9/8/2011 FINANCE COMMITTEE Minutes

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l Don Myers--Article 2 -Amendment of Article 2.1 —Annual Town Meeting &General Election of Town By-Laws Don Myers introduced himself to the Board as the author of Article 2 , stating that this article would :Hove the annual Town General Election which is held on the first Saturday in May following the Town's Annual Meeting which typically places the general election on Mother's Day weekend, to the next Saturday, if Mother's Day is immediately following that date. Don Myers stated that the historical turnout for the May Town election has been very low compared to the number of people voting in the November Mate and Presidential elections. Y- Don Mer .-Article _ f Amend of Article.2.1.---Annual-Torn-Meeti ng Elect!on-By-Law Don Myers was proposing that effective 1/0'1/13, the regular town election shall be held on the first Tuesday following the first Monday in November of each odd--numbered year. Don Myers explained that this article would :Hove the annual Town general election which is held on the first Saturday in May following.the annual Towyn Meeting which typically falls on Mother's Day weekend, to November effective in 2013. This would,also change the Town general elections from beim held annually to beim held biannually even: 2 years in the odd-numbered years, opposite the ever gears when there are MA Mate elections. Don stated that this change would also reduce some of . the costs incurred by the Town for holding an election each May and then again in some-years in November, aavings to the Town of approximately $5000. The terms for all eluted officials on the B s, the school Committee and the Planning Board would change from 3 years to 4 years to coincide with a bi-annual election format. - Police Chief Rodney Collins—Articles on Waterways s Commissi n / `"Second Hand" Dealers Rodney Collins stated that in order to correct ars oversight in the original warrant draft, he was recommending an article to be included that would transfer$17,419 from the Waterways Improvement Fund Account to the Waterways Maintenance Account to offset the costs of the town's four seasonal waterways assistants. The four assistants are members of the police department staff. Joyce Mason stated that this article would be incorporated into Article 8 which addresses a $151 000 transfer from the Waterways rs Improvement Fund Account to the Waterways Maintenance Account. Rodney Collins also proposed'a bylaw which was prompted.by a fl ashpee womans stolen gold jewelry being melted down after being sold at a local storefront establishment. The bylaw would require dealers to provide weekly reports to the Police Department, take digital photos of each item purchased: and hold all property purchased for 30 days prior to any resale. Mr. Collins viewed the bylaw as a valuable-tool for investigators to trach and recover stolen property, especially jewelry. George Schmidt— Article 23. George Schmidt, the author of Article 23, stated that the purpose of this article is to regulate the sale of lawn fertilizer containing nutrients and contaminants, including phosphorous, to all land located within the boundaries of the Town in order to prevent their runoff from entering the Tow'n's rivers, ponds, lakes, oceans and its tributaries thereby reducing pollution and improving water quality as envisioned under the federal Clean Water Act. George stated that Massachusetts now outlaws the sale of detergents containing any type of phosphorous, but the problem of lawn fertilizers containing phosphorous still exists. The proposed bylaw is based upon Minnesota and Maine laws which outlaw the sale of fertilizers containing phosphorous. George stated that the two questions that will coy up regarding the proposed article will be the coax and how it would be enforced. George felt that cost to the town would be minimal, limited to making signs and recommendations. Enforcement could be handled on a voluntary basis, b publishing the information. 2