Dartmouth will be holding its annual Spring Town Meeting remotely via Zoom on Saturday, June 20 at 10 a.m. — that is, if a new law allowing remote participation in representative town meetings is passed in the state legislature by then.

The decision was taken at a virtual Select Board meeting on June 2.

Other options had been discussed by town officials, including holding the meeting in an outdoor stadium to comply with social distancing guidelines. 

But Town Moderator Melissa Haskell said at the meeting that this option was ultimately rejected due to health and safety concerns with bringing hundreds of people into a single area.

“It would require a phenomenal amount of space” to maintain a six foot distance, Haskell noted. 

Dartmouth has more than 200 Town Meeting members, and a quorum of at least 152 is required for the meeting to go ahead.

The temptation to socialize would be very great, she added, because people haven’t seen each other in a while.

Getting people in and out of the stadium — as well as restrooms — could pose other logistical problems.

Public Health Director Chris Michaud also outlined issues with weather and temperature affecting people who may be standing out without shade or shelter for a number of hours. 

The virtual meeting will be held via Zoom, which has an add-on for large meetings of up to 500 people.

Since accessibility may be an issue, Town Administrator Shawn MacInnes said, the town will provide Chromebooks for any Town Meeting member that may need one.

Instructions will be provided to each member on how to use Zoom.

Board member Shawn McDonald called for allowing Town Meeting members to vote on groups of articles, since they will need roll-call votes in a virtual meeting.

“If we do it by Zoom, [Town Clerk] Lynn [Medeiros] will have to call every single name for each article,” he said. “Just calling the names could take ten minutes.”

If the legislation allowing virtual Town Meetings does not pass by June 20, the Select Board chose a fallback date of Saturday, August 1 for an in-person meeting.