By Beth David, Editor
At its meeting on 6/6/22, the Fairhaven Select Board discussed policies for boards and committees, including residency requirements for memberships on boards, and a participation policy, such as minimum attendance requirements. The board also held off on some appointments to committees due to the attendance, or lack thereof, of some members.
The board looked at a variety of policies from other municipalities that require all board and committee members to be residents.
SB Vice Chair Leon Correy said he thought the point was to make sure people have a vested interest in the work of the committee they are serving on.
Board member Bob Espindola said the item came up because it came to the board’s attention that at least one person on a committee is not a resident in town.
In fact, two of the members of the three-member Board of Assessors are not Fairhaven residents.
Mr. Espindola said he was concerned that a board like assessors requires a certain amount of expertise that they cannot find in Fairhaven. He also noted that town employees do not have to live in town.
The board discussed whether or not to create a bylaw, or just have a policy and how to word it, if it should be flexible with exceptions, etc.
Town Administrator Angie Lopes Ellison said she needed some guidance before she could create a policy for the board. She said a residency requirement may not be as important for some boards, such as advisory boards that do not have regulatory authority.
Ms. Espindola also said because a board like assessors is “highly technical” it would be “drastic to immediately remove them.” He said maybe they could grandfather them in until new appointments could be found.
The board seemed to come to a consensus that if there are multiple applicants, then the Fairhaven resident would get preference.
Ms. Ellison will draft a policy for the board to review and vote on at a future meeting.
In a related matter, the board discussed creating an attendance policy for committee members.
The board had a list of most committee members that they appoint, with their attendance history for the past year. Some people had rather dismal attendance, missing half or more of the meetings.
Ms. Ellison reminded the board that they have no obligation to appoint anyone to any board.
Ms. Ellison will draft a participation policy for the board to review and vote on in a future meeting.
Meanwhile, the board voted to reappoint most members of most committees, but held off on a few with poor attendance in order to talk to them and find out why and if they still want to serve on those committees.
“We are in need of active participants on the boards of this town,” said Mr. Correy.
The board also discussed whether or not they should let individual chairpersons interview and decide if an applicant is a good fit for their committee.
Ann Richard, the chair of the Sustainability Committee, reminded the board that they had discussed notifying, at the least, a chairperson when the board was about to appoint someone.
“I think it’s only fit to let the chair know,” said Ms. Richard.
Ms. Ellison reminded the board that they are the appointing authority. She said committees should have different people on them, not just those the chairperson wants.
Ms. Powers said her idea was more for the chairperson to talk to the applicant to make sure that the person knew what was involved in being on that committee.
Ms. Ellison said she was working on a packet that would explain each committee, how often it meets, what the time commitment might be, etc., to give to applicants so they would be prepared.
After the discussion, the board voted to appoint Laura Gardner to the Sustainability Committee.
During committee liaison reports, Mr. Correy announced that SRTA will be discontinuing its night service between New Bedford and Fairhaven “at some point in the future” as a result of lack of funding. The pilot program has been running for about a year. All service after 9 p.m. is on the chopping block.
Chairperson Stasia Powers reported that the Cable Advisory Committee heard from Raynham about their cable access program, which is run by a nonprofit that the town created.
Ms. Powers said they have not seen the drop in subscribers that everyone seems to be forecasting.
Fairhaven is considering options as the cable access TV for public (community) access, education and government (PEG) is funded through a percentage of subscriptions to Comcast. As more people “cut the cord” revenues are expected to drop. One option is to create a nonprofit that can raise funds to operate.
SB member Bob Espindola reported that he attended the awards ceremony for the community compact grants. Fairhaven received $250,000 for its municipal fiber project. The average award is about $150,000, he said, so Fairhaven did well this year.
Money is also going to be earmarked for designs to replace the Fairhaven-New Bedford swing bridge. Mr. Espindola said the cost of the project is more than $100 million now.
In another matter, Ms. Ellison said the search for a Human Resources Director was progressing. She said they had seven viable applicants, who will be screened by a panel that will include Finance Director/ Collector/Treasure Wendy Graves, who has been acting HR director, Fire Chief Todd Correia, Veterans Agent Brad Fish, and possibly one other person. The panel will forward three names to Ms. Ellison who will is the hiring authority.
Mr. Espindola also noted that he attended an event the Environmental Protection Agency held in New Bedford announcing $72 million from the federal government to continue the cleanup of the harbor from PCPs.
The board convened in executive session to discuss the “purchase, exchange lease or value of real property,” in regards to Atlas Tack and a consent order between DEP and the company.
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