Adams Selectmen Adopt Website Postings, Set Town Meeting Dates
ADAMS, Mass. — The Selectmen voted Wednesday to make the town website the official posting location for public notices following an Open Meeting Law violation.
The town had been posting notices on the website, inside Town Hall near the town clerk's office and in the lobby of the police station.
Town Counsel Edmund St. John III said the Attorney General's Office had advised that the town should make the website official and advise it of that fact to prevent another violation.
"All of the agendas were posted at the police station ... We felt took care of that 24-hour [rule] as everyone has access to what is probably a pretty safe place to go," said Chair John Duval.
The AG's Office, however, indicated that the postings needed to be closer to the town clerk's office.
Officials determined to make the website the official posting location and to set up an exterior posting location on the back of Town Hall. This would be near the parking area and lighted.
Selectwoman Christine Hoyt said she was happy there was a backup but expressed concerns about the website being the official location, questioning what would happen if power went or the website host had technical issues or went out of business.
She also noted that not all residents had access to the internet.
"Is it possible to adopt the official location as the website with a secondary location?" she asked.
St. John thought it prudent to implement what they'd already set up, the website as the official location and then the exterior location outside of Town Hall, which would satisfy the 24-hour access requirement in two places.
The board also set the annual town meeting dates and opened the warrant for citizens' petitions.
The annual town meeting will be Wednesday, June 7, at 6 p.m. at the Memorial Building; the town election will be Monday, May 1, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m, also at the Memorial Building.
There are no races but there are a number of town meeting member posts that have no candidates and no one is on the ballot for a seat each on the Parks Commission and the Board of Library Trustees.
"There's always room for write-ins for all the positions," Town Clerk Haley Meczywor said, and that anyone interested in running for these open seats can contact her for more information. The last day to register to vote is Friday, April 21, until 5 p.m.
"If you're not going to be in town or you can't make it to the polls, please contact us before April 24 and we will do what we can to get to your ballot," she said. "As always, you can always come into the town clerk's office and vote also, that is always available. There's all kinds of ways that you can vote so feel free to call the office."
The Selectmen also opened the annual town warrant to accept citizens' petitions. Any petition requires 10 signatures of registered town voters and should be submitted to the town clerk. The warrant will close at 5 p.m. on April 19.
In other business, the board:
• Acting as the licensing authority, approved renewal of a seasonal all-alcohol license for Poseidon Coffee, located in a kiosk outside the Visitors Center. The victualers' license will be approved at the next meeting because of an error on the town's end. Nowak voted against, saying alcohol licenses should be for contained establishments.
• Approved entering a new Berkshire Electric Municipal Aggregation contract through Colonial Power and authorized the town administrator to sign the agreement. This allows residents and businesses to purchase their power from a supplier at a lower cost.
The past three-year contract was very favorable at 0.0995 kilowatt, saving Adams customers more than $1 million energy costs, said Colonial's Mark Coppadona.
The new rate is expected to be about 14 cents per kWh, based on information provided by Coppadona.
"If the natural rate drops below what we bargain for, [residents] can drop out at any time," said Green.
• Approved a three-year contract with State Council Number 93, American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees. Green said the contract has some minor changes in language and adjustments in personal days, supervisory contacts, and a 2.5 percent increase in the first year and 2 percent in each of the following years.
