===PAGE 1=== Lunenburg Finance Committee Meeting Minutes Thursday, August 18, 2022 Location: In-person at Lunenburg Town Hall and broadcast on Zoom Present: Chairperson Evan Watters, Chris Menard, Tom Gray, Jay Simeone, Peter Beardmore Guests: School Committee Chairperson Carol Archambault 1. Call to Order Mr. Watters called the meeting to order at 7:01 p.m. and read a statement concerning the Open Meeting Law, and how all public meetings are legally being held remotely. This meeting was recorded and is viewable on YouTube at https://youtu.be/znFqu0KxKF4 2. Pledge of Allegiance 3. Announcements: 4. Public Comment: none 5. Chair Report: Mr. Watters informed the committee that Special Town Meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, November 15, 2022 at 7:00 p.m. The Town Warrant will open Tuesday, August 23, 2022, and close on Tuesday, September 20, 2022. Mr. Watters also reported that the Select Board has invited the Finance Committee to a meeting to discuss ARPA funding. The meeting is slated for September 20, 2022. Mr. Beardmore added that the Select Board has moved up their planned discussion on fiscal policy, and is concerned about the debt limit regarding upcoming building projects. The committee agreed they’d prefer to know the amount of money the town could afford to spend on upcoming projects in order to determine the methods necessary to accomplish the town’s goals regarding municipal offices, another new school building, after school programming, community amenities, etc. 6. Town Manager/Finance Director Report: none 7. End of Year Departmental Transfers: Mr. Watters had FY22 budget transfers to be approved. The committee decided to wait until their next meeting to discuss the transfers while the Town Manager or Finance Director was present. 8. New Finance Committee Member Orientation and Onboarding: Tabled until August 25, 2022 meeting. 9. Bylaw Proposal –Amending Capital Plan and Monetary Appropriation: Mr. Beardmore heard the Select Board discuss an email he sent to the Town Manager about the bylaw proposal at their August 2, 2022 meeting, and pointed out that it was not an item on the Select Board’s agenda, but was discussed under “Communications From Other Boards.” Mr. Beardmore opined that their discussion was out of order, and disrespectful to the Finance Committee for not Approved by Lunenburg Finance Committee at August 25, 2022 meeting ===PAGE 2=== informing them that the topic would be up for discussion. Mr. Beardmore also opined that the intent of the email requesting assistance from Town Counsel which was sent to the Town Manager, and the finance committee were misrepresented. On Aug 9 the Select Board granted that Town Counsel could work on the proposed bylaw after the finance committee wrote it. Mr. Beardmore explained that he thought Town Counsel would assist the finance committee in writing the bylaw, not that they would comment on a draft written by the finance committee. Mr. Beardmore further explained that his intent was to present a bylaw at Town Meeting that would be agreeable with the Town Charter and Town Meeting rules to avoid hashing out possible conflicting bylaws on Town Meeting floor, and he was seeking out assistance from Town Counsel to do so. However, as a result of the Select Board’s recommendation on August 9, 2022, Mr. Beardmore drafted a bylaw, and figured it should go under Section 81 of the Town Bylaws that deal with Town Meeting. “Section 81-11 Amending Financial Appropriation Articles For capital appropriation articles, Town Meeting may remove or amend in scope or monetary appropriation any individual project or capital acquisition referred to by or contained within the warrant articles or corresponding motions. Presiding officials shall not permit language in warrant articles or motions intended to limit debate or amendments pertaining to capital appropriations.” Mr. Menard opined that one sentence for the article would be enough, and said that Town needs to get back to fundamentals, that too few people are in charge, and the people of the town need more power. Mr. Menard explained that legislative committees are the power of the purse, and it’s the executive committees’ job to execute the will of the people. Mr. Menard also opined that the Capital Plan should not be viewed as an all or nothing scenario. Mr. Beardmore explained that the proposed bylaw’s intent is not to change the process of how the Capital Plan is developed, or presented. The proposed bylaw is to clarify that Town Meeting, which has the authority to appropriate funds, has the ability to make changes to the Capital Plan as they see fit at the end of the process. Mr. Beardmore added that if the finance committee decided not to go through the Select Board to put the proposed bylaw in the Town Warrant, a member of the public could, without any discussion with the Select Board, or any public hearings. Mr. Beardmore pointed out that the Select Board has already revealed their prejudice against the proposed bylaw at their August 2 meeting. Mr. Watters suggested adding that recommendations on the Capital Plan at town meeting cannot exceed the original amount of the capital plan. Mr. Watters also suggested including the word capital in the title of the bylaw. 10. Minutes Mr. Beardmore motioned to approve the minutes from the July 28, 2022 meeting as amended, Mr. Simeone seconded. On vote, motion carried unanimously. 11. Committee Reports Committee members updated each other on their respective liaison assignments. ===PAGE 3=== 12. Public Comment none 13. Items for Future Meetings FY22 budget transfers, new member onboarding orientation, fiscal policy 14. Next Meetings August 25, 2022, September 8, 2022 15. Adjourn At 819 p.m. Mr. Menard motioned to adjourn, Mr. Gray seconded. On vote, motion carried unanimously.