Published May 7, 2020

By MAUREEN DOHERTY

NORTH READING — By now it is self-evident to all townspeople that the Special Town Meeting on Monday, May 11 to consider whether the voters wish to purchase the Seven Acres Poultry Farm on Concord Street has been postponed until late June (we think).

To make it official, the Select Board voted unanimously at Monday night’s remote meeting file the official paperwork making the postponement a reality.

Based on prior action by the board in this incremental process, Monday’s vote affirmed the designation of the town’s Public Safety Director, Police Chief Michael Murphy, to file the report of Town Moderator John Murphy’s declaration to postpone Town Meeting with the Attorney General’s office due to the public health emergency posed by COVID-19 and the inability to convene the meeting safely.

The report acknowledges that the town’s declaration of recess of the May 11, 2020 Special Town Meeting to Monday, June, 8, 2020. This was the original date of the annual Town Meeting which was postponed by the board to Monday, June 29, 2020.

The declaration further states that it is the intention of the town to issue a second Declaration of Recess and Continuance around May 14 to continue the Special Town Meeting yet again to June 29. Doing so enables it to coincide with the annual Town Meeting. All of this hinges on the assumption that the State of Emergency related to the COVID-19 pandemic will have been lifted by Gov. Baker to enable gatherings of more than 25 people.

The declaration also states that the town “will be extensively reviewing numerous options and locations in order to provide the safest possible environment for conducting Town Meeting, including the possibility of holding Town Meeting outdoors.”

If that happens, be prepared to bring the bug spray and a flashlight!

If the June 29 meeting date remains viable, the Select Board would tentatively hold its budget hearing on the warrant on Monday, June 1 and also sign the warrant that night. Informational hearings on the warrant articles would follow on Monday, June 15.