By MARK SARDELLA

WAKEFIELD — Annual Town Meeting returns to the Galvin Middle School on Monday night, May 9 at 7 p.m. after the Town Council set the the date and opened the warrant this week.

For 2020 and 2021, all spring and fall Town Meetings were held on Saturday mornings in the Wakefield Memorial High School field house in order to allow for social distancing and outdoor seating options in light of COVID.

This week’s Town Council meeting agenda originally called for Annual Town Meeting to be set for Saturday, April 30 at 8 a.m. in the high school field house. But Town Counsel Thomas Mullen said that the date might run afoul of a town bylaw that says that Annual Town Meeting will be held on the Monday following the Town Election, which is on Tuesday April 26. Mullen explained that the Town Council has the legal authority to delay Annual Town Meeting but cannot make it earlier than what the Town Charter calls for.

Therefore, Mullen said, he would be more comfortable with the date of Saturday, May 7 for Annual Town Meeting.

But Town Councilor Edward Dombroski said that he was not convinced that Saturday Town Meetings result in better attendance than Monday evenings. He also noted that the following day is Mothers Day and there are many other conflicting Saturday events for families in the spring.

Councilor Ann Santos said that she liked Saturday Town Meetings because all business could be handled in one day.

Dombroski  made a motion to hold Annual Town Meeting on Monday, May 2 at 7 p.m. in the Galvin Middle School Auditorium.

But Councilor Mehreen Butt pointed out that Monday, May 2 is the last day of Ramadan.

Dombroski withdrew his original motion and moved to set Monday, May 9 for the Annual Town Meeting to be held in the Galvin Middle School Auditorium starting at 7 p.m. That motion was approved unanimously.

Dombroski added a suggestion for a kind of hybrid model whereby the Annual Town Meeting in the spring would begin on a Monday evening, while the fall Regular Town Meeting would be held on a Saturday morning.

The Town Council also opened the Annual Town Meeting warrant and set the date of Thursday, April 7 at 4:30 p.m. for the closing of the warrant.

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In other business last week, the Town Council:

• Approved a request from the owners of Tonno at 175 North Ave. to do some alterations of the premises which will allow a room formerly designated as a function room to be used to expand the dining area.

• Appointed Louis N. Cavagnaro as the vacation replacement for the Wakefield Building Inspector Benjamin DeChristoforo. Cavagnaro is employed by the city of Revere Building Division.

• Voted to advertise of candidates for appointment to the newly created Economic Development Council.

• Voted to renew the Class I (new car) dealer’s license for Liberty Isuzu Truck located at 90 Bay State Road.

• Renewed the Class II (used car) dealer’s license of Liberty Chevrolet Inc. located at 90 Bay State Rd.

• Voted to renew the Class I dealer’s license of Liberty Chevrolet Inc. located at 90 Bay State Rd.

• Renewed the Class I dealer’s license of Liberty Mazda, Inc. located at 81 Bay State Rd.

• Voted to Renew the Class II dealer’s license of Liberty Motor Car Inc. d/b/a Liberty Mazda located at 81 Bay State Rd.

• Approved a request from Beebe Library to accept and expend a gift or gifts to the Library in the amount of $15,191 from various donors.