They had meant to hold a meeting within a meeting like last year

Instead, some late scrambling produced two town meetings in the same week — the annual town meeting on Tuesday, May 5, and a special town meeting on Thursday, May 7, both at 7 p.m. in the high school auditorium.

The two had to be separated because the warrant for that special town meeting was not posted by deadline — two weeks before the meeting.

“The special town meeting was meant to be embedded in the annual town meeting but its warrant was not posted until last Thursday so it cannot take place before Thursday, May 7,” said Town Moderator Steven Fors.

The late switch also meant changes to the town meeting warrant that had already been posted to the town’s website.

That special meeting contains only two questions: Voters will be asked to decide a drainage question involving the state’s Route 6 improvements and whether to approve $100,000 for the “middle school transition” — the looming middle school closing and move of students to other town schools.

Why a special town meeting?

“Don’t get me started,” Mr. Fors said.

Warrant items for town meeting are due to the budget committee by March 10, while a later special town meeting date was created to deal with items that didn’t make deadline.

The idea, Mr. Fors said, is to not “drop things on the warrant at the last minute” and deny “time to discuss these issues at the coffee shop.” He said he thinks the special town meeting is sometimes used to “dodge” that intent.