Reading Selectmen Express Frustration With RMLD

The Board of Selectmen's meeting started at 7 p.m. Tuesday but by then Reading's political gears had already started to turn.

Tuesday at 5 p.m. was the deadline for nomination papers to be returned to Town Clerk Laura Gemme and as expected John Arena and Vanessa Alvarado will competing for a seat on the Board of Selectmen. Arena is the current chair of the selectmen while Alvarado is a member of the Finance Committee.

Four residents are competing for the two seats on the School Committee. Elaine Webb and Sherri Vanden Akker are running for re-election. Rebecca Liberman and Alicia Williams are also running.

The election, which includes races for Board of Library Trustees, Municipal Light Board, Town Meeting Members, along with the town's $4.15 override, is April 3.

As far as the Selectmen's meeting, the most spirited discussion of the night came at the end under the agenda heading RMLD. If you haven't been keeping close tabs on the discussion, many of the town leaders, including the Board of Selectmen, feel that the Reading Municipal Light Department isn't paying its fair share to the town (approximately $2.4 million this year). With both the schools and the town asking residents to support an override, it irritated all four board members in attendance that, in their opinion, RMLD comes up light when the check hits the table.

Selectmen Dan Ensminger attended a meeting earlier Tuesday at which RMLD proposed a contribution increase of 2 percent. Ensminger's response was to propose 5 percent, an indication of how far apart the two sides are. Much of the board's frustration centers on the fact the town has owned RMLD for more than 100 years. Add in RMLD's seeming unwillingness to discuss their contribution and the battle lines have been drawn.

"I'm not negotiating with something I own," said Arena, who added he was frustrated by RMLD's "insufficient, insincere communication."

Arena also asked Town Manager Bob LeLacheur to explore the sale of RMLD, as part of the April Town Meeting. While not all supported going that far -- Barry Berman called the request "saber rattling" -- RMLD's next board meeting on Feb. 22 will have four additional residents in the audience. Make that 5 if Andy Friedmann, absent Monday, joins their car pool.

Earlier the board gave its approval to the town's effort to ask the Massachusetts State Building Authority to reimburse Reading for a new boiler at the high school. The current boiler is 20 years old and a new one will cost $585,000. If the MSBA says yes, it would reimburse approximately 50 percent of the cost ... LeLacheur also previewed a Town Meeting article that would change the name of the Board of Selectmen. Select Board, Executive Board, and Town Council (like Wakefield) were all discussed ... residents and neighbors of the planned Eaton Lakeview Apartments next to Jordan's came before the board, asking for clarification on how best to make sure their thoughts and concerns on the development were heard ... and the board approved the wording for the April 3 override vote.

Photo by Bob Holmes