If at first you don’t succeed… On Wednesday, January 15th, at 6 PM at the Truro Community Center, we will hold another Special Town Meeting so that voters may consider several important spending articles that just can’t wait until our Annual Town Meeting in April.

Our Town Charter requires a quorum of 100 voters; and on the snowy evening of November 12th, we failed to secure the necessary 100 out a total of over 1,700 registered voters in Truro. With no quorum, we could not vote on any of the Articles on the Warrant.

Our Police Department has one cruiser that was totaled in an accident this summer and another car with a blown engine. The Department’s only four-wheel drive vehicle is seven years old and won’t pass inspection unless we spend over $5,000 for repairs. If we fail to attain a quorum on January 15th and approve funds to replace these vehicles, the Police Department will not have a four-wheel drive vehicle for what has already been a snowy winter.

Under our Town Meeting form of Government, the Board of Selectmen may only spend funds approved at Town Meeting. We can’t spend the insurance funds from the wrecked car without permission of Town Meeting.

The other critical article is to supply our new emergency shelter. We are asking voters to approve funds to pay Truro’s share of the costs associated with medical supplies and meals for the emergency shelter. The shelter is a joint effort between the Town of Truro and the Town of Provincetown and will be located at the old Veteran’s Elementary School in Provincetown. Each Town will contribute $10,000 toward these costs for stocking the shelter.

I hope you will mark your calendar for 6 PM on Wednesday, January 15th and make the effort to attend this Special Town Meeting. It shouldn’t last more than an hour, and it will be a nice way to spend a cold Wednesday night in January! But more importantly, passing these articles will ensure that the Town is prepared to handle whatever this winter might bring.

Best wishes for a Happy New Year.

Jay Coburn
Chair, Board of Selectmen
jcoburn@truro-ma.gov
(508) 349-7004