Town of Salisbury, MA Chapter 233 Town Meetings

[HISTORY: Adopted by the Annual Town Meeting of the Town of Salisbury 3-22-1958 by Art. 50 as Arts. II, III and IV of the 1958 General Bylaws. Amendments noted where applicable.]

§ 233-1 Holding of Annual Town Meetings; quorum.

[Amended 10-1-1973 STM by Art. 1; 5-18-1974 ATM by Art. 39; 3-15-1976 STM by Art. 1; 5-16-1990 ATM by Art. 40]

The Annual Town Meeting for the election of officers and for such referenda as are to be voted on by all the voters shall be held on the second Tuesday of May each year; all matters to be considered at the Annual Town Meeting other than the election of officers and voting on such referenda as are properly before all the voters shall be brought before the Town at a meeting to be held within the seven days following the second Tuesday of May at a time and place to be selected by a majority of the Board of Selectmen. A second regular Town Meeting shall meet the fourth Monday in October at a time and place to be selected by a majority of the Board of Selectmen. One hundred twenty-five legal voters shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business at any Town Meeting, except those parts of the Annual Meeting as are devoted exclusively to the election of Town officers and the determination of referenda.

§ 233-2 Notice.

[Amended 3-20-1971 ATM by Art. 53; 5-16-2022 ATM by Art. 10]

Notice of every Town Meeting shall be given by posting an attested copy of the warrant in at least nine public buildings and on the Town's official website over two consecutive Sundays at least before the time of holding said meeting.

§ 233-3 Requests for articles.

[Amended 3-9-1971 ATM by Art. 21; 11-27-1972 STM by Art. 11; 5-19-1986 ATM by Art. 30; 5-16-1990 ATM by Art. 40]

The Selectmen shall append to each article the name of the first person signing said request and the names and the words "and others." Said request shall be filed and kept by the Selectmen until after the final adjournment of any Town Meeting, at which any action can be taken under said article.

§ 233-4 Procedural rules.

The proceedings of Town Meeting shall be governed by rules of practice contained in Robert's Rules of Order, except as modified by law or by the following sections.

§ 233-5 Articles to be taken up in order.

All articles in a warrant shall be taken up in the order of their arrangement unless otherwise decided by a two-thirds vote.

§ 233-6 Disorderly behavior.

No person shall address the Town Meeting without leave of the Moderator, and all persons shall at the request of the Moderator be silent. If a person after a warning from the Moderator persists in disorderly behavior, the Moderator may order a police officer or constable or any other person to remove him from the meeting.

§ 233-7 Motions.

A. No motions shall be received and put until they are seconded, and all motions shall be reduced to writing by the person making them when requested to do so by the Moderator.

B. When a motion is before the Meeting the following motions, to wit, to adjourn to a specified time, to adjourn, to lay on the table, for the previous question, to postpone to a time certain, to commit, recommit or refer, to amend, and to postpone indefinitely, shall be received and shall have precedence in the foregoing order, and the first four shall be decided without debate.

§ 233-8 Adjourned meetings.

The first business in order at each adjourned meeting shall be the reading of the records of the previous meeting by the Town Clerk unless dispensed with by vote.

§ 233-9 Questions of order.

All questions of order shall be decided by the Moderator subject to an appeal to the Meeting, and the question on appeal shall be submitted before any other.

§ 233-10 Declaration of vote.

[Amended 10-24-2016 ATM by Art. 10]

The Moderator shall declare all votes, and whenever his declaration of vote is immediately questioned by seven or more voters present, a count shall be had by tellers appointed by the Moderator. On matters requiring a majority or two-thirds vote, the vote need not be counted. However, if the vote declared by the Moderator is immediately doubted by seven or more voters, or if a four-fifths or nine-tenths vote is required by statute and the vote is not unanimous, a counted vote shall be ordered. For a counted vote, the Moderator shall request all persons in the house to be seated and may appoint tellers.

§ 233-11 Admission of nonvoters.

[Amended 5-16-1990 ATM by Art. 40]

Any persons, other than Town Counsel, Town Manager, and other Town officials, who are not voters of the Town may be admitted to the meeting by a two-thirds vote. The Town Counsel, Town Manager and other Town officials, however, shall be allowed at every Town Meeting.

§ 233-12 Disclosure of employment.

Any person who is employed to discuss a matter at Town Meeting shall inform the Meeting of the fact of his employment and by whom he is employed.

§ 233-13 Limitation on speaking.

No person shall speak upon a question more than once when any other person desires to be heard, nor more than twice on the same question without permission of the Meeting. No person speaking shall be interrupted except by a call to order.[1]

[1] Editor's Note: Original § 13 of Art. II, which immediately followed this section and dealt with appointment of committees, was deleted 5-16-1990 ATM by Art. 40.

§ 233-14 Reports of committees.

A. The report of all committees shall be made at the Annual Town Meeting next after they were appointed or as otherwise directed by a vote of the Town.

B. The report of a committee shall be deemed to be properly before the Meeting when it has been placed in the hands of the Moderator.

C. A vote to accept the report shall discharge the committee but shall not be equivalent to a vote to carry out its action thereon without a special vote to adopt it.

§ 233-15 Motion to dissolve.

No motion the effect of which would be to dissolve a Town Meeting shall be in order until every article in the warrant has been duly considered and acted upon, but this shall not prevent the postponement of action on, or the consideration of, any article to an adjournment of the meeting to a stated time.

§ 233-16 Reconsideration of vote.

[Amended 10-24-2016 ATM by Art. 10]

No vote shall be reconsidered at any adjourned session of a meeting unless notice of the intent to reconsider was given to the Town Clerk at the session of the meeting at which the vote was passed. The Town Moderator shall, prior to accepting a motion to adjourn, announce receipt of any such notice. Reconsideration of a matter once acted upon shall be only by a two-thirds vote.

§ 233-17 Poll hours.

[Amended 10-19-1970 STM by Art 1]

At that portion of Town Meetings concerned with the election of Town officers and with action on such other matters as are required by law to appear on the official ballot, the polls shall be opened at 10:00 a.m. and shall close at 8:00 p.m., unless the Meeting by majority vote determines otherwise.