Citizen's Issues Policy

Purpose

This policy will outline the process and applicable deadlines for any citizen to get on the agenda of any public Select Board meeting.

Requests

A citizen may call the Executive Assistant's (EA) office at 978-562-9963 to request to appear at a Select Board meeting. Alternatively, the citizen may email any employee of the EA's office with a request or send a request by regular mail.

A verbal request should include the approximate date at which the applicant would like to appear and a detailed description of the subject matter. Staff will advise the citizen of upcoming meeting dates. The request and any material that the citizen wants to distribute at the meeting must be received by the Executive Assistant's office by noon on the Wednesday prior to the meeting date.

If the request is made via email or regular mail, you may submit materials with your communication or at any other time prior to the Wednesday deadline.

Approval

After the EA has discussed the request with the Chair of the Select Board, the citizen will be notified whether or not the item will be placed on an agenda, and the date of that meeting. The Chair of the Select Board reserves the right to approve or deny any particular request.

Other

Please note that a submission deadline may be accelerated if there is a holiday between the submission deadline and the date of a meeting. For example, a Friday holiday would move the deadline to noon on the Tuesday before the meeting.

The Chair of the Select Board also reserves the right to waive the requirement to submit material by the Wednesday deadline if the matter is one of public safety.

If the matter is immediate in nature, the Town strongly suggests that the citizen notify the EA directly at 978-562-9963 or contact Thomas Gregory or the appropriate department. If the matter is one concerning life/safety, the citizen should call 911 to report the incident.