By Beth David, Editor
Fairhaven Town Meeting members spent the whole day on Saturday, 6/12, and a couple of hours Monday night getting through 60 articles on the annual TM warrant.
In addition to the usual budget and capital spending items, TM voted on a number of bylaws changes, including the addition of a short-term rental bylaw; voted to change the name of the Board of Selectmen to “Select Board”; approved changing the Select Board from three to five members; voted to continue the option for the public to join meetings remotely; voted to create a Charter Committee; and rejected a proposal for the Rogers School 1950s addition to be leased.
The meeting was held remotely, with Town Moderator Mark Sylvia and other town representatives at the Hastings Middle School and all TM members signing in via Zoom.
The budget warnings came early, with Finance Committee chairperson Padraic Elliott telling TM members that the town is using $285,000 from the Stabilization Fund to balance the budget. Reminding members that it is not sound fiscal practice to use one time money for ongoing expenses, Mr. Elliott asked members not to change any money items in the carefully balanced $54.3 million budget.
“We are still not quite out of the woods financially,” said Mr. Elliott, and noted that free cash reserves are depleted to 3% of the budget instead of the 5-6% recommended.
The very first spending item did see an increase by $200, to go to the Town Moderator, who has been at the $800/year mark for many years.
“It’s awkward for me,” said Mr. Sylvia as they ran through the process for the amendment.
Diane Hahn said that the moderator deserved extra due to all the extra work he has to do creating a Zoom Town Meeting. Her idea to take the money from the Select Board member salaries, however, did not pass.
A motion to add a full time administrative assistant for the conservation department did not pass.
TM member Ann Richard, said that Conservation Agent Whitney McClees works a lot of overtime and has secured $256K in grants for the town. She would be able to concentrate on grants more if she had an assistant to handle clerical tasks.
Mr. Elliott said he hated to be the “bad guy,” but that the town was in a “make ends meet budget” and the position would have to wait for another time. He said FinCom denied many requests, including one for an additional dispatcher for the police department.
The change did not pass. TM approved the rest of the operating budget.
Two articles placed on the warrant by citizen petition relating to the Select Board and not supported by two of the sitting SB members passed. The SB had voted in previous meetings not to change the name, “Board of Selectmen” to “Select Board.” Article 46, however, rebuffed their need to stick with tradition and dragged them into the 21st century by renaming the board.
With a bit more discussion, article 47 also passed, which will change the Select Board from three members to five, another item the current board, 2-1, denied.
Former Select Board member Mike Silvia invoked the memory of the French Revolution and the Soviet Union to say that smaller groups are more efficient. Alas, the meeting was via Zoom, so this reporter could not hear the chuckles and guffaws that surely must have escaped from many a TM member’s mouth.
Mr. Silvia said the article was in response to “current personalities.”
Robert Grindrod agreed, saying it was an “overreaction to a current situation that is incredibly unusual.”
Rich Griffiths said they looked at it some years ago and found the towns with five member boards were happy with it.
“Forget the French Revolution and massive committees running governments,” said Mr. Griffiths. “That’s not what this is about. This is about a well tried approach to government.”
“I call this an easy no-brainer,” said Phil Washko, adding the town has seen how disfunctional a three-person board can be.
“I’ve never heard of a community going from five to three,” said Mr. Washko.
The article passed 101-56.
In another blow to the expressed wishes of two Select Board members, TM voted to continue to allow remote participation by the public. At a recent SB meeting, two board members voted to stop remote participation, with Mr. Espindola voting to retain it.
Anne Morton Smith petitioned the article and told TM that the past year had many hardships, but there were a “few silver linings.”
One of those was widespread remote access to meetings which resulted in more participation by the public. She said she believed everyone benefited from the remote access.
“Life is complicated,” said Ms. Smith, adding that the thought of returning to the days when we had to go to town hall and wait until 8:45 p.m. to speak on an issue, is “incomprehensible.”
She said it might cost more to implement but the loss of remote participation is a “far greater loss to the community.”
Cable TV director Derek Frates said the town could get a Zoom business account for about $2,000 a year. He would, however, need more staff to continue the hybrid meetings. He also said only one room is currently set up for hybrid coverage. It would cost about $10,000 to set up an additional room.
The Cable enterprise account, however, has more than enough funds to cover that cost.
Complicating the matter is that the Select Board voted to end remote participation as of 6/15, said Mr. Frates.
Wayne Hayward of the Planning Board said his board has tried running meetings with the town planner trying to run the Zoom access, and it was difficult. He said every board deserves a designated operator for the Zoom platform.
He noted the open meeting law for remote participation only applies to the public, not board members.
John Farrell, the Planning Board chairperson wrote in the Zoom chat that he supported the article.
“We need to support all reasonable access and participation to our citizens,” wrote Mr. Farrell, presumably because he was having audio issues. “We have demonstrated the ability to provide this access effectively and efficiently, and I request we continue to do so.”
“Let’s keep this in perspective,” said Phil Washko. “This is really meant for the benefit of the public.”
He said the town can overcome the technical challenges.
“We have all benefited from remote participation,” said Mr. Washko. “Let’s get this done.”
Ann Richard noted that many more people have participated in town government due to remote participation.
The article passed by a wide margin.
Town Meeting did not go for a proposal to lease the 1950s addition of the Rogers School to the Southeastern Massachusetts Educational Collaborative (see related story on page 3).
Members of the Rogers Re-use Committee have been negotiating with SMEC, but when it went before the Select Board, Town Counsel Tom Crotty notified them that Michael Ristuccia, who is a member of the Board of Health, and his grandson, Zachary Mayo of New England Preservation, have sued the town over the use of the property. The Select Board terminated the purchase and sale agreement with NEP for failure to meet the requirements, and the company sued. The case is pending in court.
Catherine Cooper, executive director of SMEC, said the organization is growing. They have a waiting list and have been looking for space to run the programs for the special needs students they service.
The article asks for $475,000, and Rogers Re-use Committee chairperson Sue Loo said the town would receive that back in rent from SMEC, which is also putting in $250,000 to rehab the building.
The town would pay for a new roof, removal of asbestos floor tiles, new windows, new fire alarm, sprinkler system, and parking lot repairs. SMEC will rehab the inside of the building and make it compliant with the American with Disabilities Act (ADA).
Ms. Loo said it would not interfere with any interest in the main building, but others disagreed.
Ms. Loo said if the building continues to deteriorate it could cost up to $800,000 just to demolish it.
“Please base your decision on facts and not myths circulated on social media,” said Ms. Loo.
Select Board member Bob Espindola said simply that rushing into the deal was not in the best interests of the town. He said the fall TM would be a better time to take it up. He also showed slides with mold in the building, and pointed out other problems that he said he believed have not been addressed.
He also noted that the lawsuit was not resolved, but could be by the fall TM. While SMEC considers their options, he said, the town should issue a request for proposals. The town issued RFPs to sell the building, but not to lease it.
Wayne Hayward pointed out that the addition was always slated to be torn down. He said the lease affects the future viability of the whole property. Imagine, he said selling your home, but the garage is leased.
Ann Richard said the building was no longer viable for students and asked why SMEC would want that building instead of others that must be available.
Ms. Cooper said they sent out three RFPs and had no response. She said the building will be completely rehabbed.
“You’re correct,” she said. “We would not put our students in a facility that is not safe.”
She said all the issues mentioned would be remedied.
Gary Lavalette pointed out that the two buildings are connected.
“That’s a wiring nightmare, it’s a plumbing nightmare, it’s a heating nightmare,” said Mr. Lavalette.
The article failed 48-103.
Town Meeting also voted to created a nine member Charter Committee. The new committee would look at all the town’s bylaws, the structure of town government, with the goal of presenting a proposed charter at next year’s annual TM.
Kyle Bueno, who petitioned the article, said the advantages of the charter vs. the collection of bylaws that the town now has include flexibilty. Now, if the town wants to change a bylaw, it has to go to the state legislature before it is enacted.
The article asks for $10,000 to pay for the expenses of the committee. Mr. Bueno said some of the money would be used for a consultant, some for documents. The goal, he said is have the best government that “we ultimately deserve.”
He said to look at the $10,000 as an investment.
In response to questions about the current process to make changes, especially bylaws, town counsel Tom Crotty said, “It’s a very complicated situation right now.”
He said the town has a “fair amount of special legislation,” that would be eliminated if the town adopts a charter.
“It’s a good idea at this point in time,” said Brian Monroe, adding that the process now is “somewhat complex and cumbersome.”
It would give the town more autonomy and make changes simpler.
Newly elected tree warden Don Collasius said it was one of the most important articles on the warrant. He said as a newly elected official he has seen first hand what prevents town government from operating efficiently.
Rich Griffiths tried to add an amendment to force the Charter Committee to study adding an ethics committee in town. He said he wanted to make sure an ethics committee was not forgotten.
“It’s another thing we need very badly,” said Mr. Griffiths. “It’s not a trivial thing to set up an ethics committee.”
His amendment however, failed.
The article to create the charter committee passed 139-32.
Editor’s note: the Town Meeting warrant had 60 articles. Next week’s issue will have more coverage of TM.
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