Select Board wants memo of understanding with SOM and SRDC

The Springfield Select Board wants something in writing from both the Springfield Regional Development Corp. and Springfield On The Move in exchange for the $50,000 in support the town gives them annually.
http://www.rutlandherald.com/article/20151001/THISJUSTIN/710019936

Select Board wants memo of understanding with SOM and SRDC By Susan Smallheer Staff Writer | October 01,2015 SPRINGFIELD — The Springfield Select Board wants something in writing from both the Springfield Regional Development Corp. and Springfield On The Move in exchange for the $50,000 in support the town gives them annually. The Select Board voted Monday night in favor of a motion by Selectman George McNaughton, who had originally suggested the board draft a memorandum of understanding and have the two groups sign them. Both groups receive funding from the town: SRDC receives $30,000 and SOM $20,000. Sometimes the funding has been included directly in the budget and sometimes voters decide the funding requests as special articles. Town Manager Tom Yennerell said it made more sense for the two groups to draft the agreements themselves, since they knew better what they did on behalf of the town. McNaughton’s motion asked the two groups to outline the services the groups would perform for Springfield. McNaughton said he wanted the two groups to be “specific,…and be measurable.” He said he wanted the two groups to outline both long-term and short-term goals. “The purpose isn’t to bash either SOM or SRDC,” said McNaughton. “We need to be engaged.” Carol Lighthall, executive director of Springfield On the Move, said Wednesday her group would either write the MOU themselves or have a lawyer do it. “I have a board and I will get all of their input and we’ll find a way to make it all work,” said Lighthall, who added the group only does work on behalf of Springfield. At the regional development group, executive director Bob Flint said Wednesday he had broken his wrist over the weekend and was slated to have surgery Thursday. “I haven’t had a chance to read it,” he said, declining further comment. Both Flint and Lighthall said they had been informed by Yennerell about the Select Board’s requests. The draft memos are expected back to Yennerell and the Select Board by Nov. 19. Selectman Walter Martone said when he was on the town’s budget advisory committee last year the funding requests from the two groups was a perennial subject of discussion. Martone abstained from voting on the motion, saying later he needed more information. He said he thought the Select Board, after its goals workshop later this month, should then initiate a discussion. “When the Select Board knows what we want, then we can have some kind of agreement,” he said. “I don’t want to micromanage SRDC and SOM,” said Selectman Peter MacGillivray. “All three organizations are on a parallel track, working for the betterment of the town,” he said, referring to the Select Board and the two groups.