Franklin, MA: Town Council - Agenda - June 23, 2021

FRANKLIN TOWN COUNCIL

Agenda & Meeting Packet

June 23, 2021 - 7:00 PM

Meeting will be held at the Municipal Building

2nd floor, Council Chambers

355 East Central Street

 
1. ANNOUNCEMENTS FROM THE CHAIR
a. This meeting is being recorded by Franklin TV and shown on Comcast channel 11 and Verizon Channel 29.  This meeting may be recorded by others. 
b. Chair to identify Council Members participating remotely

2. CITIZEN COMMENTS

Citizens are welcome to express their views for up to five minutes on a matter that is not on the agenda. The Council will not engage in a dialogue or comment on a matter raised during Citizen Comments. The Town Council will give remarks appropriate consideration and may ask the Town Administrator to review the matter. 

3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES

None Scheduled

4. PROCLAMATIONS/RECOGNITIONS
a. Police Department Recognition: Patrol Officer David Mellor
b. Fire & Police Department Recognition: Winter Street Incident

5. APPOINTMENTS
a. Annual Reappointments

6. HEARINGS - 7:10pm
None Scheduled

7. LICENSE TRANSACTIONS

• S&J Restaurant, LLC d/b/a Sierra’s Brick Oven Pizza & Pub, New Common Victualer All Alcohol License and Approval of Manager, located at 648 Old West Central Street, Franklin, MA 02038.
• Proof Restaurant, LLC d/b/a Proof, New Common Victualer All Alcohol License and Approval of Manager, located at 862 West Central Street, 2nd Floor, Franklin, MA 02038.

8. PRESENTATIONS/DISCUSSIONS
Open Meeting Law (OML) Complaint from Patrick Higgins: Failure to approve Town Council meeting minutes in a timely manner.

9. SUBCOMMITTEE REPORTS
a. Capital Budget Subcommittee
b. Budget Subcommittee
c. Economic Development Subcommittee

10. LEGISLATION FOR ACTION
10a. LEGISLATION FOR ACTION
Resolution 21-33: Expenditure - Recreation Department Expenses, Fletcher Fund (Motion to Approve Resolution 21-33 - Majority Vote)
10b. LEGISLATION FOR ACTION
Resolution 21-34: Appropriation - Franklin Downtown Zoning and Marketing Capital Account (Motion to Approve Resolution 21-34 - Majority Vote)
10c. LEGISLATION FOR ACTION
Resolution 21-35: FY21 Appropriation Transfers (Motion to Approve Resolution 21-35 - Majority Vote)
10d. LEGISLATION FOR ACTION
Resolution 21-36: Gift acceptance - Police, $100 (Motion to Approve Resolution 21-36 - Majority Vote)
10e. LEGISLATION FOR ACTION
Resolution 21-37: Termination of the Veteran’s Services Agreement (Motion to Approve Resolution 21-37 Majority Vote)
10f. LEGISLATION FOR ACTION
Resolution 21-26: Gift Acceptance - Historical Museum, $100 (Motion to Approve Resolution 21-26 - Majority Vote)
10g. LEGISLATION FOR ACTION
Zoning Bylaw Amendment 21-874: Amendment to CH. 185 Section 21 Parking, Loading, and Driveway Requirements - Referral to the Planning Board (Motion to Refer Bylaw Amendment 21-874 to the Planning Board - Majority Vote)

11. TOWN ADMINISTRATOR'S REPORT

12. FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS

13. COUNCIL COMMENTS

14. EXECUTIVE SESSION
a. Exception #2: Contract negotiations with non-union personnel, namely: Town Administrator
b. Exception #3: Strategy with respect to collective bargaining: all eight Town unions

15. RETURN TO OPEN SESSION
a. Ratify collective bargaining agreements relative to Juneteenth holiday, subject to Executive Session outcome.

Legislation for action: 
Resolution 21-38: Ratify collective bargaining agreements relative to Juneteenth holiday (Motion to Approve Resolution 21-38 Majority Vote)
b. Vote on approving Administrator contract, subject to Executive Session outcome
Legislation for action: 
Resolution 21-39: Approval of Town Administrator’s Contract (Motion to Approve Resolution 21-39 Majority Vote)

ADJOURN

Note: 

• Two-Thirds Vote: requires 6 votes
• Majority Vote: requires majority of members present and voting

Agenda folder -> https://www.franklinma.gov/town-council/agenda/june-23-town-council-agenda

Agenda doc (including connection info) ->  https://www.franklinma.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif6896/f/agendas/6-23-21_town_council_agenda.pdf

Franklin, MA: Town Council - Agenda - June 23, 2021

MA Attorney General: Update on the Open Meeting Law

Guidance from the Division of Open Government

View this email in your browser   Update from the Division of Open Government On June 16, 2021, Governor Baker signed into law An Act Extending Certain COVID-19 Measures Adopted During the State of Emergency.  This Act includes an extension, until April 1, 2022, of the remote meeting provisions of his March 12, 2020, Executive Order Suspending Certain Provisions of the Open Meeting Law. The new law has two major parts.   First, the new law allows public bodies to continue providing live "adequate, alternative means" of public access to the deliberations of the public body, instead of holding meetings in a public place that is open and physically accessible to the public. "Adequate, alternative means" may include, without limitation, providing public access through telephone, internet, or satellite enabled audio or video conferencing or any other technology that enables the public to clearly follow the proceedings of the public body in real time.   Second, the new law authorizes all members of a public body to continue participating in meetings remotely; the Open Meeting Law's requirement that a quorum of the body and the chair be physically present at the meeting location remains suspended.   The new law provides that a municipal public body that, for reasons of economic hardship and despite best efforts, is unable to provide alternative means of public access that will enable the public to follow the proceedings in real time, may instead post a full and complete transcript, recording, or other comprehensive record on its website as soon as practicable after the meeting.  In light of the various free and low-cost technologies that could be used to provide the public with real time access, the Division of Open Government strongly recommends that a municipal public body consult with our office before determining that it is unable to provide the public with real time access to a meeting. Furthermore, this provision is not available for meetings when another general or special law, regulation or a local ordinance or by-law requires allowance for active participation by members of the public, such as in the case of certain public hearings.   All other provisions of the Open Meeting Law and regulations, such as the requirements regarding posting notice of meetings and creating and maintaining accurate meeting minutes, remain in effect. Public bodies are reminded that notice of all meetings must be posted at least 48 hours in advance, not including weekends and holidays, and the meeting notice must clearly specify how the public may access the meeting, whether in-person, remote or both.   NOTE: Due to a typographical error in the final draft of the legislation, three paragraphs in Section 20(b) were compressed into one paragraph. Based on the legislative history of the new law and the Legislature's clearly-demonstrated intent, the Attorney General interprets the sentence "This paragraph shall not apply to proceedings that are conducted pursuant to a general or special law, regulation or a local ordinance or by-law that requires allowance for active participation by members of the public" as only applying to the economic hardship exception in the prior sentence, not to the entire paragraph of subsection (b).   In partnership, The Attorney General's Division of Open Government Copyright © 2021 Massachusetts Attorney General's Office, All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: Massachusetts Attorney General's Office Division of Open Government 1 Ashburton Place, 20th Floor Boston, MA 02108

So the COVID-19 emergency order expired, what do we do for public meetings in the interim?

"The State of Emergency has ended, and the March 12, 2020, Executive Order Suspending Certain Provisions of the Open Meeting Law, which has allowed public bodies to meet remotely and to provide the public with “adequate alternative access” to meetings, terminated at 12:01 this morning. 

The Legislature is actively considering bills that would extend most or all of the provisions from the Executive Order regarding remote meetings. Unless and until such legislation is enacted, public bodies must hold meetings with at least a quorum of the public body members physically present at a meeting location which is open and accessible to the public. 

The Attorney General encourages public bodies to also provide the public with an option to view meetings remotely. Public bodies are reminded that notice of all meetings must be posted at least 48 hours in advance, not including weekends and holidays, and the meeting notice must clearly specify the location where the public may access the meeting."

For more on the open meeting law and updates:  https://www.mass.gov/the-open-meeting-law

open meeting law and updates

"Anyone with a computer and an Internet connection can join in"

From the Boston Globe, an article of interest to Franklin.

"City and town halls across the state are largely silent this spring as efforts to slow the spread of coronavirus have forced public meetings online — leaving elected officials working to keep local government moving in the midst of a pandemic.

Until a few weeks ago, Kenneth Tavares — chairman of Plymouth’s Select Board and a 50-year veteran of town politics — never would have imagined holding video conference calls to conduct public business. Now, he feels differently.

"I think I'm a fan of it," Tavares said. "Thirty days ago, I don't think I would have said that to you."

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)
https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/04/23/metro/midst-pandemic-public-meetings-continue-online/

In this pandemic time, the Town of Franklin is not alone in moving to virtual meetings. While the Governor's Executive Order has allowed for these, and they do work, although they would seem to take longer, that is a small price to pay. Questions remain to be resolved to make this a standard practice. 

In the BCE (before coronavirus era), an open meeting basically meant, the location of the meeting was physically open for anyone to walk in, even if handicapped. In this digital arena, internet access seems to be the default. 

However, how do other forms of handicap get addressed? Assuming internet is broadly available (a big assumption), how does the online platform enable someone with a hearing disability participate? The Governor's press updates have an individual signing American Sign Language (ASL). That provides the information outward. How would a hearing impaired person, ask a question or provide feedback on a topic?

What does accessible meant for an open meeting in this digital/virtual world?
 

one of three screens of users for the Town Council meeting Weds (over 60 at peak)

DLS Alert: Baker-Polito Administration Announces Emergency Order Modifying the State’s Open Meeting Law

Open meeting law regulations modified to allow public meeting to continue during this pandemic period

Baker-Polito Administration Announces Emergency Order Modifying the State's Open Meeting Law The Baker-Polito Administration today announced an emergency order temporarily modifying the state's open meeting law in order to allow state, quasi and local governments to continue to carry out essential functions and operations during the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak. This emergency order suspends the requirement for public access to the physical location where a public meeting is taking place, provided there are other means of access available. This includes the use of a phone conference line for members of the public, social media or other internet streaming services, on-line meeting services, or methods of access. Both the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH) have advised residents to take extra measures to put distance between themselves and other people to further reduce the risk of being exposed to COVID-19. Additionally, the CDC and DPH have advised high-risk individuals, including people over the age of 60, anyone with underlying health conditions or a weakened immune system, and pregnant women, to avoid large gatherings. Additionally, the order relieves the requirement that a quorum of members be physically present at a public meeting. During this period, members may all participate by remote or virtual means. This order is applicable to meetings of public bodies including commissions, boards, and committees that engage in policy making at the state, quasi and local level, and it does not apply to Town Meetings or judicial and quasi-judicial hearings. It follows Governor Baker's declaration of a State of Emergency on Wednesday, March 11, and it will remain in place until rescinded or the State of Emergency is terminated.

Massachusetts Department of Revenue - Division of Local Services · 100 Cambridge Street · Boston, MA 02114 · USA

Town Council Summary for Nov 13, 2019

The first two items on the agenda were the swearing in of the Town Clerk and then of the new Town Council along with the organization of the new Council. This did happen albeit slightly out of order as Asst Clerk Nancy Danelo was supposed to swear in Teresa Burr who would then swear in the council. Teresa swore in the Council and then confirmed her own swearing in.
There were three individual motions and sets of votes to elect the Officers of the new Council: Chair, Vice-Chair, Clerk.

• motion by Jones to nominate Mercer, seconded, passed 9-0
• motion by Pellegri to nominate Dellorco, seconded, passed 9-0
• motion by Earls to nominate Jones, seconded, passed 9-0

License transactions

• BJ's got a manager change, everything else remains the same
• Ichigo Ichi's changed ownership so new license, otherwise menu and service remains the same
• Little Shop of Oils received a license to pair wine with their vinegar and oil gift baskets. After much discussion, the license was approved. 
• JAC Restaurant which had an application submitted for the former Dhrani Grill (or Artistry Kitchen) location withdrew their application. No additional info was provided.

As opposed to other meetings where formal license hearings were opened for each item, there was a vote to close the Little Shop of Oils discussion (which hadn't been formally opened, nor had the prior two). Also of note, I had the vote as 6-3. The "Actions Taken" doc shows 8-1. Re-listening to the recording, the Chair counts to six approvals and stops before saying what the final total is. A review of the video may be more conclusive.

Open Meeting and Conflict of Interest overview
Also slightly out of order, this probably should have been done before the license transaction discussion but ...

Storm water Utility Fee discussion 
The first of many discussions on this topic. There has been much work done to prepare for the EPA regulation on storm water.  Check pages 11-12 for the grants obtained since 2007. Due to the estimated costs of $2M per year to manage storm water, a utility fee is proposed. More work by the Town Council and the Town is required to bring this to reality. Page 28 shows estimates for how much the proposed utility fee would cost the 'average' housing and commercial lots. 

Franklin Dept Public Works -storm water from Franklin Matters

The published agenda and documents for the Franklin Town Council meeting scheduled for Wednesday, November 13, 2019. https://www.franklinma.gov/town-council/agenda/november-13-town-council-agenda 

•  
• "Actions Taken" document (which oddly leaves out the re-organization votes)
• https://www.franklinma.gov/sites/franklinma/files/uploads/town_council_actions_taken_for_november_13_2019.pdf
• Additional info can be found in my notes reported live during the meeting
• Live reporting: Legislation through to Closing
• https://www.franklinmatters.org/2019/11/live-reporting-legislation-through-to.html
• Live reporting: Presentations - Open Meeting; Stor...
• https://www.franklinmatters.org/2019/11/live-reporting-presentations-open.html
• Live reporting: License transactions
• https://www.franklinmatters.org/2019/11/live-reporting-license-transactions.html
• Live reporting: Town Council - Nov 13, 2019

https://www.franklinmatters.org/2019/11/live-reporting-town-council-nov-13-2019.html

 

a tree well, one of the many storm water mitigations Franklin implements

LIve reporting: Presentations - Open Meeting; Storm water

10. PRESENTATIONS/DISCUSSIONS

• a. Town Attorney Mark Cerel Presentation

• Open Meeting Law, Public Records, Public Hearings, and Ethics Presentation

remote participation must be of "unreasonable nature"
majority need to be present, all votes via role call

phone calls excluded from record keeping (as no technology can currently provide sufficient coverage)

segregate town from personal business

Ethics
criminal statue
if you ask the ethics office for adivce, they can render a decision and assuming all facts are stated, it can be a safe harbor
if after the fact someone comes up with a incident, and you had not pre notified, then the Ethics commission acts as an investigatory body
applies to individual and ti immediate family members, a fairly broad group

conversation between individual and Ethics commission are confidential
conversation between Mark and individual are not necessarily

mandatory online training

self identify early on if a conflict, or potential


https://www.franklinma.gov/sites/franklinma/files/mai/files/10a._presentations_discussions_cerel.pdf

• b. Stormwater Presentation and Discussion

• i. Town Administrator Introduction Memo

https://www.franklinma.gov/sites/franklinma/files/mai/files/town_administrator_introduction_memo.pdf

• ii. Public Works PowerPoint Presentation

Franklin Dept Public Works -storm water from Franklin Matters

https://www.franklinma.gov/sites/franklinma/files/mai/files/public_works_powerpoint_presentation.pdf

• iii. Stormwater Management Plan (393 Page document; 8MB PDF)

https://www.franklinma.gov/sites/franklinma/files/mai/files/stormwater_management_plan.pdf

• iv. Stormwater Brochures History

https://www.franklinma.gov/sites/franklinma/files/mai/files/stormwater_brochures_history.pdf

suit against EPA in mediation right now, not much can be said about it

no other community outside of Boston has gotten more grant money than Franklin

study was funded in 2007 to develop the utility 

$800K over and above standard DPW budget required to meet EPA permit for storm water management

10 million sq ft of impervious coverage added since 2011; an indicator of the growth we have

"I suggested that we should rake the state forest, and the EPA liked that" 

Q what is noncompliance with the EPA?
still early yet, more consent decrees now; usually need to do it faster than it had been planned for; only 2nd year of the new permit

Q - why us?
it is based upon the watershed, only 2% goes off to the Blackstone, 98% goers to the Charles

a little bit every year helps, the memo outlines other communities implementing this as well.

well or septic doesn't matter for this new utility fee

Q - road and sidewalk reduction was also in regards to reducing the impervious coverage, yes we are doing that

we should be focusing on getting with other communities (i.e. Cambridge) to work out the details of cross credits

Dellorco - all the rivers in MA are polluted, they built factories on them, that the problem

send out the bill with $0, that is the best way to start the education; a great way to get the attention; we started in 2007, now it is 2019

I'd rather get ahead of the EPA and a consent order. Well it is a bill but it is zero, why? it is a start

the toxic bloom has only happened once in four years, how do we sell that?

Live reporting: Open meeting law overview

Attorney Mark Cerel provides an overview an update

J. Presentations/Discussions

J. Presentations/Discussions - Open Meeting Law, Public Records, Public Hearings, & Ethics Presentation - Attorney Mark Cerel

Open Meeting Law

Broad interpretation of discussion and deliberation and meeting
especially where a quorum is present

can not use serial communication, one talks to one, one to another and so forth until all effectively we involved.

provides examples of other bodies that have fallen afoul of the law

fines not significant but they can also nullify action

still lobbying for personal fines

person requesting remote participation needs to confirm with the Chair, all votes even procedural need to be by roll call

social occasions are permissible as long as town business is not discussed
need to be really aware of this as folks around can overhear your conversations

workshops are not required to comply with open meeting law

clearly permissable to attend but not participate

definition of deliberation is the grey area

quorum is defined as 5 for the Town Council

Public Records Law

separation of public records from private email is a concern, hence each councilor has their own Town of Franklin email
You can find the info here   http://www.franklinma.gov/town-council

"Reply All" could be a violation of open meeting law

Ethics Law

extremely broad, complicated, overlap among scenarios

by statue Town Council can not be "special municipal employees"

statue applies to members of the immediate family

online training and certification is required and in your best interest

there are criminal penalties and hefty fines possible

recusal up front to avoid a conflict, if you do remain in the room you could still be subject to accusation of collusion or conflict

The MA Ethics Commission can be found here
https://www.mass.gov/orgs/state-ethics-commission

If a councilor recuses themselves, they should also not participate in discussion with Town personnel on that topic

Conducting Public Hearings

you are a legislative body, you can perform some functions that are administrative in nature, a different set of rules apply

important to abide by the role of jury in hearing the matter and then as a judge in making the determination, especially with regards to liquor licenses and license violations

Proposed change to the MA Open Meeting Law

From the Milford Daily News, articles of interest for Franklin:

"The comment period on proposed changes to the state’s Open Meeting Law closed Thursday at 5 p.m., after a public hearing that afternoon hosted by the Division of Open Government. 

In late July, Attorney General Maura Healey proposed a handful of changes to the law that dictates how public boards of committees should behave. Here’s a breakdown of some of the changes, should they remain as currently proposed. 

- If a board chooses to post meeting notices to the town’s website, and the websites crashes, the board has four hours to fix the problem during business hours. If that doesn’t happen, the meeting must be canceled and the notice re-posted for a new date."

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)
http://www.milforddailynews.com/news/20170806/changes-to-open-meeting-law-proposed


Additional information on the proposed changes and request for comments can be found here
http://www.mass.gov/ago/government-resources/open-meeting-law/request-for-comment-open-meeting-law-amendments.html

Explanation of Proposed Changes
http://www.mass.gov/ago/docs/government/oml/proposed-regulations-statement-v2.pdf

Proposed regulations (Clean version)
http://www.mass.gov/ago/docs/government/oml/dog-regs-2017-review-v2-clean.pdf

Franklin Municipal Building site of most of the Board and Committee meetings

Franklin TV Annual Open Meeting - Thursday, June 15

Franklin Downtown Partnership  9 E. Central Street, Franklin, MA  02038 (774) 571-3109   downtown.franklin@yahoo.com Franklin TV invites you to their open meeting Franklin TV Annual Open Meeting by Pete Fasciano, ExecutiveDirector 05/21/2017 The time has come once again for our annual open board meeting. This year our meeting is set for Thursday, June 15th at 7:00pm and is open to all. If you would like to be involved in Franklin●TV just send an email to: info@franklin.tv with your contact information. You can also call us for more information. 508-541-4118. This meeting is an opportunity to tour and learn about Franklin●TV's studio. Our facility enables us to provide full production support for Franklin residents and organizations who wish to create TV programs. It's also an opportunity to meet our current board and staff. Our progress to date, plus all the groundwork for our plans going forward are all thanks to our board members who contribute time and energy to help make Franklin●TV all that a public access TV studio can be and more. At our open meeting you may cast your vote for new and renewing board positions. This year there will be a vote by all in attendance to reaffirm those board members and terms of their office on the current board as voted and accepted at last year's open member meeting held on June 15, 2016. We will also vote for a new board member to replace retiring board member Nick Remissong. Dr. Pandora Carlucci is a candidate for our new board position. Excerpt from FCCA bylaws: (Available on our website.) Section 15. Election of Director by the Membership (a) Members shall be notified by the Clerk of the election of a director by the Membership at the Annual Meeting. Said notice shall be in accordance with the notice provisions of Section 4 of this Article IV. (b) Any eligible voting Member may be nominated for election to the position of Director by: (i) Written notification to the Clerk no later than seven (7) days prior to Annual Meeting; or (ii) By nomination from the floor of the Annual Meeting made and seconded by no less than three (3) eligible voting members. Meet Our Current FCCA Board L to R: W. Ken Norman, John Milot, Nick Remissong, Anne K. Bergen, Jay Horrigan, Rose Turco, and Wesley Rea. Please join us at our Franklin●TV event. Starting at 6:30pm we'll have tours of our facility, some good eats, and you can meet our board. Our brief open meeting begins at 7:00pm. Come meet, greet, and learn all about local TV in Franklin. And - thanks for watching! Franklin Downtown Partnership | downtown.franklin@yahoo.com | 774-571-3109 | franklindowntownpartnership.org

Franklin Downtown Partnership, 9 E. Central St., Franklin, MA 02038 Sent by downtown.franklin@yahoo.com in collaboration with Try it free today

Superintendent Search - Meet the Candidates - March 20

The Franklin School Committee has reopened the search for the superintendent of schools to replace the outgoing superintendent, Dr. Maureen Sabolinski, who is retiring after serving eight years in that position.

Please join us on Monday evening, March 20 at 6:30 in the town council chambers (second floor of the Franklin Municipal Building, 355 East Central Street) to meet the finalists. 

The finalists have not yet been named, but once they are announced their resumes will be posted on the Franklin School Committee website. Citizens who attend the forum will be invited to complete a survey providing input on each candidate.

We greatly value your input as citizens of Franklin.

Franklin High School - one of the 10 schools in the District