OPEN SESSION
CHARTER COMMISSION MEETING
Administration Building
One School Street
Sharon, MA 02067
Present: Peg Arguimbau, Abigail Marsters, Andrew Nebenzahl, Suzi Peck, Paul Pietal
Absent: Allen Garf, Sam Liao, Paul Izzo, Colleen Tuck
Mr. Nebenzahl called the Open Session meeting to order at 7:05 p.m. and stated that this evening’s meeting would focus on language clarification for the proposed draft Charter and further discussion of piggyback by-laws.
Minutes
There were no minutes to come before the Commission at this time.
Correspondence
There was no correspondence to come before the Commission at this time.
Piggyback By-Laws
A. Nebenzahl stated that decisions still had to be made regarding the status of piggyback by-laws, and considering the time constraints before the Commission, he would propose language such as, “The Board of Selectmen shall, upon ratification of the Charter appoint a by-law review committee to redraft and propose changes to by-laws that are not consistent with the Charter.” M. Curran stated that all Charters include such a provision. A final report would be presented to Town Meeting a year from the date the Charter was adopted.
Areas of Discussion:
• Discussion on the language included in the Charter referring to the Legislative Committee.
• Define “town meeting” – i.e. Legislative Committee shall act as Town Meeting.
• Default provision – re: Annual town Meeting vs. Special Town Meeting.
• Lengthy discussion on the legality of defining Town Meeting as a two-phase process.
• Language clarification on Article 5.
• Lengthy discussion on the hiring process and the role of the Screening Committee and the protocol to be followed if a future employee is to serve on more than one committee/board/commission. M. Curran will formulate appropriate language – i.e. should Board of Health do the screening of technical people that would serve the Board.
• Discussion on language clarification on “electronic postings”. M. Curran to provide appropriate language.
• There was a lengthy discussion on capital outlay and long-range planning committees and how the long-range plan would be formulated and reported to the town – what language should be included in the Charter.
• There was a discussion on building maintenance town-wide.
• There was a discussion on language clarification of Article 5 – Administrative Organization.
• P. Pietal presented a detailed overview on Article 6 – Finance and Fiscal Procedures. Concerns/questions/suggestions from the Town Administrator, Superintendent of Schools, Finance Committee, Town Clerk were discussed. There was a lengthy discussion on the timelines for town/school/budget preparation as well as town meeting dates and election dates.
• There was a lengthy discussion on language for defining the budget appeal process.
• M. Curran highlighted the language changes for Article 8-5 – Time of Taking Effect
M. Curran will make appropriate language changes to the Charter that reflect this evening’s discussion (November 4th).
A. Nebenzahl asked members to review the Charter for vote article by article at tomorrow’s meeting (November 5th).
MOTION: (Marsters/Peck) Moved to adjourn the Open Session meeting of the Charter Commission.
Submitted on behalf of the Charter Committee by: Helen Campanario, Recording Secretary to the Charter Commission