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HomeMy Public PortalAbout1-6-10 Special Town Council Meeting MinutesELECTED OFFICIALS: Mark S. Sideris, Council President Stephen P. Corbett, Council Vice -President John A. Donohue, Councilor At Large Susan G. Falkoff, Councilor At Large Anthony Palomba, Councilor At Large Angeline B. Kounelis, District A Councilor Cecilia Lenk, District B Councilor Vincent J. Piccirilli, Jr., District C Councilor John J. Lawn, Jr., District D Councilor Watertown Town Council Administration Building 149 Main Street Watertown, MA 02472 Phone: 617-972-6470 TOWN COUNCIL SPECIAL MEETING MINUTES January 6, 2010 A special meeting of the Town Council was called to order at 6:30 pm in the Richard E. Mastrangelo Chamber, Administration Building. Present for the meeting were Councilors Stephen P. Corbett, John A. Donohue, Susan G. Falkoff, Angeline B. Kounelis, John J. Lawn, Jr., Cecilia Lenk, Anthony Palomba, Vincent J. Piccirilli, Jr., and Council President Mark Sideris. Also present were Town Manager Michael J. Driscoll and Town Attorney Mark Reich. The purpose of the meeting was to provide the Town Council with updates on the Open Meeting Law and the Conflict of Interest Law. 1. The Town Attorney provided an overview of the existing Open Meeting Law, and advised that the new Open Meeting Law will take effect July 1, 2010. Open Meeting Law Guidelines dated April 2009 are on the Attorney General's website www.mass.gov/ago 2. President Sideris asked that the Town Attorney provide the Council an update on the Open Meeting Law changes in June, before they go into effect. 3. The Town Attorney described prohibitions on serial calling or emailing which could fit the definition of deliberation, and advised against one councilor emailing all councilors. He recommended that documents be sent to the Council Clerk for her to distribute to all councilors. 4. The Town Attorney reminded the Council that any correspondence received or sent by a public official, regarding any issue related to his or her public duties, is a public record and is subject to record retention laws. This includes email, even if sent from a personal email account. 5. The Town Attorney provided an overview of the Conflict of Interest Law, as detailed in the attached memo from the Town Clerk. Each councilor must sign and return the receipt, as well as take the training program. 6. President Sideris proposed a new policy to the Council regarding attorney fees. In the past, individual members have contacted the Town Attorney to write proposed resolutions or ordinances without the knowledge of the Council, which were then voted down by the Council. This represents a waste of taxpayer's dollars. The President would like the Council to discuss and authorize the spending of legal fees with a majority vote. The Council agreed to include this in the Council Rules, with the following clarifications: a. Councilors may continue to call the Town Attorney for no -charge telephone advice. b. Committee chairs may request the Town Attorney to produce or review documents, if the matter was referred to the committee by vote. c. Councilors may make requests for information to the Town Manager who, at his discretion, may expend legal fees to comply with the request. The meeting adjourned at 8:45 pm.