[Adopted as Arts. I and II of the 1983 Code]
[Amended 4-12-2016 ATM
by Art. 36; 5-22-2018 STM by Art.
5; 3-23-2019 ATM by Art. 25]
A.
The Annual
Town Meeting for the consideration of all business, other than the
election of Town Officers or other matters to be determined by ballot,
shall be held on a Saturday that is no later than the last Saturday
in March. The Town Meeting shall commence at 1:00 p.m. and recess
not later than 5:00 p.m.
B.
In the event
that all articles in the warrant have not been acted on, the Town
Meeting shall reconvene at 7:00 p.m. on that Saturday, and recess
no later than 11:00 p.m. If all articles are not acted on by that
time, adjournment of the session shall be to the following Monday
night at 7:00 p.m. and then to each succeeding night at 7:00 p.m.
until completion of the warrant.
C.
In the event
that all articles in the warrant have not been acted on by the end
of the Thursday night session, the Town Meeting shall stand adjourned
to a time and date agreeable to the Town Meeting. In the event of
a secular or other holiday, that session shall be adjourned to the
next night that shall be agreeable to the Town Meeting by majority
vote.
[Amended 4-25-2017 ATM
by Art. 36; 11-1-2021 STM by Art.
7]
Notice of every Town Meeting shall be given by posting attested
copies of the warrant on the Town website, at the Town House, the
Southborough Library, the Senior Center and the transfer station seven
days at least before the time appointed for such meeting and 14 days,
at least, before the time appointed for a Special Town Meeting.
[Added 11-1-2021 STM
by Art. 8; amended 11-1-2021 STM
by Art. 2]
Due to reasons such as a lack of physical capacity in a suitable
auditorium or other facility in Southborough, or an emergency, the
Select Board may specify in a warrant for an annual or special town
meeting that the meeting is to be held or in any town contiguous to
Southborough. Town meeting may also vote to adjourn to such a facility
if it deems appropriate.
The Town Clerk shall, as soon as may be after
the adjournment of any Town Meeting, post notices of such adjournment
in the several places named in the preceding section. Said notice
shall state the time to which the Meeting stands adjourned and shall
contain a concise statement of the matters remaining to be considered
and acted upon.
[Amended 11-1-2021 STM
by Art. 2]
Whenever an Article is inserted in a warrant
upon the request of any person or persons, other than a Town officer,
the Select Board shall cause the name or names of such persons to
appear in connection with such Article by adding the following: "Proposed
by" and the name or names of such persons. If the number of persons
requesting the insertion of an Article in a warrant exceeds 10, the
Select Board may omit all the names of such persons except the name
of the first person who has signed the request or petition and, in
such case, they shall add after such name "and . . . others," giving
the number of the signers. If an Article is inserted at the request
of a Town officer or board, the Select Board shall indicate that such
Article was proposed by such officer or board by adding the words
"Proposed by" and then stating the official title of such officer
or board.
[Added 10-13-2022 STM by Art. 7]
All citizens' petitioned warrant articles submitted pursuant
to MGL c. 39, § 10, for inclusion on any Town Meeting warrant
must be delivered to the Select Board's office no later than 30 calendar
days prior to the date of such Town Meeting.
[Amended 11-1-2021 STM
by Art. 2]
The Select Board shall, as soon as may be after
issuing a warrant for a Town Meeting, transmit a copy thereof to the
Secretary of the Advisory Committee.
[Amended 4-25-2017 ATM
by Art. 39]
A.
Before any
vote which the Moderator or the Town Meeting requires to be counted
may be taken on any question which is the subject matter of any Article
contained in the warrant for any Town Meeting, the Moderator shall
define the bounds of the voting area and each individual section thereof
and shall appoint two tellers to count the votes on each side of each
section so defined. Such tellers shall be sworn to the faithful and
impartial performance of their duties as such tellers. When any matter
before a Town Meeting requires a count of votes for any purpose, each
group of tellers shall immediately, upon completion of each count
of the area assigned to such group, announce the same to the Meeting
and, immediately thereafter, to the Moderator.
B.
On Town Meeting matters requiring a two-thirds vote by statute, the Town Moderator may declare the two-thirds vote without taking a count, and said declaration shall take the place of the statutory counted vote; provided that the vote so declared is not immediately questioned by seven or more voters as provided in Chapter 39, Section 15, of the General Laws. If the vote is questioned, the Moderator shall immediately put the question to another vote and take a count which shall then be recorded by the Town Clerk.
C.
The Moderator may select any two or more warrant articles to create
one or more groups of so-called "consent" articles. For each such
group of "consent" articles, the Moderator shall ask the voters at
the Town Meeting, article by article, if any Town Meeting member wishes
to "hold" a particular article, and any such "held" article shall
be removed from the group of "consent" articles. For the remaining
"consent" articles in the group that have not had a request to be
"held", the Moderator may ask for a single vote of the Town Meeting
for the entire group of the remaining "consent" articles, and such
single vote shall have the same effect as an individual vote (to either
approve or disapprove) each of the non-"held" "consent" articles in
the group.
[Added 4-9-2018 ATM by
Art. 35]
[Added 10-13-2022 STM by Art. 8]
Unless otherwise required by law, bylaw, regional agreement,
or similar binding obligation, the Moderator shall determine the method
of voting on each article at Town Meeting, which method may vary from
article to article, and which method may include, but not be limited
to: a voice vote, a vote by voter card, a standing vote, a written
ballot vote, or a vote by electronic technology.
Unless otherwise ordered by the Moderator or
by vote of the Meeting, no person whose name is not on the list of
registered voters shall be admitted to the hall where the meeting
is being held. This provision shall be in force by the use of the
checklist. The Moderator shall determine the bounds of the hall.
The Moderator, while occupying the Chair, shall
not participate in any discussion before the Meeting.
Articles in the warrant shall be acted upon
in the order in which they appear in the warrant, unless otherwise
ordered by a vote of the Meeting.
All reports, motions and resolutions submitted
for the consideration of the Meeting which involve the expenditure
of money shall be in writing. Any other report, motion or resolution
shall be reduced to writing if the Moderator so directs.
Every person, when about to speak, shall rise,
respectfully address the Chair and wait until he is recognized, and,
in speaking, he shall refrain from mentioning by name any other person
present and shall confine himself to the question under consideration.
[Amended 4-9-1984 ATM by Art. 14]
No person, while speaking, shall be interrupted
by another, except for a call for the orders of the day, a question
of privilege, a point of order or notice of a motion to reconsider.
No person shall speak more than once on any
question to the exclusion of any other person who may desire to speak.
Any person who is employed in behalf of a person
having an interest in any matter under consideration at any Town Meeting
shall, immediately upon being recognized by the Moderator, state that
he is so employed and shall also state the name and address of his
or her employer.
All committees shall be appointed by the Moderator,
unless the Meeting by vote otherwise directs, and shall report as
directed by the Meeting. All such appointments by the Moderator shall
be made within 60 days of the adjournment of the Meeting at which
it was voted to establish such committee, and all vacancies occuring
in any such committees so appointed shall be filled by the Moderator
within 60 days of such vacancy. If a committee does not report as
directed, or at the succeeding Annual Town Meeting, it shall be deemed
discharged, unless the time during which it may report has been extended
by vote of the Meeting.
Whenever the report of a committee contains
a recommendation for the appropriation of Town funds, the committee
making such recommendations shall submit a copy thereof to the Advisory
Committee at least six days before the Town Meeting at which said
report is to be considered by the Town; and no such recommendation
shall be acted upon until a report thereon has been made by the Advisory
Committee.
Whenever a report of a committee is placed in the hands of the Moderator, it shall be deemed to have been submitted to the Meeting for its action thereon, except as is provided in § 41-16.
[Amended 4-9-1984 ATM by Art. 18]
Any action taken at any Town Meeting shall be
reconsidered only by a 2/3 vote.
No motions, the effect of which would be to
dissolve the Meeting, shall be in order until every Article in the
warrant has been duly considered and acted upon.
[Amended 4-9-2007 ATM by Art. 34]
The presence of 100 voters at an Annual Town
Meeting and 100 voters at a Special Town Meeting for the transaction
of business shall constitute a quorum, and no Article shall be acted
upon unless a quorum is present.
[Amended 4-13-1987 ATM by Art. 35]
The procedure and conduct of Town Meetings not
herein provided for or otherwise regulated by general or special laws
of the commonwealth shall be governed by the most recent edition of
Town Meeting Time, so far as it is applicable.
[Added 4-9-1984 ATM by Art. 15]
A report or reports shall be given at each Annual
Town Meeting of all resolutions, mandates and directives of all Annual
and Special Town Meetings of the preceding three years with which
there has not been full compliance. Such reports shall be given by
the responsible elected official or officials or an appropriate designee
or designees.
[1]
Editor's Note: Former § 44-22.1, Electioneering prohibited,
added 4-25-2017 ATM by Art. 35, was repealed 3-23-2019 ATM by Art.
29.
