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Weekly News Update – 02/13/2022
Update: Town Election Candidates 2022 • Select Board roundup: Lykan TIF presented; COVID optimism expressed • SELECT BOARD ACTIONS TAKEN 02/08/22 • Mass. will stop requiring masks in public schools. It’s an uneasy milestone for many • Health Department discusses target data for making masks optional in town: ‘Pure metrics, pure science, no politics’ • School Committee eyes March 7 for mask-optional but delays vote, approves calendar with extra holidays • Town Clerk Degan plans bid for state representative • Planning Board continues Laborers’ Training Center hearing to get more clarity on lighting plan • Community Notice: Town of Hopkinton Seeks Community Feedback for Website • Town’s $105M budget, still in need of $500,000 trim, ‘presents a fiscally sound path forward’
Update: Town Election Candidates 2022
Considering running for local office, but don’t know where to begin? To become a candidate a person must either obtain and submit nomination papers by securing the signatures of 50 Hopkinton registered voters by Tuesday, March 28, 2022 or a person may qualify by being the top vote-getter in one of the town political party caucuses, which are typically held in early April. Nomination signature papers are available from the Town Clerk’s office (18 Main St) starting January 18, 2022. Please email or call the Town Clerk’s office with questions at townclerk@hopkintonma.gov 508-497-9710.
Click on the name of any elected office listed below to read more about it.
RELATED:
Notice of Town Board & Committee Vacancies
Health Department Vaccine Clinic Calendar
Updates to the Health Department’s 2022 Vaccine Clinic Calendar have been made! Want to see the Vaccine Calendar 24/7? Click on this Google Sheet Calendar link and bookmark the page to view updates at anytime.
Health Services Vaccine Calendar
Select Board roundup: Lykan TIF presented; COVID optimism expressed
Lykan TIF Presented
A draft of the tax increment financing (TIF) agreement between the town and Lykan Bioscience was presented to the Select Board on Tuesday for its consideration, with a vote to come at a future meeting.
COVID cases continue to slide
Health Director Shaun McAuliffe, in his COVID-19 update to the Select Board, said the town is eyeing a return to making masks optional once the numbers show this latest surge has subsided.
RELATED: SELECT BOARD ACTIONS TAKEN 02/08/22
Mass. will stop requiring masks in public schools. It’s an uneasy milestone for many
After the mandate expires on Feb. 28, individual districts can opt to enact local requirements, and students and educators can wear masks in classrooms if they like. Still, this is another step in the slow unwinding of the state’s in-school virus mitigation measures, and educators, students and experts remain divided about the prospect.
RELATED NEWS:
Health Department discusses target data for making masks optional in town: ‘Pure metrics, pure science, no politics’
While Hopkinton has continued to see an improvement in the number of COVID cases, the town continues to be listed by the CDC as “high risk for community transmission” and is at least a few days away from getting out of that designation, Health Director Shaun McAuliffe told the Board of Health at its Monday meeting.
School Committee eyes March 7 for mask-optional but delays vote, approves calendar with extra holidays
The School Committee met for nearly three hours Thursday night to tackle some longstanding controversial topics, including the mask policy debate and the approval of the school calendar that now will include additional holidays representing Hopkinton’s diverse cultures. It also discussed a resident’s accusation of an open meeting law violation by two committee members.
Town Clerk Degan plans bid for state representative
It’s a big election year for Connor Degan. In addition to planning Hopkinton’s elections as town clerk, Degan is running for two positions in separate elections.
The first is for his town clerk position in the Annual Town Election in May. The second is for state representative, first in the Democratic primary in September, and then if all goes well, in the statewide election in November.
Planning Board continues Laborers’ Training Center hearing to get more clarity on lighting plan
The Planning Board at its hearing Monday night decided to continue the hearing on the Massachusetts Laborers’ Training Center until March 7 so that the drawings could include the building heights and provide more detail on the lighting plans.
Other concerns addressed during the meeting were noise mitigation and the need for two more accessible parking spaces.
Community Notice: Town of Hopkinton Seeks Community Feedback for Website
Town’s $105M budget, still in need of $500,000 trim, ‘presents a fiscally sound path forward’
One week after announcing that a deadline-beating tax appeal filed by Eversource would require an adjustment of the town’s budget to the tune of $1.5 million, Town Manager Norman Khumalo returned to the Select Board on Tuesday with a revised budget that still needs a $500,000 trim.