Charter Revision Commission Meeting
SPECIAL MEETING
DECEMBER 18, 2007

Present: Richard Murphy (chair), Sharon Scaramella, Joseph Amend, Brian Gouin, Susan Malecky, Dorothy DiPiro, Carl Fitzgibbons

1. Chairman Call Meeting to Order

Chairman Murphy called the meeting to order at 7:05 PM.

2. Accept Agenda

There was a motion made by Brian Gouin to amend and accept the agenda to include the "Accept Minutes" as agenda item #3. Motion seconded by Joseph Amend. Vote unanimous, motion carried.

3. Accept Minutes

There was a motion made by Brian Gouin to accept the minutes of October 23, 2007, seconded by Joseph Amend. Vote unanimous, motion carried.

4. Public Comment: NONE.

5. Other Business

Chairman Murphy discussed the availability of funds for the attorney and said that the Board of Selectman will meet in January to approve the funds.

6. Discuss Board of Selectmen Resolution

Discussion of the BOS resolution concerning Charter Draft v.5 began. The topic of centralized accounting regarding the Board of Education was discussed. The group agreed that more clarification from an attorney was needed before making a final decision on the issue.

Joseph Amend made a motion that the BOS resolution be rejected because of inaccuracies contained therein. Motion was seconded by Brian Gouin.
AYES: Brian Gouin, Joseph Amend
NAYS: Sharon Scaramella, Richard Murphy.
ABSTAIN: Carl Fitzgibbons, Dorothy DiPiro, Susan Malecky
The motion failed.

The meeting was recessed at 7:53 PM.
The meeting resumed at 8:00 PM.

Brian Gouin made a motion that the CRC send the Charter v.5 back to the BOS as is, with the potential changes to be made as follows:

1) Centralized accounting and purchasing issue;
2) The Public Safety Commission;
3) The 500,000 expenditures cap;
4) Any typographical and formatting errors;
5) Clarification of Town Meeting vs. Special Town meetings;
6) Petition to overrule all BOS decisions;
7) Legal sign-off by Attorney Mednick

Carl Fitzgibbons made a motion to amend Brian Gouin's motion to add item 8) discussion of budget referendum process and BOS recommendations.
AYES: Sharon Scaramella, Richard Murphy, Carl Fitzgibbons, Susan Malecky, Dorothy DiPiro.
NAYS: Brian Gouin, Joseph Amend
Motion carried.

Chairman Murphy made a motion to amend Brian Gouin's motion to add item 9) 4th quarter transfers to the discussion. Motion was seconded by Sharon Scaramella.
AYES: Dorothy DiPiro, Carl Fitzgibbons, Richard Murphy, Sharon Scaramella
NAYS: Susan Malecky, Brian Gouin, Joseph Amend.
Motion carried.

The amended motion reads as follows:
CRC will send the Charter v.5 back to the BOS as is, with the potential changes to be made as follows: 1) Centralized accounting and purchasing issue; 2) the Public Safety Commission, 3) The 500,000 expenditures cap; 4) any typographical and formatting errors, 5) clarification of Town Meeting vs. Special Town meetings; 6) Petition to overrule BOS decisions; 7) legal sign-off by Attorney Mednick; 8) budget referendum process and BOS recommendations. 9) Fourth quarter transfers.
Motion seconded by Joseph Amend.
Vote unanimous, motion carried.

Discussion of Fourth Quarter Transfers:
Joseph Amend made a motion that the CRC make no changes to draft v5 Fourth Quarter Transfers. Motion seconded by Brian Gouin. Vote unanimous, motion carried.

Discussion of the budget referendum process:
Brian Gouin made a motion to keep the budget referendum process as is in draft v.5.
AYES: Brian Gouin, Joseph Amend, Susan Malecky, Dorothy DiPiro.
NAYES: Richard Murphy, Sharon Scaramella, Carl Fitzgibbons.
Motion carried.

Discussion of item 6: Petition to Overrule all BOS decisions:
Joseph Amend made a motion to keep Petition to Overrule as is. Motion seconded by Brian Gouin.
AYES: Dorothy DiPiro, Susan Malecky, Joseph Amend, Brian Gouin, Carl Fitzgibbons.
NAYES: Richard Murphy, Sharon Scaramella.
Motion carried.

Discussion of 500,000 expenditures cap:
Brian Gouin made a motion, seconded by Joseph Amend, to change section 5-2 Borrowing to increase the cap to 750,000, and to change the wording of section 3-4-2(b) to read "bonds, notes, or other obligations"
Vote unanimous, motion carried.

Discussion of Safety Commission:
Carl Fitzgibbons made a motion to eliminate the Safety Commission. The motion was seconded by Dorothy DiPiro.
Vote unanimous, motion carried.

7. Adjourn
A motion to adjourn was made by Brian Gouin and seconded by Joseph Amend. Vote unanimous, motion carried. The meeting adjourned at 9:03 PM.

Respectfully submitted,

Sharon Scaramella, CRC Member