Tiverton Council Prods Schools' Moves, Says Media Policy 'A Misunderstanding'

7:02 p.m. The meeting begins. Council President Jay Lambert reports that Town Administrator James Goncalo reported sick earlier Monday morning and cannot attend the meeting, and therefore, the council cannot touch a "couple of" agenda items tonight.

7:04 p.m. The council votes 7-0 to go into executive session to tend to the job performance evaluation of Code Enforcement Officer Gareth Eames, as well as discuss an opinion letter to the town's auditor.

7:23 p.m. The council reconvenes in open session. Lambert reported no action was taken, and voted 7-0 to seal the minutes.

Board of Licensing matters

7:38 p.m. The council approves 7-0 the BV (full) liquor license and entertainment license for Joseph Faria of Susan's Restaurant at 13 Crandall Road.

7:40 p.m. Since no one from Asian Gourmet, at 1715 Stafford Road was present, the council voted 7-0 to push back the vote on their victualling license until January.

Appointments

7:41 p.m. The council votes 7-0 to approve Barbara F. Pelletier to the Newport & Bristol County Convention & Visitors Bureau.

Fall River tuition issue

7:49 p.m. Councilor Rob Coulter brings up the detailed reported requested from the town treasurer about the custody of funds related to the . Councilor Dave Nelson questioned why the School Committee sought an advisory opinion from the education commissioner after they had reportedly received the tuition check for Fall River students. Coulter questioned the authority to which the school superintendent and attorney acted by not revealing the letter, containing the secondary opinion, until November. No vote was taken.

Wait on community center analysis

7:53 p.m. The council voted 7-0 to hold off another month on the disposition of the until the library trustees compile data on the possible uses of .

Prepare for wind farm and industrial park workshop

8:11 p.m. The council voted 7-0 to continue Councilor Cecil Leonard's request for a workshop discussion on issues surrounding the the proposed wind turbine and industrial park. Leonard said he wants to "broaden" the discussion and looks to hold the workshop sometime in February with members of the Planning Board, the company studying the potential use of the industrial park and the East Bay Energy Consortium (EBEC).

Gerald Felise, president and CEO of National Energy Generation of Tiverton, submitted comments about the wind farm, saying the wind farm master plan will have a negative effect on the investment of renewable energy in Tiverton. He said the actions for the EBEC proposal for a nine-town wind farm violates both federal and state statutes.

Council still wants Teamsters contract details

8:16 p.m. The council votes 7-0 to continue the request to have Goncalo provide more detail on the fiscal impact statement on the for Jan. 9.

Public Works/PAYT talk

8:25 p.m. The council votes 7-0 to continue talk about the . Director Stephen Berlucchi said there are, as of today, 525 people in the program, and said there needs to be some sort of validation for those using that part of the program. Councilor Brett Pelletier submitted a report he compiled on the number of households in Tiverton that would apply, as well as those in rental units.

8:27 p.m. The council votes 7-0 to transfer $17,900 from the landfill cover account to the rubbish and recycling collection account, per Berlucchi's request.

8:30 p.m. The council votes 7-0 to continue Goncalo's fiscal 2012-13 provisional budget to the next meeting on Jan. 9. Added to the discussion prior to the vote, councilors want Goncalo to come back with a net level budget and a list of requests put in a priority order. Goncalo's budget has a reported $200,000 decrease in revenue and a $1.5 million increase in expenses.

Schools' legal sewer system concerns

8:39 p.m. The council begins talking about the from the school department. Councilors question why the school department are hiring special legal counsel from the town to provide briefings with respect to possible action from the Department of Environmental Management.

8:51 p.m. The council votes 4-3 in favor of the schools retaining special legal counsel to look into the septic system matter. Councilors Joan Chabot, Leonard and Coulter opposed, and said Town Solicitor Andrew Teitz should be handling the matter. Discussion continued between School Committee Chairwoman Sally Black and the council about the ongoing struggle between the two to work together.

Clarifying press contact with department heads

9:03 p.m. Lambert is addressing the reported press communications policy, as reported earlier this month in the . Lambert chastizes reporter Tom Daglish's article, and a subsequent editorial, that appeared in the newspaper calling the town administrator's "miscommunication" to the press about talking to department heads, as a "gag order." Council votes 6-1 to release the portion of the executive session minutes when the press communications matter was discussed amongst the council at the Nov. 14 executive session.

9:18 p.m. Lambert reads the portion of the executive session transcription, with department head personnel discussion items redacted. Lambert reiterated there is no press policy. The discussion that occurred during the meeting talked about town councilors wanting more stringent status reports, at different weekly and monthly timetables, from department heads and members of boards and commissions. Lambert said councilors did not give Goncalo direction to tell the press to go through him for communication with department heads.

The minutes read that Leonard cited a story he read in the Newport Daily News that he found interesting and wanted to know about it before it was printed. The minutes read that Nelson heard about after the fact in the press, and would have liked to attend.

"This was all around the request to Mr. Goncalo to give us a report," Lambert said. "The press was never mentioned. We were giving him feedback to him or report what we wanted him to generate to us."

9:25 p.m. Councilors disagreed if the press communication email sent by Goncalo should immediately be "inoperative," and want to speak to Goncalo when he gets back to full health. Lambert reiterates that it was a miscommunication with Goncalo, and calls the editorials "unfair" that appeared in the Sakonnet Times and Tiverton-Little Compton Patch.

Policies for boards and commissions, appointing liaisons

9:52 p.m. The council expands on the discussion on drafting policy for boards and commissions, as well as assign informal Town Council liaisons to major boards and commissions to maintain communication and "elevated understandings" of the current issues. They plan to talk to Goncalo about it when he returns.

One week approved of no PAYT

10:02 p.m. Citing good use of the pay-as-you-throw system, with increased revenue and the town being on track to , the council voted 7-0 to waive PAYT pick-up for the week of Dec. 26 to Dec. 31. Berlucchi said those who put their rubbish out, and rubbish only, can use regular trash bags for that one week.

10:30 p.m. The council took no vote on Berlucchi's recommendation for services along Adelard Avenue, Grandview Avenue, Clair Avenue and Murray Way.

Legal updates

10:44 p.m. Town Solicitor Teitz briefs the council on Tiger Tree/James Pelletier v. Tiverton and the Tiverton School Committee v. Tiverton. He went over the town's case against the schools, and said the schools only have one or two days left to respond to their petition to be heard in the Supreme Court.

10:49 p.m. The council votes to adjourn.

To watch full-length Tiverton Town Council and School Committee meetings, go to http://www.tivertonvideos.blogspot.com.

(A correction was made to the original post to reflect a 4-3 in favor vote, not 5-2, on the agenda item for the School Committee to retain legal counsel for the septic system issue. Patch apologizes for the error.)

(A clarification was made to the item pertaining to continuing Goncalo's budget submission.)