WILMINGTON — A review committee may be established in town to address the potential rescheduling of the annual Town Meeting.
The Board of Selectmen discussed a potential date and or time change for the Town Meeting, following a survey sent out to the town last fall on the issue.
Selectman Mike McCoy recommended voting to put an article in this year’s Annual Town Meeting to move the 2020 Town Meeting earlier to the last Saturday in March, and the town election to the third Saturday in March.
“I understand the desire to obtain more participation. I think we ought to continue to do that,” Town Manager Jeff Hull said. “But I think to some measure, it’s a function of what the topics are at the Town Meeting. When people really want to turn out, whether it’s pursuing authorization for a rink or building a high school or building a middle school, people turn out when there are issues like that that they want to be heard on.”
McCoy pointed out those meetings were Special Town Meetings and that he specifically was talking about amendments to the Annual Town Meeting schedule.
“We always talk about wanting to get people to meetings,” McCoy said. “Why not give them an opportunity and try it?”
Hull also said if Town Meeting were to be held in March, he would need to have the budget presentation ready in December of the previous year. He said this is well before the governor presents his budget, which impacts the state aid portion of Wilmington’s budget preparation.
“It just creates a greater level of uncertainty from my perspective, in terms of putting the budget together,” Hull said.
Selectman Greg Bendel expressed weather concerns with scheduling the Town Meeting in March, when there have been multiple snow storms in the past. He also pointed out that a concern among seniors was driving at night, which would be a conflict if Town Meeting were to be held on weeknights.
All board members expressed interest in wanting to keep the Town Meeting on a Saturday rather than a weeknight.
“I worry if a conversation has to be carried into the next evening, does somebody miss out because they have another commitment?” Bendel said.
The selectmen also gave Town Moderator Robert Peterson an opportunity to speak on the issue. Peterson asked that the board take a holistic approach in addressing the issue. He suggested the town form a Town Meeting review committee.
“It can build on that survey now that we know where our baseline stands,” Peterson said.
He also said there are other areas the town can consider to streamline the Town Meeting process, like electronic voting.
“I think it’s a great idea to have a Town Meeting review committee because Town Meeting is the governing body of this community,” Selectman Jonathan Eaton said. “And I would rather a solution come from the community than, to be honest with you, from this board.”
McCoy’s motion to insert an article for this year’s Annual Town Meeting to change the dates for 2020 failed in a 4-1 vote, with only McCoy in favor.
The board agreed to discuss the details of a future Town Meeting review committee, including how many members would serve on the committee and how members would be chosen to serve. McCoy expressed interest in serving on the committee.
Eaton said his hope is that by the end of this year the committee could have a recommendation for a warrant article in the 2020 Annual Town Meeting.
Twitter: @KoriTuitt
