[Rich, 14:02]
I have decided to describe what is going to happen tonight so that any of you who are new to TM (or new to watching TM) will not be confused.

Decisions of a TM are generally not effective when that TM makes them (even leaving aside the whole reconsideration issue). Many decisions do not even become effective when the TM dissolves. Town By-Law and Zoning By-Law changes do not become effective until they are reviewed and approved by the Attorney General's office, which usually takes about three months after the dissolution of the meeting. Even appropriations do not take effect immediately, since certain appropriations by a TM can be challenged and overturned by town-wide referendum (as Lexington PAYT proponents discovered last year).

Because the effectiveness of decisions is delayed at least until a TM dissolves, items where time is particularly of the essence are often placed into an embedded Special Town Meeting. The idea is that the STM will convene, act on those few issues, then immediately dissolve, allowing the acts taken in the STM to become effective much sooner, even if the Annual TM goes on for weeks or months. That is what will be happening tonight.

The mechanics are fairly simple. The Annual TM will convene as scheduled, go through all its usual opening ceremonies, and will then be declared in recess. The STM will then be opened as its own entity, including the reading of the STM warrant and the constable's return of the STM warrant. The articles in the STM warrant will be acted upon and the STM dissolved, at which point the Annual TM will be called back from recess and will continue in its work.