Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:

Section 2:02 of Article II of the charter of the town of Rockland, which is on file in the office of the archivist of the commonwealth as provided in section 12 of chapter 43B of the General Laws, is hereby amended by striking out paragraphs D and E and inserting in place thereof the following 2 paragraphs:-

D. The selectmen shall cause the annual town report to be printed on or before May first of the following fiscal year, and shall cause a copy of the report to be distributed at the following locations: main entrance to the town hall, Rockland Public Library and the Rockland Senior Center.

E. The selectmen shall prepare the warrant for the annual town meeting, which warrant shall be closed 50 days before the date of the meeting. The selectmen shall cause copies of the warrant for the annual town meeting to be distributed at the following locations: main entrance to the town hall, Rockland Public Library and Rockland Senior Center at least 14 days before holding the meeting. The warrant for the annual town meeting shall also be announced in a newspaper of general circulation within the town at least 14 days before the town meeting. The notice shall include locations where a copy of the warrant can be obtained.

(a) The selectmen shall have the power to order special town meetings as they consider necessary, and shall prepare the warrants for the meetings; but, to order a special town meeting the selectmen shall first adopt, by a majority vote of their board, a resolution stating clearly the emergency nature of the situation prompting their order.

(b) No warrant for a special town meeting shall close until at least 7 days have passed from the date of adoption of their resolution; and each article inserted in the warrant shall have attached to it a brief statement explaining the emergency nature of the article.

(c) The selectmen shall cause copies of the warrant for each special town meeting to be distributed at the following locations: main entrance to the town hall, Rockland Public Library and the Rockland Senior Center at least 14 days before the town meeting. The warrant for each special town meeting shall also be announced in a newspaper of general circulation within the town at least 14 days before the town meeting. The notice shall include locations where the warrant can be obtained. Upon a majority vote of the board, the selectmen shall have the power to open any warrant after it has closed for the purpose of inserting articles, if the articles are of an emergency nature and have attached to them a brief statement explaining the emergency.