Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Committee Governance topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Concord TAC elects new chair, forwards revised TAC charge to town manager and passes project prioritization to Public Works
Summary
At its May 5 meeting the Town of Concord Transportation Advisory Committee elected Ellen as chair effective June 1, voted 6–1 to forward a revised TAC charge to the town manager and Select Board for their consideration, and voted to send a ranked list of priority projects to Public Works to aid paving and budgeting decisions.
The Town of Concord Transportation Advisory Committee voted on multiple governance and prioritization matters during its May 5 meeting.
The committee elected Ellen to serve as TAC chair beginning June 1. Members nominated and approved Ellen by voice vote after a brief nomination and seconding exchange; several members thanked outgoing chair Mark for his service.
On a separate agenda item, the committee debated whether the drafted revision to the TAC charge was ready for public transmittal or required further editing for brevity and clarity. Rebecca and Mariana argued the draft should be refined to create a concise, public-facing statement, while Nick, Ellen, Phil and others said the select board and town manager should receive the committee’s current draft and determine final language. "Ultimately we don't write our own charge," a committee member said in explaining the motion to transmit the draft.
Nick moved to forward the draft charge to the town manager and Select Board in its current form; the motion was seconded and passed. Recorded votes included Rebecca (no); Mariana (yes); Phil (yes); Dan (yes); Ellen (yes); Nick (yes); Mark (chair, yes). The committee agreed the transmittal would note the measure was not unanimous and requested staff ask the Select Board for a date to discuss the draft.
Later in the meeting TAC reviewed a posted prioritization matrix that asked members to identify up to 10 priority projects from a longer list. Two projects—Pine & Upland traffic calming and West Concord/Concord Center improvements—received broad support; several others received multiple votes. The committee voted to forward this prioritized list to Public Works with the caveat that public works staff will weigh utility schedules, paving plans and other constraints when programing work.
Members requested that staff consolidate TAC comments into a single memo to share with Public Works and the consulting teams. The committee also invited community groups to present on broader topics, including a request from Mothers Upfront to discuss a Vision Zero policy at a future meeting.
Next steps: the draft charge will be transmitted to the town manager and Select Board with a notation that the committee was not unanimous; the prioritized project list will be sent to Public Works for consideration in upcoming paving and budgeting cycles.
