Advisory Committee seeks reduced membership to keep meetings functional; moderator asks for more review

Marla Ferrar, chair of the Advisory Committee, asked the Select Board on March 31 to support Warrant Article 19, which would reduce the committee’s membership from 15 to 11 to address repeated quorum problems.

Ferrar said the committee historically has not filled 15 appointed seats in recent years; with current appointments at ten (and effective active membership often lower), the existing quorum rules tied to a 15-member body frequently prevented the committee from holding business meetings. “In practice we have nine,” Ferrar said, explaining the reduction to 11 would lower the quorum threshold and make regular business possible.

Town Moderator Frank Spain told the board he was not opposed to the idea but wanted more time to compare other towns’ practices and to review the proposed term-limit language. The original draft also proposed extending allowable consecutive service from three single-year appointments to nine years (three three-year terms); board members expressed concern about long consecutive service and suggested trimming the consecutive-term proposal. The board discussed an on-the-fly compromise to reduce the consecutive-term proposal to two terms pending further moderator review so the advisory committee can function.

Board members discussed appointing practices and emphasized that filling available seats remains the moderator’s responsibility. The Select Board directed staff to adjust warrant language to reflect a smaller membership and to consider narrower changes to consecutive-term limits ahead of town meeting.