Meeting, May 2, 2002

 

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

Absent:  Phil Verzani

 

The meeting was called to order by Ms. Wollschlager, the vice-chair at 7:12 PM in the Retirement Board Conference Room, Third Floor, Town Hall. The notice for the meeting had been sent to the Town Clerk for posting on April 1; the agenda had been sent on April 29.

 

Minutes of the March 20 meeting were approved with additions.

 

The committee considered some items in the Awaiting Review table. Several items were scheduled for ongoing review. In addition, for the following items, the committee voted unanimously to take no action to change the designated sections:

 

Charter, Art. 1, s. 1-3, What are prudential affairs? Is this a comprehensive description?

Charter, Art. 2, s. 2-4(b), Remove requirement for signatures for Town Meeting.

Charter, Art. 2, s. 2-6(c), Only allow appointment to fill vacancies from those in the most recent election.

Charter, Art. 2, s. 2-7, Why is there mention of compensation here and not elsewhere?

Charter, Art. 2, s. 2-12, Rephrase 6th line "the powers of which".

Charter, Art. 3, s. 3-1, 3-13, 6-4, Note that the changes introduced by Amendment 16 are not effective unless approved by voters at the spring town elections.

Charter, Art. 3, s. 3-1(d), Place the dates mentioned in a timeline in an appendix.

Charter, Art. 3, s. 3-1(h)(5), In the last sentence, something seems to be missing.

Charter, Art. 3, s. 3-2(b), Is "develop and to promulgate" section clear?

Charter, Art. 3, s. 3-2(d), Are the BoS a supra-licensing authority to whom people can appeal?

Charter, Art. 3, s. 3-5(b), "oath of office to him" seems scrambled. Last line too many "bys."

Charter, Art. 4, s. 4-1(e), "as seem necessary or desirable" is excess verbiage.

 

Mr. Herz came at 8:15 and chaired the remainder of the meeting. Mr. Herz made the following assignments to obtain feedback from the following contacts: (1) Mr. Connolly, powers and duties of Board of Assessors, William Chenard; (2) Mr. Connolly, powers and duties of constables, Sebastian Grupposo; (3) Mr. Phillips, vacancies on Trustees of Morse Institute, Elliot Goodman.

 

The committee discussed the specific items on the agenda. (In these minutes, the items are referenced by the short designation that appears in the agenda.)

 

Charter, Art. 5, s. 5-2(a), 5-2(b). School budget. Mr. Phillips will talk to School Committee contact on this issue.

 

By-Laws, Art. 30, s. 2, 2.4.1, 2.5, 2.5.1, 2.9. Wetlands Protection by-law. The Conservation Commission is reviewing the committee's draft. Mr. Herz will obtain feedback from Conservation Commission contact.

 

Charter, Art. 3, s. 3-12, 3-12(b). Recreation Commission; park maintenance. The Recreation Commission is reviewing the committee's draft. Mr. Herz will obtain feedback from Recreation Commission contact.

 

By-Laws, Art. 20, s. 1. List of appointees by Town Administrator. The committee decided against a letter requesting feedback from the Selectmen and will delay further action on this item until the arrival of the new Town Administrator.

 

Charter, Art. 5, s. 5-3, 5-6(a), 5-6(c), 5-7. Budget process.

By-Laws, Art. 23, s. 1, 4, 6. Finance Committee. The committee considered more changes to provisions about the Finance Committee report. Mr. Connolly and Ms. Wollschlager will prepare edited drafts showing the changes to all sections. These documents will be used at the joint meeting with the Finance Committee on May 23.

 

The meeting adjourned at 9:30 PM.

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

Paul E. Connolly