Open Space Committee considers adding due-diligence language to charter section 6-15

Susan Messina, an Open Space Committee member, proposed adding a single sentence to the town charter to clarify the committee’s role in conducting due diligence on land transactions. At the May 7 work group meeting Messina presented the draft sentence: “Due diligence of the Open Space Committee is required for town owned land and can be requested for private land.”

Messina said the intent is to assign responsibility for due diligence work following sections of the charter that address acquisition, preservation, stewardship and administering the land-acquisition fund. She told the work group she had raised the concept briefly with the Charter Revision Committee and planned to return with a concise edit so it could be considered within that committee’s timeline.

Helen Peterson, who opened the work group meeting, and other members discussed placement of the sentence in the existing charter/code structure. Committee members clarified references to “section 6-15” and an ordinance/code citation (21-3) during the discussion; one member noted 21-3 refers to the town code rather than the charter.

Members raised questions about the phrase “can be requested for private land,” with one committee member predicting the Charter Revision Committee may ask for a clearer definition of what “requested” means. Messina said she would consider revising the language and that the work group would bring a refined version to the full committee in June for a vote before forwarding it to the Charter Revision Committee.

There was no formal vote at the work group meeting on the proposed charter text; the committee agreed to continue refining the wording and to present it at the next full Open Space Committee meeting and to the Charter Revision Committee.