WOODLAND, Maine — Fifty-six Woodland residents showed up to vote on their town and school budgets Wednesday evening only to see the meeting get postponed.
After electing a moderator, Select Board Chairperson Matt Cole adjourned the meeting due to an error on the printed copies of the budget warrant that resident Rosemary Monahan alerted the board to on Tuesday.
According to Maine statute, a town cannot hold its annual meeting if the Select Board does not sign the official copy of the budget warrant and/or if the town clerk does not sign attesting that the copy is genuine, Monahan said.
Since town officials had already printed the warrants, they needed to call the meeting to order, elect a moderator and then make a motion to adjourn, said Select Board member Kathy Ouellette.
Ouellette said that after board members heard Monahan’s concerns, they consulted with attorneys at Maine Municipal Association, who confirmed the state statute’s law.
Cole adjourned the meeting around 20 minutes into the meeting, after those in attendance had elected Woodland resident Lorraine Chamberlain as their moderator.
The annual town meeting will now be held Thursday, June 20, at 6 p.m. at Woodland Consolidated School’s gymnasium, or at the town garage if the school is unavailable.
