BUCKLAND — Annual Town Meeting voters will be asked to consider three bylaw amendments to change the date Annual Town Meeting is held, remove exemptions for the single-use plastics bylaw and update Buckland’s dog license regulations to be consistent with state law.

If the first change is approved, Annual Town Meetings would be held on Wednesday evenings rather than Saturdays. This would reverse a Special Town Meeting vote from September 2020, which set the date for Annual Town Meeting as the first Saturday in May. Town Clerk and Bylaw Review Committee member Alicia Graves told the Selectboard last week that residents have asked for Town Meetings to be moved back to weekdays.

“We looked at the average attendance on the Wednesdays versus the Saturdays for the last few years, and the average for Wednesdays was 111 people attending. The average for Saturday is 95,” Graves noted. “So not a huge difference, but it is a difference and there are a number of people that are looking to have it moved back.”

The Bylaw Review Committee is also proposing removing an exemption from the town’s single-use plastics bylaw, which has allowed nonprofits and public entities such as schools to continue to use single-use plastics. The bylaw change would require Buckland-Shelburne Elementary School and Mohawk Trail Regional School to use reusable silverware in their cafeterias.

“When the town passed that bylaw, there was an exemption made specifically for the schools. At this point, they are the only organization that is still using plastic,” Town Administrator Heather Butler said, “and they are using it every meal service.”

The last amendment being proposed is the removal of Section 8 from the dog licensing bylaw. The section states, “All license fees collected shall be deposited as defined in MGL c140 § 147.” Amending the bylaw will keep it consistent with recent changes to Massachusetts General Law.

“There were recent changes with MGL with Ollie’s Law, which went into effect a couple months ago,” Graves said. “[Section] 8 is not valid anymore. It used to allow people who had under five dogs to get a kennel license in lieu of individual licenses, and now they have to get individual licenses for their dogs.”

Selectboard members expressed no concerns with the proposed amendments and will vote on whether to include the amendments on the Town Meeting warrant.

In addition to the amendments proposed by the Bylaw Review Committee, an unofficial committee made up of town staff members who are tasked with reviewing Buckland’s bylaws to ensure they are up to date with state law and the town’s needs, the Planning Board is expected to present a few bylaw amendments for Town Meeting consideration. A public hearing on proposed changes to the accessory dwelling unit (ADU), pollinator habitat and mobile home bylaws is scheduled for Thursday, March 27, at 6:30 p.m. at Town Hall.

Reach Madison Schofield at 413-930-4579 or mschofield@recorder.com.