AMHERST — Major changes to Amherst’s council-manager form of government, which has been in place since December 2018, would likely require establishment of a new Charter Commission, townwide votes and possibly approval from the state Legislature.

Yet even though significant adjustments to the town’s 37-page charter are outside the scope of the Charter Review Committee, which is mandated to provide recommendations to the Town Council for improving the charter, committee members say they will not confine the feedback received from municipal employees, elected representatives, community volunteers and residents.

At its Dec. 18 meeting, the committee outlined a plan for collecting feedback that, if funding is available from the town, would involve assistance from staff at the Edward J. Collins Center for Public Management at the University of Massachusetts Boston.

Under a proposal brought forward by committee member Bernie Kubiak, a scope of services would be reviewed and potentially approved by the committee in mid-January. The plan, Kubiak said, would be to do outreach to officials, staff and the public, having a general conversation about what’s working and not working in the six-year-old charter, how the checks and balances feel and whether it is easy to promote policy change.

The Charter Review Committee was formed by the Town Council as a requirement of the charter in years ending in the number 4. The charter also adopted a 13-member elected Town Council that replaced the 240-member representative Town Meeting and five-member Select Board, but maintained a town manager.

Committee member Meg Gage, who served on the Charter Commission formed in 2016, said she wants to make sure that the public has an opportunity to provide robust comment to the committee.

“We want to communicate that we’re energetically interested in hearing from the public,” Gage said.

Former Charter Commission Chairman Andy Churchill said a public forum might be appropriate, but that forming a subcommittee for outreach that would survey the public and work with the consultant on a variety of data-collection strategies made sense.

“Our initial push right now could be public awareness,” said member Raphael Rogers.

Committee member Erika Mijlin said the public outreach subcommittee could create a full-fledged plan, including a survey, approved by the larger committee.

The Charter Review Committee recently issued a statement observing that the Town Council can propose changes at any time and submit them to the voters for approval, but the every 10 years process ensures a formal way to review and recommend adjustments to how the town is governed.

There are some changes that can be made by a simple vote of the Town Council, others that would require a townwide vote and still others that would require a new, elected Charter Commission to be formed or state legislation. A new Charter Commission is required for any changes that relate to the size of the Town Council, the election process and whether Amherst has a manager or a mayor.

The committee’s statement notes that it won’t limit input only to those changes that can be approved by the Town Council, with or without ratification by voters.

“We are also open to including more expansive recommendations, including those aspects mentioned above, in a separate section of our final report. The committee will be setting up numerous opportunities for residents to contribute to the process, with meetings in different parts of town, organized to focus on specific areas of interest.

The statement continues, “While we appreciate the time and effort a small number of town activists contribute to our public conversations, we are determined to reach residents whose voices are less frequently heard. We hope to be creative in reaching as many different constituencies as possible, including people who are not native English speakers.”

The League of Women Voters is one of the organizations that has publicized the work of a task force over the summer, with recommendations to give the Town Council the power to hire its own attorney, shortening the lame duck period for outgoing councilors, and better delineating the powers of the town manager. But the recommendations also includes two items outside the scope of the formal review being done: a study of changing the form of government to one with a council and mayor, and adjusting the threshold to have a voters veto a council decision.

For those interested in the committee’s work and updates, go to www.AmherstMA.gov/CharterReview.