CLARKSBURG -- Town officials are looking for three residents to serve on the Finance Committee after it was discovered that the board's existing members had overstayed their terms.
In a July 25 letter to Finance Committee members Mary Beverly, Paula Wells and Linda Ethier, Town Moderator Bryan Tanner said that he had recently been reminded of the term limits that existed for committee members. The limits had been set in a local bylaw approved by voters at a special town meeting on June 21, 1972.
Tanner said in the letter that the bylaw stated each member of the Finance Committee shall not be appointed for more than two successive terms. With terms being set at three-years, the maximum amount of time a person could be on the committee consecutively was six years, he said.
According to his records, Wells had been on the Finance Committee since 2001, Ethier since 2004, and Beverly since 2006, he said.
"Unfortunately for all of us, this means I will have to begin a search for three new committee members; something I wish could be avoided. However, in complying with the town bylaws, it is the appropriate action to take," he said.
Town Administrator Thomas Webb said Thursday that the term limits were identified by someone who was looking through the town bylaws earlier this year.
"It was before I came here," he said. "It's a drag that we have all three people going off the committee at the same time."
As a way
"That way there will never be a complete loss of historical knowledge," he said.
Any resident interested in serving on the Finance Committee can contact Webb by phone at 413-663-8250, or by email at ClarksburgTA@verizon.net, and he will forward their information to Tanner. The town moderator is responsible for appointing the Finance Committee.
Wells said when something works well, people don't give it a second thought.
"We had excellent people on the committee. We really did work well together, and it's nice that everyone knew what they were looking at and trusted each other," she said.
Ethier said she learned about the bylaw just before town meeting on May 16.
"It's unfortunate that it came up now with the new town administrator and the new selectman, but we have the bylaw, and there isn't much we can do about it," she said.
She found it fascinating being on the Finance Committee, and a great way to give back to the town, she said.
"People say they don't want their taxes to go up. Those taxes pay for a lot of different services. If you get involved with the Finance Committee, you get to see where the money goes," she said.
To reach Meghan Foley, email
mfoley@thetranscript.com.
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