The Select Board will be meeting tonight at 7:00pm in the Select Board meeting room at Town Hall. The first item on the agenda is a discussion and vote on an appointment of a new Town Manager from 4 finalists: Antonio Barletta the Town Administrator of Nahant, Matthew Coogan the Town Administrator of Boxford, Matthew Kraunelis the interim Town Manager of Reading, and Clancy Main the assistant Town Manager of Billerica. After announcing the 4 finalists at their January 16th meeting, the group participated in a “Reading immersion” week, where they met with Town Staff and other officials in Town. The Select Board then interviewed all 4 candidates at a rare Saturday meeting on January 27th that lasted nearly 7 hours.
After the Town Manager vote, the next agenda item is on the Meadow Brook Trail Easement. Back in October of 2021, Town Meeting approved the purchase of Lot 5 on Grove Street for $450,000 with plans for parking lot for the Town Forest. The easement is asking for the walking trail that residents have been already using which would connect the future parking lot to the Town Forest.
The final item is a preview of the Warrant for April Town Meeting, consisting of 16 Articles. Most notably, Article 13, is asking for funding for the purpose of developing a zoning plan compliant with the requirements of G. L. c.40A, §3A, so called the “MBTA Communities Act”. It was mentioned at last night’s CPDC meeting/public hearing that town staff was postponing their recommendation for April Town Meeting and focusing on a new set of plan(s) for November instead.
The complete agenda is listed below:
- 7:00 Overview of Meeting
- 7:05 Public Comment
- 7:15 Select Board Liaison & Town Manager Reports
- 7:30 Discuss and Vote on Appointment of new Town Manager from 4 finalists:
- Antonio Barletta
- Matthew Coogan
- Matthew Kraunelis
- Clancy Main
- 8:15 Discuss and Vote on Meadow Brook Easement
- 8:45 Discuss and Vote on POST 1917 Liquor License
- 9:00 Preview Warrant for April Town Meeting
- 9:30 Vote to Close Warrant for Local Election
- 9:45 Vote to close warrant for Presidential Primary
- 9:55 Discuss Future Agenda Items
- 10:00 Approve Meeting Minutes
- 10:15 Executive Session: Purpose 2: To conduct strategy sessions in preparation for negotiations with nonunion personnel – selected Town Manager candidate
The 7:00PM 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/j/83067095638
