The legislative powers of the town shall be exercised by a town meeting open to all registered voters of the Town of Longmeadow.
A moderator, elected as provided in section 3-4, shall preside at all sessions of the town meeting. The moderator 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 given to moderators under the constitution and general laws of the Commonwealth, by this charter, by by-law, or by other vote of the town meeting.
The town clerk shall serve as clerk of the town meeting, give notice of all its adjourned sessions, record its proceedings, and perform such additional duties in connection with it as may be provided by general law, by this charter, by by-law, or by other town meeting vote. Such records shall be made available in the office of the town clerk for examination by the public as provided for by the Massachusetts Public Records Law[1] and shall further be made available in printed form and on the town website.
The town by-laws control when the annual town meeting shall convene. Special town meetings shall be convened at such times as may be called by the select board, or by petition of registered voters as provided by law, or at such other time or times as may be provided by by-law of the town.
(a)
The conduct of the town meeting shall be governed by the most recent edition of Town Meeting Time and such other rules and procedures as, from time to time, may be adopted by town meeting vote.
(b)
There shall be a standing rules committee of five voters appointed by the town moderator for terms of three years, so arranged that as nearly an equal number of terms as possible shall expire each year. The rules committee shall recommend to the town moderator a set of rules for the conduct of the business of the town meeting and may propose amendments to the by-laws pertaining to the time and date and format of town meeting. This summary of the rules shall be published in the warrant.
All powers of the town shall be vested in the town meeting, except as otherwise provided by law or by this charter. The town meeting shall provide for the exercise of all powers of the town and for the performance of all duties and obligations imposed upon the town.
The select board shall issue a warrant calling for every town meeting. The warrant shall state the date, time and location at which the meeting is to convene and it shall state, by separate articles, the subject matter to be acted upon.
(a)
Following receipt by the select board of any subject for a town meeting warrant article, initiated by petition or by the select board, the town clerk shall post a copy of such subject on the town bulletin board and the town website and otherwise distribute as may be provided by by-law. The town clerk shall make additional copies available in printed form and on the town website.
(b)
Upon closing of a warrant for any special town meeting, or for the annual town meeting, the select board shall, in addition to the posting of such warrant articles as required by general law, prepare a summary description of the intent of each article on the warrant and arrange to distribute both the summary description and the warrant in printed form and to post them on the town website, within two weeks of its closing.
(c)
The select board shall distribute the summary description and the warrant for the annual town meeting to each household not later than two weeks prior to the beginning of the town meeting.
(a)
Effective Date of Final Votes - No final vote of a town meeting on any warrant article, except: (1) a vote to adjourn or dissolve or; (2) votes appropriating money for the payment of notes or bonds of the town and interest thereon becoming due within the then current fiscal year or; (3) votes for the temporary borrowing of money in anticipation of revenue or; (4) a vote declared by preamble, by a two-thirds vote of the town meeting, to be an emergency measure necessary for the immediate preservation of the peace, health, safety or convenience of the town; or (5) any final vote that failed to be approved at town meeting, that would have required, by general law or town by-law, a super majority vote at town meeting; shall take effect until after five days from the dissolution of the town meeting. If a petition seeking a referendum vote on any article is not filed with the select board within the said five days, the votes of the town meeting shall then take effect.
(b)
Non-Final Votes - Any article disposed of by a vote to lay on the table or to postpone indefinitely, or by other dilatory vote, shall be deemed to have been rejected in the form in which it was presented or amended.
(c)
Referendum Petition - If within said five days a petition signed by not less than three percent of the voters, containing their names and addresses, is filed with the select board requesting that any question, not yet operative, as defined in (a) above be submitted to the voters, then the operation of such vote shall be further suspended pending its determination as provided below. Upon the petition's being certified by the registrars of voters, the select board shall, within ten days after the filing of such petition, call a special election that shall be held within thirty-five days after issuing the call, for the purpose of presenting the question or questions to the voters. If, however, a regular or special town election is to be held within sixty days following the date the petition is filed, the select board may put the question, or questions, to the voters at that same election.
(d)
Referendum Election - All votes upon any question so submitted shall be taken by ballot, and the conduct of such election shall be in accordance with the provisions of law relating to elections, unless otherwise provided in this section. Any question so submitted shall be determined by a majority vote of the voters voting thereon, but no action of the town meeting shall be reversed unless at least twenty percent of the voters participate in the election.
(e)
Format of Questions - Any question so submitted shall be stated on the ballot in substantially the same language and form in which it was stated when presented by the moderator to the town meeting, as appears in the records of the clerk of the meeting.
(f)
Changing the Referendum Procedure - The percentage of voters enabling the valid filing of a referendum petition and/or the percentage of voters who must participate in the election at which the referendum is on the ballot may be changed by town by-law.
(a)
There shall be a finance committee of seven voters of the town appointed for a term of three years, so arranged that as nearly an equal number of terms as possible shall expire each year. The members of the finance committee shall be appointed by a committee of three consisting of the moderator, the then-current-chair of the finance committee and the town's finance director.
(b)
The finance committee shall be an advisory committee to the town meeting and shall have those powers and duties given to finance committees under the general laws, except as may otherwise be provided for in this charter. The finance committee shall have jurisdiction over the reserve fund, shall conduct long range fiscal planning and advise on fiscal policy, and shall further perform those duties assigned to it in article seven of this charter, assigned by by-law, and as may be voted by town meeting.
(c)
No officer of the town or member of any board, commission or other committee of the town, whether elected or appointed, and no town or school employee, shall be a member of the finance committee.