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Natick CBRC approves warrant article to update several bylaws, readies motions before Feb. 20
Summary
The Town of Natick Charter and Bylaw Review Committee on Feb. 4 approved a warrant article that would amend multiple bylaw sections (including tax-collection language, procurement rules and an insertion of “propane” in Article 81); the committee also approved its committee report and outstanding minutes and discussed scheduling a motions meeting before the Feb. 20 warrant closing date.
The Town of Natick Charter and Bylaw Review Committee voted Feb. 4 to accept a warrant article that would update multiple town bylaws and authorized staff to finalize modest edits ahead of the Feb. 20 warrant closing.
Christine Weithman, secretary of the Charter and Bylaw Review Committee, presented meeting materials and the committee approved a separate warrant article that serves as the committee’s standard report. The committee then reviewed a second drafted bylaw warrant article covering proposed changes to Articles 21A, 22, 41 and 81 and discussed the possible inclusion of a zoning-related topic.
The bylaw updates discussed include aligning Article 21A (Collection of Taxes) with current Massachusetts General Laws language on outstanding taxes in tax title, replacing references to “newspaper” with broader publication terms and adding section headers to improve organization; procurement-related edits to Article 41 requested by the procurement officer; inserting the word “propane” into select portions of Article 81; and a Town Counsel–proposed new section in Article 22 addressing zoning counsel that mirrors language used in prior warrant articles.
Harriet Merkowitz moved to accept the bylaw warrant article as presented, with agreed edits and permission for Mr. DeRensis to reasonably modify the text; Bob Awkward seconded. The motion passed on a roll-call vote reported as 5-0-1. Earlier in the meeting the committee approved the committee-report warrant article on a 6-0-0 vote.
Votes at a glance • Approve committee-report warrant article (as presented): motion by Christine Weithman; seconded by Harriet Merkowitz. Vote reported 6-0-0. • Accept Bylaw Warrant Article (with edits; text may be reasonably modified by Mr. DeRensis): motion by Harriet Merkowitz; seconded by Bob Awkward. Vote reported 5-0-1. • Accept minutes, Nov. 6, 2024 (as corrected): motion by Harriet Merkowitz; seconded by Bob Awkward. Vote reported 6-0-0. • Accept minutes, Nov. 21, 2024: motion by Harriet Merkowitz; seconded by Bob Awkward. Vote reported 6-0-0. • Adjourn: motion by Harriet Merkowitz; seconded by Bob Awkward. Vote reported 6-0-0.
Committee members noted scheduling needs: the CBRC may meet again to finalize motions (possible Feb. 13 meeting) but said that meeting will be canceled if motions are not ready. The committee also recorded that the Council on Aging no longer seeks the proposed changes to Article 25, and that outreach about town revolving funds had not yet received a response from town administration.
The committee convened at 7:05 p.m., conducted the discussion and adjourned at 8:20 p.m. The warrant for the upcoming Town Meeting closes Feb. 20, 2025; the committee’s approved warrant language will be submitted for inclusion ahead of that deadline.
