GREENFIELD, MA (FRANKLIN COUNTY NOW) — The Franklin Regional Council of Governments, FRCOG, is proposing charter amendments for the first time since the organization was formed in 1998 with the abolition of county government.

The FRCOG is expecting leadership transition in the coming years and is working to clean up the charter along with reducing the voting threshold from a two-thirds vote to a simple majority vote at Town Meetings for future Charter changes.

The full list of proposed FRCOG Charter changes:

• Elimination of references to the initial transition from county government to a Council of Governments, and clean up of incorrect legislative references
• Elimination of the FRCOG as an arbiter of unresolved dog hearings (the FRCOG has never been asked to act in this role and recourse is available at the District Court level)
• Expanding municipal representation on the FRCOG Council from a Select Board member to a Select Board member, a municipal employee or a finance official
• Loosening the membership of the Executive Committee to allow more than one member per town and/or the appointment of a municipal employee, and clarification that the Executive Committee is the authority to meet governing body requirements of state and federal law and policy
• Elimination of the requirement that the Executive Committee is the hiring authority of the Planning Director and Finance Director (this responsibility is transferred to the Executive Director who is responsible for all other organizational hires, and which allows easier flexibility to change the FRCOG’s organizational structure in the future if determined necessary)
• Clarification as to how a Town outside of Franklin County can join the FRCOG (would require that a Town withdraw from its designated Regional Planning Agency before joining the FRCOG) and how a Franklin County Town can withdraw from the FRCOG (would require a Town to withdraw from both the FRCOG and the Regional Planning Agency function)
• Rewrite of the Regional Planning Agency section of the Charter to be clearer, compliant with state law, and removing detail of the size and formation of the Franklin Regional Planning Board so that changes to that Board are dictated by Operational Procedures of the Board rather than the Charter, enabling more flexibility to the Board’s structure
• Reduction of the voting threshold from 2/3 vote at Town Meetings to majority vote for future Charter changes