WEEKLY NEWS UPDATE – 12/09/25

SPECIAL TOWN MEETING 

Thursday’s Special Town Meeting unanimously approved its single article to amend the FY26 operating budget due to an overestimate of approximately $5.7 million on health care and debt payment projections. This overestimate in the budget was explained by the town’s Chief Financial Officer Kyla LaPierre. She clarified that the town caught this overestimate and notified the Department of Revenue to determine options for solving the issue. LaPierre also shared some recommendations for the future to support more accurate estimates. She noted that the town is considering a Special Town Meeting placeholder for next fall in the event that a similar situation arises, to avoid the need for a meeting during the holiday season. Due to the passing of this article, property taxes can now be set according to this lower budget. 

Special Town Meeting votes to amend budget, leading to lower tax bills (Article by Mary Ellen Gambon, 12/04/25)

SELECT BOARD 

At the Select Board’s Tuesday meeting, the board introduced some changes to the public forum period of their meetings. Each person will have 2 minutes to talk and the chair will ascertain whether additional people intend to talk on the same topic to ensure that multiple issues can be raised. The public forum period will end 20 minutes into the meeting, and will reopen near the end of the meeting if additional attendees wish to speak. Also, the board will give a “public statement” after the initial comment round to give feedback on issues raised at prior meetings.  

The board also heard from the Chair of the Citizens Input Group for the Lake Maspenock Weed Management Control Advisory Group on measures to curtail weed accumulation, including the planned extended lake drawdown and herbicide application in the spring. The herbicide use was deemed the most effective and finacially viable option of weed control, although concerns have been raised about the chemical use. It requires approval from the Conservation Commission and Select Board. The board noted that DPW, Conservation Commission and Sustainable Green Committee opinions would all be sought on the issue as the budget process continues forward. 

In other business, the board approved a recommendation that the town join the state’s Property Assessment Clean Energy (PACE) loan program, which aims to assist commercial and industrial property owners and nonprofits to finance energy improvements; approved the promotion of HPD senior patrol officer Robert Ekross to the role of sergeant; and discussed the upcoming Special Town Meeting. 

Select Board experiments with new public forum rules; Lake Maspenock weed control efforts reviewed (Article by Mary Ellen Gambon, 12/03/25)

The board also heard from the chairs of both the Hopkinton Democratic Town Committee and the Hopkinton Republican Town Committee to introduce a joint idea of establishing an Independence Day parade that focuses on town pride and America’s 250th birthday. The proposed parade would be sponsored by both committees, along with the Veterans Celebration Committee. The board expressed enthusiasm for the idea and the committee chairs intend to submit a formal application to the board at a future date. 

New concept for July 4 parade presented to Select Board (Article by Mary Ellen Gambon, 12/03/25)

PARKS & RECREATION DEPARTMENT 

At its Tuesday meeting, the Parks & Recreation Commission accepted a $10,915.32 donation from a crowdfunding effort led by a Hopkinton resident to fund the holiday lights at the Town Common. The lights have been a recurring line item in the Parks & Rec budget in prior years, but the department was advised to cut the program during FY26 budget negotiations. The department noted the public interest in the holiday lights and discussed the handling of the program for future years. Members agreed to maintain the holiday lights as a line item in the department’s budget for FY27. 

Members also discussed the progress of the Pyne Field project. Parks & Rec recently received the peer review for the plan, and the Planning Board is set to continue its review of the progject at its December 16th meeting. Funding, safety concerns, potential increased costs for a redesign, and future field maintainence costs have been major hurdles to moving forward. Despite this uncertainty, members agreed to continue with the current project design plan without spending additional money. 

Parks & Rec accepts holiday lights donation, pushes forward on Pyne Field redesign (Article by Nick Schofield, 12/03/25)

ZONING ADVISORY COMMITTEE 

At its Monday meeting, the Zoning Advisory Committee discussed a new proposed option by the town’s principal planner, Aneri Patel, to bring Hopkinton into full compliance with the zoning requirements of the MBTA Communities Act. The plan approved by the town in November 2024 to comply with this act failed to meet the 50% contiguous area requirement which requires a complying zoning district that is at least 27.3 acres. Patel proposed adding approximately 10 parcels on Claflin Street to connect the two districts already established downtown and at Walcott Valley to create a single larger district. Chair Ted Barker-Hook noted several Walcott Street properties that could be added to Patel’s plan instead to achieve this end but which would be less likely to be developed than the Claflin Street properties. The town must approve a revised plan at Annual Town Meeting on May 2nd to meet the state’s May 29th deadline for a fully compliant plan. 

ZAC considers MBTA Communities zoning modification as deadline looms (Article by Mary Ellen Gambon, 12/09/25)

BOARD OF HEALTH 

At its Monday meeting, the Board of Health had a discussion about the town charter review process, set to commence. While members initially supported proposed structure changes to their board from three to five members, they expressed concerns over finding qualified individuals with experience in healthcare. They noted that the elimination of candidate nominations by party caucuses in town prevents the Hopkinton Democratic and Republican town committees from vetting candidate before papers are pulled. Also, pursuant to the town charter review discussion, Health Director Shaun McAuliffe informed the board that he and other department heads intend to recommend a change to permit them to petition the Town Manager to approve basic hirings.

In other business, McAuliffe informed the board that he was able to eliminate $4,000 in operating costs from the FY 27 budget. In exchange for these cuts, the town will cover a portion of the department’s training costs. 

Board of Health discusses future organization, additional FY 27 budget reductions (Article by Nick Schofield, 12/09/25)