[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Meeting of
the Town of Walpole as Article IV, Secs. 1, 2 and 4, of the 1973 General
Bylaws, as updated through 2002. Subsequent amendments noted where
applicable.]
[Amended 10-21-2019 FATM, Art. 20; 10-17-2022 FATM by Art. 15]
All boards, standing committees and officers
of the Town shall cause records of their doings and accounts to be
kept in suitable books in compliance with MGL c. 30A, §§ 18
through 25, and associated regulations. Said books shall be kept in
their respective places in the Town offices and shall not be removed
therefrom. Said record books shall be open to the inspection of citizens
of the Town at any reasonable time, but shall remain during such inspection
under the supervision of the board, committee or officer designated
to keep charge thereof. In the case of any board or committee that
does not have a paid clerk or secretary, the Town Clerk, pursuant
to MGL c. 66, § 7, shall have custody of copies of their
respective records made available for public inspection. The Select
Board shall enforce this section.
A.Â
All boards, standing committees, special committees
and officers of the Town having charge of the expenditure of money
shall, in the Annual Town Report, give the citizens a fair and full
understanding of the objects and methods of such expenditures, or
non-expenditures, of previously appropriated funds, with reasons therefore,
referring, however, to the report of the Treasurer or the Town Accountant
for specific details and shall make therein such recommendations as
they deem proper.
B.Â
All reports shall be placed in the hands of the Select
Board for printing and publishing in accordance with the General Laws
of Massachusetts.
[Amended 10-21-2019 FATM, Art. 20]
C.Â
The Select Board shall annually cause to be made available
for the taxpayers of the Town, the reports of the officers of the
various departments and boards of the Town, and reports upon such
matters as directed by the Town and these bylaws. The Select Board
shall have the custody and supervision of the distribution of said
Annual Town Report.
[Amended 10-21-2019 FATM, Art. 20]
D.Â
The Town Clerk shall furnish for publication in the
Annual Town Report an abstract of the official records of all Town
Meetings held during the preceding year.
E.Â
The Town Clerk shall furnish for publication in the
Annual Town Report an abstract of the vital statistics of the Town
for the preceding year and such other data as may be requested by
the Select Board or its agents.
[Amended 10-21-2019 FATM, Art. 20]
Whenever a Town way is laid out or altered,
a plan thereof shall be made and filed in the office of the Town Clerk,
with the location thereof, and it shall be the duty of the Town Clerk
to keep a book of records for the sole purpose of recording the location
of all highways and Town ways within the Town, with an index thereto.
