Town Clerk Mel Green told a meeting of town clerks and committee secretaries that minutes must record basic meeting facts and a concise summary of each topic discussed, and that draft minutes must be producible on request.

"It has to include the date, time, the place the meeting has taken place, and then each item that you're gonna be talking about with as much detail as possible without, like, rambling on and on," Mel Green, town clerk and clerk for the board of registrars, said. "You're supposed to list all the documents and exhibits that were used."

The guidance matters because, Green said, minutes are the official long-term record of municipal business. She told attendees that a draft of minutes must be available within 10 days if someone requests them, and that the town keeps minutes permanently while agendas have a shorter retention cycle. Green also summarized a state-level change to meeting rules: an updated open-meeting law released in June 2025 and an extension that allows virtual attendance through June 2027; when a member participates remotely, votes should be taken by roll call.

Green and other clerks discussed practical steps for complying with the law: include date, time and place; list members present and absent; identify remote participants; summarize discussion on each agenda item; note motions and votes; and attach or list exhibits and staff memos. She said the town clerk’s office expects boards to deliver draft minutes within a reasonable time, typically within one meeting cycle for bodies that meet regularly.

Clerks asked procedural questions about timelines and approvals. Green clarified that the 10-day rule applies to producing a draft on request — not to final approval — and that boards that meet infrequently should act within a "reasonable" timeframe appropriate to their schedule. The transcript also records town guidance that video recordings are not required to be kept indefinitely; Green said the town typically retains meeting video for about six months under the state retention schedule but keeps minutes as the permanent record.

Participants were advised to retain copies of heavy-use materials (plans, memos, staff reports) and submit approved minutes to the town clerk’s office for filing.

Looking ahead, clerks were told to monitor the June 2025 open-meeting law revision for operational changes and to follow roll-call procedures for remote votes until the state extension expires or is changed.