Natick Town Meeting - Fall 2002

Finance Committee
Supplemental Recommendations

FINANCE COMMITTEE

TOWN OF NATICK

MASSACHUSETTS 01760

October 9, 2002

Town Meeting Members and Citizens of Natick:

This report contains the Natick Finance Committee Supplemental Recommendations regarding five (5) articles – 2002 Fall Town Meeting Article 21, Article 29, Article 47, Article 51 and Article 52. The Finance Committee previously reported to Town Meeting that they had “no recommendation” with regard to the subject matter of four (4) of the articles mentioned herein. For the fifth article (Article 29), the subject matter has been reconsidered based on new and/or compelling information, which was made available to the Finance Committee after publishing the October 4, 2002 Finance Committee Recommendations - 2002 Fall Town Meeting.

Each of the following Supplemental Recommendations was made during a duly noticed public meeting of the Finance Committee, on October 8, 2002. We took into account comments and data gathered from sources such as the Board of Selectmen and the testimony of the 2002 Fall Town Meeting Warrant Article hearing.

We respectfully submit our Supplemental Recommendations for the 2002 Fall Town Meeting Warrant Articles for your consideration.

As always, we thank you for your support.

Respectfully Submitted,

Frank Foss, Chair

Gail Kaprielian, Vice Chair	Carol Gloff, Secretary
John Culkin	Paul Griesmer
Richard Jennett	Christopher Lee
Catherine Matzilevich	Lynn Mattice
Dominic Mirante	Jeffrey Phillips
Craig Ross	Susan Salamoff
Linda Sussman	Bruce Wright

FINANCE COMMITTEE

SUPLEMENTAL

RECOMMENDATIONS

2002 FALL TOWN MEETING

Article 21 Police Chief: Amend By-Laws – Prohibition of Skateboarding,

Roller Skating, Roller Blading, etc. in downtown

Article 29 CBRC: Fiscal Procedures

Article 47 CBRC: Junk Collectors

Article 51 CBRC: Administrative Regulations

Article 52 CBRC: Posting on Town Web Site

Please note: In an effort to assist Town Meeting Members and the Citizens of Natick in focusing on the text and substance of the Finance Committee’s supplemental recommendations and comments, the reader should focus on the bold type text provided below.

ARTICLE 21

(Police Chief)

To see if the Town will vote to amend the town by-laws by adding an article 53 to the police regulations to prohibit the use of certain types of conveyances on all public sidewalks, parking areas, and public buildings in a designated area of the downtown business district, or otherwise act thereon.

In order to preserve and protect the public and public properties, no person shall coast, ride upon, or otherwise operate any motorized or non-motorized conveyance including, but not limited to, scooters, skateboards, roller skates, and roller blades upon any public building, stairs or grounds of a public building, sidewalk, public parking area, and any pedestrian easement within the below delineated downtown business district.

Wheelchairs, walking aids, motorized or self-propelled vehicles intended to aid the disabled, strollers, carriages, or similar devices used to transport infants or young children are exempt from the provisions of this by-law.

For purposes of this By-Law the downtown business district will be that area encompassed by a line drawn from the intersection of Cochituate Street and North Main Street, southerly on North Main Street to North Avenue; Easterly on North Avenue to Franklin Street, also including northerly on Walnut to Allen Court and northerly on Washington Street for 250 feet. The area continues south on Washington Street to South Avenue; easterly on South Avenue to Mulligan Street; southerly on Mulligan Street to Wilson Street; southerly on Wilson Street to Sherman Street; westerly on Sherman Street to East Street; westerly on East Street to South Main Street; northerly on South Main Street to Pond Street; westerly on Pond Street to Palmer Avenue; northerly on Palmer Avenue to West Central Street; easterly on West Central Street to Spring Street; northerly on Spring Street to Cochituate Street, and easterly on Cochituate Street to North Main Street.

Any person violating the provisions of this by-law may be assessed a fine not to exceed fifty dollars and/or impoundment of the violating conveyance.

RECOMMENDATION: By a vote of 9-3-0, the Finance Committee recommends REFERRAL TO THE BOARD OF SELECTMEN, POLICE CHIEF, SCHOOL COMMITTEE AND TOWN COUNSEL with regard to the subject matter of Article 21.

Requires a two-thirds (2/3) vote of Town Meeting

The Finance Committee stated, on October 4, 2002, in the Finance Committee Recommendations 2002 Fall Town Meeting (“The Recommendations”) that it was “unable to garner a vote of eight (8) or more members in the affirmative. Therefore, we cannot provide a recommendation to Town Meeting, based on the information gathered during the public hearing(s).” Subsequently, at the Finance Committee October 8, 2002 meeting, it heard additional information including, but not limited to, the October 7, 2002 vote of the Board of Selectmen. The Board of Selectmen voted to support the subject matter of this article 4-0-0. The Finance Committee debated this article again and voted to refer the subject matter of this article to the affected boards and public officials for further consideration. Our referral remains founded on the “primary concerns” mentioned below:

Excerpts from the text of The Recommendations:

The purpose of this article is to add the proposed by-law to the Natick By-laws. Such addition will condition the use of scooters, skateboards, roller skates and roller blades in the downtown business district. In addition, the proposed by-law sets a fine of not more than fifty dollars ($50.00) or loss of said conveyance.

The Finance Committee was presented a modified version of the proposed article. However, during debate there seemed to be a couple of primary concerns with such. First, the proposed modification included town-owned buildings under the control and management of the School Committee. To that end, there was concern whether the by-law would conflict with any rules or regulations that the School Committee may now have in place or may promulgate in the future for these types of recreational conveyances.

In addition, the Finance Committee is concerned that the proposed modified language may be outside of the scope of the original article. Specifically, the original article sets a fairly well defined area for regulation, and the modified language provides for the regulation of recreational conveyances on a Town-owned property basis.

Motion:

Move to refer the subject matter of Article 21 to the Board of Selectmen, Police Chief, School Committee and Town Counsel.

ARTICLE 29

Fiscal Procedures

(Charter and By-Law Review Committee)

To see if the Town will vote to approve amendments to Articles 4 and 5 of the Natick Home Rule Charter for submittal to the voters in order to support the budget process currently in effect.

1. In Section 5-3, replace the second, third, and fourth sentences with the following sentences:

He shall, simultaneously, post a notice about the locations of (1) the complete proposed budget, with accompanying budget message and supporting documents, available for public examination and (2) copies of a general summary of the proposed budget available for public distribution. The general summary shall specifically indicate any major variations from the current budget and the reasons for such changes.

2. In Section 5-6, replace subsections (a) and (b) with a new subsection (a) that reads as follows:

(a) Review - The finance committee shall forthwith, upon receipt of the proposed budget, schedule a series of public meetings to review the proposed budget. The finance committee shall consider the detailed expenditures proposed by each town agency and may confer with representatives of any town agency in connection with its review and consideration. The finance committee may require the town administrator, or any other town agency, to furnish it with such additional information as it may deem necessary to assist it in its review of the proposed budget.

3. In Section 5-6, replace subsection (c) with a new subsection redesignated as subsection (b) that reads as follows:

(b) Presentation to the Representative Town Meeting - The finance committee shall file a report containing its recommendations for actions on the proposed budget within a time fixed by by-law. The proposed budget presented to town meeting for action shall be the budget recommended by the finance committee.

4. In Section 5-7, in the section title, in the first sentence, and in the second sentence, change the words “capital improvement program” to read “capital plan.”

5. In Section 5-7, in the first sentence, change the words “at least thirty days prior to the date fixed by by-law for the submission of the proposed operating budget” to read “on dates fixed by by-law.”

6. In Section 4-2 (8), change the words “capital outlay program” to read “capital plan.”

RECOMMENDATION: By a vote of 12-0-0, the Finance Committee recommends FAVORABLE ACTION with regard to the subject matter of Article 29.

Requires a two-thirds (2/3) vote of Town Meeting.

The Finance Committee stated in The Recommendations that it was providing a “Majority Report of the Finance Committee and a Minority Report of the Finance Committee”. Subsequently, at the Finance Committee October 8, 2002 meeting, the Finance Committee heard new information with regard to the subject matter of the Minority Report compelling the Finance Committee to reconsider its initial vote and to modify its motion provided in The Recommendations.

Specifically, the additional language in the motion provided herein more clearly exemplifies current text in the Natick Home Rule Charter (“Charter”), the current intent of such text in the Charter and today’s Finance Committee current review practices. To that end, the Finance Committee voted unanimously to support the subject matter of this article, as amended in the motion provided below (see 2^nd “Item 2” of motion) .

Original text of The Recommendations:

Please Note: There is a provided herein, in accordance with the applicable laws of the Town.

Majority Report of the Finance Committee

(Eight (8) members voting in the affirmative)

An explanation of the purpose of this article and a rationale for the same are provided below. Such was provided by the Charter and By-law Review Committee’s report on this article to the Finance Committee, which was entered into the Finance Committee hearing record and proceeding for the 2002 Fall Town Meeting Warrant.

Purpose

Support the budget process currently in effect.

Rationale

The proposed changes seek to describe an approach consistent with current practice.

Providing the general summary of the proposed budget and other related information to those who want it should be the focus of efforts related to dissemination of budget materials. At the current time, publishing the general summary of the proposed budget in the newspaper is seldom adequately performed, probably because of expense.

Also, placing a notice in the newspaper about a major public hearing on the proposed budget seems to be overemphasized, whereas the reality is that the review of the budget, with appropriate input from the public, takes place over a series of multiple meetings.

The reason for suggesting terminology changes ("capital plan" in place of "capital improvement program") is simply to have an acceptable expression that includes both "capital expenditures" and "capital improvements", as those financial expressions are customarily used in the Town.

The CBRC provided the Finance Committee with a redlined document illustrating the changes from the existing text of the Charter. Please refer to Appendix A, Page 15, for the proposed text change related to this article.

The Finance Committee also received from Town Counsel a document summarizing the legal review of the CBRC’s documentation regarding this article and the warrant article itself. Town Counsel’s review was entered into the Finance Committee hearing record and proceeding for the 2002 Fall Town Meeting Warrant. In summary, the Town Counsel concluded the following:

“In my opinion the amendments proposed by Article 29 of the warrant present no legal impediments. They are a matter for the legislative judgment of town meeting.”

For a complete read of Town Counsel’s review, please refer to Appendix B, pages 19-22 (handwritten page numbers).

The Finance Committee also heard testimony from the public, which was also entered into the record of the Warrant Hearing. In consideration of the complete record, the Finance Committee came to the above recommendation for this article.

Minority Report of the Finance Committee

(Six (6) members voting in the negative, with a

seventh member executing the Minority Report)

A minority strongly disagrees with the recommendation of the Finance Committee. The proposed article deletes a crucial power of the Finance Committee in the current Charter to amend the Town Administrator’s proposed budget. The existing Charter in Article 5, Section 5-6 (c) provides “[w]hen the proposed budget (of the Town Administrator) is before Town Meeting for action it shall first be subject to amendment, if any, by the finance committee”. The proposed Charter change eliminates the clear reference to this amendment power and is not in the interest of either Town Meeting of the Town.

MOTION:

Move to approve the amendment of Articles 4 and 5 of the Natick Home Rule Charter as stated in the warrant article, but with the following changes:

In Item 2, in the new subsection (a), in the first sentence, add at the end of the sentence the following words:

and shall provide for the publication in a local newspaper of a notice stating the dates, times, and places of the meetings.

In Item 2, in the new subsection (a), at the end of the new subsection (a) add the following sentence:

Before the proposed budget is presented to town meeting, it shall first be subject to amendment, if any, by the finance committee.

ARTICLE 47

Uniform Regulation of Junk Collectors

(Charter and By-Law Review Committee)

To see if the Town will vote to amend the Town of Natick By-Laws in order to regulate the activities of junk collectors in a way consistent with those of other solicitors and canvassers.

1. In Article 52, rewrite Section 2 to read as follows:

A solicitor or canvasser is defined as any person who, for himself, or for any other person, firm or corporation travels by foot, automobile or any other type of conveyance from place to place, from house to house, or from street to street, for any of the following purposes: (1) taking or attempting to lease or take orders for retail sale of goods, wares, merchandise, or services; (2) selling, distributing, exposing for sale or soliciting orders for magazines, books, periodicals or other articles of a commercial nature; (3) collecting, by purchase or otherwise, junk, old metals, and secondhand articles; (4) contracting for all home improvements or for services to be performed in the future. The definition applies whether or not such individual has, carries or exposes for retail sale a sample of the subject of such sale or whether he is collecting advance payment on such retail sales.

2. Delete Article 73 in its entirety.

RECOMMENDATION: By a vote of 12-0-0, the Finance Committee recommends REFERRAL TO THE BOARD OF SELECTMEN AND POLICE CHIEF with regard to the subject matter of Article 47.

Requires a MAJORITY VOTE of Town Meeting.

The Finance Committee made “NO RECOMMENDATION” in The Recommendations with regard to the subject matter of this article because it could not garner a vote of eight (8) or more members in the affirmative. Subsequently, at the Finance Committee October 8, 2002 meeting, a motion was made with regard to this article. The Finance Committee debated the subject matter of this article again and voted unanimously to refer the subject matter of this article to the affected Town board and public official for further consideration.

Original text of The Recommendations:

Purpose

Regulate the activities of junk collectors in a way consistent with those of other solicitors and canvassers.

Rationale

The regulation of junk collectors is no longer a "may" but a "shall". Regulation is done in a way consistent with the regulation of other solicitors and canvassers.

The CBRC provided the Finance Committee with a redlined document illustrating the changes from the existing text of the By-law. Please refer to Appendix A, Page 65, for the proposed text change related to this article.

“In my opinion the words ‘or otherwise’ in proposed new item 3) of Article 52, Section 2 present a legal problem because they could be applied to impermissibly restrict charitable solicitation.”

For a complete read of Town Counsel’s review, please refer to Appendix B, Pages 58 and 59 (handwritten page numbers).

Motion:

Move to refer the subject matter of Article 47 to the Board of Selectmen and Police Chief.

ARTICLE 51

Administrative Regulations

(Charter and By-Law Review Committee)

To see if the Town will vote to amend Article 41 of the Town of Natick By-Laws in order (1) to remove the reference to the non-existent Central Equipment Purchasing Committee; (2) to recognize the role of the Town Administrator in disposal of property as described in the Charter; (3) to remove references to "written" ballots; and (4) to modify the list of regulations.

1. In Section 1, in the first paragraph, in the second sentence, after the word "except", delete all words to the end of the sentence and add the phrase "for the purchase of equipment and services for the School Department."

2. In Section 5, after the phrase "certify in writing", delete all words to the end of the section and add the following:

to the Town Administrator who may refer the matter of disposal to the Board of Selectmen. The Board of Selectmen may, in turn, refer the matter to Town Meeting or shall vote to direct the Town Administrator to abandon, to trade, or to sell such property at a private or public sale.

3. In Section 11, in the first paragraph, in the second sentence, delete the words "or written".

4. In Section 12, in the associated table, add a new item to the list as follows:

School Committee Policy Manual School Committee Superintendent of Schools

RECOMMENDATION: By a vote of 12-0-0, the Finance Committee recommends REFERRAL TO THE BOARD OF SELECTMEN, TOWN ADMINISTRATOR AND SCHOOL COMMITTEE with regard to the subject matter of Article 51.

Requires a MAJORITY VOTE of Town Meeting.

The Finance Committee made “NO RECOMMENDATION” in The Recommendations with regard to the subject matter of this article because it could not garner a vote of eight (8) or more members in the affirmative. Subsequently, at the Finance Committee October 8, 2002 meeting, motions were made with regard to this article. The Finance Committee debated the subject matter of this article again and voted unanimously to refer the subject matter of this article to the affected Town boards and public official for further consideration.

Original text of The Recommendations:

Purpose

(1) Remove the reference to the non-existent Central Equipment Purchasing Committee;

(2) Recognize the role of the Town Administrator in disposal of property as described in the Charter;

(3) Remove references to "written" ballots; and

(4) Modify the list of regulations.

Rationale

The proposed changes updates the administrative regulations.

The CBRC provided the Finance Committee with a redlined document illustrating the changes from the existing text of the By-law. Please refer to Appendix A, Page 73, for the proposed text change related to this article.

“In my opinion the amendments proposed in Article 51 of the warrant present no legal impediments. They are a matter for the legislative judgment of town meeting.”

For a complete read of Town Counsel’s review, please refer to Appendix B, Pages 77 through 79 (handwritten page numbers).

Motion:

Move to refer the subject matter of Article 51 to the Board of Selectmen, Town Administrator and School Committee.

ARTICLE 52

Posting on Town Web Site

(Charter and By-Law Review Committee)

To see if the Town will vote to amend the Town of Natick By-Laws in order to list items to be included on the Town web site so that there will be more uniformity in the types of information provided by all Town agencies.

Add a new Section 13 to Article 41 to read as follows:

Section 13 Posting on Town Web Site

Any notice or other document that is required to be posted on the Town bulletin board, at specified locations in the Town, or in a newspaper of general circulation in the Town in accordance with any provision of the General Laws, the Charter, or the By-Laws shall also be made available on the official Town web site. Documents referenced in Section 12, official minutes of meetings, requests for proposals, lists of fees for permits and licenses, and forms used by the general public to do business with the Town shall be accessible on the Town web site. The Town Administrator shall establish procedures that readily permit those responsible for posting notices or publishing documents to accomplish posting on the Town web site.

RECOMMENDATION: By a vote of 9-3-0, the Finance Committee recommends REFERRAL TO THE TOWN ADMINISTRATOR with regard to the subject matter of Article 52.

Requires a MAJORITY VOTE of Town Meeting.

The Finance Committee made “NO RECOMMENDATION” in The Recommendations with regard to the subject matter of this article because it could not garner a vote of eight (8) or more members in the affirmative. Subsequently, at the Finance Committee October 8, 2002 meeting, motions were made with regard to this article. The Finance Committee debated the subject matter of this article again and voted to refer the subject matter of this article to the affected public official for further consideration.

Original text of The Recommendations:

Purpose

List items to be included on the Town web site so that there will be more uniformity in the types of information provided by all Town agencies.

Rationale

The requirement is added to the By-Laws to post certain types of information on the Town web site, to better serve the town’s constituents by providing access to information via the Internet.

The CBRC provided the Finance Committee with a redlined document illustrating the changes from the existing text of the By-law. Please refer to Appendix A, Page 75, for the proposed text change related to this article.

“In my opinion the amendments proposed in Article 52 of the warrant present no legal impediments. They are a matter for the legislative judgment of town meeting.”

For a complete read of Town Counsel’s review, please refer to Appendix B, Page 79 (handwritten page numbers).

Motion:

Move to refer the subject matter of Article 52 to the Town Administrator.

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updated October 10, 2002 by MK