funds for improvements to Great Pond Road/Route 125 Andrew Shapiro was present. Mr. Shapiro stated it is a request to the Governor to release bonded earmark funds that came through the State's recently passed Economic Development Bond bill. Mr. Shapiro stated NORTH ANDOVER SELECT BOARD MINUTES FEBRUARY 24, 2025 there was$800,000 set aside for Capital Improvements at the intersection of Great Pond Road and Route 125. Mr. Shapiro stated the intersection improvements went through a process where they needed to receive comments from Mass Dot and now they are in a place to advance those designs to 75%. Mr. Shapiro stated they are on trajectory to go out to bid in June and for construction later in the summer to early fall. Mr. Shapiro stated to get those funds released they need to ask for it to be placed in the State's capital improvement program. Mr. Roache asked if this project was a combination of ARPA funds and Mass works grant. Mr. Shapiro stated yes. Ms. Bates asked if this was a normal process that they have to petition to get the funds released. Ms. Murphy-Rodrigues stated they usually do lobby for them, and they do not always bring a letter before the Board, but in this instance because of the amount and importance of the project they thought they should. Ms. Murphy-Rodrigues stated but usually it does require a certain amount of lobbying to get the funds released. Ms. Bates stated even though it was earmarked. Ms. Murphy-Rodrigues stated yes, even though it is earmarked it still has to go through that Capital bonding process. Ms. Smedile asked if they had reached out to Senator Tarr. Mr. Shapiro stated they have not. Mr. Roache asked if there was a chance this money would not be available to them. Ms. Murphy-Rodrigues stated very often they get earmark bills that do not go forward. Mr. Shapiro stated he believes there is a chance due to the State being into it for about$1.2 million. Ms. Bates asked if the drawings are available on Mass Dot. Mr. Shapiro stated he can confer with DPW on what they can share. Mr. Shapiro stated they are just trying to improve the safety of that intersection, make it pedestrian accessible, and they want to create a safer environment for vehicles to get through there. MOTION: Mr. Kres motioned to authorize the Chair to sign the letter to Governor Healey regarding the earmark funds for Great Pond Road and Route 125 as presented. Ms. Smedile seconded. Motion approved 5-0. Appointment of David White to the Conservation Commission Mr. Kres discussed David White's background and his knowledge on the rules and policies needed to serve on the Commission. Mr. Kres stated he highly recommends David White. MOTION: Mr. Kres motioned to appoint David White to the Conservation Commission for a term ending June 30, 2025. Ms. Smedile seconded. Motion approved 5-0. CONSENT ITEMS A. Accept donation in the amount of$15.00 from Karen Kline to be used for a Poet Laureate Committee event B. Accept donations in the amount of$17,015.35 for the Festival Committee C. Accept donation to the library from the Friends of the Stevens Memorial Library in the amount of $1500 to be used for supplies for programs and activities D. Accept donation to the library from the North Andover Women's Club in the amount of$150.00 E. Accept donation to the library from Trustees of Stevens Memorial Library Endowment Fund in the amount of$900 for professional development F. Accept donation to the library from the Trustees of Stevens Memorial Library Endowment Fund in the amount of$423.56 for library staff meeting G. Accept donation to the library from the Richard and Marcy Rosenthal in the amount of$100 MOTION: Ms. Bates motioned to approve all consent items as presented. Mr. Kres seconded. Motion approved 5-0. NORTH ANDOVER SELECT BOARD MINUTES FEBRUARY 24, 2025 Approval of Open Session Minutes of February 2025 & February 2025 MOTION: Ms. Phillips motioned to approve the Open Session minutes of February 10, 2025 as presented. Mr. Kres seconded. Motion approved 5-0. MOTION: Mr. Kres motioned to approve the Open Session minutes of February 13, 2025 as presented. Ms. Bates seconded. Motion approved 5-0. Select Board Updates Ms. Bates mentioned the Kittredge School Committee Meeting and adjustments to the open site plans. Mr. Roache mentioned that Public Comment for Grogan's Field Hut ends tomorrow. Ms. Phillips thanked DPW for their work on the snow. Town Manager's Report Ms. Murphy-Rodrigues mentioned that excise tax did come out in February, and that there is a new mailing address. Ms. Murphy-Rodrigues mentioned the town warrant is open and closes on March 10. Ms. Murphy-Rodrigues mentioned that they continue to update the FAQs about the budget. Ms. Murphy-Rodrigues recognized and congratulated Firefighter Liz Iminiski and Police Officers Furman, Houston, McGettrick, Messina, Sewade, K9 Neo, and Sgt. James, who were awarded the firefighter and police officer of the year awards. Ms. Murphy-Rodrigues thanked DPW as well. ADJOURNMENT MOTION: Mr. Kres made a MOTION, seconded by Ms. Phillips to adjourn the Select Board meeting at 8:05PM. Motion approved 5-0. Respectfully submitted, Nicole Civitarese Executive Assistant Rosemary Connelly Smedile, Clerk of the Board Documents used at meeting Appointment NORTH ANDOVER SELECT BOARD MINUTES FEBRUARY 24, 2025 Letters Election Warrant Donations Minutes from 2/10/25 and 2/13/25 Town Manager Report