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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2004-04-15 Board of Selectmen Minutes Board of Selectmen Meeting April 15, 2004 I ; The meeting convened at 7:30 p.m. in the RMLD Audio Visual Room, 230 Ash Street, Reading, Massachusetts. Present were Vice Chairman Richard Schubert, Secretary Gail Wood, Selectmen Camille Anthony and Joseph Duffy, Town Counsel Joan Langsam, Town Manager Peter Hechenbleil mer, RCTV Members Richard Cohen, Dale Merrill, Gordon Rogerson, Eugene Nigro, Marcel Dubois and Tom Ryan, TTAC Member Dom Lacava, School Committee Member John Carpenter, Josh Stockbridge from the Advocate and RCTV Executive Director Phil Rushworth. Discussion/Action Items Meet with RCTV Board of Directors re: Draft Agreement - The RCTV Board handed out a Version 8 Straw Document dated 4/15/04. Vice Chairman Richard Schubert reviewed the history of where we are to date. He noted that in 1998, the Board of Selectmen designated RCTV as the Community Access Corporation. There was no contract, and issues arose without a process to resolve them. The RCTV Board revised their Bylaws last year. One of the changes was to eliminate Selectmen and School Committee representation on the Board. The Board of Selectmen established an Ad Hoc Committee to work with the RCTV Board to draft a contract. They have been meeting since October-- the RCTV Advisory Committee was chaired by Town Moderator Alan Foulds. The Ad Hoc group has resolved many issues but there are two major issues to be resolved: The makeup of the Board vis-a-vis Selectmen and School Committee representation and issues of the assets. .Originally, the Board had seven members -- three appointed by the Board of Selectmen, one by the School Committee, and three by the RCTV membership. The RCTV Straw Document 8 would provide for two members to be appointed by an appointment committee consisting of the , Chairperson of TTAC, School Committee and Board of Selectmen. There is a great deal of discussion on this method of appointment, the number of members, the number of "Town Government"members if the Board expanded to its maximum size and the process for removal. Following a great deal of discussion, the consensus was that the proposal in the Document 8 on the appointment process would apply; i.e., with a Board of up to nine members, two would be "Town Government" appointees who would be appointed by a Committee consisting of the Chairman of TTAC, School Committee and Board of Selectmen. Removal would be by the appointing authority only. If the RCTV Board was concerned about one of the "Town Government"members, they could ask the appointing board to consider removing them. There was also agreement that if the size of the Board increased, the "Town Government" representation would also increase pursuant to Straw Document 7, Section 2B. The appointment would be by the same appointment committee. Item 2C in the Document 7 would continue vis-a-vis Town residents of the majority of the members. Board of Selectmen Meeting—AlEnI 15, 2004—Page 2 There was discussion on the assets. The consensus was that Item 3A in the Document 8 would be modified (to eliminate the word franchise and substitute Community Access Corporation designated by the Reading Board of Selectmen.) In addition, Paragraph 3 under Section 3 in the Straw Document 7 will be utilized but it would be clear that the assets would be owned by RCTV. Further language will be added that if there are donations of equipment to RCTV and another method of disposition is provided as part of the donation, then that method of disposition would be honored. Otherwise, those assets would be included with the other assets of RCTV. There was discussion about minimum coverage, and Document 8, Item 4A was substituted for John Carpenter's detailed list. In doing the annual review and setting the goals, further elaboration of coverages and events to be broadcast could be included. The RCTV Board.pointed out some changes for clarification in Section 1 on contract and review. The RCTV Board expressed concern about the lack of a studio in the new Reading Memorial High School. The Town Manager indicated that he would talk to the Superintendent of Schools and set up a meeting to find out exactly what is in the school project, and how that would effect the ability of RCTV to teach classes in the High School. Richard Cohen indicated that the RCTV Board wanted indemnification as proposed in Document 7 eliminated. This is Item 6E. The Town Manager and Town Counsel indicated that they felt the indemnification was critical and probably would not recommend to the Board of Selectmen that this be eliminated. On motion by Wood seconded by Anthony, the Board of Selectmen voted to adjourn their meeting of April 15,2004 at 9:45 p.m. on a vote of 4-0-0. Respectfully submitted, 11�ecretary