GENERAL REFERENCES
Voter's card fee — See Art. XI, § 6(25).
[Amended 4-16-1997 ATM, Art. 54]
The Annual Town Meeting for the election of town officers and
for other purposes shall be held on the fourth Tuesday of March in
each year at such place or places within the town as the Select Board
may designate in its notice thereof.
Special Town Meetings may be held at such times and at such
places as the Select Board may designate.
Any Town Meeting may be adjourned from time to time and to any
place within the town.
[Amended 4-26-2004 ATM, Art. 15]
The warrant for all Town Meetings shall be directed to either
of the Constables of the Town, and notice of all meetings shall be
given by posting attested copies of the warrant in the Town Offices
and in such other public places as the Select Board may designate.
The warrant, with titles of the warrant articles only, shall be advertised
by publication in at least one newspaper of general circulation within
the Town, at least 14 days before the day of the meeting. The entire
warrant shall be posted on the Town's website, will be available in
the Town Clerk's office and the Memorial Hall Library and shall be
included in the Finance Committee Report sent to each household in
accordance with Article III, Paragraph 3(a), of the General Bylaws.
The warrant for the Annual Town Meeting shall be open for the
insertion of warrant articles for a period of not less than 35 consecutive
calendar days.
[1]
Editor's Note: Former Art. II, § 3, Quorum, was
repealed 4-12-1993 ATM, Art. 39.
The Town Manager shall annually, at least seven days before
the date fixed for the Annual Meeting, cause to be made available
to the registered voters of the town an Annual Report, which shall
contain a detailed report of all moneys received into and paid out
of the town treasury during the preceding fiscal year, which report
shall be examined and approved by the Accountant before it is printed.
He shall also publish in said report such information and recommendations
relating to town finances as he or the Select Board may deem proper.
Reports of the Treasurer and Collector and reports of such other town
officers, boards, committees and departments as may be directed by
the Town Manager or by the Select Board shall be included in the Annual
Report.
A summary of the Annual Report required by Article II, § 4,
of these By-Laws shall be prepared by the Town Manager who shall cause
it to be printed and one copy delivered to each household in the town
at least 10 days before the Annual Town Meeting. The summary shall
be in such form as determined by the Town Manager so as to reflect
accurately and substantively the affairs of the town for the preceding
year, including statements of debt, surplus revenue and free cash,
expenditures by item and Article as voted by the Town Meeting(s) and
such other financial statements as may be appropriate and informative.
The Summary Report may be included as part of the Finance Committee
Report required by Article III, § 3(a), of these By-Laws.
After a motion on an Article in the town warrant has been made
and seconded (but in no event after a final vote has been taken on
such motion), a motion that the Article be voted on by secret ballot
shall be in order. Motions for a secret ballot, if seconded, shall
be put to a standing vote; and, if such motion is approved by 25%
or more of those so voting, ballots approved by the Moderator as to
form shall be used in voting upon the particular article. A reasonable
number of ballots for the above purpose shall be in the possession
of the Moderator prior to the call to order of any Annual or Special
Town Meeting.
[Added 4-28-1998 ATM, Art. 40]
On matters requiring a two-thirds vote by statute, a count need
not be taken unless the vote so declared is immediately questioned
by seven or more voters as provided in General Laws Chapter 39, Section
15. Before considering another warrant article the Moderator shall
ask if the two-thirds vote is questioned.
[Added 5-2-2023 ATM, Art. 13]
Subject to the availability of a system to enable electronic
voting by using wireless handheld mobile devices, the Moderator may
count the vote on any matter before the Town Meeting by the use of
such system.
(a)
General public. Persons who are not registered voters of the town
may request admission to any Annual or Special Town Meeting by submitting
their names and addresses (or that of the person in charge, if the
Moderator deems an interested group too large for such enumeration)
to the Moderator who shall read such names to the meeting. Such persons
shall be admitted to the meeting if, by majority vote of those present,
the meeting approves their admission. The Moderator shall set apart
a space of reasonable size within the place of assembly where all
such persons shall sit.
(b)
Representatives of the press. At any Town Meeting, the Moderator
shall set apart a space of reasonable size within the place of assembly
and shall admit thereto such persons as have demonstrated to his satisfaction
are accredited representatives of the press, whether or not they be
registered voters of the town.
[Amended 4-6-1988 ATM, Art. 60; 4-12-1988 ATM, Art. 84]
No Annual or Special Town Meeting shall be dissolved until all
of the Articles contained in the warrant for such meeting shall have
been acted upon thereat.
Any person having a monetary or equitable interest in any matter
under discussion at any Town Meeting and any person employed by another
having such an interest shall disclose the fact of his interest or
employment before speaking thereon.
Failure of the Finance Committee to prepare and mail its report
as required in Article III, § 3(a), of the By-Laws and the
failure of the Town Manager to complete his budget by the time stated
in Article IV, § 6, of the By-Laws, shall not invalidate
action taken at a Town Meeting.
[Added 5-1-2000 ATM, Art. 61]
The Town Meeting may vote under a single Article in the warrant
to accept streets as public ways. Such Article shall be submitted
by the Select Board and shall contain a listing of the names, locations
and descriptions of all streets to be laid out by the Select Board
at a meeting held for that purpose pursuant to statute prior to the
Town Meeting. The Town Meeting may vote to remove or reject any street
or streets from the Article by amendment prior to the vote on the
entire Article. The representative of the owner of any street listed
in the Article shall be present at the Town Meeting for purposes of
addressing the question should the need arise.
[Added 4-24-2001 ATM, Art. 34]
Any Special or Annual Town Meeting may be held in a municipality
bordering Andover upon a vote of the Select Board; provided however,
that any meeting for the election by ballot of Federal, State or other
officers or the determination of other matters that are to be determined
by ballot at an election shall be held within the geographic limits
of the Town.
[Added 12-5-2011 STM, Art. 1]
All petitions to call a Special Town Meeting or to insert a
subject in the Warrant for any Annual or Special Town Meeting shall
be submitted on a form meeting the following requirements:
(a)
The subject
to be inserted in the Warrant shall be prepared by the petitioner(s)
and shall appear on the front page of each petition. If space is insufficient
the text shall begin on the front page of each petition and be continued
on additional pages to be attached to each petition before signatures
are gathered.
(b)
Each petition
shall include boxes for the gathering of signatures, with residence,
street and number, of registered voters of the Town of Andover on
the front and/or the back of the petition. Separate signature pages
shall not be accepted for filing, nor shall they be stapled or otherwise
attached to a petition. All signatures submitted for certification
must appear on the petition with the text of the subject to be inserted
in the Warrant. The petitioner(s) may submit as many petitions as
necessary to meet the required number of signatures.
(c)
The Town
Clerk shall prepare and make available to the public petition forms
meeting the minimum requirements of this bylaw.
