Ipswich Select Board rescinds July special town meeting plan after polling-location concerns

The Ipswich Select Board voted unanimously on June 5 to rescind its earlier plan calling a July 28 Special Town Meeting and an August 11 special election after members raised concerns about polling-location logistics and potential voter confusion.

Chair Michael Dougherty opened the emergency session, saying the meeting was called after new information surfaced about the YMCA’s availability as the originally planned polling place and the impact that would have on logistics. He presented three options for moving forward: keep the July 28 meeting and temporarily move the Aug. 11 election to Ipswich High School with voter notifications; shift the meeting and election later in the summer so the YMCA could remain the polling site; or defer the article to the October Special Town Meeting with a ballot question at the November election.

Board members debated the tradeoffs. Select Board member Sarah Player said she was concerned about construction inflation and was willing to accept a temporary polling-location change to avoid further project delays. Vice Chair Carl Nylen favored combining the issue with the October town meeting and the November election to avoid confusing voters with a temporary polling change. Select Board member Linda Alexson said she supported giving voters another opportunity to consider the public safety building funding and asked staff to explore holding a Saturday town meeting to improve accessibility. Select Board member Charles Surpitski emphasized the need to avoid further delays and potential cost increases.

Jamie Fay of the Public Safety Building Committee told the Board that continued delays would increase project costs and estimated that each month of delay could add approximately $100,000 to the project. That estimate was presented to underscore the cost risk of postponing a revote.

After a motion by Charles Surpitski to proceed with the July 28 meeting and an Aug. 11 election at Ipswich High School (seconded by Sarah Player), the Board briefly recessed to gather information. The Chair reported back that the Town Clerk advised against running a local ballot on the same day as the state primary because doing so would require effectively running two separate elections with additional staffing and equipment and was not recommended.

Surpitski subsequently withdrew his motion and Sarah Player withdrew her second. Vice Chair Carl Nylen then moved to rescind the Board’s previous call for a July 28 Special Town Meeting and the August 11 special election; Linda Alexson seconded. The rescission passed unanimously, 5-0.

The Board agreed to gather further details from the Town Clerk, Town Manager, Town Moderator and the YMCA about polling-location availability and election logistics and to continue discussing scheduling options at future meetings. The Select Board’s next regular meeting is scheduled for Monday, June 8 at 6:30 p.m.

Context and public comment: Several residents spoke during the citizen comment period. Torii Bottomley, Paul Calebaugh and Helen Weatherall urged the Board not to approve ballot questions before a town meeting vote had passed and warned that revisiting the public safety building funding could undermine public trust. Susan Coppola thanked the committee’s work but raised concerns about project cost and location and reminded the Board that the required two-thirds vote had not been achieved. The Board’s decision to rescind its earlier scheduling plan addresses the immediate polling-location and logistics concerns and sets a process to gather more information before calling a new meeting or election.