Monday, September 9, 2024, at 6:30PM
Amey Tucker Spencer Trust Fund Meeting
Town Council Sitting in their Capacity as Trustees
Video: https://vimeo.com/showcase/9672722
It was followed by the
TOWN COUNCIL Meeting
Barrington Middle School Presentation Room
Video: https://vimeo.com/showcase/9672722
Attachments can be found: https://clerkshq.com/barrington-ri
Present: (Town Council sitting as Trustees): President Annelise Conway, Vice President Braxton Cloutier, Trustee Kate Berard, Trustee Robert Humm (arrived at 6:42pm), and Trustee Carl Kustell.
Also, Present: Town Manager Phil Hervey, Assistant Town Solicitor Andy Teitz, Planning Building and Resilience Director Teresa Crean, Spencer Trust Administrator Karen Griffith and Town Clerk Meredith J. DeSisto
President Conway called the AMEY TUCKER SPENCER TRUST FUND MEETING to order at 6:37P.M.
Motion by Trustee Kustell and seconded by Vice President Cloutier to approve the minutes of the Amey Tucker Spencer Trust Fund from May 6, 2024. The motion passed in favor 4-0-0-0 President Conway, Vice President Cloutier, Trustee Berard, and Trustee Kustell; no one opposed, no recusals and no abstentions. (Trustee Humm arrived after the vote at 6:42pm).
TM Comment: Requesting approval of a rate increase for the consultant assisting the Town with administration of the Spencer Trust.
Director Teresa Crean stated that she is here requesting a contract extension approval and an hourly rate increase for the Spencer Trust Administrator. She said that Ms. Griffith has done a great job with residents and requests with customer intake and Home Repair Assistance Program applications as well as working with the Building Inspector to meet code/violations and does a great job closing out repair funds.
Director Crean said that she wanted to give a shout out to Debra Page-Trim who really stewarded the program for many years and has done a great job of handing off that program to Ms. Griffith.
Trustee Berard questioned that an increase of 11% is a high amount for an increase within one year.
Director Crean explained that Ms. Griffith does serve in a consultant capacity to other nonprofits, and her rate is her rate as she provides these services to her client base. She discussed Ms. Griffith’s role and responsibilities as administrator and her changing roles as circumstances change of the needs of our resident’s. The role does require a dedicated follow up and she provides constant communication and engagement with these residents through phone calls and emails. She said that she is deserving of the increase based on the amount of competency that Ms. Griffith has shown over the course of the year.
Trustee Berard questioned Ms. Page-Trim and her continued involvement.
Director Crean commented that she has put in writing that she would like to move completely away from the Spencer Trust; Trustees had approved a stipend to her on a quarterly basis but will no longer receive.
Motion by Trustee Kustell and seconded by Trustee Humm to approve the contract extension and hourly rate increase to $50.00 per hour for Karen Griffiths (Dieterich) to continue serving in the Spencer Trust Administrator contract position thru June 30, 2025. The motion passed in favor 3-0-0-2 President Conway, Trustee Humm and Trustee Kustell; two (2) opposed, Vice President Cloutier and Trustee Berard, no recusals and no abstentions.
Director Crean stated that initially each of the above topics were going to be discussed separately. She said that it may be that we sit down and discuss our findings over the last year regarding what we have learned from the applicants and the needs of the home repair program.
Discussion ensued regarding the financing of forgivable loans and how the Spencer Trust Administrator is researching other vehicles for the applicants and if we increase the current $20,000 to $30,000 or adjust the number to continue to invest Spencer Trust funds into the housing stock of residents in Barrington.
Director Crean continued the discussion regarding the payment process for contractor/vendors but we do not recommend vendors at this time. A list of vendors has been discussed internally as that might provide assistance to the applicants of vendors who have worked with Spencer Trust applicants; in which they have been “sort of” vetted by the Town; as we do with our on-call consultants. Discussion ensued regarding the positives and negatives; most vendors require 50% down.
Director Crean discussed the third item, refurbished appliances and the association with the 10-year forgivable loan period. She questioned what do we do with that, do we replace the appliance again within that forgivable loan, because the warranty is only good for 90 days. She said that we realize it is a policy; and we don’t have a policy for that kind of decision making.
Spencer Trust Administrator Karen Griffith discussed how we are trying to make the process more transparent and consistent. She said that we want to give homeowners who come to us for assistance clear guidelines and clear policies and want to make sure that we are treating people equitably. We want to document it; we want to make sure that the policy and the procedures are correct and that we are answering questions knowledgably. She requested to sit down, with Vice President Cloutier, to discuss the options or possibilities and update the guidelines and return on October 7th.
Allan Klepper, 4 Henry Drive discussed the various program that he has introduced, and the various arrangement for programs with background information but you have been told continuously from the solicitors that you can’t do this. He said even though there is a program in British Columbia. He asked the Trustees to think about that seniors do not want a lien on their homes, so forget about tax exemptions. He suggested to think about giving to super seniors who have lived a long time in this town a 10% of the average tax levied in town, approximately $11,000 that would be $1100. He then discussed that the Spencer Trust money could be used for super senior tax benefits.
Janine Wolf, 5 Atlantic Crossing, commented on a previous comment in which people who had already transferred their significant wealth into a trust fund to benefit their own children were then to receive money out of the Amy Tucker Spencer Trust Fund.
Motion to adjourn the meeting by Trustee Kustell at 7:03pm. The motion passed in favor 5-0-0-0 President Conway, Vice President Cloutier, Trustee Berard, Trustee Humm and Trustee Kustell; no one opposed, no recusals and no abstentions.
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Meredith J. DeSisto, CMC