Your Charter Review Commission has continued to gather information about our town government and about how towns with similar size and similar economies in our area are governed. The Commission has now met with all elected town boards (except the School Committee – scheduled for August 3), department heads, and those appointed boards which elected to participate. Members on the Commission have met with representatives of the governments of Wilbraham, Longmeadow, Easthampton, Palmer, Ludlow, Sturbridge and South Hadley.

The Commission has hired the Collins Center at UMass Boston as a consultant to guide us through the process of drafting a charter. The Commission met with them on July 23 and began discussing the legislative branch of town government. The Town has only three choices for this branch, under state law. These are: Open Town Meeting; Representative Town Meeting; and, Town Council. Most of our discussion to date has centered on the relative merits of open town meeting vs. a town council. No decisions on what form the Commission will recommend have yet been made.

The meeting schedule for the next month is: Monday, August 3, with the school committee; Thursday, August 6; and Thursday, August 20. All regular meetings are held in the media room of the Council on Aging on North Main Street, beginning at 6:30 pm. All meetings are open to the public.