The Rockland Selectmen have voted to lower the quorum for the November Special Town Meeting.
The Board unanimously voted to lower the quorum to 10 percent, or 15 people.
Rockland Town Administrator Doug Lapp says they’ll be able to restore about $1 million into the FY21 budget.
The restorations include $775,816 back to the schools, and $332,160 on the town government side.
“Given the pandemic and given our demographics and the ages of people that typically would attend Town Meeting, I think it’s prudent to lower the quorum again,” said Lapp.
About 80 people attended the Town Meeting in June, when the Selectmen approved a quorum of 10 percent.
“Just to highlight to the public, this does not limit anybody’s ability to come to Town Meeting,” said Lapp. “If 500 people come to Town Meeting, we will accommodate each and every person. This just reduces that minimum quorum so that in the event, because of the pandemic, we have difficulty getting 150 people there – we’re still able to proceed legally and have the meeting.”
There are three articles on the warrant, including unpaid bills, the budget restorations, and a study into the response times for the fire department.
Lapp says with new housing and commercial projects proposed for the Exit 14 area of town, Fire Chief Scott Duffey had the idea of substations, instead of a new central fire station. The study would determine if those would be feasible options.
The Special Town Meeting was set for 7 p.m. on November 16 at Rockland High School.
