HAMILTON — The biggest question for Hamilton voters at tomorrow's Special Town Meeting may be one that isn't even on the ballot.

Will voters find a Saturday morning meeting easier to attend than one on a weeknight, in sufficient numbers to achieve a quorum of 75 people? If they don't, they'll have to find different bogeymen than were blamed the last time this flag was run up the pole.

Voters at last year's Annual Town Meeting approved the change to a Saturday morning for future assemblies. When this was tried in 2000, balmy weather and the late start, 1 p.m., were blamed for a lackluster showing that fell short of the required number.

Those won't be excuses tomorrow, when the meeting is set to open at 9 a.m., with a 50-50 chance of rain on an unseasonably cool day. In another break with tradition, this year's get-together will be in two parts, with a second meeting convening immediately after the first.

As has become the norm at fall convocations, the meeting will open with a number of boilerplate financial transactions and bylaw amendments.

One that may attract interest, Article 4-4, is a proposal to lower the threshold to call for secret balloting at future meetings. Until now, the decision to go to secret ballots has been in the hands of Moderator Bruce Ramsey, who usually lets a majority of voters present, 51 percent, make the call.

If the article passes, paper balloting would be allowed if just 25 percent of the voters in attendance approve. Paper balloting would be permitted only for Proposition 21âÑ2 overrides, debt exclusions or capital outlay expenditures of more than $250,000.

The grass-roots group Enough is Enough championed this article, with supporters arguing that some voters are too intimidated by their neighbors to raise their hands or voices for a public vote.

Article 5-1 is another step on the road to regional emergency dispatching. Voters are asked to allow the selectmen to sign an agreement with the other towns participating in the program, for a period of 10 years.

Article 5-2, a proposal to further study merging the Hamilton and Wenham police departments, was rendered meaningless after Tuesday's vote in Wenham, when a narrow majority of voters declined to get their town involved.

If Articles 4-2 and 5-7 sound familiar, they should. Voters approved something very similar last spring.

The first cleans up language in the town's General Bylaws that refers to a "town administrator" by replacing it with "town manager," in anticipation of the adoption of that form of administration in the near future.

Article 5-7 asks the Legislature to pass a home rule petition to increase membership on the Board of Selectmen from three to five. Because the town does not have a charter, officials hoped to avoid this step, but the attorney general's office ruled it was necessary.

Special Town Meeting part 2 will likely spark the most debate tomorrow. Article 2-8 asks voters to spend $1.5 million to replace the heating system at Cutler School. The system is 57 years old and is said to be in an increasing state of disrepair.

The state's School Building Authority has pledged to reimburse $652,000 of that, leaving taxpayers in Hamilton and Wenham on the hook for nearly $880,000.

That would be paid through a 10-year bond. This is an exclusion to the debt limitations of Proposition 21âÑ2, and as such, requires approval by two-thirds of the voters tomorrow, as well as a positive vote by 50 percent of voters at Town Election. It also needs the same approvals in Wenham.

It is estimated the project would cost the owner of a $500,000 home in Hamilton between $25 and $35 a year over the 10-year life of the bond.

Seniors and families with young children have some services available to them before, during and after the meeting. Seniors who don't have transportation can call 978-468-5534 by 1 p.m. today to arrange a ride on the senior van. There will also be free, on-site day care available.

Special Town Meeting begins at 9 a.m. in the Winthrop School cafeteria.