FINCOM 03-04-2014

Source page 1

Voti�J _ �- It) -I4 
Town of Canton Finance Committee 
Meeting Minutes V 
Tuesday, March 4, 2014 
Members Present: 
Sepp Bergschneider, Jerry Dorfman, Dianne Gustafson, Tim McKenna, Mark Porter, Barbara Saint Andr6 
and Jim Sims. 
Members Absent: 
Rob Barker and Diane Wolff. 
Guests Present: 
Jeremey Comeau, Chairman, Planning Board 
Jim Murgia, Finance Director 
Ellen Jones, Finance Committee Secretary 
Opening: 
A meeting of the Canton Finance Committee was called to order at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, March 4, 2014 
in the Upper Meeting Room of the William J. Armando Recreation Center. 
A. Approval of Agenda 
Chairman Porter reviewed the items on the agenda. 
B. Announcements 
There were no announcements. 
C. New Business 
Planning Board — FY15 Budget Requests — Mr. Jeremey Comeau informed the Finance Committee 
that he and Town Administrator, Bill Friel, had come to a mutual agreement with regard to the FYI Town 
Planner request. The $69,000 request would be in the Planning Board budget rather than the Executive 
Area budget. He envisioned the Town Planner would not be an employee as former Town Planner, 
Roger Nicholas, had been, but rather a consultant, similar to the arrangement the Town has with Town 
Counsel. Mr. Comeau also suggested that that the salary would be a flat annual fee with office hours of 
approximately 40 hours per week. The Town Planner would be hired through a joint effort and input from 
the Planning Board, Board of Selectmen, Economic Development Committee etc. Mr. Comeau stated 
that he would also work with the Finance Director at developing the RFP (Request for Proposal) for the 
consultant/engineering services. 
Chairman Porter inquired of Mr. Comeau if the Town Planner position would result in other savings, 
through more grants being picked up, fewer Town Counsel hours being utilized and more billings to 
applicants. A committee member also inquired if there were similar Towns such as Canton that presently 
employ a Town Planner. Mr. Comeau would look into this and get back to the Committee. 
A Finance Committee member was concerned with a contracted individual being able to give the Town 
enough leadership and that if this individual were to bring ideas to the various boards, would there be a 
consensus reached by the political leaders on such varied issues such as Plymouth Rubber. 
ATM Article 12 — Inclusionary Zoning Article — Mr. Comeau explained that the purpose of Article 12 is 
to encourage development of new housing that is affordable to low and moderate income households. 
This could help Canton to maintain the affordable housing at the 10% threshold. 
A Finance Committee member expressed her concern with the language in the Mandotory Provision of 
Affordable Units, section 7.7.4 1. (3) clause which states "an equivalent fees -in -lieu of payment may be 
made ". She also stated that many communities were getting away from this type of fee arrangement. Mr. 
Comeau stated that this clause could be removed from the final language for the article. 
This article would be applicable to properties townwide. Mr. Comeau stated that the financial impact of 
Article 12 would be on the developers and not necessarily the Town. 
FINCOM 03042014 MINUTES.doc Page 1 of 6 3/8/14