The By-Law Review Committee was established under Article 25 of the General By-Laws. The principal function of the By-Law Review Committee is to review proposals for General By-Law changes. It is not charged with the task of proposing substantive changes on its own. If requested by the Selectmen or another Town Board or officer, the Committee will assist in drafting amendments or additions to the General By-Laws that are proposed for inclusion in the Warrant for any Town Meeting. The Committee is also charged with the duty of reporting to the Town Meeting any recommendations it considers appropriate on any article in a Town Meeting Warrant that
proposes an amendment or addition to the General By-Laws.
In 2004 prior to the Annual Town Meeting, the Committee reviewed three warrant articles proposing amendments to the General By-Laws.
Article 23 proposed an amendment to section 4.8.1 eliminating a requirement that Town Counsel be a Belmont resident. The proposed amendment was approved by the Committee and was adopted by the Town Meeting without change.
Article 24 proposed the deletion of Article 11 of the General By-Laws entitled “Personnel Board” and the substitution for it of a new Article 11 entitled “Personnel Advisory Board”. The new Article 11 dealt generally with personnel administration and established a new Personnel Advisory Board to replace the Personnel Board, setting forth the number and qualifications of its members, its purposes and the frequency of its meetings. The proposed amendment was approved by the Committee and was adopted by the Town Meeting without change.
Article 25 proposed a restatement of Article 24 of the General By-Laws, the so-called Alarm By-Law. The Committee suggested several changes to the restated by-law as initially drafted. Some were incorporated into the warrant article as presented to the Town Meeting. Importantly provisions purporting to exculpate fire and police department personnel from criminal and civil liability for acts taken to silence an alarm were deleted because of lack of statutory authority for their inclusion. A minor typographical error in section 24.10.1 was corrected by the Town Meeting. Section 24.6.1 was completely rewritten on the basis of an amendment made from the floor of Town Meeting. Numerous other amendments were offered from the floor of Town Meeting and rejected. The Committee was not notified by the
proponents of any of these floor amendments that they intended to offer them. The Chair observed that the Committee could better serve Town Meeting if it had an opportunity to review proposed amendments in advance of the meeting. The proposed restated article was approved by the Committee and, with the above referenced changes, was approved by the Town Meeting.
All approvals of warrant articles by the Committee were as to form and placement in the General By-Laws.
Respectfully submitted,
Charles M. Hamann, Chair
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