FinCom to review proposed public safety spending for FY’24

READING - This Wednesday the Finance Committee will wrap up its ongoing series of budget presentations, with this week’s batch including the budgets for the police, fire, EMS, dispatch and other public safety departments.

The Town Manager will then deliver a final message and summary before the committee discusses and votes on the FY24 budgets and this year’s relevant Town Meeting warrant articles. The committee will then discuss its report to Town Meeting, which is scheduled to begin on April 24.

Wednesday’s meeting will be held in Town Hall’s Select Board Meeting Room starting at 7 p.m. and can be streamed live over Zoom and RCTV.

---

Health clinics

This week Reading will host a pair of health presentations and clinics, one dedicated to blood pressure screening and the other an informational session on kidney health. The blood pressure screening will take place Tuesday from 2 to 5 p.m. at the Reading Public Library. It will be free and no appointments are required. Then on Thursday the town will host a presentation on kidney health in recognition of National Kidney Month, and following the informational session there will be a game of bingo. The kidney event will take place in Town Hall’s conference room from 3 to 4 p.m.

---

Winter parking ban now in effect

Reading’s annual winter parking ban is now in effect and for the remainder of the season no overnight parking will be allowed on any public way or municipal parking lot from 1 to 6 a.m. in order to help keep the roads clear in the event of snow.

Those who have a Reading Resident Parking Pass can park overnight at the train depot on the Lincoln Street side at the smaller southern lot. There is signage indicating the proper lot, and those who park there during a snow event must remove their vehicles at 6 a.m. so the plows can work unimpeded. The parking ban will remain in effect throughout the winter.

---

The following meetings are currently scheduled on the Town of Reading website. All remote meetings’ login information can be found online:

Today:

Board of Cemetery Trustees, 6 p.m., Town Hall, Berger Room.

Permanent Building Committee, 6 p.m., Town Hall, Conference Room.

Recreation Committee, 6:30 p.m., Senior Center, Great Room.

Board of Library Trustee, 7 p.m., Reading Public Library, Community Room.

Community Planning and Development Commission, 7:30 p.m., Town Hall, Select Board Meeting Room, Zoom.

Tuesday:

Council on Aging, 6:30 p.m., Town Hall, Berger Room, Zoom.

Town Forest Committee, 7 p.m., Town Hall, Conference Room, Zoom.

Wednesday:

Finance Committee, 7 p.m., Town Hall, Select Board Meeting Room, Zoom and RCTV.

Thursday:

RMHS School Council, 4 p.m., RMHS, School Library.

---

Mac Cerullo is a correspondent for the Reading Chronicle. If you have any events that you’d like published in the notebook, please contact Mac at mcerullo11@gmail.com. Follow Mac on Twitter at @MacCerullo.