Buxton Charter Commission
Meeting Minutes
October 8, 2009
Call to order
Dianne Senechal called to order the regular meeting of the Buxton Charter Commission at 7:00pm on October 8, 2009 in Buxton Town Hall large meeting room.
Roll call
Members Present: Dianne Senechal, Jennifer Barschdorf, Brent Havu, Larry Miller, Dan Collomy, May Schumacher, David Dunn
Approval of minutes from last meeting
Charter Commission Meeting Minutes September 24, 2009. A motion was made by Larry to approve minutes as amended, May seconded the motion. Approved 7-0-2
Public Comment
There was no one present in the audience.
Correspondence
An e-mail from Scott Warchol was read. May stated that it was good to get input. Jen reiterated that June is a hard time. Larry is holding comments about this subject until the Commission reaches the section of the Charter. Dan stated that March was a good time to have the meeting, and that perhaps if things change with the school consolidation issue it may be possible to change the date. Larry elaborated about how the consolidation law may contain a 2 step process for School Budget approval but was unsure if this was the reason that Buxton changed from a March to a June Town Meeting. Dianne stated that the Commission should be thinking about the Town Meeting and be prepared to discuss it when
that section of the Charter is reached.
Open issues
Dianne asked if all the members of the Commission had received the e-mails that had been sent out in regards to the job descriptions. Larry would like to see a job description for each position that reports to the Selectmen, and those listed in the Charter. May had seen Deputy Town Clerk listed in other Charters she had been studying, so she requested a job description for that position as well. David would like to see job descriptions for all positions that report to the Selectmen. Larry brought to the Commissions attention that the reporting relationships are unknown; he suggested that seeing an organization flow chart may be helpful in determining which job descriptions are needed. David reiterated seeing a job
description for each position that reports to the Selectmen would be preferable, in the case of the Deputy Town Clerk that position may need to step up into the Town Clerk position if the Town Clerk is not in the office so in that case the Deputy Town Clerk would be reporting to the Selectmen. Dianne informed the Commission that all job descriptions are available to anyone on the Commission that would like to see them. Dan let the Commission know that he had the job descriptions for each position within the Town. Not all the positions pertain to the Charter. May stated that she would like them all. Dianne informed the Commission that copies of all the job descriptions would be sent to the Commission members. Dan stated that School Board Members are listed in the Charter and that a job description for that position should be obtained. Larry responded that there are rules for the position but not
necessarily a job description.
Dianne asked the Commission if anyone had questions about the bonding material that had been sent out.
The Commission discussed and finalized the Resident Survey. David suggested that we check the survey box during the November meeting to see how many surveys had been returned. Larry made a motion that the survey as amended should be prepared and sent to the Commission for review, Brent seconded the motion. 7-0-2 Distribution for the survey was also discussed. Dianne stated that it would be available online. May asked if it could be submitted online, the response was no as it is beyond the capabilities of the Website. Larry offered that people could copy the form, complete the form and then e-mail it back. Jen stated that if people want to type their responses that would be fine as long
as the answers are clearly marked so there is no chance for misinterpretation as to which question is being answered. Dianne stated that they should be available for the November 3rd election day, and should be distributed to the libraries, she also suggested that each member of the Commission take a stack to local businesses and ask if they can be left there for the public to pick up. Larry questioned where a table could be set up on Election Day as he thought there were rules about having other information in and around the voting area. Dianne suggested that a table be placed outside the doors in the hallway, and a box for completed surveys, John can be asked, she said she would continue to think about space. Larry asked where the surveys would be printed. Dianne answered at the Town Hall.
Voter Registration and Citizenship
Larry thought good things arose from the discussion about section 3.03(a), and thought that the Commission should make the candidates be registered voters. It was decided that a new paragraph needs to be written in Section 3.03(a) to discuss declaring intent.
Brent asked where changes that are being discussed are being recorded. Jen responded that she is maintaining a copy of the charter with the suggested changes. Dianne stated that an electronic copy should be maintained with tracked changes. Brent made a motion that a draft should be formulated of changes to be made to the Charter without being approved by the attorney or voted on by the Commission. David seconded that motion. 7-0-2 It was stated that the document would need to be marked Preliminary Draft.
Larry recapped what had been discussed in the Charter thus far. Section 2 had been skipped for the time being. Section 3.01 no change, Section 3.02 has positions missing.
New business
Dianne stated that employee surveys are scheduled to be returned by October 15th. David suggested that the Commission have a workshop to review the surveys. Dianne asked about compiling the surveys. David has some ideas on how the workshop could be run. Larry questioned why the Commission was planning to look at the Employee surveys at this time as the Resident Surveys were not due back until December 1st. Jen suggested that the survey answers be compiled to have all the answers together. May would like to look at the surveys. David and Larry felt a workshop would be the beneficial. Dianne set a time for the workshop at 6pm on October 22, 2009. Brent suggested
that the Surveys be kept in a binder.
The agenda for the next meeting was set.
Jen asked the Commission to use one point person when asking Town Employees for information. Larry asked if that meant speaking with people. Jen clarified that when asking for printed materials this way it can be distributed to the entire group and should reduce any duplicate requests by the Commission. May stated that she had requested some job descriptions and the internal control document. Dan stated that the internal control document discusses the positions that control cash and the vault. Larry suggested that the Commission look at each Department head as they are stated in the Charter, then look at the job descriptions and ask questions. Larry requested a copy of the adopted Rules of the Board.
Adjournment
Dan made a motion to adjourn the meeting Larry seconded the motion. 7-0-2
The meeting was adjourned at 9:20pm.
Minutes submitted by: Jennifer Barschdorf
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