The Town is advertising its need for two new members on the Conservation Commission. While I’m sharing that news, I’ll highlight other committees with current vacancies, and ones that may soon have more.
For all of these positions, except for those I indicate otherwise, members are appointed by the Select Board.
The Conservation Commission currently has at least one vacancy. The second seat may be one that is opening up at the end of June when a current member will let their term expire.
Below is Conservation’s recruitment promo:
The Conservation Commission is looking to fill two vacant seats! The Commission is a 7-member board who oversees permitting near wetlands and management of Conservation owned properties. Members do not have to be experts in the field but those who have experience in engineering, soil science, stormwater, or wetland permitting are always welcome and encouraged to apply. Otherwise, interested residents should be open to learning about the Wetlands Protection Act, Southborough Wetlands Bylaw, and Southborough Erosion Control & Stormwater Bylaw and their requirements. New members get a free orientation training from the Massachusetts Association of Conservation Commissions (MACC) to get an overview of wetlands permitting.
The Conservation Commission meets every 3 weeks on Thursdays at 7pm via Zoom. The Commission is staffed by a full-time Agent and administrative assistant. Potential members should be able to spend a few hours every two/three weeks between meetings and reviewing materials.
Interested? Fill out a volunteer application or contact the Conservation Agent, Melissa Danza at mdanza@southboroughma.gov or 508-281-8984.
The Tricentennial Committee needs to be stepping into high gear since the big 300th anniversary kicks off in just over 6 months. That committee currently has two vacancies.
As I noted last week — unless he has already successfully filled the seat — Moderator Paul Cimino will need to appoint a new member to the Advisory Committee to replace Andrew Pfaff who was just elected to the Select Board.
According to the Select Board’s agenda for tonight, tonight they will vote on appointing former Select Board member Marguerite Landry to the recently formed Cemetery Expansion Committee. But that will still leave one vacancy.
Also on the agenda for tonight is filling an apparent vacancy on the Elementary School Building Committee. [Editor’s Note: Sadly, this is likely due to the death of member Robert Moss’ wife Joanne Moss earlier this month.] That recently formed committee is to help oversee the effort to study potential renovation projects for Neary School to propose to voters this fall.
The Community Preservation Commission has three vacancies. One is for a citizen-at-large. The others are representatives on committees which each also have multiple seats that need filling: Conservation and the Open Space Preservation Commission. (For the representative seats on the CPC, members are appointed by their own committees.)
As I previously covered, the Economic Development Committee has been lacking a quorum. While the EDC is also lacking a staff member to support their work, some go-getter volunteers might have ideas on what members can do to support Economic Development in Southborough.
Below are other committees that are currently listed as having a vacancy (or more):
- Cable Television Committee (2 seats)
- Master Plan Implementation Committee (appointed by Planning Board)
- Historical Commission
- Recreation Commission
- Southborough Public Accessibility Committee
- Zoning Board Of Appeals Alternate member
- Municipal Technology Committee representative for the School District (appointed by the School Committee)
You can learn more about the opportunities by reading their sections of the Town website (here), which includes their responsibilities and links to recent agendas and minutes. For many, you can also view past meetings here.
To apply for any of the above open seats, click here.
The list of openings could grow on July 1st after the terms for many members on committees expire. (You can see that list here. But I’d ignore the PILOT Committee and the Southborough Emergency Planning postions, since both appear to be inactive.)
At this point, a public list doesn’t indicate which members have agreed to re-up or said they’ll be stepping down. So, if there’s a Town committee that your interested in that’s not on the above list, you could still reach out to let Town officials know you’re interested if/when a spot opens up.
(image of Town seal from Town website and hands edited from public domain image by Karen Arnold)
