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