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Meeting Notice Information

Posting Requirements

Under the Open Meeting Law, a Meeting Notice with a properly completed Agenda is required to be filed for all meetings effective July 1, 2010.  The Notice/Agenda must be time-stamped by the Town Clerk's Office and posted both in the Town Hall and on the Town website "official" Meeting Calendar at least 48-hours prior to the meeting (excluding Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays) in order to be in compliance with the required "24/7" accessibility requirement under the Open Meeting Law.

The Agenda must consist of "a listing of topics that the chair reasonably anticipates will be discussed at the meeting."  Any changes to either the Notice or the Agenda must be processed through the Town Clerk's Office as soon as known, and will be re-posted by this office with the amended new information. 

A fillable 'pdf' Meeting Notice is available on this website which can be emailed directly to our office after all required fields are completed. Alternatively, this form may be completed, printed, scanned and attached to an email addressed ONLY to:  MeetingNotice@northreadingma.gov. 

In addition, one of the other two Meeting Notice forms provided on this website may be used, which should be completed on a computer or typewriter for legibility purposes.  Handwritten notices, although not yet prohibited, are strongly discouraged. The standard 3-part paper Meeting Notice form continues to be available at the Town Clerk's Office.  A room must still be reserved through the Administration Office prior to submitting a Meeting Notice.

The person authorized to complete and submit the Notice/Agenda on behalf of a Board or Committee must allow ample time for receipt and posting by the Town Clerk's Office.  A meeting notice submitted close to the end of a day may not be received, time-stamped and posted until the next business day.  It is strongly advised that the person submitting a Meeting Notice check the Town website Meeting Calendar to ensure that their Notice/Agenda has been received and posted after submission, or follow-up by telephone.  The responsibility for compliance with the OML 48-hour notification rests with the Board/Committee posting the Meeting Notice.  Failure to comply with this requirement would constitute an illegal meeting -- therefore a meeting which was not posted timely would have to be cancelled and re-posted for another day to be in compliance with the OML 48-hour notification requirement.

Using the email address MeetingNotice@northreadingma.gov. will ensure that your Notice is sent to all staff of the Town Clerk's Office and not just one person -- who may not be available on a particular day. 

* * * I M P O R T A N T * * *
 
All Meeting Notice forms should be submitted to the following email address only: 
E-mailing a notice to one specific individual at the Town Clerk's Office could delay processing of the notice, which may result in non-compliance with the 48-hour notification requirement and re-scheduling of the meeting.   This email address should also be used to notify our office of agenda amendments or meeting cancellations.