MEMBERS PRESENT: Tony Vegnani, Chairman; Constantine Constantinides; Paul Lemieux; Bob DeLorenzo; Peter Detwiler. MEMBERS NOT PRESENT: Kathy Donahue, Richard Cook. ALSO PRESENT: Rick Agnew, Town Administrator; Vin Doyle, Rosa’s Lane; Dave Page; Jim Comeau, project manager Habitat for Humanity; John Hallin, CPC Chairman.

1.CALL TO ORDER. Chairman Tony Vegnani called the meeting to order at 7:00 P.M. in the Little Red Schoolhouse on Cudworth Lane.

2. ACCEPTANCE OF AGENDA. On a MOTION by Mr. Constantinides, SECONDED by Mr. Lemieux, the agenda was accepted as written by unanimous vote (6-0).

3. Mr. Vegnani said that there is still one vacancy on the committee, and that the newest member, Richard Cook, is unable to attend the first few meetings. Mr. Vegnani went over the schedule for upcoming Advisory Committee meetings. He said that Special Town Meeting is scheduled for November 13, 2006; the booklet must be available by October 30 and it will take a week to prepare it prior to that.

The following writeups were assigned: Article 4, Mr. Lemieux; Article 7, Mr. Detwiler; Article 11, Mr. DeLorenzo; Article 12, Mr. Constantinides; Article 19, Ms. Fenton. Mr. Vegnani said that he would like to see writeups for these articles submitted by the next Advisory meeting.

4. REVIEW AND VOTE ON ARTICLES FOR SPECIAL TOWN MEETING. Article 3: Cole Parkway `1112Marina Electrical was rescheduled to be heard at the next Advisory meeting.
Article 4: Rosa’s Lane Sewer Extension. Mr. Vegnani said that the Advisory Committee is hearing the article which deals with whether the financing of the sewer extension will be made by “a combination of betterment assessments … and privilege fees.” Mr. Agnew said that he slightly revised the wording of the article; and Mr. Vegnani read the article aloud. Mr. Doyle circulated copies of a map showing where the sewer line currently runs. He presented the background that has led to the article. Mr. Doyle said that the Rosa’s Lane neighborhood has had a longstanding problem with water. Mr. Agnew said that 26 or 27 homes are affected by this problem and because they are surrounded by areas that were not top priority for sewering these homes have been passed over. He said each home will have its own pump and line and that it is a fairly inexpensive job. Mr. Detwiler asked about payment of the betterment. Mr. Agnew said that residents will have to pay all costs for the project, and explained the interest. Mr. Constantinides asked why a few houses in the district were connected in the last few years. Mr. Agnew said that the Board of Health could declare a public health emergency during the sewer moratorium; those houses were done under an emergency permit. Mr. Vegnani said that the issue being dealt with tonight is, will the Town vote to finance this project. Mr. Constantinides asked if DEP had been involved; Mr. Agnew said that he advised the proponents to go before the Board of Health first, and that the Board of Health has endorsed the proposal. Mr. Agnew said that no funds will be spent before the project goes before the DEP. Mr. Constantinides said he feels strongly that we need a reading from DEP before going before Town Meeting. Mr. Doyle said that the DEP will be the next step. Mr. Vegnani asked when this will happen; Mr. Doyle said that without approval by Town Meeting there is no point in going before the DEP. Mr. Constantinides asked about the MBTA involvement with the connections. Mr. Lemieux said that this should be disclosed in the article, that DEP approval would be needed. He also said that the present figure of $357,000 could end up being higher. Ms. Fenton asked about where the stream is on the map. Mr. Page pointed this out as well as where the sewer lines are. Mr. Agnew said that all residents will have to pay for the betterment whether or not they tie in. Mr. Vegnani asked if everyone involved is aware of all the costs. Mr. Vegnani also asked who would pay any additional funds that might be required if the cost of the project should increase; Mr. Agnew said he expected that the funds would be more than sufficient; but that he expected residents would split any extra costs. Ms. Fenton made a MOTION to support Article 4 as written with the inclusion of additional language “contingent upon approval by the DEP”; Mr. DeLorenzo SECONDED the motion; all were in favor and the motion passed 6-0.

Article 7: South Shore Habitat for Humanity. Mr. Vegnani read the article, and reminded members that at the previous Town Meeting it was voted to transfer 25,000 square feet of Town-owned property to the Habitat For Humanity. Mr. Hallin provided backup information. He said that the $50,000 in CPC funds has been banked for the past five years. Ms. Fenton asked where the balance of the funding comes from; Mr. Comeau said that fundraising and other donations make up the rest. Mr. Hallin said that this would be the first project to be funded for Community Housing by the CPC. He also said that if three Habitat houses are built and one is open to residents outside of Scituate, all the houses will count toward the 10 percent affordable housing stock. Mr. Detwiler asked what ratios are like in other towns; here the CPC would be funding about 40 percent of the project. Mr. Comeau said that having a main source of funding such as this helps to get the project going. Mr. Hallin said that around 35 contractors have offered to contribute their services to the project. Mr. Detwiler asked if the deeds have covenants on them; Mr. Hallin said that the homes cannot be sold for profit. He said the entire project would cost $125-135,000. He said that the project does qualify for the Community Housing portion of the CPA. Mr. Vegnani said that although he supports the project, he has questions about the process. At the last Town Meeting the land was donated and no further funding was mentioned, and he wished that it had been. He also said that at Town Meeting all CPA projects can be reviewed together but that is not the case here, and that such projects should be brought before a full Town Meeting rather than at the Special where attendance will be lower. He said that this request for funding should have been anticipated. Ms. Fenton said that the hope would be that the various stages of a project be presented as a full package. Mr. Agnew made the point that this was not a CPC project to start with; the land donation was an article at Town Meeting. On a MOTION by Mr. Detwiler, SECONDED by Ms. Fenton, the Advisory Committee supported Article 7 as written by unanimous vote (6-0).

Article 12: Appleton Property. Mr. Agnew said that this language change is straightforward; Mr. Vegnani asked if Town Counsel agrees with this, and Mr. Agnew said that it does. On a MOTION by Mr. Constantinides, SECONDED by Mr. DeLorenzo, the Advisory Committee supported Article 12 as written by unanimous vote (6-0).

Article 11: Samuel Hatch Cemetery Easement. Mr. Agnew said that an easement has already been recorded but that Town Meeting has to approve it. It is a very small plot of 6-8 very old graves but it is not being maintained, the Town would then maintain it. Mr. Constantinides asked what happens to the pedestrian easement if this easement supercedes it. Mr. Vegnani said that there is an access easement, a perimeter easement, and a temporary construction easement for resetting and repairing the surrounding walls. On a MOTION by Mr. Constantinides, SECONDED by Mr. Lemieux, the Advisory Committee supported Article 11 as written by unanimous vote (6-0).

Article 19: Housing Authority Land – Petition. Mr. Agnew said that Town Counsel has said that the Housing Authority would have to take a formal vote to turn the land back over to the Town, which they will certainly not do. A Town Meeting vote would not be able to rescind Article 29 of 1993 Town Meeting, it would not be legal. Mr. Constantinides said that the 1993 Town Meeting article does not specify use for the piece of property; the Housing Authority is now proposing to sell the property to a private developer and have half of the units be sold as affordable housing. Mr. Agnew said that Scituate Housing Authority is a separate entity; they can sell land and the profit is theirs. He said that only “sand and gravel rights” are mentioned in the article language, and that the easement remains with the Town. On a MOTION by Mr. Detwiler, SECONDED by Mr. DeLorenzo, the Advisory Committee voted unanimously to oppose Article 19 as written 6-0.

5. OLD BUSINESS. There was no old business.

6. NEW BUSINESS. Mr. Vegnani asked for a volunteer for vice-chairman; he said that he had spoken with Ms. Donahue about this and that she is willing to do this through Special Town Meeting or until her appointment on the committee is over, but that someone else will have to step in after that. Mr. Vegnani made a MOTION that Kathy Donahue serve as vice-chairman through Special Town Meeting; Mr. Constantinides SECONDED the motion, and by unanimous vote the motion passed 6-0. Mr. Vegnani strongly encouraged members to attend every meeting. There was a discussion about the annual Town Meeting. Mr. Vegnani said that he would look at preparing an article to postpone Town Meeting until April. Ms. Fenton also asked about ways to create conditions to limit Special Town Meeting.

7. ADJOURNMENT. On a MOTION by Mr. Lemieux, SECONDED by Mr. Detwiler, and a unanimous vote of 6-0, the meeting was adjourned at 8:50 PM.

Respectfully submitted,

Jean Martin