The legislative powers of the Town shall continue
to be exercised by a Town Meeting open to all voters.
The Moderator, elected as provided in Section
3-3, shall preside at all sessions of the
Town Meeting. Annually, at the
first session of the Spring
Town Meeting, the Moderator
shall appoint a Deputy Moderator to serve as Acting Moderator in the
event of the temporary absence or disability of the Moderator. The
appointment of a Deputy Moderator shall be subject to ratification
by the
Town Meeting. If a permanent
vacancy in the position of Moderator should occur, the Deputy Moderator
shall serve as Moderator until the next scheduled
Town Election at which time a Moderator shall be elected to serve a full
term.
The Moderator, at Town Meetings, shall regulate
the proceedings, decide all questions of order, make public declaration
of all votes and exercise such additional powers and duties as may
be authorized by general law, by this Charter, by by-law
or by other vote of the Town Meeting.
The Town Meeting shall meet in regular session
at least twice in each calendar year. The first such meeting, shall
be deemed the Annual Town Meeting and shall be held during
March, April, May, or June, on a date fixed by by-law. It shall be
primarily concerned with the determination of matters involving the
expenditure of Town funds including, but not limited
to, the adoption of an annual operating budget for all Town
departments, for the purpose of electing officers, and for
the determination of all other matters to be decided by ballot of
the voters. The second such meeting, the powers of which
shall also be deemed to be those of an Annual Town Meeting,
except that it shall not include the election of officers or the determination
of other matters to be decided by ballots of voters,
shall be held during the last four calendar months, on a date fixed
by by-law.
Special Meetings: The Town Meeting shall also convene
in special session; (a) by call of the Board of Selectmen, or (b)
by petition of at least two hundred registered voters of the town.
Every Town Meeting shall be called by a warrant
issued by the Board of Selectmen, which shall state the time and place
at which the meeting is to convene and, by separate articles, the
subject matter to be acted upon. The publication of the warrant for
every Town Meeting shall be in accordance with a Town by-law governing such matters.
Every Town officer, the chairperson of each multiple member body, the head of each department and the
head of each division within the said departments shall attend all
sessions of the Town Meeting for the purpose of providing Town Meeting with information pertinent to matters appearing
in the warrant.
In the event any Town officer, chairperson of a multiple member body, department head or division head is
to be absent due to illness or other reasonable cause, such person
shall designate a deputy to attend to represent the office, multiple member body, department or division. If any person
designated to attend the Town Meeting under this section
is not a voter, such person shall, notwithstanding, have
a right to address the meeting for the purpose of compliance with
this section. At least once annually the Town Manager
shall provide written notice regarding the provisions of this section
to the members of all Town multi-member bodies.
The Town Clerk shall serve as Clerk of the Town Meeting, give notice of all adjourned sessions thereof,
record its proceedings, and perform such additional duties in connection
therewith as may be provided by general law, by this Charter, by by-law, or by other Town Meeting vote. Such records
shall be made available in the office of the Town Clerk
for examination by the public within ten days after their
adoption.
The Town Meeting may, by by-law, establish and
from time to time amend, revise or repeal rules to govern the conduct
of all Town Meetings.