Published in the May 24, 2018 edition

By MAUREEN DOHERTY

NORTH READING – Exasperated is the best way to describe how the Board of Selectmen feels about the pace of the year-long water negotiations with Andover.

After multiple deadline extensions the impasse boiled over Monday night, their final regularly scheduled meeting in advance of both the June 4 Annual Town Meeting and their last deadline extension with Andover of May 31.

Now, the members have had to juggle their schedules yet again to post an extra meeting for next Wednesday, May 30 at 5:30 p.m. just in case a deal from Andover is inked by then.

Selectmen Steve O’Leary and Bob Mauceri have acted as the negotiators for the board throughout this process and have been the biggest supporters of the deal. But their patience has worn thin. O’Leary said this May 31 deadline is real, not hypothetical.

“The fact is we should have had an agreement before now. If not for their unwillingness to schedule a Special Town Meeting back in November or December when they committed to doing it and then at the end of January when they were unable to bring it to closure, we’ve lost six months of the legislative term to get this done,” O’Leary said about Andover.

“When we set our goal at the end of April we anticipated that we would have legislation filed, the long-term agreement signed or we were moving to the MWRA. … It’s pretty frustrating. On a high note, I believe we have the terms and conditions pretty much nailed down,” O’Leary added while apologizing for not having a completed proposal to present to the rest of the board.

O’Leary said it comes down to whether North Reading wants to accept the rationale presented by Andover’s Town Counsel that “it can’t be signed and ratified until the legislation (is signed).” This is the opposite opinion of North Reading’s Town Counsel, he added.

He said Andover has proposed signing the agreement, sending the legislation along and then having a second “administerial” signing after the legislation is passed.

Adding to the Andover timeline is their board’s requirement that they hold a public hearing to review the terms and conditions of the agreement by next Thursday, May 31. “They’ll get the input and then they’ll vote,” he said, adding that the board has “conveyed a strong statement that they are committed to signing” this agreement and it appears to be unanimous.

But, O’Leary said he was concerned that based on passed public hearings Andover held prior to their past Special Town Meetings on this matter that, “more issues arose and new suggested language and terms and conditions were thrust upon us.”

Selectmen Chairman Mike Prisco responded, “My frustration is boiling over. I think we can make it easy for them. I’ve heard enough. I’ve been through enough. I keep hearing you say the deal is financially far superior. There is no deal… This is a Jello deal because they keep on moving it around. They don’t want to lock it in.”

“There is something not right,” Prisco continued. “We’ve had public hearing after public hearing. We’ve had them here in this room. We’ve explained this timeline. Out of generosity on our end we’ve extended this timeline to our own peril. This is a no-brainer and if the counsels can’t get it together, they’re never going to get it together. I’ve lost my patience.”

Prisco added that he is also embarrassed because the town had written a “MassWorks grant with a timeline that we have now come up against. We’re going to have some explaining to do, all the way to the Governor. And (Andover) knew this. They put us in a very uncomfortable position with our residents, our staff and now the state.”

Selectman Andrew Schultz agreed with Prisco. He thanked O’Leary, Mauceri and all the staff members and consultants for the time spent attempting to negotiate this deal.

“It’s frustrating. Obviously we can’t vote until we see a contract. I have been a proponent of the MWRA pretty much throughout,” Schultz said. “To me the best part of the Andover situation is the potential for sewer tie-in up and down Main Street and Concord Street. I think we are being absolutely naive. If they can’t cooperate with us now, when they’re trying to get our business, how are they going to cooperate with us after we’ve already signed a 99-year deal and we are trying to run sewer through their town?”

Selectwoman Kathryn Manupelli also held out little hope that anything much would change in another week and a half. “It took us four years to get that IMA in place. This is not new,” she said.