HomeMy WebLinkAbout2014-06-30 ad Hoc Charter Review Committee Minutesr c
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Board - Committee
Town of Reading
Meeting Minutes
Commission - Council:
Ad Hoc Charter Review Committee
Date: 2014 -06 -30 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:
Peg Russell
Precinct 4:
Glen Hartzler, Richard Coco
Precinct 5:
Phil Pacino, Phil Rushworth
Precinct 7:
John Segalla, Jeff Struble, John Carpenter
Precinct 8:
Bill Brown
Members - Not Present:
Precinct 7: Carolyn Whiting
Precinct 5: Janice Jones
Others Present:
Town Clerk: Laura Gemme
Town Manager: Robert LeLacheur
Chairman, Board of Selectmen: John Arena
Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: Richard Coco, Clerk
RECEIVED
i OWN CLERK
_ADING, MASS.
1014 DEC 10 P Wee
Topics of Discussion:
The meeting was called to order by the Chair, Town Meeting Moderator Alan Foulds at
7:30pm.
The minutes of the previous June 16, 2014 meeting were reviewed and a. correction was
made to the seventh paragraph on page 2 that Town Counsel would be asked to render an
opinion as to whether the Charter should include a definition of "for cause ".
A motion was then made by Phil Pacino, second by John Segalla to approve the minutes as
amended. The motion to accept the minutes passed unanimously.
As announced by the Chairman Alan Foulds at the previous meeting, both the Reading Town
Manager and Board of Selectmen Chairman were in attendance to present to the Charter
Review Committee their comments and suggestions to the proposed changes to the Reading
Town Charter. Comments can be found at the Town of Reading Web Site under Reading
Charter Ad Hoc Committee, Calendar for June 30, 2014.
Prior to the start of the presentation, the Chair Alan Foulds stated that the Committee would
listen, discuss and take notes during the presentation by Town Manager Robert Lelacheur
and BOS Chairman John Arena, but would not take any formal votes until each item in the
information package are discussed in detail at future meetings.
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An suggestion made during the presentation was that the Committee should add footnotes
to proposed major Charter changes, so future readers, especially Town Meeting Members
who ultimately must approve any revision to the charter, will be provided with the
background behind the purposed revisions.
There was discussion of Article 2 -15, Referendum Procedures. The focus of the
discussions was on how to ensure that the document, which must be signed by voters
who support the subject matter of the referendum, conforms to Massachusetts statute
requirements. There was also a question of whether the Charter Review Committee could
make any changes to language in Article 2 -15 that had been approved by Town Meeting at
the Annual Town meeting in April, 2012.
Member Phil Paclno also informally presented to the Committee comments made by the
Reading Municipal Light Board (RMLD) legal counsel based on his review of the Charter
Articles which apply the RMLD. He also notes that the RMLD Board has yet to take any
official position on these comments.
Before adjournment, there was a general discussion on a possible timetable for bringing the
proposed Reading Charter revisions to Town Meeting and ultimately Reading voters. The
Town Clerk outlined the required cut -off date (January, 31st) must be met to allow any
Article to be placed in the Warrant for the Annual Town Meeting. There was also a
discussion of possibly convening a Special Town Meeting for the sole purpose of Charter
review but no final decision was made.
The next scheduled meeting of the Committee was set as July 14, 2014.
On a motion by Phil Pacino, second by Bill Brown the committee unanimously voted to
adjourn at 9:47pm.
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