Every board,
commission, committee or subcommittee established in the Town of Barre
shall conduct all meetings in accordance with the Open Meeting Law
of Massachusetts. Furthermore, the clerk of every board, commission,
committee or subcommittee shall file with the Town Clerk a written
copy of minutes from every posted meeting. Such minutes shall be read
at the beginning of or prior to each meeting and approved by a majority
of the board, commission, committee or subcommittee. Final minutes
shall be signed by the clerk of said board, commission, committee
or subcommittee, reflect the acceptance of the previous meeting minutes
and be filed with the Town Clerk within 10 days of acceptance. In
addition, these minutes shall be filed electronically, using a means
determined by the Town Clerk.
Every board,
commission, and committee shall record (video and audio) every meeting,
with the exception of Executive Session agenda items, and make said
recording available to the public within one week of the meeting date:
Board of Health, Conservation Commission, DPW Commission, Finance
Committee, Planning Board, and Select Board. All recordings shall
be made available from a single location on the internet and any links
to said recordings shall be found on the Town website in a clearly
identifiable location. The Town Administrator, under the direction
of the Select Board, shall be responsible for creating a uniform process
for each board, commission, committee, and subcommittee to use to
record each meeting and post the meetings for public access. Any complaints
about the quality or availability of any recording required within
this bylaw shall be sent to the Chair of such board, committee or
commission to review and validate, or invalidate, the complaint within
seven calendar days and provide a written determination on the validity
of the complaint and a recommendation on improvement. All complaints
will be filed with the board, commission or committee when received
and will subsequently be filed with the written determination once
completed to maintain a record that will be available to the public,
when requested.
This bylaw will not go into effect until April of 2022 or when
approved by the Attorney General or whichever comes last to the April
1, 2022, start date.