Coronavirus: Postponed Medfield Town Election, Town Meeting, More

In the light of the evolving situation with COVID-19, the Medfield Board of Selectmen met in a virtual emergency meeting at 1 p.m. today to discuss and approve new dates for the municipal election and town meeting.

Medfield Town Election has been rescheduled to Monday, May 4, 2020 (it was originally scheduled for March 30). Voting is expected to be handled via mail-in ballots.

Medfield Annual Town Meeting has been rescheduled to Monday, June 15, 2020. (It was originally scheduled for May 4.) Existing legislation provides for this date change, but it was emphasized that the situation would be fluid depending on the status of COVID-19. Pending legislation, if approved, would allow for Town Meeting to be postponed further if needed.

In a separate action, the Board of Selectmen also approved the Town of Medfield website (www.town.medfield.net) as the official posting location for meeting notices, instead of the physical bulletin board behind Town Hall. Town Administrator Kristine Treirweiler proposed the change to better allow for more expedient posting that can be handled remotely. She noted that paper notices would still be placed on the outside board, but the board would be considered the alternate location by the Division of Open Government in the Massachusetts Attorney General Office. The Board of Selectmen have the ability to change the official posting location at a later date.

In an effort to help communities across the Commonwealth, Governor Charlie Baker has filed three bills, including a "municipal flexibility bill" (H 4572), that would allow towns "to postpone their annual Town Meetings for up to 30 days because of a public health emergency, and a select board could push the meeting beyond June 30, which is currently the deadline in state law," as reported by WBUR.

If approval of a new budget is delayed into the new fiscal year, WBUR also noted that the proposed legislation would permit town leaders to extend budgets on a month-to-month basis using prior-year spending levels.

Bills filed by Gov. Baker also seek to provide financial assistance to small business owners that have been hit particularly hard by COVID-19.