BRIDGEWATER — The minutes of town selectmen’s meetings will soon be available in a vandal-proof glass case in the lobby of the town offices thanks to a group of local residents who are trying to be sure the town complies with the Right to Know law.

The Bridgewater Community Connection, led by resident Aimee Kolomick, has been meeting for the past six months to discuss community issues and urge community involvement in town issues.

One of the group’s concerns has been access to the selectmen’s minutes, which are required by law to be kept and made available to the public upon request within five business days after the meeting.

Terry Murphy, chairman of the town’s board of selectmen, said the meeting minutes are legally posted and available to the public at the town offices. The selectmen do most of the administrative work as the town has no town administrator or town officers performing similar duties, he said, but the selectmen have minutes kept and make them available to anyone who asks.

The town’s website does not have minutes posted, so to get the meeting minutes, residents have had to come to the town offices or send a written request to the board. The town has been working to improve access to the minutes and will be posting them on a new town website that should be ready in the next two months, Murphy said.

The town has been complying with the Right to Know law all along, he said.

“Anybody who wants the minutes has had access to them, we’ve been very clear about that and anyone who has asked has gotten them,” he said.

Kolomick had asked that the minutes be posted in the town library or in the lobby of the town offices, but in the past, Murphy said, minutes posted in an unattended place have been written on, damaged, and even stolen.

At Thursday night’s selectmen’s meeting, Kolomick offered the town a secure glass case that she has had in her home, unused. She asked that it be used in the town office lobby for minutes to be posted.

Murphy said the selectmen will accept the case.

“If someone in town asks us to improve what we do, we’re going to improve,” Murphy said. “We’re not opposed to this at all, as long as the case is in good condition.”

Kolomick is pleased. “I’m glad we’ve found a working solution,”she said. “I think it’s excellent.”

dseufert@newstote.com