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Home My WebLink About2023-11-08 Select Board Minutes NORTH ANDOVER SELECT BOARD MINUTES NOVEMBER 8, 2023 Executive Session: Chair Bates stated the Board will enter Executive Session pursuant to Massachusetts General Law chapter 30A, Sec. 21(a)(3) to discuss strategy with regard to litigation at 6:30PM. MOTION: Mr. Vaillancourt motioned that the Select Board enter Executive to Pursuant to M.G.L. c. 30A § 21(a)(3 to discuss strategy with regard to litigation. Ms. Phillips seconded. Motion approved 5-0. Call To Order: Chair Laura Bates called the open meeting to order at 7:00PM in the Select Board Room at Town Hall. Select Board in Attendance: Chair Laura Bates, Janice Phillips, Brian Roache, Rosemary Smedile and Clerk Richard Vaillancourt were present. Non-Board Members in Attendance: Town Manager Melissa Rodrigues, Deputy Town Manager Denise Casey and Assistant Town Manager Laurie Burzlaff were present. Public Comment None. PUBLIC HEARING-TAX CLASSIFICATION 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 FY2024 tax rate. Mr. Vaillancourt seconded. Motion approved 5-0. Assessor Bill Mitchell was present at the meeting and gave a presentation stated as Steps in Setting the Tax Rate. Ms. Bates asked if Amazon is impactful. Mr. Mitchell stated yes, it is a big factor. Mr. Mitchell stated next fiscal year the TIFF will go into effect with Amazon's occupancy. Mr. Roache asked about the commercial property sector and if with high vacancy is there abundant abatement requests. Mr. Mitchell stated they have been a large increase in abatements and have currently have nine cases still having to be heard. Mr. Roache asked what will happen when an abatement is successful, what will happen to the levy. Mr. Mitchell explained the overlay account and how it does not affect the general fund as it has been raised and appropriated. Ms. Bates asked about the extra levy capacity and why $1.7M would be left. Mr. Mitchell stated they must be careful because if levy was raised and Amazon comes off the table then you are locked into that budget and the result is the following year the average single-family resident parcel will see a large increase in taxes. MOTION: Mr. Vaillancourt motioned to close 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 FY2024 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 FY24 tax rate MOTION: Mr. Vaillancourt motioned to adopt a residential factor of 0.9388 with a corresponding CPI shift of 1.32014 for the purpose of classifying the FY2024 North Andover property tax rates. Ms. Smedile seconded. Motion approved 5-0. Out of order: Request of the Festival Committee to use Main, Elm and Water Streets from 10:00AM to 2:00PM on November 25, 2023 for the annual Santa Parade and request of the Festival Committee to use the Town Common for the tree lighting on November 26, 2023 from 10:00AM to 8:00PM Jeff Coco, 695A Johnson Street, was present at the meeting and spoke about his request for the annual Santa Parade and annual tree lighting. Mr. Vaillancourt asked if the route has changed. Mr. Coco stated no but there is construction at the Middle School so it will bring a slight change to the staging route. Ms. Bates asked if there are any new participants. Mr. Coco stated there are no new participants but previous participants that dropped off during COVID. Ms. Smedile asked about Breakfast with Santa. Mr. Coco stated will be most likely held at the old Senior Center since there are currently no 1 NORTH ANDOVER SELECT BOARD MINUTES NOVEMBER 8, 2023 electrical outlets in the kitchen in the new Senior Center. Mr. Coco mentioned the contract has now been signed with the tree lighting company. MOTION: Mr. Vaillancourt motioned to approve the request of the Festival Committee to use Main, Elm and Water Streets on Saturday, November 25, 2023 from 10:00AM to 2:00PM for the Annual Santa Parade. Ms. Phillips seconded. Motion approved 5-0. MOTION: Mr. Vaillancourt motioned to approve the request of the Festival Committee to use the Town Common for the tree lighting on November 26, 2023 from 10:00AM to 8:00PM. Ms. Smedile seconded. Motion approved 5-0. Request of Keith Connors on behalf of North Parish Unitarian Universalist Church to use a parcel of land on Academy Road for their annual Red Bow Fair on December 2, 2023 from 8:00AM to 3:00PM MOTION: Ms. Smedile motioned to approve the request of Keith Connors on behalf of North Parish Unitarian Universalist Church to use a parcel of land on Academy Road for their annual Red Bow Fair on December 2, 2023 from 8:00AM to 3:00PM. Ms. Phillips seconded. Motion approved 5-0. Notice from Mass State Lottery Commission regarding application of KENO license at China Blossom MOTION: Ms. Smedile motioned to approve the request for a KENO license at China Blossom. Ms. Phillips seconded. Motion approved 5-0. ARPA request in the amount of $90,000 for installation of security cameras Ms. Rodrigues stated five additional cameras are requested and will be placed at Main St at Route 125, Main St at Sutton St, Sutton St at Route 125, Mass Ave at Osgood St and Route 125 at Route 114. Mr. Roache asked if it is a precursor to traffic cameras. Ms. Rodrigues stated no, these cameras are added for safety. Mr. Vaillancourt asked why these specific locations were chosen. Ms. Rodrigues stated they could be a way to flee the town. Mr. Roache asked what would trigger a review of the tape. Ms. Rodrigues stated a request. Mr. Roache asked what if someone calls about frequent red lights being run. Ms. Rodrigues stated they would put a traffic unit on it. MOTION: Ms. Phillips motioned to approve funding from ARPA in the amount of $90,000 for installation of security cameras. Ms. Smedile seconded. Motion approved 5-0. Vote on Winter Snow Emergency MOTION: Ms. Phillips motioned to approve the Winter Snow Emergency as presented. Mr. Roache seconded. Motion approved 5-0. Vote on FY25 Budget Policy Statement Mr. Roache asked what caused large drop in OPEB in 2022. Ms. Rodrigues stated it is the market fluctuation. MOTION: Mr. Roache motioned to adopt the FY2025 Budget Policy Statement. Ms. Smedile seconded. Motion approved 5- 0. Vote to waive right of first refusal for affordable unit at 1 Harvest Drive, Unit 109 MOTION: Mr. Vaillancourt motioned to waive the right of first refusal for the affordable unit at 1 Harvest Drive, Unit 109. Ms. Phillips seconded. Motion approved 5-0. Appointments: 1. Mark Wilson - Festival Committee 2. William Dolan - Patriotic Observance Committee 2 NORTH ANDOVER SELECT BOARD MINUTES NOVEMBER 8, 2023 3. Peter Devlin - Historical Commission 4. Amy Mabley - Master Plan Implementation Committee 5. Maureen Crawford Hentz - Youth and Recreation Council 6. Kayla Rothbart - Festival Committee MOTION: Mr. Vaillancourt motioned to appoint Mark Wilson to the Festival Committee for a term ending June 30, 2024, to appoint William Dolan to the Patriotic Observance Committee for a term ending June 30, 2024, to appoint Peter Devlin to the Historical Committee for a term ending June 30, 2026, to appoint Amy Mabley to the Master Plan Implementation Committee for a term ending June 30, 2025, to appoint Maureen Crawford Hentz to the Youth & Recreation Council for a term ending June 30, 2025, to appoint Kayla Rothbart to the Festival Committee for a term ending June 30, 2024. Ms. Phillips seconded. Motion approved 5-0. LICENSING MOTION: Ms. Roache motioned to open a meeting of the North Andover Licensing Commission. Ms. Smedile seconded. Motion approved 5-0. Application from Toasted Brothers North Andover LLC d/b/a The Friendly Toast for a change of manager MOTION: Ms. Phillips motioned to approve the application from Toasted Brothers North Andover LLC d/b/a The Friendly Toast for a change of manager as presented. Ms. Bates seconded. Motion approved 5-0. MOTION: Mr. Vaillancourt motioned to close a meeting of the North Andover Licensing Commission. Ms. Bates seconded. Motion approved 5-0. Consent Items A. Accept donation to the Fire Department in the amount of $150 from Smart Start LLC B. Accept grant to the Police Department in the amount of $39,983.50 from National Highway Traffic Safety Administration for Municipal Road Safety Program C. Accept grant in the amount of $1,240,000.00 from the Massworks Infrastructure Program for improvements to Route 125/Great Pond Road intersection MOTION: Ms. Phillips motioned to accept all consent items. Ms. Smedile seconded. Motion approved 5-0. Approval of Open Session Minutes of October 10, 2023, October 13, 2023 and October 16, 2023 Mr. Roache questioned the Minutes of October 13, 2023 that there was public comment but it was not reflected in the minutes. Ms. Rodrigues suggested not voting on those minutes until further clarification. Ms. Bates mentioned that the Minutes of October 16, 2023 have a double entry on the Select Board Vice-Chair notation. MOTION: Mr. Vaillancourt motioned to approve the Open Session minutes of October 10, 2023 and October 16, 2023 with a correction to the minutes of October 16, 2023. Ms. Phillips seconded. Mr. Roache abstained. Motion approved 4-0-1. 3 NORTH ANDOVER SELECT BOARD MINUTES NOVEMBER 8, 2023 SELECT BOARD UPDATES - Mr. Vaillancourt thanked Veterans for their service and mentioned the parade starts at 10:00AM - Mr. Roache thanked Mr. Vaillancourt for his words at the recent ceremony held at Gallagher Field. Mr. Vaillancourt thanked the Town and Ms. Bates mentioned she was happy to hear of the history of the naming of the field during the ceremony TOWN MANAGER UPDATES - Ms. Rodrigues congratulated Jillian Kemp in Veterans Services for her recent award. Ms. Rodrigues mentioned Joe LeBlanc in Veterans Services will also be receiving an award - 2024 Annual Election Calendar - Select Board meeting calendar for January through June 2024 has been posted ADJOURNMENT MOTION: Mr. Roache made a MOTION, seconded by Ms. Smedile to adjourn the Select Board meeting at 8:02PM. Motion approved 5-0. Respectfully submitted, Jillian A. Brothers Executive Assistant _______________________________ Richard Vaillancourt, Clerk of the Board Documents used at meeting: Presentation of setting tax rate Application of Santa’s Parade and tree lighting Application of Red Bow Fair ARPA request Memorandum Snow Emergency Documentation License application Donation letters Minutes from 10/10, 10/13 and 10/16 FY25 Budget Policy Statement 4