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Select Board hears pushback on proposed rule requiring committees to post agendas and archive minutes
Summary
Staff proposed making committee chairs responsible for physically posting agendas at three locations and maintaining archival copies; volunteer chairs and committee members pushed back, citing volunteer burden and open‑meeting law enforcement concerns. The board took the feedback for further consideration.
Town staff proposed a policy that would make committee chairs responsible for physically posting agendas at three town locations (post offices and town office), posting minutes and delivering hard‑copy archives to the town vault or a copy‑room binder. Staff said the change would reduce risks of missed or improperly warned meetings.
Several volunteer committee chairs objected that the requirement would add substantial time and complexity to volunteer service. One volunteer (S12) said they manage a full job and still find time to post notices, while others said printing and filing dozens of pages is onerous and suggested a middle ground—training chairs to post electronically, annual archival, or having the planned administrative assistant take on some tasks.
The board chose to take the feedback under advisement rather than adopt the policy immediately, noting open‑meeting law enforcement and records requests have prompted concerns but recognizing volunteer capacity constraints.
