Representing Merrimac: Carol A. Traynor, Bonnie L. Collins, (Robert S. Sinibaldi - absent)
Representing Groveland: Barbara Sheehan, Dr. William Darke (Bette Gorski - absent)
Representing West Newbury: Ann L. O’Sullivan, Richard J. Cushing & Sherrie H. Gadd
On hand were: Rep. Harriett Stanley, Barry Pett (Sen. Bruce Tarr’s Office), Tom Atwood (School Committee Chairperson), Rob O’Keefe (former Merrimac School Committee member)
Minutes by: A. Jim
Meeting called to order at 7:15 PM.
Chairperson Traynor (M) explained the purpose of tonight’s informal meeting was to ascertain how the selectmen from the three communities feel about the current Regional Agreement (RA) and if any changes should be proposed. Selectman Traynor did not feel that the voters understood the changes presented at May’s town meeting and how those changes would impact the town. She questioned whether the selectmen should pursue another method of funding, as Merrimac was interested in the two-step method of assessment.
After a meeting with Sen. Bruce Tarr on June 13th, Selectmen Traynor and Collins (Merrimac) had organized the agenda for this evening. Presently, the selectmen were wondering if they should seek “declaratory judgment” to see if 3/3 (to pass the supplemental portion of the school budget) was illegal or not. A process previously agreed upon and used for the past 12 years. Should the agreement change to 2/3, what is the fairest method of funding for the towns?
Selectman Sheehan (G) would like to see former members of the Regional Agreement task force serve again. She believed that the agreement that took six years to develop and only passed due to the 3/3 agreement, which was signed by a former Commissioner of Education, Robert Antonucci. As a result of the RA being approved by the Department of Education (DOE) Selectman Sheehan considers the document to be legal, however, given the amount of time that has passed since the signing of the agreement, it might be time to review it.
Selectman O’Sullivan (WN) strongly supported that the legality issue should be clarified, whether the towns’ selectmen sought “declaratory judgment” or not.
Selectman Sheehan (G) who had also attended the meeting at Sen. Bruce Tarr’s Office, indicated per Jeff Wulfson, should towns go to court, the “Attorney General will not touch it.” If the RA was detrimental to the state, which Wulfson didn’t believe it to be, it’s deemed a legal document. Rep. Stanley said that in order to have a declaratory judgment, there must be a lawsuit. It’s in her opinion that special legislation at this time is increasingly improbable, citing the environment is not conducive.
Barry Pett, Director of Community Outreach & Constituent Services from Sen. Bruce Tarr’s Office, communicated that the selectmen “must come to a resolution”. He offered the services of the Senator’s and Representative’s Offices to assist in any manner possible, as the towns forge ahead reviewing and changing the RA.
Selectman Collins, (M) concluded that it was the Boards of Selectmen that needed to make a collective effort to make changes; to move proactively rather than waiting for actions to be forced upon the towns. The lack of local aid created a greater burden on the towns.
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Barry Pett confirmed that the “Senator has spent significant parts of his efforts on the Ways and Means Committee to have more justifiable and equitable distribution of the Chapter 70 money.”
Selectman Darke (G) said that the budget process is “flawed”, and that the three Finance Directors must work with the district’s Business Manager and come up with a budget the communities can live with.
Selectman Collins (M) asked what the selectmen thought about selecting members for a committee and that finance directors, finance committees and selectmen should meet periodically throughout the year and not just during the budget season.
O’Sullivan (WN) believed that the RA Task Force that was recently appointed operated on a tight schedule and that the School Committee (SC) ended up making recommendations without input from the Task Force. She felt it might be fruitless to appoint members to serve if the SC would not support such a group.
Tom Atwood (School Comm. Chair) said that there are four union contracts to negotiate amongst other issues to address and therefore would not be able to concentrate on the RA. He felt that if another committee were to embrace that task, the SC would support it. The formation of the task force should take place and meet now. Representation on this task force by the SC should not be a problem.
Selectman Traynor (M) strongly believed that one selectman from each town should be on board working along with a SC liaison to achieve a goal. “…a selectman would actually have a better overview of how it affects the individual towns”.
Selectman Darke (G) had served the committee over 10 years ago and regarded a committee of 12 as “huge” and suggested a smaller committee of 7 members. Selectman Collins proposed each town to appoint one selectman, one school committee member and an alternate.
Selectman Traynor asked that Sande Venner be permitted to speak. Ms. Venner had served on the committee that reviewed the agreement and when the agreement was created for the regionalization. She stressed that the RA is a binding agreement between the three communities. She warned against having too small of a committee, as a diverse opinion in a larger setting is safer than a small group of “like-minded” members. Best to have a wide range of ideas, discussions and negotiations and then reach a compromise in the end.
Selectman Darke (G) believed that an open mind is important and that all avenues should be sought. He doesn’t support the two-step method of funding. He reported some “distrust” over Merrimac’s finances by certain people. If all financial information were made known, people would be able to decide. Information is key.
Selectman O’Sullivan (WN) said the two-step method of funding must be viewed from a philosophical standpoint. What is fair for the community and not how much it’s going to cost the taxpayers.
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Selectman Collins (M) stated that DOE’s Jeff Wulfson had mentioned many assessment methods were available and used by other districts. Information can be gathered and then tailored to our district.
Selectman Gadd (WN) reckoned with the reminder that the selectmen are at the helm, they should proceed as the appointing authority for the task force.
Barry Pett informed that if the communities are interested in moving forward rather than seeking legal action, the Boards of Selectmen must be part of the process. Information must be gathered, disseminated and then presented to the people. Mr. Pett reiterated that Sen. Tarr and Rep. Stanley’s office would gladly assist with the state agencies, if needed.
Selectman O’Sullivan (WN) mentioned that at last summer’s meeting a great number of people had expressed disinterest in changing the current RA, so resistance to any change should not come as a surprise. The selectmen must give the task force clear specification of goals. The selectmen must determine which issues to address pertaining to the RA and return to develop common goals at the following meeting.
Chairperson Traynor (M) announced a deadline of December 1st, for completion of recommendations, shortly thereafter to be presented to the SC and then for the town meetings, with changes to effectuate in Fiscal 2008.
Rob O’Keefe (former Merrimac SC Member) spoke about 7 or 8 meetings before recommendations were made. The general process was to list all suggestions and then prioritize them. The assessment component proved to be the most difficult one and was therefore the last issue addressed. One consideration he insisted on for the new task force was to allow them to reach decisions by consensus rather than by majority vote.
Mr. Barry Pett (Sen. Tarr’s Office) cautioned that if consensus cannot be reached at that level, it would be a greater problem passing at all 3 town meetings. Members on task force must be highly dedicated. He agreed that this evening’s meeting was a great start in moving forward.
Selectmen concurred when Selectman Cushing (WN) suggested that this task force be allowed to speak at the communities’ town meeting with “solid communication” from the Boards of Selectmen.
Rep. Stanley stated that Triton Regional had gathered a “huge amount” of data, although their matter still remained unresolved. For 2 to 3 months, the administration, and the DOE primarily did much data collection, with coordination from her office. The research outcome was
“very revealing”. She welcomed Pentucket using similar methodology.
Selectman O’Sullivan (WN) was concerned about how the elderly and those households without children would be represented by the task force. The selectmen would therefore determine whom to appoint as alternates.
Selectman Sheehan (G) felt that given the school committees full agendas, maybe the SC could appoint someone to represent their committee on the task force.
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Tom Atwood suggested more open communications between the communities’ finance directors and Pentucket’s new business manager. (Members have already engaged in more meetings over the budgeting process.)
Barry Pett advised good minute taking and making meeting minutes available to the public for feedback. Selectmen agreed on posting the minutes on their respective town websites. It was further agreed that the tri town selectmen’s meeting to be rotated between the towns with rotating of minute keeping by the secretaries. Next joint selectmen’s meeting scheduled for Wednesday July 13th at 7 PM at the West Newbury Town Offices Hearing Room.
Meeting adjourned at 8:08 PM.
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