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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2025-12-15 Select Board Minutes NORTH ANDOVER SELECT BOARD MINUTES DECEMBER 15, 2025 Executive Session: Chair Janice Phillips stated the Board will enter Executive Session pursuant to Massachusetts General Laws chapter 30A, Sec. 21(a)(3)to discuss strategy with respect to collective bargaining. MOTION: Mr. Kres made a motion, seconded by Mr. Roache to enter into Executive Session at 6:30PM. Motion approved 4-0 by roll call vote. The Select Board moved to the Senior Center to enter into regular session. Call To Order: Chair Janice Phillips called the open meeting to order at 7:OOPM in the North Andover Senior Center located at 481 Sutton Street North Andover. Select Board in Attendance: Chair Janice Phillips, Rosemary Connelly Smedile, Clerk Brian Roache, Laura Bates, and David Kres were present Non-Board Members in Attendance: Town Manager Melissa Murphy-Rodrigues, Assistant Town Manager Laurie Burzlaff, and Assistant Town Manager Andrew Shapiro were present TRI-BOARD MEETING between Select Board, Finance Committee and School Committee FY27-FY31 Capital Improvement Plan Ms. Murphy-Rodrigues presented the FY27-FY31 Capital Improvement Plan. Ms. Murphy-Rodrigues stated they will focus on the FY27 plans. Ms. Murphy-Rodrigues explained what the Capital Improvement Plan is. Ms. Murphy-Rodrigues stated what they are looking at tonight is both the CIP as well as the capital budget and what the spending plan will be subject to Town Meeting approval. Ms. Murphy-Rodrigues provided an overview of the FY27 Capital Program. Ms. Murphy-Rodrigues stated for FY27, they have over$103 million worth of projects with 42 total projects. Ms. Murphy-Rodrigues discussed the FY27 funding plan. Ms. Murphy-Rodrigues discussed the FY27 infrastructure projects. Ms. Murphy-Rodrigues discussed the FY27 Chapter 90 requests. Ms. Murphy-Rodrigues stated the $850,000 for Chapter 90 has been static for over 10 years, but the costs have increased exponentially post COVID meaning they are able to do less work than they were previously able to do. Ms. Murphy-Rodrigues discussed the plan for the money being used towards the maintenance of fields. Ms. Murphy-Rodrigues discussed the FY27 building projects. Ms. Murphy-Rodrigues discussed how the old Senior Center space will be utilized. Ms. Murphy-Rodrigues discussed using the Kittredge Gymnasium as a cold storage facility. Ms. Murphy-Rodrigues discussed the preliminary plans for Kittredge. Ms. Murphy-Rodrigues discussed the Fire Station project. Ms. Murphy-Rodrigues presented an overview of what a fire station 3 would look like. Ms. Murphy-Rodrigues explained the renovations project to fire station 2. Ms. Murphy-Rodrigues discussed the FY27 equipment projects. Ms. Murphy-Rodrigues stated the schools have a $200,000 request for high quality instructional materials. Ms. Murphy-Rodrigues stated they have decided that they will be giving the schools that to put into their budget permanently for curriculum materials. Ms. Murphy-Rodrigues discussed the new fueling station project at the DPW. Ms. Murphy-Rodrigues stated they received a lot of other requests for vehicles, and they were able to take some vehicles that the police were no longer using and pass those down to some of the other departments. Ms. Murphy-Rodrigues discussed the FY27 water and sewer projects. Ms. Murphy-Rodrigues discussed the five-year plan. Ms. Murphy-Rodrigues stated the five-year plan is $152 million worth of projects. Ms. Murphy-Rodrigues explained the revised Facilities Master Plan II. Mr. Roache asked how much time do they have left in the debt of the Kittredge gymnasium. Ms. Murphy-Rodrigues stated it is still a few years. Mr. Roache asked regarding the cold storage facility, is the $450,000 the total cost. Ms. Murphy-Rodrigues stated there is a company in town who has offered to pay to reinstall it so that is NORTH ANDOVER SELECT BOARD MINUTES DECEMBER 15, 2025 all site work. Ms. Murphy-Rodrigues discussed what the cold storage facility would be used for. Ms. Phillips asked how the bond will be paid for the water plan. Ms. Murphy-Rodrigues stated they pay it through the water department. Ms. Phillips asked when they think they will have the results of the rate study. Mr. Stanford stated they do not have a definite schedule, but they are soliciting firms right now and expect that it will be done probably a year from April. Ms. Phillips asked when they determine the new rate are they able to phase it in or does it make any sense to do a preemptive small increase now. Mr. Stanford stated it will be phased in. Mr. O'Connell asked if any of the boards needed to change the policy language there to make the modular classrooms work. Ms. Murphy-Rodrigues stated she believes the policy language is all set but she is happy to go back to look at it again. Mr. Roache asked what the typical guidance was around the debt services percentage budget. Ms. Murphy-Rodrigues stated the policy is around 5%. Ms. Murphy-Rodrigues stated they should reevaluate the policy when they have a school project. Mr. Roache asked if road improvements were bond eligible. Ms. Murphy-Rodrigues stated yes. Mr. Hicks asked what exactly they would be asking the voters to approve. Ms. Murphy-Rodrigues stated they will not need a debt exclusion to do Kittredge so they will still need a two thirds vote to take the debt, but they will not need an election. Ms. Phillips asked what fields are included in the town-wide athletic field master plan. Ms. Murphy-Rodrigues stated all of the non-school fields. Mr. Hicks asked if the field will go away when Fire Station 3 is built at the Berry Field site. Ms. Murphy-Rodrigues stated no. Five-Year Financial Forecast Ms. Murphy-Rodrigues presented the Five-Year Financial Forecast. Ms. Murphy-Rodrigues discussed the financial condition of North Andover. Ms. Murphy-Rodrigues discussed what the reserves look like. Ms. Murphy-Rodrigues explained why they do a financial forecast. Ms. Murphy-Rodrigues discussed the revenues versus the expenditures. Ms. Murphy-Rodrigues discussed the four major categories of revenues. Ms. Murphy-Rodrigues discussed the historical new growth including Amazon and excluding Amazon. Mr. Cheney asked if Amazon's inventory falls under the personal property. Ms. Murphy-Rodrigues stated yes. Mr. Keohane stated the personal property came on in 2025 when the building was put into service. Mr. Keohane stated the increase in 2026 was due to an increase in the value of the inventory for the personal property. Ms. Murphy-Rodrigues discussed the new growth estimates moving forward. Mr. Roache asked if they know if Amazon is at full capacity right now with their inventory. Ms. Murphy-Rodrigues stated they are at full capacity. Mr. Roache asked if the inventory will continue to grow year to year. Ms. Murphy-Rodrigues stated if the inventory is more expensive, it could. Mr. Chaney asked if they can speak to Amazon's efforts to reduce their taxable personal property obligation. Ms. Murphy-Rodrigues stated Amazon is at the appellate tax board for their real estate taxes. Ms. Murphy-Rodrigues stated there are some classifications they can choose as a company to change how they are incorporated that could allow them not to have to pay personal property anymore. Ms. Kean asked if the $940,000 is just the inventory that they are expecting to go up. Ms. Murphy-Rodrigues stated the inventory, but also other materials. Ms. Kean asked if they could look at other Amazon facilities to compare inventory growth. Ms. Murphy-Rodrigues explained why this would be difficult. Mr. Roache asked if there were new projects in the pipeline that they were aware of, would those be in the forecast today. Ms. Murphy-Rodrigues stated some of them are in the forecast today. Ms. Murphy-Rodrigues discussed the new growth applied to the levy limit by type. Ms. Watson asked if they expected this trend to continue. Ms. Murphy-Rodrigues stated she expects that residential will continue to stay on the lower side. Mr. Brown asked how they came up with the $950,000. Ms. Murphy-Rodrigues stated they looked at where the new growth has been coming in previously and what they typically see for a personal property replacement for a company. Ms. Sarro asked if ADUs are factored in at all. Ms. Murphy-Rodrigues stated they have not had any, but it would be new growth. Ms. Murphy-Rodrigues discussed intergovernmental revenue. Ms. Murphy-Rodrigues discussed local receipts. Ms. Murphy-Rodrigues discussed operating transfers. Ms. Murphy-Rodrigues explained the revenue projections. Ms. Murphy-Rodrigues discussed the town's expenses. Ms. Murphy-Rodrigues discussed the budget NORTH ANDOVER SELECT BOARD MINUTES DECEMBER 15, 2025 drivers. Ms. Murphy-Rodrigues discussed what is ahead for FY27. Mr. O'Connell asked why the guidance budget percentage for the schools in FY28 went down. Ms. Murphy-Rodrigues stated the guidance given to the schools in FY27 was higher than the other municipal departments so they have left all the departments at the same percentage increase in FY28-31. Mr. O'Connell asked if going from a 4.05 to a 2.36 is realistic. Ms. Murphy-Rodrigues stated no. Ms. Murphy-Rodrigues explains the rationale behind it. Ms. Kean asked if they would be in that position right now if they did not have the surprise inventory increase. Ms. Murphy-Rodrigues stated yes. Ms. Watson asked if a 4% increase for the schools is okay this year. Mr. Hick stated he is unsure until Ms. Lathrop provides the exact number for the school budget. Ms. Irwin asked what contracts are currently up for negotiations. Mr. Hicks stated they are currently negotiating the administrative assistants contract and the teaching assistants contract. Mr. Hicks stated they have one year left on the teachers contract and the custodians contract. Ms. Irwin asked if the transportation contract was going out to bid. Ms. Lathrop stated yes. Mr. Brown asked what happened to cause the unexpected jump from the personal property at Amazon. Mr. Keohane stated it was an increase in the value of the personal property which accounted for the new growth. Ms. Koenig asked what is the percentage of the budget that is going to schools in comparable towns. Ms. Murphy-Rodrigues stated they can look into that. ADJOURNMENT-School Committee MOTION: Mr. Brown made a MOTION, seconded by Ms. Koenig to adjourn the School Committee meeting at 8:06PM. Motion approved 5-0. ADJOURNMENT- Finance Committee MOTION: Mr. O'Connell made a MOTION, seconded by Ms. Sarro to adjourn the Finance Committee meeting at 8:06PM. Motion approved 8-0. Ms. Smedile was not present beyond this point due to technical difficulties. NEW BUSINESS Vote to approve collective bargaining agreement between the Town of North Andover and AFSME-Local 3687-Public Works from July 1, 2025 -June 30, 2028 MOTION: Mr. Roache motioned to approve the collective bargaining agreement between the Town of North Andover and AFSME Local 3687-Public Works from July 1, 2025-June 30, 2028. Ms. Bates seconded. Motion approved 4-0. LICENSING MOTION: Mr. Roache motioned to open a meeting of the North Andover Licensing Commission. Ms. Bates seconded. Motion approved 4-0. License renewals Renewals without conditions MOTION: Ms. Bates motioned to approve all the license renewal applications on the list provided by the Town Clerk's office dated December 15, 2025, with the exception of D&R Cafe, Inc. d/b/a Diane's Cafe and the entertainment license for the North Andover Historical Society, and Lobster Tail, The Loft, and Joe Fish. Mr. Roache seconded. Motion approved 4-0. NORTH ANDOVER SELECT BOARD MINUTES DECEMBER 15, 2025 Renewals with conditions MOTION: Mr. Roache motioned to approve and renew the license for Lobster Tail Seafood, Inc. subject to receipt of the Certificate of Good Standing by January 31, 2026 and approve and renew the licenses for The Loft and Joe Fish subject to receipt of approval from the Fire Department no later than January 31, 2026. Ms. Bates seconded. Motion approved 4-0. Mr. Kres recused himself. Renewals without conditions MOTION: Mr. Roache motioned to approve and renew the license for D&R Cafe, Inc. d/b/a Diane's Cafe and the Historical Society for their entertainment license as printed in the packet. Ms. Bates seconded. Motion approved 3-1 recused. Mr. Kres returned. MOTION: Ms. Phillips motioned to close the meeting of the North Andover Licensing Commission. Mr. Roache seconded. Motion approved 4-0. CONSENT ITEMS 1. Accept donation in the amount of$4,650.00 from the VFW Post 2104 for the Global War on Terror Memorial 2. Accept donations in the amount of$2,250.00 from the North Andover Police Association to the Festival Committee for the Santa Parade and Tree Lighting MOTION: Mr. Kres motioned to accept all consent items. Mr. Roache seconded. Motion approved 4-0. APPROVAL OF OPEN SESSION MINUTES OF DECEMBER 4, 2025 MOTION: Mr. Kres motioned to approve the Open Session minutes of December 4, 2025 as presented with the change noted. Ms. Bates seconded. Motion approved 4-0. SELECT BOARD UPDATES Mr. Kres mentioned the menorah lighting. Ms. Phillips mentioned the Crafts & Cocoa with Santa event. Mr. Roache wished everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Ms. Bates wished everyone a Happy Hanukkah. TOWN MANAGER'S REPORT Ms. Murphy-Rodrigues mentioned the town department's wreath contest. Ms. Murphy-Rodrigues mentioned that town hall will be closed on December 23 from 10am-11:30am for an employee event. Ms. Murphy-Rodrigues mentioned NAPD Cram-A-Cruiser and the NAFD Toys for Tots drive. Ms. Murphy-Rodrigues mentioned the Youth Center's toy drive. NORTH ANDOVER SELECT BOARD MINUTES DECEMBER 15, 2025 ADJOURNMENT MOTION: Mr. Kres made a MOTION, seconded by Mr. Roache to adjourn the Select Board meeting at 8:26PM. Motion approved 4-0. Respectfully submitted, Nicole Civitarese Executive Assistant Brian Roache, Clerk of the Board Documents used at meeting Presentations License renewals Donations Minutes from 12/4/25