Select Board nominates members and schedules workshops; public raises concern about litigation and recusals

Select Board members announced reappointments and scheduling items and heard public comment raising procedural concerns about litigation and recusals.

The board recorded motions to renominate Stephen Biddle to the Capital Improvement Program Committee and J.R. Coughlin to the Economic Development Advisory Committee. A board member moved the nominations; the transcript records the motions and acknowledgement but does not record a roll-call vote in the provided excerpt.

The board also set a schedule for near-term meetings and training: a workshop with consultant Alex is scheduled for Tuesday the 18th at 2:00 p.m. (with a regular meeting the next evening), and members discussed moving regular meeting start times earlier on some nights to accommodate public hearings and member schedules. Board members asked staff to distribute packets in advance and noted possible scheduling contingencies (for example, a recount that might require postponement).

During public input a commenter raised a procedural concern after a planning-board meeting in which litigation had named residents who had voted. The commenter warned that when individuals who were named in litigation later appear before town boards or committees, other members sometimes recuse themselves or are worried about being added to litigation, potentially leaving only supporters available to vote. “It puts those committees or those boards in an awkward position… it ties their hands,” the commenter said, urging consideration of counsel or procedural safeguards when litigation could affect board membership or quorum.

Ending: The board noted the concern for future consideration and proceeded to a non-public session later in the agenda. No formal board action on the litigation/recusal concern was recorded in the transcript excerpt.