AN ACT AMENDING THE CHARTER OF THE TOWN OF BOURNE.
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. Subsection (b) of section 2-5 of article 2 of section 1 of chapter 117 of the acts of 2012 is hereby amended by striking out, in line 1, the figure “75” and inserting in place thereof the following figure:- 50.
SECTION 2. Said subsection (b) of said section 2-5 of said article 2 of said section 1 of said chapter 117 is hereby further amended by striking out, in line 2, the figure “45” and inserting in place thereof the following figure:- 25.
SECTION 3. Said subsection (b) of said section 2-5 of said article 2 of said section 1 of said chapter 117 is hereby further amended by striking out, in line 3, the word “four-fifths” and inserting in place thereof the following words:- a majority.
SECTION 4. Subsection (c) of said section 2-5 of said article 2 of said section 1 of said chapter 117 is hereby amended by inserting after the word “projections”, in line 5, the following words:- , their budget goals.
SECTION 5. Said subsection (c) of said section 2-5 of said article 2 of said section 1 of said chapter 117 is hereby further amended by inserting after the word “year”, in line 6, the first time it appears, the following words:- , an organization table.
SECTION 6. The first paragraph of section 3-3 of article 3 of said section 1 of said chapter 117 is hereby amended by striking out the second, third and fourth sentences and inserting in place thereof the following sentence:- Annual goals as voted by the board of selectmen shall be filed with the town administrator not later than July 1 after the regular spring town election and shall also be published in the annual town report.
SECTION 7. The second paragraph of said section 3-3 of said article 3 of said section 1 of said chapter 117 is hereby amended by striking out the first sentence and inserting in place thereof the following 3 sentences:- An individual selectman shall have no independent authority unless specifically authorized by a vote of the board of selectmen. Selectmen shall deal with administrative agencies and departments only through the town administrator. Selectmen, individually or as a board, shall not become involved in the day-to-day administration of a town department.
SECTION 8. Section 3-5 of said article 3 of said section 1 of said chapter 117 is hereby amended by inserting after the first sentence the following sentence:- Representatives of boards or committees specified as members of a committee shall be designated by their respective boards or committees.
SECTION 9. Said article 3 of said section 1 of said chapter 117 is hereby further amended by striking out section 3-6 and inserting in place thereof the following section:-
Section 3-6: Prohibitions.
(a) No member of the board of selectmen shall serve on an elected or appointed town board or committee established by this charter, by by-law or by town meeting, unless otherwise specified in the charter, by-law, by town meeting or by any other applicable law.
(b) No member of the board of selectmen shall hold any other elected town office or town employment during that member’s term in office.
(c) No person who has served as a member of the board of selectmen shall be employed by the town for 2 years after that member’s resignation or after the member’s term of office has expired.
SECTION 10. The first paragraph of section 4-1 of article 4 of said section 1 of said chapter 117 is hereby amended by striking out, in line 4, the figure “30” and inserting in place thereof the following figure:- 60.
SECTION 11. The second paragraph of said section 4-1 of said article 4 of said section 1 of said chapter 117 is hereby amended by striking out, in line 2, the words “an indefinite term” and inserting in place thereof the following words:- a term defined by contract.
SECTION 12. The third paragraph of said section 4-1 of said article 4 of said section 1 of said chapter 117 is hereby amended by striking out the third sentence.
SECTION 13. Said section 4-1 of said article 4 of said section 1 of said chapter 117 is hereby further amended by inserting after the third paragraph the following paragraph:-
The town administrator need not be a resident of the town when appointed but shall establish primary residence in the town of Bourne within 1 year after the date of appointment; provided, however, that the board of selectmen may, by a simple majority vote of the selectmen in office at the time of the appointment, extend the time for establishing residence or otherwise allow the town administrator to reside elsewhere. Once a residency exemption is granted to a specific town administrator, it shall not be rescinded in future contracts with that town administrator.
SECTION 14. Section 4-4 of said article 4 of said section 1 of said chapter 117 is hereby amended by striking out, in lines 1 and 7, the word “may” and inserting in place thereof, in each instance, the following word:- shall.
SECTION 15. Said section 4-4 of said article 4 of said section 1 of said chapter 117 is hereby further amended by striking out, in line 4, the words “exceeds 30 days” and inserting in place thereof the following words:- is greater than 10 business days.
SECTION 16. Clause (c) of section 4-6 of said article 4 of said section 1 of said chapter 117 is hereby amended by adding the following words:- and in accordance with the policies and goals established by the board of selectmen.
SECTION 17. Said section 4-6 of said article 4 of said section 1 of said chapter 117 is hereby further amended by striking out clause (f) and inserting in place thereof the following clause:-
(f) keep the board of selectmen fully informed of all issues and problems it needs to address.
SECTION 18. Clause (m) of said section 4-6 of said article 4 of said section 1 of said chapter 117 is hereby amended by adding the following words:- and inform the board of selectmen of all changes in compensation made within 30 days.
SECTION 19. Section 5-1 of article 5 of said section 1 of said chapter 117 is hereby amended by striking out the first sentence and inserting in place thereof the following sentence:- The town administrator shall annually submit a table of organization establishing personnel requirements within all town departments to the board of selectmen by June 1.
SECTION 20. Said article 5 of said section 1 of said chapter 117 is hereby further amended by adding the following 2 sections:-
Section 5-7: Police Department.
There shall be a police department which shall be under the control and supervision of a chief of police. The chief of police shall be appointed pursuant to clause (b) of section 4-6. The town administrator shall be the appointing authority for all police officers under the control of the chief of police. The chief of police may from time to time make suitable regulations governing the police department, and the officers thereof, subject to approval of the town administrator; provided, however, that the regulations shall become effective without that approval if the town administrator fails to take action thereon within 30 days after the regulations have been submitted to the town administrator by the chief of police. The chief of police shall be in immediate control of all town property used by the police department and shall be in charge of the police officers. The chief of police shall assign to the police officers their respective duties and the police officers shall obey all orders of the chief of police.
Section 5-8: Fire Department.
There shall be a fire department which shall be under the control and supervision of a chief of the fire department. The chief of the fire department shall be appointed pursuant to clause (b) of section 4-6. The chief of the fire department shall have charge of extinguishing fires in the town and the protection of life and property in case of fire. The chief of the fire department shall purchase and keep in repair all property and apparatus used for and by the fire department, with the approval of the town administrator. The chief of the fire department shall have and exercise all of the powers and discharge all of the duties conferred or imposed by law upon fire chiefs in towns except as herein provided. The chief of the fire department shall appoint such deputy chiefs and such officers and firefighters as the chief deems necessary and may remove the same at any time for cause and after a hearing. The chief of the fire department shall have full and absolute authority in the administration of the fire department, shall make all rules and regulations for its operation, shall report to the town administrator from time to time as the administrator may require and shall annually report to the town the condition of the department, including any recommendations thereon. In the expenditure of money, the chief of the fire department shall be subject to such further limitations as the town may from time to time prescribe.
SECTION 21. The first paragraph of section 6-8 of article 6 of said section 1 of said chapter 117 is hereby amended by striking out, in line 4, the word “3-year” and inserting in place thereof the following word:- 5-year.
SECTION 22. The first sentence of section 7-3 of article 7 of said section 1 of said chapter 117 is hereby amended by adding the following words:- which shall be submitted to the board of selectmen as part of the annual budget message.
SECTION 23. Subsection (c) of section 8-6 of article 8 of said section 1 of said chapter 117 is hereby amended by striking out, in line 3, the words “and posted on the town website for at least 5 years”.
SECTION 24. Section 8-9 of said article 8 of said section 1 of said chapter 117 is hereby amended by inserting after the definition of “Charter” the following definition:-
“Goal”, the desired outcome of a policy, program or other action.
SECTION 25. Said section 8-9 of said article 8 of said section 1 of said chapter 117 is hereby further amended by inserting after the definition of “Multiple member body” the following definition:-
“Policy”, a statement of a preferred practice.
SECTION 26. This act shall take effect upon its passage.
Approved, March 8, 2018