The Attorney General's Office has made their decision on Article 3, 4 & 5 (General) of the May 11, 2022 Annual Town Meeting
ARTICLE 3: AMENDING THE BYLAWS RE: ADVISORY COMMITTEE
On a motion duly made and seconded the town voted to amend Chapter 9 of the General Bylaws as follows:
§ 9-1 Membership; eligibility
There shall be an Advisory Committee consisting of five registered voters of the Town. None of whom shall be an elected Town officer, an appointed official receiving a salary or a Town employee. Committee members shall be entitled to serve upon any other committee for which membership is specifically provided for in these bylaws. In addition, members may serve on temporary ad hoc committees convened for a single purpose, such as screening of applications for employment or appointment and examination of policy when such bodies will be dissolved upon completion of their work.
§ 9-2 Appointment; terms; officers; compensation
Upon the effective date of this revised article of the town bylaws, the terms of all existing members of the Advisory Committee shall terminate at the next town meeting, the Moderator shall then appoint five members to serve until the conclusion of the next annual town meeting. The Moderator of the Annual Town Meeting shall, within 30 days after said meeting, appoint one member of said Committee for terms of one year, two members for terms of two years, and two members for terms of three years. After the term of these initial appointments, the Moderator shall within 30 days after the adjournment of every Annual Town Meeting, appoint for a term of three years the number of persons as may be necessary, to provide a committee of five members. The terms of office of said members shall commence immediately upon being sworn in by the Town Clerk and shall expire at the close of final adjournment of the Annual Town Meeting at which their successors are appointed. The Advisory Committee shall choose its own officers and its members shall serve without pay, and it shall cause to be kept a true record of its proceedings.
§ 9-3 Vacancies
If a member resigns or is absent from five consecutive meetings of the Advisory Committee, except in case of illness, the position shall be deemed to be vacant and shall be filled as herein provided. The Advisory Committee shall notify the Town Administrator, who will first check to determine if there are any interest forms of Town registered voters on file to fill the vacancy. If none, Town Administrator will ensure the vacancy is posted to Town web site. The Select Board shall thereupon fill such vacancy of the committee and this appointment shall expire at the final adjournment of the next succeeding Annual Town Meeting. The Select Board shall instruct the Town Administrator to notify the Town Clerk and the Advisory Committee of any such appointment. The Moderator, at the next annual Town Meeting, shall appoint a successor to complete the unexpired term.
§ 9-4 Review of Warrant Articles
All articles of any warrant for a Town Meeting shall be referred to the Advisory Committee for its consideration. The Select Board, after drawing any such warrant, shall transmit immediately a copy to each member of said Committee. The Advisory Committee shall give opportunity to town boards, departments, officers and residents to be heard at an information gathering referred to as pre-town meeting. Notice of such meeting shall be posted on the Town website. Said Committee shall, after due consideration of the subject matter of such articles, report thereon to the Town Meeting, in writing, such recommendations as it deems best for the interests of the Town and its citizens. Copies of the report of the Advisory Committee shall be made available to the voters at least two days before all Town Meetings.
§ 9-5 Access to information
Each member of the Advisory Committee shall be provided the proposed budget book for each fiscal year, all quarterly reports, financial and otherwise, monthly expenditure reports of the Town Accountant as well as the report of the Town Administrator as often as it is presented, so as to enable said committee to have the information to make recommendations to any Town Meeting. Whenever a request for a change in spending limit of a revolving fund is sought, end of year transfer or request of transfer from Town reserve fund, the committee will receive all pertinent information for those requests.
§ 9-6 Meetings
The Advisory Committee shall meet jointly with the Select Board whenever there is a request to consider adjusting spending limits on any Revolving fund, any end of year financial transfer or any request of transfer from the Town reserve fund.
§ 9-7 Annual Report
It shall be the duty of the Advisory Committee to make an annual report of its membership with date appointed and term, expenditures, Town emergency reserves, end of year transfers, and any other pertinent business to be contained in the Annual Town Report. The secretary of the Advisory Committee shall provide a copy of the complete report upon request.
§ 9-8 Committee Liaisons
The Committee may appoint members as liaisons to boards and standing committees to attend meetings of the various entities of the Town and School District and delegate to them such powers as it deems expedient.
Passed/May 11th @ 6:23pm
ARTICLE 4: DELETE BYLAW Ch. 22-6
On a motion duly made and seconded the town voted that Chapter 22-6 of the Bylaws shall be deleted and the remaining section shall be renumbered in sequential order.
Passed/May 11th @ 6:25pm
ARTICLE 5: AMENDING THE BYLAWS RE: CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS COMMITTEE
On a motion duly made and seconded the town voted to amend § 9-7 of the Bylaws as follows:
A. There is hereby authorized a Capital Improvements Committee, to be composed of five members, as follows:
(1) One from the Select Board
(2) One from the Advisory Committee
(3) Two from the community at large to be appointed by the Select Board; and
(4) The Town Treasurer/Collector.
B. The Town Administrator, or designee, shall serve as a non-voting ex-officio member; provided, however, that this person shall be designated by the Chairman as a voting member whenever the Committee lacks a quorum because of a recusal of a member or to provide a sufficient number of members to establish a quorum and conduct business.
C. The Committee shall choose its own officers; provided, however, that an ex-officio member may not serve as an officer of the Committee.
D. The members of the Committee shall be appointed prior to September 15th and serve until the Annual Town Meeting of the following year is dissolved. The Chair of the Committee shall, after presenting the report to the Select Board, approve the minutes of the proceedings. Should a vacancy occur in any of the above seats, the appointment to fill such vacancy shall be for the balance of the term.
Passed/May 11th @ 6:30pm