Canton, Massachusetts · Saved source text
By-law minutes Feb 11, 2025
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Municipal By-law Modernization Committee Minutes for February 11, 2025 Pequitside Tavern, 7:00 pm Members Present: George T. Comeau, Dr. Susan Harrington, Louis Jutras, Jen Kemalian, William Kring, Gilda McGonagle, Randy Scollins Absent: Mike Loughran, Paul McAuliffe The meeting was called to order by the Chair Mr. Comeau at 7:00 pm. The meeting was broadcast live on the cable access government channel and recorded for future replay. The chair moved to the first agenda item of the approval / discussion on the minutes from the meeting of January 23, 2025. Ms. McGonagle had some comments but did not have the opportunity to send them so she will forward the information to the clerk and Mr. Jutras will send out a revised copy to the members and the topic will be added to the next meeting agenda, Mr. Comeau then opened the floor for any public comments but there were no members of the public present, The next order of business was a contract update on the project with General Code. Mr. Jutras notified the committee that the purchase order was e-mail to the vendor today and that Mr. Dumont, our representative from General Code, confirmed receipt of the e-mail and thanked the committee for their commitment to the project. The committee talked about the timeline for the project as well as the use of the 2023 version of the By-laws and Zoning items. Since the project will be based on the 2023 By-laws as the Town Clerk and others have not updated the material from the last few Town Meetings, Ms. McGonagle raised the question on who will bear the responsibility to provide any updated / approved material to General Code. Mr. Comeau commented on the current project and felt that the committee would be interfacing with other Boards, Committees, and Town Departments but once the project is completed, 18 to 24 months from now, that the Town would need to determine a point person and that it might be the Town Clerk and the Town Planner. Various committee members added comments on this topic and the discussion concluded with a consensus that we will ask General Code for any recommendations and also work with the Town Clerk and Town Planner on this transition. The committee then discussed the project timeline in further detail and, after input from various committee members, it was concluded that the Chair will draft a memo to Boards, Committees, Department, and other stakeholders that will outline the projected timeline, areas of responsibilities, and requested input, Page I 1
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Mr. Kring commented on this interaction with the various stakeholders and the need for the committee to also interact with the Town's legal counsel on any questions that are presented to the committee from the By-law review from General Code. Mr. Comeau agreed with this necessity and stated that he will discuss this need with Mr. Loughran and determine how the committee can interact with counsel. This question also shed light on the need to discuss the method in which we present the final codified By-laws to a future Town Meeting. The current warrant requirements state the necessity to provide plans, specifications, and supporting data in order for an article to be considered complete (Article III ). Mr. Comeau was thinking about how the final warrant article might be presented and if we might need an article at a prior town meeting to the codification town meeting that would allow for an electronic posting option for the codified by-law instead of a printed version. This discussion just reinforced the necessity to engage with town counsel. Mr. Kring then asked about the entire General Code process and the committee's interaction with other groups. Mr. Comeau commented that at a previous meeting we did establish liaisons to various departments, boards, and committees and that we will need to use that assignment in order to disseminate any questions / follow up items from the General Code legal review. Ms. McGonagle asked if the By-law review by General Code would produce a dependency listing for the various sections. Mr. Comeau recalled a discussion on this from General Code but we will follow up with them for clarity on this topic. The next agenda item was a discussion on the Annual Town Meeting report as well as the requested warrant article for the May 2025 meeting. Mr. Comeau circulated to the members an outline of areas that he was considering for the report. The items are as follows: Overview of the Committee Defining of the task Codification solution that encapsulated the General By-laws, Zoning, and Subdivision Control Process overview Selected Vendor in General Code Technical focus Editorial and Legal analysis Practical recommendations Suggested modernization recommendations Timeline for the project Next Steps Request for funding in FY26 Previous meeting dates The committee agreed with the topics and approach. Members asked about including the map of Norfolk County that General Code demonstrated during their presentation so Mr. Jutras will reach out to Mr, Dumont and see if he will provide the map. Page 12
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Mr. Scollins and Mr. Jutras made comments about the necessity to provide the report to the Finance Committee prior to Town Meeting. Mr. Scollins noted that this presentation will take place within the next 4 to 6 weeks. Mr. Scollins then inquired of the Chair as to the final number that will be requested for funding in FY26. Mr. Comeau commented that based on the discussion tonight with needing to add probably updates from 4 Town Meetings to the approved codified code as well as interaction with legal counsel that he felt that $20,000 would be the minimum and that $25,000 would be preferred. Dr, Harrington agreed on the necessity and the $25,000 amount. Mr, Scollins noted the current funding requests and constraints in this year's budget process and reminded the committee that they can always request appropriations at future Town Meeting or from other funds. In the end Mr. Comeau presented a $20,000 funding request for the Town Meeting article. Mr. Comeau then commented on upcoming public meetings and Ms. McGonagle asked about listing the committee on the Town Website. She also mentioned that if we list the committee on the website that we can then work on a form or questionnaire that requests constituent input. Ms. Kemalian will add a section on the website and noted that this was just an oversite as the committee is appointed by the moderator and as such her office staff that updates the Board and Committee page would not have had the information. The Chair asked the members if they have any frustration with the process and timeline for the codification or if they have received any comments from residents on the process, No committee members reported any issues nor have any received comments from the public. Ms. McGonagle noted that ensuring sufficient time to delve into details, impacts, and consequences of existing bylaws and changes to them would ultimately result in a better product/result, Mr. Comeau asked the members if the next meeting date of March 11 was still acceptable to everyone and all in attendance were fine with the date. Mr. Comeau entertained a motion to adjourn which was seconded and unanimously voted and the meeting adjourned at 7:54 pm. Respectfully submitted, 01 Louis Jutras, Clerk Page 13