By Sara Brown, Contributing Writer
Southborough – Due to COVID-19 concerns, the Southborough Town Meeting will be postponed for the second year in a row.
“The town meeting will not be happening at its normal time,” said Town Moderator Paul Cimino during the Jan. 19 Board of Selectmen’s meeting. “Now, it can be made official by me that it will be moved.”
The 2021 Town Meeting was originally scheduled for March 20. The new date has not yet been determined but will most likely happen around the end of May or June when the meeting can be held outside.
“I do not see a scenario where we can have it in March,” continued Cimino.
The whole Board agreed with Cimino and the decision to change the date stating it was the safest decision to make.
“I think we can all agree town meeting isn’t going to happen in March,” said Vice Chair Lisa Braccio. “May or June seems like a reasonable time frame.”
Chair Martin Healey wants to spread the word about the date change to the different departments in the town as soon as possible since it is currently budget season.
“The quicker the information is out there, the better,” he said.
Selectman Sam Stivers agreed with Healey and suggested they figure out a new date soon.
“What does that mean to the budget process? We better have answers to that soon,” he said. “It doesn’t mean don’t do anything.”
Soon after the Selectmen meeting, the Board released a statement on the town’s official Twitter account letting the public know of the decision.
“The Board of Selectmen have agreed tonight it is not possible to have a Town Meeting on March 20, 2021. Stay tuned for continued deliberations on a new date,” the tweet read.
Last year, the Town Meeting happened in June after being originally scheduled for March due to the pandemic. It happened outside at the Trottier Middle School’s soccer and baseball fields.
During the meeting, there were microphones that allowed residents to speak about the issues but from a safe distance from the microphone. Chairs were six feet apart and everyone attending had to wear a mask. There was no screen but there were handouts given for the presentations.
Southborough Town Meeting requires a quorum of 100 people. Budgets need to be passed by a July 1 deadline.
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