Bill H.5007

HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 5199 FILED ON: 8/19/2010

HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 5007

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the Year Two Thousand Ten

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An Act amending the charter in the town of Saugus..

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:

SECTION 1. Article 2 of the home rule charter of the town of Saugus, which is on file in the office of the archivist of the commonwealth as provided in section 12 of chapter 43B of the General Laws, is hereby amended by inserting, after section 1, the following section:-

Section 1A. Candidacy Limit on Town-wide Elective Office.

No person shall run for more than 1 major town-wide elective office: selectmen, school committee, and housing authority. A candidate for any town-side office may also run for a seat on town meeting within his precinct.

SECTION 2. Said article 2 of said charter is hereby further amended by striking out sections 3 and 3A and inserting in place thereof the following 3 sections:-

Section 3. Powers of Selectmen.

The selectmen shall be the chief policy makers of the town.

Section 3A. Appointive Powers of Selectmen.

The selectmen shall appoint, and may remove, members of the board of appeals, the board of library trustees, cemetery commissioners, election officers, and the registrars of voters, except the town clerk.

Section 3B. Any person who is appointed or reappointed to any town board, committee, commission, council, or task force, by whomever appointed, shall be a presently domiciled resident of the town of Saugus. All such appointments shall terminate immediately when the aforesaid Saugus residency ends. This shall not apply to town employees appointed to temporary ad hoc type committees.

SECTION 3. Subsection (h) of section 13 of said article 2 of said charter is hereby amended by adding the following paragraph:-

(1) Leasing of Town Property.

All leases, rentals or other proposed commitments to authorize the use of any town property for a period of more than 180 days must be approved by a three-fifths vote of the board of selectmen at a regularly scheduled public meeting. The board must be provided the final documents at least 7 days before the scheduled public meeting. Failure of the selectmen to approve any such documents with 21 days shall be deemed to be a rejection by the selectmen.

The town manager may not enter into negotiations to lease, rent or commit to authorize the use of any town property without first obtaining a three-fifths vote of the board of selectmen, at a regularly scheduled public meeting.

SECTION 4. Said article 2 of said charter is hereby further amended by inserting, after section 35, the following section:-

Section 35A. School Budget.

On or before the 1st day of February the school committee shall submit to the board of selectmen and the town manager a detailed budget for the ensuing fiscal year.

SECTION 5. Said home rule charter of the town of Saugus is hereby further amended by adding the following article:-

Article 3.

Section 1. Capital Improvement Plan.

The board of selectmen and the town manager shall be responsible for preparing a 5 year capital improvement plan for the town of Saugus.

(a) The board of selectmen and the town manager shall receive input from the school committee.

(b) The plan must be updated every year.