Details

Who: any registered voter may participate, others may observe

What: an annual meeting where registered voters of the town can vote on the budget and other town business. The annual meeting is considered to be the legislative body of the Town.

Where: High School / Middle School Performing Arts Center

When: October 17th at 7 pm

How to participate: Read this explanation of what happens at the North Reading Town Meeting or a general guide and FAQ provided at the MA state website. If you still have it, bring the paper copy of the warrant that was mailed to you a few weeks ago.

Accessibility: There is additional handicapped parking at the front/main entrance of the school, which is a much shorter walk to the performing arts center within the school. There is also an elevator available and students will be present to help anyone who needs additional assistance.

Deadlines

Citizen petitions are due August 15, 2016.

To participate in the Town Meeting as a registered voter, you must be registered to vote by September 27, 2016.

Issues

See our summary of the Town Meeting Warrant. It even provides background information in case you are new to North Reading or its town government.

The agenda of the meeting is included in the Town Meeting Warrant, which is available here. The North Reading Transcript also has a summary of the articles on this meeting’s warrant.

In general the Town Meeting covers the following (quoted verbatim from the town website where more information about town meetings is available):

Town Meeting considers and adopts an annual operating budget (appropriating money for the salaries and expenses of running the Town, known as the “omnibus” article).  It also considers and acts on other matters which require Town Meeting action, such as additions or amendments to the general or zoning by-laws, street acceptances, articles sponsored by other departments and annual “housekeeping” articles, as well as Citizens’ Petitions (articles requested by registered voters through the petition process).