Lack of quorum forces Conservation Commission to cancel meeting

Waltham’s Conservation Commission had to postpone its Thursday night meeting after the commission failed to gather a quorum of its members.

Currently composed of five members, the commission needed at least three members present to call the meeting to order. Only two were present for the meeting, which was held online and open to the public: Vice Chair William Doyle and member Philip Moser were in attendance. Chair Alexander Sbordone, Secretary Gerard Dufromont and Member Mike Donovan were not in attendance.

The Conservation Commission’s prior meeting, which was slated for June 5, had been cancelled in advance of the meeting date. 

Constituents on Thursday night requested that commissioners and city staff consider adding an additional meeting to the Conservation Commission’s existing meeting schedule to get through the backlog of proposals and requests and ensure that they can move forward with their projects.

Betty McKenzie, a member of the Hardy Pond Association, voiced her concerns about delaying requests further. “[We are] alarmed and very concerned about the late date that the pond will be treated – the weeds are going wild now,” she said.

A discussion on the Hardy Pond project was on the agenda to implement an invasive aquatic plant management program to control and reduce overgrown weeds around the pond.

A proposal from the city to treat stormwater runoff from the city’s Embassy Parking Garage using green infrastructure was also on the docket for Thursday night’s meeting..

“We apologize profusely about this,” Doyle said. “Our people are incredibly dedicated, and they [usually] let us know when they can’t make it [to meetings.]”

City staff attempted to contact the other commissioners and were unable to do so. The meeting, which was set to begin at 7 p.m., was called off just before 8:00, after all but two of the 15 constituents on the online call had left.

Christopher Daly, principal office assistant for the Conservation Commission, said he began looking into the possibility of holding an emergency meeting next week on Thursday, July 3, to make up for the postponement.

The Conservation Commission is currently scheduled to meet again on Thursday, July 10.

CORRECTION: Our initial report stated there are four commission members. There are five, including Secretary Gerard Dufromont, who had not been listed. The Times regrets the error.