WILMINGTON, MA — The petitioners of the warrant articles for this week’s Special Town Meeting recently spoke with WCTV to make their case as to why residents should vote YES.
Petitioners Rob Fasulo, Paul Chalifour, and Suzanne Sullivan briefly explain why voters should attend the Special Town Meeting this Thursday, November 20, 2025 at 7pm in the High School Auditorium to save the Buzzell School for demolition. Sign-in starts at 6:30pm.
Chalifour noted that the building has been a part of the town for 90 years, and was the heart and soul of the Wilmington School System for many decades. Sullivan, who serves on the Building Reuse Committee, noted roughly 2/3 of community members who filled out that committee’s feedback survey indicated they wanted the building to be repurposed, not demolished. The Committee was also given a petition with more than 100 residents’ signatures in support of saving the building and repurposing it to become WCTV’s new headquarters. Fasulo and Sullivan stressed it should be the residents — not the Select Board — who ultimately decide what becomes of the building.
Town Moderator Jonathan Eaton Addresses Quorum Concerns
As with any Town Meeting, 150 registered voters must be present to conduct business. Some residents — including Select Board member Kevin Caira at last week’s meeting — have publicly expressed concern that this quorum may not be easily met given the timing of the meeting — on a dark and cold Thursday night, one week before Thanksgiving, with roughly five weeks’ notice, little more than two months after another Special Town Meeting.
In response to questions from Wilmington Apple, Town Moderator Jonathan Eaton recently shared his approach to the quorum scenarios.
“If, at Thursday’s special town meeting, we have not reached a quorum after waiting for an hour past the scheduled start time of 7pm, then I would call the meeting to order and declare that there was no quorum,” Town Moderator Jonathan Eaton told the Wilmington Apple.
Eaton continued:
“If no quorum is reached, then those present would have an interesting decision to make. They could do one of the following:
— Dissolve the Meeting – this would have the effect of ending the meeting. There would not be any continued date. The warrant would be considered disposed of.
— Adjourn to a Specific Date and Time – this would have the effect of continuing the meeting to another date and time. When that would be would be determined by the motion that is made at the meeting, and voted on by those registered voters present. I would caution that some consideration should be given to the availability of the high school to avoid any conflicts, as the auditorium and surrounding facilities are regularly used by the school department.”
If there are quorum issues, Town Moderator Eaton also has the discretion to adjourn the meeting to another date within 14 days. Eaton does not, however, plan on exercising that option.
“The meeting is scheduled for Thursday, November 20. The following Thursday is Thanksgiving, and for many, the weekend that follows is often filled with other commitments, family-related or otherwise,” explained Eaton. “In this instance, if I were to exercise that authority as moderator after we failed to reach a quorum to continue the meeting to some time between November 21 and December 4, that would seem to create an even bigger obstacle to obtaining a quorum on a future date than it would represent a solution to that problem.”
The Town has advertised the Special Town Meeting via a phone call and email through its Reverse 911 and E-Alerts Everbridge system to all registered residents. The Town has also produced multiple posts on its official Facebook page, an announcement on its website’s homepage, a public notice in the Town Crier, and a message on the Rotary Park sign, among other efforts.
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