Trying to align projects for Town Meeting approval in either June or October is difficult to say the least, but officials may have a solution.

Finance Committee member Doug Roscoe suggested adding a third Town Meeting in February to avoid missing project deadlines, which often occurs with the current scheduling. Officials said the idea would need to go before June Town Meeting voters for input.

“We’re moving a lot of money around, in a role that really should be Town Meeting’s,” said Roscoe.

Legally, Town Meeting members can't appropriate monies from the tax levy during a winter convening, which makes things tricky because holding a Town Meeting costs about $2,500, officials said. The town would need to rally enough articles and enough voters to justify the expense.

“Every precinct had more vacancies than candidates. I have some concerns about the size of Town Meeting right now. We have to be really careful about any changes we make,” said School Committee Chair Shannon Jenkins.

Officials also listed winter weather as a deterrent for voters. If Town Meeting doesn't meet its quorum, the meeting is called off.

“Do we reduce the size of Town Meeting to make it easier to make quorum?” Jenkins continued.

School Committee member John Nunes said the solution to ensuring voter turnout is to make the agendas interesting.

“If you have 12 zoning articles, is everyone going to want to come out for a two-hour discussion on zoning? I think you’ve just got to weigh everything and make sure you’ve got a good mix of everything,” Nunes said.

Roscoe added that by breaking the town's agenda into three parts, it may be more manageable for some voters.

“If you have a two-hour meeting, [as opposed to a four-hour meeting,] that’s doable," he said. He said that a February meeting would lighten the spring agenda, which follows an eight-month hiatus after the October meeting.

School Committee officials said that an additional meeting would help them move forward with capital projects. The middle school roof replacement was just delayed until next year because although Town Meeting members approved funding last spring, the design won't be approved in time to start construction this year.

“That got pushed another whole year because of the timing of Town Meeting, which ultimately affects the cost,” said Jenkins.

Town Administrator David Cressman said that although this proposal seems like a time-saver, he doubts it will actually work out that way.

"I look at how long [the Finance Committee] meets to get ready for June. I look at how long FinCom meets to get ready for October. As much as I think it will cut down on the time investment, generally in government, you don’t see that happening," he said.

Officials decided to that the Finance Committee should research it further, get input from the town moderator, and list the pros and cons for June Town Meeting voters.