SOUTHAMPTON — Town Meeting will be held this year on Aug. 15 and, like many things in 2020, it will be anything but normal.
The Saturday meeting is set to begin at 9 a.m. and will be held at Labrie Field, off Strong Road.
Asked whether Town Meeting had ever been held outside in Southampton, Town Moderator Robert Floyd replied, “Not in this century.”
The outdoor venue is just one of the changes that have been made to this year’s annual meeting in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The voters’ health needs to come first,” Floyd said.
Attendees will be seated 6 feet apart from one another, with families and those who live together being able to sit closer together.
“But still 6 feet apart from their neighbors,” Floyd said.
While chairs will be provided, people are also encouraged to bring their own.
Although face coverings will not be required, they are encouraged and those without face coverings will be offered them. Those who refuse to wear face coverings will still be allowed to participate in the meeting, but will be seated away from the main body of attendees. Additionally, a face covering will be required for all people wishing to use an audience microphone.
The fire department will be running a cooling tent at Town Meeting, and there will be two porta potties on site that will be sanitized after each use.
Floyd said a 10-person committee, of which he is a member, has been working on the logistics of putting on this year’s meeting.
The field has also been reserved for Aug. 16, in case a motion to continue the meeting carries on Town Meeting floor. The backup date for the meeting is Aug. 22.
“Mostly for the weather,” Floyd said.
Town Meeting is normally held in May in Southampton, and towns normally must complete a Town Meeting by June 30 in Massachusetts. Because of the pandemic, however, towns were allowed to postpone meetings into the current fiscal year, which began on July 1, thanks to legislation from the state.
There are about 30 articles being considered for this year’s Town Meeting warrant, Floyd said. However, public health director Geraldine Swanson and the Board of Health have sent a letter to the Select Board asking that only essential financial articles, such as operating budgets, be included on the warrant, so as to reduce the length of the meeting. Other articles, the letter says, should be postponed to a special Town Meeting in the fall.
The health officials’ letter also suggests that the meeting be no longer than one hour, but that combined with checking people in and exiting the field, the whole process could take 2 to 2½ hours. And it says that attendance could be more than 100 people.
The Select Board will discuss the warrant Wednesday at 6 p.m. Chairwoman Maureen Groden, noting that she doesn’t speak for the board as a whole, said she supports the Board of Health’s recommendation to try to keep the meeting to an hour.
“I do support it being business only,” she said.
A televised information session on the Town Meeting will be held on Thursday, Aug. 6, at 7 p.m., and will be broadcast on Channel 191.