Inter-Municipal Cooperation Committee
Minutes of Wednesday, December 17, 2008 - 10:00 a.m.
Location:
Wellfleet COA, 715 Old Kings Highway, Wellfleet, MA
Present:
Sheila Vanderhoef, Eastham Town Administrator; David Schropfer, Eastham Selectman;Sharon Lynn, Provincetown Town Administrator; Michele Couture, Provincetown Selectman; Pam Nolan, Truro Town Administrator; Curtis Hartman, Truro Selectman; Paul Sieloff, Wellfleet Town Administrator; Ira Wood, Wellfleet Selectman; Phil Smith, Truro Finance Committee Member; Patricia Foley, Wellfleet Finance Committee Member; Thomas Thurston, Provincetown Finance Committee Member; Tom Coen, Provincetown Finance Committee Member; Joe Bayne, Eastham Finance Committee Member; Glenn Olson, Eastham Fire Chief; Gary Sorkin, Wellfleet Housing Authority.
The meeting was called to order at 10:05 a.m.
David Schropfer welcomed the committee members and guests.
Approval of minutes of 12/3/08: Mr. Wood moved to approve the minutes as written. Ms. Couture seconded it. Approved unanimous.
Discussion with Glenn Olson
Chief Olson discussed the history of mutual aid on the Cape. Fire Departments have continually and regularly assisted each other. He noted that this is particularly important in the summer when the population increases on the Cape. He said that there are some difficulties with the Fire Departments using identical vehicles because of different needs within different departments and therefore joint bids, as an example, for three ambulances for three departments would be very complicated.
Discussion on General Inter-municipal Issues
David Schropfer and Shelia Vanderhoef noted that the Town of Eastham is meeting with the Town of Orleans to discuss potential sharing of Police Departments. At this time the discussions are still very preliminary. One of the major factors involved is that the Eastham Police Chief is retiring early next year.
Paul Sieloff suggested that all four Towns communicate with each other whenever a Department Head leaves or retires or whenever buildings are planned or major equipment purchases are planned such as those purchased through a Capital Plan.
There was a discussion on when the committee should create and forward the 90 day report that it has been tasked to create. It was also suggested that committee members go back to their Boards and report on the committee meetings and distribute to the Boards the Minutes to the committee meetings. There was also a discussion on the possible invitation of the Barnstable Sheriff to come to a future meeting to discuss inter-municipal opportunities.
Discussion- Finance Chairs
At this point in the meeting, David Schropfer introduced the finance committee members attending the meeting. Pat Foley from Wellfleet reported that the Lower Cape Finance Committee group is meeting and is comparing budgets among the Towns. She said that there is also a Nauset School Group which is only discussing the School District. At this point the representatives from Truro expressed their strong concerns that school consolidation should probably not be a topic for discussion at these meetings and that less controversial topics should be the focus of discussions. Representatives from Provincetown agreed that school consolidation would be a very difficult process but they should work with Truro and Wellfleet for any opportunities of cooperation. Pam Nolan offered on another topic, that 9-11 Communications in the
state of Rhode Island and in the County of Onondaga, New York, have only one unified dispatch system.
Upcoming meetings
The next meeting is on Jan 13th in Provincetown. Potential future invitees include: the Cape Area Technology Managers [CATMAN] and Mark Zielinsky and Shelia Lyons from Barnstable County. The meeting on Jan 27th is in Eastham. Shelia Vanderhoef suggested that MMA might have some resources to assist regional services and that State DLTA funds are available from the Cape Cod Commission. Requests for funding are due Jan 9th, 2009.
Also the group agreed to consider cooperating on Transfer Stations and that each Town should send their schedules around.
Ira Wood introduced Gary Sorkin who stated he was very happy that he was invited to the meeting. The Committee agreed to try to discuss Inter-municipal housing issues at its February meeting.
David Schropfer suggested that a meeting of all four Town Boards be held in the Wellfleet COA building because of the size of the meeting room that is available.
Adjournment
David Schropfer moved to adjourn. Paul Sieloff seconded. Approved unanimous. The meeting was adjourned at 11:15 a.m.
Respectfully Submitted,
David Schropfer, Eastham Selectman
Paul Sieloff, Wellfleet Town Administrator
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