The designated place for regular and special meetings of the
Board of Selectmen shall be Memorial Town Hall, Selectmen's Room,
Whitinsville, Massachusetts, unless otherwise voted by the Board.
The Board of Selectmen shall meet twice a month on Monday at
7:00 p.m. prevailing time unless another day and hour is fixed by
vote of the Board. Meetings shall adjourn no later than 11:30 p.m.
Unfinished business will be postponed until a time certain during
that week as may be voted by the Selectmen. When Monday is a legal
holiday, the meeting will be held either the following Tuesday evening
or the Monday evening of the next week as determined by the Board.
Each meeting the Board will provide a citizens' forum in
which citizens of the town will have an opportunity to bring to the
attention of the Board any issues or questions they deem important.
The Board may, at its option, defer any action or comment on a citizens'
forum item to a future meeting or refer to the Town Manager for resolution.
Whenever possible, all items for citizens' forum may be presented
to the Town Manager not later than 4:00 p.m. the day of the Selectmen's
meetings.
Special meetings of the Board of Selectmen may be called by
written request of three members of the Board or by the Chairman of
the Board. The Town Manager shall prepare a notice of the special
meeting stating the time and the place of the meeting and the matters
to be considered. This notice shall be served personally upon each
member of the Board or left at their usual place of residence at least
48 hours in advance of the meeting time. It shall be the duty of the
Town Manager, immediately upon receipt of a request for a special
meeting, to make every diligent effort to notify each member of the
Board in person, either by telephone or otherwise, of such special
meeting. The Town Manager shall also post the notice of the special
meeting in a conspicuous place in the Town Hall, in conformance with
the Open Meeting Law.
An executive session may be convened at the request of a majority
vote of the Board as part of a regular or special Board meeting. Attendance
at executive sessions shall be limited to the Board of Selectmen,
the Town Manager and the Board Secretary; provided, however, that
the Board and/or Town Manager may invite such persons as may be required
for advice and/or information. Executive session may be held only
for one of the reasons that are set forth under the provisions of
MGL c. 39, §§ 23A and 23B, as amended, and said session
shall only be held after the meeting has been called in public session
and the presiding officer declares under which category the executive
session will be held.
A.
Order of business. The business of all regular meetings of the Board
of Selectmen shall be transacted in the following order:
[Amended 2006; 9-13-2010]
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Pledge of Allegiance
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B.
Procedures.
(1)
The Town Manager shall prepare the agenda for meetings with the input
of the Chairman and:
(a)
Schedule an appropriate and realistic time period for each appointment,
interview, conference or other scheduled items of business.
(b)
Confirm all appointments, including time allotted.
(c)
Distribute copies of the agenda and backup material to the Selectmen
on the fifth working day of the week preceding the meeting date with
the draft copy of the minutes of the previous meeting.
(d)
Post copies of the agenda Friday on the Town Hall bulletin board,
have copies of the agenda available to the press representatives and
have copies available to the public at all meetings.
(2)
In order to expedite the business of the Board of Selectmen at their
regular meetings and in order that all subject matter scheduled for
discussion by the Selectmen may be given proper attention and due
consideration, the following procedure has been adopted for submission
of items to appear on the regular meeting agenda of the Board of Selectmen:
(a)
Except in emergencies, any item requested to appear on the agenda
must be in the office of the Town Manager the first working day of
the week at 5:00 p.m. preceding a regular meeting.
(b)
All backup data, pertinent information or an outline for discussion
must accompany all subject matters or items to appear on the agenda.
(c)
Written reports/outline of presentation shall, whenever possible,
be presented to the Board as part of the agenda packet.
(d)
For items requiring decisions by the Board, the Town Manager
shall provide a written recommendation.
