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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2022-03-14 SB-min Select Board Meeting March 14, 2022 A remote participation meeting of the Lexington Select Board was called to order at 6:32 p.m. on Monday, March 14, 2022. Ms. Hai, Chair; Mr. Lucente; Vice Chair, Mr. Pato, Mr. Sandeen, and Ms. Barry were present, as well as Mr. Malloy, Town Manager; Ms. Axtell, Deputy Town Manager; and Ms. Katzenback, Executive Clerk. Ms. Hai stated that the meeting was being conducted via Zoom as posted, with the agenda on the Town’s website noting that some members and staff were participating in person using the Meeting Owl Pro device. ITEMS FOR INDIVIDUAL CONSIDERATION 1. 2022 Annual Town Meeting & Special Town Meeting 2022-1  Call for Special Town Meeting 2022-2  Approve Warrant  Review Draft Select Board Report  Select Board Article Discussion and Positions Mr. Pato explained that he and Mr. Lucente are proposing a warrant article to amend the bylaws at Town Meetings to specifically discuss hybrid meetings. This may require calling a Special Town Meeting 2022- 3 in parallel. Mr. Lucente explained that pursuing this route will hopefully allow for the potential to hold a hybrid Town Meeting model in the fall. In response to a question from Ms. Barry, Mr. Pato explained that he reached out to Mr. Lucente on this item specifically because he wanted to see if there could be a proposal created that would assuage Mr. Lucente’s concerns on the matter. He could not directly also contact additional Board members due to Open Meeting law. Ms. Barry stated that she would like more time to review the materials before making a decision. In response to a question from Mr. Sandeen, Mr. Lucente explained that there are still certain items, such as number needed in attendance for a quorum, that need to be ironed out. The intention of this item is to make sure that the meeting is accessible to all individuals. The Board agreed to review this proposal for its next meeting. The Board reviewed its positions chart. The Board agreed to IP Article 8 and put it on the consent agenda for Special Town Meeting. The Board recessed the meeting at 7:01pm to hold a joint meeting with the School Board and School Committee. 2. Joint Meeting – Select Board and School Committee  Mental Health Task Force Update  Mental Health Assessment Report  Highlights of Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) and Connections to Adult Data  William James INTERFACE Referral Services Update and Short-Term Remedies  Task Force Advisory Group Updates  Discussion/Questions The Joint Select Board and School Committee Mental Health Summit meeting opened at 7:05pm In addition to the Select Board/Town Manager and Deputy Town Manager, the following were in attendance for the Joint meeting: Kathleen Lenihan, School Committee Chair, took attendance for the School Committee: Eileen Jay – Vice Chair; Sara Cuthbertson; Deepika Sawhney; and Larry Freeman. Also in attendance were Dr. Julie Hackett, Superintendent of Schools; Sara Mei, Student Representative to the School Committee; and Val Viscosi, Director of Guidance K-12. In attendance from Framingham State were Marian Cohen, and Ruth Remington. Also, in attendance from Town Staff were Melissa Interess, Director of Human Services; and Sharon Gunda, Clinical & Community Outreach Manager. Ms. Interess explained that the goal of creating the Taskforce was to create a sustainable structure for addressing mental health in a coordinated way across School and Town departments. The Taskforce has worked on identification of unmet needs, and underserved populations through the mental health assessment that was completed in the spring of 2021. An inventory and repository of mental health programs and services that take place both through the schools, municipal and other community groups has been created. The Taskforce has also started to work on a protocol for responding to critical incidents that align the school and municipal departments when indicated, and clearly delineates roles and responsibilities. Work has begun on evaluation and measurement tools for impact and outcome data. The Taskforce is also working on a Communication and Outreach Plan for promoting available programs and services. Dr. Cohen explained that the Mental Health Needs Assessment was a collaboration of the Taskforce with the Center for Social Research at Framingham State University. The survey received responses from 1,016 adults. Demographic data can be found in appendices of the report. She presented the survey data. Dr. Cohen explained that the survey results lend themselves to a number of recommendations, including recognizing the correlation of physical and mental and for programs and services to take both into account, education regarding transportation options available to those seeking help and reduction of mental health stigma, and promoting the Taskforce website. She suggested that an additional survey be completed at a future date, to determine how successful programming and services are. Ms. Viscosi explained that the Youth Risk Behavior Survey is administered every two years to students in grades 7 – 12. She reviewed the results of the study completed in 2021. Ms. Interess explained that, since its inception in 2018, INTERFACE Referral Service has received 430 referrals from Lexington. The cost per referral is approximately $142. Some barriers to mental health services include long waits for providers and longer waits for follow-ups. Short-term remedies include increased promotion of short-term counseling services and a mental health clinician, contracted through an agency. It was noted that the Taskforce is working on critical incident response, essentially a team-based process for decision making when a crisis occurs that has a significant impact either in the community, or on a group of students. This is a crisis response that impacts both the municipal and school sides, to create a global response. There needs to be a protocol for a larger response on both sides, or a targeted response. Ms. Jay suggested that it might be helpful to reach out to mental health professionals in the Greater Boston community who are studying and working with Asian and South Asian populations regarding these cultural differences. Ms. Cuthbertson noted that she would like to see a breakdown of the data between adult and youth INTERFACE referrals. Mr. Lucente suggested further outreach to encourage more males to take the survey in the future. In response to a question from Mr. Sandeen, it was noted that there needs to be further outreach to those underrepresented by the survey, such as the LGBTQ community. The School Committee adjourned its meeting at 8:57pm and the Select Board took a brief recess until 9:04pm. DOCUMENTS: Mental Health Assessment - Full Report, Mental Health Assessment - Framingham State University, YouthRiskBehaviorSurveySummary-2021Highlights, Mental Health Task Force Update 1. 2022 Annual Town Meeting & Special Town Meeting 2022-1  Call for Special Town Meeting 2022-2  Approve Warrant  Review Draft Select Board Report  Select Board Article Discussion and Positions The Board retook its discussion on the positions chart. Regarding Article 10e, Mr. Pato noted that he will remain a ‘no.’ He believes the entire site needs to be reviewed for possible options regarding its best possible use. Mr. Sandeen agreed. Ms. Hai noted that the current bathrooms are unclean and not particularly safe, as one access point is segregated from public view. Mr. Malloy noted that the article should be updated to reflect the correct amount of $680,000. It was noted that Article 10K – LexHAB Vine Street will be moved to the consent agenda/IP. The Board supported this item. The Board supported placing Article 22 and Article 25 on the consent agenda/IP. In regard to Article 26 – NEXUS Studies, Mr. Pato explained that this is a citizen’s article which is likely going to be amended to read that it is contingent on no funds being expended until the legislature has passed both bills and the Governor has signed them. Those members who were ‘waits’ stated that they would like to remain as such until this language can be reviewed. In regard to Article 27 – Zero Waste Resolution, Mr. Pato noted that this citizen’s article was updated on th March 4. He suggested that Board members review the newly submitted resolution. Article 31 – Mr. Malloy stated that he does not believe current staff will be able to implement this item and that there will be a cost associated. He, thus, suggested that the Board not support it at this time. It may be possible to bring this item back in the fall. Mr. Pato and Mr. Sandeen reminded the Board that this was a recommendation from 5-years ago, developed in large part by the past Sustainability Director. There is also a unanimous recommendation from Sustainable Lexington and the Economic Development Advisory Committee to move forward with this item. The Board supported placing Article 33 on the consent agenda/IP. Regarding Article 34, Ms. Hai explained that the Board is split on IP’ing this article The Board also recently received Mr. Pato’s proposal, which is to add a new article as part of Special Town Meeting 2022-2, to change the bylaws to allow hybrid participation. Mr. Pato asked that discussion on this item be tabled until Town Counsel can make a determination as to the process. The Board supported placing Article 40 on the consent agenda. DOCUMENTS: STM#2-Article1, 2022Art25IPmotion, DRAFT 2022 Select Board Report to Town Meeting, rev 3/14/22, 2022ATM, STM 2022-1 Select Board Position Working Document, 2022-2 STM warrant, Memo Dated March 11, 2022 TM to Select Board - Annual and Special Town Meeting, 3/14/22 Memo from J: Pato - RequestForHybridTMArticle, 2022-2 Draft warrant 4/11/22 ADOURN Upon a motion duly made and seconded, by roll call, the Select Board voted 5-0 to adjourn the meeting at 9:50 p.m. A true record; Attest: Kristan Patenaude Recording Secretary