03/08/2021 BOARD OF SELECTMEN Minutes

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Board of Selectmen Minutes March 8, 2021 APPOINTMENTS& HEARINGS Presentation and Discussion of Solar Energy Overlay District Town Meeting Warrant Petition Articles: William Haney, Robert Mills, Esq.: (continued) Discussion followed with respect to the submission of the petition articles. It was explained the petition was presented as (5) different and separate articles, all dependent upon each other for the success of this project. The original petition comprised of(5) articles was presented with (1) signatory page. Each of the (5) petition articles require an individual signatory page. It was disclosed that on this date; March 8, 2021 (4) signatory pages were delivered to the Mashpee Town Hall to correct the oversight. The (4) signatory pages with the original signatory page previously submitted before the deadline of February 8, 2021 corresponded to requirement for the (5) petitions to include signatory pages for each petition. The signatures have been validated by the Town Clerk. An opinion was received from Town Counsel Patrick J. Costello regarding the petition process. It is the opinion of Town Counsel the original petition as submitted was not properly formatted, thus the Board of Selectmen is not obligated to submit the petition articles on the warrant. Town Counsel did opine that under the circumstances, most Select Board would proceed to place the articles on the warrant upon the Town Clerk's review and validation of the signatures required for each of the (5) articles before final approval of the warrant. Discussion followed with respect to transparency and setting precedence. Under normal and regular circumstances signatures are required for each and every petition article submission. This petition consisting of(5) petition articles contained (1) signatory page. This is the first set of circumstances this Select Board has experienced of this nature. Town Counsel has advised this is something that has not been done before by the Select Board. In Town Counsel's opinion,the petition as originally submitted was not properly formatted. Therefore,the Board of Selectmen is not obligated to place the petition articles on the May 2021 warrant. The deadline for the submission of articles including petition articles to be placed on the May 2021 warrant is February 8, 2021. Today's date is March 8, 2021. It is unclear when the signatory pages were collected. It is apparent the signature pages were not submitted as part of the original petition submission. For transparency, it is self-evident that individual and multiple articles require signature pages. The integrity of the date of February 8, 2021 was clearly defined as the submission deadline. If the Board of Selectmen was to sponsor the article,the Board would be required to defend the article.