[Adopted May 1993 STM]
Any town board, agency, authority, committee
or officer empowered by General Law, state regulation or Town Charter
or bylaw to enter into a contract or issue a license, the duration
of which is longer than two (2) years from the date of execution or
issuance, shall, by written notice within forty-five (45) days of
the time of proposal or application, require the proposed vendor under
such a contract or the applicant for such a license, as a prerequisite
to the acceptance and execution of such contract or the approval and
issuance of such a license, to reimburse the Town of Ashland for the
reasonable costs incurred by the town where it contracts for technical,
professional and/or legal consultants to advise, to research, to carry
out and to review the process of application and negotiation and the
proposed terms, conditions and provisions of such contract or license
for the benefit of the town and its residents. Such notice to the
proposed vendor or applicant shall include the estimated amount of
such reimbursement.
A.
The necessary amount of any such reimbursement shall
be certified, in writing, by the appropriate board, agency, authority,
committee or officer of the town to the proposed vendor or applicant,
and the vendor or applicant shall then either pay the amount so certified
or make arrangements acceptable to the appropriate board, agency,
authority or officer for such reimbursement.
B.
In the event of a dispute over the amount of reimbursement
so required, the vendor or applicant shall notify the town of such
dispute, in writing, specifying the basis and facts of such dispute,
whereupon the vendor or applicant and the town shall submit such dispute
to a certified arbitrator of the American Arbitration Association,
and the decision of the arbitrator shall be final and binding on the
parties.
In the event that the review or negotiating process for such a contract or license extends over more than one (1) fiscal year, multiple partial reimbursements, totaling the full amount of the town's costs, in the discretion of the appropriate board, agency, authority, committee or officer, may be required and accepted at the end of any fiscal year, in accordance with the procedure set forth in §141-5 of this Article.
