WEST WARWICK — Voters will weigh in on three charter amendments and two other referendum questions on the Nov. 4 ballot. Some other amendments that were floated recently may be studied by a charter review commission to be impaneled later.

“I think a charter review commission will be formed after the election,” said Town Manager James Thomas. “That would give them the time necessary [to study the Town Charter]. … We don’t want to rush this thing through.”

On Tuesday, the Town Council held a public hearing on eight proposed amendments to the charter. The hearing, which lasted more than two hours, whittled the list of eight questions to three, which were submitted to the secretary of state’s office by yesterday’s 4 p.m. deadline for inclusion on the referendum ballot.

Council Vice President Peter F. Calci Jr., responding to critics who said the council was rushing the proposals through, said he was comfortable with the pace of deciding the referendum questions.

“None of what we talked about, none of the specific proposals are new items,” Calci said. “Nothing is new, nothing is being pushed forward inappropriately or being pushed in a fast-track motion at all. It’s an option. It’s an option the Town Council has from time to time to make changes without drawing or convening a full-blown charter review commission.”

The three charter questions that will be on the ballot:

•Double the terms, to four years, of Town Council members.

•Allow the council to reorganize (elect the president and vice president) annually rather than every two years when a new council term begins.

•Let municipal departments make purchases up to $2,500 without seeking informal bids. Currently, they must obtain phone quotes from three vendors on any purchase likely to cost more than $400.

The voters also will be asked to authorize issuing up to $2 million in bonds to buy equipment for an automated trash collection system. Council President Edward A. Giroux characterized this question as nonbinding, in that the town is not bound to use the money if it concludes it is a bad idea.

“I say we let the people decide,” Giroux said at Tuesday’s hearing.

“If they say ‘Yes, let’s move forward, you’re authorized and if you decide, we’re giving you our blessing.’ If they come back and say absolutely not, then let’s not waste any more time on it.”

Finally, a non-binding question will propose televising Town Council meetings, a topic that’s been near Giroux’s heart for a while.

“This is something we’ve been working on since 1990,” Giroux said at the hearing. “We had the money once, let’s get it done.”

The money Giroux was referring to was $10,000 from the “signing bonus” the town received from Harrah’s Entertainment for approving a casino host agreement. The town was able to keep the money even though Rhode Island voters defeated the casino proposal. Originally, the money was set aside to outfit the council chamber with a video camera, LCD projector and presentation screen. The plan was scrapped last year when the town implemented a spending freeze because of tight finances.

Seventeen Rhode Island communities broadcast municipal meetings — either live or on tape — using a system provided by Cox Communications’ public access system. They are Cranston, Johnston, Pawtucket, East Providence, Smithfield, Lincoln, Cumberland, Woonsocket, Middletown, Little Compton, Newport, Portsmouth, Tiverton, Westerly, Richmond, Charlestown and Hopkinton.

tbuford@projo.com