Question 5: 15 Claflin Avenue – Cemetery Use

Question 5: Shall the Town of Hopkinton be allowed to exempt from the provisions of proposition two and one-half, so-called, the amounts required to pay for the bond issued in order to acquire a fee interest in a portion of the parcel of land located at 15 Claflin Avenue and shown as parcel U16-14-0 on the Assessors Map?

The 2015 Annual Town Meeting voted to borrow $259,900 for the purchase of a portion of the parcel of land, consisting of approximately 2.5 acres, located at 15 Claflin Avenue and shown as Parcel B on a plan entitled “Compiled Plan of Land, Hopkinton MA,” prepared for Raymond Davis by J.D. Marquedant & Associates, Inc. (dated May 4, 2015), to be used for cemetery purposes. This borrowing was made contingent on the passage of a debt exclusion under Proposition 2 1/2, authorizing a temporary increase in the Town’s levy limit to cover the cost of borrowing for this purchase.

• A YES vote would mean that the funds are approved and the expenditure will proceed.
• A NO vote would mean that the funds are disapproved and the expenditure cannot proceed without a future ballot vote within 90 days.

This override is expected to cost the average single-family homeowner in town $10 in the first year of borrowing. The borrowing is expected over 5 years. The land is adjacent to the Mount Auburn Cemetery, which allows for a contiguous parcel for these services and this new land can be accessed from the existing cemetery.