COUNCIL ADOPTS NEW COMMITTEE STRUCTURE

REPORT:TOWN COUNCIL MEETING (2/24/20)

Highlights

• The Council passed a resolution in support of the HOMES Act which strengthens the rights of tenants facing eviction.
• Discussed an amendment to the open container bylaw that would allow special permits for serving alcohol at certain town events.
• Set a timetable for filling the position that opened up on the School Committee with Erik Nakajima’s resignation
• Approved a new committee structure for the Council after considerable discussion.

All councilors were in attendance

Council president, Lynn Griesemer (District 2) called the meeting to order at 6:30 and then immediately adjourned to a brief Executive Session.  The council returned after 10 minutes to take up the regular agenda.

Consent Decisions
First, Griesemer proposed passing by consent, items that were deemed to be noncontroversial.  These included the Town Manager appointments of Sarah Durr to the Energy and Climate Action Committee and Sara Lawler to the Public Shade Tree Committee.

Minutes were approved for the February 10 Council meeting and for the Public Forum on the appropriation for the feasibility study for a new elementary school.  These matters passed unanimously. 

HOMES Act ResolutionThe Council also passed unanimously a resolution in support of the HOMES Act, pending in the State House.  This measure guarantees the right to an attorney for those facing eviction and promotes the sealing of eviction actions after a set time to help those who have been sued for eviction from being denied housing in the future, regardless of the outcome of the original case.  The resolution can be read here.

Proposed Amendment to Open Container Bylaw
A proposal to amend the existing open container bylaw was discussed that would allow special permits for the serving of alcoholic beverages at certain events, such as the Taste of Amherst.  Councilor Alisa Brewer (at large) wanted the special permits to be restricted to the downtown area (i.e., not available in outlying parks).  Councilor Cathy Schoen (District 1) wanted to specify that the permits would be for an organization or event and not for an individual. It was generally agreed that the Board of License Commissioners would decide what events would be appropriate for the permits and would be responsible for enforcing responsible behavior.  The vote will be at the March 9 meeting of the Council.  

Sale of Szala Property
The council decided not to exercise the town’s right of first refusal to purchase the Szala property in North Amherst, as recommended by the Planning Board and the Conservation Commission.  By not taking any action, the sale of the property to Sunderland Road North, LLC (SRN) owned by Barry Roberts, will be finalized. SRN has paid the back taxes owed due to removing the property from agricultural protection.

Filling the Opening on The School Committee
There was a brief discussion about the need to fill the vacancy on the School Committee resulting from the resignation of Eric Nakajima effective March 1.  The position will be posted on March 1 with candidates required to submit their statements by the end of March. A joint meeting between the Council and the School Committee will be held, probably on April 7, depending on availability of School Committee members. 

Council Liaisons to Town Committees
Evan Ross (District 4), Chair of the Outreach, Communication and Appointments Committee (OCA) proposed appointing Council member liaisons to the following committees: Affordable Housing Trust, Board of Health, Board of License Commissioners, Community Preservation Act Committee, Council on Aging, Disability Access Advisory Committee, LSSE Commission, and the Transportation Advisory Committee. Hanneke objected to adding more work for councilors, but others pointed out that serving as a liaison was voluntary, and that liaisons provided valuable communication and advice for both the committees and the Council. The motion to appoint Council liaisons to the above committees passed 10-1-2 (Hanneke dissenting and Darcy DuMont (District 5) and Schoen abstaining).

Council Support for Affordable Housing Project
Griesemer drafted a letter from the Council to be sent to the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development in support of the studio apartment project proposed for 132 Northampton Road by Valley Community Development Corporation. The period for public comment ends on February 27.  Councilor George Ryan (District 3) felt the last paragraph of the letter was not forceful enough and proposed a revision to show the strong support of the project. Ryan’s revision was added to the letter but was not available to the public. The letter was approved 12-0-1.  Hanneke abstained because she felt this action was inconsistent with what the Council had been telling the public, i.e. that the Council had no further influence on the project after passing the borrowing of $500,000 of Community Preservation funds. She stated that she nonetheless supported the project.

Wage Theft Bylaw
Councilors Hanneke, Schoen, and Pat DeAngelis (District 2) presented the proposed Wage Theft Bylaw, which prevents business owners and contractors from withholding rightful wages from employees. It guarantees minimum wage and the distribution of tips to employees, with penalties of fines and loss of business permits for those who do not comply.  This bylaw is similar to those in other towns, including Northampton, Easthampton, and South Hadley. The Council voted 12-1 (Sarah Swartz, District 1 dissenting) to refer the matter to the Town Services and Outreach Committee (see below) for further discussion on April 30. 

Reorganization of Council Committees
The majority of the meeting was devoted to a discussion of the reorganization of Council Committees. The Governance, Organization, and Legislation Committee under chairman Ryan recommended the creation of a Town Services and Outreach Committee to ease the responsibilities of the Community Resources Committee which would deal with long-term issues such as planning, the master plan, housing, and economic development. The Outreach, Communication and Appointments Committee would be disbanded on July 1, 2020 after recommending the appointments to the Planning Board and Zoning Board of Appeals.  The task of appointments would subsequently be divided among the other committees, with GOL handling the non-voting members of the Finance Committee and CRC vetting the applicants for the Planning Board and ZBA. TSO would be responsible for vetting all of the Town Manager’s appointments to multiple member bodies. 

The two-hour discussion was complex and often emotional.  Swartz, a member of OCA, pointed out that there was very little outreach work for the Council to do and that whatever work did exist was the responsibility of the Community Participation Officers and the Residents Advisory Council. She concluded that the TSO Committee would have little to do.  Schoen requested that parking be added to the transportation aspect of the TSO charge. DuMont noted that OCA chair, Ross spent many hours organizing the applications and interviews for the recent Planning Board appointment. Adding this and the ZBA appointments to the CRC would not lessen its workload.  Swartz also pointed out that OCA spent much of the last year developing a fair process for interviewing applicants in a public group interview. The committee is now working on revising the Community Activity Forms. All of this work would be for naught if the new appointing committees did not adopt these processes. 

Swartz responded forcefully when Finance Committee chair Andy Steinberg stated he wanted more say in the appointment of non-voting members to the Finance Committee.  Swartz, who was chair of the committee at the time stated that the Finance Committee was involved from the beginning, describing what qualifications and abilities they felt they needed and what questions should be asked of applicants. This process was also followed with the Planning Board appointments.

DeAngelis stated that the dissolution of OCA seemed to be a reaction to the appointments of controversial applicants to the Finance Committee and the Planning Board.  Councilor Dorothy Pam (District 3) stated that she has not heard any complaints about these appointments once they began serving. Swartz tearfully stated that she felt OCA was being targeted to remove Councilors from the decision process who were seen as difficult by some of their fellow Councilors.  Ryan said the proposed reorganization would be reevaluated in December. Both Ryan and Ross are members of both OCA and GOL. The other members of OCA are Brewer, DuMont, and Swartz.

The Council voted 9-4 to accept the new committee organization structure along with new charges for CRC, GOL and TSO. The new draft charges can be found here (CRC, GOL, TSO).   Voting no were DuMont, Steinberg, Schoen, and Swartz.  Griesemer will be polling Council members about which committees they wish to serve on and which town committees they wish to be a liaison to. 

Town Manager’s Report
Town Manager, Paul Bockelman, reported that the town was working with Cooley Dickinson Hospital and area boards of health to develop a plan to prepare for arrival of the Corona virus, since there are many foreign students and university members who travel internationally.  The town public safety officials are preparing for the annual Blarney Blowout on March 7. The town is mobilizing to get a complete and accurate count for the national census this spring. Work on the fiscal year 2021 budget has begun. 

The meeting was adjourned at 10: 30PM