Predicted rain not expected to dampen Nahant Town Meeting

NAHANT – Saturday’s forecast for rain and raw weather may play well in favor of Town Meeting.”I worry about us having a quorum,” said Board of Selectmen Chairman Richard Lombard. “If it’s a good day and nice outside, everyone will be doing yard work. I hope they show up.”Lombard said the fact that the warrant has no controversial articles and there are no contested races on the ballot also lends itself to low voter turnout.Selectman Michael Manning said he wasn’t worried. He said he couldn’t remember a time when the town failed to have a quorum.”The people that come to Town Meeting often want to express their opinion, and they show up every year,” he said.He admits there have been times where the start has been delayed by five or 10 minutes while people vote, come in from yard work and make their way to the meeting, but there has always been a quorum. He also admits that the showing is not a stellar representation of the town’s voters, but it is fairly reliable.”The hall could hold between, well, 300 would be very large numbers, but we get 160 to 150 people,” he said. “It’s not a large fraction of registered voters, but it’s a quorum.”Both Lombard and Manning said they expected the meeting to go smoothly.”Then again it’s hard to tell what will be a controversial issue,” Manning added.Lombard said he thought the Finance Committee did an outstanding job putting the budget together despite the fact the board got things to them a little late.”We have to get it to them in a timely fashion,” he said. “I think it should be the first week of December because they need time to do their work and get it to the voters.”The warrant contains 29 articles seeking approval for items ranging from the town budget, requests for funding for road work, several water-and-sewer-related issues and a dozen projects put forth by the Community Preservation Commission.Lombard joked that he might have to add on a late article just to catch people’s attention and ensure a good turnout.”Once we did one for nude bathing at 40 Steps,” he said. “That’s always a good one.”The polls open at 7 a.m. and close at 8 p.m. and Town Meeting opens at 12:30 p.m., all in Town Hall.