2020-11-12 Subsequent Town Meeting Minutes

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SUBSEQUENT TOWN MEETING Virtual Town Meeting November 12, 2020 via Zoom Webinar The meeting was called to order by the Moderator, Alan E. Foulds, at 7:32 PM, there being a quorum present. The Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag was said by all. The Moderator made the following announcement - Before we begin I have a brief statement to make: Obviously, because of the pandemic, we have had to operate Town Meeting differently. As Moderator it has been my goal to keep operations as close as possible to the way it works when we meet in person, knowing full well that it is impossible to replicate it exactly. The inevitable differences have caused understandable variations in philosophy. Chief among them has been ROLL -CALL VOTING. In June, the Webinar software captured individual votes. Many members feel that the process effectively turned every vote into a ROLL -CALL VOTE, despite the fact that our bylaws stipulate that ROLL -CALLS are only taken when requested by 20 or more members. For this meeting it was decided to turn off the ability to capture every vote and take a ROLL -CALL only when properly requested, as we do at an in-person meeting. With that position, some members felt that transparency was lost since, in a virtual setting, members cannot look around the room to see how everyone voted. Keep in mind that an in-person meeting does not have recorded votes, except for ROLL -CALLS, which are historically rare. Additionally, some members have felt that the recording of the votes in June gave those on social media the ability to harass members for the decisions that they have made at town meeting. This chair does not presume to infringe on anybody's right of free speech - especially outside of this meeting - but I appeal to all members to tone things down a bit. Accept that there are usually two sides to every issue, and not to make assumptions as to why people vote the way they do. Remember, we are all still neighbors, and this is a community. For this meeting it is too late to change the procedure, and we don't have an agreed-upon solution that will pass legal muster. Before the next meeting we will examine the situation to determine if there is a common ground. Please keep in mind, however, that we all hope that this is a temporary situation, and eventually we will all be meeting together again. The issue will go away. Therefore, I ask for everyone's patience. Now, for tonight's meeting, here's how we will proceed: First up is Article 13 which the proponents plan to ask for indefinite postponement. Next, we return to Article 2 where we will have two instructional motions. Once taken care of we will adjourn sine die. ARTICLE 13: Motion made by the Select Board to indefinitely postpone the subject matter. Counted Vote 151 in the affirmative 3 in the negative 163 Town Meeting Members remotely in Attendance Motion to Indefinitely Postpone Carried ARTICLE 2: Motion made by the Select Board to choose all other necessary Town Officers and Special Committees and determine what instructions shall be given Town Officers and Special Committees,