Selectboard adopts two-member subcommittee structure to speed policy work

The Town of Bristol Selectboard voted on Sept. 28 to create a standing subcommittee structure intended to streamline policy reviews and personnel work. The Board approved a set of four motions establishing two-member Selectboard seats and alternates for subcommittees, created the Policy & Governance Review and Personnel subcommittees and adopted a standing consent line for committee minutes and annual reports.

Town Administrator Gregory W. Faust presented the proposal as an organizational change to move drafting and heavy editing out of full-Board meetings while preserving the Selectboard's decision-making authority. Faust told the Board the subcommittees would be warned open meetings, would post minutes, and would return written recommendations that the full Selectboard would consider. He noted the change draws on comparable Vermont towns and cited 24 V.S.A. § 1972 and Open Meeting Law 1 V.S.A. § 310 as relevant background on procedure and quorums.

Chair Ian Albinson moved the first motion to limit any Selectboard-created committee to two Selectboard members and one alternate so “no more than two Selectboard members are ever present.” The motion passed unanimously. The Board then established the Policy & Governance Review Subcommittee and the Personnel Subcommittee and appointed members: Michelle Perlee and Jessica Teets to Policy & Governance Review (with Joel Bouvier as alternate), and Michelle Perlee and Joel Bouvier to Personnel (with Peeker Heffernan as alternate). A final motion adopted a standing consent agenda line to accept subcommittee minutes and require annual reports filed by July 31.

Members said the structure is intended to reduce meeting time spent on line-by-line edits while keeping the full Board responsible for final votes. Albinson noted future appointments for Infrastructure & Capital and Public Health & Safety will be brought forward after the newly created groups have met, and Faust said assignments and membership could evolve over time. The motions passed unanimously; no roll-call tallies were given.