law review committee to order at 6:00 This meeting is being recorded by ELCAT hopefully Yeah it is Excellent Uh if anyone else is recording the meeting state your name now Hearing none we'll go ahead and get started with chapter 37
of the Islam bylaws amended division one Do you want to approve amendments first Do you have minutes We don't have I typed them up and forgot to send them out So I'll have them for next meeting Okay No worries Up
first chapter 37 Uh I have a question on 37.1 I mean we haven't gotten there yet Oh no Um I know that I'm not sure but when they say town elections does that include the now new
early voting aspect Because the polls are not open or open more than 7 8 a.m to 8:00 pm on one day They're open like a week ahead of time for state and federal elections Is that something we would change in the charter or
I would say I would say the charter probably right That is a good point I know Genie did have some changes to this section but that she sent to Tom but I don't have them share yet So she may have picked up on that too Maybe we'll come back to
that Yeah maybe we should come back Okay so on chapter 37 um town elections and town council I think those should be separated into two separate chapters Um they're two completely different
items Um so I would suggest we do town elections as chapter 37 and then do a separate new chapter 38 uh town council I think that would make a lot more sense than combining the town and town council Yeah
So town election would be 37.1 you're saying Ralph and town council be 38 would be chap Yeah would be chapter 38 Yeah Is there a 38 already There is not
That's why I chose 38 Uh do we want to do that in this document I don't know what you want to do Probably Yeah We don't I don't know Let's do that later That's too Yeah Insert P Oh that's pretty small Yeah
So you could just highlight what we have copy and then we'll change to chapter 38 and [Applause] remove Or I could do it up and send it to you Oh I got it Cuz I've got a lot of other changes I had to go into separate pages
This is going to be a pain [Applause] Should that be its own page too Ryan What the 38 point what Ralph just recommended Should that should that be its own home page It is Okay Uh just up
though and then uh striking it on the prior Uh oh wait Where was that On the title for chapter 37 striking the town council piece Oh thanks The back half Yeah Yeah Oh and then uh yeah
the the 3723 Yeah Thank you Yep Yep All right What else Ralph So if we start with uh 371 would it be easier just to keep the first line town elections shall be
conducted as set forth in article 7 of the town charter and as required by Mass General Law and then just strike out the rest of it And that way there as Mass general law changes for early voting or anything like that we're covered under
all of it Makes good sense Makes good sense Yeah Uh do we know though if Mass General law requires the polls to stay open till at least 8 or was that a town thing That's a town thing It's like you know Yeah it
is a town You know some municipalities don't stay open that late and we do right Some of them close earlier than 8 Yeah Really Some do it on Saturdays Not for federal and state elections Yeah
But under article seven [Music] okay it looks like according to the Secretary of State only for state primaries and state elections are they required to be open from at least 7:00
a.m to 8:00 p.m They could open as early as 5:45 a.m But I think our bylaw saying 7 to 8 p.m made sure that we didn't in the charter it says except as
provision in this charter all town elections shall be governed by the laws of the commonwealth then going right to vote blah blah blah blah right So the charter says you follow the charter and the state laws and then the
bylaws have its own language Mhm So I think if for 37-1 if we just say article 7 of the tower charter then the town charter is like the higher governing document Right Right Right I
think so Doesn't specify the hours Right And I think by putting the hours in there though that ensures that when we have our local town elections or other special elections that we must also follow that because otherwise there's no specification as to what that would be
hazard election So the way the way it's set up is the charter is supposed to be broad language and then if you want to add any additional criteria it goes into your bylaw Yeah Okay So I think so I think that makes sense by keeping it keeping it cuz it doesn't say in the in
the article 7 at all about the time right Not later than 7:00 a.m and close at 8:00 p.m Oh yeah And actually since the name of this section is called town elections I guess this is actually saying it's
really like local town I didn't even read that at first You know the people that will go to the dropbox at 7:59 and drop off their absentee ball or whatever Really Imagine if people just do that just the uh problem with me dropping it off So we
have to wait like a half an hour for them to get there get them come back stamp them It just drives crazy Uh so we're back to just leaving it alone or Yeah I think we should I think so So we'll leave that alone as is We'll
move 37 to 372 and 3 to 38 Mhm Uh so that concludes article 30 or chapter 37 So I will entertain a motion to recommend chapter 37 as amended So move Do I hear a second Second Any further discussion Hearing none All those in
favor I Any opposed Any extensions Motion carries Chapter 37 New chapter 38 So under chapter 38 my thought is you should start it out with the composition
of the council um like in the charter that there will be seven members uh nominated and elected at large Um then go into the eligibility of the town council um maybe do uh terms of the office how long it is
and then get into your meetings your compensation and compensation review Now I uh separated out compensation um from compensation review because the compensation review just says that it's
mandatory that we look at compensation but at any time the town council can take a vote um to increase or decrease their compensation um pursuant to the charter So so there's two different things And I think we did
the review basically because a lot of times stuff will go on for 15 18 years and you never look at what you're paying someone Um especially the subcommittees and all So so that's why we put that in
It just forces you to take a look at it whether you change it or not It says compensation for town council members shall be set in the annual town budget Mhm Right But um uh it still has to be voted on what
the actual compensation is Oh so you're saying like review it and then set it Exactly Yeah You have to appropriate money right Of which we do every single year Matter of fact it's just about that time isn't it Yeah Is it Is there something going
on Yeah a point of reference I mean the town the charter is very specific about town council and article two Are we including that now in the bylaws Um or do we put a statement in there referencing article two That's what
we've done with the other so if you get into the departments under departments it starts with you know your department head right um you know the number of people and stuff like that and what I was looking at is basically
trying to keep everything uniform so if all the departments are doing it should you not at least mention that it's seven members on the town council it's already set in the charter set being redundant yeah I don't know that we Uh I like the
idea of the compensation I agree on the comp one What's that The the kind of Ralph's point about splitting out the compensation from the review makes sense Yeah The composition of the
um Oh my gosh you couldn't think of it I yeah like if it's already in the charter I don't know if it needs to be repeated but I understand what you're saying about
maybe like 381 composition eligibility term shall all be set as prescribed in the charter section whatever yeah if you're looking to have the structure similar yeah I I wonder what it's just so if someone opens up
the bylaw council they know where to go to find it be article two I'll make that one yeah which was uh composition eligibility this is membership and term of office membership shall be as described in
article two of the town charter boy that's shooting from the hip on the Oh don't ask me to repeat it Oh compensation is on here Yeah
membership Yeah it says membership I think the term you want Yeah membership eligibility instead of composition That's fine Yeah [Applause] composition was the word You're going to say town the count town council
membership and eligibility requirements as stated in article Yeah Yeah are seeing in article two of the town charter Is it true Sorry It should be as stated until you
know as stated It's as stated I think we've been saying yeah stated Should we say like eligibility requirements as stated Yeah I just bring stuff up I don't I
I create the havoc and then you guys straighten it out Another little wording though nit like should we say town council composition and STEM membership in the title and the next line just to be consistent with
other departments cuz those all start like the second section is composition Maybe that's where that word came from Yeah Yeah Yeah Cuz it does say composition Well it says composition and membership Oh yes And articles to one
Yeah Oh yeah I was looking at the council on a comp Whatever you choose whatever you like to type the other Well the other ones have department head at the start Much different than departments I see
there's two different entities Yeah I think we're going to want we want to make sure that the department head the departments are all said uniform council is completely separate It is Yeah Whole branch of the government But at least this way here it
shows you where to find it Exactly Yeah Town council meetings 38 Everyone go with 38-1 All right 38-2 Oh I got to make a little bullet up here now Yeah that's not where you're supposed to go
Is there a compensation review committee There is There is Okay Yeah So I haven't heard that before We voted it in last two years ago Council official member bodies All bodies Yep
And it's more to look at them Yeah You know what are we compensating them What do other towns do Are we on par Are we not Yeah All multiple member bodies Then goes to the town manager to decide whether or not so provides consistency
across so we get the reviews handed over to him and it's completely up to him whether or not he wants to follow it or do something different Whereas the town council we're the head We have to vote on our own And right that is probably uh the
hardest vote anyone takes because no matter what you do it's not the right vote job Uh town council meetings regular meetings of the town council shall take place on the second Tuesday of each month in an accessible area of a municipal building and at such
other times as the council may designate They give the flexibility if they need it uh other such times or places or if they can't meet in a municipal building town should be meeting in a municipal building Yeah should be Yeah but I'm
thinking the emergency or disaster or something happens and they can't meet in one We got enough buildings spread around the town I I would leave it I think it should be in a municipal building and accessible is important Yes Yeah I mean the fire
station is a municipal building correct We met there before We have Do we give the town council the option of not meeting on the second Tuesday under special circumstances I think that comes directly from the
charter where it says we had to meet on the second Tuesday The same exact So we'd have to change the charter Okay Which we know how fun that is not something you want to do if you do a Oh maybe the only other thing we should
consider um since it's saying in an accessible area of a municipal building that's assuming that every meeting would have to be in person but the state at least through 2027 allows it to be hybrid or fully
remote Yeah but that's only temporary right They only extended it for a short length of time Yeah So I think you'll leave it alone for right now and because that'll override this anyway Yeah Actually uh going back to um meetings
charter just says regular meetings of the council shall be held at a time and place fixed by bylaw Oh awesome So in the bylaw we could allow them the to um meet to not meet on the second
Tuesday under special circumstances I don't know that they would have to vote on it to to skip the next month's meeting or to move to the next month's meeting So do we say the town council should meet at a minimum of once a month
No there's something that says Yeah [Applause] Um just trying to think where it would be I know it says it in here somewhere that Yeah maybe it's not in the charter because it's I see it in the bylaws here but then we also just under council
rules 5B It also says second Tuesday at 6 p.m Will you see that It's also under that part isn't in our bylaws That was in the town council rules amendment And then it had the extra provision in the rules that
said if the regular meeting fell like on a holiday that it would fall to the Thursday of that week instead of the Tuesday Yeah The council shall meet regularly at least once in each month Yeah that's in the charter We set it under
rules and regulations council rules and regulations that it shall be the second Tuesday and we followed up in the bylaw for that So I'm thinking the bylaw should reflect the charter and then the council rules and regs should be done at that level really
So the bylaws again so the charter sets an overview and the bylaws narrow down right And that's why I think we did the second Tuesday Um and then I think we looked at holidays and stuff like that Um most of the time you have the caveat
where it says there such other times as the council may designate So it does give you the flexibility to add a meeting to add a meeting Yeah I also took so the regular meetings have to be once a month which we chose the second Tuesday
and it seems to have worked for the last nine years Yeah I just think that specification should be in the Yeah in the rules and regs for the council Well I think the reason we did it in the bylaw is because rules and rags can be
changed like on a monthly basis where this you in order to change it you have to actually have a uh public hearing and stuff to change them That's why I think it should be at that just for the flexibility of it I think just the opposite It should be in here and it
should be written in stone As long as it works holiday I think we've done once or twice to where we had to whether it be a snowstorm or something like that and you just weren't able to meet on it Um and I
don't think anyone stood up and screamed and said "Oh my god it's a second Tuesday I'm missing my LCA." Sorry Jamie Should we take from the rules though the part of the language
that says if the Tuesday was a holiday that it should fall to Yeah the Thursday cuz the rules and reg can't override the bylaws Correct So I think we steal that language from there and put it into here That makes sense That I could see Yeah
So are we reviewing that also as part of this committee's chart No No Okay That's just that's No we've got enough just here Yeah So that I mean we are going at a brief pace so might as well add more Yeah So that language had said if you want or
unless you want to find it it's up to you So 5B It's hard because you read something and then it's well was it council rules and rags Was it in the bylaws or was it in the charter The last sentence of that
one It's so specific to Thursday of the same week That's that's a little specific isn't it Well well it's a regular meeting so you just you want to make sure that Yeah and truthfully the public gets to the
point where they they're just used to hey this is when it's going to be or maybe the counselors get used to this is when it's going to be provides a structure and accountability It's And then it's adding Don't worry we get a second chance at this When it comes to
a vote we can change again So yeah And then we're adding 38-4 for compensation review Oh or just add a line under town council compensation Well it's already here compensation for the town council shall be reviewed in accordance with the chapter 187
compensation review committee Yeah And then was your thought to actually list what it actually was here or was that where's chapter 187 is that in the bylaws or is that it's in the bylaws So yeah town council compensation So that's just a review of the compensation
What my thought was is to write town council compensation shall be set by a majority vote of the town council So do we take care of that in 187 No cuz 187 goes says go look at 37
infinite loop Okay So what distinction are we making here now I'm getting a little There's two things There's compensation and how that's done It's a vote of the council right It's not um a town manager or something like that It's a vote of the
council to set the compensation Okay And then 187 simply says that at least every 10 years is it or 5 years we review it I think 187 might actually cover it
because it says under C that they're charged with compensation of the town council but then in point A it says no multiple member body of the town and the council is a multiple
member body right No it is not The town council is not considered a multiple member body under the charter Ryan while you're there C references 37-3 38 I think 187 captures it I don't know
what you want to put there Let me reference one Specifically if the council is in a multiple member body then article one yeah the multiple member body shall mean any board etc etc but not including town
council or swoo committee that's under definitions in article one of charter we can get paid satisfaction of the job is your compensation for doing this So what did you want to add in this part
So under the compensation compensation for the town council um shall be set by a majority vote of the town council Doesn't 187 say that No No Because it doesn't cover the town council isn't a
multiple member body So but 187 is strictly for the review of it They're reviewing that The second sentence in a any compensation shall be approached and by majority vote of the town council right
compensation for town council is not a multi-member body there's a small gap for who reviews and approves town council so the compensation review committee would say the town council should get be paid 50 grand a year and then that would go to Tom town manager
would say okay I guess we're going to budget for for that and Then the town council would have to vote to appropriate that right Well not only to appropriate we have to vote actually to accept that salary and all which it's
it's like a loop I used to I was trying to think about where do we want to put there in the 38-3 Yeah I I like what it says up there So if you flip back to 383 that you had so
compensation So 383 I would suggest uh compensation review and that way there it says hey it's going to be reviewed under chapter 187 and then put town council compensation and then underneath shall
be shall only be set by a vote of the town council Well this this is already under town council So since it's in the chapter 38 town council section the town council compensation compensation for the town council shall be reviewed in accordance with chapter 27 compensation review
committee and you're and then there so then the review committee reviews it says whatever the new salaries or pay is So the one thing is the town manager has no um say basically in the town council
compensation Yeah which is a little surprising because because he sets the budget and if he doesn't include compensation for the council in the budget the council can't add to his budget It's
I think it's designed that way to keep the separation Yeah So what do what do we want to do We want to change or we want to leave it I like the included in chapter 18 Yeah I like that as the review I'd just
like to see somewhere in there that it has to be set by a vote of the town council The town council compensation has to be uh so voted on by a majority vote of the council However you want to word it You just have to
must be shall be shall be vote regular to schedule a meeting Yep Oh you can't do that in executive session No it's personnel I mean no No you can't
set compensation in executive You can discuss contract or whatever but it still has to be voted on in session Do we want to add a timing thing to it whenever Ralph s
No I don't think so Included in the budget Well it's got to be included in the budget anyway right Exactly And you can't allocate additional compensation unless it's in the budget anyway So is there anything in there like in terms of not doing it during the current term Like it doesn't take effect until the
next Oh so any increase any paying changes will take place in the next fiscal year Yes So that that'll happen anyways because you're setting the budget for the next fiscal year and you have to appropriate the money right But as a town council you can vote to
introduce yourself to a million dollars and then also appropriate the money We can't So someone the town manager has to start the process right Request it Yeah We can't just decide to start an
appropriation on our own Yeah I don't think we can And I don't I don't think so I haven't read that under Mass General law but it it just seems a little weird cuz that means the person that works for the town
council has to set their boss's compensation I mean it's also weird in the opposite way too So I guess it's equally weird because Tom has to put in his budget what he may or may not hope to get as a raise and we have to agree with that and
put it in the contract Next Everybody go with us Yes As is Uh I will entertain a motion to recommend chapter 38 as added So moved Second Moved and second Any further discussion Hearing
none All those in favor say I I Any opposed Any abstensions Motion carries Unanimous for chapter 38 Chapter 40 Town manager I got a question Can someone for me explain
40-1 I've read this about a thousand times It It doesn't make any sense to me Is it the wording I mean this is saying that the town manager can say to all department heads arbitrarily you've got to work from 6:00 in the morning till 6:00 at night because this is from time to time pause administration manager's
position is under the manager's control And I don't understand this statement at all So I think it's simply saying that the town manager shall make rules and regulations for departments without any arbitrarily Yes Because he's in control
of all departments all employees Yeah He can say everyone else come to work at 6:00 in the morning and then have to fight all the collective bargaining But he can still say that Yeah It was also to help say that the ultimate authority does lie with the
town manager and not any particular cuz if he can't set policy departments what's he do Yeah man That was part of the reason the charter put everything under the town manager was because he had departments that were independent of each other and
we're doing things in different ways Yeah But could that be worded better It just s I'm sorry It sounds really I I think it's intentionally wrong from time to time It sounds like such an op such a I'm sorry This is a very strong
statement I think we should make it sound strong The town manager shall be responsible for setting all policies and procedures for the administration management and disposition of all departments under the manager's control Can you do that again
Ralph Sure You ready to type Yes The town manager shall be responsible for making and setting such policies and procedures for the
administration I would say all policies instead of such or I Yeah I think you could just strike such Yeah Just leave it Yeah Yeah So if we say all like supposed to be knowledgeable for like a health or policy like for policies and
procedures for the administration management and disposition Does that look better Does that read better I like No I do I I agree with you There was some time to time out that Yeah exactly It seemed It does That's a minute I was going in a
six Right So how much is that Okay 40-2 is personal a legal term and yeah personal yeah real property personal property Okay So do we set a dollar
limit or do we make the superintendent in the schools count every pen pencil desk Just supplies Yeah I mean it's inventory So I this is I talked to the the police chief about
this If anything it should have a dollar amount Um and even annually I don't know if we need to have that More just a gas requested cuz I can tell you it's not followed now Like when nobody submits inventory sheets
from time to time from time to time And define property I mean property to me is a building It's not a real property personal property anything that's tangible Okay Yeah Yeah That's the personal side of it And I mean
definitely has a dollar have a dollar amount Yeah What's personal At least with Yeah And again a lot of this came out threshold the original bylaws which was the board of select men um setting this
up and you know it was at that time where hey we want to know what we have where we have it um vehicles everything Um I think the annual report is each department is responsible to submit an annual report
and in the annual report doesn't it talk about inventory and stuff cuz I know like the police department puts in the number of cruisers they have the so they're probably thinking about fixed assets that are depreciated rather than like you were talking pencils pens like
consumables supplies that are expensive I mean this is never going to happen Are we taking off the word No All property all town property rather than both real What's personal mean No
So personal property So I think I think real property refers to real estate and personal means other effects that are purchased with like a table computer Yeah So like the real could be like the buildings themselves personal stuff that's inside I' I'd have to go back a
little how much money I have on my pocket Yeah Let Tom So with this can I make a suggestion that instead of us trying to hammer it out we request uh Tom to give us his
insight on on what he would want for an inventory because it really comes down to that goes to him Um so at this point we're looking for Jeie to help us with the elections and for Tom to help us with 40.2 at this point Okay that would be my suggestion
Yeah even if it's not followed like I think that you know how would you do that How would you do this as a department head all the compute Yeah we have we have databases for our stuff but we I mean like our inventory moves a lot That's what I mean
Yeah Okay In theory like you put a barcode on every t on every piece of property and you can scan it and you know where it is and you update the spreadsheet for who who signed it out where where it's located Uh we want Jeie to do elections we said Yeah Just to
give us a Yeah To give us some feedback just to double check Double check Yeah Yeah Same materiality threshold I mean I know she sent me something so I'll you don't have to necessarily her at it but I'll I'll
sort of account like you just get a whole bunch dumped in miscellaneous or supplies or consumables for stuff you can't find It ends up being the plug figure access 40-3 Mhm Yeah We can see what Tom says I I'd
like to keep it annually just I mean I count it It's a good accounting practice Yeah If there's a dollar threshold I think so but Yeah Yeah Um which is tough because who sets the value Yeah Who sets the value of you know there's isn't
there a standard So 96 or something that's capital stuff Yeah There's different standards for for different types of assets for depreciation purposes If we wanted to call it $1,000 and anything under $1,000
is just considered a consumable Sure If it should be $500 Okay I think that's something I'll let Tom come up with a number Yeah And not to give myself problems but this this refers to department heads We have board at least
one commission that has real and personal property the historical commission We have the museum We have the contents of the museum We have books in the library Okay Department heads and commissions
Yeah and because we can't give you the inventory of the museum because now you know there say that I don't know like conservation commission has its own um budget to do stuff and I don't know if they've ever purchased anything for their meetings or anything like that but
they have a department though no they are administered by the the planning department but they're separate commission but it would roll up under the planning department I would it Yeah I just added that So it says all town
department heads the super including the superintendent schools boards and commissions shall submit and boards and commissions Yeah Yeah Or I and they may just submit zero I say boards and commissions to keep consistent You like the commas don't
it's what I grew up on I think board is usually a first one Good to me Okay fair enough All right let's see what Tom says 40-3 So again I can understand from the past Um but I think we should change the
wording and the town manager shall have the authority to employ special counsel remove to assist the town attorney and just put when necessary because we have like labor attorneys and stuff like that and they don't work hand in hand with our town attorney where in the past we
hired a town attorney who worked strictly for the town now we don't do that Yeah So Okay which is going to cause problems later on too So he's saying delete to assist the town attorney Exactly That makes sense It keeps it more open-ended
Disposition of surplus property Do we have a director of municipal finance One of who we do Kim Kim So how many titles does she have Lot too Well don't should we make them consistent Cuz if you look in this I think because technically that
can be that is a separate position The director of municipal finance can be the town accountant the town treasurer or the assessor So this has or it own position So this has it own this has a like specific set of responsibilities different than a town accountant It's a
department surplus Yeah So like we could have a director municipal finance and a town account right Board of director municipal finance can be the assessor Okay Thank you Is this more for like like capital and stuff Municipal Finance
departments having surplus or obsolete town property not being trad or obsolete town property not being traded in shall notify So I think that needs a comma right Yeah Not being traded in shall notify
other departments through the town manager of the availability of said property So yeah I I'm going to throw something out there Um instead of that wording a detailed plan procedure or rule shall be developed and implemented by the town manager for the sale
disposal or disposition of town property for the entire thing We have we have a plan or Well I don't know Do we have a plan or policy We do I've never seen it Neither have I Oh I'm not We don't have to go and get out
Trust me we got enough to get through Um I I think that makes sense I believe the last sentence about notifying the director like notifying the director of municipal finance but there's nothing in the bylaw that says what happens if you
do sell it or dispose of it Um where does the money go Does it go to the general fund Does it go to Yeah Where does it say that Uh that's a financial rule Okay I feel like that could be covered in
what he's you brought it up there Okay I don't know if it is or not but yeah cuz less than 10,000 department head will advise the items for sale on the town website and in the local newspaper Surplus property may be made available using an online auction as deemed in the best interest of the town
Surplus property will be advised for a period of at least 14 days Where what where is this in if this isn't an email from Cam Okay from December 11th 2024 which means she created it under best practices which means the bylaw should
say that hey this needed to be done which she already did but it should reference this in some way Well that's what I think like what uh Ralph was saying basically points to that like so the town manager and the town manager has a policy right So what we're hoping
for uh sorry Connor is once everything's done updated that in the code any um additional rules regulations department rules stuff like that can all be put into an appendix at the back such as uh
paper street rules um water department rules because I'm sure everyone but they should be referenced in the bylaw so people know where to I mean we've been struggling with the library for the last year figuring out
how to get rid of old books Seriously Yeah You know Yeah Well so I think in terms of just the stepping down in terms of the level of detail and the authority I think this is we're in the town manager section So this should read
a policy must be created A detailed plan procedure rules Yeah I I however you want to word it shall be developed and implemented by the town manager sale disposal or disposition Yeah Would you like to see I think we leave the second
half of it Would it make sense notifying the director of municipal finance cuz somebody's got to tell the finance people Would it make more sense though if because there's a lot of policies and procedures with the town just have a separate little section right there
saying just what you said there'll be a section like appendix at the back with all policies and procedures that have that as as prescribed by the town manager I'm I'm hoping right in the front of the code afterwards will I'm just saying the town manager
section that was going to be my thought because we don't want to go through this entire document and say see this policy on page whatever or every time we there's going to be policies we have no clue about that that's that are not I didn't even know this one existed exactly so we just have something all
policies and procedures will be included at the back of this dialogue doc but I'm just not sure when We're going to get to that Well we could cuz well we should be goals I agree That's why we're doing
Yeah I feel like I I like the idea of the note you're saying like rather than have it all over the top don't like you know write the bottom of chapter one So is that something that we should back under 40-1 include either another sentence or
another paragraph saying that since the town manager is responsible for coming up with all policies and procedures that such policies and procedures shall be organized and available for the public Yeah Made available in some electronic
form Uh so I would like to create that I just want to make sure that it's feasible through town manager that and like what level like we have like department level policies like you want to put those up there I don't know so I
think I maybe we say public facing because if they're responsible for all departments including the police department like so surplus property wouldn't be a public facing one that's for internal so what would it be like the property surplus property is just
internal I don't think it needs to be like I know I mean I think in a practical sense it should just be Tom going to the department and saying we want to get all your standard operating procedures and put them in one place and it shouldn't really be that big of a So
there's a background to this bylaw departments were disposing of town property Yeah Without anyone knowing about it and just hey we don't need the truck anymore And they'd sell it And then the appropriations committee was saying well when the police are done
with this car the building department could have it And the police are going we sold the car's gone We sold that It's like what Huh And again we're going way back So there's always a background to everything Yeah So I agree with what
Connor was saying There should be some requirement to have an organized list of policies and procedures by department Yeah So maybe the town manager shall coordinate a inventory of standard operating
procedures Yeah Yeah Across all departments We could do that as a separate bullet if you have a central repository for is policy procedures different than rules and regulations we could determine the town managers rules and regulations 21 rules
and regulations for departments and then it says show result making and setting policies and procedures the administration management Oh yeah So we just in 40-1 or could
say that that has to be just centralized repository form Yeah Yeah Kind of lost that Yeah Central repository inventory listing Same time Tom
[Music] question 4 town man This is a bylaw So should the city of town shall be responsible for disposition I mean to develop a policy that's that doesn't sound like a bylaw to me Shall maintain a policy
Yeah Developing a Yeah Well we know it exists So maintain Yeah Yeah the should responsible for maintaining the policy Yeah Yeah You have English in East High School Yeah I don't know who you have I don't
remember Some of them aren't even around And then I put the other line back Yep Whomever you hired as the the principal did a good job Uh good with 40-4 Yeah Yes 40-5 Town
attorney This is kind of Rudy but what's going on here Oh it might just need a space It's probably carrying over So if we're under
40-5A this is something with the page break because we added stuff Oh cuz it had a page break right to me I wouldn't even worry about the formatting Trust me we're going to make
it uh You know now it's just going to bother me Yeah Yeah So under a I I would suggest from annually so annually in June and whenever a vacancy shall exist remove
that completely Um because that's not we no longer hire an attorney Um town manager shall appoint So the town manager shall I don't even know if I'd say appoint They should hire I mean that's
what you're doing You're hiring an attorney Is it done annually Well not necessarily Like we have a three-year contract right now What you said and as needed So maybe the town manager shall contract with a I
think that's all covering real point A member of the Massachusetts bar to act as the town attorney Yeah Hire Yeah Yeah Cuz they are they're getting benefits right Like it's more Yeah it's an hourly wage higher It should be a point or engage That's
exactly Yeah contract whatever Yeah Yeah Shall contract there Town attorney shall be subject at any time to removal by the town manager Yeah
Duties The town attorney shall be paid for services advising town officials on all matters of a recurring nature for planning and attendance at board council and committee meetings Comma uh for drafting of contracts and other
instruments So the the salary established annually by the town council appropriation it's not a salary because it's an hourly uh rate Compensation's the and we don't we don't uh compensate
a rate We do a budget for um Yeah legal services and it's legal services which includes the town attorney and any special counsel right Yeah You think just delete that whole part Yeah Plus it also didn't really
make sense with the part of the things that we're saying they're responsible for So again if we if we hired someone as a town attorney then we may have to go back to this and have a legal department But um that'd be a change in
structure would have to come through anyway Yeah Reorganization Yeah One of the things confusing to me is this is under duties and the first thing under duty says it shall be paid Oh that's true Whereas duties should be the town attorney shall advise town
officials Okay And then on and on and on Um as as Yeah that's a good point Yeah Do we need to list every possible use of legal services
So we ran into an issue because under this under the town attorney it basically says that department heads can contact the town attorney for legal advice Um
So so with that being said um we were having issues with um the town manager not knowing and all of a sudden the bill being excessive and then the town manager basically said to all departments if I understood correctly yeah you can't contact the town attorney
for any reason unless you ask me and my permission Um I mean like I said the problem is when I was on the planning board we had an issue come up a legal issue that we needed an attorney for The planning board did and the town manager refused
to allow the planning board to hire its own attorney because we were competing with the town council So the town council had an attorney and the planning board did not Wow Um guess who won Yeah
So again I just don't there's a lot going on with town attorney Of course even the word officials I mean do we want to change officials to council town officials on all matters The official could be at the time And do we want this
under the town manager chapter Well I I think the town manager chapter makes sense They're not a full-time employ Yeah cuz if you play I don't think it's standalone and doesn't make sense under anybody else
I feel like number one with some of those edits makes sense But then maybe we wipe everything out and just keep it simple Yeah the town manager shall be responsible for
hiring town council for the needs of the town Yeah Because a lot of this too with the the remaining parts like two three cuz like so it kind of is almost saying there's going to be this one town
attorney but again we already know right Mhm Yeah you probably need to keep four but I would agree I think one through three could be cut down a lot but I think you need the requirement just summary of
professional services performed Yeah So maybe we simplify all of it and instead of having like A B and C we really just go down to saying the town manager shall contract with a member of the Massachusetts
bar to act as town attorney and that town manager could seek other special counsel special counsel as needed as needed And then just following up with the paragraph
about all town officials and so forth must request Mhm legal services through the town manager or something Works for me Yeah Something to that effect Yeah I I I think the town manager needs to approve
usage town attorney because even the way it's worded today it kind of says like oh as long as they tell the town manager it's fine town manager should still I tried that It didn't work Yeah Question is is the position of town attorney a statutory position That's
what I was wondering like like a city solicitor type Yeah it it is in the charter says shall be responsible for the negotiation of all contracts with that But I'm just wondering if under state law it's it's an official position and
it has certain duties and responsibilities defined by by statute Right The charter has a town manager may employ special counsel to assist in the performance of these duties Appropriations required by such contracts shall be subject to a vote by
the town council It looks like there's uh like a lot of the citizen relief and citizen referendum ones get referred to the town attorney Yeah Periodically Well I think it makes sense for the town to have someone acting as the town attorney on the town The review
of bylaw shall be under the supervision of the town attorney Yeah that is correct pull the chair Normally the AI stuff is kind of weird but when googling it the AI overview was very specific to East Long Meadows about what town attorney means I
was like what Uh so what do we want to do before I wrap it up It uh No that was sound of stage That was a special act So right now we have uh 40-5A The town
appointment removal of the town manager shall contract a member of the Massachusetts Bar to act as a town attorney You wanted to add something after that Um something about the special but about
contract special counsel The town manager can contract with special counsel as needed or Mace contract with special counsel as needed comma before as needed
Um and then we could get rid of the whole ABC thing and that would just be a top level paragraph And then I guess the contents of C would just get moved into So is there anything in B that we think we should keep because this one was amended and I'm wondering if that's
necessary for something Such payments as to the tax title matters initiated by the collective treasur shall be made from the officials tax title expense funds for with the approval of town manager I don't know what all that means
So basically the tax titles are paid for through the collector's office The rest goes through the budget I don't even have any attorney attorney section because it's the town attorney filing suit and so he's getting paid for doing
it through the collector Okay got it It basically says "Hey if the collector's hiring him to do this the collector's being paid or paying him to do it."
I think you kind of need two three and four That's my sense school committee has their own maternal like all of this I mean three to me reads like what would be in the agreement with the attorney not necessarily the bylaw right Cuz what if
you what if you don't want to do contracts right Yeah You may want a special attorney just doing But here it says shall draw all all deeds for paying attorney to write every deed
Yeah And we know we've already had special ones just for Yeah Yeah purchases Yeah That and we have a separate like contract um like employment lawyer Yeah
Yeah I think I think three is overly specific We'll just delete the whole I would get rid two three and four What about even four Yeah cuz we don't even do that We're going to get bills I think four's got to stay on the back end I think that
too right Well we would get build for a separate report like we already get Yeah I wouldn't I don't think we need cuz you're going to have invoices invoice for any service request Nothing personal I don't want to pay an attorney to tell me what he did when they get
ends up he's already given me the list So I mean to me it's not a big deal Like it's standard practice to describe what you did for every tenth of the hour Yeah So that would be on the invoice Okay So this would be an additional report at the end of that and saying we build you
40 times Yeah Okay So uh it be a statement of account at the end of the year and they should just be able to hit print But they're going to charge you to hit round up Is C strong enough as far as that sounds like it gives him Are we leaving one or
we scratching one I thought we keeping one Yeah Thought we're keeping one Well my only concern for removing would be that it was amended at one point I think I think we got to keep one or even if it's cut down
Yeah cuz that almost makes it sound like it was relating to some aspect of MGL that we're not aware of Right That's my concern I think what we do is we highlight it We give it to our town manager and say "We know this has to be
adjusted Please do it." Yeah Yeah Yeah Tom I I mean in that way there we can see what his thoughts are on the town attorney cuz he's dealing directly with the town attorney Yeah I just know something's got to be done
It just doesn't make sense to leave it the way it was All right Cut off So we're keeping C right Yeah I think the only thing we should change in there I don't like the word way He it has to go through the town manager not make them
aware of it Yeah It should be like all town officials board and committees well requiring the services Does that jam you up like you talked about in planning board if they have to approve it You would hope that you don't have that
issue Right Right But I think that was a a personal issue between me and the town manager Okay Um I'd like to believe that But yeah They must request approval such services
Yeah If we say if we say approve that means the attorney can't render services for anybody until the town manager approves it Right Right That's the way it actually has Yeah I mean the town manager could say for instance the director of planning you
have so many hours that are approved in advance You go over that come back to me So you didn't have to every single item has to go through the town manager but he needs to control it Yeah So at some point
it would be my suggestion whether it's a charter changer or not is to put something in for the town council that if necessary the town council can hire retain its own services its own legal services Yeah But again I think that you
have to have a budget for that um because you can't appropriate it would be in the town council budget So right now we have a line Yeah we have a line item for a small amount We would just have to increase it Yeah Um but at least that way there if there
became a situation where the council and the manager weren't agreeing and they each needed legal services How do I how do we want to wrap up C Cuz you're making me look bad and we're 10 minutes over Yeah um must approve instead of vote
aware Yeah Shall gain or shall uh the town attorney uh shall shall obtain approval from the town [Applause]
manager before performing any services for any town officials boards and committees Yeah 37 if we want to say written approval just to
I don't know if we need that I think approval is sufficient Yeah that's fine That's fine And then can we add a afterwards Well I think boards and committee brought that up before he said it's one a collective term like boards and
committees So then should there not be a comma then it's like it's a list but not a list So great note when we start the next meeting I have nothing on my sheet for the next two So there we go Yeah We approve them now George I have some
Okay All right So Connor I'm thinking we may be able to get to general bylaws but Yeah Yeah All right Uh I will entertain a motion to uh recommend chapter 40 town
manager as discussed Second Move and seconded Do I hear any other discussion Hearing submitted to the town manager as discussed Uh hearing none All those in favor signify by saying I Any opposed Any
abstensions Motion carries I will entertain a motion to adjurnn So move second Any further discussion All those in favor Any opposed Any abstensions We are adjourned at 7:12 Not kidding