Canton, Massachusetts · Saved source text
20250930T133245
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Municipal By-law Modernization Committee Minutes for August 21, 2025 Pequitside Tavern, 7:00 pm Members Present: George T. Comeau, Jen Kemalian, William Quinn, Randy Scollins, Paul McAuliffe, Susan Harrington, Larry Overlan, and Louis Jutras Absent: William Kring The meeting was called to order by the Chair George Comeau at 7:00 pm. Mr. Comeau then welcomed Mr. Overlan as the new committee member and publicly thanked Ms. McGonagle for her previous work. The chair then moved on to the public comment section of the agenda and at this time there was no one from the public in attendance. Mr. Comeau provided an overview to the members and elaborated on the committee background to aid the new member Mr. Overlan with an understanding of where we stand. He discussed the process and reason for the formation of the committee, our contract with General Code, the overall timetable for the process and that the contract covers both the general bylaws as well as planning and zoning related material. The chair also discussed the organizational analysis phase that we are in with General Code and what the next steps will be along with their associated timeline. Mr. Overlan had some questions on the contract and what areas are covered so the committee reviewed that material and Mr. Jutras will send a copy of the material to Mr. Overlan for review. The discussion continued as various committee members provided additional comments on the current and future plans for the project. Once the background discussion was completed Mr. Comeau recognized Mr. Jutras as he had some updates from General Code for the committee. Mr. Jutras stated that he and our editor Sadie Carnes had some correspondence where she noted that the analysis is due back by March 4 , 2026 but currently, she is about 2 months ahead of schedule so we may have our material at the beginning of January 2026. Mr. Jutras asked about eCode360 portal access for research purposes and Ms. Carnes was able to provide this information so the committee now has a login that they can use to search against the entire set of General code material. Mr. Jutras then provided a demo of the portal to the members and will send out the link and login information to the group. Page 1 1
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Some members had questions on ways to search for specific information, so the committee reviewed various search options. Ms. Kemalian did have a question on how any special acts would be represented in the new eCode360 layout so Mr. Jutras will send that question to our General Code editor Sadie Carnes for clarification. We will also ask Ms. Carnes about attending our November meeting for a project update. Mr. Comeau then brought up the agenda item of future participation meetings and schedules. He offered that the committee schedule 2 meetings that focused on town meeting, the first would invite the current and past moderators, Finance Committee members, Capital Planning members, and current Town Counsel. The second meeting would focus on the Town Clerk and other Boards and Committees. Mr. Quinn noted that the Town Clerk should be invited to both meetings. Ms. Kemalian also noted that we have just retained services of a new general counsel and that they might not be able to attend a September meeting. Having made those notes the committee settled on September 29 as the first meeting date. The meeting will focus on Town Meeting, and we will invite current and past moderators, Finance Committee members, Capital Planning members, and the Town Clerk. This will be a public meeting so anyone else will be able to attend. Mr. Jutras will look to schedule the Salah meeting room for that date and time, and Mr. Comeau will work on a press release for the paper. Mr. Overlan inquired on what the process will be in discussing the various sections of the current bylaw. The chair responded that we have liaisons associated with the various sections. Mr. McAuliffe discussed how he approached the Police and Fire department sections where he met with the 2 respective chiefs and discussed the process with them. He is waiting for additional material from the department but already had notes and discussion points from the meetings. Mr. Overlan asked if we could provide a list of the bylaw sections, the committee liaison, and the associated department, board or committee contact name. Mr. Jutras provided a listing to Mr. Overlan for the section and liaison information and stated that he would update it by adding the department, board or committee contact information. No other members had any additional items to discuss so the chair entertained a motion to adjourn at 8:25 pm. The motion was made by Dr. Harrington, seconded by Mr. Quinn and the motion was unanimously approved. Respectfully submitted, x Louis Jutras' Page 12