8/20/1986 BOARD OF SELECTMEN Minutes

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Li Ii.V1 Nt Board of Selectmen's Me t i r Minutes of August 20 , 1986 Page; 14 _ . ;. : r`':•.:;+:. TownCounsel : That right . It wasn' t . It was only signed b one i de * • ' :�.r.�� i ,.1, e l . Lawrence : Three members of the Board o e l e t re e n have signed it. What dries that document become? It appears to rye that doge n t- i- based on a vote that was taken b the Board of ' -1�i-'�ray"' • p Aubrey a presented t Selectmen to accept a contract to fir; }+t: '-, as signed by us. TownCounsel : Legally, legally speaking there i two ways t ., ._ =. look at it . In contract law, it would be an offer since we were,..-y..,-.- extending ere. . . Le g it to him. And when he- igreed it, it would be acceptance. The offer acceptance consideration and the amoun 11' -'�� -. <�.. that we were going to pay and you would have a binding contract.. n terms of municipal law, you have to loofa i in a � �` war. In terms of municipal law, I suppose that document signed by the Board of Selectmen really represented the final step in a vote process by the Board voting to accept the A'4"44 terms of the proposal that had been ah reached with Dr . ubre- including the addendum. The Board voted to accept i t * The ��;.�.}�:,. .��. 3&- signing of that document really constituted the formal a ce ut i on. _r. .IN .. of that vote if I can call it that . Usually, as you know, when You vote, it's just recorded in your minutes and there really isn' t anythirig in writing. In this particular instance , the written document represented ah spur you know) a memorial o your vote as it were . Be 1 . Lawrence : hey question then is: If that is a public document s i gn e d by a , a Town Counsel : Oh , it's a public . It's an official , that's a off i i al pub] i s document , yes. e l . Lawrence : Then the tampering with that document and the change of that document after the signatures have been affixed to it may constitute something that has been dorsa on an illegal basis. Is that true? Town Counsel : Well , that , that- possible. I would, I would ah 1 would suggest that if (ah) any legal document t h a t o ah any public document that i ah is altered should not be done without the consent of the signatories to i t . I think that i just a basic (ah) nant of law be it municipal law or contract law or any kind of law, Once something is signed by, by a number o parties (ah unless somebody is clothed with authority to act as agent for the parties to modify i t , it should not be done. it should not be modified unless there is authority granted either expressly or impl i c i tl to make an alteration, There should be no alteration . e l . Lawrence : Mr . Chairman . .