Southbridge Bylaw Panel Flags 14 Outdated Provisions, Refers Enforcement Titles to Town Manager

SOUTHBRIDGE -- April 1, 2026, Southbridge Bylaw Review Committee identifies more than a dozen errors in first three bylaw chapters, last updated in 2012. The five-member panel, chaired by Stephen Kelly, catalogued proposed changes including a liquor licensing board whose bylaws still list three members despite a charter expansion to five, a minutes-filing deadline that conflicts with state open meeting law, and statutory cross-references that cite a repealed chapter of the General Laws. Member Kevin Splane raised the most sweeping concern, noting that the town's entire non-criminal enforcement personnel list names positions, including "building inspector" and "health agent", that have been superseded by new titles, a gap he warned "opens the town to a legal challenge" over who is actually authorized to issue fines. The committee voted unanimously to require each proposed change be formatted on a separate sheet of paper before going to the Town Council, where amendments must be voted on individually, and set its next meeting for May 6, 2026, to take up chapters four and five.