Town council study committee votes to send draft town and county charters for review, outlines outreach plan

The Town Council Study Committee voted unanimously Monday to forward draft town and county charters to town administration and KP for legal review, to post the drafts online for public review and to schedule a series of public information sessions.

The committee moved to send the drafts in a motion made by Curtis (member, Town Council Study Committee) and seconded by Jill (member, Town Council Study Committee); the motion passed on a roll-call where Curtis, Jill, Caroline (member), Tom (member), Joe (member) and Kelly (member) recorded “aye.”

Why it matters: the drafts are the product of more than a year of work by the study committee and set out the proposed structure and rules for a possible change in town government. Sending the drafts for review and posting them for public comment starts a period of broader public engagement and legal vetting before any changes would appear on a ballot or move further in the local process.

Committee members spent significant time discussing a handful of specific items in the drafts before the vote. Curtis said he had “reviewed them” and noted a missing reference to the sewer commission: “I don't see the sewer commission… my recommendation would be that you just continue this the council as the sewer commission, and then they can decide how to proceed after that,” Curtis said, urging the council to retain the commission in the short term so the draft would not need to be reworked immediately.

Members also agreed to revert the Shellfish Advisory Board to election rather than appointment. Kelly asked whether the committee had decided to move the shellfish board back to elected status; another member confirmed it would be “back to election.”

The committee debated adding charter language to explicitly allow nonvoting residents and property owners to serve on town committees. Donna (member) summarized a presentation she had heard from Amherst counsel Mandy Jo Henneke and said the Amherst charter’s approach was instructive: “She said that… residents and non voters are welcome to apply for committee positions,” Donna said, describing how Amherst permits nonregistered residents and nonvoting taxpayers to be appointed to advisory bodies. Members did not add final language during the meeting but asked staff to circulate the Amherst text for consideration at a future meeting.

Outreach and next steps: Joe (member) detailed planned public information sessions and encouraged rapid scheduling: “I think we've ended up with 3 dates… Thursday the tenth, Saturday the twelfth, and Monday the fourteenth,” he said, asking the committee to confirm venues and to tailor presentations for different audiences. Committee members agreed to post the drafts on the committee web page, push a banner or social post through town communications, and to hold quick, focused sessions that explain how the proposed system would operate and how residents could participate.

Communications strategy: members discussed producing letters to the editor and public-facing materials explaining differences between the existing system and the proposed charter, and several members said they planned individual letters signed in their own names rather than as a single committee statement. Curtis said he was drafting a letter, Joe said he would circulate his draft to news outlets, and other members volunteered to coordinate additional community voices for outreach.

Budget and committee structure discussion: committee members also discussed how the draft treats financial review bodies. The draft removes the current Finance Committee (FinCom) and contemplates a ‘ways and means’ or similar council committee. Members agreed this is an area to highlight in outreach because it changes public review procedures for budgets and capital projects; they left the final structure to the town council and legal reviewers to refine.

Formal action: the committee approved the motion to forward the drafts to town administration and KP for review, to post the drafts for public comment, and to proceed with scheduling informational sessions. The committee directed staff to ensure the posted drafts are clearly labeled as drafts and to return with any suggested language changes at a subsequent meeting.

The committee adjourned after confirming logistics for posting drafts and outreach materials, with members noting the vote represents a major milestone in the charter review process but not a final policy change.