By CHRIS COLLINS
(Sunderland, MA) — It appears that annual town meetings in southern Franklin County are going to be outdoor affairs this year.
The Sunderland Selectboard Monday night voted to hold the 2020 annual town meeting on June 6 at 4 pm in the parking lot behind the Sunderland Town office building. The meeting will be held on the same Saturday as Sunderland’s annual town election.
Sunderland Selectboard Chairman Scott Bergeron said the location will allow enough room for proper social distancing, which remains a necessity because of the COVID 19 pandemic. It will mark the first time Sunderland has held annual town meeting outside in June. It is typically held on the final Friday night in April at the Sunderland Elementary School.
Town Clerk Wendy Houle expressed her support for the scheduling change, even though it will likely add to her workload with the annual election happening only hours earlier.
“We have no contests or ballot questions this year, and we are encouraging as many people as possible to take advantage of the early voting options available to them,” Houle said, adding that more information on absentee and early voting can be found on the town’s website.
Sunderland is the third south county town to schedule an outdoor town meeting. Deerfield has voted to hold its annual meeting June 1 outside Frontier Regional School while Conway has scheduled its meeting for June 20 in the ball field just behind the town hall on Academy Hill Road. Whately is expected to make a final decision on its town meeting date and location at its May 13 selectboard meeting.