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Date: 11/4/2021
GRANBY – The Granby Selectboard met to discuss a variety of topics including introducing electronic voting to Annual Town Meetings at the Oct. 18 meeting.
Town Moderator Lynn Mercier brought this to the attention of the Selectboard and wanted to see if they would be interested in bringing this to Granby. She said that 10 percent of towns in the area are using electronic voting for meetings such as the Annual Town Meeting.
According to Mercier, the benefits of electronic voting are that it is much quicker than doing hand counts or written votes, there is better privacy, it is more accurate and people can’t vote twice.
Chair of the Selectboard Jennifer Silva noted that she likes the idea of electronic voting because participants would be able to express their own opinions.
“I would love to see people voting the way they feel, not the way they feel they should,” she said.
The Selectboard noted that the electronic voting would not be used for every article and issue, but rather the contentious ones.
Mercier said that they can look into using CARES money to buy or rent the electronic voting machines. If the Selectboard wanted to move forward with this, the town would need to submit their plan to use CARES money by Oct. 31.
In the end, the Selectboard decided that they would want to have a demonstration on the voting devices before making a final decision. Mercier said they would set this up with the correct companies and proceed from there. If approved, the town would look into buying or renting around 250 electronic voting machines.
The meeting also discussed a possible appointment of Ken Comia as the new Shared Planning Conservation Agent. Comia is currently the Senior Land Use Planner at the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission and is serving as a Planning Board Consultant and working with the Planning Board in Granby.
Comia’s appointment was recommended by Town Administrator Christopher Martin. The job had not been posted to the public, which Silva noted as a concern.
“I do not want to be accused of anything, but that is me,” she said. “If we’re going to move forward officially I would like to see it done officially.”
The Selectboard decided to post the job and see if they receive other applicants before deciding to appoint Comia.
The meeting also offered an update on parks and safety. According to the Selectboard, Dufresne Park has had the mulch fluffed and previous safety concerns addressed. The Selectboard also decided to close all parks on Nov. 15 instead of the recommended Nov. 1 date, as they wanted to give the public enough notice.
The meeting ended with a discussion on the Fire Chief Search Committee. The Selectboard narrowed the committee down to seven total members from nine total members. Five of these are voting members. The Selectboard decided to narrow the committee down so that it wouldn’t be too large, overwhelming or confusing.
Those interested in viewing the Granby Selectboard Meeting in its entirety are encouraged to visit the Granby Community Access and Media YouTube page.