HATFIELD — Potential benefits, possible drawbacks and general information related to an expansion of the Hatfield Select Board from three to five members will be presented at a forum Wednesday.
The Town Government Committee, which has been studying the topic since September after annual Town Meeting last spring approved exploring the enlarged board structure at the request of the Select Board, will present its findings at 5 p.m. at Memorial Town Hall.
Committee chairman E. Lary Grossman said in email that he and fellow members Christopher Smith and David Keir did extensive research.
This included talking to former Hadley Select Board member John Allen, who was instrumental in that town moving from a three-member to a five-member board in 2001. Allen credited the bigger board with bringing in new blood to the board and having members be able to do work outside the meeting without conflicting with the Open Meeting Law.
The committee also reviewed a state Division of Local Services report on larger boards that was written for the town of Duxbury, though the comparison isn’t precise since that community has a town charter that guides how such changes in government structure take place.
In addition, Grossman said the committee obtained language for a potential warrant article from town counsel Tom Mullen that would set the stage for a bigger board, with the terms for new members to be staggered.
At the committee’s final meeting, which doubles as the public forum, members will explain the process for a change and respond to questions from residents, and then will present a final report to the current Select Board in December.
The preliminary report notes that having new board members would add a combined $4,000 in new stipends; that meetings shouldn’t take longer since some work can be done by subcommittees outside regular meetings; and that a bigger board may get more residents interested in elective office, since the workload would be reduced.
Grossman said if residents are ready for the change, it could be voted at a special Town Meeting sometime during the winter and be enacted in time for next spring’s annual election.
“It’s a simple process of a Town Meeting vote,” Grossman said.
Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.
