POLAND — Voters will decide Nov. 8 whether to approve changing the annual town meeting from in-person in April to casting ballots at the polls in June.
It’s one of seven proposed amendments to town charter, which establishes the structure of town government and how it operates.
Voting will take place from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. upstairs in the Town Hall. Absentee ballots are available by calling 998-4601 or by going to the Town Hall.
The proposed changes were drawn up by a Charter Commission approved by voters in June. The six elected members and three residents appointed by the Select Board met throughout July. Their recommended revisions were approved by the town’s attorney in August and approved as warrant articles by the Select Board in September.
The idea of changing the meeting from the first Saturday in April was discussed at a Select Board meeting earlier this year. Deputy Town Manager Nikki Pratt said it has been a struggle to garner the minimum 100 voters required for a legal meeting.
In 2020 and 2021, when Maine declared a civil emergency during the COVID-19 pandemic, town officials switched to voting on the budget at the polls. Turnout was over 300 in August 2020 and over over 400 in 2021.
The vote in June establishing the charter commission was at the polls also and passed 271-161.
The in-person town meeting in April had 104 voters.
If voters approve the change Nov. 8, two public hearings will be held: one at least 15 days before signing the warrant and one at least seven days before signing it.
Following the hearings, voters will go to the polls in June on the same day as a statewide election, but if there is none they will vote on the second Tuesday in June, along with town elections to boards and committees.
The terms of office would begin July 1.
New dates to submit departmental budgets for the following year, some job title changes and descriptions, and refining language make up the other changes to the town charter.
The warrant articles on the seven changes can be viewed on the September 2022 Town Newsletter website at https://tinyurl.com/46yamf3j.
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