[HISTORY: Adopted by the Annual Town Meeting of the Town of North Reading 10_5_1970 by Art. 4, approved 12_4_1970. Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Administration __ See Ch. 5.
~ 172_1. Notice.
Notice of all Town Meetings shall be posted in seven (7) or more conspicuous places in Town at least fourteen (14) days prior to the time of holding such meetings. Notice of any Town Meeting shall be given by printing the date, time, and place of the meeting in a newspaper of local circulation at least once during each of two (2) consecutive weeks immediately prior to such meetings as set forth in Charter 2_4_4.
~ 172_2. Dissolution.
No motion to dissolve the meeting shall be in order until every article in the warrant has been duly considered and acted upon.
~ 172_3. Adjournment. [Amended 10_17_1977 ATM by Art. 10, approved 2_28_1978; 10_2_2000 ATM by Art. 14, approved 3_29_2001]
A motion to adjourn the meeting to a time, date, and place certain shall not be made until action on the previous motion before the meeting has been made completed. This provision shall not apply to the omnibus articles of the April Town Meeting. Debate on a motion to adjourn shall be limited to three (3) minutes per speaker, and no speaker shall speak more than once, except by permission of the Moderator, and then only briefly to answer a question raised by another speaker.
~ 172_4. Admission; quorum. [Amended 11_6_1978 ATM by Art. 14, approved 2_6_1979; 4_6_1998 ATM by Art. 21, approved 8_4_1998]
The Board of Registrars shall appoint tellers who shall permit only registered voters to enter upon the floor of the meeting place of any Town Meeting. Any number of registered voters present shall constitute a quorum sufficient for any April or October Annual Town Meeting to conduct business between the hours of 7 p.m. and 11 p.m. on any Mondays and Thursdays of consecutive weeks until final adjournment. One hundred fifty (150) registered voters shall constitute a quorum sufficient to conduct business at any other time at an Annual Town Meeting or at any Special Town Meeting.
~ 172_5. Nonregistered voters and visitors.
A. Nonregistered voters or visitors may be admitted to a town meeting by a majority vote of the meeting. Such persons shall not be seated on the assembly floor, but in an area designated by the Moderator. Specifically named individuals may, by a majority vote of the Town Meeting, be seated with the officials and departments they serve. [Amended 4_6_1981 ATM by Art. 3, approved 7_21_1981]
B. Nonregistered voters; exceptions.
(1) Nonregistered voters serving the Town as an employee, consultant, or in some other official capacity may be allowed to address the meeting with permission of the Moderator.
(2) Such persons shall not be allowed to make motions nor shall they be allowed to vote on any question before the meeting.
~ 172_6. Seating.
A. The Moderator shall require the seating of all persons within the confines of the auditorium, meeting hall, or such meeting place designated by the Board of Selectmen for the purpose of meeting and acting upon the articles set forth in the warrant of Town Meeting, regular or emergency, before any article may be acted upon.
B. This section shall not apply to any person specifically granted permission to stand by the Moderator.
~ 172_7. Addressing the meeting.
A. No person shall address the Town Meeting or offer a motion or an amendment to any motion without prior recognition by the Moderator.
B. Any person requesting recognition by the Moderator shall stand at his place and wait for an indication by the Moderator that he has been recognized before addressing the meeting or offering a motion or an amendment to a motion. Upon recognition by the Moderator, the speaker shall first state his name and place of residence before addressing the meeting.
~ 172_8. Time limit.
A. No person shall speak for more than five (5) minutes on any article or portion thereof nor more than once without first obtaining leave of the meeting, except to correct a mistake or answer a question.
B. When debate is closed by ordering the previous question or by vote to close debate at a specified time, the maker of the motion under consideration shall be allowed to speak three (3) minutes and may grant to any other voter a part or a whole of his time, or give his time to the meeting. [Added 10_1_1990 ATM by Art. 8, approved 12_18_1990]
~ 172_9. Submission of motions.
A. All motions and amendments to motions shall be made in writing and submitted to the Moderator before any action shall be taken on said motions or amendments to said motions.
B. The following motions may be excluded from the above provisions that they must be submitted in writing to the Moderator:
(1) Adjournment to a place, date, and time certain.
(2) A motion to end, limit, or extend debate.
(3) A point of order or personal privilege.
(4) A privileged motion.
(5) Incidental motions.
~ 172_10. Precedence of motions. [Amended 10_8_1981 ATM by Art. 16, approved 3_2_1982]
A. When a question is before the meeting, the following motions shall take precedence in the order listed:
(1) Fix the time to which to adjourn (when privileged under Robert's Rules).
(2) Adjourn (when privileged under Robert's Rules).
(3) Recess (when moved while a question is pending).
(4) Raise a point of personal privilege.
(5) Call for the orders of the day.
(6) Lay on the table.
(7) Move the question.
(8) Limit or extend limits of debate.
(9) Postpone to a time certain.
(10) Commit or refer.
(11) Amend.
(12) Postpone indefinitely.
B. Of the above motions one through eight are not debatable, and motions nine through twelve are debatable.
~ 172_11. Reconsideration. [Amended 10_4_1971 ATM by Art. 12, approved 11_12_1971]
A motion for reconsideration of any article or portion thereof shall be considered by the Meeting but once. No article or portion thereof may be reconsidered, except at the session during which the original article, or portion thereof, is placed before the Meeting for action. No article or portion thereof, having once been disposed of by the Meeting, shall be reconsidered, except by an affirmative vote of two_thirds (2/3) majority of those present and voting.
~ 172_12. Division of motions.
When a motion is readily susceptible of division it shall be divided and the vote upon each part taken separately, provided the Moderator deems best or seven (7) voters present so request.
~ 172_13. Determination of vote. [Amended 10_17_1977 ATM by Art. 12, approved 2_28_1978]
A. When only a majority vote is required the sense of the meeting shall be determined by a voice vote, and the Moderator shall declare the vote as it appears to him.
B. If the Moderator is unable to decide the vote by the sound of the voices or if his decision is immediately questioned by seven (7) or more voters standing in their place for that purpose, the Moderator shall, without debate, determine the vote by ordering a standing vote.
C. Should twenty_five (25) voters stand in their place favoring the use of "yes" or "no" ballots, such a vote shall be taken. The Moderator shall appoint tellers to make and return the count.
~ 172_14. Paper ballot. [Amended 10_4_1971 ATM by Art. 10, approved 11_3_1971; amended 10_17_1977 ATM by Art. 11, approved 2_28_1978]
A. When a vote is to be taken by "yes" or "no" ballot in accordance with ~ 172_13, the door to the meeting shall be secured, the floor cleared of all nonregistered voters, and the Moderator shall appoint a teller to direct, row by row, each voter desiring to cast a vote to proceed to the station of the tellers. The voter shall there obtain a yes and no ballot and deposit that portion of the ballot corresponding to his vote in a receptacle labeled "Ballots." The unused portion shall be deposited in a receptacle labeled "Discards."
B. The Moderator shall implement a procedure to prevent duplicate voting. The tally of the ballots and discards shall be made by the tellers. The results of said tally shall be conveyed to the Moderator to be read to the Meeting.
~ 172_15. Assistant Moderator.
A. The Moderator may, with an affirmative vote of a majority of those attending and voting at the Town Meeting, appoint an Assistant Moderator to assist him in the proper and orderly conduct of any Town Meeting, regular or emergency.
B. Such Assistant Moderator, if and when appointed, shall be deemed the Assistant Moderator only during the session in which he has been appointed.
C. The services of the Assistant Moderator may be ended at any time by declaration of the duly elected Moderator, or by a majority vote of the Town Meeting.
~ 172_16. Temporary Moderator.
A. If a vacancy in the Office of Moderator occurs during any term, a Temporary Moderator shall be elected by the Town Meeting.
B. At any Town Meeting during which a Temporary Moderator is to be elected, the Town Clerk shall preside over the meeting until election of said Temporary Moderator is accomplished.
C. In the absence of the Town Clerk, a member of the Board of Selectmen shall preside over the meeting until the election of the Temporary Moderator.
~ 172_17. Distribution of materials.
No person shall distribute or offer for sale any literature, goods, handbills, or other materials within 100 feet of the entrance of Town Meeting hall or halls without the consent of a majority vote of the Board of Registrars.
~ 172_18. Submission of warrant articles.
A. All articles to be inserted in the warrant of any regularly scheduled Town Meeting must be submitted to the Board of Selectmen in writing on or before the third Tuesday in January for the April session of Town Meeting and on or before the third Monday in August for the October session of Town Meeting. [Amended 10_9_1986 ATM by Art. 8, approved 12_4_1986]
B. All articles shall be signed by the person or persons presenting the article(s), the name of said person or persons to appear on the article in the warrant.
~ 172_19. Contents of warrant. [Added 10_10_1991 ATM by Art. 14, approved 1_7_1992]
The warrant shall include an explanation of each article. The April Town Meeting budget/omnibus article shall include a detailed explanation of certain line items deemed appropriate by the Finance Committee.
~ 172_20. Omission of warrant articles.
A. The Board of Selectmen may, by an affirmative vote of at least three (3) members of said Board, omit any article from any Town Meeting warrant, regular or emergency, which the Board deems not to be in the best interests of the Town of North Reading.
B. Such power as outlined above shall not apply to such articles submitted for inclusion on said warrants of any regular or emergency Town Meeting when petitioned for inclusion according to the General Laws of the Commonwealth.
~ 172_21. Physical facilities.
The Town Administrator shall be responsible for the providing of all physical facilities required by the Town Meetings, regular or emergency.
~ 172_22. Order of articles for Town Meeting. [Added 4_2_2001 ATM by Art. 19, approved 7_30_2001]
The order of consideration of the articles on the warrant may be changed only by a four_fifth vote of the Town Meeting.
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