BELCHERTOWN — A Select Board special meeting held on a recent Saturday at 6:45 a.m. has raised some eyebrows over its unusual meeting time, which some say is too inconvenient for the average resident.
The Saturday morning slot on Aug. 17 prompted an email exchange between Town Clerk Colleen Toothill-Berte and Assistant Attorney General Elizabeth Carnes Flynn. Carnes Flynn wrote in an email response that open meeting laws do specify when public meetings may be held, noting, “We have said, for example, that meetings may be held on legal holidays.”
But, she continued, the law “does require that meetings be open and accessible to the public.”
“We advise public bodies to hold meetings at times they reasonably expect interested members of the public would be able to attend,” Carnes Flynn wrote. “A meeting at 6:45 a.m. on a Saturday is certainly unusual, so though not expressly prohibited, it may call into question the reason for holding the meeting at that hour.”
Select Board members met for 3½ hours, according to draft minutes obtained by the Gazette, covering topics such as the town’s form of government; budgetary challenges; expanding the business community; potential amendments to the marijuana bylaw; preparing for the impacts of climate change; a review or update of the town’s workplace policy; the possibility of resuming weekly Select Board meetings; and restarting efforts to establish a disc golf facility in town.
No formal motions or votes were made at the meeting, according to the draft minutes.
Select Board meetings are usually held at 7 p.m. on the second and fourth Monday of each month.
Select Board Chairman Ed Boscher did not return calls last week or on Monday, and draft minutes did not elaborate on individual topics raised. The meeting was not taped by Belchertown Community Television, which a station volunteer said was likely due to the channel being run by a small group of volunteers and a lack of knowledge that the meeting was taking place.
In a Facebook message to the Gazette, Select Board member Brenda Aldrich said that the meeting was scheduled on Saturday to accommodate her travel arrangements. One person attended the meeting, which she said “is more than we get at 7 p.m.”
Heidi Gutekenst, the resident in attendance a vice chairwoman of the Belchertown School Committee, said that the Saturday morning timing was convenient for her, but noted that many residents may not feel the same way. Gutekenst stayed for about two hours of the meeting.
“I personally could come to it, because I’m an early morning person, and I didn’t have conflicts,” Gutekenst said. “Later in the night I always have conflicts.”
Gutekenst said she wishes “those who were afraid something sinister was happening” attended the meeting, but also noted that “certainly for the general public, I think later in the day would be more ideal.”
In past years, Gutekenst said she would try to attend Select Board meetings once or twice a month, but since becoming involved with the School Committee, her schedule has been busier in the evening, limiting her attendance to one or two meetings in the past year.
Gutekenst said she would like to see more people get involved with town government, but added, “it’s impossible for a normal person to get involved with everything they should be involved with.” The issue of increasing public engagement also came up at the Select Board meeting, she said.
“Certain issues people get really involved with, but then the rest of it, they really don’t have any idea,” Gutekenst said. “So people get involved with what pertains to them, and I feel like I’ve learned a lot of a person just seeing everything.”
Gutekenst said that she did not find any aspects of the meeting’s topics surprising, describing it as “very informative” and “more of a brainstorming meeting.”
Jacquelyn Voghel can be reached at jvoghel@gazettenet.com.