(9/26/07)  The Select Board met Monday, September 24th at 6:30 p.m. at Town Hall.  Gerry Weiss, Alisa Brewer, Hwei-Ling Greeney, Rob Kusner and Anne Awad were present, as was Town Manager Larry Shaffer.  Kate Seaman took the minutes.

Opening Remarks, Agenda Review and Announcements

Mr. Weiss said that the Select Board was experimenting with a 9:30 p.m. ending time for the meetings, and apologized for Mr. Kusner having been taken by surprise by that at last week’s meeting.  Mr. Weiss explained that a new agenda format would feature opening remarks, an agenda review and announcements from Select Board members, prior to the Public Comment period. 

Mr. Weiss announced that Finance Director John Musante has been appointed by the Governor to the Long Term Funding subcommittee to the Readiness Project’s Leadership Council.  He said the Leadership Council would synthesize the work of its multiple subcommittees and create a draft 10-year comprehensive strategic plan for the Governor.

Ms. Brewer announced that the Amherst Education Foundation would hold its 12th Annual Trivia Bee on October 18th, and said it had been suggested to her that it’s been a long time since the Select Board fielded a team.  She said that there is still time for others to create teams as well, and said that the admission fee is $5 at the door.  She also announced the Draft Master Plan presentation at 7:00 p.m. on September 27th at Bangs Center.

Mr. Kusner said that he and Water Resources Director Bob Pariseau had attended  the first of a series of public lectures put on by the Environmental Institute at UMass about water quality issues, and urged anyone interested in that subject to check out the Institute’s web site for information on future lectures. 

Public Comment

Isaac BenEzra, accompanied by several board members from ACTV, introduced James Lescault, who was recently selected to be the station’s new Executive Director.  Mr. BenEzra said that Mr. Lescault will begin his duties on October 1st. 

Mr. Lescault said that the station’s 30-plus years of service to the community was something to be proud of, and said he had talked with ACTV’s founders in 1974 when they were learning about community cable possibilities, bringing him full-circle with this position.  He said he would do his best to serve the town’s needs and desires through the education, government and public channels.  He said that the town’s diversity is its strength, and that he was looking forward to having more people create more programming so that “this community becomes the most civic-engaged community that it can become.”   

Mr. BenEzra said that Mr. Lescault would be the guest on Mr. BenEzra’s ACTV program at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, September 26th on channel 12.

Frank Wells said that a fruit tree that was planted six years ago by a private citizen on Town property between the Bangs Center and Ann Whalen Apartments was dropping significant amounts of fruit, and that it posed a hazard.  He said he first voiced his concerns about the tree when it was newly planted.  He said he was speaking on behalf of a number of other Ann Whalen tenants who had the same concerns about the dangers of slipping and falling on the fruit.

Mr. Shaffer said he had been aware of Mr. Wells’ concerns, and had had the tree limbs pruned in an effort to keep the fruit from falling on the sidewalk, but said that may have created more fruit production by the tree.  He said he would have the Department of Public Works (DPW) Superintendent Guilford Mooring and Tree Warden Alan Snow assess the situation and make a new recommendation. 

There was some discussion of jurisdiction, and whether the issue was solely the Town Manager’s responsibility, or whether it was a right-of-way, and hence the Select Board’s responsibility, as well as what other entities might need to be involved. 

Ms. Greeney noted a similar problem with a fruit tree in front of Souper Bowl, and said that the situation highlighted the need to have a better process for dealing with citizen complaints so that they don’t get overlooked.  Mr. Shaffer said that this complaint hadn’t been overlooked, and reiterated the points about the intermediate step of having pruned the tree with the hopes of it solving the problem.

Mr. Wells said it was his third time coming in to talk about the tree, and that he had been willing to try the pruning, but said it had not mitigated the problem.  The Board thanked him for bringing the issue to them.

Mr. Kusner noted that there was a new disclosure form that other Select Board members might want to review.

Right of First Refusal for Market Hill Road property (6:50)

Mr. Weiss summarized the situation with a parcel of land on Market Hill Road near the Atkins Reservoir, on which the Town has right of first refusal for purchase.  He said the Planning Board had voted 6-0 to recommend against exercising that right and acquiring the property.  He said that the Watershed Task Force, which had been created to provide information and guidance on this issue, was unanimous in its opinion that the installation of domestic septic systems on this property posed minimal risk, and that the Town’s limited resources would be better spent elsewhere. 

Mr. Kusner moved to waive the Town’s right of first refusal on the property.  He praised the work of the Task Force and said he learned from them that the bedrock at the site sloped down and away from the reservoir.  He said that land on the Northeast slope was largely undeveloped and worthy of attention for possible protection. 

Mr. Kusner suggested keeping a standing panel of experts for such matters, and either extending this task force’s term of service or creating another.  There was discussion about the status of the Town’s Aquifer Protection committee and why it may or may not be better for them to handle such issues in the future.  Mr. Kusner suggested that their charge was different and that a panel of experts didn’t need to meet monthly and be overburdened by the expectations of a standing committee.  Ms. Greeney said she had opposed the creation of this task force because she felt the matter should have been handled by the Aquifer Protection Committee, and because she felt that appointing special task forces could be viewed as politically-motivated.  Mr. Kusner said he thought the Aquifer Protection Committee was dormant and wouldn’t have dealt with the same issues as this case, which he said was to see if there were records on file in the local collegiate geological sciences departments to help inform the decision on this parcel.  He said there was no political motivation.  Ms. Greeney said she hadn’t meant to imply that there had been political motivation in this case, but rather, that the perception of such could be a danger in a future situation. 

The vote to approve waiving the right of first refusal on this property was unanimous.

Special Liquor License (7:01)

The Select Board unanimously approved a special liquor license for an October 27th event at the Eric Carle Museum.

Committee Appointment – CPC representative

Ms. Awad recommended the appointment of Louis Greenbaum as the Historical Commission’s representative to the Comprehensive Planning Committee (CPC.)  The vote to approve the appointment was unanimous.

Approval of Minutes (7:03)

Ms. Brewer apologized for not fulfilling her previous plan to add information to some earlier minutes in order to create a possible model for more-detailed minutes.  Mr. Weiss noted that recent meetings had staff representatives taking the minutes, and that that would assist with providing greater detail. 

After brief discussion, the minutes of the August 13th meeting were unanimously approved.

Implementation of Water Rate Increase

Mr. Weiss said he had been contacted by a member of the community who was concerned that his water bill reflected the recent rate increase from his previous meter reading in May, and not just from the July 1st date the increase was to go into effect.  Mr. Shaffer said he had addressed the issue with Mr. Musante, Mr. Pariseau and Mr. Mooring, and said that the Town doesn’t have the ability to distinguish water metered from any specific date.  He said that here, and in all other communities he was aware of, the practice has always been to charge the new rate for the entirety of any bill sent after the date of the new rate’s implementation.  He said that there was no ability to read all meters on the day before an increase, and that, in fact, meters were read on a continual basis throughout town, and without a specific cycle.  He said water usage and billing was not the same as going to the gas station and knowing exactly how much you would pay for the gas you were purchasing on that day. 

Ms. Awad said the wording of the rate change suggested it applied to water used after the implementation date, and that people would understandably expect that, and that some might pay more, for instance, if they were doing significant watering of a new garden with the expectation that it preceded the rate change. 

Ms. Greeney said that she had previously researched a similar citizen concern about sewer rates, and found the same situation to be true:  that there was no ability to peg usage to a specific date.

Mr. Kusner suggested that prorating the bill by averaging out the usage across the time period in question and charging the higher rate for the portion occurring after the implementation date would probably be a simple software alteration.  He said that the cost and benefit of altering the software would have to be weighed against the cost and benefit to the taxpayer. 

Paul Koss, the citizen who registered the complaint, spoke about his concerns, which he likened to the Boston Tea Party and called it “an injustice” to taxpayers.  He said that he is an accountant, and that some of his clients own a number of properties.  He said that his bill was for $7.80 more than it should have been, and said that while that didn’t seem like much, the effect was multiplied for those with multiple properties and could be the difference between profitability and loss.   He suggested that technology changes be considered that would allow a switch to quarterly meter-reading and billing with the same date cycle for the whole town.  He suggested that there were three ways to proceed:  1) to do nothing and keep the system as-is; 2) to allow people to apply for abatements, for which the taxpayer would have to calculate their abatement and submit it for approval or rejection; or 3) not offer abatements, but make software changes for the future.  He said he questioned the validity of the claim that there is only one person reading all the meters for the town. 

Ms. Greeney said that the suggestions made by Mr. Koss were more than could be addressed at this meeting, but suggested they be put on an agenda in the near future.  She said that changing the wording of the Select Board’s vote on such increases might address the problem.

Mr. Kusner repeated his suggestion about prorating, and thanked Mr. Koss for pointing out that the effect was more significant to those paying bills on multiple units. 

Ms. Brewer cautioned against assuming that the software fix would be an easy one, and said that Mr. Shaffer should update them at a future meeting.

Mr. Shaffer reiterated that this is the common way such billing works and that there is no cycle for meter reading.  He said he would ask Information Technology Director Kris Pacunas, Town Collector Claire McGinnis, and Mr. Pariseau to look into possible options. 

Ms. Awad said she thought there was a quarterly cycle, and suggested a rolling increase based on each person’s individual quarter.  Mr. Shaffer said that meters are typically read annually and that other bills are estimates, except for large-scale users.  He said some are read less often than that, and that there are logistical issues including many different kinds of meter equipment, which impacts the situation. 

Mr. Koss said he disagreed that meters were read annually, and asked to be notified when the issue is put on a future agenda.

Parking Allowances for Apple Harvest Festival (7:25)

There was continuation of last week’s discussion about the request from the Amherst Family Center to bag a number of parking meters to allow vendors to set up for this weekend’s Apple Harvest Craft and Family Festival.  The total number of meters to be bagged temporarily was reduced to 35, with 5 remaining bagged for the event’s duration to accommodate vendors with handicaps.  With discussion of the location of the meters to be bagged, and concern expressed about consistency of the meter bagging policy, the Select Board voted unanimously to approve the request.

CPAC Funds for Town Hall Repair (7:35)

In a continuation of last week’s discussion about requesting that the Historical Commission request Community Preservation Act (CPA) funds to pay for the debt service on the Town Hall masonry repair project, Mr. Weiss thanked Town staff for documents detailing past CPA allocations, and projected costs for this project.  He said that principal and interest payments for the 10-year loan would be $82,500 in the first year, and would decrease to $57,750 in the 10th year, which he said would average $70,125 per year. 

Mr. Weiss said that the opportunity to fund capital projects like this was among the reasons he had supported the half-percent increase in the CPA surcharge.  He said that if the money didn’t come from CPA, it would have to come from the Town’s capital budget.  He recommended that the Select Board request that the Historical Commission fund the full cost, which he said would be about 12% of the total CPA money.  He said the total annual CPA money was expected to be around $560,000 to $600,000. 

Mr. Kusner said that it is necessary to keep CPA’s funding for historical preservation in balance with its funding for open space and affordable housing.  He said there was a political risk to CPA’s “coalition of interests” if a much larger portion was to go to one of the areas.  He suggested that a lesser amount be requested, one based on the historical aspects of the maintenance.  He said that if the motion would be to request the full amount, he would oppose it and would want to issue a minority report about the issue.

Ms. Awad made the motion that the Select Board recommend requesting that CPA money fund the full cost of the debt service, for the purpose of discussion.  She said she thought many supported the surcharge increase specifically for this kind of project, and said that many felt that Town Hall should be maintained “in excellent condition.” She said that the current situation represented “restoration of a historic building after years of capital neglect to the exterior.”  She said that she appreciated the CPA committee being flexible in its funding allocations, and not using “rigid formulas.”  She said that she expected this request to be popular at Town Meeting.

Mr. Weiss said that Jim Wald, Vice Chair of the Historical Commission, had spoken last week about mitigating the effect of the request on historic preservation projects by seeking Select Board support for increasing the overall percentage dedicated to that sector.  Mr. Weiss suggested leaving that topic open to discussion. 

Mr. Weiss said that this request would be a starting point for the discussion with the Historical Commission, and that it might be modified as the discussion moves forward.  He said that there would be opportunity for Mr. Kusner to offer his minority report. 

Mr. Shaffer said that the vote and the sentiments of the Board would be relayed to the CPA committee and the Historical Commission, and that the sense of those bodies would be reported back to the Select Board. 

The vote to request CPA funding for the full amount of the project’s debt service was 4 in favor, 1 opposed, with Mr. Kusner voting in opposition.  He noted that he supported substantial CPA funding for the project, but not full-funding.

Block Grant Authorization (8:00)

The Select Board signed off on an authorization of the Town Manager as the Town’s certified environmental officer, for the purposes of a Community Development Block Grant application.   Mr. Shaffer called the request “pro forma,” and said that Community Services Director Roy Rosenblatt could provide details, if desired.  The vote to approve the authorization was unanimous.

Street Closing

The Select Board voted unanimously to approve a street closing request for a block party on Overlook Drive.

Financial Projections and Updates (8:05)

Mr. Weiss noted that this was not an official four-boards meeting, but noted that members of the School Committee, Finance Committee and Library Trustees were present.  He said that if any were to have a quorum in attendance, the meeting needed to be announced in advance, and was, in keeping with Open Meeting Law.  Brian Morton of the Finance Committee called a meeting of the Finance Committee to order.

Mr. Musante presented information about FY07 results, summaries of the FY08 budgets, budget amendments necessary for Fall Town Meeting, future projections, financial policies and guidelines, and plans for the FY09 budget process.  [As the complete presentation is available here, only a summary of key points is provided below.]  

According to Mr. Musante:

•         The bottom line for FY09 is that a level-services budget that doesn’t use any money from reserves will be $1.9 million short of projected revenues, and would require a 6.2% budget increase to fund.  That assumes increases to the Town, Elementary and Library budgets of 5.5%, and an increase to the Regional assessment of 8%.  A balanced budget without new revenues would allow an average increase of only 2.2% to each of those four areas.

•         Recurring expenses continue to exceed current revenues. 

•         FY07 operating results had a net $1.2 million of revenues in excess of expenses, which was close to projections, and was due to:  strong tax collection; investment earnings in excess of the budgeted amounts; one-time revenues from the Crocker Farm building school audit grant adjustment and payment from the Health Care Trust Fund to reimburse a loan from the general fund; and unspent appropriations.  On the negative side, decreased building permit activity, and higher than estimated school choice assessments affected the FY07 bottom line.

•         That $1.2 million will have a positive effect on the reserves, as the figures are certified by the State.  The updated reserve projection stands at $3.9 million, which is an increase of $900,000 from the year before, and represents just over 5% of operating revenue.

•         The Finance Committee’s guideline for reserve totals in excess of 8% by FY10 is being reviewed by the Finance Committee to see if that “still makes sense,” or if a larger amount is needed.

•         Amendments needed for Fall Town Meeting are for:  1) a $460,000 appropriation from Free Cash to the Health Care Trust Fund to cover a deficit and have an adequate reserve to meet Department of Revenue requirements.  This amount will be repaid next year through a temporary 12 to 15 month surcharge to employee premiums. 2) a $31,000 appropriation to pay Amherst’s assessment for the Hampshire County lock-up, which had been funded entirely by the State for its first couple of years, but now required assessments to Hampshire County municipalities.

•         Property tax revenue projections include a reduced rate of new growth – adding about $525,000 to the tax levy, down from $900,000 two years ago.  Building permits are down for new construction, but there is still considerable renovation and expansion activity.  Future year projections assume an historical average of $600,000. 

•         The grant amount for the High School building project decreases in FY09 and the remaining years of the debt service, requiring an increase in the debt exclusion. 

•         The total tax levy is expected to increase by 4.2% or $1.4 million.  With the debt exclusion separated out of that total, because it is dedicated to the High School debt, the levy increase available to fund programs and services is expected to be 3.9% or $1.3 million.

•         State aid increases are projected at 3% which is close to the historic average, but the irregularity of changes to State aid has no year being average.  3% is close to the rate of inflation and amounts to about $420,000.  No significant new State revenues are expected.

•         New revenues from the Strategic Partnership Agreement with UMass are included in the projections.  Potential revenue gains could come from emergency services agreements with the other colleges, and with increased payments from other towns toward the full cost of providing them with ambulance service.  There is also investigation into parts of the budget that lend themselves to user fees. 

•         The total Town portion of the budget has increased by almost 40% from FY00 to FY07, with the cost of employee benefits increasing more than 90% over that time, squeezing out available funding for everything else.  Significant for FY09 is that Collective Bargaining contracts are unsettled for the Town and Schools, and estimates are for a 15% increase in health insurance costs to fund claims and the required reserve balance for FY09.

•         There is a long list of capital needs, and policy judgments are needed to determine how much of the levy to put toward capital.  His projections assume restoring funding to 8% of the levy in FY09, up from 7.2% this year, and to increase that by half a percent per year until 10% is achieved. 

Mr. Musante said that the Town Manager’s budget is due by January 16th, 2008, and said the Finance Committee hopes to hold at least one public event in advance of offering their budget guideline on November 1st, 2007.  He noted that the Select Board had held an event last week, and that a questionnaire was being circulated to gather budget priorities from the public.

Members of the Select Board asked several clarifying questions about the material Mr. Musante had presented, and thanked him for his work. 

Town Manager’s Report (8:50)

Mr. Shaffer said that he had no new information this week regarding the request made last week for a school zone at the intersection of Pomeroy Lane and Route 116.  He said he would know more next week, and said that it does not appear to be an easy thing to achieve. 

Mr. Shaffer said that the School Superintendent had received the letter from the Town with a proposal for use of the Middle School pool.  He said that he and Dr. Hochman had scheduled a meeting to discuss the proposal.

Mr. Shaffer referenced the discussion at a recent meeting about residents of McClellan Street seeking to remove the parking permit designation there.  He said that Mr. Weiss had recommended surveying all the residents of that street, and that a letter and survey would soon be sent.  There was brief discussion about concerns as to whether or not UMass student parking might overwhelm the street if the permit requirement were removed, and the need to learn the opinions of all the street’s residents and not take action based on the couple of people who came forward.  

Ms. Brewer asked about the elections schedule for spring.  Mr. Shaffer said that the Town Clerk had created a spreadsheet of the payroll costs associated with having the annual election on the same day as the Presidential Primary election.  He said that the Clerk’s preference is for separate days, due to the complication involved.  Select Board members noted some of those complications, and Mr. Weiss said that the idea of holding both elections the same day appeared to be rapidly losing favor.

Ms. Greeney returned to the subject of the McClellan parking permit situation, and suggested that other streets with the same restrictions be surveyed as well.  Mr. Weiss said that if complaints came from other neighborhoods, that would be appropriate, but it didn’t make sense to do so otherwise. 

New Homelessness Committee (9:00)

Ms. Greeney said that she and Ms. Awad had revised a draft charge for a new Homelessness Committee.  She said that the goal was to make the committee action-oriented.  She said the recommendation was to include two members who are currently or formerly homeless. 

Ms. Greeney described the ongoing regional initiative as focusing on cities rather than towns, and expressed concern that that could lead to problems implementing the eventual recommendations. 

Mr. Shaffer said that he and Mr. Rosenblatt had been working on the regional effort for several months, and that it was focused not just on municipalities, but on bringing together public and private sector resources including hospitals, churches and colleges, in a “holistic approach.”  He said that participation from large institutions was necessary because municipalities are not willing or able to address the problems of homelessness on their own.

Ms. Awad said that a key point was to include the homeless and formerly-homeless in the problem-solving process.  She said that they have not previously been engaged in meaningful ways, and she said that they need to be a part of how recommendations are implemented in Amherst. 

Mr. Kusner suggested that the charge include access to resources to help the committee address the problems and suggested CPA funding.  Mr. Rosenblatt said that the Housing Partnership/Fair Housing Committee’s (HP/FHC’s) requests for CPA funds are routed through the Amherst Housing Authority, and said that this new committee could presumably do the same. 

Ms. Brewer asked about part of the charge specifying that the committee assist the Town and Town Manager in implementing its recommendations.  Ms. Greeney and Ms. Awad explained that the expectation would be for the committee to advocate for and be active in implementation of its recommendations.  Ms. Awad compared it to the HP/FHC shepherding a housing project through all its stages, not simply recommending that such a project occur. 

The Select Board added details to the draft charge about recommending CPA money through the Amherst Housing Authority.  Mr. Shaffer suggested that such requests come to the Select Board instead, because they were creating and hence, ultimately responsible for, the committee.  It was felt that having the committee make such requests directly rather than through the Select Board was parallel to how existing committees function, and that that was adequate and appropriate. 

Ms. Awad moved to create a committee on homelessness.

Sue Routhier identified herself as having been born and raised in Amherst, and said she works at the Franklin County Emergency Shelter.  She described the huge diversity among homeless people and the diverse reasons they are homeless.  She said it would be impossible to get an accurate count of the homeless population, and said there was a need for additional shelters.  She said that she would like to be part of the new committee, and was encouraged by the Board to submit a Citizen Activity Form.

Ms. Brewer asked if people on the HP/FHC could apply for the new committee, and Ms. Awad said that if they applied and were not already on two committees, they would be eligible.  Mr. Weiss noted that the number of committee members could be expanded beyond the currently-proposed seven, if that were desirable in the future. 

The vote to approve the creation of the new committee was unanimous, and submission of CAFs was encouraged. 

Being 9:30, there was discussion on whether or not to continue, and with what items.  Ms. Awad suggested discussing the four-town meeting and another committee appointment, and noted that she wouldn’t be at the next meeting.  Mr. Kusner noted that discussion of the committee appointment would take some time.

The vote to continue the meeting and discuss the committee appointment was 4 in favor and 1 abstention, with Mr. Kusner voting to abstain.

The vote to continue the meeting to discuss the four-town meeting was unanimous, and it was decided that that discussion should occur first.

Scheduling a Four-Town Meeting (9:35)

Mr. Weiss said that Mr. Musante and School Superintendent Jere Hochman had recommended early December as a good time for a four-town meeting. 

Ms. Brewer said that the Regional School Committee has traditionally called such a meeting, and said that the regional school system was the reason such meetings are held.  She asked for clarification about whether the Select Board was seeking to call the meeting itself, or if it was seeking a different schedule than the Regional School Committee might want.

Ms. Awad said she didn’t want to discuss whose tradition it was to call the meeting, and said that when she was first on the Select Board and Gus Sayer was Superintendent, four-town meetings were held in mid fall, usually on Saturday mornings.  She said that Select Board Chairs and Finance Committee Chairs from each town would speak briefly about their town’s situation.  She said it could be valuable for all parties to have such a meeting again, and learn about each one’s financial situations.  She said the group could then dissolve and go about their individual budget planning processes and could then be called together again in December at the initiative of the School Superintendent. 

Mr. Kusner said he believed that communicating and gathering together with the four towns’ Select Boards was part of the Regional agreement.

After some discussion on logistics, Mr. Kusner moved that the Select Board propose October 13th and October 20th as dates for a potential meeting of the Select Boards and Finance Committees of the four towns.  Mr. Shaffer said he would contact officials from Pelham, Leverett and Shutesbury. 

Committee Appointment – Public Works Committee (9:42)

Ms. Awad recommended the appointment of Stephen Braun to the Public Works Committee.  She said that he became engaged in this committee’s work because he is a Lincoln Avenue resident and has attended a number of meetings considering traffic calming techniques, and attended Public Works Committee meetings as well.  She said he is qualified and eager to participate, and that she recommends his appointment.

Mr. Kusner noted that he had seconded the motion, and said that might have been a surprise considering the concerns he said that he had raised in the past, but said that he wanted to depersonalize the comments he was about to make and expected to support the appointment.  He said he’s talked with Mr. Braun over many months about the Lincoln Ave. issue and other issues and respects him.  Mr. Kusner said he had concerns that Mr. Braun noted on his CAF that he would recuse himself from (unspecified, but with the suggestion of being similar to those on Lincoln Ave.) issues that the Public Works Committee would be busy with, and Mr. Kusner said that while he had felt that Mr. Braun was qualified “abstractly,” he said he thought that the recusal hindered Mr. Braun’s participation, perhaps unnecessarily so, on an issue that would directly effect Mr. Braun.  Mr. Kusner said his other concern was that when one is about to embark on a committee that deals with controversial issues, one should speak one’s mind by addressing remarks “ad rem, towards the matter and towards the substance of something,” and to try to not address them “ad hominem,” and said that applied to anyone seeking elected or appointed office.  Mr. Kusner said the situation caused him to “scratch (his) head,” and said that “on balance, I think that the person who is being considered for this appointment has the potential to overcome the shortcomings that I believe are of record.”  He said he would vote in support despite his reservations.

Mr. Weiss said he thought Mr. Braun meant he would recuse himself from Precinct 10 traffic calming, not traffic calming all over town.  Mr. Kusner said he understood that, and said that the Lincoln Ave. experiment was the first and key one, and that it would be unfortunate to not have Mr. Braun’s experience with that available.  Mr. Kusner said he hoped Mr. Braun could find a way to participate without encountering the conflict he had anticipated. 

Ms. Awad said that Mr. Braun had emphasized his interest in town-wide issues, and didn’t want to be seen as “the Lincoln Avenue project person.”  She said that he probably included the point about recusal to emphasize that, and that she thought his full participation should be encouraged, and that a statement on the CAF should not preclude that.

Mr. Kusner said he didn’t want to focus on the particular potential appointee, and reiterated his point about people addressing issues “ad rem.”  

The vote to approve Mr. Braun’s appointment to the Public Works Committee was unanimous.

The meeting adjourned at 9:48 p.m.  The next regular meeting of the Select Board is scheduled for Monday, October 1st at 6:30 p.m. at Town Hall.

-- Stephanie O’Keeffe