Photo: Town Moderator Mike Widmer will lead the Fall Special Town Meeting beginning Nov. 29

The Fall Special Town Meetings – yes, there will be two – will take over two nights, Tuesday, Nov. 29 and Wednesday, Nov. 30, each beginning at 6:30 p.m.

On the first night under Article 1, Select Board Chair Mark Paolillo will report on the Collins Center recommendations. Following his report, Town Moderator Mike Widmer will adjourn Special Town Meeting 1 and consider three financial housekeeping articles under Special Town Meeting 2. The “Special, Special” will then be dissolved and the body will resume STM 1 with a discussion of the leaf blower bylaw. That will end the first night.

The only business on night two, Wednesday, Nov. 30, will be the Belmont Library borrowing authorization. Voters on Nov. 8 approved a debt exclusion for a new library by a 1,800 vote margin. The latest estimate on the cost to build the structure is $39.5 million with supporter groups raising approximately $5 million in fundraising.

In June, Town Meeting voted overwhelmingly to continue with the three-minute speaking limit that was initially used at this most recent annual Town Meeting. “So that will now be the regular practice,” said Widmer in a discussion with Town Clerk Ellen Cushman.

Widmer also asked Town Meeting members “to continue our tradition of civil discourse at Town Meetings.”

“As Belmont’s legislative body, we have a responsibility to air our differences respectfully as we have consistently done in the past. I would also add that this respect should extend to our communications on social media. Our obligations as Town Meeting Members are not confined to Town Meeting itself,” said Widmer.