The Winslow Town Council meets Monday at the Winslow Public Library. Councilors voted unanimously to create a seven-person committee that will recommend revisions to the town charter. Dylan Tusinski/Morning Sentinel

WINSLOW — Applications are open for a seven-member committee that will recommend revisions to Winslow’s town charter.

The charter mandates that the town review its ordinances every five years. Councilors moved Monday night to establish a committee to recommend possible changes in time for next year’s November election.

A town charter is a guiding document that establishes the structure and procedure of a town’s government, and Winslow last revised its town charter in 2019, with residents voting to put the town’s school budget to a public vote and give the town manager more time for budget preparations.

Applications to serve on the committee are due by Aug. 8 and will be reviewed by councilors at their Aug. 12 meeting. The Town Council will select its seven members at its Sept. 9 meeting.

Though the committee will recommend changes it believes should be made to the charter, all recommendations would go before Winslow residents for approval, according to town attorney William. A. Lee III.

“Any changes to the charter, minor or major, ultimately have to be approved by the voters,” Lee said. “And you have to have 30% of those who voted in the last gubernatorial election here and voting. If you have less than that, it does not pass, even if every single person who voted voted in favor.”

About 3,900 residents voted in 2022’s gubernatorial election, meaning at least 1,170 people would have to vote on the charter revisions to make the decisions valid.

Because charter reviews and revisions are typically a yearlong process, Lee recommended forming the committee in the next month with the goal of recommending changes to the charter by November 2025.

First-term Councilor Fran Hudson asked to postpone the creation of the committee “to go over the charter, so we can all have time to read it.” Councilor Dale Macklin replied by saying, “I would assume everyone on the council has read the charter,” noting that councilors themselves cannot recommend changes.

“Well, you assumed before you made a resolution,” Hudson responded.

The point of establishing a committee is in part to ensure that councilors don’t need to devote time to poring over the charter, which also allows residents and other community stakeholders to engage in the process, Councilor Ray Caron said.

“I wanted to familiarize myself with (the charter) and I didn’t, and I’m going to be perfectly honest, I don’t think I’m going to in July and August and most of September,” Caron said. “So I think we need a committee to do it.”

The council unanimously voted to move ahead with the committee’s formation, establishing a seven-member body that will meet once a month through fall 2025.

Six applications have been received for the committee so far, according to Town Clerk Audra Fleury. With the committee formally created, Fleury said she expects to receive more applications.

Applications can be found at the town office at 114 Benton Ave. and submitted to the town clerk.