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HomeMy Public PortalAbout20181218 - Select Board - Minutes TOWN OF HOPKINTON Board of Selectmen Meeting Minutes – December 18, 2018 1 Town Hall, 18 Main Street, Hopkinton MA 6:00 PM Board of Selectmen Members Present: Claire Wright, Chair, Brendan Tedstone, Vice Chair (6:30 PM), John Coutinho, Brian Herr (6:57 PM), Irfan Nasrullah Officials Present: Town Manager Norman Khumalo, Director of Land Use and Town Operations Elaine Lazarus CALL TO ORDER: Ms. Wright called the public meeting to order at 6:00 PM in Room 211 of the Town Hall. The Chair entertained a motion to enter into executive session to approve executive session Minutes, to consider litigation strategy with respect to Petition of Eversource Energy for Zoning Exemptions (DPU) because discussion in an open meeting may have detrimental effects on the litigating positions of the Board, to consider litigation strategy with respect to TJA Clean Energy LLC v Planning Board because discussion in an open session may have detrimental effects on the litigating positions of the Town, to consider the purchase, sale, lease or value of real property in relation to open space preservation, Center Trail, Town Hall, and the Main Street corridor project because discussion in an open meeting may have detrimental effects on the negotiating position of the Board, to reconvene in open session at the conclusion of executive session, to allow the following officials to be present: Norman Khumalo, Elaine Lazarus, Muriel Kramer, Amy Ritterbusch, Gary Trendel, Fran DeYoung. MOVED by Mr. Nasrullah and SECONDED by Mr. Coutinho. ROLL CALL: Ms. Wright- Yes; Mr. Nasrullah-Yes; Mr. Coutinho-Yes. VOTE to Approve: Yes-3, No-0. Mr. Tedstone and Mr. Herr joined the Board during executive session. REOPEN PUBLIC SESSION: Ms. Wright reopened the Public Session with the Pledge of Allegiance at 7:03 PM. PUBLIC FORUM: There were no public comments. CONSENT AGENDA: MOVED by Mr. Tedstone and SECONDED by Mr. Coutinho to approve the Minutes of the December 4, 2018 meeting. VOTE to Approve: Yes-5, No-0. The Board reviewed the request submitted by the Central Public House for special hours on New Year’s Eve. MOVED by Mr. Tedstone and SECONDED by Mr. Coutinho to approve special hours for the Central Public House, with hours of operation extended to 1:00 a.m. and alcohol sales to 12:30 a.m. on Jan. 1, 2019. VOTE to Approve: Yes-5, No-0. 2 The Board reviewed the gifts to the ambulance fund in memory of Thomas “Roy” Robson. MOVED by Mr. Tedstone and SECONDED by Mr. Coutinho to accept gifts to the Ambulance Fund in the amount of $230.00 in memory of Mr. Robson. VOTE to Approve: Yes-5, No-0. MOVED by Mr. Coutinho and SECONDED by Mr. Tedstone to accept $500 in gifts to the Police Gift Account and $1,550 in gifts to the Police Dept. K-9 Gift Account. VOTE to Approve: Yes-5, No-0. YOUTH COMMISSION APPOINTMENTS: Three of four applicants for two at-large vacancies on the Youth Commission were present. Caitlin Tirrell, Tracey Ferencsik and Meena Kaushik described their background and interest in serving on the Commission. Dawn Ronan, Youth Commission Chair, recommended that Ms. Ferencsik and Ms. Tirrell be appointed because they have been volunteering for the Commission for the last year. MOVED by Mr. Coutinho to accept Ms. Ronan’s recommendation and appoint Ms. Ferencsik and Ms. Tirrell. The motion was not seconded. The Board discussed whether the Commission could have associate members, so as to involve more people. MOVED by Mr. Tedstone and SECONDED by Mr. Coutinho to appoint Ms. Ferencsik to the Youth Commission to a term expiring 6/30/2019. VOTE to Approve: Yes-5, No-0. MOVED by Mr. Tedstone and SECONDED by Mr. Coutinho to appoint Ms. Tirrell to the Youth Commission to a term expiring 6/30/2021. VOTE to Approve: Yes-5, No-0. MOVED by Mr. Herr and SECONDED by Mr. Nasrullah to direct the Town Manager’s office to review the Youth Commission Charge and recommend amendments to increase membership. VOTE to Approve: Yes-5, No-0. ELECTION EQUIPMENT APPROVAL: Connor Degan, Town Clerk, stated that five election machines would be replaced by new machines to be acquired from a vendor approved by the State. In response to a question, he stated that maintenance costs are included in the Town Clerk budget. Mr. Coutinho left the meeting at this time. MOVED by Mr. Tedstone and SECONDED by Mr. Nasrullah to discontinue the 5 Accuvote Precinct Tabulators for elections, purchase 5 Imagecast Precinct Tabulators, and begin use of the 5 Imagecast Precinct Tabulators at the 2019 Annual Town Election, scheduled for 5/20/2019. VOTE to Approve: Yes-4, No-0. Mr. Coutinho returned to the meeting at this time. 25 & 35 MAIN ST. - HOPKINTON VILLAGE CENTER: Mr. Herr disclosed that Chuck Joseph represents him as a real estate broker for a property in Hopkinton, and he has filed an appearance of conflict of interest form with the Town Clerk to this effect. He stated he discussed the issue with Town Counsel, who has said that he may participate in the matter before the Board as his financial interest is not affected. Board members welcomed Mr. Herr’s participation in the matter. Chuck Joseph, Benson Rd., stated that several years ago there was an approved project at 25 & 35 Main St. (Hopkinton Village Center), which was a 3-story mixed use building with retail on 3 the first floor, office above and residential at the top. He stated that he is interested in undertaking a less dense project with no commercial uses. He referred to a conceptual plan that would include 32 spaces in a parking lot for public parking. He stated that he would look forward to having the Town as a partner in the parking lot portion of the project to ensure that the parking remains open to the public in perpetuity, and suggested that the Town could contribute $500,000 toward parking lot construction, via a vote at the annual town meeting in May, 2019. He stated he would consider it a public-private co-venture that would be a benefit to the community. He stated that the land for the parking lot could be gifted to the Town. Mr. Herr questioned other project costs and whether a party would benefit financially from the parking lot. Mr. Joseph stated that no one would profit from the parking lot. Members commented that they are pleased that a private party is stepping forward to assist the Town, the concept looks good on the plan, and more downtown activity and parking is positive. Ms. Wright stated that more residential growth is not needed, and there are limited areas for more commercial growth in the downtown. Mr. Joseph noted that the previously approved plan was larger and had potentially greater traffic impacts that would be difficult to mitigate. He stated that “functional” commercial development is near the highway interchange, more of the cultural development is downtown, and it would be challenging to lease commercial space in the previously approved project. Ms. Wright disagreed that more parking is needed in the downtown, and the issue was discussed further. Mr. Herr noted that the Town is growing and planning for the future should be considered, and Mr. Coutinho stated that parking is needed for Town Hall and for some downtown businesses. MOVED by Mr. Herr and SECONDED by Mr. Coutinho to support the idea of exploring a public private partnership regarding Hopkinton Village Center that results in a public access parking lot in the area reviewed, with the assumption that the normal development process will be followed, and the end goal is to increase parking downtown. VOTE to Approve: Yes-5, No- 0. ANNUAL LICENSE RENEWALS: The Board reviewed the request for renewal of annual licenses. MOVED by Mr. Coutinho and SECONDED by Mr. Nasrullah to renew the following licenses: 1) Bill’s Pizzeria, 14 Main St. - MGL c.138 §12 Restaurant All Alcohol, Common Victualer, Entertainment; 2) Woodville Rod & Gun Club, 252 Wood St. - MGL c.138 §12 Restaurant All Alcohol, Common Victualer, Entertainment; 3) Zio’s Quattro, 22 South St. - MGL c.138 §12 Restaurant All Alcohol, Common Victualer, Entertainment; 4) Ko Restaurant, 25 Hayward St. - MGL c.138 §12 Restaurant All Alcohol, Common Victualer, Entertainment. VOTE to Approve: Yes-5, No-0. MOVED by Mr. Coutinho and SECONDED by Mr. Herr to renew the following licenses: 1) Hop-Yo, 36 Main St. - Common Victualer, Entertainment; 2) Bittersweet Co., 28 Main St. - Common Victualer, Entertainment; 3) Marathon Pizza, 30 Main St. - Common Victualer; 4) Red Barn Coffee at Angel’s Cafe, 285 West Main St. - Common Victualer. VOTE to Approve: Yes-5, No-0. MOVED by Mr. Coutinho and SECONDED by Mr. Nasrullah to renew a Class I License for Bulldog Fire Apparatus, 17 Winter St. VOTE to Approve: Yes-5, No-0. 4 MOVED by Mr. Herr and SECONDED by Mr. Coutinho to renew a Common Victualer and Entertainment license for Hiller’s Pizza, 77 West Main St. VOTE to Approve: Yes-4 (Herr, Coutinho, Wright, Nasrullah), No-1 (Tedstone). 2019 SEASONAL POPULATION ESTIMATE: The Board discussed the annual requirement to complete a form for the ABCC relative to estimated seasonal population, referenced to the 2010 U.S. Census. MOVED by Mr. Coutinho and SECONDED by Mr. Tedstone to estimate the 2019 seasonal population to be 15,048, for the purposes of completing the 2019 Seasonal Population Increase Estimation Form for the ABCC. VOTE to Approve: Yes-5, No-0. 2019 ANNUAL TOWN MEETING: MOVED by Mr. Tedstone and SECONDED by Mr. Coutinho to open the annual town meeting warrant on January 4, 2019 and close the warrant on February 5, 2019. VOTE to Approve: Yes-5, No-0. The Board discussed its own potential annual town meeting articles, including a modification to animal control bylaws. TOWN MANAGER REPORT: Mr. Khumalo provided an update on the FY20 budget process. Mr. Khumalo stated he received an inquiry from Lykan Bioscience, followed by a letter dated December 13 requesting a Tax Increment Financing (TIF) agreement and personal property tax exemption. He stated that the company’s work involves manufacturing for cell and gene therapy, and they would locate at 97 South St., the former Lonza location. He noted the business would create 125 new permanent full time positions over a 5 year period. He requested an indication from the Board as to whether the opportunity with the company should continue to be explored, noting that they have a very tight timeframe to make a location decision and applications to the State would be submitted in February. He noted that if the Town wanted to enter into a TIF agreement, it would mean a special town meeting in mid-February. The Board discussed the issue. MOVED by Mr. Herr and SECONDED by Mr. Coutinho to encourage and support the Town Manager’s efforts to work with Lykan Bioscience to locate in Hopkinton in the very near future, which may include looking into a TIF Agreement, personal property exemption, and approval of the project at a special town meeting. VOTE to Approve: Yes-5, No-0. Mr. Khumalo noted that if there is a special town meeting, there may also be an article to pay unpaid bills from a previous fiscal year. LIAISON REPORTS: Mr. Nasrullah stated the Affordable Housing Trust Fund Board is reviewing options for the funds in the trust; Mr. Herr and Ms. Wright stated they attended a recent School Committee meeting regarding the budget. Members indicated that they attended recent business ribbon cuttings, a 5-town Selectmen’s meeting, and a meeting on OSHA standards. FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS: Mr. Herr requested an update on the Main Street corridor project in January. 5 MOVED by Mr. Tedstone and SECONDED by Mr. Coutinho to adjourn the meeting. VOTE to Approve: Yes-5, No-0. Adjourned: 9:03 PM Approved: January 15, 2019 Documents used at the meeting: ● Draft Minutes of the 12/4/18 Board of Selectmen meeting ● Special Temporary Alcohol License Application, Central Public House, 42 Main St., 11/29/18 and supporting documents ● Central Public House, Request for Extension of Hours/Extension of Sale of Alcohol ● Town of Hopkinton Ambulance Fund Gifts in Memory of Thomas “Roy” Robson ● Town of Hopkinton Police Gift Account/K-9 Gift Account ● Youth Commission Applications: Tracey Ferencsik, Caitlin Tirrell, Lindsay Baumer Hayes, Meena Kaushik ● “Board/Committee Appointments, Tuesday, December 18, 2018 Board of Selectmen Meeting” ● Town of Hopkinton, Purchase Proposal Quote, Submitted by LHS Associates Inc., August 7, 2017 ● Imagecast Precinct product literature ● Article 14, 2018 annual town meeting ● “Yearly License Renewals for Calendar Year 2019” dated December 18, 2019 ● Memo dated 12/13/18 to Board of Selectmen from Elaine Lazarus and Connor Degan, re: Seasonal Population Estimate ● Document entitled “Hopkinton Village Center”, undated, submitted by Chuck Joseph ● Plan entitled “Hopkinton Village & Public Parking”, prepared by Level 1, dated 1/27/18