Middlesex Town Meeting Solutions Committee
Meeting Minutes
May 24, 2005

Present: Kelly Ault, Susan Clark, Dave Shepard, Barb Whitchurch, Greg Whitchurch

1. Minutes of April 19, 2004 Meeting
Minutes from the Town Meeting Solutions Committee (TMSC) meeting of April 19, 2005 were approved.

2. Meeting with the Select Board
Susan reported on her meeting with the Select Board about the 2005 Town Meeting.

Childcare: Regarding the childcare provided during Town Meeting, the total amount paid to caregivers was $245, reduced by $80 in donations received for a total cost of $165 that came out of the Community Connections budget. The Select Board expressed support for providing childcare and, if necessary, offered to pay for the childcare next year. They were also willing to reimburse Community Connections the money for this year.

Taxation Explanation: The concept of explaining budget items in terms of an amount per $100,000 of appraised value was supported by the board. Bill Callnan agreed to help work on this using the previous years budget to create the comparison. Greg expressed interest in this and it was noted that John Riley may also be interested.

New Voter Letter: The Select Board was agreeable to sending a letter to new voters each year informing them about Town Meeting and related matters in Middlesex.

Suggestion Box: The Select Board supported the concept of a suggestion box at Town Hall where questions for town boards or commissions could be left off for those boards or commissions to take up at their meetings. They agreed to take up any questions that might be directed to them.

Town Meeting Survey: The Select Board noted the comments pertaining to space issues. Peter Hood stated he thought there should be cordless microphones. Susan has concerns about the potential for microphones to decrease the number of people who will be willing to speak up. Greg suggested if the moderator is careful to repeat every question it may be sufficient. There should be microphones for the moderator and the Select Board table. All present at the meeting were in agreement with this approach. The Select Board also commented that more people seem to be attending Town Meeting.
Susan also brought up with the Select Board the idea of informational sessions on the differences between a public meeting and a hearing and on how to understand a town budget. Susan will follow up on the informational session on public meeting vs. hearing. Greg suggested involving members of town boards/commissions in determining who might conduct the informational session.

3. Summer Schedule for TMSC
The summer meeting schedule and any events that TMSC might want a presence at were discussed. The Rumney School Fair is coming up on June 4th and TMSC could have a table there with our poster and some Middlesex Operator's Manuals. It was decided to meet in June but not in July or August.

4. Town Website
Greg noted that the group seeking to build a town bandstand has posted information on the website. Susan reported that a Woodbury College student has picked Middlesex for a project partly based on a favorable impression from the website.

Next meeting: June 28, 2005 at 7:00 at the Town Hall.

Minutes recorded by Dave Shepard