The Board of Selectmen re-appointed attorney Richard Bowen of the firm Blatman, Bobrowski and Mead as lead counsel for the town of Wareham after a brief debate during their March 13 meeting.

The vote was 3 in favor and 1 opposed, with Selectman Cara Winslow the sole opposing vote. Selectman Michael Schneider was not present at the meeting.

"I enjoy working here, I enjoy working for you, [and] I would most respectfully request a reappointment," Bowen said while giving a brief account of his experiences before the board.

Winslow opposed appointing Bowen without additional time to examine the fees and rates of other attorneys.

"I really enjoy town counsel, [going] out for some quotes [would be] prudent," Winslow said, adding later that the Town Charter specified that it was preferable for the town to look for lawyers based in Wareham.

The Board of Selectmen is required to re-appoint town counsel every year in March.

Selectman Ellen Begley noted that part of the problem with obtaining quotes would be the time such a procedure would take. Begley was worried that doing so would push the appointment back until May or June, past the deadline for re-appointment required by Town Charter.

Bowen's firm has offices in Newburyport, Concord, Millis, and Scituate, and works with a dozen towns, Bowen said after the meeting. The law firm is also "special counsel" to about 100 more towns, according to Bowen.

Bowen said that he would not be changing his rates for the upcoming year.

"I have no intent in raising the rate, especially in these [economic] times," he said.

Bowen has been doing legal work for the town of Wareham since 1989 when he worked for a previous firm. He has been lead counsel - or the main "go-to person," Bowen said, since 2007.

During the past year, he has put in at least 70 days of office hours in Town Hall, Bowen said during his brief account before the Selectmen. He had also been on call to the town administrator and others "pretty much around the clock," Bowen said.

In other town business:

After dedicating over 3 hours to the review and discussion of the 51 articles included in the warrant for the upcoming April Town Meeting, the Board of Selectmen officially closed the warrant.

The warrant will be published on April 5, and notices will be put up on March 16 in at least "one public place in each precinct," according to Selectman Steve Holmes.

Stay with WarehamVillageSoup.com for more information about the articles in the coming weeks.