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Town of Reading
Meeting Minutes
Board - Committee - Commission - Council:
Ad Hoc Charter Review Committee
Date: 2014 -01 -06 Time: 7:30 PM
Building: Reading Town Hall Location: Conference Room
Address: 16 Lowell Street
Purpose: Review Reading Town Charter Session: General Session
Attendees: Members - Present:
Precinct 2: Steve Crook, Alan Foulds
Precinct 3: Margret Russell, Paul Sylvester
Precinct 4: Glen Hartzel, Richard Coco, David Mancusco
Precinct 5: Phil Pacino, Phil Rushworth, Janice Jones
Precinct 7: Carolyn Whiting, John Segalla, John Carpenter, Jeff Struble
Precinct 8: Bill Brown
Members - Not Present:
Precinct 3: Margret Russell
Others Present:
Town Clerk: Laura Gemme
Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: Richard Coco, Clerk
Topics of Discussion:
The meeting was called to order by the Chair, Town Meeting Moderator Alan Foulds at 7:30
pm.
Member Bill Brown proposed that the Committee consider adding two new Articles to the
Reading Charter.
Proposed Article 4.12 Permanent Building Committee would create a committee which
would assess the long term building needs of Reading replacing the current process of
appointing an Ad Hoc Building Committees as each building project is proposed.
The proposed committee would be made up of five (5) Reading citizens: an attorney, an
engineer, an individual familiar with building construction and two (2) Town Meeting
members. As proposed, appointment to the building Committee would be by the Town
Moderator. There was a lengthy discussion of the proposed Article by members of the
Charter Review Committee including whether there was a recognized need for a Permanent
Building Committee and concerns regarding the appointing authority make -up. The
Committee believed that the appointing authority should include the Chairman of the Board
of Selectmen, School Committee and Moderator rather than just the Moderator as proposed.
Following the discussion, the Moderator asked for a vote on the consensus of the Committee
to include such an Article in the Reading By -Laws. The vote was in the 9 in the affirmative,
2 opposed, with one abstention. The wording of the Proposed Article 4.12 will be revised to
include the three member appointing authority discussed and Permanent Building
Committee responsibilities as well as addressing terms of appointment of the members.
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Bill Brown also proposed Article 4.11 creating a Charter Review Committee which
would meet periodically to review and update the Reading Charter as required. Following a
discussion of this proposed Article, the Chairman Alan Foulds asked for a consesus vote of
the Committee to to support such an Article. The vote was: nine (9) affirmative, two (2)
opposed and one abstention.
The Review Committee next discussed the existing Article 4.10 Other Committees. The
focus of the discussions was whether the Town Forest Committee and Historical
Commission (or others) should be listed under individual Articles defining their
responsibilities and make -up. These two Committees are appointed by the Board of
Selectmen. While there are many Ad Hoc Boards and Commissions within Town Government
that are not delineated, the committee consensus is that these two committees are
important since they relate to conservation issues. The Chairman asked John Carpenter to
chair a sub - committee to review the question and report back to the full committee at our
next meeting with recommended changes.
The Committee also revised a portion of Article 4.10 which related to Ad Hoc committees
adding language to define term limits for a given committee and for membership in any Ad
Hoc committee be reported to the Town Clerk prior to said committees first meeting.
On a motion by Bill Brown, second by John Segalla the Committee voted unanimously to
adjourn at 9:40pm.
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