[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Meeting of the Town of Topsfield as Ch. II, Art. VII, of the General Bylaws. Amendments noted where applicable.]
[Added 3-7-1960 TM by Arts. 28 and 29; amended 5-2-1995 TM by Art. 34; 5-6-2014 TM by Art. 38]
A. 
Establishment; statutory authority. Under the provisions of MGL c. 40, § 8C, inserted by Section I of Chapter 223 of the Acts of 1957, a Conservation Commission for the promotion and development of the natural resources and for the protection of watershed resources of the Town may be established. A Conservation Commission shall be established in accordance with the Acts of 1957, Chapter 223.
B. 
Members; terms. A Conservation Commission of five members shall be appointed by the Select Board for three-year overlapping terms, commencing July 1 of each year, so arranged that the terms of no more than two members shall expire in any given year.
C. 
Powers, duties and authority. The Topsfield Conservation Commission will have all the powers, duties, and authority as conferred on Conservation Commissions under the Massachusetts General Laws and the Town bylaws, rules and regulations thereof.
[Added 3-20-1972 TM by Art. 17; amended 11-19-1973 TM by Art. 9; 5-5-1992 TM by Arts. 31 and 32; 5-1-2007 TM by Art. 28]
A. 
Establishment, membership and tenure. The Council on Aging, as established hereunder, shall consist of seven, nine or 11 members to be appointed by the Select Board for alternating three-year terms commencing on July 1 of each year; provided, however, that initial appointments made hereunder may be for one-, two- or three-year terms, and thereafter for terms of three years; and provided further that any members of the Council on Aging holding office as of the effective date of this bylaw may continue to serve until the expiration of their term or sooner resignation. Members of the Council on Aging may be removed for cause after a hearing. Vacancies shall be filled for the remainder of the unexpired term in the manner of the original appointment.
B. 
Quorum. For purposes of this bylaw, a quorum of members of the Council on Aging shall constitute a majority of those then in office.
C. 
Duties. Members shall have the duties, powers and authority as are conferred from time to time by MGL c. 40, § 8B, as amended.
[Added 3-20-1972 TM by Art. 30; amended 5-21-1974 TM by Art. 32; 10-22-1985 TM by Art. 18; 5-12-1989 TM by Art. 56]
A. 
Established; members.
(1) 
There is hereby established a Topsfield Historical Commission under the provisions of the Historic Districts Act, MGL c. 40C, as amended, consisting of five members, appointed by the Select Board, including one member, where possible, from two nominees submitted by the Topsfield Historical Society, one member, where possible, from two nominees submitted by the Massachusetts State Chapter of the American Institute of Architects, and one member, where possible, from two nominees of the Board of Realtors covering Topsfield. One of the foregoing shall be, where possible, a resident of, and one shall be, where possible, a property owner within the Historic District established in Topsfield pursuant to the Historic Districts Act. When the Commission is first established, one member shall be appointed for a term of one year, two shall be appointed for a term of two years, and two shall be appointed in like manner for three years, and their successors shall be appointed in like manner for terms of three years.
(2) 
Alternate members shall be appointed by the Select Board for a term of one year and may actively participate as a member of the Commission upon the request of the Chairman of the Historical Commission in the absence of any regular member of the Historical Commission.
[Amended 5-8-2021 ATM by Art. 33]
B. 
Powers and duties. Pursuant to MGL c. 40C, § 14, the Historical Commission shall have the powers and duties of an Historical Commission as provided in MGL c. 40, § 8D and rename the "Historic District Commission" the "Topsfield Historical Commission."
[Added 3-2-1964 TM by Art. 28; amended 5-2-2006 TM by Art. 27]
A. 
Establishment, membership and tenure. The Insurance Committee, as established hereunder, shall consist of five voting members, the Town Administrator as a non-voting ex-officio member, and, at the discretion of the Committee, may include additional non-voting ex-officio members as required by said Committee.
(1) 
One member of the Select Board selected thereto annually by the Chairman of the Board.
(2) 
One member of the Finance Committee selected thereto annually by the Finance Committee Chairman.
(3) 
Three members appointed annually by the Select Board.
B. 
Duties. The Committee shall be chartered hereunder to review on an annual basis the Town's insurance policies, including but not limited to property and general liability, workers' compensation, professional liability, police and fire accident, employee health insurance, and provide a recommendation to the Select Board concerning said policies relative to comprehensiveness of coverage, statutory requirements and cost impacts.
[Added 5-4-2004 TM by Art. 43]
There shall be a five member Board of Health to be appointed by the Select Board for alternating three-year terms commencing on July 1 of each year. Upon the expiration of the terms of the three appointees holding office on the date this bylaw is approved by the Town, the Select Board shall appoint two additional members to the following terms: one member to be appointed for an initial one-year term, the other to be appointed to a two-year term; and thereafter for three years.
[Added 5-3-2005 TM by Art. 36]
A. 
Purpose. The mission of the Agricultural Commission, hereinafter "the Commission," is to preserve, revitalize and sustain the Topsfield agricultural industry and to promote agricultural-based economic opportunities. The Commission, once appointed, shall develop a work plan to guide its activities. Such activities include, but are not limited to, the following: shall serve as facilitators for encouraging the pursuit of agriculture in Topsfield; shall promote agricultural-based economic opportunities in Town; shall act as advocates and educators on farming issues; shall work for preservation of prime agricultural lands; and shall pursue all initiatives appropriate to creating a sustainable agricultural community.
B. 
Membership. The Commission shall consist of five members, at least four of whom shall be Topsfield residents, appointed by the Select Board. The Commission shall consist of a minimum of two members whose primary or secondary source of income is derived from farming or agricultural-based enterprises in Topsfield and another three who are interested in farming. The Select Board shall appoint two alternates who may be full- or part-time farmers or interested in farming. The members shall serve overlapping terms of three years. For the first Agricultural Commission, the Select Board shall appoint two members for a term of three years, two members for a term of two years and one member for a term of one year. Thereafter, appointments shall be for three-year terms. The Select Board shall fill a vacancy based on the unexpired term of the vacancy in order to maintain the cycle of appointments. The Select Board shall appoint the alternates for three-year terms. The Commission may recommend appointees to fill vacancies.
[Added 3-4-1957 TM by Art. 5]
The Moderator shall appoint a permanent Memorial Day Committee consisting of three members. Members shall be appointed by the Moderator for a term of three years.
[Added 5-1-1979 TM by Art. 28; amended 5-2-1989 TM by Art. 59]
The Board of Parks and Cemetery Commissioners is hereby established. The Board shall have the duties and authority of the respective Boards of Park and Cemetery Commissioner. The Board shall consist of three members who are elected by popular vote. Each Commissioner shall serve for a three-year term.
[Added 5-12-1978 TM by Art. 39; amended 5-1-2018 ATM by Art. 31]
The Planning Board shall consist of five members elected by popular vote for terms of three years.
[Added 5-3-1988 TM by Art. 44]
A. 
Members designated. The Superintendents of the Water, Park, Cemetery, and Highway Departments, the Town Engineer and the Tree Warden shall constitute a Public Works Committee for the Town. The Committee shall appoint one of the members of the Committee to be Chairman for a one-year term and shall also appoint someone to act in their place during their absence. A member may not be appointed as Chairman for more than two consecutive one-year terms. It shall be his duty to call and preside at the meetings of the Committee, and to file a written report to be included in the Town Report upon the activities, accomplishments and proposals of the Committee. The Committee shall from time to time elect or designate a secretary, who shall keep minutes of the meetings and give notice of all regular and special meetings. The Committee shall meet at least once a month at a time and place designated by the Chairman.
B. 
Duties of the Committee. It shall be the duty of the Committee:
(1) 
To coordinate the work of the several departments engaged in public works for the purpose of obtaining the most efficient use of equipment and manpower;
(2) 
To devise uniform recordkeeping forms and procedures with reference to the use of manpower and personnel which will record the hours worked by each employee, the nature of the work done and for what department;
(3) 
To devise uniform recordkeeping forms designed to show, with respect to each vehicle or piece of equipment, its utilization from day to day in terms of hours, location, project worked on, department for which used, and also to record mileage, maintenance, repairs, etc.;
(4) 
To maintain uniform personnel policies and procedures in all departments;
(5) 
To take such steps as may be possible to bring about pooling and centralized housing, maintenance and repair of vehicles and equipment;
(6) 
To review and implement communication procedures to the end that citizens' needs and requests may always be known and attended to promptly;
(7) 
To continuously explore opportunities for joint purchasing, both among the departments engaged in public works and also with other Town departments;
(8) 
To coordinate requests for capital equipment appropriations and purchases and to develop joint manpower forecasts for planning and budgeting purposes;
(9) 
To make recommendations to appropriate Town officials respecting the combining or elimination of departments, the transfer of functions from one department to another or other modifications in the structure of the Town government which may lead to greater efficiency or economy in the carrying out of the public works;
(10) 
To act upon any recommendations made by Town officials.
[Added 3-5-1956 TM by Art. 23]
The Moderator shall appoint a committee of five to serve as a Shade Tree Committee acting in an advisory committee to the Tree Warden and the Moth Superintendent. The Tree Warden and the Moth Superintendent shall be members of the Committee ex-officio. The Committee shall have specific responsibility for Dutch Elm Disease control, surveys and recommendations.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: The Tree Planning Subcommittee was established by the Topsfield Conservation Commission as a subcommittee in November 1968.