Middlesex Town Meeting Solutions Committee
Meeting Minutes
October 19, 2004
Present: Susan Clark, Tim Murphy, Nancy Reilly, Dave Shepard

1. Minutes of September 30, 2004 Meeting
A motion to approve minutes of the September 30, 2004, Town Meeting Solutions Committee (TMSC) meeting was made by Nancy and seconded by Tim. The minutes were approved.

2. Town Meeting Recommendations
Susan informed the committee that she will be attending the Select Board meeting on November 9, 2004, to discuss recommendations for Town Meeting derived from the questionnaire distributed at the 2004 Town Meeting. Any interested committee members are welcome to join Susan. After the meeting with the Select Board, the recommendations can likely be made available to the residents of Middlesex, probably through the Middlesex Monthly.

3. Town Website
The TMSC was happy to learn from Tim that it is unlikely that he will be away for any lengthy time period on National Guard duty so there isn't likely a need to find an interim webmaster for the Town website.

4. Middlesex Operator's Manual Contact List Update
June Lakin has indicated that it will be ok for the TMSC to have a table at the Town Hall on election day so that the contact list update can be made available to voters. Nancy suggested that we have cookies or muffins available and set up a donation jar to help cover the cost of printing the contact list update. It was agreed this was a good idea and Susan, Dave and Nancy offered to make food items. Other options for distribution of the update include: the Middlesex Monthly and the Town Report. June has said it would be ok to include the update information in the Town Report.

5. Town Meeting Preparation
Susan asked about the letter of welcome to new Middlesex voters that she and Nancy did last year. There was agreement to do this again this year; this time TMSC will check with the Select Board about the letter coming from the Board. We will also ask if the Select Board would be willing to pay the postage this year.

Susan suggested that some of the articles from the Middlesex Operator's Manual that are pertinent to Town Meeting could be reprinted as articles in the Monthly. There was also discussion about holding neighborhood meetings again this year prior to Town Meeting.

Susan indicated the Select Board may ask the TMSC to assist with drafting a letter for the non-profits that make requests for monetary support from the voters at Town Meeting.

Regarding the issue of technology to allow participation at Town Meeting from a remote location, it was agreed that working on a phone connection as a first step makes sense and the TMSC could seek help from interested residents with this specific issue. Tim is willing to work with Greg Whitchurch to see if something could be set up for this Town Meeting.

Susan noted the Office of the Secretary of State has curriculum related to Town Meeting. This is a topic that could potentially be explored with Rumney School.

Dave suggested a brief note in the Middlesex Monthly prior to Town Meeting explaining how to become registered to vote.

The next meeting of the TMSC will be November 16 at 7:00 pm at the Town Office.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:28 pm.

Minutes recorded by Dave Shepard