Selectmen and Advisory Board start discussion on priorities
Board members seem to be facing questions on finances versus policy decisions
By Caitlyn Kelleher JOURNAL REPORTER

The Westminster Advisory Board is sticking with its goal to get more of the town's financial decisions made at the ballot box instead of on town meeting floor.

The board members met with the Selectmen on Wednesday, June 4, to start discussing their eight-item priority list, which includes three ballot-related issues. The Advisory Board wants to create bylaws or policies that would require all new positions and all positions changing from a non-benefited position to a benefited position to get a ballot vote, require a ballot vote on all capital requests over $150,000, and that would allow referendum questions on the ballot.

The Selectmen were wary of some of these issues, including removing the power from the town meeting and from the Board of Selectmen.

"There has to be some subjectivity for this," Fairbanks said.

The boards will discuss this further at their next two or three meetings.

Advisory Board Chairman Jim DeLisle said his concern with allowing only the Selectmen to make certain decisions, including increasing the hours of a position (which makes it go from a non-benefited to a benefited one), is that "people sitting there could be swayed politically."

"(A ballot vote) is a more fair representation (than a town meeting)," Advisory Board member Keith Harding said.

Selectmen Chairman Thomas O'Toole said he was concerned because some of these issues are more policy and financial issues. He said policy issues are not the jurisdiction of the Advisory Board.

Town Coordinator Karen Murphy said that they should all be aware that by instituting bylaws that would allow for non-Proposition 2 ½ questions to be on the ballot, they may be changing the form and the power of the government.

O'Toole said that one of his issues is that he would like to see the Advisory Board take a creative look at the budget to not balance it using free cash and to wean the town off of the money from the landfill faster.

"I'm asking you to be creative," he said. "Instead of worrying about the processes, get back to the finances."

Advisory Board members said any type of cuts would probably have to be personnel. The members said that they have no control over the labor costs so they can't be of too much help.

"I don't want the focus just on labor," he said.

O'Toole said he would like to see some varied scenarios, especially as his board gets ready for union negotiations next year.

The other issues the Advisory Board would like to see dealt with are a consolidation of the land-use departments, a prohibition of using town vehicles for unauthorized purposes (including taking the vehicles home), the re-establishment of the Landfill and Solid Waste Committee and a five-year business plan from each of the department heads.

Selectmen agreed to form the Landfill and Solid Waste Committee by the middle of the summer, so they could get a volunteer to serve on the committee from the public. The committee will also include members from the Department of Public Works, the Board of Health, the Board of Selectmen and the Advisory Board.

Selectmen made a deal with the Advisory Board members in the spring that they would deal with six of the board's priorities during the summer, so they did not submit two of their ideas as citizen's petitions on the town meeting warrant in May.

In other business:

• Selectmen appointed Peter Munro to the Industrial Development Committee.

• Selectmen approved the acceptance for the bid for $39,000 to put a septic system into the Crocker Pond Area.