[HISTORY: Adopted by the Annual Town Meeting of the Town of Easton 5-19-2008 by Art. 23. Amendments noted where applicable.]
[Amended 5-20-2019 ATM by Art. 21]
There shall be a seven member Board of Trustees (hereinafter the "Board"), one of whom shall be a member of the Select Board. The Select Board can appoint the Town Administrator as a member or chair of the Board with or without the power to vote. All trustees are to be appointed by the Select Board. They shall serve for a term of two years, except that four of the initial trustee appointments shall be for a term of one year. In the event of a vacancy, the appointment shall be made in the same manner as the original appointment.
The Board shall annually elect one Trustee who shall serve as the Chairperson and a second Trustee who shall serve as a Clerk.
Meetings of the Board shall be held on a regular basis. A quorum of the Board shall be the majority of the number of authorized Trustees. A trust is a governmental body for purposes of Section 23A, 23B, and 23C of MGL Chapter 39, the Open Meeting Law.
[Amended 5-20-2019 ATM by Art. 21]
The Board shall have the following powers, all of which shall be carried on in furtherance of the purposes set forth in Massachusetts General Laws c. 44, § 55C, except that the purchase, sale, lease, exchange, transfer or conveyance of any interest in real property shall be subject to the approval of the Select Board, and except that the incurring of any debt, borrowing of any money, granting of mortgage or the pledging of trust assets shall be the subject to the approval of Town Meeting by a two-thirds majority vote:
A. 
To accept and receive property, whether real or personal, by gift, grant, devise, or transfer from any person, firm, corporation or other public or private entity, including without limitation grants of funds or other property tendered to the trust in connection with provisions of any zoning ordinance or bylaw;
B. 
To purchase and retain real or personal property, including without restriction investments that yield a high rate of income or no income;
C. 
To sell, lease, exchange, transfer or convey any personal, mixed, or real property at public auction or by private contract for such consideration and on such terms as to credit or otherwise, and to make such contracts and enter into such undertaking relative to the trust property as the board deems advisable notwithstanding the length of any such lease or contract;
D. 
To execute, acknowledge and deliver deeds, assignments, transfers, pledges, leases, covenants, contracts, promissory notes, releases and other instruments sealed or unsealed, necessary, proper or incident to any transaction in which the board engages for the accomplishment of the purposes of the trust;
E. 
To employ advisors and agents, such as accountants, appraisers and lawyers as the board deems necessary;
F. 
To pay reasonable compensation and expenses to all advisors and agents and to apportion such compensation between income and principal as the board deems advisable;
G. 
To apportion receipts and charges between incomes and principal as the board deems advisable, to amortize premiums and establish sinking funds for such purpose, and to create reserves for depreciation or depletion or otherwise;
H. 
To participate in any reorganization, recapitalization, merger or similar transactions; and to give proxies or powers of attorney with or without power of substitution to vote any securities or certificates of interest; and to consent to any contract, lease, mortgage, purchase or sale of property, by or between any corporation or person;
I. 
To deposit any security with any protective reorganization committee, and to delegate to such committee such powers and authority with relation thereto as the board may deem proper and to pay, out of the trust property, such portion of expenses and compensation as the board may deem necessary and appropriate.
J. 
To carry property for accounting purposes other than acquisition date values;
K. 
To borrow money on such terms and conditions and from such sources as the board deems advisable, to mortgage and pledge trust assets as collateral;
L. 
To make distributions or divisions of principal in kind;
M. 
To comprise, attribute, defend, enforce, release, settle otherwise adjust claims in favor or against the trust, including claims for taxes, and to accept any property, either in total or partial satisfaction of any indebtedness or other obligation, and subject to the provisions of this act, to continue to hold the same for such period of time as the board may deem appropriate.
N. 
To manage or improve real property; and to abandon any property which the board determined not to be worth retaining;
O. 
To hold all or part of the trust property uninvested for such purposes and for such time as the board may deem appropriate;
P. 
To extend the time for payment for any obligations to the trust; and
Q. 
To accept and receive money from Chapter 44B (Community Preservation Act) and from the Town of Easton.
Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, all monies paid to the trust in accordance with any zoning by-law, exaction fee, or private contributions shall be paid directly into the trust and need not be appropriated or accepted and approved into the trust. General revenues appropriated into the trust become trust property and to be expended these funds need not be further appropriated. All moneys remaining in the trust at the end of the fiscal year, whether or not expended by the Board within one year of the date they were appropriated into the trust, remain trust property.
Neither the Trustees nor any agent or officer of the trust shall have the authority to bind the Town, except in the manner specifically authorized herein. The trust is a public employer and the members of the Board are public employees for the purposes of MGL, Chapter 268A. The trust shall be deemed a municipal agency and the Trustees special municipal employees, for purposes of MGL, Chapter 268A.
The trust is exempt from MGL Chapters 59 and 62, and from any other provisions concerning payment of taxes based upon or measured by property or income imposed by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts or any political subdivision thereof.
The Trust is a board of the Town of Easton for the purposes of Chapter 30B and Section 15A of Chapter 40; but agreements and conveyances between the trust and agencies, boards, commissions, authorities, departments and public instrumentalities of the town shall be exempt from said Chapter 30B.
The Treasurer/Collector shall be the custodian of the Trust Fund's funds and shall maintain separate accounts and records for such funds. Any income or proceeds received from the investment of funds shall be credited to and become part of the Trust Fund. In accordance with MGL Chapter 44, § 55C, the books and records of the trust shall be audited annually by an independent auditor in accordance with accepted accounting practices.