July 8th 2015 Minutes - As Approved

MINUTES OF COLCHESTER GOVERNANCE COMMITTEE

COLCHESTER POLICE STATION

COLCHESTER, VT

July 8th @ 9:00 a.m.

KIRKER RM

Present: Curt Taylor, Bud Meyers, Mickey Palmer and David Usher

LCATV was present. An audio recording was also made of the meeting.

1.      Call to Order: Chair David Usher called the meeting to order at 9:05 AM

2.      Approval of minutes from July 1^st  2015

MOTION by Curt Taylor

SECONDED by Mickey Palmer

APPROVED by unanimous vote.

3.      Agenda Changes

a.       Dawn Francis – Town Manager is unable to attend but Aaron Frank (Assistant Town Manager and CFO) will attend to discuss his proposed Charter changes.

b.      Mickey Palmer added an item: making town policies public and documented.

4.      Report to Selectboard

a.      Policies – written and public

After some discussion the Committee decided that a bullet “c” should be added to Section 207 Record of Proceedings specifying that Selectboard approved policies must be documented and made public. David Usher will put together the language for this addition.

5.      Aaron Frank’s budget related proposals

a.       Impact Fees – Frank’s suggestions included adding reference to impact fees to the Charter’s budget related sections.

b.      Voter Approved Finance Agreements – Frank’s suggestions also included adding references to “voter approved finance agreements” to the Charter’s budget related sections. These agreements are similar to bonds but for smaller amounts and are negotiated with banks.

c.       Investment Policy - Bud Meyers raised the issue of the Town’s investment policy and whether or not there should be reference in the Charter to the need for a Selectboard approved and published policy. Such a Selectboard approved policy does exist in Colchester, but the Charter does not require same. The Committee decided to leave this issue for future consideration.

d.      Motion to Approve – The Charter changes suggested by Frank and discussed by the Committee were saved as a single document and voted upon.

MOTION by Bud Meyers to approved changes as specified in the document "2015-07-08 Final Markup of Proposed Changes Concerning Budgets and Related Issues".

SECONDED by Mickey Palmer

APPROVED by unanimous vote.

6.      Report to Selectboard (Cont.)

a.       Plowing of Private Roads – After considerable discussion the Committee decided that Bud Meyers will review this portion of the report for consideration at the next meeting. The Committee’s recommendation continues to be that the Charter paragraph regarding Snow Plowing be removed and that a snow plowing policy be developed and published.

b.      Periodic Charter Review – David Usher proposed specific wording for the portion of the report recommending a Charter change that will require a review of the Charter every five years. The Committee agreed with the wording.

7.      Final Version of Legislature Approved Charter

a.       David Usher will move a final version of the Charter to the shared drive.

8.      Adjournment

MOTION by Bud Meyers

SECONDED by Curt Taylor

APPROVED by unanimous vote at 10:58 AM.

Respectfully submitted,

Curt Taylor Secretary

July 10^th 2015 (Draft), August 4^th 2015 (Approved)