Meeting, January 30, 2002

 

Present:  Linda Wollschlager, Paul Connolly, Raphael Herz, and Jeff Phillips

Absent:  Phil Verzani

Others present:  Susan Salamoff, Peg Broekel

 

The meeting was called to order by the chair at 7:15 PM in the School Committee Meeting Room, Third Floor, Town Hall.

 

Minutes of the January 10 meeting were approved as written.

 

The committee discussed the specific items in the table "Items Reviewed by the Committee - Change Proposed or Pending".which appears on the committee's web site. (In these minutes, the items are referenced by the short designation that appears in the table.)

 

The chair requested inputs from the public on each item before the committee discussed action and voted.

 

Charter, Art. 5, s. 5-2(a), 5-2(b). School budget. Ms. Broekel reported that the School Committee desired to follow the provisions of Section 38N of Chapter 71 of the MGL. The committee unanimously agreed (4-0) to postpone further consideration to the February meeting so that new draft wording that reflects the MGL can be considered.

 

Charter, Art. 2, s. 2-3, 2-4(b); Art. 3, s. 3-1(d)(4). Conformity with current practice and MGL. The committee unanimously agreed (4-0) to approve the draft warrant article and submit it to the Fall 2002 ATM.

 

Charter, Art. 3, s. 3-1(d). Limit preliminary Town elections. Ms. Salamoff noted that allowing more candidates before triggering a preliminary election would benefit incumbents. Mr. Connolly noted that the current draft was improved over the version rejected by the Fall 2001 ATM and that the committee had done research about the practice followed in neighboring towns. The committee unanimously agreed (4-0) to approve the draft warrant article and submit it to the Fall 2002 ATM.

 

Charter, Art. 3, s. 3-12, 3-12(b). Recreation Commission; park maintenance. The committee unanimously agreed (4-0) to postpone further consideration to the first March meeting.

 

Charter, Art. 4, s. 4-3(c). Personnel. The committee unanimously agreed (4-0) to postpone further consideration until June when TA and DTA may be on board.

 

Charter, Art. 5, s. 5-3, 5-6(a), 5-6(c), 5-7, 5-7(b). Budget process. Mr. Phillips reported that members of the Finance Committee had intended to provide input on this and other subjects, but obviously were not present. The committee unanimously agreed (4-0) to take no action on            s. 5-7(b). The committee unanimously agreed (4-0) to postpone further consideration of the other items until May.

 

By-Laws, Art. 20, s. 1. List of appointees by Town Administrator. Ms. Salamoff suggested that additional positions be added to the list. The committee unanimously agreed (4-0) to postpone further consideration to the first March meeting.

By-Laws, Art. 23, s. 1, 4, 6. Finance Committee. The committee unanimously agreed (4-0) to take no action on the "shall remove" item of s. 1. The committee unanimously agreed (4-0) to postpone further consideration of the other items until May.

 

By-Laws, Art. 1, s. 1. Date of Fall ATM. The committee unanimously agreed (4-0) to approve the draft warrant article and submit it to the Spring 2002 ATM. The clerk shall file the warrant article with the Board of Selectmen.

 

By-Laws, Art. 1, s. 4. Conformity with current practice and MGL. The committee unanimously agreed (4-0) to approve the draft warrant article and submit it to the Fall 2002 ATM.

 

By-Laws, Art. 3, s. 5. Reconsideration. The committee unanimously agreed (4-0) to take no action to change this item.

 

By-Laws, Art. 20, s. 2. Dates for capital improvement program. The committee unanimously agreed (4-0) to approve the draft warrant article and submit it to the Fall 2002 ATM.

 

By-Laws, Art. 24, s. 1.2, 1.3, 2.1c, 2.2, 3.6, 4.2, 4.3, 5.3, 5.4, 7.3.4, 7.4, 7.5, 7.8, 12, 13.2, table. Personnel. The committee unanimously agreed (4-0) to postpone further consideration until June when TA and DTA may be on board.

 

By-Laws, Art. 30, s. 2, 2.4.1, 2.5, 2.5.1, 2.9. Wetlands Protection by-law. The committee unanimously agreed (4-0) to postpone further consideration to the February meeting.

 

By-Laws, Art. 31, s. 1. Reinstate the Advisory Committee on Public Works. The committee unan­imously agreed (4-0) to take no action on reinstatement. As a clean-up action, the committee unan­imously agreed (4-0) to submit to the Fall 2002 ATM a warrant article to delete the entire Art. 31.

 

The chair expressed the thanks of the committee to the members of the public who were present.

 

The chair directed the clerk to prepare a draft agenda for the next meeting that takes into account the postponement actions voted at this meeting.

 

The meeting adjourned at 10:30 PM.

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

Paul E. Connolly