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Charter Revision Commission Meeting – June 11, 2007
CHARTER REVISION COMMISSION
SPECIAL MEETING
Monday, June 11, 2007
Caucus Room A @ 7:00 p.m.
Minutes
Organizational Meeting
1.CALL TO ORDER
Town Clerk Kate Wall called the Special Meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.
2.ROLL CALL:
Those in attendance were: Dan Dilzer
John Dunham
John Luddy
Ann Mattioli
Fred Sorbo
Also in attendance: Town Clerk Kate Wall
3.OATH OF OFFICE
All commissioners were given the Oath of Office and sworn in by Town Clerk
Kate Wall.
4.ELECTION OF CHAIRPERSON AND VICE-CHAIRPERSON
John Dunham placed in nomination the name of John Luddy for Chairman of the
Charter Revision Commission.
There being no further nominations, the nominations were closed.
Vote being 4-0-1 (Ann Mattioli abstained) in favor of John Luddy serving as
Chairman of the Charter Revision Commission.
Fred Sorbo placed in nomination the name of John Dunham for Vice-Chairman of
the Charter Revision Commission.
There being no further nominations, the nominations were closed.
Vote being 5-0 in favor of John Dunham serving as Vice-Chairman of the Charter
Revision Commission.
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Charter Revision Commission Meeting – June 11, 2007
5.SCHEDULE PUBLIC HEARINGS
It was the consensus of the Charter Revision Commission members to hold the
first Public Hearing on June 20, 2007 at 7:00 p.m. in the Town Council
Chambers, Berlin Town Hall and to hold a Special Meeting on June 20, 2007 at
7:15 p.m. or immediately following the Public Hearing.
It was the consensus of the Charter Revision Commission members to hold the
second Public Hearing on July 11, 2007 at 7:00 p.m. in the Town Council
Chambers, Berlin Town Hall and to hold a Special Meeting on July 11, 2007 at
7:15 p.m. or immediately following the Public Hearing.
6.REVIEW RECOMMENDATIONS FROM TOWN COUNCIL
Sec. 8-15-1 through 8-15-9. Berlin Historic District.
Proposed Change:
Remove mention of the Berlin Historic District from Charter.
Town Clerk Kate Wall stated that the Berlin Historic District has been removed
from the Berlin Charter through court action.
?
Sec. 8-17-1. Berlin VNA. Establishment.
There shall be a Board of
Directors which shall consist of twelve (12) electors of the Town for terms of
three (3) years, provided, one third (?) of said directors’ term shall expire
each year.
Proposed Change:
Reduce number of electors on Board of Directors to nine
Directors.
Chairman Luddy explained that a decrease to the number of VNA Board members
is needed due to the difficult time the board has had trying to get enough members
to attend the meeting and have a quorum. They would like to reduce the amount
of members from 12 to 9.
?
Sec. 3-2. Organization.
The Council shall meet at 7:00 p.m. on the second (2)
Tuesday following Election Day, to organize and commence business.
Proposed Change:
When the newly elected Town Council takes office.
Town Clerk Kate Wall stated that the question has always been as to what would
be the best time to hold this meeting.
?
Sec. 3.8. General Powers and Duties of the Council (g).
The Council shall
have the power to accept or reject any and all gifts made to the town, in all
cases subject to any terms of the gift.
Proposed Change:
Dollar amount on what has to be accepted by Town Council
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Charter Revision Commission Meeting – June 11, 2007
up to $500.00 accepted by the Town Manager and a listing of the donations
given monthly to the Town Council.
Town Clerk Kate Wall explained that rather that stating “any and all gifts” it
should state a dollar amount and the Town Manager could present a monthly
report on the donations made to the Town for the Town Council for approval.
Commissioner Dilzer stated that it should be the Town Council or designee that
accepts the report and sets the dollar amount by ordinance.
?
Sec. 3.8. General Powers and Duties of the Council. (h)
The Town cannot
purchase nor contract to purchase if such action would involve a single
expenditure exceeding ten thousand ($10,000) dollars unless the Council
approves the specific purchase or contract.
Proposed Changes:
?Increase dollar amount from $10,000 to $25,000
?Add language that if there is competitive bidding and three responsible
sealed bids are received, the Council need not approve the awarding of
contract if the bid is to be awarded to the lowest bidder and the amount
is under $100,000.
Town Clerk Kate Wall explained that the proposed language will allow the Town
to go out to bid, receive three responsible bids, and award the bid to the lowest
bidder without having to go through the Town Council for approval.
Chairman Luddy explained that having to send the competitive bids to Council for
approval does slow down the process. He stated that raising the dollar amount
will also allow the competitive bidding process to move along faster.
Sec. 5-1. Appointment.
The Council shall appoint an Interim Town Manager, in
the event of a vacancy in the Manager’s position to serve at the pleasure of the
Council for not more than one hundred eighty (180) days while a search is
conducted for a Manager.
Proposed Change:
Eliminate length of time an Interim Town Manager can
serve.
Sec. 5-1. Appointment.
At the time of appointment, said Manager need not be a
resident of the town or of the State of Connecticut but the Manager shall reside in
the town during tenure of office.
Proposed Change:
Town Manager need not be a resident of Berlin.
Chairman Luddy explained that requiring the Town Manager to live in town
severally inhibits the Town Manager search process.
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Charter Revision Commission Meeting – June 11, 2007
Commissioner Sorbo felt that the restrictions should be limited to allow the town
to hire the most qualified person for Town Manager.
Sec. 5-5. Purchasing and Payments. (a)
The Manager cannot, with the Council
approval, purchase or contract to purchase if such action involves an expenditure
of ten thousand ($10,000) dollars or more unless otherwise provided under state
law or regulation.
Proposed Change:
The amount would need to be changed if the amount in
3-10(h) is changed.
Sec. 6-10-6. Department of Finance. Bond Authorization and Borrowings.
All
finance or capital leases, whether or not subject to non-appropriation clause,
shall be approved in accordance with the provisions of this section.
Proposed Change:
Change to a dollar figure over $25,000.
Town Clerk Kate Wall explained that this section has to do with finance or capital
leases. All leases should go through the bond process, require Town Council
approval, hold a public hearing, and have the ability to go to referendum.
The commissioners requested more background and a clearer definition on capital
leases from the Finance Department.
Sec. 6-10-6. Department of Finance. Bond Authorization and Borrowing.
Proposed Change:
Approval of bonding for one project can be changed to
another project by Council resolution. Language about the amount and/or similar
project.
Town Clerk Kate Wall explained that the Town Council currently can approve
funds from one bonding project to another project by resolution. The Council
feels that there should be language from the Bond Counsel to prohibit that from
happening.
Sec. 7-5. Annual Town Budget Referendum.
Proposed Change:
Include language about notice of referendum. The notice of
referendum shall be published not more than fifteen (15) nor less than five (5)
days previous to holding the election.
Town Clerk Kate Wall stated that the Charter is silent on this matter and she has
been following the 30 days set by state statute. She is requesting to change this
language to the same as the bonding language.
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Charter Revision Commission Meeting – June 11, 2007
Sec. 7-10. Non-budgeted Appropriations and Transfers.
Approval of a Town
Meeting is required before the Council may vote on a non-budgeted
appropriation greater than twenty-five ($25,000) dollars or any non-budgeted
appropriation which would cause the total of such non-budgeted appropriation
during a given year to exceed two hundred fifty thousand ($250,000) dollars.
Proposed Changes:
?Increase amount to go to Special Town Meeting to $50,000
?Add language which clarifies that Contingency is excluded from the Town
Meeting requirement
Town Clerk Kate Wall stated that the request to increase the $25,000 to $50,000
came out of the Finance Department. There are numerous Town Meetings which
no one attends. Also, clarification on whether this is a cumulative amount or per
transfer.
The commissioners felt that they should receive the actual wording needed to
make the changes in this section from the Finance Department.
Town Clerk Kate Wall also stated that transfers from the Contingency Fund are
excluded from the Town Meeting process should be added to this section.
Commissioner Mattioli stated that she would like the Finance Department to
attend one of their meetings to elaborate on some of the proposed changes.
Chairman Luddy stated that this concludes the discussions on the proposed
Charter changes and that no decisions were made this evening. There was no
substantive work done on the Charter this evening.
The members thanked Town Clerk Kate Wall for attending the meeting on her
vacation.
7.ADJOURNMENT
Commissioner Dilzer moved to adjourn the meeting at 8:00 p.m.
Seconded by Councilor Sorbo.
PASSED UNANIMOUSLY 5-0. (MOTION CARRIED)
Submitted,
Marsha Busnarda ________________________
Recording Secretary John Luddy, Chairman
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