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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2014-07-28 ad Hoc Charter Review Committee Minutesorxy `� ° Town of Reading " ;c ,oi Meeting Minutes hECEIVED ..oaw (OWN CLERK Board - Committee - Commission - Council: EADING. MASS. Charter Review Committee 2014 DEC 10 P 4- !Y Date: 2014 -07 -28 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: Paul Sylvester, Peg Russell Precinct 4: Glen Hartzler Precinct 5: Phil Pacino, Phil Rushworth Precinct 7: John Segalla, Carolyn Whiting, John Carpenter, Jeff Struble Precinct 8: Bill Brown Members - Not Present: Precinct 4: Richard Coco Precinct 5: Janice ]ones Others Present: Town Clerk Laura Gemme Virginia Adams, representative of the Historical Commission Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: Phil Pacino, clerk pro tem Topics of Discussion: The Meeting was called to order by the Chair, Town Meeting Moderator Alan Foulds at 7:30 PM Phil Pacino agreed to serve as Clerk pro-tem in the absence of Richard Coco The Chair recognized Virginia Adams, an associate member of the Historical Commission. The representative of the Historical Commission presented an issue related to Associate members of Appointed Committees in the Town. The Historical Commission requested an additional to the charter to allow appointed associate members to upon appointment by the Committee Chair to assume the responsibilities of an absent member. The Historical Committee is illustrated that an absence member could delay critical votes in enforcement of the demolition bylaw. Discussion ensured The Committee agreed that verbiage should be put into the Charter that defines Associate members duties and responsibilities along with the member of allowable Associates. It was agreed that the duties and responsibilities along with the number of Associates should generally be set by the appointing authority. Phil Pacino and Jeff Struble agreed to put something together and present it at the next meeting of the Committee The minutes of July 14, 2014 were then presented and after correction the committee voted to accept the minutes as corrected by a vote of 10 -0 -1. Jeff Struble abstained because he was not present at the July 14, 2014 meeting. The Chair presented his research on "De- Appointment'. Page 1 1 Laura Gemme updated the Committee on the items that were requested by the Committee to be presented to the Reading Town Legal Counsel for legal clarification. To date the issues are still in process. The order of presentation for changes to the Charter was then discussed by the Committee. The order of presentation was generally agreed would be as follows a. To Reading Town Meeting first b. If approve by Town Meeting, the changes would then go to the Attorney General's office for approve. c. If approved by the AG then to the voters for final approval or a special act of the legislature. The Committee then discussed the previous requested changes to the Charter by the Reading Municipal Light Board ( "RMLD ") as informally presented at the previous meeting. Phil Pacino represented the RMLD and said that the RMLD Commission along with the General Manager has instituted a full review and revision of all the policies of the RMLD and that any changes to the Charter relating to RMLD matters be put off until the review and revision are complete. Discussion ensued. After discussion the Committee agreed to put in abeyance any changes to the charter provisions related to the RMLD until the policy review and revisions is completed. Bill Brown did request that verbiage he had written up and presented as part of the discussion on this issue at this meeting be presented to the RMLD Commission, The Committee did not object to this request and Phil Pacino did agree to present it to the RMLD Commission. It was noted that the verbiage Bill Brown wrote up needed to be clarify as to the proper group to present annual information to. It was also noted that the legal opinion presented at the previous meeting has been forward to Reading Legal counsel and is 1 of the items that an opinion is process as reported earlier. The Committee then discussed the desired wording of Massachusetts General Laws references in the Charter. The Committee on a motion made by Bill Brown and seconded by Jeff Struble voted 11 -0 to list all references in the Charter to Massachusetts General Laws as "Mass General Laws" The Committee then discussed Section 54 Acting Town Manager. Bill Brown presented wording he had put together on the Section 5-4 Acting Town Manager. Discussion ensued After discussion the following changes were voted: a. On a motion made Bill Brown and second by Phil Pacino the Committee voted 11-0 to amend the Section 54 paragraph titled Temporary Absence by replacing the words "Town officer or employee" with the word "individual" and by replacing the words "ten (10) working business" with the words "thirty (30)" and to amend the Section 5-4 paragraph titled Vacancy by replacing the words "twenty (120)" with the words "eighty(180). b.. On a motion made Glen Hartzler and second by Steve Crook the Committee voted 11- 0 to amend the Section 54 paragraph titled Long -Term Absence by replacing the words "ten (10) working business" with the word "thirty (30). c. On a motion made Steve Crook and second by Glen Hartzler the Committee voted 1'I- 0 to amend the Section 54 paragraph titled Term by replacing the words "ten (10) working business" with the word "thirty (30). The Committee then discussed possible changes to Section 4 Appointed Board and Committees and agreed that the changes would be better to be done by change to the Town Bylaws and not via the charter The Chair then discussed the schedule for completing the Charter Review Process and presentation to the Town Meeting and others. A January 2014 deadline was discussed but it was agreed to discuss this further at a future meeting of the Committee. The Chair stated that at the next meeting the focus will be on the possible changes as presented by the Reading Town Manager and the Chair of the Board of Selectmen at a previous meeting. The next meeting of the Committee was set for August 11, 2014 at 7:30 PM in the conference room at Reading Town Hall Page 1 2 On motion made by Phil Pacino and second by Bill Brown the Committee voted 11 -0 to adjourn at 9:30 PM. Page 13