Personnel Update

We have received several applications for the recently vacated Assistant to the COA Director position. We hope to schedule interviews in early December, and to have a new hire by the middle of December.

As you probably know, Harry Terkanian has been appointed Town Administrator in Wellfleet. His last day in Truro will be December 21. We are already advertising the position in hopes of having Harry participate in the interviews before he leaves. The deadline for those applications is December 3, 2012. We hope a new hire might spend a week working with Harry prior to his departure.

Update of Selectmen’s Goals and Objectives

The Truro Board of Selectmen has agreed to pursue the following goals and objectives for Fiscal Year 2013, which is July 1, 2012 through June 30, 2013. These goals and objectives are divided into six broad categories:

Many of the goals are ongoing or continuing goals from FY2012 or earlier. New goals have been marked as such.

In establishing these goals and objectives for themselves, it is the intention of the Board of Selectmen to provide guidance and direction to the Town's multi-member Bodies, to the Town Administrator, and to his or her appointees. This will assist in the achievement of the overall plans and objectives. Staff teams were formed in early September to work on implementing the goals.

FINANCE

NEW

The Board of Selectmen will work to review the RENTAL REGISTRATION fee structure and evaluate the fee’s equitability and value.  The Board will explore measures to eliminate the loophole that exempts short-term vacation rentals from paying the room occupancy tax.

The team has met, and is exploring the history of the Rental Registration program and the revenue generated.  The team is also looking into the status of several State House bills regarding room occupancy tax on short-term rentals.
CONTINUING

The Board of Selectmen will work with the Town Administrator, the Town Assessor, and the Board of Assessors to develop a procedure that mails the tax bills in a timely fashion.

FY2013 bills were mailed at the beginning of October.  The Deputy Assessor has implemented new procedures for data collection and entry in order to ensure tax rates can be certified on time and that mailing tax bills in a timely manner continues.

The Board of Selectmen and Finance Committee, working through the Budget Task  Force, will develop and review the budget on a functioning basis.  For the 2013 Fiscal Year, the Task Force will focus on (a) developing a purchase order system for all Town departments and (b) the feasibility of establishing a program of raises and/or bonuses based on employee performance.

Reviewing the budget on a functioning basis is a long-term goal that cannot be implemented for the current budget cycle.  We recommend the Selectmen learn more about what this process involves and plan to carry this goal over to the FY2015 budget.  We are testing an electronic purchase order system through Munis and will expand the program, if it works successfully in the pilot program.

Long-range Planning

CONTINUING

The Board of Selectmen will work to develop a framework to develop the next iteration of the Town Charter.  The Board will establish a Committee to review and update the Town Charter and the Local Comprehensive Plan.  The Board will create a Charge for this Committee that will specify what the range of the Committee will be.

At present there are four volunteers for the five-member Charter Review Committee. We recommend extending the timeline for Charter Revisions to Annual Town Meeting 2014. Our recommendation is to form a Local Comprehensive Planning Committee from designees of existing regulatory and advisory boards and committees.

The Board of Selectmen will work with the Town Administrator and the Town's Departments and multi-member bodies to find ways to cut costs and/or improve performance by working collaboratively on issues of common interest with neighboring Towns and entities, including the Cape Cod National Seashore.

This team submitted a list of areas to consider for collaboration and regionalization. We will work toward implementing some of the list this year.

The Board of Selectman will work with the Building Committee, the DPW Head, and the Town Administrator to develop a feasibility-and-cost study of potential options to move the DPW facility from Town Hall Hill.

We expect an appraisal of one of the properties in which we are interested within the next two weeks.

The Board of Selectmen will work with and support the Town of Wellfleet and the Cape Cod National Seashore (through the Herring River Restoration Committee) to finalize the "MOU III" for the Herring River Restoration project; and, it will support the efforts of establishing an "MOU III."

Environmental Impact Study and Review is currently underway. Once that is completed, work will begin on a new Memorandum of Understanding.

Public Safety

NEW

The Board of Selectmen will work with the Town Administrator, Public Safety authorities, Health Agent, the CERT Team, and community members to ensure that we have adequate emergency shelter plans in place.

The Inter-Municipal Agreement is completed. CERT training on shelter operations is scheduled for early December. Operations Plan is in development.

The Board of Selectmen will work with the Department of Public Works, Fire Department, Council on Aging, and community members to address compliance with our Public Safety Clearing Guidelines.

Draft General By-law has been developed. Work on unresolved issues such as disposal and enforcement. Team met with Council on Aging to explain safety issues involved and to discuss the possibility of financial assistance for those unable to afford trimming or disposal. Group is also focusing on house numbering.
CONTINUING

The Board of Selectman will organize an ad hoc task force to work with all relevant parties, including the Board of Fire Engineers, to develop a long-range plan for the Truro Fire Department.

Joint meeting of BOFE and BoS scheduled for December 4th.

The Board of Selectmen will work with the Chief of Police and the Bike and Walkway Committee to develop a safe roadway agenda that addresses the needs of currently “dangerous” roads as well as the expansion of safe bike ways.

Determining speed limits for secondary roads. Sergeant Roach assigned as the liaison to Bike and Walkways Committee.

Community Relations and Communication

NEW

The Board of Selectmen will work with Mass DOT, Department of Public Works, Planning Board, and Town Departments to establish an eligibility policy regarding the hanging of Temporary Banners on Route 6.

ATA talked to staff at Mass DOT. These kinds of temporary signs and banners do not fall under their jurisdiction. Selectmen may still wish to develop their own written policy.

The Board of Selectmen will establish office hours for the Selectmen at Town Hall, post the hours, and alternate between members of the Board.

BoS voted to hold the office hours. None scheduled thus far.
CONTINUING

The Board of Selectmen will continue its municipal outreach programs, focusing on exploring the potential uses of social media and expanding the Town's website content to include online permitting.

No report at this time.

The Board will explore the implications of the Open Cape System and the Town's role in it. The Board of Selectmen will work to expand the technology capabilities and infrastructure of the Town by participating as actively as possible with the Town's connection to Open Cape.

  1. Government services which may become available through the Municipal Area Network (”MAN”) will provide a 1 gigabit connection Cape Cod municipalities. This will become the foundation of shared municipal systems such as online permitting systems, shared assessing, and GIS data, which will reduce licensing costs through group purchasing.
  2. In order to facilitate the delivery of regional services, Barnstable County has created the Office of Strategic Information Services to provide a management and governing structure for delivering services and provided a building to house the agency and the co-location facility.
  3. Faster connections between Town buildings, which will permit a unified telephone system with extension-to-extension dialing between Town buildings, use of Town buildings for offsite backup storage (such as backing up Town Hall servers to a backup device in the public safety building, etc.) and faster access to vendor-hosted services, such as our Munis accounting system and the Recreation Department Sportsman software.

The Board will work to make available broadband internet service to all areas of the Town. In consultation with the Cable & Internet Advisory Committee, the Board will explore opportunities for collaboration with other Outer Cape towns to secure “last-mile” providers of internet service using Open Cape. The Board recognizes the importance of high-speed internet service in advancing economic development opportunities in the Town, and it is committed to eliminating the “digital divide” for residents and businesses.

TA and IT Director continue to work with CIAC and Comcast to compile a comprehensive and accurate list of areas served and not served. Monitor Comcast’s obligation under current license to provide service to areas in Town. Look for alternatives such as additional providers using Open Cape or providing last-mile service from wireless facilities.

Administration

CONTINUING

The Board of Selectmen will set as a goal for the Town Administrator, the review of all job descriptions for those positions covered under the Personnel Bylaw. The Town Administrator will report back to the Selectmen no later than June 30, 2013 as to which job descriptions are in need of updating and whether a consultant is recommended.

Working with the Town’s Labor Counsel on revised job descriptions. Moving forward with plans to undertake a classification and compensation study of all positions which might also include further revisions to job descriptions.

Next Update

The staff teams will continue working on implementation with our next update, due in March.

I wish you all a happy and peaceful Holiday Season.
Coming soon, a Town Meeting preview and update on the budget.

Sincerely,

Rex Peterson
Town Administrator
townadm@truro-ma.gov
(508) 349-7004, ext 10