Sometimes, the extra effort isn't worth the potential hassle.

In the case of meeting minutes, Newcastle Town Attorney Peter Drum says less is more.

During the Monday, Aug. 25 Newcastle selectmen’s meeting, Drum was on hand to bring meeting minutes to the forefront.

The problem he said, is that too many notes are taken, and often times the notes are wrong.

In some cases the minutes portrayed the exact opposite of what was either said or meant, Drum said, and because the minutes are approved by the board, they could present legal troubles down the road.

“The only thing (that is required are) the motions and the votes,” he said. “Meeting minutes should have who made motions, who seconded them, and the votes.”

Drum said the selectmen's meeting minutes haven't posed a problem yet, but he had seen minutes that would pose a problem if brought before a court.

“It's opening you up to a liability that you need not have,” he said. “We're leaving ourselves at a risk. (The minutes) often run exactly the opposite to what was said.

“If I said one thing in the minutes then say I remember it being said differently, who's a jury going to believe?”

Dorothy Peters, board secretary, is the one who writes the minutes for the board. She said she had no problem with the stripped-down minutes.

“When I first started, there was no policy,” she said. “I think there should be a policy in place for anyone (who records meeting minutes). When I started I had to wing it; having a policy in place would be very helpful.”

It was suggested that general guidelines be drafted and presented to the various meeting recorders about what's expected of minutes.

But, one selectman said he worried that the simplified minutes might be misconstrued of withholding information.

“'We've been noted for our openness,” Selectman Ben Frey said. “I don't want anyone to think that we're restricting information.”