NORTHFIELD — A conversation on changing the Selectboard from three members to five may draw interest at a forum with the Town Governance Study Committee on Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Town Hall.
The change to the Selectboard is one of a handful of actionable recommendations that the Town Governance Study Committee expects to include in its final report, which will be offered at Annual Town Meeting this year for inclusion in the town’s official records.
The forum on Wednesday will be a chance for residents to learn about the recommendations ahead of Town Meeting and to offer their feedback, said Town Governance Study Committee member Bee Jacque. The committee still has time to revise its recommendations before the Town Meeting warrant is closed.
There will likely be two votes at Town Meeting, Jacque said: one to accept the committee’s report; and one to increase the Selectboard’s membership.
The first vote will only be to accept the report, not to act on any of its recommendations.
But the second vote — to change the Selectboard — will be a binding decision, Jacque said. If the change is approved at this year’s Town Meeting, it will go into effect next May, she said.
Almost all of the recommendations that the committee expects to include in its report are re-evaluations of recommendations from a previous Town Governance Study Committee that submitted a report to the town in 2013.
The new committee formed its recommendations by surveying Town Hall department heads and governmental boards about the recommendations from the 2013 report, and about the current functioning of Town Hall.
Of the previous committee’s recommendations, some were already implemented and some have not been. Some are being re-affirmed in the new committee’s report, and some are being argued against.
A recommendation to change the treasurer and tax collector from elected positions to appointed ones, for example, was already implemented, and the new committee expects to re-affirm it, Jacque said. The new committee will also likely re-affirm a 2013 recommendation to create a comprehensive set of bylaws to govern the whole town government, which has not been implemented yet, Jacque said.
One of the more consequential recommendations from the 2013 report was to create a town administrator position, which has since been implemented. The 2013 report also recommended increasing the Selectboard’s membership, but not until a few years after the town administrator position had been implemented, Jacque said.
The only totally new recommendation that the new committee is considering, Jacque said, is to improve the “customer service” experience at Town Hall. “That came through pretty loud and clear,” Jacque said.
One way of doing that, Jacque said, may be to coordinate the hours of the various Town Hall offices, so that there is at least one day a week when they are all open at the same time.
Reach Max Marcus at mmarcus@recorder.com or 413-772-0261, ext. 261.