Even though the Finance Committee voted against allowing residents to vote on whether or not to fund a new library building, and the Planning Board ultimately voted against transferring Reedy Meadow Golf Course land to the Board of Library Trustees, a special town meeting was still held Monday night at Lynnfield Middle School, with a few people and town officials showing up.
An email announcement from the town explained that the meeting still had to be held, because there are no provisions to cancel the meeting, even though no vote or change could occur.
“Even in the unlikely circumstance that a quorum of 175 voters attends, nothing can happen except to vote to adjourn,” the email announcement reads. “While the meeting must be held, there is nothing else that can be done.”
Lynnfield Town Moderator Joe Markey waited in case a quorum of voters actually showed up and officially disbanded the meeting after a few minutes.
One of the people who attended was Lynnfield resident Wayne Perry. Perry was against the proposed new library because he believed it was too costly and that there was no need for a large community space, one of the potential offerings of the new library that the existing one does not have.
“The real ‘kiss of death’ is that after five years, the design is not yet finished and the costs have gone up,” Perry said.
According to the new library project’s website, the project has been in the works since 2015, when the Select Board appointed an eight-member Library Building Committee and an architect was hired.
Meetings to talk about renovating the existing library will come next.
