AMHERST – Despite concerns expressed by some Charter Commission members that spring Town Meeting is too early to seek money to hire a consultant to support the group’s work over the next 18 months, it is unanimously backing the $30,000 request.
But the 9-0 vote on Monday came only after the language of the warrant article would give the commission more flexibility in how the money is used. The warrant article reads that the money will be “utilized by the Amherst Charter Commission for the purpose of engaging consultant services related to its operation.”
Commission Chairman Andrew Churchill said in an email that many charter commissions in the state use consultants to help with technical aspects of the work, and that the Collins Center at the University of Massachusetts Boston provided a list of 14 communities with which it has worked. This produced agreement that money for technical help would be needed.
“Commission members then agreed to contact other towns that have had charter commissions, as well as talking to town counsel and the interim town manager, to get a clearer picture of the costs for consulting and other commission activities, so that we can provide more detailed support for our funding request to Town Meeting,” Churchill said.
Though he supported the request, commission member Gerry Weiss said in an email that the language of the motion still does not allow the commission to use the money for ancillary expenses, even though a previous commission in 2002 spent more than $5,000 for various tasks, such as making copies, sending mailings and posting information in newspapers. The commission automatically receives $5,000 from the town as required by state law when charter commissions are formed.
Weiss said having the words “consultant services” could allow for use of more than one consultant, though not for anything outside that scope.
Over the next four to six weeks, before Town Meeting acts, commission members will check with other towns that recently have had charter commissions to determine what they spent and budget needs for Amherst’s commission.
“We voted unanimously on the $30,000 amount with full agreement that we will only ask for that amount if we can clearly show an estimated budget,” Weiss said. “If we can’t get a better sense of the costs, we may lower the amount and come back for more in the fall.”
At fall Town Meeting there would also be the opportunity to redirect some of the spending as the commission learns more about its financial needs, Weiss said.
Churchill said this would require drafting an amendment for a Town Meeting vote.
“If we find that we need a little less for consulting and a little more for operating expenses going forward, we will come back to Town Meeting to ask them to adjust the language to allow that,” Churchill said.
The Finance Committee has the spending request for consulting services on its agenda for Thursday.
“We’ll take some position, because it’s a financial matter,” said Finance Committee Chairwoman Kay Moran.
Meanwhile, a public hearing will be held from 7 to 9 p.m. May 12, as required by state law, which requires that within 45 days of the vote to create a commission.
Commission Vice Chairwoman Mandi Jo Hanneke said the intended location of the public hearing is the auditorium at the Amherst Regional Middle School, but the commission has not yet confirmed its availability.
The next commission meetings will be held at 7 p.m. April 25 and May 5 at locations to be determined, Hanneke said.
Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.
