The Select Board will be meeting tonight at an earlier start time of 6:00pm in the Select Board room at Town Hall. The first item on the agenda after the National Public Works Week Proclamation is the SWEC (Symonds Way Exploratory Committee) Presentation and Discussion. Included in the packet are 5 various options, ranging from “Just a Little” to “Do it All” as shown in the screenshots below. There is no pricing listed on any of the options.
Afterwards, there is a Parking Kiosk Update. The anticipated “Go Live” date for the paid parking kiosks and supporting infrastructure is scheduled for June 3, 2024. The two locations in question are the Upper Municipal Lot (behind CVS) and the Brande Court. Up to the 1st hour will be FREE but there was no pricing in the packet or in the email sent out via Andrew MacNichol the Community Development Director. All on-street parking remains free of charge.
Lastly, the board will have it’s first discussion regarding the FY25 Water & Sewer Rates. Last year, the board went to a tiered structure where users in the lower tiers paid less than the users in the higher tiers. In this years packet, increases range from:
- 2.5% Average Residential User: $4.15 – $6.20 increase per bill in FY 2025 ($16.60 – $24.80 annually) with Large Residential User: $13.14 increase per bill in FY 2025 ($52.56 annually)
- 3.0%. Average Residential User: $4.98 – $7.44 increase per bill in FY 2025 ($19.92 – $29.76 annually) with Large Residential User: $15.77 increase per bill in FY 2025 ($63.08 annually)
The complete agenda is listed below:
- 6:00 Overview of Meeting
- 6:05 Public Comment
- 6:15 Select Board Liaison and Town Manager Reports
- 6:30 National Public Works Week Proclamation 3
- 6:35 SWEC (Symonds Way Exploratory Committee) Presentation and Discussion
- 7:05 Parking Kiosk Update
- 7:20 HEARING – Discuss and Vote on Liquor License Alteration of Premises for Nilkant 350, Inc d/b/a City Wine Spirits & Smoke Shop at 345 Main Street
- 7:30 HEARING – Discuss and Vote on Traffic Amendments:
- 2024 -1; Official placement of an isolated stop sign Heading Southbound on Sanborn Street at the intersection with Haven Street.
- 2024-2; Official placement of an isolated stop sign Heading Eastbound on Walnut Street at the intersection with Summer Avenue.
- 7:45 Discuss FY25 Water & Sewer Rates
- 8:30 Discussion and Vote on acceptance of a Conservation Restriction over a portion of Assessor’s Parcel 44-135 (a lot located off Grove Street) such area marked as “Conservation Restriction Easement Area” and shown on a plan entitled “Proposed Plot Plan in Reading, MA Showing Development of 4 Lots at #0 Grove Street” recorded in the Southern Middlesex County District Registry of Deeds as Plan No. 28 of 2023
- 8:45 Discuss formation of RECALC (Reading Center for Active Living Committee) Building Committee
- 9:15 Discuss Future Agendas
- 9:20 Approve Meeting Minutes
- 9:30 EXECUTIVE SESSION: (Purposes 2 and 3) and Open Session: Discuss strategy and potential vote to approve collective bargaining agreement for AFSCME Council 93 Local 1703 Engineers Union.
The 6:00PM meeting will take place in the Select Board meeting room at Town Hall. The public can attend in person or watch via several options: via a broadcast on RCTV’s YouTube channel at this link or on the RCTV Government Channel (Xfinity ch 22, Verizon ch 33). The Zoom link for this meeting is: https://us06web.zoom.us/u/kdM8zqIFdI
