Charter Panel Adds Vote Requirement to Warrant Process, Rejects Single-Signature Restoration

BILLERICA -- June 29, 2026, Billerica Charter Review Committee closes ambiguity in warrant-compilation rule, rejects bid to restore select board single-signature authority. The committee voted unanimously to insert the words "and vote" into Section 2-12(D) of the town charter, making explicit that the Select Board must hold a formal vote, not merely sign, on the preliminary warrant within 10 days of the warrant deadline, a requirement that Town Manager Chris Disilva said had caused procedural confusion during spring 2026 after a holiday pushed the relevant Select Board meeting to day 12 of the window. The committee also unanimously adopted a town counsel-proposed revision to Section 2-12(J), extending a staff forwarding deadline from one day to two days following the warrant filing deadline, after Disilva cautioned that one day was operationally unrealistic when 40 or more articles could arrive simultaneously. Select Board member Mark Rosa appeared to argue that individual select board members should retain the ability to submit warrant articles under a single signature, citing more than a half-dozen recent articles, including a 72-change industrial zoning overhaul and multiple veterans tax exemptions, that he said could not practically have been collected under a 10-signature citizen-petition model; the committee voted down a motion to reconsider its prior 7-3-1 vote stripping that authority. The committee set final sessions for July 6 and July 13, 2026.