[MassHistPres] bylaw for hist commissions

[Dennis De Witt]

Connie

Somehow I just received your message.  Are you sure your commission was not established by a vote of Town Meeting?

MGL Ch. 40 Sec. 8d begins as follows "A city or town which accepts this section [my emphasis] may establish an historical commission, hereinafter called the commission . . “  I believe that means there must be a vote of town meeting, not the Select Board, to "accept this section” and thus there should be a by-law.  You should check with town council.

That said, it does sound like you are really thinking about procedural Rules & Regs, which are usually (but not always) written by the regulatory body itself.

And as for your very reasonable request to the Building Dept., Sec. 8d also includes the following authorization of potential powers much broader than that — again, note the underlined section.

The commission may hold hearings, may enter into contracts with individuals, organizations and institutions for services furthering the objectives of the commission's program; may enter into contracts with local or regional associations for cooperative endeavors furthering the commission's program; may accept gifts, contributions and bequests of funds from individuals, foundations and from federal, state or other governmental bodies for the purpose of furthering the commission's program; may make and sign any agreements and may do and perform any and all acts which may be necessary or desirable to carry out the purposes of this section. It shall keep accurate records of its meetings and actions and shall file an annual report which shall be printed in the case of towns in the annual town report. The commission may appoint such clerks and other employees as it may from time to time require. 

Dennis De Witt
Brookline




> On Sep 1, 2021, at 10:18 AM, Connie Hellwig <oldcolchester at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> All - I noticed some of our town's commissions (agri and cemetery) have bylaws, but when our Salisbury Historical Commission was formed in 1972 by the selectmen, no bylaws were ever directed to be written. 
> Do the rest of you have bylaws or are we guided by MHC?
> Trying to figure out if we can establish our own procedures...such as asking if the Building dept can cc us on his email distribution list when he sends out his monthly report to dept heads on building permit requests... (so we can stay ahead of historic assets possibly being in harms way)
> 
> Connie Hellwig
> Vice-Chair
> Salisbury Historical Commission
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