Selectboard reviews 'modernized' draft revision of town charter

After seven months and 19 meetings this summer, a Springfield town charter committee has created a draft revision to the town’s charter for the first time in more than 30 years.

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2016-11-30 / Front Page Selectboard reviews 'modernized' draft revision of town charter By TORY JONES toryb@eagletimes.com Members of the Springfield Charter Review Committee, lead by Committee Chair John Hall, seated at left in front row, presented a revised draft of the charter on Nov. 28 at a regular selectboard meeting. It has been more than 30 years since the last charter review. — TORY JONES Members of the Springfield Charter Review Committee, lead by Committee Chair John Hall, seated at left in front row, presented a revised draft of the charter on Nov. 28 at a regular selectboard meeting. It has been more than 30 years since the last charter review. — TORY JONES SPRINGFIELD — After seven months and 19 meetings this summer, a Springfield town charter committee has created a draft revision to the town’s charter for the first time in more than 30 years. The proposed charter changes, which will be up for approval at Town Meeting in March, were presented to the Springfield Selectboard and community members at a regular selectboard meeting on Monday, Nov. 28. Changes include improvements to take out obsolete positions — the weigher of coal, for instance — and to make the document more clear, consistent, gender- and disability-neutral, with “modernized” language and to ensure transparency in local government, according to a summary provided by the committee. “They did a fantastic job,” said Town Manager Tom Yennerell. The committee, which met every Wednesday night this summer, included four who were either staff members or elected officials, and seven volunteers from the community, according to Yennerell. It was chaired by John Hall. Also on the committee were Vice Chair Richard Andrews, Sharon Ayer, John Bond, John E. Follett, Jeff Mobus and Barbara Shultz representing the community at large; Yennerell and Barbara Courchesne representing the town administrations, and Selectboard Chair Kristi Morris and Walter Martone representing the selectboard. “It was amazing how people stepped up to the plate, offered help [and] did research,” Martone said, adding that the revision makes the charter document “more readable and easier for people to understand.” Noteworthy changes in the 41-page draft include written specifications, such as that the town manager must become a resident of Vermont within six months of hire, but may live outside of Springfield unless the selectboard decides otherwise; also that members of all boards and commissions, except the Airport Commission, must be registered voters in Springfield. Also new is that the budget advisory committee, originally established to review municipal and school budgets and consisting of 18 citizens, has been reduced to a 5-9 member committee that will review the municipal budget only. One of the committee’s goals was to provide the town with added authority to address blight, according to the committee’s summary report. Selectboard member George McNaughton brought up two points he would like to have reviewed before sending the revisions to the first public hearing. One, under the section “Meetings,” has wording removed that the chair or vice chair would, with the town manager, prepare the written agenda for regular selectboard meetings. The next item, which stayed with minor revisions, stated that any selectboard member, citizen in attendance, or the town manager, may “only” request at the start of the meeting that items be added to the agenda, provided that all the selectboard members present vote to add that item. What is missing, McNaughton said, is a protection for future board members that will allow them to suggest an item for a future agenda. McNaughton suggested that an item “B” could be written into the charter to “suggest an item for a future agenda.” “I want to protect that,” he said. McNaughton also said he would be leaving the selectboard, but that it would apply to future board members. While the selectboard allows for that process now, there is no process in the charter that states specifically that it is permitted, he said. The regular meeting agenda item, “Future Agenda Item Proposals,” was taken off the agenda for a while, “and we had to fight to get it back on,” McNaughton said. He also said he had concerns with the section on town acquisition of property, stating that the town adopted protocols earlier this year for acquiring property, and that revisions would restrict the town’s policy to state statute. The prior charter was less restrictive on that issue, according to McNaughton, and he has asked the committee to reconsider the revision, unless there is a legal reason to keep it. The current charter states that the selectboard shall pass an ordinance governing “acquisition or disposition” of town property, outlining how to handle those matters. It also states the town can “acquire or dispose of” real property in accordance with town ordinance. With the revision, “ordinance” is changed to “policy,” and the words “disposition” and “dispose of” have been removed. The town should be able to acquire and dispose of property, or retain the right to adopt an ordinance on property, he said. With revisions as presented, “I think that would come back to haunt us,” he said. “Don’t make it less flexible on the town than it already is.” The selectboard will ask the town’s attorney, Steve Ankuda, and Garrett Baxter, senior staff attorney with the Vermont League of Cities and Towns (VLTC) for their input and clarity on those sections. Baxter also provided legal advice to the charter review committee about Vermont statutes, court rulings, charter provisions from other municipalities, and the legislative process. Yennerell said he will try to have answers by next week. The selectboard voted unanimously, following a motion by McNaughton, to acknowledge receipt of the committee’s report and of the draft of the charter revisions. Later, Martone moved that the selectboard considers this revision a “comprehensive revision” of the town charter. That motion was unanimously approved. Other specific changes address the town manager position, such as including that the criteria for evaluating the town manager may include commonly used evaluation practices in town management and success at meeting established goals, and that the town manager may only be terminated for cause, and not solely at the discretion of the selectboard, which is already a state statute. The selectboard will also be required to establish a “Conflict of Interest” policy, under the revised charter. Also new is that notices and proposed ordinances will need to be posted both online and in print newspapers. Another change in the revision is that, to make it easier to act in an emergency when the full board is not available, emergency ordinances would require approval by a two-thirds majority of the selectboard with no less than three members voting yes, instead of requiring four votes. Acquisition of property by the town would be governed by policy rather that by ordinance, under the revised charter. In other administrative positions, the revised charter now states that the constable will be appointed by the selectboard instead of elected by voters; library trustees have been added to the list of elected officials; and terms of the “trustees of public funds” are on a rotating basis. The current charter had been silent on that matter. Another change is that the selectboard will have the sole authority to enter into collective bargaining agreements, and may commit the town to those agreements acting as a substitute for rules and regulations in the charter. The revised charter draft is available at the Springfield Town Office and online at the municipality’s website. The timeline for charter revision includes two public hearings, set for Jan. 30 and Feb. 6, and a town vote on the revisions, scheduled for the annual town meeting on March 7.