FINANCE COMMITTEE – PUBLIC SESSION
Town Hall – Conference Room 1
Minutes from the Meeting of Thursday, September 8, 2011
Committee Members Present: Also Present:
Christopher Avis, Chairman Joyce Mason, Town Manager
Charles Gasior, Vice Chairman Tom Mayo, Assistant Town Manager
Mark Davini, Clerk Michael Richardson, BOS Liaison
Robert Chalker Rodney Collins, Chief of Police
James Condon
Oskar Klenert
George Schmidt
CALL TO ORDER
Chairman Christopher Avis called the meeting to order at 6:35 PM.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
George Schmidt made a motion that the minutes of the August 8, 2011 Finance Committee Public Session be approved as submitted. Mark Davini seconded the motion. The motion was unanimously approved.
GUEST SPEAKERS
Tom Mayo – Article 17 - CPF Funding for Improvement to Pickerel Cove Rec. Area
Tom Mayo presented arguments in favor of approving the Article. There will be a 6-car parking lot, reduced from a 25-car lot. The project has been reviewed by the Police Department which does not anticipate any detrimental impact of criminal activity as a result of the project being completed.
Joyce Mason stated that a power point presentation will be used at the October Town Meeting to address any and all abutter issues. The recreation area will be free and open to the public, open from dawn to dusk, with no resident stickers required.
John Kabat – Article 16 – Funding from CPC Reserve for Restoration of Santuit Pond
John Kabat, representing the Friends of Santuit Ponds, introduced himself to the Board. Mr. Kabat presented three methods studied by AECOM. Dredging of the pond was most long lasting but estimated cost to be $12,000,000 to $16,000,000. Long range solar-driven circulation aeration was the recommended option at this time. This process will improve water quality and fisheries; bidders are prepared to offer rental or lease options: Joyce Mason stated that the RFP will include a 3-year lease option, and per Town Counsel, CPC funds can be used.
Evelyn Buschenfeld, a member of the CPA Committee, introduced herself to the Board, stating that she lives on Timberland Drive on the pond and has been working on the problem for the last 22 years and was instrumental in having a study done 22 years ago. She pointed out that property values are dropping, and the cost of the project being considered would be made up in the loss of property taxes to the town.
Don Myers – Article 24 – Amendment of Article 2.1 –Annual Town Meeting & General Election of Town By-Laws
Don Myers introduced himself to the Board as the author of Article 24, stating that this article would move the annual Town General Election which is held on the first Saturday in May following the Town’s Annual Meeting which typically places the general election on Mother’s Day weekend, to the next Saturday, if Mother’s Day is immediately following that date. Don Myers stated that the historical turnout for the May Town election has been very low compared to the number of people voting in the November State and Presidential elections.
Don Myers - Article 25 – Amendment of Article 2.1 – Annual Town Meeting Election By-Law
Don Myers was proposing that effective 1/01/13, the regular town election shall be held on the first Tuesday following the first Monday in November of each odd-numbered year. Don Myers explained that this article would move the annual Town general election which is held on the first Saturday in May following the annual Town Meeting which typically falls on Mother’s Day weekend, to November effective in 2013. This would also change the Town general elections from being held annually to being held biannually every 2 years in the odd-numbered years, opposite the even years when there are MA State elections. Don stated that this change would also reduce some of the costs incurred by the Town for holding an election each May and then again in some years in November, a savings to the Town of approximately $5000. The
terms for all elected officials on the BOS, the School Committee and the Planning Board would change from 3 years to 4 years to coincide with a bi-annual election format.
Police Chief Rodney Collins – Articles on Waterways Commission / “Second Hand” Dealers
Rodney Collins stated that in order to correct an oversight in the original warrant draft, he was recommending an article to be included that would transfer $17,419 from the Waterways Improvement Fund Account to the Waterways Maintenance Account to offset the costs of the town’s four seasonal waterways assistants. The four assistants are members of the police department staff. Joyce Mason stated that this article would be incorporated into Article 8 which addresses a $15,000 transfer from the Waterways Improvement Fund Account to the Waterways Maintenance Account.
Rodney Collins also proposed a bylaw which was prompted by a Mashpee woman’s stolen gold jewelry being melted down after being sold at a local storefront establishment. The bylaw would require dealers to provide weekly reports to the Police Department, take digital photos of each item purchased, and hold all property purchased for 30 days prior to any resale. Mr. Collins viewed the bylaw as a valuable tool for investigators to track and recover stolen property, especially jewelry.
George Schmidt – Article 23.
George Schmidt, the author of Article 23, stated that the purpose of this article is to regulate the sale of lawn fertilizer containing nutrients and contaminants, including phosphorous, to all land located within the boundaries of the Town in order to prevent their runoff from entering the Town’s rivers, ponds, lakes, oceans and its tributaries thereby reducing pollution and improving water quality as envisioned under the federal Clean Water Act. George stated that Massachusetts now outlaws the sale of detergents containing any type of phosphorous, but the problem of lawn fertilizers containing phosphorous still exists. The proposed bylaw is based upon Minnesota and Maine laws which outlaw the sale of fertilizers containing phosphorous.
George stated that the two questions that will come up regarding the proposed article will be the cost, and how it would be enforced. George felt that cost to the town would be minimal, limited to making signs and recommendations. Enforcement could be handled on a voluntary basis, by publishing the information.
Robert Chalker stated his main concern about the article was the disruption of business for companies who sell fertilizers with phosphorous. Charles Gasior recommended that the town should have a public hearing on the article with insight from the Board of Health, businesses, golf course owners and property owners.
George Schmidt summarized his remarks by stating that the AECOM study which pointed out that both road runoff and lawn fertilizer are significant factors in the phosphorous pollution of Santuit Pond, and that if phosphorous is not restricted, the Santuit Pond article will be wasted money.
OLD BUSINESS
Email Accounts – Tom Mayo
Tom Mayo reported that individual town email accounts had been set up for each committee member, and distributed instructions for use of their individual personal email accounts through the town. Mark Davini reminded the committee that they must remember to sign onto the account on a regular basis in order to receive their emails. Tom stated that if there are any questions or problems with the new accounts, they should contact the IT Department.
NEW BUSINESS
Keeper of the Budget. Christopher Avis explained the need for a Finance Committee member to assume the responsibility of keeping track of the monthly appropriation of funds by the Town Accountant’s office, with a confirmation memo of movement of funds, signed by Christopher Avis, returned to the Town Accountant.
Oskar Klenert made a motion that Mark Davini be assigned to coordinate the committee’s monthly funds appropriations. Robert Chalker seconded the motion. The motion was unanimously approved.
Approval of the Finance Committee Budget Number
Christopher Avis stated that the committee approved an appropriation of $200 at the 8/25/11 committee meeting for membership dues in the Association of Town Finance Committees.
Charles Gasior made a motion that the budget number of $200 as it stands be approved as correct. George Schmidt seconded the motion. The motion was unanimously approved.
Recommendation Approval Vote on Warrant Articles in 9/08/11 Draft
The committee voted unanimously to recommend the following warrant articles contained in the 9/08/11 draft:
Article 1, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 14, 16, 19, 20, 22, 24.
Articles 2 and 3 were pulled from the warrant.
Article 6 was approved by a vote of 4-3. Bob Chalker voted no; George Schmidt and Oskar Klenert recused themselves from the vote.
Articles 12, 13: vote was deferred for further information
Article 15: was approved by a vote of 6-1. George Schmidt voted no.
Article 17: was approved by a vote of 5-2. Bob Chalker and Oskar Klenert voted no.
Article 18: vote was deferred; Planning Board member will be invited to discuss the article further.
Articles 21/23: vote was deferred until BOS takes a position.
Article 25: no vote was taken by the committee
Robert Chalker agreed to try to find someone from the business community speak to the committee about Article 23.
NEXT MEETING
The next meeting was scheduled for Thursday, September 22, 2011 at 6:30 PM. As there was no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 9:30 PM.
Respectfully submitted,
Ina G. Schlobohm
Recording Secretary
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