Town Government
Boards & Commissions
What Boards & Commissions Are
Beyond the Select Board and the School Committee, much of Lunenburg’s governing happens on volunteer boards and commissions. They approve new development, hear zoning appeals, protect the town’s wetlands and open space, weigh in on historic places, and guide services for residents. They are rooms where a resident with no title at all helps make the decision.
Who appoints them is a real question here, and Lunenburg’s answer is unusual for a town with a professional manager. THIRTEEN of these bodies are not appointed at all. Under charter section 3-1 the voters themselves fill the Select Board, the School Committee, the Board of Assessors, the Board of Health, the Planning Board, the Park Commissioners, the Cemetery Commissioners, the Commissioners of Trust Funds, the Sewer Commissioners, the Library Trustees, the Town Clerk, the Town Moderator and the Housing Authority. Every one of those is a seat you can run for rather than apply for.
The rest are appointed, and the charter splits that job. The Select Board appoints the Town Manager and the boards the charter leaves to it, and the Town Manager appoints the department heads and their staff. A few committees are filled jointly, which is worth seeing up close: the By-Law Review Committee seats the Town Clerk by virtue of the office, two members appointed by the Town Moderator, and two appointed by the Select Board.
Key Boards & Commissions
- Planning Board writes the town’s master plan, regulates the subdivision of land, and makes recommendations to Town Meeting on every land use and zoning article. Elected, and the 2026 ballot carried three of its seats at five, four and three year terms.
- Zoning Board of Appeals hears appeals, special permits and variances, which is where a project that does not fit the zoning bylaw goes.
- Conservation Commission enforces the Massachusetts Wetlands Protection Act and the Lunenburg Wetlands Protection By-law, and has care and custody of more than 24 publicly accessible properties permanently protected for conservation and passive recreation.
- Finance Committee reports to Town Meeting on the Town Manager’s proposed budget and on every warrant article with a fiscal impact, so its recommendation reaches the floor with the article itself.
- Board of Health writes and enforces the local rules on public health and the environment, and enforces the state sanitary code inside the town. Elected, three year terms.
- Sewer Commission is a five-member elected board that plans and maintains the town’s sewer system with the DPW. The town’s public water is a separate matter: it is run by the Lunenburg Water District, which is its own government with its own voters’ meetings.
- Historical Commission works for the preservation, protection and development of the town’s historic and archaeological assets.
- Lunenburg 300th Anniversary Committee was established by Town Meeting vote on May 7, 2022 to plan the town’s Tricentennial in 2028.
- Housing Authority runs the town’s public housing. Four of its five commissioners are elected by the town and the fifth is appointed by the Governor.
- Public Access Cable Committee exists to make broadcast programming by, about and for Lunenburg, which is the committee behind the Channel 8 coverage of your own School Committee.
For the full roster, current members, vacancies, and schedules, see the town’s Boards & Commissions page.
How to Serve
- Find an opening on the town’s boards and committees page.
- Submit a letter of interest or application to the Select Board office. The board advertises its openings on the town website and on social media, and it takes applications up to a stated meeting date.
- Interview if asked, and await appointment.
- Serve: attend the public meetings and help make decisions for your town.
One committee here shows how much these seats can matter. When the Town Manager’s job is vacant, the Select Board may appoint only from names given to it by the Town Manager Screening Committee, which is one Select Board member, one School Committee member, one Planning Board member, one Finance Committee member, and the Town Moderator, who chairs it and calls every one of its meetings. Four of those five seats are held by people the town elected to some other body first. The hiring of the town’s chief administrator runs through them.
What this seat decides
Your other boards
Board of Health. Tobacco and nicotine sales, flavored products, food permits, and housing conditions. It can pass a binding regulation on its own without a Town Meeting vote, which makes it the fastest lever in Massachusetts.
Planning Board. Where housing or businesses can be built, height limits, and a specific development. It holds the public hearing, and the zoning change itself is voted by Town Meeting or the Council and needs two thirds.
Conservation Commission. A stream, a wetland, a marsh, or a pond.
Library Trustees. Library hours, programs, and policy. The library's money comes from Town Meeting.
Parks and Recreation Commission. A field, a court, a playground, or a park. The money for building one usually comes from Town Meeting.
Historical Commission. An old building, and whether it can be torn down or saved.
Serving on a board puts you in the room where a Lunenburg decision gets made.