TOWN OF

Section 1. Officers

a. The Board shall elect from its own membership, a Chairman and a Vice Chairman. Such election shall take place annually at the first regular meeting following the Town Election.

b. The Chairman, or in his/her absence, the Vice Chairman, shall preside at meetings of the

Board, and shall, subject to these rules, decide all points of procedure, unless over-ruled by the majority of the Board in session at the time. The Chairman shall act as liaison between the Board, the Board's Secretary, and the Town Manager.

c. In the absence of the Chairman, the duties of the Chair shall be performed by the Vice Chairman. The typical duties and responsibilities of the Vice Chairman will then fall to the Selectman with the most seniority.

Section 2. Meetings

a. General. All meetings of the Board of Selectmen shall be conducted in accordance with Chapter 39, Section 23A, Massachusetts General Laws (Open Meeting Law).

b. Regular Meetings. The Board of Selectmen and the Town Manager shall meet in Town Hall on the second and fourth Monday evenings of each month and at such other times as the Board may decide. If the second or fourth Monday of a month falls on a holiday, the Board and the Town Manager shall meet on the following evening. Unless it is executive session, every meeting of the Board of Selectmen shall be open to the public and to the press (By-Laws of the Town of Provincetown, Section 4-2-1).

c. Special Meetings. Special meetings of the Board may be called by the Chairman with

the concurrence of a majority of the remaining members of the Board; however, the required statutory forty-eight hours public notice of such a meeting may not be waived.

d. Emergency Meetings.

(1) The Chairman may call an emergency meeting of the Board when, in the judgment of the Chair, immediate and/or delayed action by the Board would be contrary to the best interests of the Town.

(2) Matters acted upon by the Board at emergency meetings shall be made an agenda

item at the next regular meeting of the Board for the purpose of ratifying decisions rendered at emergency meetings.

(3) Authority to act upon routine Board matters but necessary for timely dispatch may be

delegated to the Chairman. Actions taken under the provisions of this subsection shall be ratified at the next regular meeting of the Board.

f. Executive Sessions.

(1) Executive session of the Board shall be conducted in strict accordance with Chapter 39, Section 23A, Massachusetts General Laws.

(2) Any member of the Board may make a motion to allow the Board to convene in Executive Session. However, the motion shall be made while in open session, and clearly state the need for executive session deliberations.

(3) A roll call vote shall be taken on all motions, which call for Executive Sessions, and such a roll call vote shall be duly recorded in the minutes of the open session at which the motion was acted upon.

(4) Executive Sessions relating to “strategy with respect to litigation” shall be scheduled at 5 p.m., followed by regular business at 6 p.m. whenever possible.

g. Time of Meetings.

(1) All Board Meetings shall normally be scheduled to commence promptly at 6:00

P.M., and terminate not later than 11:00 P.M. In the event, however, official business remains to be transacted at the scheduled adjournment time, the Board may vote to suspend this requirement under the provisions of Section 7 of these procedures.

(2) Unfinished business remaining at the scheduled or alternate adjournment time

shall appear on the agenda of the next regular meeting.

(3) Any Board Member who expects to be absent from a scheduled Board Meeting, or delayed for more than one hour shall notify the Chairman in advance of the scheduled meeting.

h. Meeting Notice.

(1) A written notice of all scheduled meetings of the Board, except as precluded by

Section 2d, above, shall be filed with the Town Clerk at least forty-eight hours in advance of the meeting for posting on the official Town bulletin board.

(2) Copies of the meeting notices shall be made available to members of the media and

the general public.

Section 3. AGENDA FOR Regular Meetings

a. The format for agendas for regular meetings shall be:

1. Public Hearing

2. Public Statements

3. Selectmen’s Statements

4. Appointments

5. Requested Agenda Items

6. Town Manager’s Report

7. Minutes

8. Closing Statements

Note: The Board grants discretion to the Chair in setting the order of the “requested Agenda Items”, such that public requests always precede staff requests, but exceptions may be made when the staff requests require very short amounts of time. The Board also requests we avoid using the category “preliminary matters”.

b. The agenda of a public meeting of the Board of Selectmen shall provide for statements by members of the public no later than the second item on the agenda (By-Laws of the Town of Provincetown, Sect. 4-2-2).

c. Items requested for placement on the meeting agendas, other than from Board Members, shall be in writing, stating the subject matter, individuals expected to be present, and a concise statement as to the essence of the subject matter, in order to permit the Members of the Board an opportunity to review the statements prior to the meeting.

d. Agenda items may be received until 12:00 Noon of the Wednesday preceding the scheduled regular meeting.

e. Agenda items received after Noon on the Wednesday preceding the scheduled regular

meeting, may, within time constraints and at the discretion of the Chairman, be included

under the appropriate agenda item, or scheduled at the next succeeding regular meeting,

as appropriate.

f. Agendas for a regular scheduled meeting shall be posted and available to the general

public and media no later than 5:00 P.M. each Thursday preceding the meeting.

g. Agendas for special and emergency meetings may be modified by the Chairman to

conform to the purpose(s) for which such meetings are called.

Section 4. Procedures during Meetings

a. Proceedings during meetings shall normally be governed by Roberts Rules of Order except as modified by these procedures.

b. When deemed necessary and appropriate, the Chairman may offer a motion, or second a motion.

c. No person shall address a public meeting of the Board without permission of the

Chairman or other designated presiding officer.

d. Items, which appear on the meeting agenda, shall be considered as properly before the

Board of Selectmen without benefit of a specific motion to that effect. However, any Member of the Board may reserve the right to move that an agenda item be stricken from the agenda. Such a motion, if made, shall be subject to the actions of the other Members of the Board as would be appropriate to action on routine motions

e. The Board of Selectmen may respond to speakers under public statements providing a majority of the board members present vote to do so. The board may take action on issues brought before the board if it is of a nature not deemed to require being placed on a subsequent agenda.

f. Limit Public Statements to a total of sixty (60) minutes. Each public speaker is limited

to five (5) minutes speaking time.

g. The Chairman should rotate from meeting to meeting the order in which the Selectmen

make their statements.

Section 5. Public Hearing Procedures

Preliminary Procedures

a. Proponents and opponents must set up any displays or graphic presentations prior to the actual start of the hearing.

b. Principal speakers must identify themselves to the Chair prior to the start of the hearing.

c. Copies of the hearing procedures will be posted (or distributed) prior to the start of the hearing.

Hearing Procedures

a. The Chair will open the hearing by identifying the purpose of the hearing, reading the hearing notice aloud, and explaining the rules to be followed during the hearing.

b. If testimony at the hearing must be given under oath, a five-minute recess will be taken to permit speakers to register with the Secretary to the Board. When the hearing is reconvened, the Chair will render the oath in front of all present.

c. Basic Hearing Format

Arguments: Proponents

Questions: Public

Questions: Board of Selectmen

Opponents Questions – Public

Questions – Board of Selectmen

Rebuttal: Proponents

Rebuttal: Opponents

Closed to Public

Board Discussion

Vote

c. No questions will be permitted until after the speaker has finished his/her presentation.

Questions will be accepted first from the public and then from Board Members. All

public questions will be addressed through the Chair. Questioners will identify themselves to the Chair, state their question, and specify to whom it is addressed. Any disagreement with answers is restricted to rebuttal statements.

e. At the completion of arguments, citizens may record themselves in agreement with the speaking side without making another presentation. (This provision is designed to reduce repetition.)

Section 6. Minutes of Meetings

a. The proceedings of all Board meetings shall be recorded by cassette recording devices.

Tape recordings or videotape may not be used as a permanent record of meetings. Written minutes must be prepared as outlined in Section 6b. Once minutes have been prepared and

approved, the tape and/or video may be erased and re-used for another meeting. Until it is erased, however, it is a public record (unless it is a tape or video of an executive session), which must be made available for inspection and copying upon request.

b1 Written minutes of Board meetings shall be prepared in an abbreviated form; however, as

a minimum, the written minutes shall record time and date of meetings, names of

Board Members present and voting, names of Town personnel attending, and names of

Members of other Town Boards, Committees and Commissions attending the meeting.

The record of exact motions made and votes taken shall be included in the written

minutes. Written minutes shall not include verbatim or otherwise lengthy record of

discussion on agenda items.

b2 Written minutes should be printed on both sides of the paper they are printed on. (To

conserve paper and archive space.)

c. Written minutes shall be prepared as expeditiously as possible to allow the Board to act upon them at a subsequent regular meeting. Following the Board's approval, the written minutes shall be filed with the Town Clerk and become a permanent and official record of meetings.

d. Executive Session minutes will be written by the Vice Chairman. Minutes are to include motions made, actions taken thereon and a record of the roll call vote(s).

e. Minutes of Executive Sessions shall remain in the permanent possession of the Secretary

to the Board, in a secure place, and shall not be released unless authorized by a

majority vote of the Board taken in open session, or upon an order issued by a court of

law.

Section 7. Suspension of Procedures

These standing procedures may be suspended by an affirmative majority vote of the Board Members present and voting.

Section 8. Reconsideration of Votes

Any vote taken may be reconsidered without limitations to time, given upon a proper motion before the Board and a favorable majority vote of the members present and voting, providing that the Selectman making the reconsideration motion voted in the majority on the original motion.

Section 9. Review of Standing Procedure

These standing procedures shall be reviewed annually, following the normal reorganization of each new Board of Selectmen, or, more often if necessary and dictated by changes in the Board's composition if occurring prior to the normal electoral process.

Section 10. Amendments to Standing Procedures

a. These standing procedures may be amended by a majority vote of the members present and voting at a regular meeting provided, however, that the proposed amendment has been submitted to the Board of Selectmen’s secretary and the Board of Selectmen in writing at least one week prior to the date the amendment is to be voted upon.

b. An amendment shall be construed to mean any addition of a new procedure or deletion or modification of an existing procedure.

Section 11. Effective Date

These standing procedures are effective May 22, 1995.