Town Government
Boards & Commissions
What Boards & Commissions Are
Beyond the Select Board and the School Committee, Medway runs on about thirty five volunteer boards, commissions and committees. They approve new development, hear zoning appeals, protect the town’s wetlands and open space, recommend how Community Preservation Act money is spent, weigh in on historic places, and guide services for older residents. They are the rooms where an ordinary resident can have the most direct hand in a decision.
Who fills them is a real question, and Medway’s charter answers it in three places. Some are elected: charter 3-1-1 and 3-1-2 put the Select Board, the School Committee, the Town Moderator, the Library Trustees, the Housing Authority, the Planning and Economic Development Board, three members of the Parks and Recreation Commission, three of the Board of Health and three of the Water and Sewer Advisory Board on the ballot. Some are appointed by the Select Board: charter 4-1-1 names Town Counsel, the Board of Assessors, the Zoning Board of Appeals, the Affordable Housing Committee, the Capital Improvements Committee, the Conservation Commission, the Disability Commission, the Community Preservation Committee members and the town’s representatives to the Charles River Pollution Control District and the Southwest Advisory Planning Committee. And the Finance Committee is filled a third way, described below.
Key Boards & Commissions
- Planning and Economic Development Board reviews subdivisions, site plans, special permits and major development, and brings the town’s zoning amendments to Town Meeting. Elected.
- Zoning Board of Appeals hears variances, appeals and comprehensive permits. Appointed by the Select Board.
- Conservation Commission protects Medway’s wetlands and conservation land, and funded the town’s Miyawaki Forest at the Idylbrook Conservation Area outright. Appointed by the Select Board.
- Finance Committee is nine voters, and no elected or appointed town official or employee may serve on it. Three seats are filled each year before July 1 by an appointment committee of the Town Moderator, the Finance Committee chair and the Select Board chair, who post the vacancies, interview every applicant, and announce their choices in person at a public Select Board meeting. The committee holds at least one public hearing on the warrant and prints its recommendations to Town Meeting.
- Board of Health oversees inspections, septic and well permits, licensing and public health rules. Three members, elected.
- Community Preservation Committee recommends how the town spends its Community Preservation Act money on open space, historic preservation, recreation and community housing. Medway adopted the Act in 2001, and Town Meeting votes each project one at a time.
- Historical Commission works on the town’s historic places and its records. It meets the fourth Wednesday of the month at the Senior Center, 76 Oakland Street, and in August 2026 it presented a newly digitized and reprinted edition of the 1886 Jameson history of Medway to the town library.
- Open Space Committee works to protect undeveloped land, wetlands, farmland, viewsheds and trails, and takes trail reports from residents at medwaytrails@medwayma.gov.
- Housing Authority runs the town’s public housing. Elected.
- Library Board of Trustees governs the Medway Public Library. Elected, which makes it one of the easiest boards in town to run for.
For the full list, current members, vacancies and schedules, see medwayma.gov and the agenda archive at medwayma.gov/meetings.
How to Serve
- Find an opening. The Select Board keeps a live list of committees with vacancies on its own page, and it has run into double figures.
- Send a letter of interest to the Select Board’s Office, 155 Village St, Medway, MA 02053, or email bos@medwayma.gov, or call (508) 533-3264 with a question first.
- Interview if the board asks, and await the appointment vote at a public meeting.
- Serve: attend the public meetings and help make decisions for your town.
Some of these seats are easier to reach than people expect. The Select Board’s published vacancy list has recently carried openings on the Economic Development Committee, the Capital Improvement Planning Committee, the Council on Aging, the Cultural Council, the Design Review Committee, the Historical Commission, the Agricultural Committee, the Open Space Committee, the Parks Commission and associate seats on both the Planning and Economic Development Board and the Zoning Board of Appeals.
Serving on a board is one of the most direct ways to shape Medway.