Board of Commissioners of Trust Funds
Minutes of Meeting held Monday, June 29, 2026
Present: Karen N. Bell (Chair), Frederica Doeringer (co-Chair), John Bourneuf (Clerk) and Rocco DeFilippis (Asst General Counsel).
This meeting was organized around the following agenda:
- Opening remarks from Commissioner Karen Bell
- Vote for approval of minutes from meeting of May 15, 2026
- Review of current balances from Funds and explanation of Huntress Fund size and location: Linda Pata.
- Update on status of Powers and Clough Funds with reference to probate court decrees
- Margaret Irving Powers Memorial Fund
- Clough Vocational School Fund
- Report from Rocco DeFilippis about petitions for other Trust Funds with MA AG Office
- Vote to authorize disbursement of the balance of the Ornamental Tree Fund to DPW per mayor's request
- Planning next steps for the Huntress Funds: Karen Bell
- Overall strategy for the remaining funds: Discussion All
- Set date for next meeting
1 & 2. The meeting was called to order at approximately 9:35am. To start off the meeting there were a few opening remarks from Commissioner Karen Bell and a review of the agenda for the meeting. After discussion of changes needed, A MOTION was made to approve the minutes of the May 15th meeting. There were no changes. The motion was seconded. All were in favor. The minutes were approved, as amended. ACTION 1: Jock will delete the Draft watermark and send the May minutes to Lee O'Leary to post the minutes on the City of Gloucester site.
3. There was not much discussion regarding funds balances. The Commissioners all had a copy of the Jan 1st – Mar 31st fund balances. It was agreed that the most current balances will come with the June 30th Quarterly Report.
4. The Commission next discussed the Clough Vocational School Fund. It was mentioned that we might need to go back to the State AG's office on the Clough Fund because of the specific wording, "vocational programs for young women". Karen mentioned that there was a Probate Decree that eliminated the specific wording for "young women". Karen highlighted that there was a distribution made in 2006 for $13,710 that went to the Gloucester School Committee for the "purchase of equipment". She mentioned that it appeared that restricting the funds to just young women would be illegal per past distributions (for generic vocational training) and the Probate Decree. The Commission was in agreement.
Rocco then discussed his approach with the State AG's office for the Clough Fund. He plans to propose that the "income only" restriction be eliminated. He was going to also highlight that the monies would be used for the training of young women but not restricted to just young women. He was planning to highlight that the monies would be spent per the Ben Lummis proposal and attach the proposal. He mentioned that it would be helpful to have the following: #boys and #girls; total enrollment numbers and number of students who have completed the course over the years. Rocco will use the July numbers for the Clough Fund when they are released. Lastly, Rocco will site the history for funds disbursement in his proposal to the AG's office. ACTION #2 Rocco will continue with the petition to the AG's office per above. He will also close back with Ben Lummis with clarity, status ad plan.
The Commission then briefly discussed the Margaret Irving Powers Fund. Rocco needs a proposal that shows the funds will be used for youth sports. We have the Proposal from Ben Lummis for the Middle School project. Rocco is also working with the city DPW to see if Parks & Recreation has a specific use of the funds.
5. The Commission members next discussed the status of other funds being reviewed by the AG's office. The Fernald Fund was the first one discussed. Recall that this fund was in the administrative group with total principal plus income less than $75,000. The feedback from the AG's office is to remove the language about the Poor of Annisquam and make it city-wide for Gloucester. The language could/ should include recipients providing direct poverty relief or organizations that do means testing for poverty. The Commission could help in this regard. The Commission members discussed organizations such as Action Inc and the Gloucester Housing Authority. Action Inc., for example, provides support and housing for the homeless. ACTION #3: Rocco to look at both the Gloucester Housing Authority and Action Inc.
The Commission discussed the Hovey Fund. We need to get the latest balance of this fund. We believe there was a distribution made and the fund total value might fall below the $75,000 hurdle and now be in the administrative group. The July report from CASB will be reviewed.
6. The Commission members next voted to authorize disbursement of the balance of the Ornamental Tree Fund to DPW per the mayor's request. A motion was made and seconded and all approved. ACTION #4: Karen to send an email to Conor requesting him to disburse the ornamental tree fund to the City of Gloucester DPW.
7. Next the Commission discussed the Huntress Fund and next steps. Karen reported that she went to the Esses Probate and Family Court in Salem. In the court, she was able to recover a document that was the Court's decree that combined most of the Huntress Fund into one fund. This decree was dated 1984. By the combined fund, the City of Gloucester must use the income from the fund for the "aged poor". Only interest income can be disbursed to recipients. This fund is large enough that the interest income per quarter or per year is considerable. Commission members thought that Senior Care was one of the most logical recipients. The Gloucester Housing Authority and the Rose Baker Center were also likely candidates.
ACTION # 5 The Commission will contact those three organizations to determine if and how they assist the "aged poor". Karen agreed to connect with SeniorCare Inc. Freddi agreed to connect with the Gloucester Housing Authority and the Rose Baker Center. Before contacting them, it was recommended to study their websites to understand their mission and purpose. We want to tell them a little bit about the Commission and the Huntress Fund and its focus on the "aged Poor". We want them to provide a little clarity on their mission and purpose and how they support the "aged poor".
After we regroup as a Commission and understand if these three organizations are the best ones, the Commission plans to send them a formal RFP to have them specify the exact use of the funds.
Lastly, the Commission talked briefly about the status of all of the other funds. There are a number of funds that were disbursed in February. There are others that are in judicial petition. ACTION #6: Jock will put together a simple fund status summary for all funds.
A motion was made and seconded to adjourn the meeting at 10:49am. All approved. The Commission agreed to meet again on July 29th at 2pm in the 1st floor conference room, Gloucester City Hall.
Respectfully submitted
John Bourneuf, Clerk