[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Meeting of the Town of Templeton 3-5-1951 (Art. II of the Bylaw Compilation).
Amendments noted where applicable.]
[Amended 3-10-1973]
A. The Annual
Town Meeting for the election of Town officers shall be held on the
third Monday of May of each year.
[Amended 5-19-2018 ATM by Art. 8]
B. The term
of the Town Clerk shall commence on July 1 of the year so elected
and expire on June 30 in the year for which the term at issue was
warned. The term of all other Town officers shall commence as soon
as the Town officer is qualified for office by the Town Clerk, after
the Annual Election, and shall continue until the successor for the
office is duly elected or appointed and qualified.
[Added 5-13-2017 ATM by Art. 5]
[Added 11-14-1985; amended 5-16-2013; 5-19-2018 ATM by Art. 8; 6-17-2020 ATM by Art. 9]
All business of the Annual Town Meeting, except the election
of such officers and the determination of such matters as are required
by law to be elected or determined by ballot, shall be considered
on the Wednesday preceding the election of Town officers, at a time
and place designated by the Select Board (Board).
The polls shall be opened at 11:00 in the morning and shall
remain open until 7:00 in the evening. The place of voting in each
precinct shall be designated by the Board in the Town warrant.
[Added 8-31-1978; amended 5-16-2013]
Notice of every Town Meeting shall be given by posting attested
copies of the warrant therefor in a public place in each precinct
as directed by the Board not less than seven days before the day fixed
for the Annual Town Meeting, and not less than 14 days before the
day fixed for a Special Town Meeting, and notice of said Town Meeting
shall be published in a local newspaper and on the Town website.
[Added 5-12-2004]
Warrants for Annual Town Meetings and Special Town Meetings
shall be open for a minimum of 14 days before closing and posting
the warrants.
[Amended 5-14-2016]
The Town Clerk shall appoint checkers, who shall permit only
registered voters to enter upon the floor of the Annual or any Town
Meeting; a section marked "non-registered" shall be opened to the
public.
Articles of the warrant shall be acted upon in the order in
which they appear unless otherwise determined by the vote of the meeting.
All motions having to do with the expenditure of money shall
be presented in writing; other motions shall be in writing if so directed
by the Moderator.
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.
[Added 5-13-1997]
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/her. If the Moderator is unable to decide the
vote by the sound of the voices, or if his/her decision is immediately
questioned by seven or more voters rising in their places for that
purpose, he/she shall determine the vote by ordering a show of hands,
and he/she may appoint tellers to make and return the count. On matters
requiring a two-thirds vote by statute a count need not be taken unless
the vote so declared is immediately questioned by the Moderator or
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.
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 a recess of the meeting
at a stated time and place.
A motion to "pass over" an article in the warrant shall not
be entertained until a motion incorporating the substance of said
article is before the meeting and at least one voter has spoken in
favor thereof, unless, after a reasonable opportunity so to do, no
voter makes such motion or speaks in favor thereof. A motion to "pass
over" shall be debatable as to its merits but not as to the merits
of the article.
[Amended 10-15-1982]
The most current issue of Town Meeting Time is to be considered
the general guideline for all procedures of Town Meetings, except
those procedures already provided for by the bylaws.
[Added 5-12-2004]
The Board shall post all bylaws and Town Meeting warrants on
the official Town website, within one business day of posting warrants
or within three business days following notification of acceptance
by the Attorney General of Massachusetts for bylaws. Bylaws existing
prior to the passage of this bylaw shall be posted on the official
Town website by the end of the fiscal year following passage of this
article.
[Added 5-12-2004]
The Board shall designate an official Town website, for the
posting of Town business, and provide for its maintenance, security,
and improvement through a specific budget line item in the fiscal
year following passage of this article.