Pownal begins vetting town AI policy; resident suggests personnel-policy approach

Becky Taylor-Chase, Pownal’s town administrator, presented a first draft of an Artificial Intelligence policy at the Select Board’s Oct. 14 meeting, calling it a preliminary document drawn from other towns’ templates and recent training by GPCOG and MMA.

"You have before you a rough first draft of an Artificial Intelligence Policy," Taylor-Chase said, and she summarized the sections and noted areas she omitted from other sample policies for further discussion. Chair Jon Morris urged caution and recommended workshops with town staff and committees and consulting the town’s cyber-insurance provider before formal adoption.

Resident Bill Schmidt, of Pine Grove Road, suggested a narrower approach: rather than creating a standalone AI policy, add a short paragraph to the town personnel policy under computer use. Schmidt distributed a sample paragraph he wrote and an AI-generated example and said a single-paragraph insertion could serve as a practical training and compliance measure.

Taylor-Chase told the board she had discussed Microsoft Copilot integration with ION Networking, which currently hosts the town’s Office suite, and recommended aligning any policy with the town’s hosting and backup arrangements. Chair Morris said he supported circulating training materials and issuing a caution email to staff while the board develops the policy.

No adoption vote was taken; the document remains a draft and the board directed further staff workshops and consultation before returning a refined proposal to a future meeting.