(Editor’s note: Payne’s Town Moderator postings can be seen on his website at payne.org/moderator.)
By Andy Payne
As your (freshly elected) Town Moderator, I want to make sure you’re all aware of an upcoming Special Town Meeting planned for Saturday, Oct. 24. The meeting will follow the annual State of the Town (SOTT) meeting, with the SOTT starting at 9:00am and the official Town Meeting planned to start at 10:30am.
I hope you all will consider attending: democracy is messy, but it’s “less messy” when more people participate.
Why are we considering a Special Town Meeting?
The Select Board calls a Special Town Meeting when it feels there’s some legislative business (bylaw or funding) that cannot wait for our March annual town meeting. In this case, various town committees are working on plans for replacing the heating & cooling systems at the Library.
Where can I learn more about what’s being proposed?
For more information, see this page (detailed memos at the bottom). A hybrid format multi-board meeting is planned for the evening of Sept. 28 at 6:30pm, and a Select Board Info Session planned for Oct. 5 at 6:30pm.
After reviewing the project information, I still have some comments/questions/concerns. Where can I get those addressed before the Special Town Meeting?
You can attend the Sept. 28 and/or Oct. 5 meetings above or watch recordings afterward. If you still have questions, contact the committees directly — see the information page above.
I would like to address Town Meeting on this project using slides and/or more than the standard 2 minutes allocated to resident commentary. Is that possible?
Contact me by Oct. 1 at andy+moderator@payne.org. Following the Town Meeting Study Committee’s recommendations, I’m piloting a process for “Extended Presentations.” Because of the relatively short lead-up to the STM, the process will be somewhat ad hoc and may change for future meetings. Please bear with me.
For this meeting, the pilot requirements are: (a) one designated resident contact, (b) a petition from 100 registered voter residents, (c) an advertised, public and recorded pre-meeting presentation, and (d) an advertised, public and recorded Q&A session, all completed by Friday. Oct. 16, one week before the STM.
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