Dennis Beach Committee backs letter asking Selectboard to adjust membership, consider absorbing dissolved task force volunteers

The Dennis Beach Committee voted March 29 to authorize the committee chair to draft a letter to the Selectboard proposing a change to the Beach Committee’s membership configuration and to request consideration of volunteers from the recently dissolved BMAC task force.

Chair explained the background: BMAC (a task force addressing coastal matters) was dissolved at a recent Selectboard meeting and several volunteers had originally applied to join the Beach Committee. The Chair said she would "rewrite the membership" to add one member and one alternate and would forward the proposal for Selectboard consideration.

Members discussed the options. Some asked whether the Selectboard would prefer to open the seat to a public interview process; staff noted the Selectboard ultimately sets committee membership and could choose to advertise openings if it wished. Committee members also raised practical concerns about committee size and quorum rules; staff observed that many town committees typically have about seven voting members with alternates used to preserve quorum without increasing voting membership excessively.

A motion was made to authorize the Chair to draft and submit a letter inviting the Selectboard to consider adding one full member and one alternate to the Beach Committee and to consider two volunteers from the dissolved BMAC for those positions. The motion was seconded and passed by committee vote. The Chair said she would email a draft to committee members and provide it to the Selectboard liaison when Paul McCormick returns from vacation.

The decision is administrative: the committee’s vote authorizes a request to the Selectboard but does not itself reconfigure membership. The Selectboard will make any final appointments.