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Mashpee Charter Commission

Mashpee Charter Commission
Minutes of Meeting Held Thursday, September 18, 2003
Mashpee Town Hall Meeting Room 2

Present: E. Larkin, D. Arden, J. Bacigalupi, R. Halpern, W. Freeman, and C. Gasior.

Absent: C. Bowmar-Perry, R Maney and J. Blumengarten

Invited participants: Attorney Mike Curran, Consultant.

Audience: none

A quorum being present, Ed Larkin, Chairman, called the meeting to order at 7:04 p.m.

PUBLIC COMMENT:

None

APPROVAL OF MINUTES:

Mr. Bacigalupi motioned to accept the minutes of September 3, 2003 as presented; the motion was seconded by Mr. Arden. The minutes were approved; Mr. Halpern abstained.

DISCUSSION;

Mike Curran reviewed the Preliminary Report with the Commission members. Several editorial comments and suggestions were made.

Mr. Curran reviewed the format of the public hearing to be held on September 25th and suggested the following:

Mr. Curran recommended that the Commission is seeking input; the members should not get into a debate with any of the speakers. He also suggested that the September 25th public hearing could be continued to September 27 at the Senior Center and continued again to November 5th before closing the public hearing. The Final Report of the Commission must be completed by November 12th, at which time it is to be presented to the Board of Selectmen. Mr. Curran noted that the Preliminary Report has been submitted to the Attorney General as required by law, and that he hoped to receive a letter from the A.G. by the date of the public hearing acknowledging that the report met state guidelines and regulations.

Mr. Larkin recommended to the Commission that the Final Report, which will be mailed to all Mashpee residents, be in a booklet format rather than an 8 and ½ by 11 letter format. A motion was made by Mr. Bacigalupi, seconded by Mr. Arden, recommending the booklet format. Carried unanimously.

Mr. Larkin noted that he spoke at a recent Mashpee Women’s Club meeting, and said he was pleased with both the reception and questions that were raised. Mr. Larkin noted that he is scheduled to appear on cable television on October 1st and will speak at a Mashpee Rotary Club breakfast meeting on October 8th.

Mr. Gasior stated that he had been contacted by local resident Marcia King relative to a preliminarily scheduled meeting on the Commission’s report on Saturday, September 27 at the Senior Center, noting that Rosh Hashanah is celebrated on that day. (Editorial Note: the meeting on that date has subsequently been postponed.)

Mr. Curran noted that following the September 25th meeting, the Commission should plan to hold a series of meetings to consider the comments made at the public hearing. The Commission members agreed to schedule meetings on October 9, 23, 30, and possibly November 6, to finalize and sign the report.

COMMUNICATIONS:

Mr. Larkin noted that a letter had been received from the Planning Board expressing their concern about certain provisions in the Commission’s Preliminary Report. Since a meeting could not be scheduled prior to the issuance of the Preliminary Report, Mr. Larkin suggested that the Planning Board be advised of the dates of the upcoming Commission meetings and be given time at one of those meetings to express their concerns.

NEXT MEETING: Thursday, September 25, 2003 at 7 p.m., Meeting Rooms 1 and 2, Town Hall. Public Hearing on the Charter Commission’s Preliminary Report.

ADJOURNMENT

Mr. Halpern motioned to adjourn the meeting; Mr. Bacigalupi seconded the motion; carried unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 8:07 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,
Chuck Gasior, Charter Commission Clerk