The First Selectman in Benton said that Saturday’s Town Meeting was held, but “all we did was enough to keep business going.”

Residents in Benton were voting on town elections Friday from 1 to 6 p.m. and anticipating a Town Meeting on Saturday. The annual meeting, which in past years had been at the historic grange building, was to take place at the Benton Elementary School to provide easier access to the elderly, said Town Clerk Sue Rodrigue.

Chairman of the selectmen Doug Dixon said Friday that the select board made the call Friday to move the meeting from Benton Elementary School following the announcement of more presumptive positive cases of COVID-19 in the state of Maine.

Dixon was not able to provide the specific warrants that were discussed at the brief meeting Saturday morning, but said on Monday that a date will be selected in mid-April to finish the meeting.

“We were going to do it at the school, but then this epidemic came up,” Dixon said Friday. “We decided, that’s not a good idea. This is more serious now. It was a change in our plan.”

“We’re waiting for this virus to go away or lessen,” Dixon said. “Schools are shutting down, but we need to keep the town government going.”