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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2023-02-06 Select Board Minutes NORTH ANDOVER SELECT BOARD MINUTES FEBRUARY 6, 2023 Call To Order: Chair Janice Phillips called the open meeting to order at 7:00PM in the Select Board Room. Select Board in Attendance: Chair Janice Phillips, Laura Bates, Clerk Rosemary Smedile and Richard Vaillancourt were present. Non-Board Members in Attendance: Deputy Town Manager- Denise Casey and Assistant Town Manager- Laurie Burzlaff were present. EXECUTIVE SESSION Chair Phillips stated the Board will enter Executive to discuss strategy with respect to collective bargaining - Pursuant to M.G.L. c.30A, Section 21(a)(3) at 6:37PM. MOTION: Mr. Vaillancourt motioned that the Select Board enter into Executive Session pursuant to M.G.L. c.30A, Section 21(a)(3) to discuss strategy with respect to collective bargaining. Ms. Bates seconded. Roll call vote: Bates- yes, Vaillancourt- yes, Smedile- yes, Phillips- yes. Motion approved 4-0. The Board returned to Open Session at 7:00PM. The open session meeting was recorded. PUBLIC COMMENT None Update from State Delegation Mr. Vaillancourt introduced the State Delegation for North Andover as Senator Bruce Tarr (not present at meeting), Senator Tram Nguyen, Senator Barry Feingold, and representative Adrianne Ramos. Senator Nguyen went over past projects, that were worked on in conjunction with North Andover, as well as upcoming bills to be worked on with the community. Representative Ramos introduced herself and the bill she is currently working on. Senator Feingold mentioned working together with various business groups in North Andover. Senator Feingold mentioned working on a privacy bill as a priority to protect where information collected is actually going. Ms. Smedile asked Senator Tran about the proposed wind farm plans and beached whales as well as fishing industry. Senator Feingold mentioned oceans are on a federal level. Ms. Bates asked about the Route 114 project in regard to the safety of Merrimack College students as well as Sharpeners Pond. Senator Tram stated she has been working with Mass DOT and will bring it up on their next meeting. Mr. Vaillancourt asked for a letter of support to be sent to Massachusetts Historical Commission for the Stevens Estate stable to obtain a grant. Ms. Burzlaff stated the grant is for up to $50,000. Ms. Burzlaff stated the plan is to stabilize the stable, gut it and then hold off moving forward until the next budget year. Ms. Burzlaff stated she will send a grant letter to the representatives to sign. Mr. Vaillancourt asked for a contact in the State House to speak with regarding the earmarks. Senator Feingold suggested to contact their office with any questions. LICENSING MOTION: Mr. Vaillancourt motioned to open a meeting of the North Andover Licensing Commission. Ms. Bates seconded. Motion approved 4-0. Public Hearing- Application from North Andover Quic Pic, LLC d/b/a Quic Pic for a wine and malt off premise liquor license at 533 Chickering Road MOTION: Mr. Vaillancourt motioned to open the public hearing for the application from North Andover Quic Pic, LLC d/b/a Quic Pic for a wine and malt off premise liquor license at 533 Chickering Road. Ms. Bates seconded. Motion approved 4-0. 1 NORTH ANDOVER SELECT BOARD MINUTES FEBRUARY 6, 2023 Chris Buco, part owner and manager of Quic Pic LLC was present at the meeting and explained the reason for the application for the wine and malt off premise license. Ms. Smedile asked how each store plans to stay separate and not comingle. Bill Buco was present at the meeting and responded to Ms. Smedile’s question regarding keeping the stores separate. Mr. Buco stated the registers and businesses are separate. Ms. Burzlaff stated Town Counsel suggested to have a condition put with the license that states the door between the two stores shall remained closed. Ms. Phillips stated there were no public comment. MOTION: Ms. Phillips motioned to close the public hearing for the application from North Andover Quic Pic, LLC d/b/a Quic Pic for a wine and malt off premise liquor license at 533 Chickering Road. Ms. Bates seconded. Motion approved 4-0. Vote on application from North Andover Quic Pic, LLC d/b/a Quic Pic for a wine and malt off premise liquor license at 533 Chickering Road MOTION: Mr. Vaillancourt motioned to approve the application from North Andover Quic Pic, LLC d/b/a Quic Pic for a wine and malt off premise liquor license at 533 Chickering Road. Ms. Phillips seconded. Motion approved 4-0. MOTION: Mr. Vaillancourt motioned to close a meeting of the North Andover Licensing Commission. Ms. Bates seconded. Motion approved 4-0. Town Manager’s recommended FY24 budget Tabled to next meeting. Vote to approve two percent COLA increase for eligible members of Essex Regional Retirement System per Chapter 269 of the Acts of 2022 Ms. Casey explained that the Governor signed a law allowing local retirement systems a local option to vote to increase the cost of living adjustment for FY2023 to up to 5% on the base amount. In order to do this, the retirement board needs to rd approval by 2/3 of the municipalities in the Essex Regional Retirement System (13 out of 19 need to approve.) The estimated cost for North Andover is $18,048.00 for 2022 and $18,048.00 for 2023. Ms. Bates asked where the funds would be coming from. Ms. Casey stated Town Accountant verified there is sufficient funding in the retirement allocation. MOTION: Mr. Vaillancourt motioned to approve the additional 2% COLA increase for eligible members of the Essex Regional Retirement System per Chapter 269 of the Acts of 2022. Ms. Bates seconded. Motion approved 4-0. Application of Josh Graning to use the Town Common on April 8, 2023 for a 9 hole disc golf tournament from 8:00AM to 2:30PM Josh Graning was present at the meeting. Ms. Smedile suggested to move this sporting event to one of the community field rather than the Town Common and speak with Rick Gorman to assist. Mr. Vaillancourt suggested to table this request to have time to look at an alternative site. CONSENT ITEMS A. Accept donation in the amount of $1,000.00 from the Estate of Muriel Katschker to the Senior Center B. Accept grant from Essex County Community Foundation in the amount of $325,000 for design and engineering of streetscape improvements in the downtown MOTION: Ms. Bates motioned to accept all consent items. Ms. Smedile seconded. Motion approved 4-0. APPROVAL OF OPEN SESSION MINUTES OF JANUARY 25, 2023 MOTION: Ms. Bates motioned to approve the Open Session minutes of January 25, 2023. Mr. Vaillancourt seconded. Motion approved 4-0. 2 NORTH ANDOVER SELECT BOARD MINUTES FEBRUARY 6, 2023 Select Board Report - Mr. Vaillancourt mentioned 400 Great Pond Rd will be having a public forum open session at the Senior Center on 2/16 at 6:30PM. Mr. Vaillancourt stated he is hoping to have an article crafted by Town Meeting. - Ms. Phillips stated her appreciation for the First Responders due to the recent extreme weather conditions. ADJOURNMENT MOTION: Ms. Bates made a MOTION, seconded by Ms. Smedile to adjourn the Select Board meeting at 8:20PM. Motion approved 4-0. Respectfully submitted, Jillian A. Brothers Executive Assistant _______________________________ Rosemary Connelly Smedile, Clerk of the Board Documents used at meeting: Memorandum Donation Letter License applications Minutes 3