Spring Town Meeting is set to take place at noon Saturday, May 15, on the Mass. Ave. field in front of the public library. There will be a new face at the podium this year: Victor Normand, who will serve as interim town moderator in place of Bill Barton, who recruited Normand to fill in for him that day.
Normand said Barton, the town moderator, would not be available on May 15, and had asked him if he’d be willing to step in and take his place. “I told him I would,” Normand said. He is chair of the Personnel Board and of the Harvard-Devens Jurisdiction Committee, and has served on a variety of town committees.
Normand’s appointment, however, won’t be official until Town Meeting approves it. The Harvard Charter states that in the absence of the moderator, “the Town Clerk shall open the Town Meeting and preside over the election of an acting moderator.”
COVID-19 safety rules will be maintained. Executive Assistant Julie Doucet told the Press, “There’s going to be masking, hand sanitizer, the seating will be spaced,” and the event will be “basically the same as last year.” More than 290 participants attended Town Meeting last spring, sitting 6 feet apart within the main tent, with some deciding to sit outside the tent, with masks on. “Everything will be labeled so people know how to enter and exit,” Doucet said.
Unlike last year, the town will not mail the warrant to every household. Doucet said a mailing will go out with a notice, letting everyone know the date and time of Town Meeting, and including information about the Town Election. This notice will also contain Doucet’s contact information for those who want a mailed copy of the warrant. The Press was told copies of the booklet will be available to attendees the day of Town Meeting.
Why has the town decided to stop mailing out the warrant? “We’re trying to find different ways to save money,” Doucet said. Many attendees don’t bring the warrant to the meeting, she explained. In previous years the town “would mail the booklet to every resident in town; I want to say it was like 2,500” booklets, although 300 or so usually attend. Doucet said the town now has “the ability to put as much information as we can online. And people tend to go that route.”
There are still options for those who wish to have a copy of the warrant. In an email to the Press, Assistant Town Administrator Marie Sobalvarro said a “super bright large orange card” will be mailed on April 19 to every household advising residents they can either email Doucet or call her (978-456-4100 x312) to receive a hard copy by mail. Hard copies will also be available at Town Meeting, and the entire warrant will be posted online after the Select Board votes and signs it next Tuesday night. The number of booklets to be printed has not been decided.
The warrant contains the 23 articles. The Finance Committee voted its recommendations for the articles that have a financial impact at its March 31 and April 7 meetings. (See "Sneak preview: The 2021 Town Warrant and recommendations of the Finance Committee") The Select Board will do its final review of the entire warrant on April 20.
