Overview:
The Special Town Meeting in Athol, Massachusetts, which was scheduled for November 10, has been postponed to November 24 due to a turnout of only 54 people, which fell below the required quorum of 97 registered voters. The meeting will discuss six articles, including amending the definition of "family" in the bylaws and transferring funds to equip a new ambulance. Town officials are taking measures to encourage voters to attend the rescheduled meeting.
ATHOL – A turnout which fell below the required quorum of 97 registered voters resulted in Monday’s Special Town Meeting being postponed to Monday, Nov. 24.
Only 54 people attended the meeting on Monday. The Town Charter requires at least 1% of the town’s registered voters to reach a quorum.
Monday’s meeting was scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. After consultation with Town Manager Shaun Suhoski, Town Clerk Nancy Burnham, Selectboard Chair Rebecca Bialecki, and Finance and Warrant Advisory Committee Chair Ken Duffy, Town Moderator Lawrence McLaughlen announced at about 7:15 that the Special Town Meeting would have to be rescheduled.
A total of six articles are on the warrant, which will be re-posted. Article 6 calls for amending the definition of “family” in the bylaws. Currently, Section 4.1 of the bylaws describes a family as “(a)ny number of individuals living and cooking together on the premises as a single housekeeping unit.”
The amended bylaw would require a group of five or more people to be related “by blood, marriage or adoption, including wards of the state.” The article also calls for an increase from three to five the number of unrelated individuals living together to meet the definition of a boarding house.
Article 5 seeks approval to transfer $36,650 from the Ambulance Stabilization Fund to equip the new ambulance and purchase two IV pumps for the Advanced Life Support ambulances.
Articles 2 through 4 seek to pay three prior invoices totaling just under $21,500. Approval requires a nine-tenths majority vote on each article. Article 1 asks voters to amend the fiscal year 2026 transfer station enterprise fund budget and approve funding to pay the increased cost of disposal fees.
“We really need people to show up on the 24th,” Suhoski told the Athol Daily News on Wednesday, Nov. 12. “Most of the questions are pretty simple, but we need voters to vote to finish the business. We think that will cover us all the way to next June to the Annual Town Meeting.”
Suhoski said town officials will do what they can to get voters to Town Hall. Strategies include the mailing of reminder postcards or using signboards announcing the meeting. Suhoski said he might ask the Selectboard to also use the town’s reverse 911 – or Code Red – system to contact residents.
Greg Vine can be reached at gvineadn@gmail.com.