Back to Board of Selectmen Meeting Minutes
June 1, 2010
Regular Session 7:00 pm
Mr. Rabuffo, Ms. Burns
There were no questions from the public.
Selectmen Reports
Ms. Burns read a letter from Helen Beal regarding the outstanding service provided the public by Janice Whelan to residents using the Transfer Station. Mr. Rabuffo reported that yesterday’s Memorial Day events both at the High School and Linden Ponds were well attended and a very nice. He also said he had been advised that the donors of the Ward Street fields have made a decision to proceed with two grass fields and a gravel parking lot. The Library auction raised over $19,000 and the Hingham Education Foundation raised over $42,000. Mr. Paicos reported that the Town Hall had been struck by lightning early this morning resulting in extensive damage to the phones and computer system. Almost everyone is back on line but there are still a few computers and phones are out of service. Mr. Paicos also met with Personnel Board representatives on the deputy town administrator job descriptions this morning. It is hoped that a week from Thursday at the Personnel board meeting they will either approve the job descriptions or make other recommendations.
New North Church
The New North Church has been dealing with a visibility and safety problem. Mr. Thayer said the shrubbery is 75 years old and creates a public safety issue. He presented a conceptual plan for replacement of the existing shrubbery. It is hoped that the new shrubbery could be in place by the end of the summer. The new plan will take the steep grade between the sidewalk and street into account.
Voted - to approve the removal of the old shrubs and installation of new shrubs in accordance with the landscaping plan as provided, or similar. This is designed to be appropriate to the slope. The church will find a way to make sure the plants become well established.
Educational Legislation and Unfunded Mandates
Dr. Galo said that several pieces of legislation came to her attention in early March and she forwarded them to people she felt might be interested in these items. There is an effort to freeze the tuition for students in private placements but there is no guarantee that all will be frozen. The School Department will not know about any of these until the beginning of the school year. If this legislation is funded the town would receive 75% of the tuition as compared to the current 40% funding. The difference is quite significant.
Dr. Galo said that as of this morning the Chapter 70 budget is holding at a 4% cut. That includes the level funding of C. 70 and the amount of money that would bring every community to foundation level. We have the $950,000 that we used in this year’s budget in hopes that it would be replaced in the budget for next year. The $950,000 was not appropriated at town meeting and there is now state money for FY 11 in its place. The second thing from state budget we are anticipating 40% state funding at circuit breaker – it should be at 75% funding. The Metco budget has been reduced by 5%.
Dr. Galo presented a list of mandates called the superintendent’s check list. Much of this has to do with notifications and sign-offs. These are extremely time consuming and onerous. Other government mandates that are burdensome In terms of the staff time include civil rights data collection in the format required by the state reporting system, disciplinary infractions report, Title IX Compliance review, Ethics Law Training, OSHA compliance reviews, bullying law training and the MSBA survey of all schools.
A few suggestions were made by Dr. Galo:
1. Continually monitor proposed legislation and whether the impact is direct or indirect.
2. Request legislators include a cost of impact of the proposed legislation particularly those to which they attach their names. Inclusion of a cost/benefit analysis could be useful.
3. Advocate for full funding of circuit breaker. Special Education is a huge financial mandate. The state is not funding it to the level required.
4. Establish an email network of people who are willing and ready to read and look at items and contact legislators with questions.
5. Enhance communities’ understanding as to how legislation is impacted locally. Get more and better information out about mandates. We have to do a better job.
6. As we move through the budget process we have to look at the amount of time and the people needed to perform tasks. We have to understand how different education is compared to what it was.
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Ms. Burns remarked that it would be great to have community discussion about those topics. She wondered about the law that says if the state proposes an unfunded mandate you can apply to be exempted. Mr. Paicos noted that the issue of unfunded mandates was studied by a blue ribbon commission a few years ago but not a single mandate was reversed. Mr. Rabuffo said the answer continues to be to remind the public and to raise the awareness of this mandates.
Cable TV Advisory Committee
Mr. Rabuffo said he was anxious to get things going and asked Ms. Peavey to put things in priority order. Channel 97 is Hingham’s new Comcast public access channel that has a bulletin board and there is some programming from the Mass Medical Society. There will be a website submittal option for the bulletin Board. The Committee has identified a number of places where it can get free programming content. Two people at the library will be trained on the studio in a box. Verizon is in the process of installing the public access and government channels. They are putting a connection in at the library that will allow broadcasting. The studio in a box has been purchased but there will be training for people in order to do filming. There will be a need for more cameras for the filming of meetings. It is thought that this will be an ever increasing demand and the Committee recommended that the Town Administrator be allowed to authorize the purchase of cameras. Mr. Paicos raised the issue that under Item 1 there will be a volunteer committee member making the decision if something is inappropriate for young children so, therefore, that programming should be aired at night. Mr. August suggested that the person submitting programming should include a statement as to the suitability of that programming for children.
The Committee also requested that the Board authorize $8,574 for equipment for the educational channel. The existing equipment is outdated and this new equipment will be able to be programmed remotely. The Committee also mentioned that the TV production courses at the high school could be funded from the cable fund and that these courses will provide a set of volunteers.
Voted - Approve the expenditure of $8,574 of broadcast equipment as outlined in the memo as well as the expenditure of a .2 FTE salary for the Library media specialist which will include the cost of an extra class and a stipend for 50 hours per year to run the educational channel.
Ms. Burns said the next issue to be discussed is how to go about setting up the public access corporation and how to set up the public access channel. The bylaws and articles of incorporation have been provided. The real meat would be in the contract that the Board of Selectmen signs to set up the corporation. When Mr. August questioned said the majority of city and town managers and administrators have determined that an RFP is not necessary to set up a public access company. This has been a “hands off” policy. He explained that there is a significant list of exemptions from C.30B. C.166A of the general laws provides for how cable goods are procured. There are about 170 cities and towns with selectmen-created access companies. When selectmen are acting as a licensing authority and there is a licensing statute they can implement and execute what is covered in the license. There is an exemption in 30B for services that are to provide a charitable service to the community at large. This is not subject to the uniform procurement act.
It was suggested that the fiscal year be July 1 to June 30 which is the same schedule as the town. Ms. Burns said the Board of Directors should be guided by open meeting policy and if that is not included in the by-laws the directors are not bound by the Open Meeting Law. One question is how many directors and who appoints them. After the initial appointments the Board of Selectmen cannot have a majority of appointments to the Board of Directors. R. Rabuffo remarked that putting a government official on the Board of Directors could murk the lines. Mr. August said that If there is a minority position on the Board of Directors it will not cross the line into governmental. Ms. Burns and Mr. Rabuffo suggested that in the long run there be no governmental appointees on the board. Ms. Burns said that the Board of Directors becomes self nominating after a while. with the members electing the members.
Mr. Rabuffo asked how these corporations get in trouble and how to avoid the problems. Mr. August recommended that things be as open and transparent as possible. The annual reports should include outputs such as programming hours, membership and training. Ms. Peavey said that she had included the name of the corporation in the paperwork– Hingham Community Access and Media, Inc. Ms. Burns suggested the annual meeting be held in October or November because that would allow people to review the books that closed in June. Mr. August said that most access corporations have a five year contract with the board of selectmen.
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The Board felt that some of the questions had been resolved. Mr. Rabuffo suggested that the Cable Committee think about the number of directors. The Corporation will not get set up until the Board is satisfied. It is important to appoint people who are interested and anxious to be involved. It was suggested that there be a public service announcement for airing on the public channel.
National Grid
The Board noted that it had voted to give grants location to National Grid subject to a letter of agreement. At 5:15 this evening Town Counsel called to say that we are almost there.
Tax Increment Financing Agreements
Mr. Paicos reported that the Office of Business Development wanted a letter indicating that there was no side agreement that would return money to the Town. He said that we would tell them that we do have a side agreement but the money does not accrue to the General Fund. The Town will make a filing to say that it is not deriving any tax benefit from this since the money that is returned to the Town is used for economic development, not general fund expenditures. If the State disapproves this the Board has the option to say “we are foregoing the TIF.” The Office of Business Development has served notice that they will not approve future TIFs if the Town is not willing to put its tax money on the line.
Voted - to approve the Shipyard TIF for an additional year under the same conditions that had been previously approved.
Voted - To appoint Alan McKenna as an Alternate to the Zoning Board of Appeals for a one year term.
Voted- to appoint Virginia LeClair to the Energy Action Committee.
Mr. Rabuffo noted that Kerry Ryan is engaged in doing some work for the Board of Selectmen as special counsel. His firm does some legal work for the Town Treasurer so it is necessary that he file a disclosure to that effect.
Vote - to sign a Disclosure of Financial Interest by Special Municpal Employee and Approval By OF Exemption for Attorney Kerry Ryan.
Mr. Rabuffo said he had a discussion with the Chairman of the Recreation Commission and the plan is to meet in joint session in order to appoint members to the Recreation Commission to serve until the next town election. He remarked that this is a great opportunity for anyone who is interested in sports or town government. Interested parties should call the office for further information.
Voted, by roll call vote, to adjourn to executive session to discuss strategy with respect to contract negotiations
Ms. Burns – yes
Mr. Riley – yes
Mr. Rabuffo - yes
Open session adjourned 9:10 pm.
Betty Foley, Clerk