The Select Board on Tuesday unanimously approved asking town counsel to appear at its next meeting on May 19 to discuss the proposed common victualer license policy it has been working on for the past several months.

Chair Joe Clark noted that the board temporarily put discussion on hold as the May 2 Annual Town Meeting approached. This meeting was an opportunity to refine the proposed policy.

A “critical piece” Clark mentioned is what the town intends to do with the Criminal Offender Record Information (CORI) and Sex Offender Registry Information (SORI) forms it collects as part of the CV application and renewal process.

Member Brian Herr said town counsel should be consulted “because there are state laws specific to what can and cannot be done.”

Member Matthew Kizner agreed, saying that he would like to see town counsel discuss the policy in an open meeting for transparency.

“I’m comfortable with the policy as a whole,” he said. “We’re really just talking about enforcement and implementation.”

Town Manager Elaine Lazarus thanked Assistant Town Manager Lance DelPriore for working on this draft and consulting town department heads and town counsel for their input. She added that it may be difficult to have town counsel appear at a meeting because this is Town Meeting season for the lawyers.

Herr said it would be advantageous for town counsel to appear while the Annual Town Meeting is fresh in the public’s mind. Clark added that swift action is necessary because many people go away during the summer.

Herr added that the ATM vote to take no action on CV civil fingerprinting is a “data point” that should be noted. Also, the Hopkinton Chamber of Commerce was not supportive of this as a requirement.

Member Amy Ritterbusch said she had “a big list of questions” for town counsel. The list included whether a national CORI could be used to see if people committed offenses in other states and whether a $35 per person fingerprinting service used by schools and early childcare centers could be utilized by the town.

While this CV policy focuses on managers, Ritterbusch said other employees could have “a criminal history” but not be screened under the policy.  A resident pointed out at Annual Town Meeting that only checking on managers may give the town “a false sense of security,” she said.

“Could we legally deny a common victualer’s license if someone has something small, I guess a misdemeanor, or an accusation without charges?” she asked. “And would there be an appeals process for the applicant if we denied their license?”

Vice chair Shahidul Mannan asked if the application and renewal process would be digitized. DelPriore said that should be accomplished by July or August.

Town Meeting prep committee suggested

Kizner lamented the lack of a quorum leading to the dissolution of Annual Town Meeting. He requested that Town Clerk Connor Degan and Town Moderator Zachary Kosan appear to discuss their views on how the Saturday meeting went and future improvements.

He also suggested that a committee be formed to discuss ancillary activities that would make people more likely to attend a Saturday meeting. They included refreshments, child care and ensuring that there are no conflicting school or athletic events.

Said Kizner: “I want to suggest potentially thinking about a Town Meeting committee, not to run Town Meeting but for the purpose of preparing the community for Town Meeting and sort of being our advisory entity to let us know what they need to set it up for success.”

$49.6M long-term bond for capital projects OK’d

The board unanimously approved the short-term Bond Anticipation Note (BAN) of $67,667,500 and long-term bond of $49,610,000 to support capital projects approved at the May 2 Annual Town Meeting.

Town Treasurer/Collector CJ Paquette explained that financing for the completed or nearly completed capital projects should be moved from short-term borrowing to long-term borrowing. This would keep the financing at a fixed rate.

“The refinancing strategy stabilizes the debt schedule with predictable payments and interest and enhances long-term budget accuracy,” he said.

Paquette noted that credit rating entity S&P Global Ratings is expected to release the town’s credit rating on Friday. S&P conducted a credit review on April 18.

The town has maintained a AAA credit rating for several years, which is the highest rating a community can achieve. This rating helps the town when applying for capital financing for large-scale projects.

Chief Financial Officer Kyla LaPierre explained that the town’s debt limit is $359 million. Including the town’s five-year capital plan, it is at about 70% of that amount.

“We also spent a significant amount of time preparing them for our future outlook,” she said. “We shared with them the five-year capital plan and our budget forecast, so they know what’s coming up and what we have projected for the future.”