A combination of preparation efforts and a more southerly storm path largely spared Massachusetts from the most damaging effects of what has been dubbed Superstorm Sandy, but in some towns the storm did have an impact on the state’s classic form of democracy: the town meeting.

An estimated 270,000 customers were still without power this morning, and some coastal communities were pounded by storm surges during high tides yesterday that were exacerbated by a full moon. At a news conference this morning, Gov. Deval Patrick cited incidents of wind damage and localized flooding, but said there is “no place where there is devastation.”

Winds in Massachusetts peaked in the low 80s yesterday afternoon in a few locations along the coast, according to reports. Most people hunkered down at home, while public transit was largely shut down and schools and businesses were closed. No storm-related deaths have been reported in the state.

Special town meetings were scheduled in at least a dozen Massachusetts towns for Monday evening, during the height of the storm, to consider issues such as school projects, municipal union contracts and downtown parking.

As the path and force of Sandy became more certain, these towns faced a dilemma regarding their “specials.” The weather was sure to keep many people from showing up, but simply dissolving, or canceling, the meeting would cause a delay of at least two weeks under the special town meeting notification requirement in state law. For towns facing tight project deadlines or preparing for a scheduled special election, this was not a good option.

So, in most cases, a few key town officials assembled – sometimes in windswept rain in front of darkened municipal buildings – merely for the purposes of officially postponing their special town meeting. While making sure that at least two registered voters were in attendance, town officials were in the unusual position of getting the word out to discourage residents from braving the storm to show up.

In Georgetown, for example, three officials gathered by a handheld lantern on the steps of the Middle High School, where, due to the lack of a quorum – and electricity – a motion was made and seconded to adjourn the special town meeting to Thursday, Nov. 1. The vote was unanimous, according to Town Administrator Mike Farrell.

“They had to go out there and risk life and limb to postpone this meeting,” Farrell said.

Three articles on the warrant were about the proposed new $46 million Penn Brook School. The contentious measure must pass town meeting before going on the ballot for Georgetown voters on Nov. 6. Further delay would put the ballot vote in jeopardy. Farrell said the town was in continual contact with municipal counsel prior to the storm, to make sure the town didn’t invalidate the meeting in anyway.

In Needham, a handful of town officials gathered Monday night to postpone Town Meeting until Tuesday, Nov. 13.

According to Assistant Town Manager Chris Coleman, the town continued the meeting just as it would when Town Meeting fails to get through all warrant items in a single evening. The alternative would be to call for a new town meeting, which would require that the warrant be approved and posted at least 14 days in advance.

The 17 items on Needham’s special town meeting warrant include the funding of a firefighters contract through fiscal 2016; a land acquisition that would increase downtown parking and address the needs of the public safety building; and several articles related to the recently revised Community Preservation Act.

More than two dozen voters showed up for Rutland’s special town meeting during the storm to cast votes on three articles to enter into a payment-in-lieu-of-taxes arrangement with the owners of three solar arrays.

Selectmen recommended that the voters who were able to make it take no action on all three articles and instead let voters have their say during a Nov. 13 special town meeting that was already scheduled before the storm hit.

Additional towns with special town meetings scheduled for Monday included Abington, Avon, Bourne, Holliston, Natick, Norton and Swansea.

Robert Saquet, the town moderator in Mansfield and president of the Massachusetts Moderators Association, said that, to his knowledge, towns that had special town meetings scheduled for Monday adjourned to a later date. The main considerations, he said, were safety as well as assuring that as many people can participate in the democratic process as possible.

Even to adjourn to another date, however, the moderator must be present.

“You do what you have to do,” Saquet said. “It’s making the legislative system work.”

Sandy also affected meetings of local boards, particularly city councils and boards of selectmen, a large proportion of which traditionally meet on Monday evenings.

In Fairhaven, where water was shut off to flooded coastal neighborhoods in late afternoon to avoid contaminating the water supply, the Board of Selectmen convened at 6:30 p.m. to approve a $5 million bond to obtain short-term lending for a new elementary school expected to open in 2014.

Fairhaven Finance Director John Nunes expressed relief that the meeting was able to take place. The closing date for the bond issuance was just four days away, and it was essential that selectmen approve it a few days ahead of time, Nunes said.

Amid the storm, the selectmen proceeded with their full agenda. The only person other than town officials to attend the two-hour meeting was a local newspaper reporter.

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