Town MeetingSince its founding in 1743, the Town of Pelham has maintained the traditional New England Open Town Meeting form of government. Major decisions affecting the town such as local bylaws and budget are made by the registered voters meeting as a local legislative body. Every registered voter may attend and vote at town meetings. The elected Town Moderator is in charge of the meetings. Annual (Spring) Town Meeting is held on the first Saturday of May. It is held at the Pelham Elementary School auditorium and normally begins at 9:00 a.m. and continues until the business of the warrant is completed; usually 12:30 - 1:00 p.m. The deadline for articles to be placed on the Annual Town Meeting warrant is 40 days prior to the date of the meeting. Articles placed on the Annual Town Meeting warrant by citizens require the signatures of 10 registered voters from Pelham. Special, or Fall Town Meeting is held on a Wednesday evening some time mid to late October at the Old Town Hall. Using the Old Town Hall for Fall Town Meeting maintains its status as the oldest Town Hall in continuous use in the United States. Articles placed on the Fall Town Meeting warrant by citizens require the signatures of 100 registered voters from Pelham. Two hundred signatures are required to call a special town meeting. Archived Warrants & Results
ANNUAL TOWN MEETING MAY 6, 2006 The Annual Town Meeting was called to order by the Town Clerk, Sandra J. Burgess, on May 6, 2006 at 9:17 a.m. Nominations were taken from the floor of town meeting for temporary moderator. Joseph Larson was nominated and the nomination was seconded. A motion was made and seconded and town meeting voted unanimously in favor of nominations being closed. A motion was made and seconded to allow the Town Clerk to cast one ballot. The motion was voted unanimously. The Town Clerk declared Joseph Larson the elected temporary moderator for the May 6, 2006 Annual Town Meeting The Town Clerk administered the oath of office to Joseph Larson. Article 1: Voted unanimously that the Town accept the reports of the Town Officers and Committees. Article 2: Voted unanimously that the Town authorize the Town Treasurer, with the approval of the Selectmen, to borrow money from time to time in anticipation of the revenue of the financial year beginning July 1, 2006, in accordance with the provisions of General Laws, Chapter 44, §4, and to issue a note or notes as may be given for a period of less than one year in accordance with General Laws, Chapter 44, Section 17 The meeting voted to delay Articles 3 and 4 until after voting on Articles 7 and 8. Article 7: Voted to dismiss. [That the Town reallocate the line item salary amounts in the Town budget for the Administrative Assistant to $33,910 and Town Clerk to $6,750 for FY 06, and to make no adjustments other than COLA or contractual step raises until such time as the figures are in line with comparison towns (as described in the Personnel Board Wages and Salary report). The Personnel Board assumes that the total current salary for the Administrative Assistant and Town Clerk positions, which are currently filled by one person, will remain as is.] Article 8: Voted to dismiss. [That the Town award step raises to the Town Police Chief and Highway Department Superintendent in order to address the inequity created by awarding such step raises to some employees and not to others. Beginning in the summer of 2006, the town will award step raises in the amount of 2% for each of the next five years for the Chief of Police and the Town Highway Superintendent.] Article 3: Voted unanimously that the Town name the salaries and wages for all elected officers for the ensuing year, which payments shall not be made in advance of performance, and to determine when and how they shall be paid.
Article 4: Voted unanimously that the Town raise and appropriate money necessary to defray the expenses of the Town for the ensuing fiscal year.
Article 5: Voted to dismiss. [That the Town raise and appropriate the sum of $15,003 to meet Pelham’s Fiscal Year 2007 assessment for the Amherst-Pelham Regional School District Operating Budget to supplement line item 31 of the budget which has been appropriated under Article 4 of the 2006 Annual Town Meeting and the sum of $43,721 for the operation of the Pelham Elementary School to supplement line item 30 of the budget which has been appropriated under said Article 4, which sums shall be contingent upon the approval by the voters of an override of Proposition 2½, so called.] Article 6: Voted unanimously that the Town approve an amendment to the Amherst-Pelham Regional School District Agreement which shall enable the realignment of annual assessments to be consistent with said Agreement while supporting the strongest possible Regional budget, such that the Towns of Leverett and Shutesbury will each make a transitional contribution of $62,000 in addition to the assessments determined for each member town by Section VI of the Regional Agreement ("per-pupil method"), such an amount to offset the assessment to the town of Amherst, which amendment shall apply to Fiscal Year 2007 only. Article 9: Voted that the Town award variable step increase percentages (1% or 2% for adequate and good performance, respectively) for all full-time employees presently not under salary contract (i.e., new hires) based on the completion of a written performance evaluation by the employee’s supervisor (that being the full Select Board for those department heads reporting to them). Article 10: Voted that all town employees receive a written performance evaluation, which must be completed within 30 days prior to the employee’s anniversary date of hire, and signed by both employee and supervisor (that being the full Select Board for those department heads reporting to them). A separate sign off sheet is to be supplied to the Personnel Board within two weeks of the completed evaluation. Article 11: DEFEATED substitute motion [to rescind Article 8 of Annual Town Meeting on May 3, 2003 and replace that Personnel Board with a new Personnel Board that will be appointed by the Selectboard. The committee shall have 5 members that are appointed for a *two-year term after a public hearing where the Selectboard will interview these candidates and the public will have an opportunity to ask questions or | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||