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MIDDLEFIELD INFO
A few observations and a repository of information for a small town in Hampshire County, Massachusetts _____________________________________________________________________________________________
Regular By-laws
I sent the following email to the Selectboard in late March 2023:
I spent a lot of time getting the post 1987 By-Laws compiled and then approved by the AG. I had a draft ready in 2015 when I left the Board. It wasn't finished and published by subsequent Boards so I recently brought the document up to date in hopes it can be published.
The Regular By-Laws are required to be printed every 5 years. The last edition was 1987 by Joe Kearns. I've never believed that the newer By-Laws could be defended in court for that reason.
I recommend keeping the authorities for the newer By-Laws in the document so someone 40 years from now will have an easier time putting out the next edition.
I modified the "Stretch Energy" By-Law as it made no sense publishing the entire state building code in this town document.
I suspect you should have Kopelman review this document and then submit it to the AG for approval.
I'm happy to be your editor or I can give you the original Word Document and you can control it. I haven't put page numbers in the index - until you approve the document and Chapter order. I used hyperlinks in the Index as this will be an 98% electronic document for most users.
I believe the town needs a permanent committee to review these Regular By-Laws and to recommend additions and improvements. These are very dated and need review and updating.
Respectfully, Howard Knickerbocker
I never received an acknowledgement or thank you or some indication of how the Selectboard wanted to proceed. By ignoring this matter for almost a year, the Selectboard is probably guilty of nonfeasance. They are certainly guilty of arrogance. These By-Laws cannot be researched without access to the Annual Town Reports and Town Meeting warrants and minutes back to 1987. Considerable time has been spent digitizing these historic documents. We have lost that capability by removing all the historical references from the new town web-site. A really stupid move.
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