[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Meeting of the Town of Wrentham as Art. 2.20 of the 2013 Bylaws. Amendments noted where applicable.]
A. 
For the transaction of other business pertaining to the prudential affairs of the Town, the annual meeting shall be held on the first Monday in June. Any adjournments shall be regarded as parts of the same meeting called for in the warrant for the annual meeting.
[Amended 6-13-2016 ATM by Art. 23]
B. 
There shall be one regularly scheduled Special Town Meeting each year, to be held between the months of October and December, inclusive, on a date to be scheduled and noticed as provided in the General Laws.
[Amended 6-5-2017 ATM by Art. 17]
C. 
All matters in the warrant for any 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, may be considered only at or after 7:30 p.m., or at an adjourned meeting.
A. 
Attested copies of every Town Meeting warrant shall be posted in not less than two public places in the Town in accordance with Charter Section 2.7(c) and Charter Section 2.7(d) at least 14 days prior to the day appointed for the meeting.
[Amended 6-8-1915 ATM by Art. 33]
B. 
Notice for every adjourned Town Meeting shall be posted by the Town Clerk by placing a notice on the Town Bulletin Board as soon as practicable after adjournment, stating briefly the business to come before such adjourned meeting.
[Amended 6-8-2015 ATM by Art. 33; 11-21-2022 STM by Art. 2]
A. 
Whenever a Town Meeting warrant is opened in accordance with Charter Section 2.7, the Select Board shall strive to conduct the process in an open, public, and simple manner that facilitates participation by Wrentham's citizens and encourages their interest in Town government.
B. 
Whenever any committee has been chosen to report upon the subject matter referred to it at a future Town Meeting, the Select Board shall, upon the request of the chairman of such committee, insert in the warrant for such meeting any article necessary to bring the subject matter of the report of such committee before the meeting.
A. 
The Moderator, after taking the chair, shall call the meeting to order and shall exert his/her best endeavors to preserve decorum in the transaction of the Town's business. The Moderator shall receive and submit to the meeting all motions properly made before any debate thereon. The Moderator may speak to all points of order in preference to any other person, and shall decide all questions of order, subject, however, to an appeal to the meeting from his/her decision when regularly made.
B. 
No appeal from the decision of the Moderator shall be voted by the meeting unless it is seconded by at least seven persons, and no other business shall be in order until the question on the appeal has been disposed of.
C. 
The Moderator shall make a declaration of all votes passed, and when a question is put, the sense of the meeting shall be taken by the voices, or showing of hands, of those voting. The Moderator shall announce the vote as it appears to him/her. If he/she is unable to decide by the sound of the voices or showing of hands, or if his/her announcement made thereupon is doubted by any voter, rising in his/her place for that purpose, the Moderator shall order a standing vote without further debate upon the question, and no motion whatever shall be entertained by the Chair while verifying a vote.
D. 
All motions to appropriate funds for any capital project with a total cost projected by the Finance Committee at the time of the vote to be in excess of $2 million, or any vote to authorize the King Philip Regional School District to borrow more than $2 million, shall be voted on by secret ballot. This rule may be suspended only by unanimous consent.
[Amended 11-13-2006 STM]
E. 
No person shall speak in a Town Meeting without consent of the Moderator, nor while another is speaking, and all persons shall, at the Moderator's request, be silent.
F. 
When two or more persons shall rise to address the Chair at the same time, the Moderator shall name the person who shall first be heard upon the question.
G. 
No person shall be interrupted by another but by rising to call him/her to order, and the person rising for such purpose shall state his/her point of order. Any person rising to speak or vote shall address the Moderator, and resume his/her seat as soon as he/she has finished speaking.
H. 
No person shall speak more than twice on one question to the prevention of any other person who has not spoken and is desirous to speak, except the article proponent or a person designated as an authority on the subject matter who is there to answer questions. Presentations by any speaker may be limited to a specified time period if recommended by the Moderator or by any registered voter via a motion. Any recommendation to limit a presentation must also be approved by a majority vote of the meeting. A presentation time period may subsequently be extended by a motion which is adopted by a majority vote of the meeting.
I. 
Only the Moderator, the Select Board, Town Administrator, Town Clerk and their secretaries shall be permitted to be seated on the platform without invitation from the Moderator.
[Amended 11-21-2022 STM by Art. 2]
J. 
The Moderator shall appoint tellers whose duty it shall be to return the number of votes, when requested, in their respective sections. All persons shall be seated during the hours of business except in times of voting or speaking.
K. 
A motion need not be seconded, except as provided in Subsection B of this section, and may be withdrawn by the mover if no objection is made.
L. 
Every main motion shall be in writing and all subsequent motions shall be in writing if the Moderator so directs. All main motions shall be submitted in writing to the Town Clerk's office either on paper or electronically by 12:00 noon on the day of the Town Meeting. For this purpose, motions that are financial need not have dollar amounts unless so stated in the warrant.
[Amended 11-13-2006 STM]
M. 
When a motion has been regularly made and has been stated by the Moderator, it shall be deemed to be in the possession of the meeting, to be disposed of by the meeting, unless it be withdrawn by the mover before a decision or any amendment, as provided in Subsection L of this section.
N. 
A motion to adjourn sine die, to take a recess, to adjourn to a time certain, shall, in the order in which they are named, always be first in order, and may be subject to debate.
O. 
When a question is under debate, until it is disposed of, no motion shall be received but to adjourn the meeting, for the previous question (move the question), to lay on the table, to commit, or recommit, to amend, to refer, or to postpone to a day certain, or to postpone indefinitely, which several motions shall have precedence in the order in which they are herein arranged. A motion for the previous question (move the question) will only be in order when it is the sole purpose of the speaker.
[Amended 11-13-2006 STM]
P. 
No motion whose effect would be to dissolve a Town Meeting (sine die) shall be in order until every article in the warrant therefor has been duly considered and acted upon, but nothing herein shall preclude an adjournment of a meeting to a stated time.
Q. 
On the motion to lay on the table, to take from the table, to commit or recommit, not exceeding 10 minutes shall be allowed for debate, and no one shall speak more than three minutes.
R. 
A motion for reconsideration will only be in order if information is brought to the Moderator's attention that there is a defect either in procedure or language with an earlier motion that passed. Allowing reconsideration will only be at the Moderator's discretion. A motion that failed shall not be reconsidered.
S. 
A motion to amend an amendment may be received, but no amendment in the third degree shall be allowed.
T. 
A main motion to indefinitely postpone an article shall not exclude debate on said article.
U. 
A question containing two or more propositions capable of division shall be divided whenever desired by any voter, at the discretion of the Moderator.
V. 
The duties of the Moderator not prescribed by the statutes or by these bylaws shall be determined by the general rules of Town Meeting Time, A Handbook of Parliamentary Law, latest edition.
W. 
Warrant articles of a financial nature shall be first moved by a member of the Finance Committee. If no member of the Finance Committee offers a motion on such article, then any Wrentham registered voter may do so.
[Amended 11-13-2006 STM]
X. 
Warrant articles that, in whole or in part, propose an amendment to these bylaws shall be first moved by a member of the General Bylaw Review Committee. If no member of the General Bylaw Review Committee offers a motion on such an article, then any Wrentham registered voter may do so.
[Added 3-28-2005 STM; amended 11-21-2022 STM by Art. 2]
When necessary, the Select Board may choose to hold business, Annual or Special Town Meetings outside the geographical limits of the Town of Wrentham.