FARMINGTON — Selectmen are seeking public input on holding the 2012 annual town meeting on a Monday evening instead of a Saturday morning.

The town meeting was held Monday during the day through 1957. It changed to Monday evening in 1958, Paul Mills recently told the board. In 2009, voters decided to change it to a Saturday morning starting in 2010.

There are different people attending but no change in the number, Selectman Ryan Morgan said. 

The board had hoped the numbers would increase but attendance appears to hinge on whether there’s a pressing issue on the agenda.

Jim McEntee, who along with his mother, were original proposers of the change to Saturday because of the reluctance of the elderly to go out on a cold, March night.

A recent community poll indicates strong favor for keeping the meeting on Saturday, he told the board.

Recorded votes during the last two Saturday meetings indicate a slightly higher number of people voting than recorded votes at the last two night meetings, Mills said.

Before choosing the date of the next meeting, Mills raised questions on parking, voting held on a separate day and the potential to finish the town’s business at a night meeting before people leave.

Night parking at the Mallett School is more of a problem with the new school. Saturday daytime parking in University of Maine at Farmington lots on Quebec and Perkins streets appears more available with less distance to walk, he said.

“A meeting that begins in the morning has a greater likelihood of being able to finish its allotted business in that day than one that begins at 7 p.m.,” he said in materials presented to the board.

Some past night meetings stopped as time grew late while others perhaps should have but didn’t because voters remaining voted against recessing, he said. Attendance tends to drop off as the night meetings wear on, he added.

A Saturday meeting also allows for longer poll hours on Friday. Voting on the same day of a night meeting, means polls have to stop at 6 p.m. so clerks can count ballots. Last year with a Saturday morning meeting, Friday polls were open until 8 p.m., he said.

Recent years have seen a significant reduction in voting, Selectman Dennis Pike said. Last year, 119 voted, 14 of those by absentee ballot.

The board unanimously opted to table the issue and encourage the public to voice their opinions.

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