[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Meeting of
the Town of Westminster as indicated in article histories. Amendments
noted where applicable.]
[Adopted STM 11-12-1974 by Art. 2 as Art. II of the 1975 Bylaws]
[Amended ATM 5-4-2013 by Art. 39]
Every Town Meeting shall be called by posting
attested copies of the warrant on the Town website and at not fewer
than two public places within the Town, which shall include the Town
Hall and the Post Office; said postings to be not less than seven
days before the date of the Annual Town Meeting and not less than
14 days before a Special Town Meeting.
[Amended ATM 5-3-1980 by Art. 30; ATM 4-23-1988 by Art. 52; ATM 6-5-1993 by Art. 3;
STM 10-26-2004 by Art. 19; STM 11-27-2007 by Art. 16]
The Annual Town Election shall be held on the
last Tuesday in April, and the Annual Town Meeting shall be held on
the first Saturday of May in each year.
[Amended STM 10-25-1993 by Art. 25; ATM 5-4-2002 by Art. 46; STM 11-17-2020 by
Art. 3]
The polls shall be open for the election of
Town officers in accordance with Massachusetts General Law Chapter
54, Section 64.
[Amended STM 10-26-2004 by Art. 19; STM 11-27-2007 by Art. 16]
The business session of said Annual Town Meeting
shall be convened at 1:00 p.m., and if there remain articles unacted
upon at 6:00 p.m., the Meeting shall be adjourned to the following
Saturday at 1:00 p.m., unless otherwise voted.
All Annual and Special Town Meetings shall be
held in the auditorium of the elementary school and/or gymnasium or
Town Hall, if possible.
Special Town Meetings may be held on any weekday,
but not earlier than 7:30 p.m., except that on Saturday they shall
not be held earlier than 1:00 p.m.
Attendance at Town Meetings shall be limited
to registered voters of the Town, except that other persons may be
admitted to a separate section reserved for nonvoters as determined
by the Moderator.
A. No person not a voter shall address the meeting without
first obtaining consent of a majority of the meeting.
B. No person shall speak more than twice upon any question,
except to correct an error or make an explanation, until all others
who have not spoken upon the question and desire to do so shall have
an opportunity. No single speech or presentation shall exceed 15 minutes
in length unless consent is given by the Meeting.
At least four days before the day fixed in the
warrant for the Annual Town Meeting, the Selectman shall make available
to the voters copies of the Annual Town Report at the Town Hall.
Any person who is employed as an attorney or
agent by another interested in any matter under discussion at a Town
Meeting shall disclose the fact of his employment before speaking
thereon.
[Adopted STM 11-12-1974 by Art. 2 as Art. III of the 1975 Bylaws]
The Moderator shall preserve decorum and order,
may speak to points of order, in reference to others, and decide all
questions of order.
Articles in the warrant shall be acted upon
in their order, unless otherwise directed by vote of the Town.
All motions involving any expenditure of money
shall be in writing when so requested by any voter or at the discretion
of the Moderator.
When a question is under debate, motions shall
be received in the following order of precedence:
C. To postpone to a time certain.
D. To postpone indefinitely.
F. For the previous question.
A motion to pass over an article shall be debatable.
No vote shall be reconsidered except upon motion
made within one hour of such a vote. A two-thirds vote shall be required
for such reconsideration. When a motion for reconsideration shall
have been decided, such decision shall not be open to further reconsideration.
The conduct of the meeting, insofar as it is
not specifically provided for by law or by these bylaws, shall be determined by the rules of parliamentary law
contained in "Town Meeting Time."
When an article comes before any session of
the Town Meeting, the proponent(s) shall be recognized first for the
purpose of making a motion under the article and then for making a
presentation in support thereof, if the motion is seconded. If the
proponent is an elected or appointed board or committee within which
there is a minority position in opposition to the article, a spokesman
for that position will be recognized next. Thereafter, the Advisory
Board shall be recognized if it wishes to speak on the article, followed
by the Planning Board and/or any other board or committee which is
required by law to report on the article.