Present: Selectmen Grimes, Casey, Ward, O’Donnell, Chairman Angley, T.A. LaFond and A.T.A. Bouchard.
The Chair announced the vacancies on various committees, boards and commissions.
Donation of Land:
Conservation Agent Hewins came before the Board requesting that they accept a donation of parcels located in the Cedar Swamp. The land is presently in tax title. The resident came in on Monday, December 15th and wanted to donate the land. Buzzards Bay Coalition is researching the title and deed preparation free of charge and has worked with Kopelman & Paige before. In exchange they would like to hold a conservation restriction on the land. The conservation trust fund will pay the legal review fee and may be able to pay the back taxes of approximately $26,000 on the land. Ward stated that some of the back taxes go back to 1967 and those parcels were owned by the father of the resident who wants to donate them and these taxes and interest fees would be going back into the General
Fund. LaFond stated that if parcels were foreclosed they would not be re-sold, and the Town would not be able to recover investment in a “taking of the property”. This is a benefit of having the conservation trust fund as well as an avenue to put money into the General Fund. Also, we do not have enough information on the parcels or owners to pursue these in tax title. O’Donnell stated he would want to see site plan of parcels. Motion by Ward to accept donation, second by Casey. Grimes asked why we are moving so fast and feels a lot of the parcels are useless to Town. O’Donnell stated he has difficulty paying back taxes when they have not been paid for 26 years. Ward questioned whether the land owner would reconsider donating the parcels if he did not get benefit on his 2008 taxes. Hewins responded she did not know. Ward withdrew his motion. Motion by O’Donnell to table until Hewins can
come back before the board with further information, second by Grimes. Vote unanimous.
Acceptance of Grants:
· FM Global Fire Prevention Grant in the amount of $2,920. Motion by Grimes, second by O’Donnell to accept. Vote unanimous.
· Public Safety and Security Grant in the amount of $11,400. Motion by Ward, second by Casey to accept grant. Vote 4-0-1 (O’Donnell)
· FY09 Community Policing Grant in the amount of $13,734.29. Motion by Ward, second by Grimes to accept grant. Vote 4-0-1 (O’Donnell).
Licenses:
Motion by Ward to approve all annual licenses with the provision that all required paperwork and inspections are complete, second by Grimes. Vote 4-0-1 (O’Donnell).
Mazzilli Drive:
Draft RFP was reviewed and LaFond explained the process. O’Donnell stated that this may have to be revisited and be brought back to Town Meeting for reconsideration of an auction to the high bidder. Angley stated he would like to hear more about it as this would help the Town on the affordable housing issue that protects us from 40Bs and wants to weigh the importance, and he assumes Town Meeting knew the value of voting for it. O’Donnell stated he did not know if Town Meeting knew the financial and one house is not going to have in impact right now in terms of our affordable housing target. Frank Muscato asked to speak and stated that building an affordable house makes a difference to the people getting that house. Motion to table and revisit it at the next Town Meeting,
second by Grimes. Vote 3-2.
Extension of Hours - Tiki Kye Restaurant:
Motion by Ward to extend hours of operation on New Year’s to 2 A.M., second by Grimes. Vote 4-0-1 (O’Donnell).
Constable Appointment Request:
Motion by Grimes, second by Ward to re-appoint Robert Tirrell as a constable. Vote unanimous.
Legal Services Committee RFP Discussion:
Grimes stated he thought committee was going to make presentation. Angley stated this was a discussion of the Board and the committee had already done a presentation.
Grimes stated the general outline is solid and it gets Town to the source of what we are looking with a level of expectancy and referred to several items in the RFP:
· Meeting periodically with Selectmen. Would want to define periodically
· Reference to periodic attendance by firm on educational seminars. Assume at their expense. Great idea and keeps firms up to date on what’s being done in changes in law, etc.
· Agree that Town Counsel should be in 75 mile radius and be located in Commonwealth of Mass.
· Experience with two Mass. municipalities for five years is important.
· Returning calls on from all authorized inquiries in 24 hours. It is expected, but important to make note of it. It is important on communication on who counsel is communicating with and how we are updated. Should be monitored on a short term basis initially.
· Reference to Town’s budget - we went over significantly last year, and it is pretty important to see how we can get T.C. to live within town budget with a variance of 10 to 20%
He is looking for a least a two year contract. If K & P had guidelines things could have been a lot better. Has to be enough time to make sure new town counsel gets acclimated to our way of doing business. Requirements in the RFP are very good on what our expectations are. We should think about a retainer - a reasonable one that locks them in to what we expect. This is the first time he can see that we can say what we expect from Town Counsel and he likes that.
Ward stated there were a lot of things he was uncomfortable with. He looked at the Legal Committee charge and stated what he envisioned them doing was very different from what they have done. He further stated that the Town Administrator should be sending out all RFPs. Also the Board of Selectmen should be the ones narrowing the list. He finds the proposal unacceptable in many ways in its present form, and it is prejudicial against present Town Counsel and is biased against the Town Administrator and the Selectmen because the respondents will not be sending information back to the Town Administrator who is the procurer of services. Town Counsel is supervised and permission given by the Board and Town Administrator. This needs to be a transparent process and not done in private with one
witness. He voiced further concerns with the RFP, but thinks process should continue with things being re-vamped as many things are good and we should not scrap work of the Legal Committee. This should be initiated by the Town Administrator and overseen by the Board.
Casey stated that his concerns were similar to Ward’s and asked why Kopelman and Paige was not listed among the 120 firms. RFP should be done by Town’s Procurement Officer, Rick LaFond, with the evaluating being done on respondents by the Town Administrator in conjunction with the Board. It also should be returned to the Town Administrator/Selectmen’s Office. Years ago when we started cleaning up the Police Department Mr. Kopelman came out and asked if we had the guts to go forward and it probably would be a seven year time line. He was pretty accurate. Every one of K & P’s appeals have held up and every one of them would have been a monstrous award. K & P are very professional.
O’Donnell stated that the Legal Committee has done an extremely professional job and does not know why K & P was left out and that they should be included. He also stated one year is not enough and suggests a three year timeline.
Angley stated his first thought is why do we need a different law firm. The problems the Town has been experiencing are due to the legal system rather than the law firm and cited the Police Union Contract, Police discipline issues, BATG, etc. Attorney Bowen came down several months ago and answered many of the questions that he had as well questions from the audience. He and the Finance Committee were notified of the amount of legal bills prior to Town Meeting. The Finance Committee gets monthly reports and would have been aware of the situation and should have taken steps of have LaFond increase the amount of the legal budget. The FinCom Chair believes the problem is that the budget should be a more realistic amount. The response to a budget problem is political opportunism.
There have been problems with BATG and the Police Department that has been on the front page of the newspaper for many years. Attorney Jenkins has represented the Town well in the negotiation process on the union contract in getting the best terms possible for the taxpayers of the Town. $170 per hour is extremely competitive. Before we go any further on the RFP he would like to invite Lenny Kopelman to come before the Board in open session to answer questions and Kopelman has agreed.
Paul Johnson stated politics should be taken out of the RFP process and the committee has worked hard on this issue. The Legal Committee agreed that in the beginning K & P would be included in the bid process. He does have concerns with having K & P come in to answer questions as it would give them an unfair advantage in the RFP process. Angley stated that K & P is handling the Town’s legal affairs right now, and if he has questions he wants to be able to ask them. Johnson still concerned that this might give one firm a “leg up”. Angley again stated this was an update. O’Donnell stated we could probably be sued by other law firms. Johnson stated if there are flaws in the RFP, better we find out now and learn something. If K & P is the best firm he
will vote for K & P and if the Selectmen want to take on the whole process from RFP on that is fine. Committee was going out to large amount of firms to give best bang for our money. Additional discussion followed on the draft RFP presented by the Legal Committee between Johnson and Board members. Grimes stated it is tough to keep politics out as some believe in present town counsel and some do not. It is not a bad thing. He stated he will get a petition and have the “people” do this process. This issue will not end here tonight. He has more negative than positives, but K & P could get the job anyway. Ward stated he wanted to respond to Grimes comments as he feels like he is getting threatened, and stated again he feels we need to revise the RFP and it should be initiated through the Town Administrator and overseen by the Board. He stated that he agreed with Angley on having K & P come before the Board for
an update. O’Donnell stated he agreed with Johnson that by allowing K & P to come before the Board may cause problems. Resident Padovani asked to read newspaper clipping that stated Kingston recently went with another law firm. LaFond stated that Kingston’s choice does not include labor work and that $72,000 might be high. Grimes took exception with LaFond’s comments and Angley called Grimes out of order. Grimes stated he had seven or eight major issues and that K & P should be prepared for that if they come before the Board. Angley stated this is why I want them to come in, in all fairness to them. Motion by Casey to extend invitation to Lenny Kopelman at earliest possible time to come before the Board for an update, second by Ward. Ward does not think having K & P give an update will conflict with the RFP process. Angley stated RFP probably would not be ready for two to three months.
Vote 4-1-0. Motion by Ward, second by O’Donnell that Town Administrator along with the Chairman do some reconstructing of the RFP and meet with the Legal Committee, second by O’Donnell. Ward stated he would want to go to the Legal Committee meetings. Vote unanimous.
Minutes:
Motion by Ward, second by O’Donnell to accept minutes of 10-14-08. Vote 3-0-2. Motion by Grimes, second by Casey to accept minutes of 10-28-08. Vote 4-0-1.
Selectmen Notes:
Casey wished everyone a health and happy holiday season.
Ward asked about the letter from Plymouth Selectmen on the vote on the Airport Commission. LaFond stated we had sent a letter to them, however we have received no reply. Ward stated the Makepeace Hearing is tomorrow in Plymouth. Also, Kingston sent a letter to Therese Murray requesting an amendment to the CPA legislation allowing Green initiatives be included in approved uses of CPA funds. He also wished everyone a happy holiday season.
Grimes brought up the Executive Session with Cindy Sherman. Casey stated it does not qualify for Executive Session. Grimes stated he did not agree and asked how we did it before with Ms. Sherman.
O’Donnell reminded everyone of the casino forum at the High School. He stated that Mr. Angley publicly read a letter on October 28th that inferred there may be some issues relative to his performance as a police officer and wants Angley to schedule an Executive Session to answer that within the next month. Angley questioned where in the letter did it indicate there was a problem with his performance. O’Donnell stated he would like to get to the bottom of this and find out exactly what he was referring to as Angley did read it publicly.
Angley stated we need to keep pressure up on Casino issue even thought initiative is in some trouble. Behind the scenes people are pushing it. With the loss of dog racing there is a hole to fill. Wished everyone a Merry Christmas
Grimes stated Cindy Sherman’s request for an Executive Session was for informational gathering and not any type of discipline and would like to make a motion to include her in O’Donnell’s request for an Executive Session and listen to what she has to say. It is all tied in. Ward was not here and the vote was tied. Casey asked if Grimes was suggesting to put both of these issues together. Grimes stated why wouldn’t you put them together, then corrected himself stating, I guess you would be discussing O’Donnell’s job performance, however he prefers to let her case be heard and let her present her concerns. Grimes further stated the vote was 2-2 and this is why he wants to make the motion. Casey stated if you look at placard on the reasons for Executive
Session it does not qualify. Casey stated Mr. O’Donnell’s case is completely different and he has no problem with that. Grimes stated he did not agree and it was Casey’s interpretation of the placard and we had a presentation by Ms. Sherman before in Executive Session regarding some communications concerns that was just an update and that is what she wants to do. Grimes stated he does not know how you can have an Executive Session before with Sherman and not have it now. Angley stated because there were no other personalities involved and he believes it had to do with communication policy. Grimes stated this is close to the same thing as it was a communication problem. Grimes stated his motion was on the floor. Grimes stated chapter is a lot larger than what is listed on the placard that Casey is referring to on Sherman’s request. O’Donnell stated it may be a moot issue as Sherman
may be called to testify on his issue. O’Donnell stated Grimes made the motion and anyone associated has to be notified. Motion seconded by O’Donnell. Vote unanimous.
Town Administrator Notes:
John Adams and he met with most department heads to discuss FY2010 budget submissions - level service budget with explanation on how they would accomplish it. The Speaker of the House has commented about a possible 5 to 10% cut in local aid, however no one knows what that means - 5 to 10% of what? A 10% cut it could mean a 20 to 25% payroll cut. Government is services and services are payroll. He has spoken to school representatives regarding this. He will keep everyone informed. He attended a MMA Managers Meeting last week. MMA Conference is coming up on January 23-24 and that is when the Governor traditionally comes out with is budget plans.
Both Casey and LaFond thanked Bouchard for the holiday decorations and stated that this is at her and her husband’s expense.
Motion to into Executive Session and not to return to Open Session under M.G.L. Chapter 39§ 23B, #3 to discuss strategy and conduct bargaining with non-union personnel. Roll Call Vote taken and all affirmative, no dissentions.
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