Charter Revision Commission Meeting
Regular Meeting Minutes
March 12, 2007

Present: Joseph Amend, Dorothy DiPiro Carl Fitzgibbons, Brian Gouin, Susan Malecky, Sharon Scaramella, Richard Murphy - chairman

1. Chairman Call Meeting to order
Meeting was called to order at 6:37 P.M. by Chairman Murphy

2. Accept Agenda:
Chairman Murphy read Agenda and asked if everyone approved. Commissioner Gouin made motion to accept agenda. Commissioner DiPiro seconded the motion.

3. Accept Minutes:
Chairman Murphy made motion to accept the minutes. Commissioner Gouin seconded

4. Public Comment: NONE

5. Vote to Rescind
Before the vote took place Chairman Murphy wanted to clarify that this indeed is a new commission not a continuation of the previous commission. Chairman Murphy turned to Attorney Mednick for clarification regarding a letter he obtained from the Board of Selectman Dated October 24, 2006. Attorney Mednick stated that they are indeed a new Commission although the letter stated it is a continuation of the old Commission and they were asked to review, revise, and complete the charter.

Commissioner Malecky asked Attorney Mednick if the Commission was incumbent to go back and review only specific issues raised. Attorney Mednick responded by saying as a Commission the can review any item they want or they can go and review the whole Charter from scratch. He also stated they may not want to restrict or restrain themselves from listening to opinions or objections from outside sources such as the public or finance director.

Commissioner Amend responded by saying they have to weigh the factors of the comment. Any comment from past finance director, a member of the Board of Selectman he would give no credence to. He would probably give more credence to the public, and anyone else that came before the commission and whatever they say has to be taken with a grain of salt whether we see their agenda or not.

Attorney Mednick asked that under the motion passed by the Charter Revision Commission, if it restricts their ability to raise question about those issues.

Commission Gouin said he would agree if they were not the commission that did the present draft, and restricting comment from anyone in anyway is silly, but the vote they took was to say we have gone this far and language tweaking to make it acceptable and we agreed to stand by those decisions. Commissioner Gouin personally does not think that that's restricting the process from the overall comment, but any one would agree that to some degree the vote is restricting from this day forward, but not restricting from the overall process of the last two years.

Commissioner Amend responded to Attorney Mednick's question. If someone comes before us and mentions something we have not considered, then we should consider it, or if it something we have already considered, we should refer to our notes, minutes, or reports to find out what we did, and at the point we have considered their comment. At that point we have to talk to the new Finance Director and discuss the two chapters that the Board of Selectman had problems with which were Chapter 12 dealing with the Budgetary Process and Chapter 4, which supports Chapter 12 and the timing.

Commissioner Malecky asked if "If someone came forward with new information we think is good, how does the Commission incorporate it with what we have?" Commissioner Amend responded by saying either it fits or it doesn't. However the door is open for suggestions.

Commission DiPiro suggests setting goals, dates, and getting the process going.

Commissioner Scaramella would like to keep an open mind about any new ideas that may come up and willingness to accept them. Commissioner Amend does not oppose keeping an open mind, the main point he is hearing is that the Charter needs to be reviewed from scratch.

Commissioner Fitzgibbons made a motion to "Rescind the Vote." Commission Scaramella seconded.

Ayes: Carl Fitzgibbons, Richard Murphy
Nays: Brian Gouin, Joseph Amend, Dorothy DiPiro, Susan Malecky, Sharon Scaramella,

The next two meetings are scheduled for Monday, March 19, 2007 at 6:30 P.M., and Monday, March 26, 2007.

The meeting sequence is as follows

1. Discuss notes and comments of Chapter 12 and 4 and adopt a draft
2. Speak with the Finance Director
3. Meet with Town Clerk
4. Go over Commissioner Scaramella review of Charter
5. Revise a draft
6. Meet with the Board of Selectman
7. More drafting

6. Other Business

7. Adjourn
Motion made by Chairman Murphy and seconded by Commissioner Amend to adjourn the meeting at 8:00 P.M. Motion passed unanimously.

Respectfully Submitted,

April Markham, Board Clerk