WEEKLY NEWS UPDATE – 01/27/26

SELECT BOARD 

Budget.  At its Tuesday meeting, the Select Board addressed the comprehensive budget for FY 27. Town Manager Elaine Lazarus informed that the budget is balanced. Lazarus addressed the town’s significant amount of free cash this year, noting that free cash is not a sustainable source of long term revenue. The town’s chief financial officer Kyla LaPierre provided further insight about the town five-year forecast. The budget will continue to be discussed at board meetings over the next few months leading up to Annual Town Meeting in May. 

Select Board reviews comprehensive FY 27 budget submission (Article by Mary Ellen Gambon, 01/21/26)

License Renewals. The board voted to renew common victualer and other associated licenses for several businesses who completed all licensing requirements. It voted 3-1, with member Matthew Kizner voting no, to approve extensions to the remaining businesses with a deadline of February 4th to submit completed applications. Outstanding applicants should appear at the next meeting to explain why they have not met the deadline.  

ATM warrant articles. The board also discussed the warrant articles it intents to submit for ATM. Warrant articles are due by February 1st. Members were not in agreement with advancing a warrant article for a proposed TIF agreement with Open Play Pickleball and Padel Club. All remaining articles were unanimously approved. They address issues including e-bike regulations, amending CV licensing bylaws to include civil fingerprinting for business owners and managers, creating revolving funds for municipal aggregation funds, electric vehicle charging, utility and driveway easements for Charleswood School, and several proposed land acquisitions.

Select Board gets tough on license renewals; pickleball TIF stalls (Article by Mary Ellen Gambon, 01/21/26)

WATER & SEWER ADVISORY BOARD

At its Wednesday meeting, the Water & Sewer Advisory Board reported on the replacement of granulated activated carbon in Well 6 (the town’s main water source), which is used to filter out PFAS. DPW director Kerry Reed reported that the process went well, although it was more time consuming and work intensive than anticipated, highlighting the need for a backup water source in the event that Well 6 has to be taken offline and for more efficient filtration materials.

The board also shared an update on the Town’s progress toward a MWRA connection. A 50% design for the connection has been prepared and the town is pursuing a land acquisition to build a pump station. A land purchase is expected to be on the ATM warrant.

In other business, the board discussed 3 water leaks detected in town since November, an expected state grant for a town water audit to better track and reduce water losses, and a recent state declaration that central Massachusetts, including Hopkinton, is in a Level 2 state of significant drought. 

WSAB gets updates on Well 6 filter replacement, potential MWRA connection (Article by Mary Ellen Gambon, 01/22/26)

COMMUNITY PRESERVATION COMMITTEE 

At its Thursday meeting, the Community Preservation Committee approved several articles for ATM. Notably, it approved an article recommending the purchase of Carbone’s Restaurant site for open space and town use. A $225,000 purchase price was agreed upon, with funds coming from leftover state grant funding and CPC’s open space funding reserve. Town funds would cover the remaining purchase price. Conditions on the purchase include a conservation restriction to be placed within six years, allowing for trails, and an expiration of July 1, 2028 on the grant, with the money to be spend under the direction of the CPC and Town Manager’s office. 

The committee also voted to recommend the purchase of a small landlocked property off Winter Street for $35,000 that was believed to have been donated to the Faith Community Church as a tax write-off. The purchase conditions are the same as that of the Carbone property except that the conservation restriction is to be placed within 5 years of purchase. The committee also accepted the withdrawal of the Parks & Recreation Commission’s Pyne Field redesign article, noting that the approved funding request could be modified to permit them to explore alternate options. It further approved the submission of all CPC recommended articles for town counsel review, including the removal of hazardous materials from Center School, several historic preservation articles, and two Parks & Rec articles. 

In other business, members discussed compliance with Article 97 of the Massachusetts Constitution, which requires conservation restrictions on land purchased with Community Preservation Act funds—something the town has not consistently done in the past, as well as the deteriorating condition of the historic McFarland-Sanger House, and the significant progress reported on the Hopkinton Housing Authority’s CPC funded outdoor space improvement project. 

CPC unanimously approves articles for ATM warrant, including Carbone’s land purchase recommendation (Article by Mary Ellen Gambon, 01/23/26)

ELEMENTARY SCHOOL BUILDING COMMITTEE 

At its Tuesday meeting, the Elementary School Building Committee approved the Department of Public Works’ recommendation to repair sewer manholes as part of the roadwork being done on Hayden Rowe Street for the Charleswood School project. Vertex project manager Chris Kenney described the work and the committee agreed that is more efficient and cost-effective to make these repairs now rather than having to dig the road up again in the future. Kenney will obtain a cost proposal from the contractor to present at a future meeting.

The committee also moved forward with plans to hire an independent resident civil engineer to oversee roadwork construction, reviewing proposals from three firms. It plans to make a selection at its February 17th meeting. It also approved invoices totalling $6,647,924. A full building permit is still pending, and must be obtained before work can proceed beyond foundation and structure work. 

Charleswood committee focuses on Hayden Rowe roadwork, resident engineer (Article by Susan Gonsalves, 01/21/26)

SCHOOL COMMITTEE 

At its Thursday meeting, the School Committee approved a contract from reviewed bidders for the adaptive playground project at Marathon School. Installation is expected to take place over the summer with an anticipated completion date of September 2026. The committee also approved an energy management services contract with CMTA, and adopted the FY 27 budget of $71,836,488. Additionally, the committee heard the superintendent’s report highlighting Hopkinton High school’s platinum recognition on the College Board AP School Honor Roll for the 2024-25 school year. 

School Committee OK’s contract for adaptive playground, adopts budget (Article by Susan Gonsalves, 01/23/26)

The committee also heard an update that, per a new state mandate, the Keefe Regional Technical High School will use a lottery system for admissions among the five member communities. Students are eligible for up to four entries in the lottery, and Hopkinton will have eight designated spots for the ninth grade class. It was noted that Keefe is in the pipeline for either a major renovation or a new school building, which could increase enrollment slots in the future. 

Admissions policy to Keefe Tech changed by state mandate; Hopkinton spots limited (Article by Susan Gonsalves, 01/23/26)

PLANNING BOARD 

At its Monday meeting, the Planning Board voted to approve three articles for Annual Town Meeting: a revised MBTA Communities zoning plan to bring the town into full compliance with the state law; a placeholder article to remove from the town bylaws the payment in lieu of affordable housing construction provision; and the acceptance of Whisper Way as a town road. 

The board also voted to continue the hearing on a proposed one-story office / retail building off Lumber Street so that minor plan adjustments can be made. The Design Review Board is set to discuss the site plan on Monday. 

Planning Board votes to put 3 zoning articles on ATM warrant, including new MBTA Communities plan (Article by Mary Ellen Gambon, 01/27/26)

In other business, the board voted to approve a motion to reconsider a vote it had just taken against an applicant’s proposal to rebuild a home at 69 Hayward Street, previously destroyed by a fatal 2023 fire. The applicant’s request to the Board of Appeals last summer for a variance on the property was denied in a 3-2 vote. The applicant’s new plan addressed the Board of Appeals’ issues with dimensions and setback requirements, however, is barred from being presented for two years unless eight Planning Board members approve advancing the plan. While the board fell shy of the approval number in a 6-2 vote, member Parker Happ made an unprecedented motion to reconsider the proposal and reopen debate, which was approved 8-0. The family’s tragic circumstances, neighborhood context, and the modest scale of the proposed replacement home were addressed. The board voted to continue the hearing until the next meeting to give board member Elyse Mihajloski, who joined the meeting late, sufficient time to review the matter. 

In unprecedented move, Planning Board reconsiders Hayward Street home proposal after voting against it (Article by Mary Ellen Gambon, 01/27/26)

2026 ANNUAL TOWN ELECTION

Interested in running for local office? Check out eHop’s Town Election Update page for information on how to become a candidate, important deadlines, and a running list of candidates. Nomination papers must be submitted by 5PM on March 30, 2026.

BOSTON MARATHON 2026 

Help support eHop’s 2026 Boston Marathon runner, Gregory Sobol here!