A Fast Start For New-Look Reading Select Board

READING, Ma. - Was it Andrew Friedmann getting Tuesday's Select Board meeting off to a fast start? Or was new chair Vanessa Alvarado responsible for the shockingly quick 2-hour, 15-minute meeting? Maybe the credit should go to the new kid on the block, Anne Landry.

The Select Board made quick work of their agenda and on a night when even a Red Sox-Yankees game took just 2:23, baseball was the biggest topic. The Reading Little League appeared before the board with a proposal to upgrade the Majors/Tennis Court Field as well as add portable toilets to fields at Majors, Barrows, and Joshua Eaton.

Close to 500 kids play Little League in town and the organization appeared at town hall with two proposals. The first was to upgrade the Majors/Tennis Court Field with higher quality foundation materials. The field has poor drainage and even a little rain can cause problems for days.

In addition, they proposed to enlarge the Majors Field to allow 11 and 12-year-olds to play on a slightly bigger field, called a 50-70 field. The pitching mound would be enlarged to include both the 46-foot distance and a new 50-foot distance. Also, the bases would be increased to 70 feet, all done to provide players with an easier transition to a major league size field. The outfield would remain the same.

A survey of 146 Little League parents showed that there was a great need/want for portable toilets at the fields. Those fields will now have portable toilets along with fencing to hide them from abutters. The Reading Recreation Committee approved of both the field improvements at Majors along with the portable toilets. Each are gifts to the town from Reading Little League with the Majors field improvements costing almost $40,000.

The meeting started with new positions for the board. Alvarado is the new chair with John Halsey as the vice-chair. Mark Dockser, recently elected to the board along with Landry, is the new secretary, possibly in part because he was absent from his first meeting. "That will teach him to not show up," joked Halsey.

A certificate of appreciation was presented to the town's police and fire dispatchers for National Public Safety Telecommunications Week ... Two local restaurants were caught serving alcohol to minors. Cafe Capri and Anthony's Coal-Fired Pizza both allegedly served alcohol to minors during an investigation run by the state ... School Superintendent John Doherty was applauded for completing the Boston Marathon Tuesday ... May 8 is the next hearing date for the Wakefield Planning Board to discuss the development on the boarder with Reading. The development has been reduced to 173 units from 190 but there are still major concerns for traffic issues in Reading ... Tuesday, April 30, the town will hold a new residents informational meeting at the Library.