The legislative powers of the Town shall be exercised by a Town
Meeting open to all registered voters of the Town. In order to conduct
business, a quorum of 50 registered voters must be in attendance at
any time. A voter may request that the Moderator count the registered
voters in attendance at any time during the meeting in order to establish
the existence of a quorum. If a quorum is not present and the business
of the meeting has not been concluded, the Moderator shall announce
the time and place at which the meeting will be continued.
The Annual Town Meeting shall be held during February through
June on a date determined by the Select Board. The Annual Town Meeting
shall be concerned with, but not limited to, the determination of
matters involving the expenditure of Town funds and the adoption of
an annual operating budget for all Town agencies.
Special Town Meetings shall be held at the call of a majority
of the full Select Board in order to transact the legislative business
of the Town in an orderly manner. Special Town Meetings shall also
be held on the petition of the lesser of at least 200 voters or 20
percent of the total number of voters.
The Moderator, elected as provided in Section
3-4, shall preside at all sessions of Annual and Special Town Meetings. At the first session of the Town Meeting, the Moderator may appoint a voter to serve as Deputy Moderator. In the absence of the Moderator and the duly ratified Deputy Moderator at any session of a Town Meeting, the Town Clerk shall open the meeting and preside over the election of an acting Moderator. In the absence of the Moderator, the Deputy Moderator, and the Town Clerk, the presiding officer of the first session of a Town Meeting shall be determined as provided for by law. The Deputy Moderator may also temporarily serve when the Moderator has a conflict or the appearance of conflict arises, as determined by the Moderator, with regard to a particular article or matter under consideration.
The Moderator, at all Town Meetings, shall regulate the proceedings,
decide all questions of order, make public declaration of all votes,
and may exercise such additional powers and duties as may be authorized
by law, this Charter, bylaw, or other vote of the Town Meeting.
The Select Board shall publish an Annual Town Report and make
it available before Annual Town Meeting; however, failure to comply
with this section shall not prevent Town Meeting from proceeding.
Every Town Meeting shall be called by a warrant issued by the
Select Board, which shall state the time and place at which the meeting
is to convene and, by separate articles, identify the subject matters
to be acted upon. The publication of the warrant for every Town Meeting
shall be in accordance with Massachusetts General Laws and bylaws
governing such matters.
No meeting of any Town agency shall be convened or be in session
during a session of Town Meeting, unless that meeting is concurrent
with and in the same location as the Town Meeting to allow the agency
to act on matters that arise during the Town Meeting.
The Town Clerk shall serve as clerk of the Town Meeting, give
public notice of all adjourned sessions of the Town Meeting, record
its proceedings, and perform such additional duties in connection
therewith as may be provided by the law, this Charter, bylaw, or other
Town Meeting vote.
The Town Meeting may, by bylaw, establish, amend, revise, or
repeal rules governing the conduct of all Town Meetings as long as
they are consistent with Massachusetts General Laws.
The Town Meeting shall provide for the exercise of all of the
powers of the Town and for the performance of all duties and obligations
imposed upon the Town for which no other provision is made by law,
this Charter, or bylaw.