What is a Special Town Meeting?
A special town meeting allows registered voters and property owners the opportunity to listen to a proposed referendum, ask questions, make comments, and vote on a proposal. A quorum of 50 eligible voters is required to conduct the meeting. Depending on the subject matter of the meeting, voting can take place at the meeting itself, or immediately following the adjourned meeting, or immediately following the meeting and on the following Saturday.
A special town meeting has been scheduled for Tuesday, Sept. 23. The meeting will take place at 7:30 p.m. at the Clune Center, Wilton High School. Voting on one referendum question will take place immediately following that meeting in the lobby of the Clune Center. For those unable to attend the meeting, voting will continue on Saturday, Sept. 27, at the Wilton High School Clune Center from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
If you are unable to attend the meeting and would like to hear the presentation and discussion, the Sept. 23 Special Town Meeting will be recorded and aired on Wilton’s Government Access Channel (Cablevision Ch. 79) and streamed on the town of Wilton’s web site, wiltonct.org, after the meeting.
What’s the topic of the Special Town Meeting?
The meeting was called by the Board of Selectmen to consider a proposal to renovate the Miller-Driscoll School, Pre-K to Grade 2 complex. The wording of the bonding question cannot be changed at the meeting.
Shall the resolution appropriating and authorizing bonds in the amount of $50,022,000 for planning, design, construction, renovation, equipping and furnishing of the Miller-Driscoll School and related costs be approved?
Who is eligible to vote?
The following people may vote:
- All registered voters, regardless of whether they own property in town.
- All U.S. citizens, resident and nonresident, liable to the Town of Wilton for taxes on real property — or on a motor vehicle — with an assessment of at least $1,000 on the Oct. 1, 2013 Grand List.
If you have purchased property in Wilton after Oct. 1, 2013, your name will not appear on this Grand List. In that case, you must be a registered voter in order to cast a ballot at the Special Town Meeting. In all cases, you must be a U.S. citizen to vote and at least 18 years old.
You may register to vote at Wilton Town Hall, Monday through Friday, from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. You can download a voter registration application from the Wilton website wiltonct.org, or call the registrars for information at 203-563-0111.
Absentee ballots are available from the town clerk at the Wilton Town Hall from 8:30 am to 4:30 p.m. All absentee ballots must be returned to the town clerk’s office by 4:30 p.m. on Sept. 26.
For more information, check “Miller Driscoll School Renovation Project — Presentation” at wiltonct.org.
This is a series of columns in which the Wilton League of Women Voters discusses commonly asked questions about Wilton’s town meeting form of government. Contact us at wiltonlwv.org or write to P.O. Box 71, Wilton, CT 06897.
