Andover held six special town meetings between 2022 and 2024 — topping the five special town meetings held between 2013 and 2021.
Former select board member Christian Huntress thinks that’s too many, prompting him to petition for Article 21 on the Annual Town meeting Warrant. If passed, Andover would petition the state legislature to increase the number of signatures required for citizens to call a special town meeting.
Petitioners currently need to collect signatures from 200 or 20 percent of registered voters — whichever number is lower — to force the select board to call a special town meeting within 45 days. Under Huntress’s proposal, the threshold would rise to 200 or five percent — whichever number is greater. It would also give the select board 90 days to call the special town meeting.
Based on the current number of registered voters, petitioners would need to collect about 1,350 signatures to call a special town meeting.
Huntress said Andover has increasingly seen special interests call special town meetings in recent year, such as the meeting called last year by opponents of the plan to pave the Haggetts Pond trail. Each of those meetings have cost the town $50,000, on average.
“Increasing the number of signatures of registered voters from 200 to five percent would allow for better public discussion and education on the issues,” Huntress said when he presented his article to the Andover Finance Committee last month. “Increasing the time allowed for the select board to convene a special town meeting from 45 to 90 days would provide better opportunity for volunteer boards like yourself to review a petition and offer an informed opinion of residents. And the additional time would also give the town the opportunity to better plan the location and the timing of either a regular or fall town meeting.”
Huntress noted the 200 signature number dates back to the 1970s — before the Internet. With social media, “collecting 200 signatures in a town the size of Andover can be accomplished by one person over a two- or three-day period,” he said.
The finance committee voted to recommend annual town meeting approve Article 21 when it convenes on April 29.
This month, Andover News is previewing key warrant articles in the 2025 Annual Town Meeting, which begins April 29 and continues nightly until all of the articles have been deliberated.
Key Dates For Town Meeting
April 15: Deadline to publish and post warrant.
April 19: Deadline to register to vote for town meeting.
April 19: Finance Committee Report due.
April 29, 30, and May 1, 7 pm: 2025 Annual Town Meeting
The article does not take away the rights of citizens to go to the select board to request a special town meeting, which can be called by a majority vote. Nor does it prevent 10 registered voters from putting an article on the annual town meeting warrant. The proposed change specifically targets the scenario where individuals want to call a special town meeting without select board support and without waiting for the annual town meeting
Huntress said of the 17 articles in the three special interest town meetings since 2022, only four have been passed. One was for a non-binding referendum and two did not comply with state law so they could not be enforced.
“So we spent over $200,000 on those 17 articles for one that was deemed appropriate,” Huntress said.