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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2004-04-22 ad Hoc Charter Review Committee MinutesCharter Review Committee Meeting April 22, 2004 The meeting convened at 7:30 p.m. in the Town Hall Berger Room, 16 Lowell Street, Reading, Massachusetts. Present were Chairman George Hines, Members Bill Brown, Glen Hartzler, Bill Griset, Chuck Robinson, Maria Silvaggi (arrived late). Also present were Town Manager Peter Hechenbleikner, Superintendent of Schools Pat Schettini, School Committee Chairman Pete Dahl, School Committee Members Carl McFadden, Lisa Gibbs, Rob Spadafora and Town Counsel John Gannon and Gary Brackett. Approval of Minutes On motion by Griset seconded by Brown, the Minutes of March 25, 2004 were approved by a vote of 5-0-0. On motion by Griset seconded by Brown, the Minutes of April 7, 2004 were approved by a vote of 5-0-0. Visitors were present to talk about building maintenance. Bill Brown suggested language in Section 6-4 which would establish a building maintenance department which would fall under the Town Manager. This would include school buildings. The meeting was interrupted momentarily for Chairman Peter Dahl to call the School Committee to order at 7:40 p.m. since a majority of the committee was present and the meeting was posted. Bill Brown indicated that the other alternative was, regardless of who had the responsibility for the school buildings, to have the budget for facilities voted by Town Meeting, with the prohibition of transferring money from that budget except by a vote of Town Meeting. He indicated that he does not care whether the building maintenance falls under the schools or the Town Manager as long as the money that is appropriated is spent only on maintenance. George Hines noted that whatever recommendations this committee makes, they are only recommendations to the Board of Selectmen. The Board of Selectmen will then determine what will be passed along to Town Meeting for their consideration and then if approved by Town Meeting will go to the voters. Bill Griset had several concerns. He wondered how Bill Brown's suggestion would correlate with the Education Reform Act. He feels that consideration of this item might go beyond the scope of the Ad Hoc Review Committee and may require a Charter Commission. This current process is not broken, so don't fix it. He feels that the Town and School buildings are wonderfully maintained and indicated that 10 years ago, he would have felt differently. Charter Review Committee Meeting=April 22, 2004 - Page 2 Town Counsel John Gannon feels that this is within the purview of an Ad Hoc Committee it does not require a Charter Commission. There was discussion. about several aspects of State law court cases which would indicate that this is minor, not a major Charter amendment. Carl McFadden asked if Education Reform requires that School building maintenance fall under the Schools. Would this change be contrary to Ed Reform. Pete Dahl indicated that he felt it would be contrary to Ed Reform. Town Counsel Gary Brackett noted that there is provision in the State law to consolidate services. George Hines felt that we should focus on the concepts and then work on the proper methodology to accomplish the intent of the Ad Hoc Committee. The two concepts are: (a) creating a new Building Maintenance Department to fall under the Town Manager, or (b) providing that the Building Maintenance Budget as voted by Town Meeting cannot be amended and monies cannot be spent except as further approved by Town Meeting. Carl McFadden indicated that he thinks Option (b) which would isolate the budgets would be appropriate. Town Meeting expects that and he has no problem with it. George Hines indicated that he is not interested in creating another department, but would favor a requirement that budgets approved by Town Meeting are spent only on building maintenance. Pete Dahl felt that if there was a problem, maybe we should deal with the issue. He is not willing to go in the direction Carl McFadden and George Hines noted. For example, he noted that in the past, the School Department has added to the building maintenance budget. He is concerned about setting a precedent of eroding the intent of Education Reform. Bill Brown noted that the Charter exists for the future, and will be in place long after people in authority are gone. It is not a trust issue it's an issue of making sure that the intent of Town Meeting is met. Pat Schettini noted that he had submitted a proposed Capital Improvements Program today that would put $3 million into capital, mostly in buildings. Pete Dahl reiterated his opposition to a public facilities department and to any amendment that would require the School Committee to give up control. George Hines asked for clarification does that mean you would be opposed to locking in the budget. Pete Dahl indicated that he felt that would be a dangerous precedent and he would be opposed to it. Gary Bracket noted that if the consensus is to work towards a particular goal, then Town Counsel can draft language and review it with the Attorney General's Office. He did note that the Town can consolidate functions, and sometimes this can be done by a Bylaw rather than a Charter amendment. Charter Review Committee Meeting=April 22, 2004 - Page 3 Pete Dahl noted that Town Meeting has defacto accepted the current arrangement because they voted on a budget that implements the written agreement between the Superintendent of Schools and the Town Manager. Gary Bracket noted that there is no such thing as defacto acceptance it would have to be specific. Chuck Robinson felt that he doesn't see a problem right now but there could be an issue down the road, and that he favors an amendment to the Charter that would require building maintenance to be a separate budget, leaving only Town Meeting the ability to move money in or out of that budget. Glen Hartzler noted that we've had problems going back 20-25 years. The community has invested a huge amount in buildings, and the buildings need to be maintained. He feels that an amendment to the Charter would eliminate the possibility of anyone other than Town Meeting modifying the building maintenance budget. Bill Griset noted that he was on the School Committee in the 1980's and he never remembers any money being shifted out of the building maintenance budget. At 8:25 p.m., the School Committee adjourned their meeting to the outer hallway. The Committee discussed their schedule. Their next meeting will be on May 13, 2004 and they will review language of developed changes. They will then meet on May 20th, June 3rd, have a hearing on June 9th and on June 17th meet to approve their final report. The Committee then reviewed remaining changes. John Gannon reviewed his memo dated August 22nd, specifically changes to Article 2-3 which would require write-in votes for Town Meeting to have at least 10 votes. The Committee agreed to this change and also to add to 3.1 a requirement of 50 vote minimum for write-in votes for other elected bodies. The consensus was to have a lottery for ballot positions for incumbents and a separate lottery for ballot positions for non-incumbents. We will continue to list candidates for re- election after incumbents. Town Counsel noted that there was a lawsuit pending on the issue of a ballot position, and Glen Hartzler noted that once we find out how that lawsuit goes, we can make amendments if needed. John Gannon reviewed the issue of the Town Manager's severance pay. There was a lot of discussion over Section 5-1 and 5-5 subparagraph D. The consensus was that in 5-1 second paragraph, the word "contract" would be changed to employment agreement and the second sentence would be removed. In 5-5 D, determination of pay would be "as determined by the Board of Selectmen but not to exceed 12 months salary." Definition of exofficio was reviewed and with one minor change the Committee approved that language. Charter Review Committee Meeting =Apri122, 2004 - Page 4 The general sense from the Committee was for Town Counsel to develop language that u would provide that the Building Maintenance Budget for all building maintenance would be voted separately by Town Meeting, and monies could not be moved into or out of that budget without Town Meeting approval. Bill Griset asked if a couple of different alternatives dealing with this issue could be developed by Town Counsel. The Town Manager will work on the "mark up" and send it to Town Counsel. Town Counsel will then review it for language and we will e-mail/mail it to all members of the Committee in adequate time for them to review it prior to their next meeting. On motion by Brown seconded by Griset, the Charter Review Committee voted to adjourn their meeting of April 22, 2004 at 9:26 p.m. by a vote of 6-0-0. submitted,