Select Board Sets New Date for October Special Town Meeting

The Select Board met briefly last night on WebEx, without member Jay Kelly, and voted unanimously to reschedule October’s Special Town Meeting to Monday, Oct. 3 at 7 p.m. at TMHS. Should the meeting need to extend to a second night — unlikely, according to town manager Richard Montuori — the town’s business will be picked up on Thursday, Oct. 6.

The originally scheduled date, Tuesday, Oct. 4, is the first day of Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the year for people of the Jewish faith. For 2022, Yom Kippur begins Tuesday evening and is observed with a 25-hour fast and a special religious service. It ends the evening of Wednesday, Oct. 5.

The Board meets next on Aug. 3 for a working goal-setting session, and chair Todd Johnson asked members to hold Aug. 8 and Aug. 9 as well. On Aug. 8 there will be a joint meeting with the Planning Board to select a resident to fill an empty seat on that board and to interview applicants for other open positions on town committees.

On Aug. 9 the Board will hold its regular meeting, which will include a discussion of articles that members wish to include on the warrant. The Special Town Meeting date change will not affect the warrant period, which opened on Wednesday, July 20 and will close at 4:30 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 19.

Any resident or town official wishing to submit an article for consideration in October must have it to the town clerk by that closing date. Note that citizen-submitted articles for special town meetings require 100 signatures from registered voters compared with 10 for annual town meetings, held in May. Articles must be in the approved format and reviewed by town counsel to ensure they conform with state laws and town bylaws. The town clerk can advise interested residents on deadlines and provide examples.

Learn more about Tewksbury’s Town Meeting form of government.