Buckfield Select Board establishes withdrawal committee, names petition circulator and RSU representative

The Buckfield Select Board voted Dec. 2 to establish a four‑member withdrawal committee to carry out the town petition process and appointed members to serve immediately.

The committee will include one municipal officer, one member of the general public, one representative from the group that circulated the petition, and one representative from the regional school unit. Erin Hinckley was appointed as the RSU representative, Neil Austin was appointed as the general‑public member, and Michelle Casey — identified in the meeting as a petition circulator — was appointed to represent the group that filed the petition. The board made and seconded the motions and approved them by voice vote; no roll‑call tallies were given on the record.

Why it matters: the withdrawal committee is the local step in a multistage statutory process that requires coordination among the three towns involved. Board members said they favored appointing someone who had physically filed or circulated the petition to reduce the risk of a procedural challenge.

What the board said: a member of the board summarized the committee structure and moved to establish the panel, saying the four seats should consist of a municipal officer, a member from the general public, one of the petition circulators and an RSU representative. On appointing Michelle Casey, the town administrator noted Casey had been one of the individuals who circulated and signed the petition certification. On the RSU seat, a board member moved to appoint Erin Hinckley and noted the RSU representatives had coordinated by email.

Next steps: staff announced the Buckfield withdrawal committee will meet with Hartford and Sumner committees; the Buckfield committee’s first meeting is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. at Hartford Town Hall the following day, with Hartford to convene afterward. Each town’s withdrawal committee will have its own chair and will coordinate on interpretation of the statutory steps to avoid procedural defects.

Votes and procedure: Motions to establish the committee and to appoint the named members were made, seconded and approved by voice vote; the meeting transcript records unanimous verbal approval in each instance but does not include a roll‑call or numeric tally.

Context and clarifications: Town staff and Select Board members debated whether the petition‑group representative must be one of the three individuals who physically circulated and signed the certification. Multiple speakers said their narrow reading of the state guidance favored selecting someone who had actually filed or signed the petition "to cover our bases" and avoid the risk that the process could be challenged later. The town administrator also said they would seek alignment among the three towns’ committees and that an attorney would be available to the process later.