This Committee was dissolved at the conclusion of 2023 Annual Town Meeting.

Hybrid Meeting Resources

How to Guide for Participating in the Hybrid Meeting Pilot Program
Decision Points 
Neat Board Guide 
Neat Bar & Neat Pad Guide     
Hybrid meeting survey - Committee Chair
Hybrid meeting survey - Meeting Attendee

2023 Report to Town Meeting

About the Remote Participation Study Committee 

ARTICLE 20 VOTE/PUBLIC REMOTE PARTICIPATION
VOTED: That Town Meeting hereby establishes a Remote Participation Study Committee to be structured, organized, and charged as follows:

Remote Participation Study Committee

1. Committee Membership and Organization

A. The Committee shall consist of nine (9) members:
• One (1) member of the Select Board, or their designee
• One (1) member of the School Committee, or their designee
• One (1) member of the ARB, or their designee;
• The Town Manager or their designee;
• One (1) member of the Disability Commission, or their designee; and
• Four (4) Town Meeting Members appointed by the Moderator.

B. The Town Moderator or their designee shall serve as chair of the committee for the purposes of the Committee’s first organizational meeting, in which the Committee may elect officers as it deems appropriate.

2. Committee Charge
The Committee is charged with comprehensively examining options and requirements for providing remote participation through video-conferencing or other similar technology in public meetings under ordinary conditions where, among other things, the Open Meeting Law will require in-person attendance by public body members in a physical location. The Committee’s study shall include, but not be limited to:

A. Evaluating the benefits and challenges of providing hybrid forms of public meetings;

B. Assessing which public bodies can and should provide remote participation;

C. Examining what portions of meetings can and should be available for remote participation;

D. Determining what, if any, local rules beyond legal requirements can and should be established for remote participation;

E. Understanding the costs of different models of remote participation, especially hybrid remote participation;

F. Evaluating the impact of remote participation on accessibility requirements and concerns.

G. Assessing ways that public bodies provide information to the public about their work.  

3. Committee Reports
A. The Committee shall provide a report to the Town Clerk and the Select Board on or before January 15, 2022 to:
i. Make ranked recommendations with respect to remote
participation policies in the Town of Arlington; and
ii. Offer any recommended Town Meeting warrant articles for
inclusion on the 2022 Annual Town Meeting Warrant; and 
iii. Offer any recommended actions that the Select Board can immediately take under its own authority that do not require the necessity of a bylaw or the additional appropriation of funds not available in the current budget. 

B. The Committee shall provide a final report to the 2022 Town Meeting on all of the subjects listed herein.

4. Dissolution
Absent a vote of a future Town Meeting to maintain it, the Committee shall dissolve following the close of the 2023 Annual Town Meeting.

Comments from Survey of Town Boards, Committees, and Commission
Report - Survey of Town Boards, Committees, and Commissions  
Summary of Findings from Public Survey on Hybrid Meetings 
Interim Report to the Select Board
Meeting Chair Survey Results  
Meeting Member Survey Results 
Hybrid Meeting Survey - Chair Responses 
Hybrid Meeting Survey - Meeting Attendee Responses