Except as otherwise provided in the Charter, the legislative
body of the Town shall be the Town Meeting, with all powers conferred
by Statute and by this Charter.
Members of the Town Meeting shall be the voters of the Town.
Legal notice of all Town Meetings shall be published in the
designated medium as prescribed by law and posted on the exterior
sign post at the Town Office Building, such posting and such publication
to be at least five but not more than 15 days previous to holding
the meeting, including the day that notice is given and any Sunday
and any legal holiday which may intervene between such posting and
such publication. The notice shall contain the place, date, and hour
of the meeting and list all agenda items to be acted upon. Legal notices,
in addition to being published as prescribed by law, may be published
in other newspapers or media. The Selectmen shall, on or before the
day of such meeting, cause a copy of such warning, along with the
return of posting, to be filed with the Town Clerk, who shall cause
such copy and return to be recorded in the Town Meeting Record Book.
(a)
All Town Meetings shall be called to order by the First Selectman
or his/her representative.
(b)
All Town Meetings shall be presided over by a moderator selected
by the voters attending.
(c)
All Town Meetings shall be conducted using Robert's Rules of
Order.
(d)
The Moderator of all Town Meetings shall determine, by majority voice
vote of the voters present, the method to be used for voting on agenda
items. The method determined shall be one of the following: voice,
show of hands, or checklist and ballot.
(e)
The clerk of a Town Meeting shall be the Town Clerk or, if absent,
the Town Clerk's representative. This person shall be responsible
for recording all actions of the Town Meeting.
The Annual Town Budget Meeting shall be held by the third Monday in May. Adoption of the annual budget shall be by majority vote of voters who are present and voting at the Annual Town Budget Meeting. The procedure to be followed in preparing and submitting the budget for the Annual Town Budget Meeting and the power of the Meeting with respect to the budget shall be as prescribed by Section 9-3 of this Charter. The Meeting shall have the power to decrease or delete any appropriation, or item in an appropriation, but not to make any appropriation for a purpose not recommended by the Board of Finance.
Special Town Meetings may be called from time to time by the
Board of Selectmen and as required by this Charter.
The Board of Selectmen, whenever it shall receive a petition
signed by 50 persons entitled to vote at Town Meetings, shall call
a Special Town Meeting within 30 days. The matters which the petitioners
for a Special Town Meeting desire acted upon, if they are proper subjects
for action at a Town Meeting as determined by Town Counsel, shall
be put in proper form for the call of a Town Meeting and for a Town
Meeting resolution, with the assistance of the Town Counsel, and those
matters shall come first in the Town Meeting. The Board of Selectmen,
at its discretion, may add other matters to the call of the meeting.
(b)
Any ordinance enactment or ordinance repeal may be initiated by a
majority vote of the Board of Selectmen or by a petition signed by
at least 50 electors of the Town. The Board of Selectmen may, at its
discretion, within 30 days after the ordinance enactment or ordinance
repeal has been initiated, hold a public hearing on it. At least 10
days' notice of the hearing shall be published as prescribed
by law and by making copies available at the Town Office Building.
(c)
Within 15 days after the hearing is called, or 30 days from the initiation
of ordinance enactment or ordinance repeal, the Board of Selectmen
shall submit the proposed ordinance in full to a Town Meeting. The
call for the proposed meeting shall state the proposed ordinance in
full or in a format prepared by Town Counsel and shall provide for
a yes or no vote. Such ordinance, if enacted, shall be published within
10 days as prescribed by law and shall become effective 15 days after
publication thereof.
Approval of the acceptance or discontinuance of roads by the
Town, the sale or other disposition of real estate of the Town used
or reserved for Town purposes, and the purchase or other acquisition
of real estate for such purposes shall require approval by a Town
Meeting by majority of those qualified to vote who are present and
voting at a Town Meeting.
