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Town of Wayland, MA
Middlesex County
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Minutes (332)
[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town of Wayland as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where applicable.]
[Adopted 3-12-1973 ATM by Art. 14 as Art. 1 of the 1973 Bylaws]
[Amended 3-11-1974 ATM by Art. 11; 5-1-1991 STM by Art. 3; 5-12-2004 ATM by Art. 34; 4-13-2009 ATM by Art. 23]
The annual Town meeting shall commence on a day between April 1 and May 15 inclusive ordered by the Selectmen. The election of Town officers and the determination of all matters placed on the official ballot at such election shall take place within seven days, but no fewer than two days, before the annual Town meeting. In addition to the warrant required by MGL c. 39, § 9A, the Selectmen shall cause notice of the time and place(s) of each annual and special Town meeting and each annual and special election (1) to be published in a newspaper of general circulation in Wayland no later than the date fixed by them for the closing of the warrant pursuant to § 36-3 below and (2) to be posted on the Town sign boards. Such notice shall be posted on the Town sign boards commencing at least two weeks prior to the election and Town meeting and shall remain posted until the election is held and Town meeting is concluded.
[Amended 10-30-1974 STM by Art. 3; 5-6-1982 ATM by Art. 33; 5-8-1989 ATM by Art. 21; 11-14-1991 STM by Art. 14; 11-13-1996 STM by Art. 2]
A. 
Service of the warrant for the annual election and the annual Town meeting, and for any special election and any special Town meeting, shall be made by posting attested copies thereof at the Town Building and at the public library in Wayland Center, at the Cochituate Fire Station or Cochituate Post Office and at the Happy Hollow School and by mailing or delivering a copy thereof addressed to each residence in the Town not later than the time required under the Massachusetts General Laws for the giving of notice of such election or any such Town meeting.
B. 
The front cover of the warrant for the annual election and the annual Town meeting, and for any special election and any special Town meeting, shall clearly identify the date, voting hours, and polling places for the election.
[Added 5-12-2004 ATM by Art. 35]
[Amended 5-6-1982 ATM by Art. 33; 5-7-1997 ATM by Art. 47; 5-7-1997 ATM by Art. 48; 5-14-1998 ATM by Art. 59; 4-3-2003 ATM by Art. 33; amended 5-10-2004 STM by Art. 11; 4-13-2009 ATM by Art. 24]
All articles for insertion in the warrant for the annual Town meeting must be presented in writing to the Select Board in accordance with law on or before January 15 or such earlier time as may be fixed by the Select Board, and all such articles for special Town meetings must be so presented on or before the date fixed by the Selectmen for closing of the warrant for such meeting. In the event that January 15 is a Saturday, Sunday or legal holiday, all articles for insertion in the annual Town meeting warrant must be so presented by 4:30 p.m. on the next weekday following January 15 that the Wayland Town Building is open. The warrant for any special Town meeting shall remain open for at least seven days after it is called by the Select Board. Within 48 hours after calling any Town meeting, the Selectmen shall post notice of the warrant closing date at the locations specified in § 36-2 above.
A. 
However, after an article for insertion in the warrant has been duly presented to the Select Board by registered voters in accordance with law, said article may be amended or withdrawn by a majority, but not fewer than 10, of said registered voters after the warrant closing date.
B. 
Town Counsel shall be accessible to registered voters for consultation on presenting articles for insertion in the warrant or on making motions or amendments from the floor of Town meeting. Town Counsel shall be available for consultation at reasonable times in accordance with guidelines promulgated by the Select Board.
C. 
No article, other than one submitted by the Moderator, Town Clerk, or the requisite number of petitioners, shall be inserted in the warrant for any Town meeting unless so voted by a board, commission, committee, or other governmental body of the Town of Wayland by 4:30 p.m. on the date fixed by the Select Board for closing of the warrant for such meeting.
[Added 11-18-1982 STM by Art. 14]
A. 
As used in this section, the term "resolution" means an expression of opinion or sense of the Town meeting on any matter relating to the municipal affairs of the Town or any other issue of public importance.
B. 
When the Selectmen close a warrant for any annual or special Town meeting, they shall insert an article to see whether the Town will act on resolutions not within the scope of other articles. The article on resolutions shall be the last article in the warrant, and all resolutions which are submitted in accordance with Subsection C below shall appear under this article.
C. 
Any resolution not exceeding 150 words in length shall be included by the Selectmen in the warrant for a Town meeting if the resolution is submitted by the close of the warrant and is signed by at least the number of registered voters required by law to submit any subject for insertion in the warrant. In addition, in the case of the annual Town meeting only, a resolution may be submitted after the close of the warrant but not later than 45 days prior to the date fixed for such annual Town meeting if such resolution is signed by at least the number of registered voters required by law to submit a subject for insertion in the warrant for a special Town meeting. All resolutions submitted for any Town meeting shall also meet the same general standards which the Selectmen apply to other articles for the warrant.
D. 
The Finance Committee shall consider the municipal aspects, if any, of each printed resolution and shall make such report, in print or otherwise, as the Committee deems for the best interest of the Town.
E. 
Unless a Town meeting so votes before reaching the resolutions article, no other article in the warrant may be returned to once the resolutions article is taken up for consideration.
F. 
If no resolutions are timely submitted, the Selectmen shall withdraw the resolutions article before the printing of the warrant.
[Added 5-5-1983 ATM by Art. 22]
A. 
Each article appearing in the warrant for every Town meeting shall be accompanied therein by a printed statement, prepared by the Select Board, of the quantum of vote required for taking action under the article and a citation to the legal authority establishing said quantum of vote, except that where, in the opinion of the Select Board, the quantum of vote and citation are not yet known with reasonable certainty at the time the warrant is prepared, a printed statement to this effect shall suffice.
B. 
If the Finance Committee prepares a printed report for an article in the warrant for any Town meeting, then the governmental body or group of petitioners that sponsors the insertion of that article in the warrant may do likewise. The sponsor's report, not to exceed 150 words, shall be printed in the warrant immediately following the article itself.
[Added 5-2-1988 ATM by Art. 13]
C. 
Every article appearing in the warrant for every Town meeting that proposes to amend the Code of the Town of Wayland shall be accompanied therein by a printed statement prepared by Town Counsel as to whether the proposed amendment is repugnant to Massachusetts or federal law and, if so, in what manner.
[Added 5-10-1999 ATM by Art. 24]
[Added 5-6-1992 ATM by Art. 23]
The Moderator shall be chosen at an annual Town election and shall serve for a term of three years.
[Adopted 3-12-1973 ATM by Art. 14 as Art. 2 of the 1973 Bylaws]
All reports of Town officers, agents or committees which are to be considered at any Town meeting shall be reduced to writing and a copy thereof deposited with the Town Clerk before such report is presented for action.
All motions shall be reduced to writing if so requested by the presiding officer or any legal voter.
Articles in the warrant shall be acted upon in the order in which they stand, unless the meeting shall direct otherwise by a two-thirds vote.
[Amended 12-5-1983 STM by Art. 2; 5-10-1999 ATM by Art. 23; 5-3-2006 STM by Art. 8; 4-6-2015 ATM by Art. 18]
If an article of the warrant has once been acted upon and disposed of, a motion to return to the article may be made at any time, if the Moderator determines that the person offering the motion discloses significant new factual information to the Town meeting concerning said article, which existed but had not been disclosed or made available to the meeting when the motion under that article was debated, and the Moderator thereupon explains why such information satisfies the foregoing criteria; provided, however, that debate and action on said motion shall be deferred until all other articles shall have been disposed of. In any event, a two-thirds vote shall be required for approval of a motion to return to an article.
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 preclude the postponement of action on or consideration of any article to an adjournment of the meeting to a stated time.
The presence of 100 voters at a Town meeting for the transaction of business shall constitute a quorum, except for a motion to adjourn, for which no quorum shall be required.
[Added 4-16-1975 ATM by Art. 12]
Each session of a Town meeting shall be adjourned by the Moderator at 10:30 p.m. or as soon thereafter as the meeting has concluded action on or postponed action on the article then under consideration or in accordance with a vote of the particular session of Town meeting to adjourn at a different time, and a motion to that effect shall be in order at any time.
[Added 4-24-1985 ATM by Art. 22]
After a main motion has been made and seconded, it shall not be debated, amended or acted upon until the mover of said motion has declared to the Town meeting assembled that it is identical word-for-word with the substantive portion of the article then under consideration as printed in the warrant or, in the event that said motion and the substantive portion of the article are not identical, alerted the meeting to any and all such differences in wording. Failure to comply with any provisions of this section shall not invalidate any action taken under the subject warrant article.
[Added 4-24-1985 ATM by Art. 24]
If a two-thirds vote is required to carry a subsidiary or procedural motion at any Town meeting, such as a motion to terminate debate (move the previous question), the Moderator need not, in his or her discretion, take a count, even though the voice vote upon such motion was not unanimous, if the Moderator shall have perceived that more than two-thirds of the voters voted in the affirmative. The Moderator shall then declare that such motion has carried, and the Clerk shall record such declaration, together with a note that there was a "scattering of noes." This section shall not apply to substantive or main motions or to votes required by statute.
[Added 11-13-1991 STM by Art. 3]
The Moderator shall neither disallow nor rule out of order any motion because the words "or take any action relative thereto," or their equivalent, were not included in the warrant article under which said motion was made.
[Added 5-12-2004 ATM by Art. 36]
At any scheduled session of annual or special Town meeting where the total number of registered voters present in the facility would cause the occupancy limits of the facility to be exceeded, the Moderator shall immediately suspend the proceedings. Prior to continuing such session or adjourning, the Moderator, in consultation with the Select Board, shall first announce an alternate means or alternate location and time where all registered voters who wish to be present can enter and fully participate in the proceedings.
[Added 4-13-2009 ATM by Art. 25; amended 4-4-2013 ATM by Art. 12; 11-15-2016 STM by Art. 2]
Notwithstanding their place of residence or voter registration status, the Town Manager, Assistant Town Manager, Town Counsel, Police Chief, Fire Chief, Finance Director, Director of Public Works, Public Buildings Director and Superintendent of Schools shall have the same right as registered voters of the Town to attend and sit on the floor of Town meetings and answer questions. Said Town officials shall not be considered in determining the presence of a quorum at Town meetings nor shall any of them be permitted to vote unless s/he is a registered voter of the Town.