NORTH KINGSTOWN — The town’s Asset Management Commission is back on track.

When members failed to reach a quorum for two straight meetings, Chairman Richard Shapiro sent the nine commissioners a brief message.

Come to the meetings, it said.

“All of us have our personal lives and priorities,” Shapiro said. But everyone asked to be on the board, he reminded them. “I do not mean to insult anyone, but I do feel we should do the town’s business we signed on for, and time is short.”

The warning worked.

The group recently had enough members to meet with school officials to discuss the district’s future needs. (Five members are needed to start a meeting.)

The timing is crucial, said Shapiro. Unlike other town boards, the commission squeezes most of its work into a three-month period at the end of the year, from October through December. That’s when town departments finalize their budgets for the following year.

After meeting with department heads, the commission has about a month to submit a final recommendation to the council, usually by the end of January.

Pressed for time, the Town Council, about 10 years, ago created the commission to meet with officials, study their wish lists, rank their requests and report back.

Capital improvement items could include a new fire truck – or a new school building, said Shapiro, head of the commission for six years. “Our meetings are very informal. The intent is for everyone to bring up everything on their minds.”

In addition, the commission doesn’t meet on the same nights or even in the same place. It once met at a pumping station, Shapiro said.

The commission will meet tonight at 7:30 to talk to public works and recreation department officials.