[Amended 4-8-1997 ATM, Art. 26]
The annual election of Town officers, and all other matters as are required by law be determined by ballot, shall be held on the second Tuesday in the month of May each year.
[Adopted 5-4-1959 STM, Art. 9, (Ch. II of the Town Bylaws)]
[Amended 4-8-1997 ATM, Art. 26; 4-12-2005 ATM, Art. 15]
The Annual Town Meeting for the consideration of all business, other than the election of Town officers or other matters to be determined by ballot, shall be held on the third Tuesday in the month of May each year, commencing at 7:00 p.m. In the event that all articles on the warrant have not been acted on by the end of the session, the meeting shall stand adjourned to a time and date agreeable to the meeting by majority.
Notices of every Town Meeting shall be given by posting an attested copy of the warrant for such meeting in three or more places in the Town of Hopedale at least seven days before an Annual Town Meeting and 14 days before a Special Town Meeting. One copy thereof shall be posted in the Town Hall Building.
Notices of every adjourned meeting shall be posted in the Town of Hopedale by the Town Clerk in three or more public places and one copy thereof shall be posted in the Town Hall Building. In addition thereto the Town Clerk may, if he deems it practicable, publish the same in any newspaper published in the county having a circulation in the Town of Hopedale.
Copies of the warrant and of the report of the Finance Committee thereon shall be made available to the voters at all Town Meetings.
[Amended 4-8-1997 ATM, Art. 26]
The Moderator shall appoint tellers, who shall permit only registered voters to enter upon the floor of the meeting hall at the Annual or any Special Town Meeting. At the discretion of the Moderator, a portion of the meeting hall may be reserved for visitors and open to the public, and a portion of the hall may be reserved for the working press. The stage may be occupied under the direction of the Moderator.
The number of voters necessary to constitute a quorum at any Town Meeting shall be 50; provided, however, that a number less than a quorum may from time to time adjourn the same. This section shall not apply to such parts of meetings as are devoted exclusively to the election of Town officers.
Articles of the warrant shall be acted upon in the order in which they appear unless otherwise determined by vote of the meeting.
All motions to do with the expenditure of money shall be presented in writing; other motions shall be in writing if so directed by the Moderator.
If a motion is susceptible of division, it shall be divided and the question shall be put separately upon each part thereof, if 10 voters so request.
When a question is before the meeting, the following motions, namely: to adjourn; to lay on the table; for the previous question; to postpone to a time certain; to commit, recommit or refer; to amend; to postpone indefinitely, shall be received and shall have precedence in the foregoing order; and the first three shall be decided without debate.
On proposed amendments involving sums of money, the larger or largest amount shall be put to the question first, and an affirmative vote thereon shall be a negative vote on any smaller amount.
Any person who is employed as an attorney by another interested in any matter under discussion at a Town Meeting shall disclose the fact of his employment before speaking thereon.
[Amended 11-19-2002 STM, Art. 9]
When a question is put, the sense of the meeting shall be determined by the voices of the voters and the Moderator shall declare the vote as it appears to him. If the Moderator is unable to decide the vote by the sound of the voices, or if his decision is immediately questioned by seven or more voters arising in their places for that purpose, he shall determine the vote by ordering a standing vote and he may appoint tellers to make and return the count. On matters requiring a two-thirds vote of a Town meeting by statute, a count need not be taken unless the vote so declared by the Moderator is immediately questioned by seven or more voters as provided in MGL c. 39, § 15.
The Meeting may order that the vote on any motion shall be taken by a YES and NO ballot.
No vote of the Meeting shall be reconsidered unless notice of intention to ask for reconsideration shall have been given within one hour after the vote to which such notice relates has been passed. When a motion for reconsideration is decided, that decision shall not be reconsidered and no question shall be reconsidered more than once; nor shall any vote be reconsidered on a motion to adjourn, to lay on the table, or for the previous question.
No motion for reconsideration shall be in order at an adjourned meeting on a matter decided within one hour of adjournment of the previous session of the same meeting, except by unanimous consent, unless a notice of intention so to move has been given in writing to the Town Clerk (on or before 12:00 noon of the day to which the meeting stands adjourned), such notice to be advertised or posted in a public place by said Town Clerk.
All committees shall report as directed by the Town. If no report is made within a year after its appointment, a committee shall be discharged unless, in the meantime, the Town shall have granted an extension of time.
No motion, the effect of which would be to dissolve the meeting, shall be in order until every article in the warrant therefor has been duly considered and acted upon, but this shall not preclude the postponement of consideration of any article to an adjournment of the meeting at a stated time and place.